With Sarah Montague and Edward Stourton.
6.25, 7.25, 8.25 Sports News
7.45 Thought for the Day With Harvey Thomas.

Who would you want to start the year in the company of: Queen Elizabeth I , Charles Darwin ,
Madonna, or Ghandi? Wake up in the company of Jeremy Paxman this first morning in 2001 with his guests Ann Widdecombe , Professor Steve Jones , Rosie Boycott and Professor Jonathan Bate to discovertheir choices in a heated debate from the Royal Society of Arts.
Producer Ariane Koek. Shortened repeated at 9.30pm

With Martha Kearney. Drama: The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan. Part 1 of 5. Editor Ruth Gardiner. E-MAIL: womanshour@bbc.co.uk Drama repeated at 7.45pm

i James Bond was born in the Cold War, but all the old enemies have since disappeared. His world has changed beyond all recognition, but somehow 007 remains up-to-date. Historian j Jeremy Black , with help from KGB double agent j Oleg Gordievski and spy writer Nigel West , i investigates the impact and the politics of Bond.
Producer Miles Warde

The Sweet Little Girt in White. Martin Jarvis performs this classic Richmal Crompton story, the one which introduced William - and the world - to the phenomenon that is Violet Elizabeth Bott. Recorded before an audience at the Everyman Theatre as part of the Cheltenham Festival of Literature.
Children: page 18
Director Pete Atkin. Producer Rosalind Ayres
BBC Radio Collection: Just William, Volume 7is is available on audio i cassette from all good retail outlets and [web address removed]

With James Cox.

Lionel Kelleway presents the quiz which goes in search of Britain's most knowledgeable naturalist. This week the programme comes from Dinton Pastures Country Park, near Reading. Producer Brett Westwood. E-MAIL: nature<s>bbc. co.uk WEBSITE: www.bbc.co.uk/nature

Repeated from yesterday 7pm

By Stephen Wyatt. Eleanor Bron plays Countess D'Aulnoy, who read her fairy tales to enraptured audiences in the salons of 17th-century Paris. The adventures of princesses, serpents, yellow dwarfs and tiny pagods mirrorthe life of the countess, which was as outrageous as the fantasies she fashioned for entertainment.
DirectorClaire Grove

Rptd from yesterday 12.30pm

A Christmas treat for fans of Dead Ringers and I The Archers. Starring Jon Culshaw and Jan Ravens.
Producers Adam Bromley and Bill Dare. Rptd tomorrow llpm
BBC Radio Collection: Dead Ringers is available on CD and audio cassette from all good retail outlets and www.bbcshop.com.

With Dan Damon and Clare English. j

He is the sand castle of an inclement season, the winter equivalent of the scarecrow, and the jolliest of the folk-figure creations - a celebration Of the snowman. Producer Alison Quinn (R)

Nicholas Parsons welcomes in the New Year without hesitation, repetition or deviation. He is joined by Clement Freud , Linda Smith ,
Ross Noble and Tony Hawks at Buxton Opera House. Producer Claire Jones. Repeated Sunday 12.04pm
BBC Radio Collection: Just a Minute is available on audio cassette from all good retail outlets and www.bbcshop.com.

Events marthe anniversary. Repeated tomorrow 2pm The Archers 50th anniversary: page 14

Here's One I Prepared Earlier
From Encounters: New Art from 0/d at the National Gallery to Criar //e'S/4nge/s at the cinema and the sampled hits that top the pop charts, we live in a time when much of our culture reworks art of the past. Mark Lawson investigates the remake. Producer Mohit Bakaya

By Christine de Pizan, translated by Rosalind Brown and dramatised in five parts by Carol McGuigan.

Christine de Pizan was France's first professional woman of letters in the 15th century. This allegorical fantasy about building a fortress for women from the stories and legends of female valour is considered to be her greatest work.

Three deities appear to Christine in her sleep - Reason, Rectitude and Justice. They command her to set about righting male slanders against women by building a city of ladies.

(Repeated from 10.45am)
(Further cast details across the week)

Ned Sherrin presents a selection of poetry, prose and songs dedicated to the Queen Mother. Performed by Eleanor Bron , Leslie Phillips , Andrew Sachs and Peter Greenwell . With reminiscences from biographers Lady Longford and Grania Forbes. Featuring a reading by poet laureate Andrew Motion of his poem, Picture This, written specially for her centenary. Producers Viv Beeby and Miriam Newman (R)

rDeer numbers have rapidly increased in the past
20 years. Todayyou are as likely to see a deer in your back garden in Leeds or Sheffield as you are a squirrel scampering up a tree. Mark Carwardine examines the phenomenon of the urban deer and the factors which contribute to its success in Britain. Producer Sarah Blunt. E-MAIL: nature@bbc.co.uk
WEBSITE: www.bbc.co.uk/nature. Repeated tomorrow 11am

Shortened repeat from 9am

Arthur C. Clarke's ground-breaking novel is read in ten parts by William Roberts. It is set in our present, a vision of a future yet to be, and a past shrouded in mystery.
BBC Radio 4 Books: 2001: A Space Odyssey is available on audio cassette from all good retail outlets and [web address removed]

John Peel looks back over the last year, and forward to an uncertain future of tall tales, haunted houses and evening classes.
(Repeated from Saturday 30 December 9am)

A compilation of this year's commissioned poems for National Poetry Day. Repeated from Christmas Eve 12.30am

Five essays from distinguished writers which form a portrait of the last century.
1: England Your England (1941) by George Orwell , read by Tim Pigott-Smith . "As I write highly civilised human beings are flying overhead tryingto kill me." Orwell challenges what is meant by patriotism. Abridged and produced by Chris Wallis and Jill Waters (R)