SATURDAY 01 AUGUST 2026

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002zgp4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 Confessions of a Performative Male by Darren McGarvey (m002zgmq)
Transformation

"What kind of man am I?"
As society struggles with masculinity's more toxic traits, Orwell Prize-winner Darren McGarvey seeks out the voices who can help men find the answers they seek.

Read by the author
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Darren McGarvey is a prize-winning author, musician, social commentator and BAFTA award-winning broadcaster. His debut book 'Poverty Safari' blended memoir, journalism and polemic and was a word of mouth bestseller. His follow ups 'The State We're In' and 'The Social Distance Between Us' featured on Radio 4 Book of the Week, and Darren delivered the 2022 Reith lecture 'Freedom from Want'. Darren is leading a series of live in-conversation events at the Edinburgh Fringe, where he'll explore facets of modern masculinity in conversation with a variety of expert guests. 'Performative Male' is at The Stand from the 5th - 16th August.

A BBC Audio Scotland production


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002zgp6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002zgp8)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:30 News Summary (m002zgpb)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002zgpd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002zgpg)
God in the midst of defeat

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Rev Carolyn Skinner.


SAT 05:45 Living on the Edge (m001ngq0)
Spurn Point

Ten coastal encounters, presented by Richard King.

Today: an early morning encounter with warden Paul Collins at Spurn Bird Observatory.

Not simply town or countryside, the coastline is a place apart – attracting lives and stories often overlooked.

In these ten programmes, the writer Richard King travels around the UK coast to meet people who live and work there – a sequence of portraits rooted in distinct places, which piece together into an alternative portrait of the UK: an oblique image of the nation drawn from the coastal edge.

Producer: Martin Williams


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002zrkx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 06:07 This Natural Life (m002zjdj)
Patrick Barkham

The nature writer Patrick Barkham takes Martha Kearney on a butterfly-spotting trip in Foxley Wood, Norfolk. This is Norfolk's largest ancient woodland, which has been undergoing restoration since the 1980s. Seven summers ago, it saw the return of the rare purple emperor butterfly, which had become extinct in the region.

Patrick tells Martha why this place is so special to him, connecting him to his late father, an ecologist who played a key role in helping to save the wood. He reflects on how they shared a deep bond through butterfly spotting together and how the final years of his father's life were spent at a slower pace, perfect for observing the natural world close by.

Producer: Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio Bristol


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002zrl1)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


SAT 06:57 Weather (m002zrl3)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m002zrl5)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Artworks (m002h0dt)
What Happened to Counter-Culture?

2. Revolution in the Head

More than just a cultural trend – counter-culture became a social movement so powerful it shaped institutions, businesses, politics and the attitudes and aspirations of whole generations – including everything from haircuts to voting choices. In fact, it became so prevalent that it’s sometimes hard to remember how things have changed under its influence.

Comedian Stewart Lee presents a five-part series exploring the evolution and key ideas that have driven counter-culture from its beginnings with the Beats, folk and jazz in the 1950s, to its heights in the 1960s and 70s including the hippies and the early tech-communalists, the new liberation movements and punk, to the 1980s and early 90s, where political power on both sides of the Atlantic pushed back against the values of the ‘permissive society’.

Talking to artists, musicians, writers, activists and historians, Stewart continues to the present day asking where we are now, in the digital age of social media silos and the so-called ‘culture wars’ – what’s happened to counter-culture? Was it co-opted, did it sell out? Or did its ideas of freedom and identity become so entrenched within mainstream culture it’s legacy has become unassailable? Or has it migrated politically to the Right? Throughout the series, the counter-culture is explored not only in terms of its history, extraordinary cultural output and key events – but also its deeper political and philosophical impact, its continued meaning for our own age.

Part 2: Revolution in the Head. Against the growing political turmoil of the 1960s, this episode looks at the growing counter-culture as first of all a revolution in the head - the changing ideas of freedom and liberation, the power of psychedelics and rock, all culminating in 1967’s Human Be-In and Summer of Love. In London, a network of underground presses, clubs and bookshops, happenings and events like the 14 Hour Technicolour Dream channel the underground in contrast to mainstream culture. But the lines between the counterculture and the mainstream are beginning to blur, as Bob Dylan's decision to 'plug in' at Newport is condemned by the folk scene as selling out, even as the new sound electrifies the underground. The Beatles in particular were a bridge between the ideas of the counter-culture and popular success. The years from 1966-7 especially are a golden age for the counter-culture, where many of its key ideas become entrenched – seemingly progressive, but later weaponised by its opponents. It championed a liberation of the individual against society, but to what ends?

Contributors include music producer Joe Boyd, songwriter and guitarist Johnny Marr, author Olivia Laing, founder of Rolling Stone magazine Jann Wenner, Woodstock photographer Lisa Law, founding member of Blondie and author Gary Lachman, stone carver Emily Young, historian Peter Oborne, journalist and writer John Harris, author Lynsey Hanley, musician and songwriter Robyn Hitchcock and David Cunningham, who writes on 20th century art movements.

Presenter: Stewart Lee

Producer: Simon Hollis

A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 09:30 What's Up Docs? (m002zghj)
Why do we follow bad advice?

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.

In this episode, they discuss a behaviour almost everyone recognises - following advice we suspect is bad, or even know is wrong. So why do we do it?

From medicine and wellness culture to friendships and everyday life, Chris and Xand unpack the psychology behind why bad advice can be so hard to resist. They consider how authority, confidence and social pressure shape our decisions, and why warning signs don’t always protect us from making choices we later regret. They also ask why questioning experts can feel so difficult, even when our wellbeing depends on it.

Along the way, they discuss how people can become more confident questioning advice, seeking second opinions, and making decisions that genuinely align with their own judgement and wellbeing.

To help them untangle it all, they’re joined by Professor Sunita Sah, Organisational psychologist at Cornell University.

If you want to get in touch, you can email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk.

Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken
Guest: Professor Sunita Sah
Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Jo Rowntree
Researcher: Grace Revill
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Social Media: Leon Gower
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Sound Design: Ruth Rainey

At the BBC:
Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m002zrl7)
History of Underwear: from shirts and stays to bras and briefs

Greg Jenner is joined in western Europe by historian Dr Serena Dyer and comedian and actor Vic Michaelis to learn all about the hidden history of underwear. For as long as people have been wearing clothes, they have been wearing garments under them – Romans at Hadrian’s Wall were sent underpants, and even Ötzi the Iceman was discovered wearing a form of undergarment. But what were people wearing before the invention of underwires and elastic, so essential to our modern conceptions of underwear? This episode traces the history of our underthings in western Europe and the USA from the medieval period, through the Tudor, Regency and Victorian eras, and into the modern day. Moving around the body, it takes in the linen shifts and shirts that were the universal undergarment for much of history, the development of drawers and stockings, and the shockingly recent invention of knickers and briefs. It also tackles stays and corsets, asking whether they were really as painful as film and TV depictions suggest, and looking at the reliability of on-screen underwear in programmes like ‘Bridgerton’.

If you’re a fan of fashion trends of the past, evolving views on beauty and the body, and debunking historical myths, you’ll love our episode on the history of underwear.

If you want more historical fashion and beauty trends, check out our episodes on the History of High Heels, Renaissance Beauty and haircare entrepreneur Madam CJ Walker.

You’re Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Lily Tidman
Written by: Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Dr Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett
Senior Producer: Dr Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: Philip Sellars


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002zrl9)
Series 53

Episode 6

Jay Rayner hosts a culinary panel show packed full of tasty titbits.


SAT 11:00 Radical (m002zjf2)
Conversations about the global forces reshaping our world and ideas defining the future.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002zrk6)
Insight, and analysis from BBC correspondents around the world


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002zrlc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Sliced Bread (m002wt29)
Toast - Series 7

Wilko

Wilkinson - or Wilko as it became known - was a privately-owned family business that had been successful for decades, offering low-priced household products from its chain of high street stores.

So why did it falter during a cost-of-living crisis when people were looking for value?

The BBC Business journalist, Sean Farrington, investigates how its stores ended up toast, in the company of resident business expert and entrepreneur, Sam White.

To help explain what happened, Sean and Sam delve into the parliamentary archives and hear from expert guests including Gordon Brown who was Wilkinson's managing director for 15 years and Patrick O'Brien, Research Director at GlobalData who has followed the fortunes of high street names for over a decade.

At the end, Sam has to come up with her own conclusions about the fate of Wilko based on what she has just heard.

If you have a good idea for an interesting Toast topic then tell us about it - email toast@bbc.co.uk

Produced by Jon Douglas, Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.


SAT 12:30 Current-ish (m002zgnk)
Episode 2

Lucy Porter is joined by Finlay Christie, Amy Annette and Christopher Macarthur-Boyd to chat through the headlines and beyond.

Hosted by Lucy Porter
Written by Lucy Porter, Ruth Husko and Katie Sayer

Producer - Katie Sayer
Assistant producer - Molly Punshon
Executive producer - Victoria Lloyd

A Mighty Bunny production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 12:57 Weather (m002zrlf)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m002zrlh)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002zgnr)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities


SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002zrlk)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002zgnm)
Writer: Tim Stimpson
Director: Pip Swallow
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Jolene Archer … Buffy Davis
Kenton Archer … Richard Attlee
Harrison Burns … James Cartwright
Alice Carter … Hollie Chapman
Chris Carter … Wilf Scolding
Neil Carter … Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter …Charlotte Martin
Rex Fairbrother … Nick Barber
Alan Franks … John Telfer
Ed Grundy … Barry Farrimond
Bert Horrobin … David Sterne
Brad Horrobin … Taylor Uttley
Fallon Rogers … Joanna Van Kampen
Lynda Snell … Carole Boyd
Robert Snell … Michael Bertenshaw
Lottie Summers … Bonnie Baddoo


SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m00268tt)
Waiting in the Wings

Noel Coward had a deep affection for many of the actresses with whom he had worked over many years and was only too aware of the problems they faced as parts simply dried up. He sets his play in 1960 in The Wings, a charity home for actresses who have fallen on hard times. Here, the ladies grow older ungracefully amid squabbles, memories and jealousies.

Things really come to the boil when the once great actress Lotta Bainbridge arrives. Years earlier, she has married the former husband of another inmate, May Davenport who is resolved to never forgive her. Their feud soon affects everyone. It is only resolved when one of the other ladies sets fire to her room. Following this accident, Lotta and May work towards a reconciliation. However, Lotta’s life is further turned upside down when her son unexpectedly returns after 17 years. Coward regarded this scene between mother and son as one of the best he had ever written. He also wrote the words and lyrics for the various songs.

For Penelope Keith and director Martin Jenkins this proved to be a memorable reunion as both were members of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963 and over the years they have worked together on a number of occasions. Now in their 80s, they both share a passionate belief in the power of drama on radio.

'Working on the play some 65 years after it was written was a fascinating experience. Coward clearly knew and understood these women so well. They are totally believable. They are not shallow luvvies but real people experiencing all the problems which come with old age including dementia, boredom and loss of purpose but Coward lifts our spirits by lacing all this with humour, vigour, vitriol, energy and music. One minute you are laughing, the next you are confronting heart-felt emotions. It was a privilege to work with such an outstanding cast.' (Martin Jenkins)

Cast:
Lotta Bainbridge - Penelope Keith
May Davenport - Susan Jameson
Bonita - Frances Jeater
Deirdre - Sorcha Cusack
Maudie - Cheryl Campbell
Sarita - Marcia Warren
Estelle - Jean Trend
Perry - Karl Davies
Miss Archie - Jenny Funnell
Osgood - Andrew Branch
Zelda - Clare Corbett
Alan - Roger Alborough
Dora/Dr Jevons - April Pearson

Written by Noel Coward

Pianist: Zhanna Kemp
Sound Design: David Thomas
Production Manager: Sarah Tombling

Adapted for radio and directed by Martin Jenkins

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 16:30 Woman's Hour (m002zrlm)
Highlights from the Woman's Hour week


SAT 17:00 PM (m002zrlp)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Sliced Bread (m002zjd5)
Sliced Bread - Series 17

Air Conditioning

Greg Foot investigates the so-called wonder products making bold claims.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002zrlr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m002zrlt)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002zrlw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002zrly)
Mari Wilson, Fiona Allen, Olly Smith, Natalie Wildgoose

Stuart Maconie and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.


SAT 19:00 Last Word: Doing Death Differently (m002v9d8)
The funeral

Matthew Bannister is marking twenty years of Radio 4’s Last Word by looking at how our attitudes to death, dying and the way we memorialise our dead have changed. In this episode Matthew reflects on how the audience reaction to the announcement of his mother’s death set him thinking about how our attitudes towards death and dying have changed over the last twenty years. As the baby boomer generation demands more personalised and bespoke memorial ceremonies, who is a funeral for? The living or the dead? And why are the old conventions being swept away? Matthew visits a celebrants training course in Bedfordshire, attends a very bespoke funeral in Bristol and hears how some people are choosing to have living funerals.

Presenter: Matthew Bannister
Producer: Ed Prendeville
Production coordinator: Jesse Edwards
Studio mixer: Dyfan Rose
Editor: Glyn Tansley


SAT 19:15 Changing the Odds (m00291y5)
Episode 1: Westminster; Gambling's Big Bang

The 2005 Gambling Act propelled the UK to become the world's biggest online gambling market. But at what price?

New Labour's 2005 Act was betting's big bang. Because of this liberalising gambling act the betting business has become a huge success but it's also now one of the country's most controversial industries.

Radio 4 Journalist Lydia Thomas has reported on the industry for over 10 years and teams up with industry insider Stewart Kenny, one of the founders of betting giant Paddy Power to tell the story of how we got here.

