Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
Tom Sutcliffe hosts the ceremony for the 2025 BBC National Short Story Award and Young Writers Award live from BBC Broadcasting House. Judges William Boyd, Lucy Caldwell, Ross Raisin and Joseph Coehlo discuss what makes a great short story. This is the 20th anniversary of the BBC National Short Story Award and you can hear all the shortlisted stories on BBC Sounds. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Graham
Actor Matthew McConaughey talks with Samira about The Lost Bus; a nerve shredding film based on a true story about a school bus driver who rescued 22 children and their teacher from raging wildfires in California Rising British actor Harris Dickinson talks about his debut film as a director; Urchin. It explores homelessness on London’s streets, being in the running to play James Bond and his up-coming role as John Lennon in Sam Mendes' new Beatles biopic out next year. Author of The Rachel Incid...
Leonardo DiCaprio and director Paul Thomas Anderson tell Tom about their new film One Battle After Another. Our reviewers tonight are film critic Tim Robey and theatre critic Sarah Crompton. They also review The Land of the Living, David Lan's new play for the National Theatre, directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Juliet Stevenson . And Patricia Lockwood's latest novel Will There Ever Be Another You? Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Eliane Glaser
Will & Grace star Eric McCormack tells us about his latest screen role – in the new BBC One thriller series Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue. McCormack plays one of nine people who survive a plane crash in the Mexican jungle, and aren't aware that a murderer might be lurking in their midst. We hear the true story of a bear who was adopted from a Highland wildlife park in the 70s and became a star of stage and screen, caddying for Bob Hope on the golf course and playing a cameo role in a Bond ...
Peaky Blinders' screenwriter Stephen Knight on his new TV series, House of Guinness. Indhu Rubasingham talks about her vision as the new Artistic Director for the National Theatre and her first production there - Bacchae Art critic Waldemar Januszczak has been to see the Turner Prize Exhibition for us, which this year is in Bradford. We find out what he makes of it. Former Booker winner Roddy Doyle on the 6 books shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize. Presenter: Samira Ahmed...
Johnny Carson, David Letterman and Jay Leno made the late night talk wildly popular viewing for American audiences for decades, but those days are fading fast thanks to declining ratings and ad revenue. Now, with two of today's biggest late night shows are in trouble after offending President Trump, we speak to the New York Times chief TV critic, James Poniewozik after the future of these show. This weekend the sculptor Martin Jennings was announced as the designer of the statue at the new natio...
A special edition of Front Row live from the Contains Strong Language Festival, the BBC's annual celebration of poetry, performance and the spoken word. With live music from Antony Szmierek. Jeremy Dyson on his new Radio 4 drama High Cockalorum which spins a new tale out of a visit to Yorkshire made by Hollywood legend James Mason. Poet Emma Conally-Barklem and Kristina Diprose, one of the writers for the Wandering Imaginations project at the Brontë Parsonage, discuss the Brontë sisters as a sou...
In our weekly review show, Kirsty Wark is joined by writer and critic Hannah McGill and writer and journalist Alan Taylor to discuss What Can We Know, the latest novel from Booker Prize winning writer Ian McEwan, an epic story set in a largely underwater Britain a hundred years in the future which touches on themes including climate change and great poetry. They also give their verdicts on Frances Poet's Small Acts of Love, a musical theatre production inspired by relationships formed across the...
As news has broken of the death of Robert Redford aged 89, Front Row looks back over his astonishing career, from roles in iconic films such as All The President's Men and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, to his environmental activism and his support for independent films through the Sundance Film Festival. Mark Ronson talks about his new memoir, Night People, reflecting on his rise from DJ to superstar producer behind hits such as Uptown Funk and Amy Winehouse's Back to Black album. Caoilinn...
Robert Plant on his journey from Led Zeppelin to his latest album of folk songs. Creator of V for Vendetta and Watchmen, Alan Moore is probably the world's most acclaimed writer of comic books, a medium he now eschews. Moving into novels, he has explored his hometown Northampton in widely praised work like Jerusalem, but his latest - The Great When - is an otherworldly exploration of literary London, inspired by the psychogeography of Iain SInclair and horror writing of Arthur Machen. From Seura...
