TODAY’S RADIO

A FAIR SHOT 2.15PM, RADIO 4 ★★★★

Barbara Flynn stars in this intelligent drama about a millionaire businesswoman called Maria, who is appointed as leader of a new centrist party. Her speechwriter wants Maria to change politics for ever, leading to a battle of wits and a surprising denouement when Maria makes a big speech to the UN.

THE CLASSIC FM CONCERT 8PM, CLASSIC FM ★★★

In the space of two years, Verdi’s wife and two children died.

The grieving composer vowed never to write an opera again, but was bullied into changing his mind, and wrote Nabucco. The opera, which premiered in 1842, was to change Verdi’s life.

Tonight, John Suchet marks the anniversary of Nabucco’s debut by picking Va Pensiero, that chorus of loss and longing sung by the Hebrew slaves exiled in Babylon.

COSTING THE EARTH 9PM, RADIO 4

Mass contaminations in the US have been linked to polyfluoroalkyl substances. PFAS are used in a long list of items, including frying pans, clothes and cleaning products. They’re in our food, our water systems and the oceans. They don’t break down, and will never go away. Leana Hosea reports on this threat to the planet, and hears what we can do to stop the spread of PFAS.

THE DAMIEN SLASH MIXTAPE 11PM, RADIO 4

Daniel Barker, the writer, comedian and impersonator, returns with a new, four-part series of his one-man comedy show. Sketches in the series include Mafia bosses taking a look at their diversity policies, Rick Stein’s tours of the motorways of Great Britain, and a face-off between Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer.

Daniel Barker (11pm, Radio 4)