BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Shipping Forecast

The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping

Shipping Forecast: 12/06/2008

12/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Shipping Forecast, 12/06/2008Close menu

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

News Briefing

News Briefing: 12/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - News Briefing, 12/06/2008Close menu

Prayer for the Day

Prayer for the Day: 12/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Prayer for the Day, 12/06/2008

Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Jenny Wigley.

Farming Today

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

Farming Today: 12/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 12/06/2008

News and issues in rural Britain with Anna Hill.

Today

Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme; including Thought for the Day

Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme; including religious reflections from Thought for the Day at 0748

Today: 12/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Today, 12/06/2008

Including Yesterday in Parliament; Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.

With James Naughtie and Sarah Montague. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.

Presented by Sarah Montague and James Naughtie.

Business secretary John Hutton explains the government's plans to deal with existing radioactive waste and talks about the next generation of nuclear power stations.

Documents obtained by the BBC suggest the Zimbabwean military is actively involved in running the re-election campaign for Robert Mugabe. Ian Pannell has spent time inside the country, investigating the election tactics used by ZANU-PF, the ruling party.

The government won the vote on 42-day detention for terrorism suspects by nine votes. DUP MP Gregory Campbell explains how DUP members were persuaded to vote in favour of the bill. Ben Wright reports from Westminster on a day of deals.

Environmental groups criticise the government's plans to build a giant tidal barrage across the river Severn estuary to generate energy. Jeremy Cooke reports from a helicopter over the proposed site.

Thought for the Day: With Reverend Angela Tilby, a vicar in Cambridge.

The share prices of large home building companies have fallen dramatically. John Slaughter of the Home Builders Federation says the government must act.

What shape will the debate on the Counter-Terrorism Bill take in the Lords? Former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith and Lord Carlile give their views.

An intelligence official has been suspended after leaving sensitive documents relating to al-Qaeda on a commuter train. The person who found them sent them to the BBC. Security correspondent Frank Gardner broke the story.

Dan Griffiths revisits Sichuan province in south-west China one month after the earthquake that killed nearly 90,000 people. 

The government wants children to start spending school time watching films. Reporter Rebecca Jones explains the government's motivation.

With Sarah Montague and James Naughtie. 
6.25,7.25,8.25 Sports News 6A5 Yesterday in Parliament 
With Sean Curran and David Wilby. 
7.48 Thought for the Day With the Rev Angela Tilby. 
8.31  Yesterday in Parliament

In Our Time

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.

In Our Time: The Riddle of the Sands

The Riddle of the Sands

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, The Riddle of the Sands

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the prescient thriller about Anglo-German relations.

Melvyn Bragg discusses the prescient thriller ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ and the decline Anglo-German relations before the First World War.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discusses the prescient thriller ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ about the decline Anglo-German relations before the First World War. In 1903 an Englishman called Charles Caruthers went sailing in the North Sea and stumbled upon a German military plot. The cunning plan was to invade the British Isles from the Frisian Islands using special barges. The plucky Caruthers foiled the plot and returned to his sailing holiday.This is not history but fiction, an immensely popular book called ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ by Erskine Childers. It was a prescient vision of two nations soon to fight the First World War but it went against the spirit of the previous century. Brits and Germans had fought together at Waterloo and had influenced profoundly each other’s thought and art. They even shared a royal family. Yet somehow victory at Waterloo and the shared glories of Romanticism became the mutual tragedy of the Somme.With Richard Evans, Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge; Rosemary Ashton, Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College London and Tim Blanning, Professor of Modern European history at The University of Cambridge.

The Riddle of the Sands. Melvyn Bragg and guests Rosemary Ashton, Tim Blanning and Richard Evans discuss the decline of Anglo-German relations after Waterloo, culminating in the outbreak of war in 1914.
Shortened repeat at 9.30pm

Book of the Week

Serialised book readings, featuring works from various genres

Serialised book readings, featuring works of non-fiction, biography, autobiography, travel, diaries, essays, humour and history

Book of the Week: The Black Death

Book of the Week: The Black Death: Episode 4

Episode 4

The Black Death

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, The Black Death, Episode 4

The bells of Walsham ring unceasingly for each new soul that falls foul of the plague.