Stewart founded Paddy Power in the 80s, and the story of betting's growth mirrors Stewart's personal tale. He tells Lydia how he expanded Paddy Power across Ireland and into the UK, but also his doubts on where the industry was going as it moved online.

Starting in Westminster, Lydia interviews politicians about the how gambling laws couldn't keep up with technological innovations like the iPhone, which brought casinos to every customer's pocket. Tony Blair's failed Super Casino's idea - and the controversial Fixed Odds Betting Terminal; where you could gamble £100 every 2 minutes. The Fixed Odds Betting terminal changed the conversation about gambling, and put betting on the front pages of all the major newspapers, and the non-betting public's consciousness for the first time.

Lydia also investigates the influence of the industry's lobbying on politicians. Whether free gifts and tickets to sporting events really influences policy.

Presented by Lydia Thomas
Produced by Lydia Thomas and Richard McIlroy
Main Contributor: Stewart Kenny
Assistant Producer: Emma Smith
Technical Producer: Michael Smith


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002zrm0)
Sucking Up: A Guide to Sycophancy Through the Ages

From Satan sweet-talking Eve in the Garden of Eden, to Dante’s flatterers and King Lear’s daughters... history never runs out of sycophants. In this silver-tongued Archive on 4 you will discover how to spot, avoid, or profit from a lickspittle. Journalist and broadcaster Matthew Gwyther hosts, and contemplates the consequences of a society sympathetic to sycophancy.

Only the most attractive, astute, and discerning of listeners would tune into this programme ...

Presenter: Matthew Gwyther
Producer: Jude Shapiro
Executive Producer: Jack Howson

A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 Buried (m002zrm2)
Dead Rabbit

Omnibus Episode 2

In this second omnibus edition of a new investigation, dead animals left in quiet rural villages lead reporters Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor deeper into a hare coursing criminal underworld. They learn it's not a game, it's big business. Is violence winning?

Buried is the multi award-winning investigative podcast series digging into some of the most disturbing environmental stories in history. In this series, Dan and Lucy team up with the wildlife presenter Chris Packham, whose own dead-animal death threats escalated into a car bomb outside his house. The dead animals lead them into uncovering a criminal underworld in the British countryside. As one witness told us: it's like Hot Fuzz meets Squid Game.

Buried: Dead Rabbit is a Smoke Trail Production for BBC Radio 4.

Produced and presented by Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor
Sound design, mixing and AP: Jarek Zaba
Original music and sounds by Phil Channell
Executive Producers: Philip Abrams and Anita Elash
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke


SAT 22:00 News (m002zrm4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002zgmn)
Eating Octopus

Since January 2025, thousands of tonnes of common octopus, usually found in the Mediterranean, have been landed by fisherman off the south coast of England.
But it’s still not a regular feature on UK menus. In this episode of the Food Programme, Jaega Wise heads to Brixham fish market to find out more about what’s happening, and visits seafood restaurants taking alternative approaches to the challenge. Rockfish owner and chef Mitch Tonks talks her through the difficulties of cooking octopus, and marine ecologist Bryce Stewart at Plymouth University explains why the creature could be here to stay. Jaega also explores what puts people off eating octopus - from tentacles to extreme intelligence. And we head to Guernsey to meet a fisherman whose business has been severely impacted, and try some “Octodog”.


SAT 23:00 Olga Koch: OK Computer (m001m4sf)
Series 2

1. Fun

This episode, Olga and ALGO try to agree on what is, and isn’t, fun.

Comedian and computer scientist Olga Koch returns for a second series of her comedy and STEM stand up show, joined by her sassy digital assistant ALGO (voiced by Tia Kofi).

Written by Olga Koch and Charlie Dinkin

Featuring Tia Kofi

Additional Material From Rajiv Karia, Cody Dahler and Kate Dehnert

Production Co-ordinator Katie Baum

Produced by Benjamin Sutton

A BBC Studios Production


SAT 23:30 Brain of Britain (m002zgdy)
Heat 1, 2026

Russell Davies chairs the nationwide general knowledge quiz that has been entertaining and challenging audiences since 1953. Four competitors test their wits against a vast array of questions, covering everything from Ariana Grande to Ariadne, and from baryons to baritones, seeking to become the Brain of Britain 2026.

Spotlight rounds are: René Magritte, Ru Paul's Drag Race, 21st century literature and monsters of Greek myth.

Presenter: Russell Davies
Voiceover: Jess Lambert
Casting Producer: Sunil Mistry
Assistant Producer: Ami Gill
Production Coordinator: Kate Scarbrough
Series Producer: David Bodycombe
Executive Producers: Justin Scroggie and Jago Lee

A TellTale Industries/Format People co-production for BBC Radio 4.

SUNDAY 02 AUGUST 2026

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002zrm6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m002zgdw)
Christopher Brookmyre

Scottish crime writer Christopher Brookmyre speaks to Take Four Books this week about his latest novel, Quite Ugly One Evening, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its links to three other books. Chris's new book, Quite Ugly One Evening, is a locked-room mystery with a twist, and we're back with one of his most beloved characters - the maverick Scottish investigative journalist Jack Parlanbane, who thrives on chasing stories in unlikely places.

For his three influences Chris plumped for: The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks, from 2007; The Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe from 2024; and Grown Ups, by Marian Keyes, from 2020.

Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002zrm8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002zrmb)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:30 News Summary (m002zrmd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002zrmg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002zrkd)
St Peter in Ropley, Hampshire

Bells on Sunday comes from of St Peter in Ropley, Hampshire. Records show that bells had hung at the site since the early 18th century but in 2014 the church suffered a devastating fire which resulted in the tower roof being destroyed. Though the bells were retrieved and the tower repaired three bells were badly damaged and required either repair or recasting. The tenor weighs fifteen hundredweight and is tuned to the note of F sharp. We hear a recording from the original bells ringing Double Oxford Bob Minor.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002zgj2)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m002zrhk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Heart and Soul (w3ct983f)
Jamaica: Shaken, not broken

From historic buildings linked to emancipation to tiny village chapels, Jamaica is home to the world’s highest density of churches. The Caribbean Island faced a profound spiritual crisis after Hurricane Melissa devastated many of the 1600 sacred spaces where people gathered to worship.

Journalist and presenter Nick Davis, who has returned to his family's roots and now lives on the island, takes us on an emotional journey back to Black River and Lacovia, in the heart of the hardest-hit areas. Nearly six months on from one of the worst storms in living memory, Nick joins volunteers as they continue to dig through the rubble and salvage what they can.

We meet some of the people who lost everything, and explore how faith communities are helping to build back stronger. Their places of worship may be razed to the ground, but those who once gathered here demonstrate how faith brings fresh hope and a resilience that reaches far beyond the bricks and mortar.

Presenter: Nick Davis
Producer: Matt O'Donoghue
Production co-ordinator: Mica Nepomuceno
Editor: Chloe Walker

(Photo: St Elizabeth's Church at Black River. Credit: Matt O'Donoghue)


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002zrhm)
Samphire Without the Sea

Westlands UK specialises in standing out from the crowd, and growing crops that are just a little bit different. Across over 15 hectares of glasshouses they grow nearly 150 different species of plant - producing everything from edible flowers to microgreens. They even grow a range of sea herbs! Samphire normally grows wild in estuaries and salt marshes but in this programme, Charlotte Smith learns how it's produced commercially under glass in land-locked Worcestershire!

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Heather Simons


SUN 06:57 Weather (m002zrhp)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002zrhr)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002zrht)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002zrhw)
Over the Wall Camp

Model David Gandy makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Over the Wall Camp. The charity offers free residential camps at its sites in England and Scotland for seriously ill children and their families.

The Radio 4 Appeal features a new charity every week.
Each appeal then runs on Radio 4 from Sunday 0754 for 7 days.

To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope ‘Over the Wall Camp’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Over the Wall Camp'.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- Please ensure you are donating to the correct charity by checking the name of the charity on the donate page.

Registered Charity Number: 1075361. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.otw.org.uk/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m002zrhy)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002zrj0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002zrj2)
Port Sunlight

Sunday Worship comes from the remarkable model village of Port Sunlight on the Wirral. Founded in the late nineteenth century by soap manufacturer William Hesketh Lever, the village was built to provide good-quality homes and shared spaces for workers, reflecting a vision of industry shaped by faith, dignity and community. In this service, we explore the Christian values that helped inspire Port Sunlight's founding, giving thanks for its enduring legacy and reflecting on what it means to build communities rooted in care, hope and the common good.

The service comes from Christ Church in the village, and is led by the Minister, Rev Ian Smith.

Producer: Andrew Earis


SUN 08:48 Witness History (w3ct74p2)
The Aga Khan meets Florence Nightingale

In 1898, the British founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, invited the Muslim leader Aga Khan III around to her London home for tea.

They were two of the most famous figures of the 20th century and their discussion was wide-ranging, touching on faith, healthcare and even Queen Victoria.

The Aga Khan, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, spoke to the BBC about the meeting in 1950.

This programme was produced and presented by Rachel Naylor, in collaboration with BBC Archives.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Aga Khan III, June 1924. Credit: MacGregor / Topical Press Agency / Getty Images)


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002zrj4)
Anita Sethi on the Dunlin

On a summer walk in Upper Teesdale on her way to the great Cow Green Reservoir, nature writer Anita Sethi realises she is lost. Without her map, she turns to nature for a sign of where she is, and is rewarded with the call of the dunlin.

Once known as the red-backed sandpiper because of their rusty-red and black summer plumage, dunlins are small waders that nest on upland landscapes in the summer months, where peaty pools provide habitat for food. In the winter, their plumage transforms to greyish-brown and white. They can also be found on the UK's coastline and estuaries all year round.

Despite their relatively small size, dunlins are capable of producing a very loud song. Anita follows the bird's low burrs and high trills and eventually finds herself at the edge of the vast reservoir, nestled between the North Pennine hills - a perfect spot for birdwatching.

Presented by Anita Sethi and produced by Jo Peacey. A BBC Audio Bristol production.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002zrj6)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m002zrj8)
Emma Grede, businesswoman

Emma Grede, businesswoman, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002zrjb)
The week's events in Ambridge.


SUN 12:15 Last Word: Doing Death Differently (m002v9d8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 Just a Minute (m002zhp1)
Series 97

2. "Well she had me fooled"

Players take on subjects including: No worries if not!, I got off scot free and what's the big deal about Toy Story? Plus we get a taste of Julian's best Claire Sweeney impression.

Host: Sue Perkins
Players: Tony Hawks, Desiree Burch, Cariad Lloyd, Julian Clary
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Additional material by Angela Channell

An EcoAudio certified production.
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m002zrjd)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002zrjg)
A look at the week's big stories and preview of the week to come.


SUN 13:30 Currently (m002zrjj)
Britain's Robot Army

For centuries, warfare was shaped by tanks, aircraft, and soldiers on the ground. Today, a soldier is as likely to be sitting behind a screen holding a controller that looks like a PlayStation's - and on the other side, a soldier can be seen, tracked, and killed by a machine that costs less than a laptop: the drone.

Presenter Will Robson, a former army officer, travels to Salisbury Plain and the factories building Britain's drones to understand what this shift means for British soldiers - and for society at large.

Ukraine has become the testing ground for this new kind of conflict, where cheap, mass-produced drones and AI-assisted targeting have transformed the front line into a place where almost nothing moves undetected. Soldiers who once relied on cover and speed now describe a battlefield where everything and everyone is constantly being watched.

Robson hears from those shaping and living through this transformation: one minister claims the British Army is being made 10 times more lethal by this technology; the UK's new DragonFire laser can shoot down a drone for about £10 in electricity, compared to hundreds of thousands of pounds for a traditional missile interceptor. It's a war being reshaped by economics as much as by weapons.

But the stakes go beyond the battlefield. At King's College London, Professor Kenneth Payne ran AI models through 21 nuclear crisis simulations - in 95% of them, the AI chose nuclear weapons, not once choosing to de-escalate.

But for all the talk of a "22 times more lethal" army, Britain's newly published Defence Investment Plan tells a more complicated story. Billions are going into drones and autonomous systems - but tanks, fighter jets, and ships still take the lion's share of the money.

As this programme reveals, the deeper question isn't just funding, but what it means to train, equip, and protect a generation of soldiers for a completely new type of war.

Presenter: Will Robson
Producer: Ilona Toller
Executive Producer: Robert Nicholson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002zgn5)
Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.


SUN 14:45 Naturebang (m001gx55)
Screaming Marmots and the Sound of Fear

Why are some sounds more frightening than others? Are there evolutionary origins behind the things we find scary? And is there anything more blood-curdling than a full throated scream?

Becky Ripley and Emily Knight tune in to the sounds that send the shivers down our spines, via a frightened Marmot in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and a brand new kind of musical instrument known as the 'apprehension engine'. Beware listeners, you may be in for a fright....

Featuring professor Daniel Blumstein, Chair of the Department of Ecology at UCLA, and film score composer Mark Korven. Produced and presented by Emily Knight and Becky Ripley.


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002zrjl)
A new version of pioneering Black playwright Alice Childress's seminal 1955 play as part of Radio 4's 'Story of America' season.

Trouble in Mind follows a group of actors rehearsing a new Broadway drama with an 'anti-lynch' theme, at a time when issues of segregation and civil rights were fiercely contested across the United States.

Wiletta Mayer is a seasoned Black actress increasingly troubled by the compromises she is expected to make, as the company shapes a story that claims to confront racism while reducing its Black characters to stereotypes. Through its layered, play‑within‑a‑play structure, Childress offers an incisive critique of the period’s racial dynamics, building to a powerful act of artistic and personal resistance.

PART TWO
With opening night approaching, Wiletta’s growing unease with the play and her character comes to a head.

