On-Air Now/Next...

• The Shadow Over Innsmouth

• BBC R4X - Mon 23rd-Fri 27th April -Various Times

• BBC Radio 4 Extra reapeat Richard Coyle's reading of a 5 part abridgement of HP Lovecraft's classic tale of terror and tentacles in a New England seaport. Featuring newly composed music by Jon Nicholls.

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• The Pathfinder

• BBC R4 - Fri 27th April 11am

• Tom Mangold reveals the remarkable life and legacy of Donald Bennett, founder of the Path Finder Force in WWII, and one of Britain's least celebrated civilian and wartime heroes.

• It's My Story: Remembering Millie

• BBC R4 -Mon 30th April 8pm

• Millie died when she was 22 months, but she touched so many lives. Her family, friends, neighbours and people who never even met her, celebrate her life and its ongoing impact.

• Asian Weddings: Something Gold, Nothing Borrowed, Everything New

• BBC R4 - Sat 5th May 10:30am

• Yasmeen Khan explores the larger than life world of the British Asian wedding - from the religious and cultural traditions to the Bollywood bling of an Asian Bride show.

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• On the iPlayer...

• My Name Is Not 'Hey Baby'

• BBC R4 - Tues 17th April 8pm

• In 2011 the Slutwalks which took place around the UK made headlines when women, carrying placards and shouting slogans, protested against the blaming of victims of rape and sexual assault rather than the perpetrators. Yasmeen Khan meets the organiser of the London Slutwalk to see what impact it made, as well as young activists who are raising awareness of street harassment and encouraging women to raise their voices against it. At a Hollerback meeting students describe the verbal assaults which can build up from quasi-compliments to threatening physical assault, and how they can or should react.

• The Shadow Over Innsmouth

• BBC R4X - Mon 23rd-Fri 27th April -Various Times

• BBC Radio 4 Extra reapeat Richard Coyle's reading of a 5 part abridgement of HP Lovecraft's classic tale of terror and tentacles in a New England seaport. Featuring newly composed music by Jon Nicholls.

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  • Recent Programmes

• At The Mountains of Madness

• BBC R4X - Mon 12th-Fri 16th Dec 2010 - 18:30

• BBC Radio 4 Extra reapeat Richard Coyle's reading of a 5 part abridgement of HP Lovecraft's classic tale of terror and tentacles in the mountains of Antarctica. Featuring newly composed music by Jon Nicholls.

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• Pop Goes The Bible!

• BBC R4 - Sat 17th Dec 10.30am

• On the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, Paul Gambaccini considers the wealth of songs, from Dylan and Tim Rice to Leonard Cohen and U2, that are drawn from the Old and New Testaments.

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• Dishonour & Depression

• BBC R4 - Tues 6th Dec 4pm

• Yasmeen Khan investigates the high rate of depression among South Asian women in Britain, looking at the underlying social and cultural factors and talking to those affected as well as doctors and counsellors.

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• The Tales of Max Carrados

• BBC R4Xtra - M-Th 7-10th + M 14th Nov 1:30pm

• In “The Coin of Dionysius” we first meet the suave sleuth Max Carrados, as he is called on by old friend Louis Carlyle to help determine whether an old coin is real or a clever fake. What Louis doesn't know, is that due to an accident, Max is now blind. But that doesn't stop Max from proving, in some style, just how much he 'sees' and how formidable an amateur private detective he could become.. 4 further adventures follow. Read/performed by Arthur Darvill (best known as Rory Williams in Doctor Who)

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• A Short History of Story

• BBC WS - Sat 5th & 12th Nov Various times

• Noah Richler traces the development of storytelling from the earliest creation myths through to today's online gaming and the recording of our personal lives by way of social media. In the first programme he shows how creation myths and cautionary tales were created to explain humans' place in the world, and how we should conduct ourselves in it. And when groups came into contact with each other, myths and epics were invented which showed how they might deal with the threats and danger that sprang from conflict. The arrival of the novel he argues came at a time when society felt less threatened and so could explore the highways and byways of living our lives. Among those taking part in the series are Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, anthropologist Hugh Brody, Canadian poet Robert Bringhurst and artificial intelligence expert David Ferrucci.

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• The Price of Power

• BBC R4 - Tuesday 13th Sept 2011 at 8pm

• Martin Sixsmith returns with part two of his epic look at Writer and journalist Jonathan Freedland addresses the knotty problem of MPs' pay and conditions by beginning with the current level of MPs' pay - £64, 766 - and then exploring pensions and expenses. He will examine the history of MPs' pay awards, from what Lloyd-George intended to be a sort of stipend rather than a salary, to recent years when MPs were compared with the Civil Service and to the present day system put in place by Parliament, in consultation with the Senior Salaries Review Body.

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• The Paper Round

• BBC R4 - Mon 19th-Fri23rd Sept 2011 at 3:45pm

• A series in which five public figures revisit the route of their paper round to reveal how it influenced their attitudes to work, creativity and independence. Having a paper round is a rite of passage for many children, and many successful public figures claim to have braved the early mornings and the elements to deliver newspapers. For some, it's a chance for independence and freedom, or a temporary escape from the horrors at home. For others, it provides money to spend on music, fashion and girl/boyfriends. Actor and former paper boy Bob Kingdom joins his guests in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as they reflect on the formative years of their paper round. Interviewees include Sir Alan Parker, Melanie Walters and Stephen K Amos.

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• Russia: The Wild East (pt 2) - 25 eps

• BBC R4 - Weekdays 3:45pm for 5 weeks from 11th July

• Martin Sixsmith returns with part two of his epic look at the 1000 years of Russian history, and looks to what we can learn for dealing with the modern Russia. He takes us from the birth of the Soviet Union to the state of the country today.

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• It's My Story: Letting Go Of James

• BBC R4 - Sunday 3rd July 1:30pm

• James is starting full time residential care. He is severely autistic & hard to manage at home.  Goodbye James follows him & his family as they prepare for & adjust to the change.

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• The Brightonomicon

• BBC R4Extra - 22nd June for 13 episodes

• 13 part comedy drama starrig David Warner, Andy Serkis, Jason Isaacs and Rupert Degas. Hugo Rune & Rizla have to save the world from the evil Count Otto Black and the power of the Chronovision in 1960's Brighton. Adapted from the novel by Robert Rankin

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• The Day of the Jackal

• BBC R4 - Tuesday 14th June 11:30am

• Celebrating 40 years of the seminal thriller The Day of the Jackal, Patrick Humphries explores just what made the book so riveting for him and so ground-breaking for a whole generation of thriller writers influenced by its author, Frederick Forsyth.

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• Royal Racers & Fascinators

• BBC R4 - Saturday 18th June 10:30am

• Hardeep Singh Kohli visits Royal Ascot on the 300th anniversary of the racecourse.

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• Development Hell

• BBC R2 - Monday 6th June 2011

• Acting legend Richard E Grant explores the strange, baffling and seemingling endless world of 'Development Hell' where movies can languish for...well..forever sometimes! Contributors include Mel Smith, Neil Gaiman, Lord Puttnam, Nick Setchfield, Garth Jennings and Matthew Vaughan.

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• 15 By 15

• BBC R4 - Sundays for 5 weeks from 1st May at 2:45pm

• What's in a word? Where did it come from? Where does it lead? In a new series of five programmes Hardeep Singh Kohli chooses a word and sees where it leads him. In 15 minutes he expects to learn 15 things he didn't know before. His journey takes him to lexicographer Susie Dent, who knows about words and can tell him where the word first appeared in the English language. From there he sets off in different directions, meeting people who in different ways are connected to that programme's word. Each programme is devoted to one word, and over the five programmes Hardeep encounters 'mattress', 'stroke', 'heel', 'spin' and 'trifle'.

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• Russia: The Wild East (pt 1) wks 1+2

• BBC R4 - Weekdays 3:45pm for 5 weeks from 18th Apr

• Martin Sixsmith takes an epic look at the 1000 years of Russian history, and looks to what we can learn for dealing with the modern Russia.

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• The Protection Game

• BBC R4 - 4th April 2011 - 11am

• Yasmeen Khan investigates the changing nature of the 'personal protection' industry and finds out just who in the UK is hiring bodyguards today.

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• Out Of The Vortex

• BBC R4 - Monday 7th Feb 2011 - 11pm

• Poet Matthew Sweeney introduces his choice of poems inspired by times of mental illness and depression.

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• How The Mighty Have Fallen

• BBC R4

• Dr Hillary Jones returns for a one-off special of his series on the history of obesity. As National Obesity Week begins, he takes a look at the history of weight loss and exercise.

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• Where England Meets Wales

• The first part of Hardeep Singh Kohli's jounrey down the border bewteen England and Wales.

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• A Family Business: The Chaplin Legacy

• Tim Brooke-Taylor introduces us to the theatrical legacy of Charlie Chaplin, through an exploration of the work of his grandson James Thieree.

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• Amnesty At 50

• BBC R4

• John Tusa takes a long, hard look at Amnesty International, which at 50 years old has changed somewhat from its early roots.

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• At The Mountains of Madness

• BBC R7 - Mon 1st-Fri 5th November 2010

• Richard Coyle reads a new 5 part abridgement of HP Lovecraft's classic tale of terror and tentacles in the mountains of Antarctica. Featuring newly composed music by Jon Nicholls.

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• How The Mighty Have Fallen

• BBC R4 - Sun 17th October 14:45 for 4 weeks

• Ep 3 - Dr Hilary Jones investigates the issues surrounding obesity across history in this 4 part series.

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• Sidelined...Our Asian Footballers Are Missing!

• BBC R4 - Fri 22nd October 11:02

• Yasmeen Khan investigates the lack of British Asian footballers in the beautiful game at the higher levels and leagues.

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• In Search of a Shtetl

• BBC R4 - Sun 17th October 13:30

• Father & son, Michael & Jonathan Freedland, head to Lithuania & Belarus to track their family roots through the turbulent & often persecuted history of Jewish life in the countries.

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• How The Mighty Have Fallen

• Parts 1&2 of 4
• Dr Hilary Jones investigates the issues surrounding obesity across history in this 4 part series.

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• The Brightonomicon

• BBC R7

• 13 part comedy drama starrig David Warner, Andy Serkis, Jason Isaacs and Rupert Degas. Hugo Rune & Rizla have to save the world from the evil Count Otto Black and the power of the Chronovision in 1960's Brighton. Adapted from the novel by Robert Rankin.

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• How The Mighty Have Fallen

• BBC R4 - Tues 17, 24, 31st Aug & 7th Sept 9:30am

• Dr Hilary Jones investigates the issues surrounding obesity across history in this 4 part series.

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• Sud-U-Like

• BBC R4 - Fri 13th July 11am

• Dwarfed by the might of the domestic washer/dryer, what’s become of the humble laundrette? Yasmeen Khan, a ‘child of the laundrette’, seeks out the State of the Soapy Nation.

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• The Smash Hit of 1453 - BBC R4

• Until Tuesday 13th July 1:30pm (Repeat)

• Ever had a song you couldn’t get out of your head?  There’s one tune that has been spinning around for the best part of 600 years? Rainer Hersch asks why the song of The Armed Man has been so successful and will he ever get rid of it.

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• Coleridge in Gottingen - BBC R3

• Sunday 20th June 9.30pm

• German writers and thinkers made a huge impression on Coleridge during his stay in Germany in 1798 and 1799. John Worthen recalls the places and people the poet experienced.

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• The Essay: A Robert Schumann Album

• BBC R3 - Mon 7th-Fri 11th June 11pm

• A week-long series of short audio essays on the life and work of composer & writer Robert Schumann.

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• Painting The Loneliness

• BBC R4 Tuesday 1st June
• Three lonely figures propping up a bar and a solitary bartender in Edward Hopper's painting 'Nighthawks' have cast a powerful spell. Here they, and some critics, give an interpretation.

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• Football Fights Back

• BBC R4 Monday 24th May 2010

• Football's biggest platform, the World Cup begins on June 11, and Hardeep Singh Kohli talks to those who are dedicated to removing all kinds of abuse against players and supporters.

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• The Loneliness of the Goalkeeper

• RTE R1 - Sat 29th May 2pm

• Hardeep Sing Kohli remembers his time as a goalkeeper for his local team, St Matthews, in the North of Glasgow. Unlike his great hero, and former Arsenal and Scotland goalie, Bob Wilson, Hardeep's early career between the sticks came to nothing. But he's never forgotten just how lonely being a keeper can be. After all, it's the strikers who get all the glory for scoring a goal, and the goalie who gets the blame for letting one in - and no matter how many great saves you make you'll always be remembered for your mistakes.

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• Theatre At The Front Line - BBC R3

• Sunday 2nd May 2010

• Sudan has seen some of the fiercest fighting in its internal conflicts. Zeinab Badawi visits Khartoum to see the efforts of those in the arts to bring communities back together.

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• The Smash Hit of 1453 - BBC R4

• Saturday 10th April

• Ever had a song you couldn’t get out of your head?  There’s one tune that has been spinning around for the best part of 600 years? Rainer Hersch asks why the song of The Armed Man has been so successful and will he ever get rid of it.

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• Century of Cinema - BBC R2

• Tuesday 19th Jan - 16th Feb 10.30pm

• Repeat & update of our 1999 landmark series presented by Lord Puttnam and Brian Sibley.

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• The Elvis Trail - BBC R2

• Friday 8th Jan - Fri 12th Feb 2010 7pm

• Following his journey along the trails of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Judy Garland, Michael Freedland takes to the road again to mark the 75th anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth. First stop is the town where Elvis was born, shortly before dawn, on 8 January 1935 - Tupelo in Mississippi. Michael visits the birthplace museum where director, Dick Guyton, guides us around the two-room shack built the year before Elvis' birth, by his father Vernon and grandfather Jesse. Whilst here, Michael chats to some of the visitors and marvels at their loyalty and devotion to the King, as many of them return year after year like pilgrims to a shrine. The religious imagery recurs throughout this trip.

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• Deep Cut (Friday Play) - BBC R4

• Friday 15th January 2010 9pm

• In November 1995 Private Cheryl James was found shot dead at Deepcut barracks. Her death and that of three other Deepcut recruits led to a judicial review in 2006. This award-winning stage production has been adapted for radio by its writer Philip Ralph, who drew his play from public documents and verbatim records. The words and memories of Cheryl’s parents, and those associated with her, are interwoven with those of Nicholas Blake QC who led the review, and some of the people who independently investigated her death. Des James – PIP DONAGHY
  Doreen James – JANICE CRAMER
  Nicholas Blake QC – SIMON MOLLOY
  Brian Cathcart – DEREK HUTCHINSON
  Frank Swann – ROBERT WILLOX
  Jonesy – AMY MORGAN
  Colonel Josling – ADAM JAMES
  Bruce George – RHYDIAN JONES

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• Protected By Faith - BBC R4

• Thursday 17th December 2009 11.30am

• John Waite investigates the restoration & conservation work undertaken by the Vatican Secret Archives laboratory, one of the worlds’s most technologically advanced conservation labs.  John visits the lab and asks how cutting-edge science and religion sit side-by-side, why the Vatican undertakes this task, what types of documents are hidden away in the Archive and who has access to them?  Away from the Vatican he discovers how the work of the Secret Archives compares to other conservation and preservation teams.

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• Birds & The Battlefield - BBC R4

• Monday 30th November 2009 3pm

• BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner, himself a bird watcher, looks at the sometimes surprising links between soldiers and birds and the comfort soldiers get from such an interest in times of extreme stress.  It’s a thread that can be traced from those who served in the trenches of the Western Front in the First World War, through other twentieth century engagements, to those now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Interviews with today’s servicemen and women are combined with letters from the Front, poetry, music and birdsong.

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• Hidden Composers - BBC R3

• Saturday 31st October 2009 12:15pm

• Two French women composers fought against the prejudice and pressures of their time to write their music. Both lived at the turn of the 20th century, and after their deaths their music was either lost or ignored. Now their reputations are being revived. Lowri Blake talks to those who are bringing the wealth of music by Louise Heritte-Viardot and Mel Bonis back into the public domain, and to the writer on music Richard Langham-Smith for whom this was a rewarding voyage of discovery.

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• Metaphor For Healing - BBC R4

• Tuesday 27th October 2009

• Dr Phil Hammond finds out how the use of metaphorical language in health care is increasingly accepted as a powerful aid to healing. The power of the right metaphor, long exploited in poetry, politics and marketing, is increasingly recognised in health care, coaching and therapy, engaging the unconscious to activate self-healing.  Dr Phil talks to patients, doctors and therapists, and discovers why doctors should pay closer attention to the answer to their routine question: ‘And what does it feel like?’ 

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• Home Grown - BBC R4

• Wednesday 14th October 2009 11am

• Yasmeen Khan investigates the growing trend amongst 2nd generation British Asian men to bypass British Asian women and instead marry women from their parents’ native countries, often leading to culture shock, unhappiness and divorce...and a generation of unmarried British Asian women!

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• The Lady Vanishes - BBC R2

• 18th September - 23rd October 2009 9:15pm

• Ethel Lina White's classic tale "The Wheel Spins" is brought to life in a newly abridged radio reading performed by Brenda Blethyn. Repeated from 2006.