John Hatcher's account of a typical English village during the worst epidemic in history. By the end of April 1349, the bells of Walsham ring unceasingly for each new casualty.

John Hatcher's account of a typical English village in the worst epidemic in history

John Hatcher's account of how the people of a typical English village lived and died in the worst epidemic in history

Daily Service

Led by Mike Ford. He Who Would Valiant Be 
(Monks Gate). Acts 13, vv32-43. If We Believe (Goss). Ye That Know the Lord Is Gracious (Abbots Leigh).

Book of the Week:The Black Death

4/5. Normal life for the villagers ends by the last week of April 1349, when the bells of Walsham ring unceasingly for each new death from the plague. By John Hatcher. For details see Monday Repeated at 12.30am

Woman's Hour

Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.

Woman's Hour: Margaret Tyzack; Women gambling; Homosexuality in India

Margaret Tyzack; Women gambling; Homosexuality in India

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Margaret Tyzack; Women gambling; Homosexuality in India

Actor Margaret Tyzack on her long and distinguished career. With Jenni Murray.

Actor Margaret Tyzack on her long and distinguished career. Plus the popularity of gambling amongst women, and how do gay women cope in India where homosexuality is criminalised?

With Jenni Murray. 
10.45 Paid Servant 4/5 
The Woman's Hour drama. 
For details see drama repeat at 7.45pm

From Our Own Correspondent

Kate Adie introduces insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents and writers.

Kate Adie introduces insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers telling stories from around the world.

From Our Own Correspondent: 12/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, 12/06/2008

Kate Adie introduces BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the headlines.

BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the world's headlines. Introduced by Kate Adie.

A lively collection of dispatches from the BBC's foreign correspondents. Presented by KateAdie. Producer Tony Grant 
RT DIRECT: From Our Own Correspondent is available for £15.99 (RRP £16.99) inc p&p. Call [number removed] (calls from landlines cost no more than 8p per minute)

Bette in Britain

Bette In Britain

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Bette in Britain

Susan George profiles the Hollywood icon's visits to Britain.  From 2008.

Susan George tells the story of Hollywood icon Bette Davis's visits to Britain and her impact on show business here. From 2008.

Susan George profiles Hollywood legend Miss Bette Davis and her visits to Britain  and the impact she had on British actors, directors and producers.  

Reflecting the plotlines of characters she played on screen Bette Davis's visits across the Atlantic left behind stories of success, mystery, court battles, failed marriages and sadness.

Miss Davis starred in several British films and was inspired by our history and influenced by our culture. She came here in the seventies to tour her one-woman show where it has been claimed on a visit to Cardiff she searched for and found her relatives.      

Featuring Davis's memorable appearance at The National Film theatre in London and a look at the time she came to the UK to record an album of songs.

Plus extracts from her British interviews spanning 30 years.

With: 

Wendy Craig
Wyn Calvin
Jimmy Sangster

Producer: Stephen Garner 

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2008.

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Marking the centenary of the birth of Bette Davis, Susan George tells the story of the icon's visits to Britain and the impact she had on British actors, directors and producers. She came here in the 70s to tour her one-woman show when, it is claimed, she searched for and found her relatives on a visit to Cardiff. Including extracts from her British interviews spanning 30 years. Radio features: pages 136-137

You and Yours

You and Yours: 12/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, 12/06/2008

Consumer news and issues with Liz Barclay and Peter White.

Presented by Liz Barclay and Peter White.

There's been a dramatic decline in applications for physiotherapy training places. Admissions co-ordinator Vanda Fenn, physiotherapy graduate Samantha Haw and Simon Gillespie of the MS Society discuss why.

A new report from the Transport Select Committee says that whether or not you get a blue badge often depends on where you live. We speak to Louise Ellman MP and Transport Select Committee Chairman.

Plus a Barnsley baker sells Brioche to the French.

Weather

Weather: 12/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Weather, 12/06/2008Close menu

World at One

Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.

World at One: 12/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - World at One, 12/06/2008

National and international news with Martha Kearney.

The World at One

Open Country

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of Britain

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of the British Isles

Open Country: 07/06/2008

07/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Open Country, 07/06/2008

Elinor Goodman visits a National Trust owned common at Minchinhampton in Gloucestershire.

