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: 06/08/2009

06/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Shipping Forecast, 06/08/2009Close 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: 06/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - News Briefing, 06/08/2009Close menu

Prayer for the Day

Prayer for the Day: 06/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Prayer for the Day, 06/08/2009

Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Marjory Maclean.

Farming Today

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

Farming Today: 06/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 06/08/2009

Anna Hill hears the weather predictions for what's left of the summer.

Anna Hill hears the weather predictions for what's left of the summer and finds out why soft fruit farmers have done so well this year.

As it has for the last couple of years, wet weather has dominated the harvest. As a result, it is way behind schedule and farmers are keeping their fingers crossed at each weather forecast. Anna Hill hears predictions for what's left of the summer and finds out why soft fruit farmers have done so well in 2009.

Presented by Anna Hill. Producer Anna Varle

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: 06/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Today, 06/08/2009

Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.

With James Naughtie and Evan Davis. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.

Presented by James Naughtie and Evan Davis.

Media consultant and presenter Steve Hewlett analyses ITV's financial results.

Grant Shapps MP and Jo Webber, of the NHS Confederation, discuss whether NHS provision of IVF has declined.

Jonathan Beale investigates Bill Clinton's future as an international diplomatic troubleshooter.

Dr Paul Cornish, of Chatham House, discusses the alleged 2.5 billion pounds a year wasted by the Ministry of Defence.

Economists Jim O'Neill and David Kern discuss if the Bank of England should press ahead with quantitative easing.

Andrew Hosken reports on the importance of cricket as a unifying force in war-torn Sri Lanka.

Thought for the Day with Dom Anthony Sutch, a Benedictine monk.

Paul Farmer, of the mental health charity Mind, and Keir Starmer QC discuss if victims of crime with mental health issues are taken seriously in courts.

ITV chief operating officer John Cresswell says the company can find its way out of a 'pretty severe ad recession'.

Tony Travers, of the London School of Economics, and Joan Bakewell, the government's Voice of Older People, debate whether free bus passes should be means tested for all elderly people.

Reporter Nicola Stanbridge talks to British musicians who have found fame in France but remain unknown back home.

Quentin Davies MP, Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, discusses the current state of defence procurement.

Reporter Phil Greer witnesses a monument to former Poet Laureate Alfred Tennyson being unveiled on the Isle of Wight.

Michael Lang, co-creator of the Woodstock Festival, and Mark Ellen, of Word magazine, discuss how the character of music festivals has changed over the years.

Sanchia Berg investigates the effect of the end of ringfencing in the 'supporting people' budget.

Frank Evans, the bullfighter known in Spain as El Ingles, discusses his life as a British matador.

Presented by Evan Davis and James Naughtie. 
6.25, 7.25, 8.25 Sports News 
7.48 Thought for the Day With Dom Antony Sutch.

Inside the Ethics Committee

Joan Bakewell and a panel of experts wrestle with the ethics of a real-life medical case.

Joan Bakewell is joined by a panel of experts to wrestle with the ethics arising from a real-life medical case.

Inside the Ethics Committee: Series 5

Inside the Ethics Committee: Series 5: Episode 4: Terminally Ill and Suicidal

Episode 4

Episode 4: Terminally Ill and Suicidal

Series 5

Terminally Ill and Suicidal

BBC Radio 4 - Inside the Ethics Committee, Series 5, Terminally Ill and Suicidal

Should a terminally-ill and suicidal woman be monitored against her will?

The case of Mary, a terminally-ill and suicidal woman who doesn't want any medical or palliative care. Should she be monitored against her will?

Joan Bakewell discusses the real-life case of Mary, a terminally-ill woman in her 80s. She has considered her condition and has decided that she wants to die.

She is admitted to a hospice for respite care. On the first night she attempts suicide. The psychiatric team, who assess Mary, conclude that she is not clinically depressed.

Mary talks quite openly with her relatives and the medical staff about her wish to die, describing her existence as inconvenient. She also asks members of the team for euthanasia. 

