Sustaining citizenship and civil society
Radio 4 is a leading provider of in-depth radio news and current affairs. We bring listeners accurate, authoritative reports and analysis of domestic and global affairs through daily programmes – such as Today, The World at One and PM – and weekly news bulletins and sequence programmes.

Through our news programmes and wider journalistic output, we reflect the contemporary social, economic and political reality of the UK and offer listeners an understanding of a range of contemporary issues.

We will break stories with programmes such as File on 4 and scrutinise issues in The Week in Westminster and Analysis.

We will provide impartial, rigorous and substantial analysis of the political parties’ campaigns for the local elections in May.

Specifically this year, we will feature:

• A landmark series on climate change.
• A season of programmes marking the 50th anniversary of the Suez Crisis and the Hungarian Uprising.

Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
Radio 4 plays a critical role in underpinning the cultural life of the UK and is the leading patron of the art of radio drama, with commissions from both new and established writers.

We also devote significant output to the exploration of literature and the arts in general, through documentaries, debates and reviews. We will continue to provide a range of programmes relating to literature, such as Bookclub, Open Book and A Good Read.

Radio 4 is the home of radio comedy, developing many of the programmes and comedy talents which grow and find a place on television.

We commission new programming from a diverse range of suppliers across numerous genres and are the primary market in the UK for independently produced speech radio.

This year we will broadcast:

• A different play every day, whether original scripts or adaptations.
• A national short story competition, in partnership with Prospect magazine.

Promoting education and learning
Alongside the schools programmes broadcast overnight on digital platforms, Radio 4 makes a significant contribution to the BBC’s provision of informal learning opportunities, making specialist subjects accessible and providing in-depth examination on a diverse range of subjects, including politics, business, law, finance, health, international affairs, arts, literature, religion, history, travel and gardening.

Weekly documentaries will provide fresh approaches to understanding the past and key anniversaries will be marked. We will continue to work to deliver impact in our treatment of contemporary and historical biography.

This year will include:

• A major season on memory, with an extensive interactive dimension.
• A 30-part narrative history of childhood.

Reflecting the UK’s nations, regions and communities
Radio 4 aims to reflect the diversity of the UK by recording many programmes with audiences at venues across the UK. Every week a religious service, a current affairs debate and a gardening programme are broadcast from different parts of the country.

We will continue to provide live worship and in-depth reporting of religious affairs across major faiths. Strands such as Sunday and Beyond Belief will go beyond polemics to probe the world of religion, illuminating the varieties of belief between and within faith communities.

Devotees of cricket will continue to find Test Match Special on Radio 4 Long Wave.

This year we will provide:

• Two series exploring the diversity of life and thought within Britain’s minority faith traditions.

Bringing the world to the UK and the UK to the world
Helping people make sense of the world around us is an important part of Radio 4’s news, current affairs and factual output. Global issues will be explored in depth by regular series such as Crossing Continents and From Our Own Correspondent.

This year:

• The Reith Lectures will be given by Daniel Barenboim in London, Chicago, Berlin and Jerusalem.
• We will mark the centenary of the first radio programme with a World Radio Day in December.

Building digital Britain
Radio 4 exploits the potential of the internet and other digital platforms to make its content available to listeners in new forms.

We will seek out new ways to involve listeners actively in responding to programmes and contributing their own content, ideas and criticisms.

We also aim to connect with people through our interactive surveys and competitions.

This year we will:

• Build engaging interactive experiences around the Memory and Climate Change seasons.

In 2005/2006, Radio 4 met or exceeded its stated key editorial priorities. For example, the more flexible commissioning process for current affairs resulted in an episode of Analysis in the wake of July’s London bombings in which Edward Stourton set out to discover what Islam really says about the use of violence. With longer-term planned content, This Sceptred Isle: Empire was a particular highlight – a 90-part narrative history of the British Empire which included a website that invited listeners to tell their own stories of how their family history had been shaped by the empire.

Ongoing challenges facing the network include generating greater impact from drama output and maximising the impact of the network on occasional listeners. In 2006/2007 we will concentrate on:

• Reprioritising resources in order to enhance the impact of drama output, including new radio adaptations of classic modern stage plays and a new reactive topical drama strand.

• Widening the appeal of the output through:
  
  – Broadcasting extended narrative history series on a range of subjects including medicine, The Invention of Childhood and the continuation of the Empire series.
  
  – Finding more arresting ways of creating a bigger sense of occasion in the schedule, such as providing major seasons on topics such as memory and climate change.
  
  – Finding more reactive and flexible ways to respond to current events, not only in news but across the schedule.

We remain fully committed to our voluntary pledge that at least 10% of eligible hours on our national analogue radio networks will be made by independent producers.