This play was written in 1950s America and features strong discriminatory language of the time.

CAST (in order of appearance)
Wiletta Mayer ..... Doña Croll
Henry ...... Gary Lilburn
John Nevins ..... Tunji Kasim
Millie Davis ..... Ellena Vincent
Sheldon Forrester ..... Joseph Mydell
Judy Sears ..... Isabella Inchbald
Al Manners ...... Joseph Millson
Eddie Fenton ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr
Bill O’Wray ..... Trevor Cooper

Composition and piano by Tim Sutton

Director ..... Femi Elufowoju Jr

Producer ..... Anne Isger
Production Co-ordinators ..... Sara Benaim and Jon Powell

A BBC Studios Production


SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m002zrjn)
Janice Hallett

Led by presenter James Naughtie, the award-winning writer Janice Hallett speaks to a Bookclub audience about her debut novel, The Appeal. Published in 2021 the novel - which is presented as a series of documents, emails, messages and transcripts - follows an amateur dramatics troupe called The Fairway Players, which is staging a rendition of Arthur Miller's, All My Sons, to raise funds little Poppy Reswick's life-saving medical treatment. But it is possible a murderer is hiding in plain sight?

This episode of Bookclub was recorded in Broadcasting House, London.

Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 16:30 Brain of Britain (m002zrjq)
General knowledge in which listeners compete for the title of Brain of Britain.


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct74r8)
Gina Lollobrigida interviews Fidel Castro

Gina Lollobrigida was one of the biggest stars of European cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. Often described as "the most beautiful woman in the world", her films included Beat the Devil, the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Crossed Swords.

She was fawned over by Howard Hughes, one of the world's richest men, and co-starred alongside the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Rock Hudson and Errol Flynn.

But later in life, she reinvented herself as an artist and photographer. In 1974, she secured an exclusive photo shoot and interview with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, during which he gave her his watch as a gift. Ben Henderson tells her story using BBC archive.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.

(Photo: Gina Lollobrigida in 2008. Credit: Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 Church Going, with Giles Fraser (m002zhng)
Episode 3

Giles Fraser is a parish priest in the Church of England, slightly anxious about the overall decline of church attendance in this country. It's a complex picture with parishes dwindling in some areas and growing in others. To get a grip on what's happening he talks to historians, sociologists and clergy, visiting some of his parishes from the past to find how things have changed during his ministry.

In this third and final episode, Giles makes an emotional return to Christ Church in Blakenall Heath, an outer city parish where he served as a young priest and learned the value of the worshipping community. He explores the moment in history when when churchgoing became a minority activity, considers the future of Christianity and looks at the effect of Covid on numbers and ways to worship online.

Contributors: Bishop Arun Arora, Lamorna Ash, Professor Heidi Campbell, Professor Sir John Curtice, Professor Tom Holland, Alex Jones, Fr Mark McIntyre, Fr William Lamb, Professor Sir Andrew Motion, Professor Emeritus David Voas. Professor Linda Woodhead.

Presenter: Rev Dr Giles Fraser
Producer: Catherine Murray
Asst Prod: Peter Everett
Studio Mix: Kelly Young
Production Co-ordinator David Baguley
Editor Tim Pemberton


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002zrjt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m002zrjw)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002zrjy)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002zrk0)
Maryam Moshiri

Maryam Moshiri presents a selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002zrk2)
Jazzer makes a controversial suggestion, and Jolene isn’t sure where to turn.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002zrk4)
Precious Stones

"Some losses feel seismic. The ground shifts, familiar landscapes tilt, and nothing is the same. Dad’s death changed our world. But it also left us with a distinctly geological conundrum. What on earth are we going to do with his rock collection?"

Three years after the death of Jenny Hill’s father, the family are still coming to terms not only with their grief - but a cumbersome inheritance. Arthur Hill, a much‑loved and somewhat eccentric chemistry teacher, spent a lifetime collecting rocks, minerals, fossils and gemstones. Hundreds of specimens now fill the corners and cupboards of the family’s small semi‑detached house in Jersey.

This edition of 'Illuminated' is a journey through stone, memory, and the traces we leave behind. Jenny - a former BBC foreign correspondent - returns home to explore the collection, wondering what these objects might reveal about the man who gathered, labelled, and studied them - but who never quite persuaded his family to share his passion.

Presenter: Jenny Hill
Producer & Sound Designer: Phoebe McIndoe
Executive Producer: Jack Howson
A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001vztn)
Eat Whole Grains

Michael discovers incorporating wholegrains into our diet, is a tasty swap that could really benefit our health. Wholegrains such as wholegrain pasta, bread and brown rice contain more fibre, vitamins and minerals, than refined grains. This simple swap can help reduce blood pressure, improve heart health and boost the gut microbiome. Michael talks to Dr Caleigh Sawicki, from the Brigham and Women’s hospital and Harvard Medical School, whose research suggests that the fibre consumption of wholegrains can keep us fuller for longer and this slow digestion could result in a lower increase in blood sugar.

Series Producer: Nija Dalal-Small
Science Producer: Catherine Wyler
Researcher: Sophie Richardson
Researcher: Will Hornbrook
Production Manager: Maria Simons
Editor: Zoe Heron
A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m002zjdl)
Radio 4's forum for comments, queries, criticisms and congratulations.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002zgn9)
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme


SUN 21:00 Sliced Bread (m002wt29)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002zrhw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002zrk6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Archive on 4 (m002f6wf)
Simpson's Dictators

The BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson looks back at the many dictators and autocrats he has met or reported on during his 60-year career.
He digs into his extensive archives to tell the stories of these ruthless leaders, of how they came to power, and how they finally lost it.

What was it like to be "in the room" with them - a room that could be a multi-coloured tent in the Libyan desert, a run-down chateau, or even a courtroom. John reunites with former colleagues to reminisce about travelling to meet these men (and they were all men...) who oppressed millions to satisfy their cravings for power or wealth, or allowed themselves to be led by their misguided beliefs that only they could save their country or keep it together.

What drives people like that, what does it take to end their regimes, and what is it like to meet someone who has ruined, or even ended, the lives of thousands?

Presenter: John Simpson
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Production coordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Sara Wadeson


SUN 23:00 Great Lives (m0026256)
Dr Hannah Critchlow picks Professor Colin Blakemore

Professor Colin Blakemore was a famous communicator of science, the youngest ever Reith lecturer on the BBC. He was also targeted by members of the animal rights movement, which sent bombs and letters lined with razor blades to his home address. Born in 1944 and brought up in Coventry, Colin Blakemore was committed to brain research and the connection between vision and early development of the brain. Nominating him is the author and neuroscientist Dr Hannah Critchlow, who knew him before he died in 2022.

The programme includes contributions from his friends and colleagues, including Professor Barbara Sahakian and David Nutt; plus moving archive of his daughter, Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore and reports from the animal rights campaigners who protested outside his Oxford house.

Dr Hannah Critchlow is the author of Joined Up Thinking and The Science of Fate. She's based at Cambridge University.

Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Studios Audio by Miles Warde


SUN 23:30 More Wow (m0022kvp)
4. Love and Grief

What is awe, and where do we find it? Exploring how the elusive emotion of awe can be a vital force in our lives.

As something usually associated with intense experiences and extreme environments, for many of us awe can often seem difficult to attain. Science journalist Jo Marchant tracks down individuals who live awe-filled lives, uncovering where we might find it ourselves and how it can alter body and mind. Episode four.

First, Jo talks to Emily Baughan, a historian and writer living in Sheffield, about her experience of losing her mother and having her first child, with four months between them.

Then, she goes on a walk with a friend, evolutionary ecologist Alex Penn, to talk about how our sense of self can be framed within a much bigger picture of interconnected ecosystems.

Presented by Jo Marchant, author of Cure, The Human Cosmos and Decoding the Heavens.

Producer: Eliza Lomas
Editor: Chris Ledgard


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m002zgn7)
Take It to the Bridge

A specially-commissioned satirical comedy from BAFTA-nominated Gareth Ceredig. Read by Rebecca Front.

Paula Wade MBE has spent 20 years being a professional doormat.

Her main job as Facilitator-In-Chief for the town’s Municipal Growth Fund, is to be talked at by impotent loudmouths (or “concerned citizens”, as they prefer to be called).

But when plans to build a new bridge in her constituency unwittingly put the town on the global news agenda, even Paula might have to take a stand.

A satirical comedy about government and corruption from multi-award-winning satirist Gareth Ceredig (The Naked Week, The Skewer).

Read by Rebecca Front
Producer: Katie Sayer

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4

www.pozzitive.co.uk

MONDAY 03 AUGUST 2026

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002zrkb)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 00:15 Inside Health (m002zggr)
Series that demystifies health issues, bringing clarity to conflicting advice.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002zrkd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002zrkg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002zrkj)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:00 News Summary (m002zrkl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Last Word (m002zgn9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Sunday]


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002zrkn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002zrkq)
Fields of stunning sunflowers

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Rev Carolyn Skinner.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002zrks)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


MON 05:57 Weather (m002zrkv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m002zrz0)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Across the Red Line (m002zrz2)
Series 9

Are we running out of people?

Birth rates in the UK have fallen to their lowest level in decades. Deaths are starting to outnumber births. Some see a slow-burning crisis that threatens the economy and the welfare state. Others say this is not a crisis at all. That in a wealthy, high-consuming country, having fewer children might even be a good thing.

Anne McElvoy mediates debate between Paul Morland, a demographer who believes falling birth rates pose a serious risk and we need to act now, and Professor Sarah Harper from the Oxford Population Ageing Unit, who believes we will adapt to a changing world which will include smaller populations.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson


MON 09:30 How Did We Get Here? (m002zrz4)
No World Order

2. The View from Beijing

Tristan Redman is joined by Carrie Gracie, former BBC China editor and a reporter in China throughout the 1990s, and George Magnus, an economist and research associate at the China Centre, Oxford University, and former chief economist at UBS.

Together they examine the decade in which China reshaped its relationship with the international system. They begin with Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour of 1992, when the then-retired Communist Party leader travelled to China's special economic zones to press the case for economic reform, a trip widely seen as decisive in setting China's course for the following decades.

They discuss the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, under the "one country, two systems" framework, and the Asian financial crisis of the same year, which left China's capital controls looking vindicated while much of the region required IMF assistance.

The episode also covers the 1999 Nato bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, and concludes with China's accession to the World Trade Organisation in December 2001, an agreement built on Western assumptions that economic integration would bring political liberalisation, and one whose consequences are still being worked through today.

A BBC News Long Form Audio production

Presenter: Tristan Redman
Producers: Keiligh Baker and Nik Sindle
Sound engineers: Neil Churchill, Gareth Jones and Michael Regaard
Production co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Katie Morrison
Editor: Matt Willis
Radio 4 commissioners: Daniel Clarke and Hugh Levinson


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002zrz6)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


MON 11:00 Behind the Crime (m002zrz8)
Pieter

Pieter grew up in Gloucestershire and began attending music festivals as a teenager. Surrounded by drug use, the move into drug dealing was easy for Pieter. Becoming a student, the opportunities opened themselves up to him and his criminal enterprise quickly escalated.

In this remarkable interview, Pieter takes us through the story, explaining his mindset and revealing why he made the choices he did – choices that led him to spend several years in a violent, lawless prison in Ecuador.

Dr Sally Tilt and Dr Kerensa Hocken are forensic psychologists who work in prisons. Their job is to help people who have committed crimes to understand the harm they’ve caused, identify why it happened and work out how to make changes to prevent further harm after they’ve been released.

In Behind the Crime, they take the time to understand the life of someone whose crimes have led to harm and prison. Through this extended interview, we get to the heart of Pieter’s motivations.

For details of organisations that can provide help and support, visit bbc.co.uk/actionline

Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Sam Taylor
Editor: Clare Fordham

Behind the Crime is a co-production between BBC Long Form Audio and the Prison Radio Association.


MON 11:45 Tony Hawks Is Giving Nothing Away (m002fl03)
1. Giving

Tony Hawks is a very lucky man. He has done well in life, thanks to luck, hard work, plus many years of writing, travelling and making people laugh on BBC Radio 4. But he doesn’t fancy a nice car. He’s not into flashy holidays. And he doesn’t want to pass any of the money he’s earned down to his only child.

Tony acknowledges that he’s aspirational. But he aspires to do good, not to accumulate. And that’s the legacy he wants to leave to his son. Not money. Because, in Tony’s opinion, money passed down through inheritance corrupts aspiration, it corrupts ambition, and it has a corrosive effect on personality.

What’s more, he believes inheritance has a harmful effect on society - it perpetuates inequality and makes a mockery of equal opportunity. In short, Tony is dead against it.

If Tony were to leave just money to his young son, would it give his boy a vital leg-up or would it take away his drive and motivation to achieve things on his own terms?

The series follows Tony’s efforts to make a decision about his will, his son and his money. He argues for a radical shift away from the idea of inheritance. But is it even possible in today's world?

Inheritance is a complex issue that sits at the heart of British society. And it’s about to become a whole lot more pressing as we face the biggest transfer of wealth in history. The Baby Boomers are dying out and they will be leaving vast sums of money to the next generations over the coming decades.

In this first episode, Tony speaks to the billionaire John Caudwell about whether he should hand down money to his son and to the academic Eliza Filby, to get a better sense of how the ‘Great Wealth Transfer’ is reshaping family life today.

Presenter: Tony Hawks

Producer: Tom Woolfenden

Editor: Kirsten Lass

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


MON 12:00 News Summary (m002zrzb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002zrzd)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m002zrzg)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m002zrzj)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


MON 13:45 The Bare Necessities (m002ztyj)
1. Fire

We are living in turbulent times and it is easy to feel anxious about the state of the world. The pace of change is fast, and the future often seems uncertain and out of our control. Given our reliance on technology, any sort of outage could be catastrophic. Could you survive - and thrive - in a world without global supply chains, the internet and 24-hour energy?

