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: 17/08/2009

17/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Shipping Forecast, 17/08/2009Close 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: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - News Briefing, 17/08/2009Close menu

Prayer for the Day

Prayer for the Day: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Prayer for the Day, 17/08/2009

Daily prayer and reflection with Monsignor Tony Rogers.

Farming Today

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

Farming Today: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 17/08/2009

Organic farmers in Wales say a cut in subsidy payments will force many to quit.

A shake-up to subsidies for Welsh farmers means some organic producers will lose up to 80 per cent of their payment, which producer groups say will force many out of the industry.

Organic farmers in Wales say they could be forced out of business by changes to their subsidy payment. The Welsh Assembly is replacing three schemes with the new Glastir payment. Farmers say some will lose 80 per cent of their money, making it unviable to keep going. 

We eat more than 800 million ready meals a year in the UK, more than any other country in Europe; Caz Graham asks if we are we about to change our ways.

With Caz Graham. Producer Melvin Rickarby

Weather

Weather: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Weather, 17/08/2009Close menu

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: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Today, 17/08/2009

Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.

With Evan Davis and Edward Stourton. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.

Presented by Edward Stourton and Evan Davis.

General Secretary of Compass Gavin Hayes discusses calls for the government to establish a High Pay Commission.

The World Cancer Research Fund is urging parents not to use processed meats in their children's packed lunches. Lisa Cooney of the WCRF explains the risks.

Journalist and MP Martin Bell explains his plans, alongside former Church of England envoy and hostage Terry Waite, to clean up politics. 

Correspondent Andy Gallagher goes on the hunt for pet pythons released into the wild in Florida.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis and criminal solicitor Rob Brown discuss a new initiative to target drug driving.

Official UFO files are being released online by The National Archives. National Archives consultant Dr David Clarke explains what the newly released records tell us. 

Professor Karol Sikora discusses his view that health systems like the UK's are 'doomed' with Dr Michael Dixon, chair of the NHS Alliance.

Thought for the day with Canon Dr Alan Billings.

Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to run the four-minute mile, discusses Usain Bolt's new world record in the 100m sprint at the World Championships in Berlin.

Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth discusses whether British troops are coping with the mounting casualties in Afghanistan.

The timetable for the release of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, is still being disputed. Scottish political editor Brian Taylor analyses the latest developments. 

John Simpson reports from Kabul on fears that Taliban violence will deter Afghans in the upcoming elections.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell and terrorism expert Andy Hull examine the foreign Secretary David Miliband's remarks that some terrorism is 'justifiable' and 'effective'.

Natalia Antelava reports from Baghdad on a surge in violence against gay men.

Dr Julian McDougall, Reader in Media Education at Newman University College, Birmingham, discusses this much-criticised subject.

London Assembly member Murad Qureshi discusses whether the US embassy can continue to avoid the London congestion charge.

Professor Bernd Greiner discusses the parallels that can be drawn between the Vietnam War and the war in Afghanistan with the journalist and military historian Sir Max Hastings.

With Evan Davis and Edward Stourton. 
6.25,7.25,8.25 Sports News 
7.48 Thought for the Day With Canon Dr Alan Billings.

Peston and the Money Men

Peston and the Money Men: Episode 1: John Gieve

Episode 1

Episode 1: John Gieve

John Gieve

BBC Radio 4 - Peston and the Money Men, John Gieve

Robert Peston talks to former deputy governor of the Bank of England, John Gieve.

Former deputy governor of the Bank of England John Gieve was called on to help form a rescue plan as bank after bank teetered on the brink of collapse.

As the first anniversary of global financial meltdown approaches, the BBC's business editor Robert Peston talks to four key individuals who were in the eye of the storm. Why did they fail to see the warning signs of economic catastrophe and what are the long term consequences? 

As a senior civil servant at the home office, John Gieve had been grilled by select committees over prisoner releases and charged with investigating allegations of ministerial impropriety. But if he had hoped for a graceful denouement at the end of his 40-year career, he was out of luck. 

