The Church Times reports that "Something Understood", Radio 4's weekly audio essay on spiritual themes, incorporating music, readings and more, will have no new editions made from April 2019, yet continue in its slot indefinitely. It currently brackets the Sunday schedule, going out at 6.00am and 11.30pm. The most regular presenter is Sir Mark Tully, but others include BBC News' Official Bard, Fergal Keane.
A BBC spokeswoman said “We’ve broadcast Something Understood for nearly 24 years, and we know the decision to no longer make this programme will disappoint our audience; but we have a full and rich back catalogue of the programme, and we propose to fill the schedule with the best of the archive for the foreseeable future.
“We are putting into action our plans to increase the ambition of religious programmes, and the critically acclaimed Morality in the 21st Century is an example of this, plus series like Moral Maze and Sunday continue to explore religious and ethical questions in depth.”
Something Understood was commissioned under Radio 4 Controller Michael Green back in 1995; current decisions on the life or death of religious output are made by James Purnell, Director of Radio & Education.
We fully expect the logic of endless repeats from a rich back catalogue to be taken up elsewhere in 'religious' output. Songs of Praise has been going for 57 years.
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