11:30 PM - 12:00 AM
Now You're Asking with Marian Keyes and Tara Flynn
Take pity on the nervous motorway driver. Marian and Tara set out to help as best they can with their listeners' problems. Contact the show: MarianAndTara@bbc.co.uk.
12:00 AM - 12:15 AM
Midnight News
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
12:15 AM - 12:30 AM
Bunk Bed
4/6. Bunk Bed goes on tour - after a fashion. Peter Curran's old caravan is dragged to a field at this summer's Black Deer Americana festival. Patrick Marber hates every moment.
12:30 AM - 12:48 AM
The Dead of Winter by Sarah Clegg
1/5. Sarah Clegg explores ancient year-end traditions. Today, a custom where servants became masters for a day allowed a release of societal tensions that might otherwise have exploded.
12:48 AM - 01:00 AM
Shipping Forecast
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
01:00 AM - 05:20 AM
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
05:20 AM - 05:30 AM
Shipping Forecast
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
05:30 AM - 05:43 AM
News Briefing
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
05:43 AM - 05:45 AM
Prayer for the Day
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter.
05:45 AM - 06:00 AM
Farming Today
A rural community in Northumberland which has no mains electricity is getting ready to be connected to the national grid.
06:00 AM - 09:00 AM
Today
Justin Webb and Simon Jack are joined by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the author, screenwriter and UK Children's Laureate, for the first of this year's guest edited programmes.
09:00 AM - 09:30 AM
Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics
Expect gifts, special pyjamas, drinking games and cross-dressing. Natalie celebrates the mid-winter festival of Ancient Rome, Saturnalia, with André Vincent and Llewelyn Morgan.
09:30 AM - 10:00 AM
All in the Mind
Claudia Hammond and her expert panel of psychologists take a look at the psychology of nostalgia. How it shapes our feelings and behaviour, and how we can harness it for wellbeing.
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Woman's Hour
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
Add to Playlist
Amy Harman, Francesca Ter-Berg and Roderick Williams get in the festive mood with Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye as they create a playlist of five seasonal classics.
11:45 AM - 12:00 PM
The Dead of Winter by Sarah Clegg
2/5. Beyond our modern Christmas, Sarah Clegg embraces a more complex understanding of the season, describing monstrous creatures that have haunted our winters for centuries.
12:00 PM - 12:04 PM
News Summary
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
12:04 PM - 12:57 PM
ABBA: Inside the Music
Exploring ABBA's songwriting and musical craft across their studio albums - from Ring Ring in 1973 to The Visitors in 1981 - on the 50th anniversary of their Eurovision win.
12:57 PM - 01:00 PM
Weather Forecast
The latest weather forecast.
01:00 PM - 01:45 PM
World at One
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.
01:45 PM - 02:00 PM
My Poetry and Other Animals
The poet laureate, Simon Armitage, meets a tiger - to help inspire a new animal poem.
02:00 PM - 02:15 PM
The Archers
Plans are coming together for Kate, and Alan's negotiation skills are tested.
02:15 PM - 03:00 PM
The Owl and the Nightingale
Simon Armitage's new translation of the medieval slanging match of a poem The Owl and the Nightingale, with Maxine Peake as the owl and Rachael Stirling as the nightingale.
03:00 PM - 04:30 PM
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
A service of carols, hymns and readings live from the candlelit Chapel of King's College, Cambridge.
04:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Beyond Belief
Mona Siddiqui hears from Denzil Larbi who reflects on the loss of his cousin, Elianne Andam, to explore if religions do enough for those grieving at times of collective merriment.
05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
PM
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
06:00 PM - 06:15 PM
Six O'Clock News
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.
06:15 PM - 06:30 PM
The Wombles to the Rescue
2/7. Exactly which Womble will accompany Great Uncle Bulgaria on his overseas trip? And who's going to run the burrow while he's away? Richard E Grant reads, directed by Johnny Vegas.
06:30 PM - 07:00 PM
Best Medicine
Desiree Burch discovers ways to cope with pain, Dr Abdullah Khan explores tiny beating hearts in a dish, and Mark Williams tells Kiri how losing his leg led to finding his purpose.
07:00 PM - 07:15 PM
The Archers
There's a Christmas Eve surprise in Ambridge, and Brian is not amused.
07:15 PM - 08:00 PM
This Cultural Life
Violinist Nigel Kennedy talks to John Wilson about his formative cultural influences and experiences.
08:00 PM - 08:40 PM
Café Hope's Christmas Dinner
Rachel Burden opens up Café Hope at Christmas to some special guests who are making the festive season better for their community.
08:40 PM - 09:00 PM
In Touch
Strictly Come Dancing's 2024 winner Chris McCausland joins 11-year-old author Betsy Griffin and the In Touch team to celebrate Christmas Eve.
09:00 PM - 09:30 PM
Crossing Continents
Tens of thousands of ghosts haunt Ukraine's relations with its neighbour, Poland. Can a contested history be overcome, and victims of a 1940s massacre be buried properly at last?
09:30 PM - 10:00 PM
Short Cuts
Short festive documentaries and merry sonic adventures. Presented by Josie Long.
10:00 PM - 10:45 PM
The World Tonight
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.
10:45 PM - 11:00 PM
South Sea Tales by W. Somerset Maugham
2/5. Alban Torel thinks his posting in Sondurah is secure until there is a sudden uprising in a nearby plantation which he seems oddly reluctant to quell.
11:00 PM - 11:30 PM
Soul Music
A composition for voices and harp, written on a cargo ship on the Atlantic in 1942.
11:30 PM - 12:48 AM
Midnight Mass
The traditional Christmas Eve celebration of Midnight Mass comes live from Leeds Cathedral.