In this series the writer Dan Richards seeks out the tradition bearers and carriers of ancient knowledge who actively choose to live in close connection with the natural world around them. A return to first principles of what it means to be human and the kind of people you would like to be around if things fell apart.

In Episode 1 - Fire, Dan meets Zeki Basan, a Traditional Skills and Survival Instructor based in the Cairngorms of Scotland. According to Zeki, fire is at the very centre of human evolution. Not only for warmth and a place to cook, but for preserving food and materials for clothing and crafts. Zeki shows Dan the bow drill method of creating fire, one of the most ancient techniques. Along the way, Dan discovers that it's not only the knowledge of how to make fire that is essential, but a particular mindset that will ensure survival in the outdoors.


MON 14:00 The Archers (m002zrk2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Alone (m001brq5)
Series 4

Episode 4 - Ellie Retirement

A sitcom, written by Moray Hunter and starring Angus Deayton, Abigail Cruttenden, Pearce Quigley, Kate Isitt and Bennett Arron, about five, mainly single, middle-aged neighbours living in flats in a converted house in North London.

Mitch (Angus Deayton) is a widower and part-time therapist who is looking to put his life back together now that he is single and living with Will (Pearce Quigley), his younger, more volatile half-brother. Mitch is currently in a new relationship with Ellie (Abigail Cruttenden) who is a somewhat shy, nervous and sensitive schoolteacher. Overly honest, frustrated actress Louisa (Kate Isitt), and socially inept IT nerd Morris (Bennett Arron) complete the line-up of mismatched neighbours.

In episode four, an unexpected early retirement offer for Ellie and much ill-advised counsel from Louisa leaves Ellie pondering a move to the country, Will looking to increase his rental income, Mitch looking like he could soon be homeless and Morris as possibly the happiest man alive.

Cast:
Angus Deayton - Mitch
Abigail Cruttenden - Ellie
Pearce Quigley - Will
Kate Isitt - Louisa
Bennett Arron - Morris

Written by Moray Hunter
Directed by Moray Hunter and Gordon Kennedy
Scripted Edited by Ian Brown and James Hendrie
Edited and Studio Managed by Jerry Peal
Production Manager - Sarah Tombling
Production Runner -Kareem Elshehawy
Recorded at The Shaw Theatre, London
Based on an original idea developed in association with Dandy Productions
Producer - Gordon Kennedy

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:45 Naturebang (m001gwz2)
Rivers and the Rights of Nature

Becky Ripley and Emily Knight ask whether giving legal rights to things like rivers and forests changes how we think about the world that lives around us.

The Whanganui River, in New Zealand, is a legal person in the eyes of the law. It is legally defined as a living whole, from the mountains to the sea, and two local Maori tribe members speak on its behalf as its legal representatives. Other nations have had similar thinking: the Amazon rainforest in Columbia, one of the Great Lakes in the US, and the River Ganges in India all have legal personhood, as does land in Ecuador and Bolivia, where Mother Earth is recognised as a legal person.

Assigning personhood to non-human things is not a new idea. Since the late 1800s, corporations have been granted legal personhood, giving them the rights to hold property, enter into contracts, and to sue or be sued. Then in 1972, Christopher Stone, himself a Professor of Law, published the essay ‘Should Trees Have Standing?’, arguing that if corporations can have personhood, why can’t natural entities?

Does the act of doing this reframe our relationship to the natural world, as something which lives not just for us, but alongside us in its own right? And as the law extents rights to nature, does that - in turn - extend our empathy towards the more-than-human world?

Featuring Dr Rāwiri Tinirau, advisor on Māori and Indigenous human rights, and Anna Grear, Professor of Law and Theory at Cardiff University and founder of the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment. Produced and presented by Emily Knight and Becky Ripley.


MON 15:00 A Good Read (m002zrzl)
Dr Vee Kativhu and Susie Riddell

Guests discuss books they love. This time: 

Loving and Giving by Molly Keane, chosen by podcaster and Archers actor Susie Riddell
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré, chosen by education activist Dr Vee Kativhu
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller, chosen by presenter Harriett Gilbert

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sarah Goodman
Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc


MON 15:30 You're Dead to Me (m002zrl7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Saturday]


MON 16:00 Currently (m002zrjj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002zrl9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m002zrzn)
Full coverage of the day's news


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002zrzq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m002zmkp)
Series 97

Episode 3

Can our panel speak for Just a Minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation?


MON 19:00 The Archers (m002zrn4)
Neil finds himself run ragged, and Ed is caught in the middle.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m002zrzt)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m002zjdn)
David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct977y)
A weekly show exploring science, its mysteries, and the debates it sparks.


MON 21:00 Across the Red Line (m002zrz2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:30 How Did We Get Here? (m002zrz4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002zrzw)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (m002zrzy)
Episode One

A classic comic novel from the 18th century.

Life is good to the Reverend Dr Primrose, in his idyllic country parsonage, surrounded by his beloved family. But then his world unravels in a series of misfortunes and calamities.

Episode 1
Life is good for Dr Primrose, until a reversal of fortune means he and his family must leave the parsonage.

Oliver Goldsmith was born in Ireland in 1728. The Vicar of Wakefield was published in 1766. An essayist, dramatist and poet, his other works include the play She Stoops to Conquer and the poem An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog. He died in 1774.

Writer: Oliver Goldsmith
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Reader: Edmund Kingsley
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Intimacy (Radio Version) (m002zs00)
3. Note to Self, Find Sharks/4. Safe Sex Santa

As Liza settles into the job, she builds trust with the cast, but tensions with Gary deepen. Off set pressures and unexpected arrivals begin to shake her confidence.

In 'Intimacy'
Lena Headey as Liza
Maisie Williams as Bunny
Thaddea Graham as Kate
Tom Goodman-Hill as Gary
Matthew Broome as Alex
Hannah Waddingham as Lou
Alison Steadman as Mum
Tia Bannon as Ruby
Simon Kassianides as Nico

Additional voices were:
Tom Glenister, Mark Kilcawley, James Nicolaou, Paul Panting, Finlay Paul, Nigel Pilkington, Josh Singh Sian, Sam Stafford

Based on an original idea by: Erika Lust
Executive Produced by: Sharon Horgan, Faye Dorn
Executive Producer for the BBC: Dylan Haskins
Assistant Commissioner for BBC: Lorraine Okuefuna
Written, created and directed by: Lena Headey
Constultant Audio Director: Celia De Wolff
Series Produced by: Emma Morgan
Story Produced by: Maddie Beautyman and Megan Heverin
Production Manager: Archan Mohile
Production Coordinator: Marlene Beauquis Smith
Production Runner: Tobias Davies
Script Assistants: Liis Miik and Jo Troy
Casting Director: Lauren Evans
Intimacy Coordinator: Robbie Taylor Hunt
Recorded at: Sound Node
Sound Designer: Martin Schulz
Supervising Sound Editor and Mixer: Daniel Jaramillo
Recording Engineers: David Crane and Giancarlo Granata
Music and Score composed by: Max Perryment
Merman Television Managing Director: Rebecca Parkinson
Merman Finance Director: Jackie Sidey
Merman Television Head of Production: Amanda Wasey
Merman Television Finance Manager: Gemma Wilson
Legal and Business Affairs: Mark Rogers and Georges Villeneau
Artwork Photography: Stevan Keane
Behind the Scenes: Michas Vanni


MON 23:30 Artworks (m002hkwc)
Hollywood and The Adland Five

1. Transforming Ads, Transforming Movies

The UK’s foremost film director Sir Christopher Nolan and the leading cultural historian Sir Christopher Frayling unite to assess the impact of one of the biggest, boldest - and least celebrated - eras in filmmaking history.

Meet the Adland Five - five British directors who stormed Hollywood in the late 1970s and early 1980s, having already revolutionised the world of advertising.

Hugh Hudson, Adrian Lyne, Alan Parker, Ridley and Tony Scott went from working side by side in London’s Soho ad business - on 30 second TV spots for the likes of Hovis and Heineken - to transforming the film industry with movies including Alien, Chariots of Fire and Top Gun. So why have critics never taken them seriously?

Christopher Nolan’s own love for the work of the Adland Five can be traced back to a childhood visit to the Pinewood set of Bugsy Malone in 1976. The film’s director Alan Parker was the first of the group to break into cinema, and it was the success of his debut – a prohibition-era musical starring kids, with adults providing singing voices - that led Parker’s friend and colleague Ridley Scott to move into the movies himself, with 1977’s Napoleonic drama The Duellists.

Without the impact of the Adland Five some decades before, Christopher Nolan’s own Hollywood career - with films like The Dark Knight, Inception and Oppenheimer - might never have seemed within reach. Now he believes it’s time they were given their due…

Producer - Jane Long
Executive Producer - Freya Hellier
Additional research - Edward Charles, Heather Dempsey and Queenie Qureshi-Wales
Sound mix - Jon Calver
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

TUESDAY 04 AUGUST 2026

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002zs02)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Tony Hawks Is Giving Nothing Away (m002fl03)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002zs04)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002zs06)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:00 News Summary (m002zs08)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:04 Currently (m002zrjj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002zs0b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002zs0d)
I spent every evening in the Wimbledon tennis queue

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Rev Carolyn Skinner.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002zs0g)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 06:00 Today (m002zrmm)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The History Podcast (m002zrmp)
Invisible Hands: The American Century

2. The Prophet

A man wakes up in the middle of the night in Moscow. He is sick. Shivery. Feverish. But he has a mission. A mission that will end up changing the course of world history.

After World War Two was over, America was ready for peace. And to continue working with their ideological adversary, the Soviet Union. Franklin Delano Roosevelt even flew to Crimea to make a deal with Churchill and Stalin.

But there was one man who was sounding the alarm, all the way from a freezing Moscow winter. A Chekhov-obsessed diplomat called George Kennan who’s witnessed Stalin’s repressions first hand and would live to 101. More than anyone else, he will set the trajectory of American foreign policy in the 20th Century - with a telegram. A telegram he would come to deeply regret.

This is the story of how the US and USSR went from allies to enemies. And the man who made this happen - starting what would come to be called the Cold War.

David Dimbleby tells the story of how in the middle of the 20th Century one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it.

It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat.

So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of.

In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam?

A Samizdat production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 09:30 Inside Health (m002zrmr)
Series that demystifies health issues, bringing clarity to conflicting advice.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002zrmt)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


TUE 11:00 Screenshot (m002zgnp)
Aliens

Screenshot makes contact with film and TV’s enduring fascination with UFOs and extraterrestrial life, from the Cold War paranoia of Invasion of the Body Snatchers to the quietly unsettling recent TV series Pluribus.

Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 11:45 Tony Hawks Is Giving Nothing Away (m002fjnq)
2. Receiving

Tony Hawks is a very lucky man. He has done well in life, thanks to luck, hard work, plus many years of writing, travelling and making people laugh on BBC Radio 4. But he doesn’t fancy a nice car. He’s not into flashy holidays. And he doesn’t want to pass any of the money he’s earned down to his only child.

Tony acknowledges that he’s aspirational. But he aspires to do good, not to accumulate. And that’s the legacy he wants to leave to his son. Not money. Because, in Tony’s opinion, money passed down through inheritance corrupts aspiration, it corrupts ambition, and it has a corrosive effect on personality.

What’s more, he believes inheritance has a harmful effect on society - it perpetuates inequality and makes a mockery of equal opportunity. In short, Tony is dead against it.

If Tony were to leave just money to his young son, would it give his boy a vital leg-up or would it take away his drive and motivation to achieve things on his own terms?

The series follows Tony’s efforts to make a decision about his will, his son and his money. He argues for a radical shift away from the idea of inheritance. But is it even possible in today's world?

Inheritance is a complex issue that sits at the heart of British society. And it’s about to become a whole lot more pressing as we face the biggest transfer of wealth in history. The Baby Boomers are dying out and they will be leaving vast sums of money to the next generations over the coming decades.

In the second episode of this series, Tony hears from David Clarke who gave away £100,000 he had inherited following the death of his mother, but he also hears how family money can be a golden ticket to financial stability for some. Is he any closer to deciding what he should put in his will?

Presenter: Tony Hawks

Producer: Tom Woolfenden

Sound Designer: Jon Calver

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m002zrmw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m002zrmy)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m002zrn0)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m002zrn2)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


TUE 13:45 The Bare Necessities (m002ztyn)
2. A Food Reservoir

We are living in turbulent times and it is easy to feel anxious about the state of the world. The pace of change is fast, and the future often seems uncertain and out of our control. Given our reliance on technology, any sort of outage could be catastrophic. Could you survive - and thrive - in a world without global supply chains, the internet and 24 hour energy?

In this series the writer Dan Richards seeks out the tradition bearers and carriers of ancient knowledge who actively choose to live in close connection with the natural world around them. A return to first principles of what it means to be human and the kind of people you would like to be around if things fell apart.

In Episode 2 - A Food Reservoir - Dan visits Forager and Herbalist Monica Wilde who describes herself as a 'reluctant prepper'. Mo has created her own Food Reservoir in her smallholding in Central Scotland, containing wild plants which feed her and provide medicine. After proving it was possible to live entirely off wild foods for a year, Mo is preparing for a future of self-sufficiency based on old knowledge of herbs and plants. Dan has lunch with Mo and samples some of her concoctions.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m002zrn4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002zrn6)
Sunbird

What would you do if your 20-something boyfriend turned out to be the son of your long-lost holiday romance? And then the dad reappeared? Welcome to Lizzie’s dilemma in a wry and playful comedy, from leading audio dramatist, Christopher William Hill. Most middle-aged people will admit, publicly or privately, to harbouring wistful thoughts about a past romance – what if we found that special person again?

