Today’s radio

ON YOUR FARM

6.35AM, RADIO 4 HHH

At the end of October in the northwest of County Clare in Ireland, cattle are blessed by a priest and then taken to their winter pasture. Due to a geological quirk, the beef cattle will be able to winter on a flower-rich plateau as the underlying limestone absorbs and retains the summer’s heat. We listen in as hundreds of locals gather for this ancient rite.

THE MICHAEL BALL SHOW

11AM, RADIO 2 HHHH

Clarke Peters, who played detective Lester Freamon in The Wire, has been a star of the stage and screen on both sides of the Atlantic, and is in the cast for the TV adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. Clarke joins Michael to talk about his long

Russell Crowe (1pm, BBC 6 Music) career and favourite roles; then, the Danish pop group Alphabeat will give a live studio session, and let Michael know why they have returned to the music business.

RUSSELL CROWE’S SLOW SUNDAY

1PM, BBC 6 MUSIC HHHH BBC 6 Music, to help us adjust to the fact that the clocks have gone back, is having a day of mellow music and laid-back sounds, and recruited Hollywood star Russell Crowe into the team for this endeavour. Russell, who has recorded under the name

Russ le Roq – and was the vocalist and guitarist for a band called Roman Antix – includes tracks from The Church, Kevin Morby and Bobby Bland in his selection, and shares an anecdote or two.

NIGHTFALL

6PM, 12 MIDNIGHT, RADIO 4 EXTRA HHHH

The nights grow long, making this the perfect time for ghost stories. Settle down as this supernatural drama series gets off to a classy start with a tale by Edith Wharton about a maid who takes a job in a haunted house. SJ