Gieve joined the Bank of England in 2006; less than two years later he would be called on to help form a rescue plan as bank after bank teetered on the brink of collapse.

Robert Peston talks to four key individuals about the global financial meltdown

The BBC's business editor Robert Peston talks to four key individuals who were in the eye of the storm of the global financial meltdown

New series. 1/4. John Gieve. BBC business editor Robert Peston talks to four key people who were in the eye of the storm when the global financial meltdown occurred, beginning with John Gieve , former deputy governor of the Bank of England. 
Producer Jane Beresford Repeated at 9.30pm

The Call

Dominic Arkwright talks to people who have taken or made life-changing phone calls

The Call: Series 1: Episode 4: The Transplant

Episode 4

Episode 4: The Transplant

Series 1

The Transplant

BBC Radio 4 - The Call, Series 1, The Transplant

Tony Roth had to wait for a call telling him that he could have a heart transplant.

Tony Roth suffered a series of heart attacks and was forced to give up work while waiting for a call telling him that a donor heart was finally available.

Dominic Arkwright talks to people who have taken or made life-changing phone calls. 

Tony Roth suffered his first heart attack when he was in his early 30s. Within six months he had a triple bypass operation, but two more heart attacks and more bypass surgery followed. In failing heath, he was forced to give up work, and waited for the call to tell him that a donor heart was available.

The Call: Series 1

4/5. The Transplant. Dominic Arkwright hears how Tony Roth suffered his first heart attack in his early 30s. Despite triple bypass operations, his health began to fail and he was forced to give up work. He tells Dominic what it was like to wait for the call to tell him a donor heart was available. producer John Byrne

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: My Father's Places

Book of the Week: My Father's Places: Episode 1

My Father's Places

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, My Father's Places, Episode 1

Aeronwy and her parents move into the Boat House in Laugharne.

Aeronwy Thomas' memoir of her childhood, growing up as the daughter of Dylan Thomas. Aeronwy and her parents move into the Boat House in Laugharne.

Sian Thomas reads from Aeronwy Thomas' memoir of her childhood in Laugharne on the south Wales coast with her father, Dylan Thomas, and mother Caitlin. 

Aeronwy and her parents move into the Boat House in Laugharne.

Abridged by Jane Marshall

A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.

Aeronwy Thomas's memoir of her childhood, growing up as the daughter of Dylan Thomas

Sian Thomas reads from Aeronwy Thomas's memoir of her childhood in Laugharne on the south Wales coast with her father, Dylan Thomas, and mother Caitlin

Book of the Week:My Father's Places

1/5. Sian Thomas reads the book by Aeronwy Thomas (who died earlier this month) about growing up in 1940s Wales during the time her father, Dylan Thomas , was at the height of his creativity. Aeronwy moves into the Boat House in Laugharne with her parents Caitlin and Dylan. Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall. Repeated at 12.30am RT DIRECT: My Father's Places is available for £13.49 (RRP £14.99) inc p&p. Call [number removed] (national rate) quoting RTorvisit rtdirect.sparkledirect.com

Daily Service

An act of worship led by the Rev Roy Jenkins from Albany Road Baptist Church, Cardiff. Matthew 25, vv34-40.

Woman's Hour

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

Woman's Hour: Cleavage on show; Ceausescu's Romania

Cleavage on show; Ceausescu's Romania

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Cleavage on show; Ceausescu's Romania

How much cleavage should a woman show? Plus, life in Ceausescu's Romania.

How much cleavage should a woman show? Plus, life in Ceausescu's Romania; and activity camps for bereaved service families.

Five Wedding Dresses

1/5he Woman's Hour drama. 
For details see drama repeat at 7.45pm

Mind Changers

Series exploring the development of the science of psychology during the 20th century

Mind Changers: Arden House

Arden House

BBC Radio 4 - Mind Changers, Arden House

Claudia Hammond revisits Langer and Rodin's 1976 Arden House study.

Claudia Hammond revisits Langer and Rodin's 1976 Arden House study, showing how certain actions can prolong life. From August 2009.

Claudia Hammond presents a series looking at the development of the science of psychology during the 20th century.

