BBC Radio Four is a UK based national radio station which was officially launched on September 29th, 1967 to provide intelligent, cultural and factual talk-radio. It still maintains its high-brow and rather middle-class image today, and could fairly be called a British national treasure. Originally, it was named 'The Home Service', with what is now Radio Two having been 'The Light Programme' and Radio Three having been 'The Third Programme'). Its renaming was the source of much heated discussion within the BBC, the term 'Radio' to mean 'station' having been considered inappropriate in some quarters.
Today, it is one of the five analogue domestic radio stations which the British Broadcasting Corporation now provides. The others are the popular music station BBC Radio One, Radios 2 and 3, as mentioned above, and Radio 5 Live (see below).

Flagship Programming

For much of the British public, Radio Four is its most well-known and long-running programmes. The Today programme is the station’s morning news show, presented by John Humphrys and with a reputation for cutting-edge journalism. This was the subject of controversy in 2004, with Andrew Gilligan's report on the Government's Iraq War dossier, which in turn led to the death of Government military scientist Dr. David Kelly. The resulting Hutton Report heavily criticised both Gilligan and the BBC. Other news programmes include the afternoon PM and the Sunday morning Broadcasting House. Its continued broadcasting of The Shipping Forecast, weather news for those at sea and utterly incomprehensible to most landlubbers, is often quoted as a source of comfort, and was the basis of a song by the indie band Blur.

The station has always provided a healthy balance of factual and entertaining content. Much-loved interview programmes such as Desert Island Discs, in which celebrities¹ sit alongside in-depth academic discussion, like Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time, in the schedules. Perhaps the most popular programme is The Archers an incredibly long-running rural soap opera, which pre-dates the station itself. Woman's Hour, currently presented by Jenni Murray is another enduring and highly popular programme, combining interviews and unusual features of particular interest to women, with original dramatisations.

Comedy has always been of paramount importance to Radio Four, and a number of Radio Four comedies have been successful enough that the BBC have moved them to television. Examples include Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, Little Britain, Dead Ringers and even The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy. Panel games have long been a mainstay of the station as well, such as the irreverent Just a Minute and the eccentric I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, which has attracted a significant cult-following.

From the beginning of Radio Four, broadcasting for children was important, with programmes such as Listen with Mother continuing over from the Home Service. During the early 1990s, BBC Radio Five took on the mantle of a station for children with a wide variety of original material and classic stories being broadcast. However, listening figures were not deemed high enough and in 1994 the station abandoned children's programmes for continuous news and sport output, rebranding itself as 'Radio Five Live'. Under significant listener pressure Radio Four introduced a new Sunday evening children's show Go 4 It!², a mix of stories, features and educational content, presented by Matt Smith.

Mention must be made of Alistair Cooke who broadcasted his Letter from America weekly on from 1946 to 2004, first on the Home Service and then on Radio Four. An incredible feat of broadcasting endurance, it was his mission to bring everyday life in the United States to Britain, through his trademark gentle anecdotes, finishing only due to ill health shortly before his death. It is this sort of continuity for which the station is famed, balanced with a bold and occasionally controversial approach to contemporary issues.

Difficult Times

In the 1990s the station came under criticism for 'dumbing down' the quality and intellectual value of their programming and for axing popular series such as Kaleidoscope and the satirical comedy show Weekending. Regulation of its news output has also come into question post-Hutton Report³. However, Radio Four seems to have largely maintained its status and continues to produce pioneering and quality programmes.

Finding Radio Four

BBC Radio Four and is accessible at 92-95 FM and 198 Longwave (which has the best uninterrupted range of frequencies, hence its use for weather reporting). The programming content differs slightly between the two, the latter being the regular home of Test Match cricket. These wavelengths may also be subject to regional variations, but are stated as given by the BBC.

Between the hours of 1am and 5.30am, Radio Four closes down and BBC World Service broadcasts on their frequencies.

Many of its programmes available to listen to online at BBC Radio Four online.