today’s radio

SOUL MUSIC

4PM, RADIO 4 ★★★★

The Robert Burns poem Auld Lang Syne was published in 1788. The song is far older than that, though, and lyrics for earlier versions show it to have been a lament for a love affair that has turned cold. There is a melancholy in the lyrics, and a tradition existed in parts of Scotland to sing Auld Lang Syne at funerals. In this programme, we hear from various listeners about their memories of a song that will be sung in its more jaunty form on the stroke of midnight around the world.

GREAT LIVES

4.30PM, RADIO 4 ★★★★

The comedian Bill Bailey is fascinated by natural history, and Britney Spears (11.30pm, Radio 2) a great admirer of Alfred Russel Wallace. A Victorian explorer, a geographer and a naturalist, Wallace came up with the theory of evolution by natural selection independently of Charles Darwin. Bill tells us why he’s such a fan of this brilliant Victorian, who, by a trick of fate, was robbed of the acclaim that Darwin received.

LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS

9PM, RADIO 3 ★★★★

Radio 3 gives this year’s final Prom a repeat for those not in the mood for Auld Lang Syne or the hokey cokey. American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton joined Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus to lead the musical celebrations.

SCOTT MILLS’ ’90S NEW YEAR’S EVE

11.30PM, RADIO 2 ★★★★

Mr Mills will be on duty to take listeners through to the New Year – and a new decade. He aims to have you up and dancing as 2020 rolls in, and will be playing a nonstop selection of 1990s party hits. There will be tracks from Britney, the Backstreet

Boys and Take That, plus a chance to revive your Macarena. SJ