She re-visits Ellen Langer and Judith Rodin's 1976 study, conducted in a New England nursing home, Arden House.

When the two psychologists set up the experiment so that residents on two floors of the 360-bed home for the elderly would experience some changes in their everyday life, they had no idea that they were introducing factors which could prolong life. 

While residents on both floors were given plants and film shows, only those on the fourth floor had the opportunity to control these events: choosing the plant and looking after it themselves, and choosing which night of the week to view the film. 

Eighteen months later, when Langer and Rodin returned to the home, they were astonished to discover that twice as many of the elderly residents in this 'choices' group were alive, compared with the control group on the second floor, who had been given plants that the staff tended, and were told which was their film night. It appeared that taking control made you live longer.

These findings fit in well with the work on learned helplessness in dogs which Martin Seligman had done in the late 1960s, and on Langer and Rodin's own studies on the perception of control.

Claudia Hammond meets Ellen Langer, now Professor of Psychology at Harvard, and hears about Arden House and the work she has gone on to do on what she calls 'mindfulness'. She visits Arden House, which is still a nursing home, and is shown around by current administrator Joanne Scafati. 

Dr Zelda Di Blasi, who lectures in psychology at University College, Cork, sets the study in context, and Rosalie Kane, Professor of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, and Howard Kaplan, CEO of City Club Living accommodation for the elderly, discuss the impact of Langer/Rodin on care of the elderly.

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.

4/4. Arden House. Claudia Hammond revisits Ellen Langer and Judith Rodin 's 
1976 study at a New England nursing home, which found that people lived longer when they were able to have some control over their lives. producer Marya Burgess

Hazelbeach

Jamie Foreman stars in Caroline and David Stafford's comedy drama.

Jamie Foreman stars in Caroline and David Stafford's comedy drama about the mysterious Ronnie Hazelbeach.

Hazelbeach: Series 2: Weed

Weed

Series 2

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Hazelbeach, Series 2, Weed

Ronnie and Nick discover that there is a fate worse than James.

Likeable conman Ronnie and hapless friend Nick discover that there is a fate worse than James. Stars Jamie Foreman. From 2009.

Nick and Ronnie discover that there is a fate worse than James. 

Caroline and David Stafford's comedy about likeable conman Ronnie Hazelbeach starring Jamie Forman.

Ronnie Hazelbeach ...... Jamie Foreman 
Nick ...... Paul Bazely 
James ...... Neil Stuke 
Chloe ...... Tracy Wiles 
Vince ...... David Hargreaves 
Joe Snow ...... David Stafford 

Director: Marc Beeby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2009.

Hazelbeach: Series 2

Caroline and David Stafford's comedy about likeable conman Ronnie Hazelbeach.

Caroline and David Stafford's comedy about likeable conman Ronnie Hazelbeach. Starring Jamie Foreman.

6/6. Nick and Ronnie discover that there is a fate worse than James. Comedy by Caroline and David Stafford.  
Producer/Director Marc Beeby

You and Yours

You and Yours: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, 17/08/2009

Consumer news and issues with Julian Worricker.

You and Yours: Food crises

World at One

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

World at One: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - World at One, 17/08/2009

National and international news with Martha Kearney.

The World at One

Round Britain Quiz

Radio's most fiendish quiz, with cryptic questions on unpredictable fields of knowledge

Radio's most fiendish quiz, with cryptic questions drawing on unpredictable fields of knowledge

Round Britain Quiz: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Round Britain Quiz, 17/08/2009

Tom Sutcliffe chairs. With teams from Wales and Northern Ireland.

Tom Sutcliffe chairs the cryptic general knowledge quiz, featuring teams from Wales and Northern Ireland.

5/12. Tom Sutcliffe puts cryptic questions to teams from Wales and Northern Ireland. 
Producer Paul Bajoria Repeated on Saturday at 11pm

The Archers

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

The Archers: 16/08/2009

16/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - The Archers, 16/08/2009

Wayne's reminiscing about the past while Jolene and Fallon change his sheets. He remembers a family trip to Weston-super-Mare with fondness, which Fallon later reminds him was one of the rare occasions when he and her mother weren't at each others' throats. Jolene observes that he's seeing the event through rose coloured spectacles. Fallon tells Jolene that she'd thought at first that Wayne was putting on his illness to get sympathy, but when she went in at lunchtime he was breathing badly. They agree to see how he is in the morning.

