Archive on 4

Brilliant stories told using archive from the BBC and beyond.

Radio 4,699 episodes

Episodes

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Night Train
Horatio Clare discovers how night trains take our imaginations to new destinations.
27 Apr 2024,57 mins
ABBA: Inside the Music
Exploring ABBA's songwriting and craft on the 50th anniversary of their Eurovision win.
06 Apr 2024,57 mins
The Trickster: A Thistle up the Backside of Society
Trickery - is it what we need to keep society moving forward?
01 Apr 2024,57 mins
Marlon Brando: The Ultimate Contender
Antonia Quirke defines the archival A-Z of essential Marlon Brando, who changed acting.
30 Mar 2024,57 mins
7" of Joy: The Single at 75
Pete Waterman marks the 75th anniversary of the 7" single.
23 Mar 2024,57 mins
It Must Be Wonderful to Be Free
Novelist Megan Nolan goes in search of one of Ireland’s first true beatniks, Brendan Behan
16 Mar 2024,57 mins
RNLI at 200
To celebrate 200 years of the RNLI, Griff Rhys Jones takes a deep dive into their archive.
02 Mar 2024,57 mins
Barry Humphries: Gloriously Uncut
Rob Brydon takes a fresh look back at the unique Australian entertainer, Barry Humphries.
17 Feb 2024,57 mins
Motorway City
The story of how Glasgow became the UK’s archetypal motorway city.
03 Feb 2024,57 mins
Dom Joly - Goth or Not?
Dom Joly used to be a goth - or did he? He journeys through the archive to find out.
27 Jan 2024,57 mins
Reporting Russia
How western correspondents have reported on the world's biggest country down the years.
20 Jan 2024,57 mins
Saints and Sinners
Rev Giles Fraser looks back over a century of religious broadcasting in Britain.
06 Jan 2024,57 mins
Vivienne
The life and times of Vivienne Westwood
30 Dec 2023,57 mins
Stevie's Inner Visions
How a car crash nearly made Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions his last creative breath.
23 Dec 2023,57 mins
Jim Kerr on Jim Morrison
Jim Kerr from Simple Minds describes the impact and influence of The Doors' Jim Morrison.
16 Dec 2023,57 mins
The Art of Silence
Marcel Marceau's daughters tell the remarkable story of his life in the French Resistance.
09 Dec 2023,57 mins
La Divina
Singer Lesley Garrett marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary Maria Callas.
02 Dec 2023,57 mins
Speaking to the People
A former White House speechwriter journeys through a century of presidential speeches.
25 Nov 2023,57 mins
Doctor Who: 60 Years of Friends and Foes
Sue Perkins explores how Doctor Who has reflected our social history on and off screen.
24 Nov 2023,57 mins
I Was 21 Years...
Billy Bragg marks 40 years since the release of his seminal song, A New England.
18 Nov 2023,57 mins
Doris Lessing: Free Woman
Lara Feigel explores the life of Doris Lessing through the lens of The Golden Notebook.
11 Nov 2023,57 mins
Joni Mitchell: Verbatim
Joni Mitchell's influential life and career, told in her own words.
04 Nov 2023,57 mins
The Greyhound Diaries 2023
Stories and songs from restless American highways by way of a Greyhound bus.
28 Oct 2023,57 mins
Fangirls and Teen Hysteria
Teenage devotion through the decades
21 Oct 2023,57 mins
Powell and Pressburger: Poetic Patriotism
On groundbreaking film-makers Powell and Pressburger and their unique take on Britain.
14 Oct 2023,57 mins
The Cult of Lebowski
The Big Lebowski - the ultimate cult film. But that's... just like our opinion, man.
07 Oct 2023,57 mins
How the Yom Kippur War Changed Everything, for Everyone
A look back at the 1973 war that lasted only 19 days but changed the world forever.
30 Sep 2023,57 mins
20 Years of Funny Women
Kerry Godliman presents a look back over 20 Years of the Funny Women Awards.
23 Sep 2023,57 mins
The Hundred Year Ego
David Baker looks back over the 100 years since Sigmund Freud published The Ego and the Id
16 Sep 2023,57 mins
Bryan Magee - Man of Ideas
Angie Hobbs remembers Bryan Magee, who brought philosophy onto TV and radio in the 1970s.
09 Sep 2023,57 mins