While at the hospice she refuses palliative care, and, as her condition is stable, she decides to go home and employ a full-time carer.

But the psychiatric staff are very concerned. Mary continues to talk of her death wish, and she has asked the psychiatric team to leave her alone when she goes home. 

What right does Mary have to determine how her life ends? What is the role of her doctors, and should she attempt suicide again? Is not doing anything the equivalent of a policeman walking past and ignoring a man who is about to jump off a building? 

Joan Bakewell is joined by a panel of experts to discuss the complex ethical issues surrounding this case.

Joan Bakewell and a panel of experts examine the ethics involved in a real hospital case

Joan Bakewell is joined by a panel of experts to tackle the ethics involved in a real hospital case

Inside the Ethics Committee: Terminally Ill and Suicidal

4/4. Joan Bakewell puts a real life case to a panel of decision-makers. Mary is a terminally ill woman who doesn't want any medical or palliative care and has attempted suicide on one occasion. She isn't depressed, but should she be monitored against her Will? Repeated at 9pm

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: Martin Stannard - Muriel Spark: The Biography

Book of the Week: Martin Stannard - Muriel Spark: The Biography: Episode 4

Martin Stannard - Muriel Spark: The Biography

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, Martin Stannard - Muriel Spark: The Biography, Episode 4

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie earns Spark critical and commercial success.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie earns Spark critical and commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic. Read by Hannah Gordon. From August 2009.

Hannah Gordon reads from Martin Stannard's biography of the acclaimed Scottish novelist, written with full access to her letters and papers.

Spark's life is transformed by the publication of her fifth novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which gained critical and commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic when it was published in 1961.

Abridged by Rosemary Goring.

Martin Stannard's biography of the acclaimed Scottish novelist

Daily Service

Led by the Rev Dr Martyn Atkins. 'Tis Good, Lord, to Be Here! (Carlisle). Luke 9, vv28-36. Holy Is the True Light (Harris). From Glory to Glory Advancing (Sheen).

Book of the Week: Muriel Spark: the Biography

4/5. Spark's life is transformed by the publication of her fifth novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which gained critical and commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic in 1961. By Martin Stannard. 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: Harriet Harman; Isabelle Huppert; Laura Marling

Harriet Harman; Isabelle Huppert; Laura Marling

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Harriet Harman; Isabelle Huppert; Laura Marling

Harriet Harman on being in the spotlight. Plus Laura Marling sings live.

Harriet Harman on being in the spotlight. Plus, French actress Isabelle Huppert on her career; and live music from 19 year old singer songwriter Laura Marling.

Woman's Hour: Harriet Harman

Villette 4110

The Woman's Hour drama. 
For details see drama repeat at 7.45pm

Crossing Continents

Series focusing on foreign affairs issues

Crossing Continents: Southern Sudan

Southern Sudan

BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Southern Sudan

Grant Ferrett investigate claims that Sudan is sliding back to civil war.

Four years after a peace deal was agreed, Grant Ferrett travels to Southern Sudan to investigate claims that Africa's biggest nation is sliding back to civil war.

While the world's attention has focused on the conflict in Darfur, an older and even bloodier conflict between the Muslim north and mainly Christian south of Sudan is in danger of reigniting. Four years after a peace deal was agreed, Grant Ferrett travels to Southern Sudan to investigate claims that Africa's biggest nation is sliding back to civil war.

4/9. Southern Sudan. While the world's attention has focused on the conflict in Darfur, an older and even bloodier conflict between the Muslim north and mainly Christian south of Sudan is in danger of re-igniting. Four years after a peace deal was agreed, Grant Ferrett travels to southern Sudan to investigate claims that Africa's biggest nation is sliding back to civil war. 
Producer Andy Denwood Repeated on Monday at 8.30pm

Billy Liar: Fifty Years On

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Billy Liar: Fifty Years On

Blake Morrison goes in search of the world evoked by Keith Waterhouse's novel Billy Liar.

4 Extra Debut. Blake Morrison explores the world evoked by Keith Waterhouse's novel - the north of England on the cusp of the 1960s. From August 2009.