At the Lodge Jennifer finds Jack very confused; he doesn't recognise her. Peggy says he's tired. They had a dreadful night. She thinks she'll give church a miss. Jennifer thinks Peggy's barely managing since they lost Barney. 

Later Jennifer finds that Lilian has barely moved all day, except to call Veronica and take a drive past the Dower House. Jennifer loses her temper, telling Lilian that wallowing won't bring Matt back. Moments later Jennifer's in tears. Peggy's in such a bad way and Jack's getting worse. Lilian promises to start concentrating on their mum. She'll pop round to the Lodge later. If necessary she can always stay the night. 

Episode written by Caroline Harrington.

Drama on 4

Drama from BBC Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra.

Afternoon Play

Drama on 4: Rep

BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Rep

By Jonathan Holloway. George Friendly starts work in one of the last seaside rep theatres.

By Jonathan Holloway. Actor George Friendly has just started work in one of Britain's last surviving seaside repertory theatres and he thinks he knows how the summer is going to go.

By Jonathan Holloway. Actor George Friendly has just started work in one of Britain's last surviving seaside repertory theatres. His first part is in Clubfoot the Avenger, and he thinks he knows how the rest of the summer is going to go. 

George ...... Jay Villiers
Florence ...... Lucy Liemann
Vivian/Derek ...... Michael Fenton Stevens
Rupert/Cafe owner ...... Mark Meadows 
Raymond/Earl ...... Paul Mundell

Directed by Tim Dee.

Afternoon Play: Rep

By Jonathan Holloway. Actor George Friendly has just started working in one of Britain's last surviving seaside repertory theatres. His first parts is in Clubfoot the Avenger, and he thinks he knows how the rest of the summer is going to go.     
Director Tim Dee

Meeting Myself Coming Back

High-profile figures, in conversation with John Wilson, replay their own sound archive

High-profile figures, in conversation with John Wilson, replay their own sound archive and use it as a basis for a re-examination of their lives

Meeting Myself Coming Back: Series 1

Meeting Myself Coming Back: Episode 1: Rev Jesse Jackson

Episode 1: Rev Jesse Jackson

Rev Jesse Jackson

BBC Radio 4 - Meeting Myself Coming Back, Rev Jesse Jackson

Witness to the murder of Martin Luther King - the Reverend Jesse Jackson's life in sound.

Witness to Martin Luther King's murder, the first African-American to make a significant bid for the US Presidency: Rev Jesse Jackson reflects on his life in sound.

Witness to the murder of Martin Luther King; the first African-American to make a significant bid for the US Presidency: in a new series on BBC Radio 4, the Reverend Jesse Jackson joins presenter John Wilson to reflect on the soundtrack to his life, drawn from a half century of BBC archive.

Being close to Dr King during the troubled years of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement was just one of the formative experiences for the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Here he gets the chance to listen back to his younger self, recall his thoughts at the time, and apply the self-knowledge that comes from distance. 

Other episodes in his life include addressing the first black political rally; negotiating with President Saddam Hussein of Iraq over hostages; running twice for President of the USA; witnessing the swearing in of the first black President; and most recently defending one of America's most controversial black icons, Michael Jackson.

Producers: Emma Kingsley and Sara Jane Hall (SNF).

Archive on 4: Meeting MyselfComing Back

Tea and Biscuits

Tea and Biscuits: Episode 1

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Tea and Biscuits, Episode 1

Hardeep Singh Kohli joins a group of people meeting before their UK Citizenship ceremony.

4 Extra Debut. Hardeep Singh Kohli joins a group of people enjoying tea and biscuits before they take part in their British Citizenship ceremony at Brent Town Hall.