Lizzie has spent her whole life running from disastrous relationships, much to the frustration of her older, more ‘sorted’, sister Chloe. At the age of 52, she goes back to Ibiza to lick her wounds after another failed love affair, and unexpectedly finds romance with a younger man, Josh. Then it gets even more complicated, when her former fling from 30 years ago, Danny, reappears, and they pick up where they left off.

Despairing of her ‘problem sister’, Chloe flies out to Ibiza to bring Lizzie home. But Lizzie’s got no intention of behaving. Suddenly free of her responsibilities back home (children, husband, job) Chloe gives in to her unexpected Ibizan holiday. The two sisters find themselves reconnecting and having more fun than they have since their last trip to the island 30 years ago.

In a startling twist, Lizzie realises that Danny and Josh are estranged father and son – she must chose one or the other. Should she pursue her romance with Josh or try again with Danny? Or is there another option?

However, Danny is struggling to make ends meet, relying on tourist tips to get by – he’s become a middle-aged no-hoper in a way that Lizzie never has. And Josh is showing every sign of growing up to become a deadbeat like his father, no matter what Lizzie might do to try and stop history repeating itself. If Lizzie can’t change Danny or Josh, maybe she can change herself?

Realising that she’s been viewing her past through rose coloured sunglasses, and that real life can never live up to fantasy, Lizzie has to make a choice… her decision is refreshingly unexpected.

Sunbird offers well observed, funny take on classic romantic comedy.

Lizzie ….. Lucy Speed
Chloe ….. Fenella Woolgar
Danny ….. Milo Twomey
Josh ….. Ashley Gerlach
Doctor ….. Jason Forbes

Writer: Christopher William Hill
Sound designer: Alisdair McGregor
Technical assistant: Antonia Gospel
Production Manager: Darren Spruce
Illustrator: Ed Duffill
Producer: Polly Thomas
Exec producer: Jon Sen

A Thomas Carter Projects production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:00 Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley (m002zrn8)
Lady on Trial

Georgina Weldon - Wrongly Committed

In Lady on Trial, a brand new series for BBC Radio 4, Lucy Worsley and her all female team of detectives look at momentous legal struggles in history from a fresh and feminist perspective.

This time, the legal whirlwind that is Georgina Weldon – opera singer, orphanage proprietor, spiritualist medium and litigant extraordinaire. One of the first women to bring a legal action in the English courts.

In 1878, Georgina’s estranged husband tries to have her committed to a lunatic asylum, merely on his say-so and ‘evidence’ supplied by two sympathetic doctors. Will the ‘madhouse keepers’ be successful in their attempts to capture Georgina or will she outwit them all – and see them in court?

To discuss Georgina’s predicament and her remarkable achievements, Lucy is joined by Charlotte Proudman, a pioneering feminist barrister and senior research associate at Jesus College, Cambridge.

Together, they investigate the ways that the law can still be weaponised by perpetrators hoping to silence victims, why victims need greater protection in the justice system, and how individual legal cases can contribute to bigger picture reforms. They consider the bravery of women like Georgina, who bear huge personal and financial costs in the pursuit of justice.

Historian Professor Rosalind Crone from The Open University explains why a married woman like Georgina Weldon was so vulnerable under the Victorian Lunacy Laws and unpacks the impact of her audacious legal endeavours.

Producer: Sarah Goodman
Readers: Clare Corbett, William Hope, Jonathan Keeble and Ruth Sillers
Historical consultant: Professor Rosalind Crone
Head of Production: Claire Myers
Sound design: Chris Maclean
Senior Producer: Julia Hayball
Executive Producer: Kirsty Hunter

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:30 Heart and Soul (w3ct983g)
Faith and revolution in the Philippines

Forty years ago, a Filipino soldier serving under Ferdinand Marcos Sr, was ordered to attack civilians opposing the corrupt regime. After wrestling with his conscience, Gregorio ‘Gringo’ Honasan found he could not do it. Along with other soldiers who resigned from their posts, he founded the Reform for Armed Forces Movement, and they planned to storm the presidential palace and arrest the Marcoses. The coup, however was foiled when an insider leaked the plan to the government.

Honasan and his men retreated back to their headquarters, but they knew the Marcos’s forces were on their way to them. Then, Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Jaime Sin, broadcast an appeal on the Catholic radio station Radio Veritas, calling for support from the public. Hundreds arrived at the camp to form a human shield around the rebel soldiers. They brought guitars and sang to the Marcos military. Meanwhile nuns, among them Sister Mary John Mananzan, handed out flowers.

The peaceful protest neutralised the attacking forces. And the People Power Revolution ousted the Marcos family and restored democracy to the Philippines.

For this episode of Heart and Soul, Jay Behrouzi speaks to Senator Gregorio Honasan, now 78 and retired from politics, and 88-year-old Sister Mary John, who’s still an activist, to hear their firsthand accounts of that day, and how their faith has sustained them in the years since.

[Photo description: Demonstrators Burn Marcos Effig, Photo Credit: Alex Bowie]

Presenter: Jay Behrouzi
Producer: Julia Paul
Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno
Executive Producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Archive supplied by Radio Veritas, Philippines


TUE 16:00 Artworks (m002zrnc)
The Writing Life of Sylvia Plath

3. Beyond Depression: What We Get Wrong About Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath was an extraordinarily talented writer. She is the author of the classic coming of age novel The Bell Jar, and one of the 20th century’s most important poetry collections, 1965’s Ariel. She wrote with rare force and wit, hers was a singular voice. But her words have been overshadowed by the details of her biography; her marriage to fellow poet Ted Hughes, its dissolution, and her death by suicide in 1963.

In this new three part series, the focus is firmly on Sylvia Plath’s writing as Mariella Frostrup aims to paint a more nuanced picture of Plath the writer, cutting through the noise to see her more clearly and putting her life in the context of her work, rather than the other way around.

In this final episode we confront how her experience of mental illness and depression informed her work. Sylvia Plath was part of a school of confessional poets, but this focus on the confessional means we overlook how tirelessly she worked on her poetry. With close readings of poems from Ariel such as ‘Edge’ and ‘Poppies in October’ we find the experience of depression formed into words by a master of the craft.

We also dress the controversial language she used as she confronted the Holocaust in poems like ‘Daddy’.

But the final picture of Sylvia Plath that emerges is so much broader and more unusual than the caricature she is so often reduced to. Here we meet a sharp and funny writer, one whose work was deeply attuned to the politics of the day and who captured young womanhood on the page better than anyone, a writer who deserves to be taken seriously and read widely.

Contributors include Heather Clark, Clare Shaw, Siri Hustvedt, Katherine Rundell and Sean Bordale.
Readings by Lydia Wilson
Presenter Mariella Frostrup
Producer: Jessica Treen


TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002zrnf)
How hydrated should you really be?

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.

In this episode they’re exploring hydration. We’ve all heard we should be drinking eight glasses of water a day, but does it hold up? Chris and Xand look at what water actually does in the body and how we regulate fluid.

They also separate fact from fiction on the hydration beliefs and trends that are everywhere right now. Does drinking more water actually help you lose weight? What about the online trend of loading water with supplements and flavourings to maximise its benefits? Should we all be adding electrolytes to our water?

To help answer these questions, they’re joined by Dr John Whittle. He’s a consultant in anaesthesia, critical care and perioperative medicine at University College Hospitals and an honorary associate professor at University College London.

If you want to get in touch, you can email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk.

Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken
Producer and researcher: Dr Samara Linton
Executive Producers: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Jo Rowntree
Visual Producer: Leon Gower
Technical Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Sound Design: Melvin Rickarby

At the BBC:

Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 17:00 PM (m002zrnh)
Full coverage of the day's news


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002zrnk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 18:30 Meet David Sedaris (m001kh7l)
Series 9

6. Sweet Land of Liberty

“He bowed his head slightly. ‘We dress to serve you, my Prince’. And that was that. My decision made.”

Vegan tour managers, hotels, coffee shops and British children all get the Sedaris treatment in the final instalment for this series. With a big decision to be mulled over, David weighs up some of the differences he's found between the USA and the UK and works them into a new essay, "Sweet Land of Liberty". The show closes with an hilarious extract from his diaries about two teenagers and their virtue signalling mother.

Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m002zrnm)
Bert comes a cropper, and the Grundys have a brainwave.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002zrnp)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002zrnr)
A Romanian Ransom

A Romanian Ransom uncovers one of the Cold War's strangest secrets: a covert trade in which Jewish lives were bought and sold for livestock and cash. In 1958, MI5 agents watch pigs loaded onto a plane in Hertfordshire, bound for Communist Romania. The man behind it, Henry Jakober, is a London livestock trader with hidden ties to Romanian intelligence.

The film follows Andrea Bernard and Radu Horaud, two children raised in communist Romania, where Jews faced decades of persecution, from the wartime Holocaust through Ceaușescu's secret police. Both hide their Jewish identity growing up, and both are separated from their parents, who defected to the West. Their reunions, in Tel Aviv and Paris, hinge on a name neither had heard before: Jakober.

Historians and the families reveal how Jakober brokered exit visas for desperate Romanian Jews, paid for with pigs, cattle, and farm equipment, later escalating to cash running into millions. Mossad, alarmed at first, ultimately co-opts the scheme, and Ceaușescu expands it into an industrial operation, selling around 100,000 Jewish lives for tens of millions of dollars, while his secret police profit from the proceeds.

The documentary wrestles with Jakober's legacy: a Schindler-like rescuer, or a profiteer trading in human freedom? Through testimony and declassified files, we trace the moral complexity of a scheme that reunited families while treating them as commodities.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m002zrnt)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


TUE 21:00 Crossing Continents (m002zrnw)
Getting Gaza back online

How amid the tents and the rubble Gaza is developing once again as an unlikely tech hub.

Even before the October 7th 2023 attack and the subsequent war between Israel and Hamas, NGOs, with the backing of Google, had sought to develop tech start-ups in the Gaza strip. The digital economy was one of the few areas in which young Gazans in particular could seek to earn money for their families.

During the two years of war they struggled for food and water. Forced to move from place to place, most of them lost their homes, their work, sometimes their laptops and plenty lost family members. Now 80% of Gazans are unemployed and have no income. Many of them live amid the rubble in tents. Stable electricity and internet are difficult to come by. And yet co-working hubs have begun to pop up, giving well educated graduates a chance to work remotely for foreign companies as coders, software engineers and app developers. With Israel controlling what comes in and out of Gaza, they still face significant obstacles, not least finding decent internet, electricity and spare parts for their laptops. And with near-daily bombings continuing, Gaza’s wider recovery remains uncertain. Yolande Knell reports on how its tech workers give a glimpse of a brighter, possible future, open to the world beyond Gaza’s borders.

Producer: John Murphy
Studio mix: Gareth Jones
Programme co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Penny Murphy


TUE 21:30 Scam Secrets (m002zjd3)
Exposing the secret techniques criminals use to steal your money.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002zrny)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (m002zrp0)
Episode Two

A classic comic novel from the 18th century.

Life is good to the Reverend Dr Primrose, in his idyllic country parsonage, surrounded by his beloved family. But then his world unravels in a series of misfortunes and calamities.

Episode 2
Accompanied in part by the curious Mr Burchell, the family arrive at their new home, and make their first acquaintance with their landlord.

Oliver Goldsmith was born in Ireland in 1728. The Vicar of Wakefield was published in 1766. An essayist, dramatist and poet, his other works include the play She Stoops to Conquer and the poem An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog. He died in 1774.

Writer: Oliver Goldsmith
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Reader: Edmund Kingsley
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:00 Wild Inside (m001cp9y)
The Great Grey Owl

One of the world’s large owls by length, the Great Grey Owl is an enigmatic predator of coniferous forests close to the Arctic tundra. It's most often seen hunting around dawn and dusk, when it perches silently at the edges of clearings. But as Prof Ben Garrod and Dr Jess French delve deep inside to understand its true secret to survival, they find the deep feathery coat belies a deceptively small head and body that‘s evolved unbelievably powerful abilities to silently detect and ambush unsuspecting prey.

Producer Adrian Washbourne


TUE 23:30 Artworks (m002hkq9)
Hollywood and The Adland Five

2. The British are Coming!

Director Sir Christopher Nolan and cultural historian Sir Christopher Frayling continue their story of the Adland Five – five British directors who burst into Hollywood in the 1970s and 1980s, having transformed the world of advertising. Hugh Hudson, Adrian Lyne, Alan Parker, Ridley and Tony Scott changed the look and feel of modern cinema, bringing the visual grammar of their TV ads – 30-second spots for beer, brandy and beef burgers – to the big screen.

Ridley Scott was the first of the group to make a seismic impact in Hollywood with Alien in 1979. But in this episode, the focus turns to 1982. Scott’s Blade Runner, released that year, was not an immediate success, but would go on to transform the look of cinema – and advertising – with its rain-soaked cityscapes and luminous billboards. For Nolan, the atmosphere, imagery and scope of Alien and Blade Runner would shape his own approach to world-building in films like The Prestige and The Dark Knight.

And also in 1982, Chariots of Fire won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film’s vision of British Olympic glory became an international phenomenon, but its evocation of national identity in the early years of Thatcher’s Britain raised as many questions as it answered. So when screenwriter Colin Welland declared at the Oscars, “The British are coming!”, was he right?

Together, Christopher Nolan and Christopher Frayling argue for a reappraisal of the Adland Five – as pioneering cinematic subversives, whose instinct for spectacle and mastery of audience engagement was forged in the discipline of the television commercial.