As a tribute to the late Keith Waterhouse, writer Blake Morrison goes in search of the world evoked by his best-loved novel, Billy Liar: the north of England on the cusp of the 1960s. The story of a frustrated young man in a northern town who escapes from reality into vivid fantasies of power and glory, Billy Liar captured the public imagination. It became a play, a film, a musical and even a TV series. 

Blake travels to Leeds to explore the way in which Waterhouse's life there overlaps with Billy's story, and talks to long-term residents and local historians about how the city, and the society depicted in the novel, has changed. The programme also features contributions from Barbara Taylor Bradford, Barry Cryer and Sir Gerald Kaufman MP.

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.

Billy Liar: 50 Years On

Writer Blake Morrison travels to Leeds in search of the world depicted in Keith 
Waterhouse's Billy Liar , which told the story of a frustrated young man in the north of England on the cusp of the 1960s. Novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford explains why she feels Billy is almost Waterhouse's alter ego. 
Comedian Barry Cryer , who grew up in Leeds, explains why comedy appeals to those who want to escape reality. Producer Kate Taylor

You and Yours

You and Yours: 06/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, 06/08/2009

Consumer news and issues with Shari Vahl. Including Face the Facts presented by John Waite

Consumer news and issues with Shari Vahl. Including Face the Facts, presented by John Waite.

You and Yours: Bus travel

Face the Facts

3/6. Beaten by theBullies. John Waite hears from the victims of bullying and their parents who say schools aren't doing enough to tackle the problem. Producer of face the Facts Joe Kent 
Face the Facts is repeated on Sunday at 9pm

Weather

Weather: 06/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Weather, 06/08/2009Close menu

World at One

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

World at One: 06/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - World at One, 06/08/2009

National and international news with Shaun Ley.

The World at One

Questions, Questions

Problem-solving programme addressing listeners' questions

Problem-solving programme which addresses the intriguing and seemingly imponderable questions posed by everday life

Questions, Questions: 06/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Questions, Questions, 06/08/2009

Stewart Henderson answers those intriguing questions from everyday life.

Stewart Henderson answers those intriguing questions from everyday life.

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

3/6. Stewart Henderson answers listeners' queries about life's little conundrums. 
Producer Kevin Dawson PHONE: [number removed] EMAIL:questions.questions@>bbc.co.uk

The Archers

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

The Archers: 05/08/2009

05/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - The Archers, 05/08/2009

Jennifer goes to see Peggy, to ask why she seems to be being so careful with money. Slightly defensive, Peggy admits that she had a cash-flow crisis when paying the agency but insists that it's all resolved now. However, when Jennifer pushes the matter, Peggy admits she would appreciate Brian looking at her finances.

Kirsty warns Helen against meddling in Annette's life. Annette may not have found out about Helen's outburst at Jazzer but if she did, she'd be angry with Helen for meddling.

While Helen and Tom work in the polytunnels, Tom tells Helen about Brenda's fracas with Vicky. Tony comes to help them, but sees that Tom and Helen have everything under control. Tom again encourages his dad to take a holiday, but Tony remains unsure. When Tom rebukes Helen for not encouraging Tony to take a week off, it's clear that Helen doesn't relish the idea of running the farm without her parents again. But when Tom finds a cheap holiday in Turkey, Tony jumps at the idea. Helen has to face another week of working overtime, and with no choice but to encourage Tony and Pat to go and have a good time. 

Episode written by Tim Stimpson.

Drama on 4

Drama from BBC Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra.

Afternoon Play

Drama on 4: Normal and Nat

Normal and Nat

BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Normal and Nat

Debbie Oates' drama about a girl who hears voices, with original music by Carol Donaldson.

Debbie Oates' drama about a girl whose life spirals out of control when she begins to hear voices. With original music by Carol Donaldson.

Normal and Nat by Debbie Oates 
with original music by Carol Donaldson
When Nat describes hearing voices in her head, her life spirals out of control, until a sympathetic teacher helps to unlock the obsessive musical way in which Nat thinks.

