RECOMMENDED

Listening and Viewing

MONDAY

Intimate Death (9.45-10am R4, daily). Whatever happened to the last taboo? Suddenly everyone wants to talk about dying. Marie de Hennezel's account of her work with the terminally ill was an instant bestseller in France, where it was first published. Hennezel, a psychologist, works in a palliative care unit in a Paris hospital. The men and women who come there do not always know they are dying, and her job is to bring them and their loved ones to this knowledge and then help them to live their last days with serenity.

The Strange Petitioner (2.15-3pm R4). Dossers don't often attract national press coverage but Robert K Andrews, who died last Christmas, "at home" on the streets of London, was no ordinary down-and-out. For 25 years he spent his days petitioning "for peace" in the central lobby at Westminster and was known and respected by many MPs. Joe Dunlop's drama-doc fleshes out his story with comment from Tony Benn, Peter Bottomley, Emma Nicholson and others.

The Late Book: Intimacy (12.30-12.45am, daily R4). This is the novel, you may recall, that earlier this year caused its author Hanif Kureishi a pile of strife from his sister, his ex-wife and other family members who complained that (a) it was too close to the truth and (b) that it got the facts wrong. Shocking, pitiless, often bleakly funny, it describes 24 hours in the life of a man who's about to leave his wife and two children. Read by David Threlfall in five parts.

TUESDAY

Songs from the Terraces (9-10pm R2). Nowadays "You'll Never Walk Alone" is as much a part of footie culture as pie and chips at half-time, but it wasn't always the case, as Arthur Smith reveals in this fascinating potted history. There was no singing on the terraces when Stanley Matthews started playing in the 1930s. Now the choice is eclectic: Stoke City supporters favour "Delilah" while the Tartan Army gets into the swing with "Doh re mi" from The Sound of Music.

THURSDAY

Mother Nature's Best Bits (11-11.30pm R4). On Baby Street, the comedy soap, written by Julie Balloo and Jenny Eclair, returns next week for a third series. Clearly springing from personal experience of motherhood and New Dads, this compilation from the first two series provides a chance to catch up.

FRIDAY

Disney's Women (7-7.30pm R2). Snow White, Mary Poppins, Minnie Mouse and Cruella De Vil are one side of the story. The other is Walt Disney's mother, father, wife and daughters - the powerful women who influenced the fictions. Diane Disney Miller spills the beans about the man who was uncle to children everywhere, but to her was Father, giving an insight into his most memorable female creations. Jenny Gilbert