Hardeep Singh Kohli joins people as they meet and indulge in that very British ritual, a cup of tea and a biscuit. 

Hardeep joins a group enjoying tea and biscuits before they take part in their British Citizenship ceremony at Brent Town Hall.

A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.

Hardeep Singh Kohli joins people as they meet over a cup of tea and a biscuit

Hardeep Singh Kohli joins people as they meet and indulge in that very British ritual, a cup of tea and a biscuit

1/5. The ritual of tea and biscuits runs through most British lives.
Hardeep Singh Kohli encounters some of those lives as they meet over a cuppa and a biccy.
Today he joins people enjoying tea and biscuits before they take part in their British citizenship ceremony at Brent Town Hall. Producer Richard Bannerman
Radio features: pages 110-111

The Food Programme

Investigating every aspect of the food we eat

Food Programme

The Food Programme: Chefs' Choices Number 2: Cauliflowers

Chefs' Choices Number 2: Cauliflowers

BBC Radio 4 - The Food Programme, Chefs' Choices Number 2: Cauliflowers

Yotam Ottolenghi brings some much-needed passion to the neglected cauliflower.

The Cauliflower has fallen from culinary grace in recent years, eclipsed by its superfood cousin broccoli. Middle Eastern chef Yotam Ottolenghi brings it back in from the cold.

Yotam Ottolenghi, chef and founder of Ottolenghi's food shops and restaurant, brings some much-needed passion to the neglected cauliflower. 

Cauliflower has fallen from culinary favour, eclipsed by its superfood cousin broccoli. Bland, white and often smoothered in cheese sauce, the cauliflower is no longer a fashionable ingredient, and sales are falling. But are we missing out? 

Yotam grew up in Jewish west Jerusalem, while executive chef and partner in the business Sami Tamimi grew up in the Arab east Jerusalem. Both grew up eating cauliflowers, and in this programe are trying to afford the cauliflower its rightful place alongside the other members of the brassica family, cabbage and brocoli. 

Phillip Effingham is chairman of the British Brassicas Association and Director of Farming and Agronomic Development at Marshall Bros, growers of cauliflowers in Boston, Lincolnshire. Cauliflowers are well suited to the rich soils of the Wash, the centre of cauliflower production today.  The biggest problem for cauliflower growers is that its peak season, during the warm summer months, coincides with a general drop in sales as shoppers turn to salad. Low prices used to encourage sales often mean it is not worth growers spending the money to harvest them, and excellent quality cauliflowers are left to rot in the field.  

But cauliflower is a perfect summer ingredient, and lends itself to many different styles of cooking, from traditional British to Middle Eastern and Indian. Yotam and Sami give the cauliflower the Ottolenghi treatment in two dishes: fritters, a dish from Sami's childhood, and chargrilled in a salad.

Beyond Belief

Series exploring the place and nature of faith in today's world

Beyond Belief: God and Neuroscience

God and Neuroscience

BBC Radio 4 - Beyond Belief, God and Neuroscience

Ernie Rea and guests discuss what cognitive neuroscience is revealing about belief in God.

Ernie Rea and guests discuss what cognitive neuroscience is revealing about belief in God. What does research into our brain indicate about religious and spiritual experiences?

12/13. Ernie Rea and his guests discuss what cognitive neuroscience reveals about belief in God. Producer Karen Maurice Face to Faith: page 22

Afternoon news and current affairs programme

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

PM: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - PM, 17/08/2009

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

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

Six O'Clock News

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4

Six O'Clock News: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 4 - Six O'Clock News, 17/08/2009

National and international news from BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Six O'Clock News: 17 August

Just a Minute

Panel game in which players must speak for one minute on any subject asked of them

Panel game in which the contestants are challenged to speak for one minute without hesitation, deviation or repetition on any subject that comes up on the cards

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Shipping Forecast

17/08/2009

Genres

Brand

Weather

17/08/2009

Genres

Brand

Five Wedding Dresses

Weather

17/08/2009

Genres

Brand

Weather

17/08/2009

Genres

Brand

Shipping Forecast

17/08/2009

Genres

Brand

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