Countryside magazine. Elinor Goodman visits Minchinhampton in Gloucestershire, where mountain bikers, riders, walkers, and rare plant species all compete for space.

A report from Gloucestershire where rare plants and humans compete for space. Repeated from Saturday at 6.07am

The Archers

An intense and gripping week of events unfolds in Ambridge. Listen to all the drama here.

The Archers: 11/06/2008

11/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - The Archers, 11/06/2008

Brian isn't really interested in the interview questions Will has prepared, and it's clear that Will's not going to have any input into the decision making. Brian has made his mind up - and they're going with his choice.

Eddie is trying the new cheese. Oliver's pleased to hear Eddie would buy it but his pleasure is short-lived when he realises Eddie's motive is to keep Ed in a job! Later, Helen presents Oliver with the feedback from the taste testing. Oliver is extremely disappointed with the results and doesn't want to go on. Helen tries to talk him round but he won't budge, and is very downhearted. Helen tries to persuade him to go to Ruth's party.

Usha talks to Alan about her father's visit. It's made her realise just how much her father has to cope with looking after her mother, and Usha's delighted when Alan agrees to a Hindu ceremony alongside their marriage at St Stephen's. Later, Dr Gupta leaves for Wolverhampton. He and Usha share an emotional goodbye. Although his parting with Alan is a little more formal, the visit has enabled Dr Gupta to feel a good deal warmer towards his future son-in-law. 

Episode written by Joanna Toye.

Drama on 4

Drama from BBC Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra.

Afternoon Drama

Drama on 4: Nichola McAuliffe - The Incomparable Witness

Nichola McAuliffe - The Incomparable Witness

BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Nichola McAuliffe - The Incomparable Witness

In 1910, pathologist Bernard Spilsbury is called in to work on the trial of Dr Crippen.

In 1910, pathologist Bernard Spilsbury is called in to work on the murder trial of Dr Crippen. Stars Timothy Watson.

The Incomparable Witness

Nichola McAuliffe's drama about Sir Bernard Spilsbury, the father of modern forensics and the most brilliant scientific detective of all time.

The story focuses on Spilsbury as a young man and the case that made his name, the infamous trial of Doctor Crippen in 1910.

Edith (Narrator) ...... Joanna David
Bernard Spilsbury ...... Timothy Watson
Edith (1900-1910) ...... Honeysuckle Weeks
Willcox ...... Dan Starkey
Lord Chief Justice ...... John Rowe
Dr Pepper/Muir ...... Sam Dale
Turnbull ...... Stephen Critchlow
Tobin ...... Chris Pavlo
George ...... Nyasha Hatendi
Gertie ...... Helen Longworth

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

Afternoon Play:The Incomparable Witness

Nichola McAuliffe's drama about Sir Bernard Spilsbury - the father of modern forensics and the most brilliant scientific detective of all time. Narrated by his widow Edith, the story focuses on Spilsbury as a young man and the case that made his name - the infamous trial of Dr Crippen in 1910.

Check Up

Medical discussion phone-in programme with weekly guest experts

Medical discussion programme in which listeners phone-in and ask a weekly guest about their particular area of knowledge

Check Up: Strokes

Strokes

BBC Radio 4 - Check Up, Strokes

Advice on strokes and how to recover from them, with Barbara Myers and her expert guest.

Barbara Myers presents the health phone-in. She looks at strokes and how to recover from them with guest Lalit Kalra, Professor of Stroke Medicine at King's College Hospital, London.

Every year about 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke. 

Most people affected are over 65, but anyone can have a stroke, including children and even babies. 

On this edition of Check Up, Barbara Myers puts listeners' questions about strokes to Lalit Kalra, Professor of Stroke Medicine at King's College Hospital, London. 

Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the UK. It is also a leading cause of severe adult disability. More than 250,000 people live with disabilities caused by stroke. 

A stroke is what happens when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. Without a blood supply, essential nutrients and oxygen can’t get to the brain’s cells and they become damaged or die. 

A stroke is sudden and the effects on the body are immediate. 

The person will be affected according to which part of the brain is damaged: if a stroke damages the part of the brain that controls speech or how limbs move then limb movement or speech will be affected.  A stroke can also affect how people feel. 

