Little Lifetimes

Radio 4, 11pm

Harriet Walter (right) stars in Leaving Alan, the first of six new comic monologues by Jenny Eclair.

Val has enjoyed nearly 40 years of a marriage of convenience to Alan, both happily living separate lives. So why, after all this time, has she decided she must leave him?

In tonight’s Free Thinking (Radio 3, 10pm) former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd talks to Rana Mitter about the US and China’s current position on the world stage

Two strangers, Fran and Rashid, who both faced difficult decisions when their elderly parents needed care, share their thoughts and experiences in The Exchange (Radio 4, 8pm).