Producer - Jane Long
Executive Producer - Freya Hellier
Additional research - Edward Charles, Heather Dempsey and Queenie Qureshi-Wales
Sound mix - Jon Calver
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

WEDNESDAY 05 AUGUST 2026

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002zrp3)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Tony Hawks Is Giving Nothing Away (m002fjnq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002zrp5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002zrp7)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:00 News Summary (m002zrp9)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:04 BBC Inside Science (w3ct977y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002zrpc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002zrpf)
Often it’s the everyday things that prepare us for the hard thing

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Rev Carolyn Skinner.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002zrph)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 06:00 Today (m002zrq4)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Sideways (m002zrq6)
Good Vibes Only

At some point in our lives, all of us will face difficult news. That was the case for Canadian academic Kate Bowler. She was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, at just 35. When the news hits, the support she receives is overwhelmingly positive. But as well intentioned as those responses are, Kate becomes trapped in a role she doesn’t want to play.

Matthew Syed asks why we reach for positivity so quickly in the face of suffering and where that instinct comes from.

With contributions from Kate Bowler; Dr Stephanie Alice Baker, Professor of Sociology at City St George's, University of London and social psychologist Pr Batja Mesquita, from Leuven University.

Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Julien Manuguerra-Patten
Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Production Manager: Joe Savage
Sound Design and Engineering: Nicholas Alexander
Theme tune by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4


WED 09:30 Shadow World (m002zsxg)
Breakin' the Cycle

2. A Hood Story

As Colin and D begin turning their prison-written script into a real production, they recruit former pop stars and emerging actors, building a cast captivated by the promise of an authentic Black British crime story. Their film starts to feel like a genuine cultural moment. But most of the cast and crew are unaware of the true story behind the pair or their journey to becoming film-makers.

Beneath the excitement of the production, the money, power, and instincts that built “Love of Money” are still very much in play. When D’s commitment to turning away from crime is tested, he is drawn back to familiar instincts.

Gripping stories from the Shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.

Presenter and Producer: Lewis Albrow
Series Producer: Emma Barnaby
Producer: Louis Hollis
Assistant Editor: Georgina Savage
Sound Designer, Composer, and Mix Engineer: Axel Kacoutie
Script Editor: Jason Lewis
Fact Checker: Jessica Hatcher-Moore
Production Manager: Anna-Marie Batho
Production Executive: Letisha Kidza
Head of Production: Nicky Murphy
Production Support: Emma Wood and Olivia Bouton
Executive Producers for Raw: Deborah Dudgeon, David Waters, and Tim Wardle.
Business Affairs: Amy Ofori-Attah, Clotilde Leroux, Damian Kent, and Emma Ong.
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Raw Production for BBC Radio 4


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002zrq8)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


WED 11:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002zrnr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 11:40 This Week in History (m002zrqb)
August 3rd - August 9th

Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.

5th August 1975: Dutch Elm disease spreads to Yorkshire. Millions of elm trees perished across the UK in the outbreak.
6th August 1890: In New York, a convicted axe murderer; William Kemmler; became the first person to be executed by electric chair.
9th August 1173: Construction begins on the Leaning Tower of Pisa


WED 11:45 Tony Hawks Is Giving Nothing Away (m002fj91)
3. Inheritance Disputes

Tony Hawks is a very lucky man. He has done well in life, thanks to luck, hard work, plus many years of writing, travelling and making people laugh on BBC Radio 4. But he doesn’t fancy a nice car. He’s not into flashy holidays. And he doesn’t want to pass any of the money he’s earned down to his only child.

Tony acknowledges that he’s aspirational. But he aspires to do good, not to accumulate. And that’s the legacy he wants to leave to his son. Not money. Because, in Tony’s opinion, money passed down through inheritance corrupts aspiration, it corrupts ambition, and it has a corrosive effect on personality.

What’s more, he believes inheritance has a harmful effect on society - it perpetuates inequality and makes a mockery of equal opportunity. In short, Tony is dead against it.

If Tony were to leave just money to his young son, would it give his boy a vital leg-up or would it take away his drive and motivation to achieve things on his own terms?

The series follows Tony’s efforts to make a decision about his will, his son and his money. He argues for a radical shift away from the idea of inheritance. But is it even possible in today's world?

Inheritance is a complex issue that sits at the heart of British society. And it’s about to become a whole lot more pressing as we face the biggest transfer of wealth in history. The Baby Boomers are dying out and they will be leaving vast sums of money to the next generations over the coming decades.

One big change in the inheritance landscape is the rise in disputes over recent years, as more and more people fight to get a slice of the inheritance pie. Barrister Barbara Rich tells Tony about her work mediating these kinds of conflicts. Solicitor James Aspden talks Tony through the complex case of a daughter who was written out of her late mother’s will in favour of animal charities. And as Tony struggles to make his own decision, he talks to his financial advisor and - finally - has a breakthrough.

Might Tony’s son fight him in the courts for an inheritance? Could Tony’s will be challenged? Will Tony’s little dog Coco get left anything? Who knows? Where there’s a will, there’s often a wrangle…

Presenter: Tony Hawks

Producer: Tom Woolfenden

Sound Designer: Jon Calver

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:00 News Summary (m002zrqd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m002zrqh)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


WED 12:57 Weather (m002zrqm)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m002zrqs)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


WED 13:45 The Bare Necessities (m002ztys)
3. Shelter

We are living in turbulent times and it is easy to feel anxious about the state of the world. The pace of change is fast, and the future often seems uncertain and out of our control. Given our reliance on technology, any sort of outage could be catastrophic. Could you survive - and thrive - in a world without global supply chains, the internet and 24-hour energy?

In this series the writer Dan Richards seeks out the tradition bearers and carriers of ancient knowledge who actively choose to live in close connection with the natural world around them. A return to first principles of what it means to be human and the kind of people you would like to be around if things fell apart.

In Episode 3 - Shelter, Dan visits the Scottish Crannog Centre on the banks of Loch Tay in Highland Perthshire where a village is growing. At the heart of it is the reconstruction of a crannog, a round house sitting on stilts out in the loch. It's based on a design from 2500 years ago after archaeological evidence revealed that there were at least 18 of these wooden structures around the loch. The current building team is learning how the crannogs were assembled. In the process, they are finding that we have much to discover from these ancient design principles when it comes to sustainability.


WED 14:00 The Archers (m002zrnm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 United Kingdoms (m000zkpc)
Hoping

A five-part series celebrating and revealing life across the United Kingdoms in short, sharp drama, comedy, news reports, song and poetic monologue. Stories, lives and voices making a kaleidoscope of now.

Each episode features five short dramas by different writers - a total of 50 writers and 100 actors have been brought together for the series, showcasing writing and performing talent from every corner of the United Kingdom.

Episode 3: Hoping – an optimistic, sometimes unexpected look at 21st century United Kingdoms

CORYTON - That moment when you just want to speak to someone.

KEIGHLEY - Jyoti, a successful West Yorkshire businesswoman, resists when Tara, her daughter, pushes for a more environmentally friendly business. South Asian tappay, call and response rhyming couplets accompanied by the Dholki drum, help them to resolve their differences.

LISBURN - Fat Frida is in an Abba tribute band and being Frida is her passion in life - nothing feels like being Frida. It feels like being her best self.

BARGEDDIE - A disabled parent’s imaginary conversation with his toddler twins in which they think about their abilities and his.

COLCHESTER - Victim and Perpetrator, two sides of a stabbing, based on a true story.

Credits
Coryton written by Leila Navabi
Performed by Saran Morgan and Esyllt Sears

Keighley written by Anjum Malik
Performed by Balvinder Sopal and Sameena Hussain
The Dholki performed by Sunny Tabladon Singh

Lisburn written by Shirley-Anne Mcmillan
Performed by Bronagh Taggart

Bargeddie written by Robert Softley Gayle
Performed by Colin Young and Reuben Joseph

Colchester written and performed by Dan Whitlam

Original music composed by Niroshini Thambar
Illustration by Eleanor Hibbert

Curated by Polly Thomas and Dermot Daly for Naked Productions, BBC Scotland, BBC Northern Ireland, Pier Productions, and BBC Cymru-Wales for BBC Radio 4


WED 15:00 Illuminated (m002zrk4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Sunday]


WED 15:30 The Ocean within Us (m002zrqy)
Here's a little fact you might have heard before: Humans are around 70% water. About the same percentage as a sweet potato, incidentally. But what does that actually mean? Sure, there's blood, that accounts for some of it. And the lymphatic system has a fair amount too, sloshing around. There's water in each of our cells. But that doesn't add up to the full 70% - where is the rest of it?

In 2018, a scientific paper was published which gives a tantalizing clue. The authors revealed for the first time that our 'interstitial spaces' - those gaps, between our bones and joints and all of our organs - spaces which are often somewhat sidelined in conventional anatomy - those spaces were full of a kind of soft, gel-like liquid. Flowing around the body. Bringing essential substances to where they're needed. Connecting all the disparate parts of us and communicating between them. They called this massive, fluid-filled system 'The Interstitium', and suggested that it might be a brand new, previously undiscovered organ.

This moist, fibrous network seems to be important, in ways we still don't quite understand. It seems to have a key role in so many of our body's essential functions, from wound repair, to the maintenance of our body-clocks, to the spread of cancer from one tissue to another. And it's everywhere.

Emily Knight takes a journey deep into the human body, into the ocean within us, the spaces in between the things we think of as 'us'. And discovers the way it flows, and the things that flow through it.

PRESENTER: Emily Knight
PRODUCER: Emily Knight
EDITOR: Martin Smith


WED 16:00 The Power of Guilt (m002gg4s)
The First Week

This is a deeply personal story of guilt – how to live with it, and its power to transform us.

Four years ago, producer Dave Anderson caused a climbing accident that badly injured his partner, Cassie. In this series, Dave and Cassie try to piece together their very different experiences of what happened. Through difficult and intimate conversations, they tell the whole story, from the first traumatic seconds to the emotional fallout years later.

For Dave, the guilt has been overwhelming. Now, he’s searching for ways of living with it, talking to people with unique perspectives on this painful emotion. What are we misunderstanding about guilt? And how can we tap into its hidden power?

In Episode 3, Cassie and Dave are both confronted with the gravity of her injuries. They meet face to face for the first time since the accident – will Cassie blame him for what he did, or offer forgiveness? Dave searches for a way forward in the Jewish tradition his family followed for many generations.

Presenter and Producer: Dave Anderson
Sound-design and mix engineer: Charlie Brandon-King
Executive Producer: Anishka Sharma
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4


WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002zrr2)
This is the programme about a revolution in media.


WED 17:00 PM (m002zrr5)
Full coverage of the day's news


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002zrr9)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 18:30 Best Medicine (m002zrrf)
Series 3

2 - Reformer Pilates, Persistence, Free Flaps

Joining Kiri Pritchard-McLean this week is comedian Jamie MacDonald who stretches the limits with Reformer Pilates, married couple Dr Lindsey Fitzharris and Adrian Teal who pitch the power of Persistence, and Wing Commander Poonam Valand who has Kiri in stitches with surgical Free Flaps.

Best Medicine is your weekly dose of laughter, hope and incredible medicine. Award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by a funny and fascinating panel of comedians, doctors, scientists, experts and historians to celebrate medicine's inspiring past, present and future.

Each week Kiri challenges a panel of experts and a comedian to make a case for what they think is 'the best medicine'. Each guest champions anything from world-changing science or an obscure invention to an every-day treatment, an uplifting worldview, an unsung hero or a futuristic cure.

Whether it’s groundbreaking surgery, seaweed underwear, AI glasses to help people with dementia, horse therapy, sports, revolutionary gene therapy for Huntington’s disease or yesterday’s rubbish becoming tomorrow’s medicines - it’s always something worth celebrating.

Hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLean

Featuring: Dr Lindsey Fitzharris, Jamie MacDonald, Adrian Teal and Wing Commander Poonam Valand

Written by Mel Owen, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Ben Rowse

Producer: Tashi Radha

Executive Producer: Ben Worsfield

Theme tune composed by Andrew Jones

A Large Time Production for BBC Radio 4


WED 19:00 The Archers (m002zrrk)
There’s heartbreak in store for Chelsea, and Brian puts his foot down.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m002zrrp)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.


WED 20:00 AntiSocial (m002zgmv)
Peace talks for the culture wars. In an era of polarisation, propaganda, and pile-ons, Adam Fleming helps you work out what the arguments are really about.


WED 20:45 Café Hope (m002rdnj)
Garden therapy

Dr Susan Taheri, an NHS GP and creator of the Growing Well Garden, tells Rachel Burden how the project is supporting both her own and her patients' wellbeing. The space is used in a variety of ways including drop-in sessions and nature based activities.

Café Hope is our virtual Radio 4 coffee shop, where guests pop in for a brew and a chat to tell us what they're doing to make things better in big and small ways. Think of us as sitting in your local café, cooking up plans, hearing the gossip and celebrating the people making the world a better place.

We're all about trying to make change. It might be a transformational project that helps an entire community or it might be about trying to make one life a little easier. And the key here is in the trying. Not everything works, and there are struggles along the way. But it's always worth a go.

You can contact us on cafehope@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Rachel Burden
Series Producer: Jill Collins
Sound Design: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Clare Fordham


WED 21:00 The History Podcast (m002zrmp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 Inside Health (m002zrmr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002zrrx)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (m002zrs1)
Episode Three

A classic comic novel from the 18th century.

Life is good to the Reverend Dr Primrose, in his idyllic country parsonage, surrounded by his beloved family. But then his world unravels in a series of misfortunes and calamities.

