New Radio 4 controller tweaks schedule

New BBC Radio 4 controller Gwyneth Williams has today unveiled plans to build on the station's "modern side" and increase its science coverage.

Williams, who took over from Mark Damazer as controller of Radio 4 last September, intends to introduce two new regular strands on Tuesday mornings, aimed at keeping the station at the "forefront of modern thinking".

From October, an unnamed new science programme will air every Tuesday at 9am covering all key subjects across the scientific spectrum: physics, engineering, maths, biology, chemistry, engineering and natural history.

The show, intended to raise the profile of science on Radio 4, will feature leading UK scientists discussing the way they work and sharing personal stories.

A new 15-minute programme will join the science show on Tuesdays, featuring interviews by various leading journalists on subjects that are close to their personal passions, including the arts, culture, psychology and sociology. In a blog posting, Williams revealed her hopes to attract Lyse Doucet, Robert Peston, Bridget Kendall, John Humphrys, Lucy Kellaway and others to contribute.

She wrote: "In terms of strategic direction, I want to emphasise Radio 4's more forward-looking, modern side to complement our deserved reputation for history coverage and I am keen to encourage a more international sensibility across all programmes.

"I don't mean more foreign programmes but a subtle understanding that what happens in the world affects our local decisions and everyday lives, in culture, economics, health and most things."

Also from October, Radio 4 will launch a new comedy strand on Sunday evenings from 6.30pm, supporting the best in UK comic talent, such as Rory Bremner.

To make way for the new science strand on Tuesdays, Williams has decided to axe Taking a Stand, On the Ropes, The Choice and Between Ourselves.

Explaining her decision, she wrote: "I launched Taking a Stand myself some 12 years ago with its talented producer. The programme was award-winning; I have one, for an interview Fergal Keane did with Rufus May, that I have kept with me and is now hanging on the wall of my new office in Broadcasting House.

"I have not made this change without a lot of thought and I can assure you that, in different ways, these much-loved presenters will still grace the airwaves of Radio 4."