With Archbishop Cormac Murphy O'Connor.

Editor Chris Burns

Richard Uridge presents more characters and stories from the British countryside.
Producer Adrian Holloway.

With John Humphrys and Edward Stourton.
7.25,8.25 Sports News
7.45 Thought for the Day With Canon David Winter.

John Peel takes another wry look at some of the foibles of family life.
Producer Fiona Hill. PHONE: [number removed] E-MAIL: home.truths@bbc.co.uk
WEBSITE: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hometruths

Arthur Smith presents the programme featuring travellers' tales, anecdotes and conversation. Producer Eleanor Garland. PHONE: [number removed] WEBSITE: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/excessbaggage EMAIL: excessbaggage@bbc.co.uk

Mali in West Africa is regarded by many as the cradle of African music. Earlierthis year
Damon Albarn , lead singer of the band Blur, travelled with Oxfam to work with the cream of Mali's musicians. Miranda Sawyer accompanied him, and presents an audio diary of the trip. Producer Matt Hall

Peter Riddell of The Times takes a look behind the scenes at Westminster. Producer Jane Ashley

BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the world headlines. Introduced by Kate Adie. Producer Tony Grant

Paul Lewis with the latest news from the world of personal finance and impartial advice for those trying to make the most of their money.

Simon Hoggart presents highlights of the show during the past year. With Alan Coren ,
Andy Hamilton , Jeremy Hardy , Linda Smith , Francis Wheen and special guests. Repeated from yesterday

Jonathan Dimbleby is joined at the New Art
Gallery in Walsall, West Midlands, by panellists including the Rt Hon Geoffrey Hoon , Secretary of State for Defence. Repeated from yesterday

Jonathan Dimblebytakes listeners' calls and e-mails in response to last night's Any Questions? Producer Lisa Jenkinson. E-MAIL: any.answers@bbc.co.uk

Towards the Age of Discovery. Terry Jones concludes his exploration of medieval maps, finding that it was notjustthe desire to discover new lands which led to accurate sea charts. With the lure of gold and spices, maps took on a new role in the world Of commerce and diplomacy. Producer Mark Rickards

Brandon Thomas's energetic farce - adapted by Jonathan Hall - is performed in front of a packed audience at Manchester Grammar School.

Set in the charmed world of an Oxford College, circa 1892, Jack and Charley are madly in love with the sweetest girls in the world - Amy and Kitty. But how to get through to them before their dastardly guardian, Mr Spettigue, whisks them off to the wilds of Scotland? Salvation appears in the form of a telegram from Charley's longlost benevolent aunt from Brazil, Donna Lucia...

The best of the week on Woman's Hour, presented by Jenni Murray.
E-Mail: [email address removed]
BBC Radio Collection: A variety of Woman's Hour short stories are available on audio cassette from all good retail outlets or [web address removed].

Full coverage and analysis of the day's news, plus the sports headlines. Presented by Dan Damon.

Andrew Collins and regular guests Antonia Quirke and John Huntley review highlights of the film year, while Alan Dein reports from the location of a classic Dickensian Christmas film. Producer Nicki Paxman

Ned Sherrin and guests with the usual eclectic mix of conversation, comedy and music. Producers Ian Gardhouse and Chris Wilson

Tom Sutcliffe and guests cast an eye over the Christmas schedules and the latest film releases to bring you their selection of the unmissable highlights.

In today's wars the journalism is instantaneous-skirmishes from the front line are beamed from a mobile satellite dish in minutes. In the first of two talks, Kate Adie draws on her own experiences in the Gulf War and Afghanistan to consider the implications of reporting on wars as they happen. Shortened repeat from Sunday

If it happened in comedy after the war, not only was Bob Monkhouse there to see it happen, but he wrote about it in his journals. He guides comedy writer Bob Sinfield through his collection of diaries, letters and memories of the comedy greats as he reflects on his own career of over 50 years in comedy.

BBC Radio Collection: Bob Monkhouse at the Beeb is available on audio cassette from all good retail outlets or [web address removed]

And What Alice Found There
The conclusion of Lewis Carroll 's classic, dramatised by Hattie Naylor. Alice is still playing a bizarre game of chess. She needs to escape the fearful Jaberwock so that she can reach the eighth square and fulfil her dreams of becoming queen.
Repeated from Sunday

Michael Buerk chairs a debate in which
Janet Daley , David Starkey , Ian Hargreaves and David Cook cross-examine witnesses who have conflicting views on the moral issues behind one Of the week's controversies. Repeated from Wednesday

Operas are often dismissed these days as old-fashioned and irrelevant, but in reality many of them show how the news agenda of the day affected all levels of society. Huw Edwards uncovers the real-life history behind the scenes of six favourite operas.
3: Boris Godunov. Musorgsky's opera was written in the 19th century, but its real-life story and vivid portrayal of the Russian people have made it a timeless drama of the whole Russian experience. Producer Martin Smith (R)

Comic Verse. Guest poets Kit Wright and Sophie Hannah join poet laureate Andrew Motion to discuss the use of humour in poetry, with examples from Alexander Pope to their own work. Rptd from Sunday

Five tales by writers at the Cheltenham Festival of Literature. 3: Salt. The story of an accidental murder, from Jane Rogers 's acclaimed novel, Island. Producer Sara Davies (R)