Historian Phil Tinline explores why, 37 years ago, the Thatcher government privatised British Gas, how what followed has shaped today's energy price crisis - and what should happen next. Contributors: Professor Michael Bradshaw, Derek Davis, Dr Amy Edwards, Mathew Lawrence, Tim Lefroy, Sir John Redwood Producer: Phil Tinline

It seems like an impossible conundrum. Ukraine is valiantly defending itself against the man Boris Johnson called "a blood-stained aggressor" and fighting for survival in a war that is currently deadlocked. President Zelensky has warned that attempts at talks with The Russian Federation will fail, because Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted. So in the absence of a decisive victory or a negotiated settlement - what happens? James Naughtie investigates how other conflicts have come to a conclusion, in a bid to shed light on a war which has so far defied predictions. He will talk to key figures who have been in the room as peace deals are ground out - and visit the law makers in Washington DC who are the key source of defence funding for Ukraine. History may have lessons when it comes to a conflict for which there seems no end in sight.Presented by James Naughtie Produced by Kevin Core

Taiwan is one of the world's youngest democracies. The first fully democratic presidential election was held as recently as 1996. But it's now being heralded as a place where digital technology is giving citizens a sense of direct engagement with political systems and law creation.They have a Minister of Digital Affairs, Audrey Tang, who has brought his computer software programming expertise learned in Silicon Valley to bear on the way in which ideas, petitions and suggested law reforms can be promoted by way of a website which boasts millions of users. The BBC's former Taiwan Correspondent Cindy Sui revisits the Island to try and measure the success of the website called 'Join' at a time when Taiwan faces very direct international pressures. But she also explores more established systems of local democracy, including the system of community chiefs or Li Zhangs and the 24-hour hotlines with their promise of a speedy response to any inquiry or report about issues closer to home.Western democracies have faced harsh criticism in recent years about sections of their populations feeling that their voices aren't being heard. Does Taiwan have lessons for its more established Democratic colleagues, and if it does, are they in the field of high tech or grass roots representation? Producer: Tom Alban

Recently, in both Europe and the United States, there have been serious attempts to overthrow elected governments by force.History is full of examples of coups d'etat succeeding, going all the way back to Ancient Rome. But these latest coup attempts failed. And they left a strange impression: of events that were part-horrific, part-absurd. In this programme, the novelist and classicist Natalie Haynes takes three examples of power grabs from Ancient Rome - one by the military, one by senators, and one conducted by stealth - and uses them to try to make sense of recent events in France, Germany and America. With the help of leading scholars of the dark art of the coup, she probes why these assaults on power flopped, and what all this tells us about where power now lies. And she asks where the subtler threats to democracy are lurking, against which we now need to be on guard. Contributors include: Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Alexander Clarkson, Rory Cormac. Producer: Phil Tinline

The recent rise in migrant boat crossings between France the UK is being fuelled in part by the more sophisticated methods gangs are using to source the boats.Last year when they investigated the smuggling gangs for BBC Radio 4, reporter Sue Mitchell and former British soldier and aid worker, Rob Lawrie, were alongside border force officials as they seized all manner of dinghies used in the crossings. Today that haul looks very different: the makeshift supply has been replaced by a sophisticated business which sees boats manufactured in Turkey and transported across Europe to the beaches of France. This streamlined supply chain is big business and it’s enabled the gangs to rapidly expand the trade: bigger boats made specifically for these crossings are mass manufactured in Turkey and shipped straight into the hands of smugglers. It’s a complicated dodging of laws as they’re transported across Europe, with authorities slow to react. And it promises to thwart whatever deals are secured between Britain and France to intercept the Channel crossings themselves.

For thousands of years we have gazed up at the stars and wondered: is anybody out there? The idea of meeting aliens has been the inspiration for countless books and films; for art and music. But today, thinking about meeting life on, or from, other planets is no longer dismissed as pure make-believe – it’s the focus of political consideration and cutting-edge space science. Farrah Jarral presents the story of the fantasy and the reality of preparing for first contact with extra-terrestrials.

2 June 1953. As the crowds line the streets to see their new Queen crowned, the news that Everest has been conquered is relayed over loudspeaker and adds to the excitement of the day. The Times prints its headline - the scoop delivered in secret code from the mountain.Edmund Hillary is knighted while the press clamour to know who was first to the summit. No better news could have reached Britain on the day of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. It was a magical day that brought together a young Queen, her Commonwealth and her people in celebration. Presenter: Wade Davis Series producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham Sound design: Richard Hannaford Editor: Tara McDermott Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross

The world is waiting for news of success from the British expedition on Mount Everest. James Morris, later to become Jan Morris, is a reporter from The Times newspaper embedded with the team on the mountain. When news arrives that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay have reached the summit, he must find a way to get the news to London without it leaking to other journalists waiting in Kathmandu. Morris delivers the news via a secret code. As the climbing team make their way down the mountain crowds gather to greet the heroes. Presenter: Wade Davis Series producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham Sound design: Richard Hannaford Editor: Tara McDermott Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross

In 1953 the 9th British expedition to the top of Mount Everest finally reaches the summit.In the final team was a New Zealander and a Nepalese Sherpa. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay come down the mountain to a blaze of publicity. They were soon to become the most famous men in the world. To the team involved and the wider world the expedition was a British one, but Britain, New Zealand, Nepal and even India would lay claim to its success. Just as Britain was preparing Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation, the world would learn that Everest itself had been crowned. Presenter: Wade Davis Series producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham Sound design: Richard Hannaford Editor: Tara McDermott Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross

Britain has tried and failed to reach the top of Everest for decades. George Mallory and Sandy Irvine disappeared on the mountain in 1924. There were various British expeditions during the 1930s - all unmitigated failures. The Second World War interrupted the race to conquer Everest. But by 1951, with Tibet closed by communist China, a new unexplored route through Nepal was available.The Swiss expedition had nearly succeeded in 1952. The French are scheduled to climb in 1954. For John Hunt's British team in 1953 the pressure is on. It is now or never. Meanwhile, back in London, a different race begins. If the British get to the top it's the scoop of the century for whichever newspaper can report the story first. The Times pays £10,000 to have its reporter James Morris, later Jan Morris, embedded with the expedition.Presenter: Wade Davis Series producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham Sound design: Richard Hannaford Editor: Tara McDermott Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross