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Statements of Programme Policy

Radio 4 Programme Policy 2010/2011

Service remit

The remit of Radio 4 is to be a mixed-speech service, offering in-depth news and current affairs and a wide range of other speech output including drama, readings, comedy, factual and magazine programmes.

The service should appeal to listeners seeking intelligent programmes in many genres which inform, educate and entertain.

Controller's vision for the service in 2010/2011

Listeners look to Radio 4 for a uniquely eclectic schedule of factual programmes, drama, comedy and debate, built on a foundation of powerful news and current affairs about the UK and the wider world. This year our news priority will be the General Election, providing comprehensive coverage and illuminating analysis of the campaign and the consequences of the vote for government and nation.

Beyond news, we will offer intellectually thrilling factual programmes embracing science, natural history, literature, music, art, history, religion and consumer affairs. Our biggest single project is A History Of The World In 100 Objects, a unique partnership with the British Museum which began in early 2010 and will continue through the year. As part of the BBC's wider contribution to the Year Of Science, we will broadcast a 40-part series on endangered species and invite the Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees, to present the Reith Lectures. We will also heighten the impact of arts programming with Moving Pictures, a season on film, which will explore the ways in which the great 20th-century art form has changed the way we see ourselves.

Radio 4 is the home of radio drama, driven by the power of good storytelling. In 2010 there will be nearly 200 single plays, including 40 works by writers new to radio. There will be big events such as Life And Fate, Vassily Grossman's epic of Soviet Russia, delivered across every drama slot for a week.

Radio 4 aspires to be the destination for the best comedy, both classic and cutting-edge. We will continue to invest in new talent, as well as opportunities for established performers, including a radio vehicle for Ronnie Corbett. We will be present at festivals such as Edinburgh and Glastonbury, discovering emerging acts and seeking to increase the diversity of our comedy voices.

Listeners expect Radio 4 to evolve, technologically as well as editorially. Some major series will be complemented by innovative interactive experiences and we'll be improving access to Radio 4's growing online archive of factual programmes.

Mark Damazer, Controller, BBC Radio 4

Key challenges for Radio 4 in 2010/2011

Radio 4 performed strongly last year, achieving record reach and consistently high audience approval. In the coming year we aim to enhance our offering in a number of ways.

Challenge: To react flexibly to the news agenda and in particular to provide the widest and most insightful coverage of the General Election.

• In the election period we will use the expertise of our numbers strand, More Or Less, inside our mainstream journalism to interrogate the parties' use of statistics. We will bring the classic TV format What The Papers Say to radio in a special election series.
• A fresh strand, The Heckler, will take a sharp, sideways looks at the election campaign, challenging political shibboleths.
• The Vote Now Show will be a late-night election campaign series of the satirical comedy, recorded on the day, lampooning the pretentions of all sides.
• The Report, our new current affairs strand, will exploit radio's inherent qualities of speed and directness to respond to big stories at full programme length.
• Decision Time, with BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson, will offer an engine-room perspective on the process of government.

Challenge: To contribute to the BBC-wide focus on science in 2010.

• A range of programmes fostering public engagement with science will include The Infinite Monkey Cage and So You Want To Be A Scientist?
• Saving Species, by the Natural History Unit, will be a 40-part landmark series addressing biodiversity in the UN Year of Biodiversity.
• The Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees, will present the Reith Lectures.

Challenge: To maintain and grow reach for our interactive services in an ever more competitive digital market.

• The uniquely ambitious History Of The World website will showcase all the objects in the series and make the programmes available permanently as podcasts, ensuring a lasting legacy from this partnership with the British Museum and enabling listeners to contribute their own objects and histories to the virtual collection.
• We will aim to develop compelling interactive propositions that reflect the audience's growing take-up of social media.
• We will make a greater impact beyond Radio 4 by syndicating content across BBC Online and across the wider web.
• We will improve the user experience of the Radio 4 website.
• We will develop our digital offer for Desert Island Discs.

Challenge: To develop our creative relationships with BBC Television and with other partners inside and outside the BBC.

• A pan-BBC collaboration with BBC Nations and Regions, CBBC and World Service, supported by 350 museums across the country, will be central to our aim to promote learning from A History Of The World In 100 Objects.
• We will co-commission with BBC Television an Eighties drama season and a Torchwood series.
• We will develop drama around Children In Need and undertake bimedia projects with Film London and The Rural Media Company.

Other programming highlights

Factual

• To coincide with the fifth anniversary of 7/7 and the successful Olympic bid, London: Another Country? is a season charting London's extraordinary transformation over the last 30 years and examining the capital's relationship with the rest of the UK and the world.
• The 50-part narrative history of Russia, The Wild East, will mark the 20th anniversary of the break-up of the Soviet Union, presented by Martin Sixsmith.
• Democracy On Trial will be a landmark three-part series by Michael Portillo, telling the story of democracy and looking at the challenges it faces today.
• In the wake of increased public scrutiny of social work, Who'd Be A Social Worker? is a three-part series following rookie social workers over a significant period of time, exploring the issues they face.
• On the 10th anniversary of the successful mapping of the human genome, The Age Of The Genome is a four-part series on genetics by Richard Dawkins.
• Evan Davis On Tax will be a peak-time series across a week, unravelling the mysteries of taxation.
• Simon Schama will join the roster of eminent writers presenting A Point Of View, the weekly reflection on current events.
• Features on the arts will include Martin Scorsese on George Harrison, Grayson Perry on creativity and imagination, Robert Winston on music, David Walliams on Philip Larkin, a 60th birthday interview with Stevie Wonder, and Afghani poets on the war.

Drama

• On 1 January 2011 The Archers turns 60. The story is under close wraps, but it will shake Ambridge to the core.
• I, Claudius will be a six-part dramatisation of Robert Graves' celebrated Roman trilogy.
• The Eighties Season will include three plays by Danny Brocklehurst, Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, and Dick Clement and Ian La Fresnais, to coincide with BBC Two's The Eighties season.
• Family-friendly listening: Radio 4 will continue to produce dramatisations of the best modern children's literature, with When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, The Indian In The Cupboard and Leon Garfield's Devil-in-the-Fog.
• Classic Serial dramatisations will include both The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico and Miss McKenzie by Anthony Trollope, which were the winner and runner-up in the 2009 Neglected Classics vote on Open Book. We will also read Susan Hill's choice, The Rector's Daughter by FM Mayor, in Book At Bedtime. We intend to run the event again.
• Severed Threads, from the Sony Gold winning team who made Q&A, are three plays which span the globe, telling stories of the fashion industry from the point of view of the New York catwalk, the Indian sweatshops and the London buyers.
• The Far Pavilions, MM Kaye's epic love story set against the Indian Raj and the Afghan rebellions, will be serialised for Woman's Hour.

Comedy

• When the Dog Dies is a new comedy drama vehicle for Ronnie Corbett.
• Building on the success of the first run of this comedy drama about an African woman working as a carer in England, Beauty Of Britain will bring sharp insights into the way we deal with our old people.
• The Other Side is a new series from Peter Serafinowicz about a radio station on the 'other side'.
• Nick Mohammed In Bits will see Nick move in 2010 from 15 minutes to a full 30-minute format.
• We will broadcast first radio series for Micky Flanagan, John Bishop and Helen Keen.

Conditions: BBC purposes and Radio 4 commitments

Unless otherwise stated, all commitments are minimum hours or percentages and include originations, repeats and acquisitions. All conditions are annual unless otherwise stated.

Sustaining citizenship and civil society

• 2,500 hours of news and current affairs programmes.

Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence

• 600 hours of original drama and readings (excluding repeats).
• 180 hours of original comedy (excluding repeats).
• Contribute to BBC Radio's commitment to commission at least 10% of eligible hours of output from independent producers.

Promoting education and learning

• 200 hours of original documentaries (excluding repeats).

Reflecting the UK, its nations, regions and communities

• 200 hours of original religious programming (excluding repeats).

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