Strokes are caused either by a blockage, when a clot blocks an artery that carries blood to the brain, or when a blood vessel bursts causing a bleed into the brain. 

Symptoms of stroke include numbness, weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, slurred speech or difficulty finding words or understanding speech, sudden blurred vision or loss of sight, confusion or unsteadiness or a severe headache. 

Paramedics are trained use FAST - the Face, Arm, Speech Test - but anyone can look at these key areas affected by stroke to decide whether a friend or relative needs to get to hospital quickly to be assessed. 

Tests including scans should be carried out quickly to assess the cause of the stroke.  Blood-thinning drugs may be given where a clot is involved. 

A so-called mini-stroke or TIA (Transient Ischaemic Attack) shouldn't be ignored as it could lead to a major stroke. Your GP should refer you to a specialist stroke service within 7 days if you have experienced a TIA. 

Following a stroke up to 1/3 of patients are left with a disability - and multi-disciplinary teams can help with rehabilitation and physiotherapy to re-learn skills or overcome any limitations caused by their stroke.

New series 1/6. Around 150,000 people suffer a stroke each year in the UK. Speedy treatment means that more people are surviving, but often their recovery can be long. About a third of people return to near normality after about a month, but others never regain their previous abilities. Barbara Myers 's guest in the studio is Lalit Kalra , professor of stroke medicine at King's College Hospital, London, who takes your calls on the treatment and prevention of Strokes. Producer Paula McGrath PHONE: [number removed] (calls from landlines cost no more than 8p per minute) Lines open from 1.30pm or email via www.bbc.co.uk/radio4

Radio 4 Appeal

Highlighting a charity and appealing for donations. The presenters donate their time.

A weekly programme highlighting the work of a charity and appealing for donations. The presenters give their time without payment.

Radio 4 Appeal: 08/06/2008

08/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - Radio 4 Appeal, 08/06/2008Search BBC

Christopher Biggins appeals on behalf of the Women's Royal Voluntary Service.

Christopher Biggins appeals on behalf of the Women's Royal Voluntary Service. Donations: Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144.

Afternoon Reading

Short stories or abridged books, often from new writers

Afternoon Reading: Wireless Connections

Afternoon Reading: Wireless Connections: Episode 4: Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Episode 4: Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Wireless Connections

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

BBC Radio 4 - Afternoon Reading, Wireless Connections, Heaven Knows I'm Miserable NowSearch BBC

By Kate Pullinger. A man's good intention to send a birthday greeting backfires.

Short stories exploring the phenomenon of personal broadcasting. In Kate Pullinger's story, a man's intention to send a birthday greeting results in his becoming a laughing stock.

Short stories exploring the phenomenon of personal broadcasting

4/5. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now 
A cautionary tale of how one man's good intention to send birthday cheer to a colleague results in his becoming a worldwide laughing stock. Kate Pullinger 's story is read by Billy Boyd. For details see Monday

Cosmic Quest

Cosmic Quest: Episode 14: A Planet Called George

Episode 14

Episode 14: A Planet Called George

A Planet Called George

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Cosmic Quest, A Planet Called George

Astronomer Heather Couper looks at how Herschel doubled the size of the solar system.

Astronomer Heather Couper looks at William Herschel's attempts to chart the cosmos using a homemade telescope, and how he doubled the size of the solar system. From June 2008.

Heather Couper presents a narrative history of astronomy

Astronomer Heather Couper charts the history of our growing understanding of the universe and progress of astronomy.

Cosmic Quest: A Planet Called George

14/30. A Planet Called George - How William Herschel Doubled the Size of the Solar System. Heather Couper reveals how astronomer William Herschel discovered a new planet twice as distant as Saturn and four times larger than the Earth. For details see Monday

Open Book

Programme looking at new fiction and non-fiction books

Programme looking at new fiction and non-fiction books, talking to authors and publishers and unearthing lost classics

Open Book: Susan Hill, Andrei Makine, and The Last Straight Face

Susan Hill, Andrei Makine, and The Last Straight Face

BBC Radio 4 - Open Book, Susan Hill, Andrei Makine, and The Last Straight Face

Mariella Frostrup talks to Susan Hill, whose bestselling novels include The Woman in Black

Mariella Frostrup talks to Susan Hill, whose bestsellers include The Woman in Black. She discusses The Vows of Silence, her latest crime novel featuring detective Simon Serrailler.

