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Why the recent BBC decision to close Radio 4 Extra is a terrible mistake

Why the recent BBC decision to close Radio 4 Extra is a terrible mistake

Radio Times Editor Shem Law says Radio 4 Extra is living proof that great broadcasting does not acquire a sell-by date – and we'll be losing more than just a radio station when it's turned off.

Black and white image of Ian Lavender as Captain Pike and Arthur Lowe as Captain Wainwaring on stage for Dad's Army. Pike is singing from a booklet and Mainwaring is looking at him incredulously.

Fred Mott/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Shem Law

Published: Wednesday, 21 October 2026 at 1:30 pm

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Its magic is something no algorithm can replace, because for me the whole point of radio is turning it on and hearing something you never knew you wanted. No endless searching, no scrolling, no wondering whether it's something you'll like or have heard before. When something is curated for you, somebody else has done the hard work of choosing.

That's the beauty of it: you can't change what's on. Even if you have heard it before, when it's been scheduled without consulting you, you can settle in and enjoy the bits and the gags you might have missed first time round. Dad's Army never disappoints, however many times I've heard it.

That, to me, is the magic of BBC Radio 4 Extra. And it is precisely what the BBC is proposing to throw away.

When people ask why it's my favourite station, I tell them: "It's like Radio 4, just without the boring bits." Which might be a little unfair to Radio 4, a station I do, of course, tune into. But anyone who has exchanged the morning gloom and gladiatorial interviews of Today for half an hour of beautifully timed comedy will understand the sentiment.

Then there are the afternoon dramas: richly produced, brilliantly acted, sometimes by actors long gone, and often blessed with budgets that contemporary Radio 4 dramas can only dream about. They tend not to be preoccupied with reflecting the latest divisive cultural argument of the 21st century. Instead, they trust a good story, a strong script and the listener's imagination. What a revolutionary idea.

Black and white image of Tony Hancock sitting backwards on a chair and smiling.

Tony Hancock. Harry Todd/Getty Images

Comedy, science fiction, thrillers, documentaries, literary adaptations: Radio 4 Extra brings them together in a carefully considered schedule. One moment you're listening to Tony Hancock or The News Quiz, the next you're halfway to another galaxy. It is gloriously unpredictable without being completely random, yet always reassuringly familiar. Crucially, it introduces listeners to programmes they would never think to search for.

The BBC argues that some of these treasures will still be available on BBC Sounds. Fair enough. But an archive is not a radio station, any more than a warehouse full of books is a library with a brilliant librarian. Availability is not the same as discovery.

To recreate Radio 4 Extra for yourself would require time, patience and an alarming familiarity with the inner workings of the rather clunky BBC Sounds app. And whatever clever algorithm comes next will only give us more of what we already like. The best editors give us something we did not yet know we will love.

Matt Brittin, wearing a suit and shirt, speaks to the media outside Broadcasting House.

BBC director-general Matt Brittin. Carl Court/Getty Images

This is what makes the decision particularly irritating. New director-general Matt Brittin has spoken about the importance of the BBC's extraordinary archive. Quite right too. Across BBC Four on television and Radio 4 Extra, that inheritance is not merely stored; it is brought back to life. Closing one of its finest shop windows while celebrating the treasures inside seems a very curious way of running the show.

Of course, I understand that the BBC must save money. Nobody seriously imagines otherwise. But public service broadcasting is not simply about keeping programmes somewhere in the system. It is about making them accessible, surprising and part of the rhythm of everyday life.

Radio 4 Extra is not a dusty exercise in nostalgia. It is living proof that great broadcasting does not acquire a sell-by date. Turn it off, and the programmes may well survive. But something far more precious will not: the joy of stumbling upon them.

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Authors

Radio Times editor Shem Law wears a shirt, tie and grey jumper. He is sitting at a wooden desk behind a sign saying "Editor" clasping his hands. There are other items on the desk, including a dial telephone and typewriter.

Shem Law

Shem Law is the brand editor of Radio Times, and the 20th person to hold that esteemed position in over 100 years. He wasn't allowed a television growing up, but over the years he has rather overcompensated for that fact.

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