NAT.....................................Rebecca Ryan
MISS DAVIES........................Elizabeth Berrington
MIX.....................................Jamil Thomas
SHANICE..............................Wunmi Mosaku
JANE..........................................Sue Devaney
PAUL / HEADTEACHER.........David Fleeshman
PIANIST................................Jonathan Scott
THE VOICE IN NAT'S HEAD .....Emma Johnson.

With Chorlton High School Choir and The RNCM Gospel Choir.

Directed by Nadia Molinari
Radio Drama North.

Afternoon Play: Normal and Nat

When Nat describes hearing voices in her head, her life spirals out of control. until a sympathetic teacher helps to unlock the obsessive musical way in which she thinks. By Debbie Oates.     
Music by Carol Donaldson ; Producer/Director Nadia Molinari

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: WWII Secrets of The Peak District

01/08/2009

WWII Secrets of The Peak District

BBC Radio 4 - Open Country, WWII Secrets of The Peak District

Matt Baker discovers the Second World War secrets of the Peak District.

Matt Baker discovers the Second World War secrets of the Peak District with archaeologist Dr Bill Bevan and Dambusters enthusiast Vic Hallam, and takes a trip to the mysterious Burbage Moor.

Matt Baker discovers the Second World War secrets of the Peak District. 

Nestled away in the Peak District are two Second World War 'training grounds'. The first is the Derwent Valley, with the wide open dam that heard the roar of Lancaster bombers as they prepared for the historic Dambuster raids. 

The second is the lesser known Burbage Valley, where in secrecy, British and Canadian troops were trained for war, leaving their battle scars across the landscape. Burbage Valley is also home to one of the first bomber decoys in the country. In an extroadinary bid to distract German bombers, a mini-Sheffield was built. This hoax site comprised an elaborate arrangement of lights and fires contained in baskets and trenches that were designed to replicate Sheffield's railway marshalling yards as seen from the air at night. This 'model city' was set into action by brave Sheffield men who had to run straight into the decoy to activate it, knowing full well that if they were successful it could mean that they were running to their own graves.

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: Prisoners of Conscience

02/08/2009

Prisoners of Conscience

BBC Radio 4 - Radio 4 Appeal, Prisoners of ConscienceSearch BBC

Zoë Wanamaker appeals on behalf Prisoners of Conscience.

Zoe Wanamaker appeals on behalf Prisoners of Conscience.

Zoe Wanamaker appeals on behalf Prisoners of Conscience. 

Donations to Prisoners of Conscience should be sent to FREEPOST BBC Radio 4 Appeal, please mark the back of your envelope Prisoners of Conscience. Credit cards: Freephone 0800 404 8144. If you are a UK tax payer, please provide Prisoners of Conscience with your full name and address so they can claim the Gift Aid on your donation worth another 25 per cent. The online and phone donation facilities are not currently available to listeners without a UK postcode. 

Registered Charity No: 213766.

Perspectives

Perspectives: Episode 3: Attendance

Episode 3

Episode 3: Attendance

Attendance

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Perspectives, AttendanceSearch BBC

By Elizabeth Reeder. A man makes a life-changing decision as his lover tends to a relative

By Elizabeth Reeder. A man comes to a life-changing decision as he observes his lover tending to a dying relative. Read by Robin Laing.

Stories about seeing the familiar with new eyes.

3/3. Attendance. A man comes to a life-changing decision as he observes his lover tending to a dying relative. Robin Lain reads the story by Elizabeth Reeder. For details see Tuesday

The Romantic Road: On the Trail of the German Philosophers

The Romantic Road: On the Trail of the German Philosophers: Episode 4: Human, All Too Human

Episode 4: Human, All Too Human

Human, All Too Human

BBC Radio 4 Extra - The Romantic Road: On the Trail of the German Philosophers, Human, All Too Human

Stephen visits Naumburg, where Nietzsche spent part of his youth.