Susan Hill
Mariella talks to Susan Hill, whose wide-ranging fictional output includes supernatural thrillers, children's books and now a successful series of crime novels featuring the detective Simon Serrailler. She talks about this creation, and why crime fiction is the perfect way for her to express her own fears about the state of the world.


Andrei Makine
The novelist Paul Bailey joins Mariella to discuss one of his favourite contemporary writers, the Russian émigré Andrei Makine. A decade ago he became the first man to win two of France's most prestigious literary prizes, with the same book, in the process bringing himself to international attention. With his latest novel newly published in English, Paul picks some of his favourite works from Makine's output.


The Last Straight Face
Mariella talks to the authors of a frighteningly authentic fictional take on the criminal world. Eric Allison spent more than fifteen years incarcerated in prisons including Strangeways and Wormwood Scrubs. Now he's the prisons correspondent for a national newspaper and a campaigner for better conditions in British jails. He and his co-writer, the investigative journalist Bruce Kennedy Jones, explain how their knowledge of real criminals influenced their debut.

Author Susan Hill discusses her latest instalment in a sequence of crime novels featuring her detective Simon Serrailler -The Vows of Silence. Presented by Mariella Frostrup. Repeated from Sunday at 4pm

Material World

Science programme reporting on developments across the disciplines

Science programme reporting on developments across the disciplines. Each week, scientists describe their work, conveying the excitement they feel for their research projects

Material World: Seaweed and Iodine - Kamchatka Forest

Seaweed and Iodine - Kamchatka Forest

BBC Radio 4 - Material World, Seaweed and Iodine - Kamchatka Forest

Quentin Cooper looks at the iodine content of seaweed and its connection to local weather.

Quentin Cooper looks at the iodine content of seaweed, its uses for medicinal purposes over the centuries, and its connection to local weather and climate.

Seaweed and Iodine
Seaweed has been used as a medicine as far back as 3,000 B.C but it was only in 1811 it was known seaweed contains large amounts of the halogen iodine. Quentin looks at why the iodine in seaweed may be intimately related to local weather and ultimately climate. A recent study has found that large brown seaweed release a form of iodine to protect itself from intense sunlight or low-lying atmospheric ozone, causing clouds to form. Quentin finds out more about this potentially “Gaia”-like feedback mechanism going on between the seaweed on the seashore and the local climate. Joining him in the studio are Dr Frithjof Küpper of the Scottish Association for Marine Science and Dr Gordon McFiggans from the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences at Manchester University.


Kamchatka Forest
Also in the programme, Quentin finds out about an expedition to the Kamchatka forest in Far East Russia, one of the last wildernesses in the world, to understand its flora and fauna. Over the last ten years, land surface temperatures across Europe have changed relatively little. In contrast, temperatures in Kamchatka have risen by 1-2 degrees. Quentin meets Markus Eichhorn, lecturer in ecology at the University of Nottingham, who is leading the expedition to the Bystrinsky Nature Park in Kamchatka. As well as mapping and understanding one of the few existing terrains on Earth not affected by man, Markus will recording temperatures to see how climate change might affect the region in the future.

Material World: Seaweed and Iodine

The Material World

Quentin Cooper finds out how climate change is impacting on seaweed and its production of iodine.

1968: Day-by-Day

Daniel Cohn-Bendit arrives in London. For details see Saturday

1968 Day by Day

A look back at the events making the news 40 years ago

1968: Day by Day

1968 Day by Day: 12th June 1968

12th June 1968

BBC Radio 4 - 1968 Day by Day, 12th June 1968

Daniel Cohn-Bendit arrives in London. The UN approves the nuclear non-proliferation treaty

John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 40 years ago. Daniel Cohn-Bendit arrives in London. The UN approves the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

Afternoon news and current affairs programme

Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines

PM: 12/06/2008

BBC Radio 4 - PM, 12/06/2008

Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair.

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Shipping Forecast

12/06/2008

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12/06/2008

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1968: Day-by-Day

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1968 Day by Day

12th June 1968

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Weather

12/06/2008

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Shipping Forecast

12/06/2008

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