Moral Notes (11.30 am R4). Victorian popular songs and their values: Simon Brett begins a new series by showing how family life was reflected in the songs of 150 years ago.
The Material World (4.30 R4). Bio-archaeologist Tamsin O'Connell on analysing ancient bones.
Gold Domes, Black Earth (8.00 R4). Tim Whewell on Russia's history and its present problems, part two: "Ruling Russia" (including a visit to Vladivostok).
Analysis (8.30 R4). Could a bit of austerity be good for us? Frances Cairncross reports.
The Way We Are (8.45 World Service, repeated Fri 2.45 am). Ivor Gaber of Goldsmith's with a series on trends in British society (using recent social science research).
The 1940s House (9.00 C4). More "staged reality". The guinea-pig family experiences food and fuel rationing.
Costing the Earth (9.00 R4). "Building a Better Sandbag". The lessons of Britain's recent (or even current?) flooding.
» Horizon : Life on Mars (9.00 BBC2). Is there - or was there - life on the red planet? First of two programmes on the latest thinking from scientists such as Mike Carr and Bill Hartmann. Followed by… Planets - Brief Encounters (9.50 BBC2), on the past and future of the solar system.
Night Waves (9.30 R3). On the life and poetry of Isaac Rosenberg.
» Open Science (12.30 am BBC2). Beginning with » Final Frontier , which features items on how people across the centuries have visualised the skies and a profile of Sir Arthur C. Clarke.