Episode 3
Mr Thornhill makes a formal visit, and the family hope for an improvement in their fortunes.

Oliver Goldsmith was born in Ireland in 1728. The Vicar of Wakefield was published in 1766. An essayist, dramatist and poet, his other works include the play She Stoops to Conquer and the poem An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog. He died in 1774.

Writer: Oliver Goldsmith
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Reader: Edmund Kingsley
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:00 Sunil Patel: An Idiot's Guide To (m002zrs5)
Living Forever

5: How To Make A Baby

To secure a lasting legacy, Sunil is prepared to spread his seed (if anyone is up for buying it). He’s off to Denmark to visit an elite sperm bank where only an IQ test stands between him and Ghengis Khan levels of progeny.

Starring Sunil Patel

Featuring Helen Bauer

Written by Sunil Patel, Charlie Dinkin, Em Humble and Benjamin Sutton

Produced by Benjamin Sutton and Laura Shaw

A Daddy’s SuperYacht Production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:15 Follow the Rabbit (m0022sz4)
2. The Ghost of Elizabeth Weaver

Follow the Rabbit is a brand new comedy series following Chris Relish, an amateur paranormal investigator and podcast maker who is on a mission to prove the existence of supernatural forces after claiming he's had a romantic experience with a ghost.

The subject of this episode is Wes, a local nerd who believes his recently deceased girlfriend, Elizabeth Weaver, is haunting him and preventing him from moving on. Wes wants to make contact with Elizabeth to find out what she wants and give her the closure she needs. Chris enlists the help of parapsychologist and medium, Ophelia Winter. The three of them visit Elizabeth's grave, performing a séance in an attempt to break through.

Cast
Chris Relish: Tom Lawrinson
Wes: James Baxter
Ophelia Winter: Chelsea Halfpenny
Kathleen Relish: Jo Enright
Marco: Owen Cooper

Written and produced by James Boughen

Executive Producers: Simon Mayhew Archer and Michelle Farr-Scott

Original music by Sam O'Leary and Jacob Howard

A Motif Pictures production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:30 Artworks (m002hkth)
Hollywood and The Adland Five

3. A New Brand of Moviemaking

Director Sir Christopher Nolan and cultural historian Sir Christopher Frayling continue their story of an under-celebrated group of British film directors - five men who came to the movies via an entirely new route, advertising.

Hugh Hudson, Adrian Lyne, Alan Parker, Ridley and Tony Scott started their careers working side by side in London’s Soho, making highly memorable, highly rewatchable television commericals. They arrived in Hollywood in the late 1970s and early 1980s - during a time of corporate takeover and the collapse of the studio system. It was a new world, where marketing and market research were of the utmost importance. Given their backgrounds, it was also a world in which these filmmakers would thrive, creating hit after box office hit.

In this episode, Christopher Nolan and Christopher Frayling look at the role played by market research - and music - in the movies of the Adland Five. And they talk about two erotically-charged dramas made by Adrian Lyne - Flashdance and Fatal Attraction - which had a tone, pace and style unlike anything seen from British directors before.

Producer - Jane Long
Executive Producer - Freya Hellier
Additional research - Edward Charles, Heather Dempsey and Queenie Qureshi-Wales
Sound mix - Jon Calver
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

THURSDAY 06 AUGUST 2026

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002zrs9)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Tony Hawks Is Giving Nothing Away (m002fj91)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002zrsf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002zrsj)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:00 News Summary (m002zrsn)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:04 Sideways (m002zrq6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002zrst)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002zrsy)
Count your blessings, name them one by one

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Rev Carolyn Skinner.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002zrt2)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


THU 06:00 Today (m002zrw2)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics (m002zrw4)
Series 12

Nero

Did the Boy Emperor Nero in fact fiddle while Rome burned? Natalie's joined by star of BBC TV's I, Claudius, Christopher Biggins and Llewelyn Morgan to find out if he was all bad. For a seventeen year old put in charge of an Empire, he was surprisingly popular with the people, to the extent that fake Neros sprang up around the world after his death.

'Rockstar mythologist' Natalie Haynes is the best-selling author of Divine Might, Stone Blind, A Thousand Ships and No Friend to This House as well as a reformed comedian who is a little bit obsessive about ancient Greece and Rome.

Christopher Biggins is an actor and director who played Nero in the BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves' 1934 novel I, Claudius.

Llewelyn Morgan is a Professor of Classics at Oxford University, and he is interested in basically anything written in Latin. He has written two Very Short Introductions to Roman poets, one on Ovid and one on Horace.

Producer Beth O'Dea


THU 09:30 Artworks (m002zrw6)
The Guitar Story

Flamenco to the Blues

John Wilson explores the story of the guitar as a driver of social and cultural change – powering youth movements and counter-cultures from blues and folk to punk, rock and indie to Disco and funk. But where does its extraordinary legacy stand now?

2026 is the 60th anniversary of Bob Dylan bringing an electric guitar to the UK. His ‘plugging in’ - the transition from acoustic to electric guitar - was more than a change of musical direction. It was seen as a moral and political choice, between two worlds. The acoustic guitar was pure, idealistic, lyrical – the troubadour, the itinerant blues man carrying the news, uncorrupted by commercial society. But electrification brought with it a sense of excitement, insurrection and even danger, new sound worlds and technologies of amplification meant the capacity to fill stadiums and reach vast audiences.

The guitar is intertwined not only with the history of popular music and song but with wider society, politics and culture. It’s accessible, portable and easy to pick up and learn a few basic chords. An incredibly social and democratic instrument, it’s built movements. In the 1960s it became a symbol of the counter-culture, of political defiance.

Capable of simple storytelling as well as dazzling virtuosity, the guitar expresses deep emotion, romance, passion, resistance, hope. For well over a century, the instrument has opened up music making and a sense of cultural belonging to generations of young people, of diverse nationalities and identities, and in untold numbers, around the world.

Hearing from guitarists, producers, songwriters, critics and historians, this series tells a social, cultural and political story as well as a musical one.

Part 1, Flamenco to the Blues, explores the development of the classical guitar in Spain alongside the adoption of blues guitar in the United States and early experiments with electrification.

Series guitarists include Johnny Marr, Pete Townsend, Justine Frischmann, Billy Bragg, Ana da Silva, Graham Coxon, Jake Bugg and Nile Rogers.

Presented by John Wilson
Produced by Simon Hollis

A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002zrw8)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


THU 11:00 Three Ages of Child (m002kfpq)
Episode 2: The Middle Years

Dr Guddi Singh is a paediatrician looking for answers. She’s worried about the patients whose problems can’t be fixed with a prescription – babies who are not thriving because their parents can’t afford to heat their home or children who are obese because they don’t have access to outdoor space. Children in the UK face some of the worst health outcomes in Europe. Dr Singh wants to find solutions.

In a three-part series, she travels across England through the three ages of childhood: the early years, the primary school years and adolescence. She meets people in the community, from health workers to teachers, on a quest to discover what’s going wrong and what it will take to turn things around.

In the second episode, she’s in London, travelling from east to west across the capital to find out what’s making the difference for children in their school years. She goes to an adventure playground in Tower Hamlets, meets community health workers in Westminster and visits a school in Feltham that puts wellbeing at the heart of education.

Presenter: Guddi Singh
Producer: Jo Glanville
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Executive Producer: Rosamund Jones
Production Executive: Lisa Lipman
Sound Engineers: Dan King and Jon Calver
Photography of Guddi Singh courtesy of Anad Singh
Commissioning Editor: Daniel Clarke

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


THU 11:45 Tony Hawks Is Giving Nothing Away (m002fljb)
4. Money Mindsets

Tony Hawks is a very lucky man. He has done well in life, thanks to luck, hard work, plus many years of writing, travelling and making people laugh on BBC Radio 4. But he doesn’t fancy a nice car. He’s not into flashy holidays. And he doesn’t want to pass any of the money he’s earned down to his only child.

Tony acknowledges that he’s aspirational. But he aspires to do good, not to accumulate. And that’s the legacy he wants to leave to his son. Not money. Because, in Tony’s opinion, money passed down through inheritance corrupts aspiration, it corrupts ambition, and it has a corrosive effect on personality.

What’s more, he believes inheritance has a harmful effect on society - it perpetuates inequality and makes a mockery of equal opportunity. In short, Tony is dead against it.

If Tony were to leave just money to his young son, would it give his boy a vital leg-up or would it take away his drive and motivation to achieve things on his own terms?

The series follows Tony’s efforts to make a decision about his will, his son and his money. He argues for a radical shift away from the idea of inheritance. But is it even possible in today's world?

Inheritance is a complex issue that sits at the heart of British society. And it’s about to become a whole lot more pressing as we face the biggest transfer of wealth in history. The Baby Boomers are dying out and they will be leaving vast sums of money to the next generations over the coming decades.

The idea of passing something on to our children is deeply ingrained in our culture. Where did those attitudes come from? And how hard are they to change?

Tony’s father left no money to him and so it doesn't feel unnatural to cut - or limit - his own son’s inheritance. In this episode, he speaks to comedian Russell Kane and money mentor Selina Flavius, and hears how our attitudes to money and inheritance are often passed down from previous generations. But can Tony come up with a new solution to the problem of what to leave behind, rather than sticking with old assumptions?

Presenter: Tony Hawks

Producer: Tom Woolfenden

Sound Designer: Jon Calver

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


THU 12:00 News Summary (m002zrwb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 Scam Secrets (m002zrwd)
Exposing the secret techniques criminals use to steal your money.


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m002zrwg)
Sliced Bread - Series 17

06/08/2026

Greg Foot investigates the so-called wonder products making bold claims.


THU 12:57 Weather (m002zrwj)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m002zrwl)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


THU 13:45 The Bare Necessities (m002zv00)
4. The Hunt

We are living in turbulent times and it is easy to feel anxious about the state of the world. The pace of change is fast, and the future often seems uncertain and out of our control. Given our reliance on technology, any sort of outage could be catastrophic. Could you survive - and thrive - in a world without global supply chains, the internet and 24-hour energy?

In this series the writer Dan Richards seeks out the tradition bearers and carriers of ancient knowledge who actively choose to live in close connection with the natural world around them. A return to first principles of what it means to be human and the kind of people you would like to be around if things fell apart.

In Episode 4 – The Hunt, Dan goes stalking for deer in the High Weald in East Sussex. He enters the woodland with Michael Wachter who believes that learning survival skills passed down through our ancestors will helps to build ecological and cultural resilience for the future. There are estimated to be around 2 million deer in the UK, more than enough to feed us should the need arise. Michael shares his considered and spiritual approach to stalking where every part of the animal is put to some use, causing minimal disturbance to the natural environment.


THU 14:00 The Archers (m002zrrk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002zrwn)
A Portmeirion Love Affair with Life

In the summer of 1966, The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, travelled to the eccentric holiday village of Portmeirion in North Wales. Months of relentless pressure had left him completely exhausted. The violent end to The Fab Four's recent tour of the Philippines, and threats to their upcoming tour of the United States, were weighing heavily on his mind. Portmeirion, created by his friend Clough Williams Ellis, was one of his favourite places to unwind.

Bethan Roberts’s gentle drama imagines Brian finding an unexpected connection with a thoughtful young gardener recently employed on the estate. Alun shows Brian Portmeirion’s beautiful gardens, and encourages him to ‘Breathe in the air, swim in the sea, smell the flowers.’ Safe from the dangers of exposure that threatened them in the outside world, the two soon begin to fall for each other.

The pressures Brian faced as a result of his sexuality have been well documented but this gentle love story brings to life the emotions absent from the record. It explores the joy and hope but also the secrecy, shame, and fear experienced by many gay men, at a time when same-sex relationships were illegal in Britain and the consequences of being outed devastating.

Brian Epstein was a brilliant, complex man whose personal life was constrained by the laws and prejudices of his time. This story imagines what a moment of freedom and happiness might have looked like for Brian, as one of many who were denied the chance to love openly.

CAST
Brian Epstein . . . Kieran Hodgson
Alun . . . Gwion Morris Jones
Margaret . . . Jilly Bond

Music composed and performed by Alexandru Covaci
Sound Design by Iain Hunter
Production Coordinator: Rachel Thomas

Produced and directed by Kate McAll

A Rhiannon Media production for BBC Radio 4


THU 15:00 This Natural Life (m002zrwq)
Tracey Emin

Where once she had a reputation for wild living, the artist Dame Tracey Emin introduces Martha Kearney to the place where she says her wildness comes out today. Since having life-saving surgery for bladder cancer in 2020, she swims almost every day in the sea in Margate. The waves and the landscape hold many memories for her going back to her childhood, but today it is the place she says heals her - the place where she says she feels invincible.

Produced by Polly Weston


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002zrhw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Feedback (m002zrws)
Radio 4's forum for comments, queries, criticisms and congratulations.


THU 16:00 The Briefing Room (m002zrwv)
David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct977z)
A weekly show exploring science, its mysteries, and the debates it sparks.


THU 17:00 PM (m002zrwy)
Full coverage of the day's news


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002zrx0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 18:30 Icklewick FM (m001vsgv)
Series 1

2. The Queue

Chris and Amy are left scratching their chuffs when a mysterious queue forms in the middle of Icklewick. Concerned mum Sharon L’Beech is furious (as per) but luckily, IcklewickFM’s roving reporter Simon Toke is actually on the scene for once! Too bad he gets immediately swept up in the mass hysteria before he can find out any answers.

Meanwhile, magician and local lad done good The Great Zambino drops into the studio to promote his new tour and confirm he’s definitely, definitely not a virgin.

Mr Patel would like to confirm that there is nothing blue in this episode.

Created and written by Chris Cantrill and Amy Gledhill with additional material from the cast.