4 Extra Debut. Writer Stephen Plaice visits Naumburg, in the former East Germany, associated with philosopher Frederick Nietzsche. From August 2009.

Writer Stephen Plaice takes a journey through the German cities where the great philosophers of the 19th century lived and worked, exploring the impact that these thinkers have had on each stage of his life. Along the way, he reflects on the Germany which has been locked away behind the two World Wars, and examines our contemporary prejudices towards Germans.

Stephen visits the Nietzsche House in Naumburg, in the former East Germany, where Nietzsche spent part of his youth and where he returned at the onset of his madness. 

He meets the head of the Nietzsche Archive, Rüdiger Schmidt Grepaly, and Fellow in residence Stefan Wilke. The archive is housed in the house where Nietzsche died, having been removed to Weimar by his ambitious sister Elizabeth Förster Nietzsche on the death of their mother.

Grepaly and Wilke explain the triangular relationship between Nietzsche, his friend, the psychologist Paul Rey, and a beautiful and brilliant young student Lou Andreas Salome. The relationship ended in disaster for Nietzsche when the other two abandoned him to a life of hermetic isolation.

Stephen compares this relationship to the three-cornered friendship between himself, his Nietzschean school friend Kevin and Maja, a beautiful doctor's daughter, when they all lived in Zurich in the late 1970s. Stephen's romantic hopes were finally dashed when Maja declines to accompany him on a nocturnal ski sortie across a frozen lake in the Alps, close to where Nietzsche wrote many of his major works. In the freezing temperatures, the limitations of the Nietzschean path become all too apparent to the lonely skier. 

Stephen is reunited with Maja in Berlin. They recall Kevin and the events of that time together. Stephen realises he was unable to live up to Nietzsche's demand that man should transcend his humanity and become the Superman.

A journey through the German cities where the great philosophers of the 19th century lived

The writer Stephen Plaice takes a journey through the German cities where the great philosophers of the 19th century lived and worked.

The Romantic Road: on the Trailof the German Philosophers

4/5. Human All Too Human. On the fourth stage of Stephen Plaice 's philosophical tour of Germany, the writer visits the Nietzsche House in Naumburg in Sachsen-Anhalt in the former East Germany, where the philosopher spent part of his youth and where he returned at the onset of his madness. For details see Monday

Bookclub

Led by James Naughtie, readers talk to acclaimed authors about their best-known novels

Led by James Naughtie, a group of readers talk to acclaimed authors about their best-known novels

Bookclub: CJ Sansom

CJ Sansom

BBC Radio 4 - Bookclub, CJ Sansom

James Naughtie and readers talk to bestselling writer CJ Sansom about Dissolution.

4 Extra Debut. Tudor crime writer CJ Sansom talks to readers about his first Shardlake novel, Dissolution. With James Naughtie. From August 2009.

James Naughtie and readers meet the best-selling writer CJ Sansom. They discuss Dissolution, the first in his series of Tudor mysteries featuring the investigator Matthew Shardlake. 

Shardlake is sent to Sussex to investigate a murder in a monastery, just as Henry VIII is beginning his reformation of the Church.

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: 06/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Material World, 06/08/2009

Psychopathy under the microscope; mice without mothers; drones at war.

Brain scans start to probe what is different about criminal psychopaths; mice grown, egg-free, from single skin cells; the technology that makes remote-control war possible.

UK researchers have managed to scan the brains of a handful of criminal psychopaths, in an attempt to understand what makes their minds different.

Three research groups have managed to grow adult mice from re-programmed skin cells

As unmanned drones allow Nevada-based soldiers to fight remote war in Afghanistan, Quentin Cooper hears about the technological and ethical challenges.

Material World: Mice skin cells

The Material World

Quentin Cooper explores topical scientific issues.

Afternoon news and current affairs programme

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

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Shipping Forecast

06/08/2009

Genres

Brand

Villette 4110

Face the Facts

Contributors

Weather

06/08/2009

Genres

Brand

Weather

06/08/2009

Genres

Brand

Shipping Forecast

06/08/2009

Genres

Formats

Brand

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