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• Inside The Bermuda Triangle - BBC R4

• 14th-25th September 2009 3:45pm

• For half a century the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle have remained largely unsolved and unexplained. Scores of ships and planes have vanished without trace in the half million square mile ocean between Bermuda, Miami and Puerto Rico. Dozens of books have been written, films made and explanations offered to account for the strange events inside this famous piece of wet geometry. Now, award winning investigative reporter Tom Mangold has completed a personal journey inside the Bermuda Triangle to make a uniquely original series of documentaries.

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• Scott of Slimbridge - BBC R4

• Sat 19th September 2009 8pm

• From the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust centre in Gloucestershire,  Frank Gardner reflects on the career of Sir Peter Scott, ornithologist, author, painter, sportsman, war hero and broadcaster - his television programme ‘Look’ ran for over 25 years. Born 100 years ago, the son of Scott of the Antarctic, he was dubbed the patron saint of conservation, and was the first to campaign for the preservation of endangered species and to warn against the destruction of natural habitats.

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• Tea & Biscuits - BBC R4

• Mon 17th-Fri 21st Aug 2009 3.45pm

• Tea and biscuits underpin British culture. Hardeep Singh Kohli visits people and places, where a cup-of-tea, and a biscuit, smooth the way, offer a welcome, lead to an important conversation and make the peace. Hardeep prepares to shed his blood for this series, as he rolls up his sleeves at a Blood Donation centre. His other encounters don’t require such a sacrifice and could be an elderly couple for whom the ritual is a daily comfort; a pre-marriage encounter between Indian bride and prospective groom; a vicar and his parishioner; or a counsellor and confidante; a respite and reminder of home for serving soldiers; or a break in the long day of a lorry driver.

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• Blondin Of Niagara Falls And Ealing - BBC R4

• Until Friday 31st July 11am

• Tightrope walking hit the big time 150 years ago when Blondin made 16 crossings over the Niagara River. His career lasted till he was 73 when he retired to Niagara House in Ealing, West London. Hardeep Singh Kohli puts his feet on the slender wire, even if only two feet off the ground, and discovers the continuing appeal of defying gravity from the experiences of circus acrobat Chico, the celebrated ‘man on wire’ Philippe Petit, and the slack-liner Jon Ritson.

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• Three Rivers - The Liffey - BBC R4

• Friday 10th July

• The final river in Hardeep Singh Kohli’s series on how major rivers are being regenerated for the 21st Century, is The Liffey. It’s a river that is beloved of Irish writers, particularly James Joyce, as it winds its way from the Wicklow Mountains into the heart of Dublin and the 14 bridges that cross over it. But it has also provided power and clean water for those along its path, and at its outer edges encouraged trade with the wider world beyond.

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• The Donna Summer Story - BBC R2

• Saturday 4th July

• Nile Rogers reveals the life and music of the legendary female artist and Queen of Disco, Donna Summer. Featuring new interviews with Donna, Gloria Gaynor, Pete Waterman & Barry Manilow.

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• Three Rivers - The Mersey - BBC R4

• Friday 3rd July

• For years major rivers were dumping-grounds. Now their beauties and their uses are being recognised and restored. In the second of his river trips Hardeep Singh Kohli travels alongside the Mersey from one of its tributaries in the Goyt Valley through to the bustling city of Liverpool. Along the way he meets those who have worked to regenerate it, and in Liverpool itself sees how the transformation of the dock areas have brought visitors and residents into the heart of the city.

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• >Three Rivers - The Clyde - BBC R4

• Friday 26th June 11am

• For years major rivers were dumping-grounds. Now their beauties and their uses are being recognised and restored. Hardeep Singh Kohli travels from, source to sea of three rivers, beginning beside a stream in Lanarkshire which swells to become the mighty Clyde, dividing Glasgow into north and south, and defining Glasgow’s industry, heritage and character.

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• Who's My Half-Brother? - BBC R4

• Wednesday 24th June

• Kati Whitaker investigates the lives and tales of the children of sperm-donors, and how they are reaching out to find their half-siblings, in the UK and US.

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• My Word Is My Bond - BBC R2

• Sir Roger Moore reads a newly abridged 6-part adaptation of his best-selling autobiogrpahy exclusively for BBC Radio 2.

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• Afternoon Play: On Ego - BBC R4

• Alex is convinced that people are just a bundle of neurons. When his wife falls ill he finds he has basic questions to answer about what it really means to be a person. But that’s just part of an unfolding experience that questions not only his identity but his very existence.  Written by Mick Gordon and Paul Broks.

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