Starring:

Lucy Beaumont
Tom Burgess
Tai Campbell
Janice Connolly
Phil Ellis
Colin Hoult
Katia Kvinge
Alex Lowe
Nimisha Odedra
Nicola Redman
Mark Silcox
Shivani Thussu

Sound Design and Music by Jack Lewis Evans.
The Line Producer is Laura Shaw.

Produced by Benjamin Sutton.

Icklewick FM is A Daddy’s SuperYacht Production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 19:00 The Archers (m002zrx2)
One resident faces an emergency dash, and Brad is keen to help.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m002zrx4)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.


THU 20:00 At Your Own Peril (m0027k0v)
The Great Tide

The modern world is full of risks, from natural hazards such as flooding to the existential threat of nuclear war, artificial intelligence and climate change.

With the scientific and technological progress of the past few centuries, we’ve created new hazards that threaten our very survival and in this series, emergency planner and disaster recovery expert Lucy Easthope explores the history of risk to find out how it’s understood, perceived and managed, and to ask how we can become more resilient as individuals, as a society and as a planet.

The North Sea Flood of 1953 - the combination of a high spring tide and a storm surge which swept across the East Coast killing 307 people in England - was described as the worst natural disaster in Britain of the 20th century.

It was also the birth of modern risk management as the state began to recognise its increased responsibility - and accountability - in preventing future disasters.
From cost-benefit analysis and risk assessments to the insurance industry, Lucy Easthope finds out how we protect ourselves from these hazards, and whether there is ever such a thing as a ‘natural’ disaster or if they are always the result of political choices.

Presenter: Lucy Easthope
Producer: Patrick Bernard
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Lucy Easthope is the co-founder of the After Disaster Network in the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience at the University of Durham, Professor in Mass Fatalities and Pandemics at the University of Bath and the author of “When The Dust Settles”.


THU 20:15 The Media Show (m002zrr2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:15 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002zrly)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


THU 21:45 The Cows Are Mad (m001rrj9)
5. D-Day

The truth finally comes out, as the government confirms a new brain disease affecting humans. In late 1995 eminent neurologist John Collinge is brought onto the government advisory panel on BSE. Cases of a new brain disease in humans are confirmed - and it looks the same as BSE in cows. Then the crisis hits.

John Collinge is brought into an underground situation room where the government and its scientific advisors are trying to work out what to tell the public. Everyone involved up to this point has to account for their actions.

Written, presented and produced by Lucy Proctor.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002zrx6)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (m002zrx8)
Episode Four

A classic comic novel from the 18th century.

Life is good to the Reverend Dr Primrose, in his idyllic country parsonage, surrounded by his beloved family. But then his world unravels in a series of misfortunes and calamities.

Episode 4
Dr Primrose and his son are both duped at the fair. And there is a falling out with Mr Burchell.

Oliver Goldsmith was born in Ireland in 1728. The Vicar of Wakefield was published in 1766. An essayist, dramatist and poet, his other works include the play She Stoops to Conquer and the poem An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog. He died in 1774.

Writer: Oliver Goldsmith
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Reader: Edmund Kingsley
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


THU 23:00 Radical (m002zrxb)
Conversations about the global forces reshaping our world and ideas defining the future.


THU 23:30 Artworks (m002hkyd)
Hollywood and The Adland Five

4. The Need for Speed

Director Sir Christopher Nolan and cultural historian Sir Christopher Frayling conclude their exploration of the Adland Five - five British filmmakers who stormed Hollywood in the 1970s and 1980s, after reshaping the world of television advertising.

Hugh Hudson, Adrian Lyne, Alan Parker, Ridley and Tony Scott brought a fresh approach to filmmaking, rooted in an ability to distill complex ideas into simple, impactful narratives. By the mid-1980s they were firmly ensconced in Hollywood, making some of the biggest box office hits of the era.

This episode turns to Tony Scott – the last of the group to break through, but the one who delivered the most spectacular box office success. Top Gun, Tony’s second feature after the cult vampire tale The Hunger, became the defining blockbuster of 1986, pairing cutting-edge aerial spectacle with Reagan-era visions of military might. Hand-picked for the project by producer Jerry Bruckheimer on the strength of a Saab commercial – a car racing a fighter jet – Scott translated advertising bravura into pure Hollywood spectacle.

But if Top Gun represented Hollywood triumph, Hugh Hudson’s path after Chariots of Fire proved more troubled. His lavish Greystoke was dogged by production difficulties, and his next project, the American Revolutionary War drama Revolution starring Al Pacino, was met with critical hostility.

Christopher Nolan reflects on these diverging fortunes, and the wider impact of the Adland Five – five British directors who changed the pace, look and feel of modern cinema.

Producer - Jane Long
Executive Producer - Freya Hellier
Additional research - Edward Charles, Heather Dempsey and Queenie Qureshi-Wales
Sound mix - Jon Calver
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

FRIDAY 07 AUGUST 2026

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002zrxd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Tony Hawks Is Giving Nothing Away (m002fljb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002zrxg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002zrxj)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:00 News Summary (m002zrxl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:04 The Briefing Room (m002zrwv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Thursday]


FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002zrxn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002zrxq)
Go the extra mile

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Rev Carolyn Skinner.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002zrxs)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 06:00 Today (m002zs0v)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m002zrj8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002zs0x)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002zs0z)
The Dark Arts of Affinage

There are many ways to age a cheese so how best to refine its flavours over time? Welcome to the art of affinage - a French term that translates as "refining" a cheese - and a practice that is starting to take off in the UK. Sheila Dillon attends a competition to find the Affineur of the Year and discovers that the way you age a cheese can dramatically change its taste and texture. A cheddar can become more like a comté by changing the temperature, humidity and length of the ripening process. She hears from practitioners who regularly wash and turn their cheeses. Some have buried cheeses in coal holes, covered them in hay or even played them music to find new way of making old cheeses taste differently. Experimentation with these techniques have led to new cheeses entering the market. In this programme the dark arts of affinage will be revealed.

Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Robin Markwell


FRI 11:45 Tony Hawks Is Giving Nothing Away (m002flm0)
5. Finding Balance

Tony Hawks is a very lucky man. He has done well in life, thanks to luck, hard work, plus many years of writing, travelling and making people laugh on BBC Radio 4. But he doesn’t fancy a nice car. He’s not into flashy holidays. And he doesn’t want to pass any of the money he’s earned down to his only child.

Tony acknowledges that he’s aspirational. But he aspires to do good, not to accumulate. And that’s the legacy he wants to leave to his son. Not money. Because, in Tony’s opinion, money passed down through inheritance corrupts aspiration, it corrupts ambition, and it has a corrosive effect on personality.

What’s more, he believes inheritance has a harmful effect on society - it perpetuates inequality and makes a mockery of equal opportunity. In short, Tony is dead against it.

If Tony were to leave just money to his young son, would it give his boy a vital leg-up or would it take away his drive and motivation to achieve things on his own terms?

The series follows Tony’s efforts to make a decision about his will, his son and his money. He argues for a radical shift away from the idea of inheritance. But is it even possible in today's world?

Inheritance is a complex issue that sits at the heart of British society. And it’s about to become a whole lot more pressing as we face the biggest transfer of wealth in history. The Baby Boomers are dying out and they will be leaving vast sums of money to the next generations over the coming decades.

Speaking to Lord David Willetts from the Resolution Foundation, Tony hears about some possible solutions to the financial divide between the generations. Tony also speaks with psychotherapist Vicky Reynal and comedian Russell Kane to get some clarity on his final decision.

In this final episode of his series, Tony wonders if there’s a more balanced way of looking at the problem of inheritance that might help him come to a decision about what to leave his son.

Presenter: Tony Hawks

Producer: Tom Woolfenden

Editor: Kirsten Lass

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m002zs11)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 AntiSocial (m002zs13)
Peace talks for the culture wars. In an era of polarisation, propaganda, and pile-ons, Adam Fleming helps you work out what the arguments are really about.


FRI 12:57 Weather (m002zs15)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m002zs17)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


FRI 13:45 The Bare Necessities (m002ztzy)
5. From Tree to Sea

We are living in turbulent times and it is easy to feel anxious about the state of the world. The pace of change is fast, and the future often seems uncertain and out of our control. Given our reliance on technology, any sort of outage could be catastrophic. Could you survive - and thrive - in a world without global supply chains, the internet and 24-hour energy?

In this series the writer Dan Richards seeks out the tradition bearers and carriers of ancient knowledge who actively choose to live in close connection with the natural world around them. A return to first principles of what it means to be human and the kind of people you would like to be around if things fell apart.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m002zrx2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (m002yzjk)
Central Intelligence: Series 3

Episode 5

Soviet nuclear power is growing, and LBJ wants answers. Inside the CIA, Eloise Page and Richard Helms are trying to bring the Agency into a new age of intelligence: satellites, signals, analysis and serious tradecraft. But Admiral Raborn needs a triumph of his own — something bold enough to impress the President and prove he belongs in the job. His solution is one of the strangest operations in CIA history: a plan to turn a cat into a listening device. As the CIA reaches for the future with satellites and signals intelligence, Raborn searches for a quick success much closer to the ground — with unpredictable results.

Starring Kim Cattrall, Kelsey Grammer and Johnny Flynn

Eloise Page..........Kim Cattrall
Lyndon Baines Johnson..........Kelsey Grammer
Richard Helms..........Johnny Flynn
Young Eloise Page..........Elena Delia
Cynthia McKelvie..........Rachael Stirling
Bob McNamara..........Rob Benedict
Julia Helms..........Julee Cerda
Helene Boatner..........Carlyss Peer
Desmond Fitzgerald..........Donald Sage MacKay
Dean Rusk..........Joseph Balderrama
Admiral William ‘Red’ Raborn..........Roy McCrerey
Helene Boatner..........Carlyss Peer
Semichastny..........Philipe Bosher
Elizabeth, Richard Helm's Secretary..........Laurel Lefkow

All other parts played by the cast

Original music by Sacha Puttnam

Production:

Written by Greg Haddrick, who created the series with Jeremy Fox

Sound Design and Editing by Adam Woodhams, Andreina Gomez Casanova and John Scott Dryden
Assistant Director: Flynn Hallman
Sonica Studio Sound Engineers: Mat Clark & Paul Clark
Sonica Runner: Lily Lefkow

Director: John Scott Dryden
Producer & Casting Director: Emma Hearn
Executive Producers: Howard Stringer, Jeremy Fox, Greg Haddrick and John Scott Dryden.

A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:45 Living on the Edge (m001npb2)
Corsewall

Ten coastal encounters, presented by Richard King.

Today: a visit to Corsewall lighthouse, near Stranraer, with keeper Barry Miller.

Not simply town or countryside, the coastline is a place apart – attracting lives and stories often overlooked.

In these ten programmes, the writer Richard King travels around the UK coast to meet people who live and work there – a sequence of portraits rooted in distinct places, which piece together into an alternative portrait of the UK: an oblique image of the nation drawn from the coastal edge.

Producer: Martin Williams


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002zs19)
Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002zs1c)
Parys, Anglesey by Fflur Dafydd

Cara meets childhood friend, Rhodri, on Parys Mountain, Anglesey. It’s the spot where they whiled away their teenage years, amidst a strange, coppery landscape that feels more Texan than Welsh. Now they revisit the landscape and their memories for the first time in decades.

A new short story for radio by Fflur Dafydd. Read by Lois Meleri Jones.

Produced by Fay Lomas
Sound design by Rhys Morris.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002zs1f)
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme


FRI 16:30 Sideways (m002zrq6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 17:00 PM (m002zs1h)
Full coverage of the day's news


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002zs1k)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 18:30 Current-ish (m002zs1m)
Episode 3

Lucy Porter and three comedian guests chew over the stories everyone is talking about.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002zs1p)
Writer: Shaun McKenna
Director: Marina Caldarone
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
Jolene Archer … Buffy Davis
Kenton Archer … Richard Attlee
Harrison Burns … James Cartwright
Neil Carter … Brian Hewlett
Amber Gordon … Olivia Bernstone
Ed Grundy … Barry Farrimond
Eddie Grundy … Trevor Harrison
George Grundy … Angus Stobie
Keira Grundy … Mollie Kruczek
Bert Horrobin … David Sterne
Brad Horrobin … Taylor Uttley
Joy Horville … Jackie Lye
Jazzer McCreary … Ryan Kelly
Fallon Rogers … Joanna Van Kampen


FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m002zs1r)
Male Friendship

From the boozy camaraderie of Withnail and I to the awkward co-dependency of Peep Show, the buddy-cop banter of Lethal Weapon to the devastating bond at the heart of The Banshees of Inisherin, how have film and TV reflected changing ideas about masculinity and emotional intimacy?

Interviews with critic Matt Schimkowitz and Withnail and I director, Bruce Robinson.

Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m002zs1t)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities


FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002zrqb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:40 on Wednesday]


FRI 21:00 Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics (m002zrw4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]


FRI 21:30 Shadow World (m002zsxg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002zs1y)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (m002zs22)
Episode Five

A classic comic novel from the 18th century.

Life is good to the Reverend Dr Primrose, in his idyllic country parsonage, surrounded by his beloved family. But then his world unravels in a series of misfortunes and calamities.

Episode 5
After Olivia elopes, Dr Primrose sets out in the country to search of his daughter.

Oliver Goldsmith was born in Ireland in 1728. The Vicar of Wakefield was published in 1766. An essayist, dramatist and poet, his other works include the play She Stoops to Conquer and the poem An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog. He died in 1774.

Writer: Oliver Goldsmith
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Reader: Edmund Kingsley
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 23:30 The Ocean within Us (m002zrqy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Wednesday]