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Illuminated

Illuminated is BBC Radio 4's home for creative and surprising one-off documentaries that shed light on hidden worlds. New episodes are available weekly on Sunday evenings.

Radio 4,80 episodes

Episodes

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Bass Notes
Jah Wobble explores a life immersed at the low end of the sonic spectrum.
28 Dec 2025,28 mins
A Very British Christmas
A headlong dive into Christmas Day 2024, made up entirely from phone-recorded voice notes.
21 Dec 2025,29 mins
CS Lewis, the Evacuee and the Wardrobe
Emma Freud sits down with her mother to hear the fascinating tale of her link to CS Lewis.
14 Dec 2025,29 mins
Art Class
Reflections on the conflicting values we invest in art.
07 Dec 2025,29 mins
Hearing Aids
Poet Paul Farley faces up to the fact that it’s time to address his hearing loss.
23 Nov 2025,28 mins
Lost In Lullabies
When his son refuses his bedtime songs, Matt Edmonds wonders what magic lullabies hold.
16 Nov 2025,29 mins
The Little Box Which Contains the World
Emily Berry's exploration of agoraphobia.
09 Nov 2025,28 mins
The Piano Boat
The Piano Boat: navigating grief in music and water.
02 Nov 2025,28 mins
Problems with Julia Masli
There are so many problems in the world. Julia Masli has been trying to solve them.
26 Oct 2025,28 mins
The Findhorn Garden
In search of sonic transmissions from the nature spirit realm.
19 Oct 2025,29 mins
Returned to Sender
Join Clint Buffington on his hunt for messages in bottles and the people who sent them.
12 Oct 2025,28 mins
Peanuts at 75
Josh Cohen shares how Peanuts can help us navigate the frustrating squiggle of life.
05 Oct 2025,29 mins
Driving, Driving, Driving on the Autobahn
Alan Dein takes to the road to explore the cultural resonances of Kraftwerk’s Autobahn.
28 Sep 2025,28 mins
How Trains Shrank Time and Space
200 years after the birth of the modern railway we explore its impact on our modern world.
21 Sep 2025,28 mins
Where the Distance Shimmers
Laura Barton reflects on the shifting identity of Route 66.
14 Sep 2025,28 mins
The Cat Killer Detectives
A couple from London find themselves caught up in the search for the Croydon cat killer
07 Sep 2025,29 mins
The Watch Case
Watchmaker Rebecca Struthers has come to see the world's oldest watch - but is it real?
24 Aug 2025,28 mins
Into the West
Horatio Clare goes in search of the bird he’s loved since childhood: the red-billed chough
17 Aug 2025,28 mins
A Taste of Home
We unbox care packages to explore flavours from China, India, Ireland and the Philippines.
03 Aug 2025,28 mins
Don't Lose Your Head!
A vicar takes on a church and discovers there's a decapitated head in the vestry.
27 Jul 2025,29 mins
Target Girls
Pull back the curtain on the hidden world behind the target girl’s silent, singular image.
20 Jul 2025,29 mins
All Under One Magnetosphere
Discover the magic of ‘natural radio’ - a hidden electromagnetic soundscape.
13 Jul 2025,29 mins
Still Me
Tracey Okines - locked-in, not locked down - living boldly with humour, honesty and spirit
06 Jul 2025,28 mins
The Frozen Light
The world’s northernmost community celebrates the sun's return after months of darkness.
22 Jun 2025,29 mins
Lost and Found
Illuminated enters the world of a missing Jack Russell Terrier in St Neots, Cambridgeshire
15 Jun 2025,29 mins
You've Got Worms
Sink into the dirt to meet the hidden worms that squelch through the darkness.
08 Jun 2025,29 mins
A Walk in Time
Human time meets earth time on the Jurassic coast of Dorset.
01 Jun 2025,29 mins
Doctor Dolittle and the Exploding Trout
The environmental protest that shook Hollywood and saved a village.
18 May 2025,28 mins
A Map of the Moon
Producer and artist Siddharth Khajuria meets competing human imaginations for the moon.
11 May 2025,29 mins
The Organ Symphony
Five peoples' stories about their relationship with an internal organ - set to music.
04 May 2025,29 mins