Writer Jenny McCartney and journalist and screenwriter Sarfraz Manzoor join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the David Bowie Centre at the V&A East Storehouse in London – the new home for the Bowie archive, where visitors can book one-on-one time with items. They also discuss the film Spinal Tap II- the sequel to the cult 1984 mockumentary about a heavy metal band. Plus Jung Chang’s Fly, Wild Swans – the follow up to her best-selling family autobiography Wild Swans. And we’ll be revealing the shortl...
As the Downton Abbey franchise comes to an end after fifteen years, with the cinema release of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale this Friday, we discuss the enduring appeal of the upstairs-downstairs class-based period drama with the chatelaine of the 'real Downton', Highclere Castle, the Countess of Carnarvon, and with Caroline Frost of The Radio Times. Suede frontman Brett Anderson talks to us about the 21st century anxieties which have informed the renowned indie-rock band's new album, Antidepr...
Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran have created some of comedy's most beloved characters, including Birds of a Feather's Sharon and Tracey, and The New Statesman's Alan B'Stard. As their play Dr Freud Will See You Now Mrs Hitler comes to London, they discuss alternate histories, the limits of comedy, and how they still make each other laugh. Medea remains one of the most complex and terrifying characters in mythology, and Natalie Haynes's new novel No Friend to this House reimagines the story of th...
Maxine Peake talks about starring in the Nottingham Playhouse's new show The Last Stand of Mary Whitehouse, which explores the life of the 60s conservative campaigner whose views on sexuality and morality always kept her in the news. The National Library of Scotland is celebrating its centenary with an exhibition showcasing books nominated by the public. But the Library has found itself making headlines for not including one gender critical book, The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht. We speak to one o...
Critics William Lee Adams and Laura Barton join Samira to review the new album from Irish popstar CMAT which reflects on her home country, the sexist comments she has received, as well as Jamie Oliver and Teslas. More than a decade after the US version of sitcom The Office ended, it gets a spin-off called The Paper, set in a local newspaper office in Ohio. And Jacob Elordi and Daisy Edgar-Jones lead the cast of a new gay romance film called On Swift Horses, set in fifties California. London's So...
Canadian rock and pop legend Bryan Adams on his new studio album – Roll With The Punches. He talks to Kirsty Wark about the inspiration for his lyrics, creating music with old gear, AI, and – surprisingly – duetting with Luciano Pavarotti. Folk singer Emily Portman was left in disbelief this summer when an AI-generated album was released under her name without her permission. Dr Hayleigh Bosser and Emily discuss artificial intelligence and the rights of musicians. With the Venice Film Festival i...
West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin talks to Nick Ahad about his award winning and record-breaking adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee's seminal American novel about racial injustice and childhood innocence. This play is about to tour around the UK, with Richard Coyle returning to his West End role of Atticus Finch. Sorkin also hints at what we can expect to see in his follow-up The Social Network, the Oscar winning film based on the creation of Facebook. Nick visits Bradford Live, the ne...
The subtitle of Sebastian Faulks' latest book is "Ten Essays in Place of a Memoir". Fires Which Burned Brightly tells of his childhood, schooldays, drinking, mental stress, his parents' lives, family, being a touring author and much more. British ambient pop trio St Etienne play live in the studio, to mark their final release - International - three and a half decades after they began. With the return of Mitchell and Webb to our screens, we discuss the resurgence of the TV sketch show with Chann...
Critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Medieval English Literature lecturer Dr Eleanor Parker join Samira Ahmed to discuss the BBC’s historical epic King and Conqueror starring James Norton. They’ve also read Boudicca’s Daughter by Elodie Harper, and watched Young Mothers by the award-winning filmmakers the Dardenne Brothers. Plus Samira talks to artistic director Seán Doran about the Arts Over Borders project FrielDays, which over the course of five years will celebrate work of dramatist Brian Friel by...
Theatre producer Nica Burns, who has run the Edinburgh Comedy Awards since 1984, and judge Ashley Davies discuss the acts shortlisted for this year's prize, the most prestigious annual award for comedy in the UK, which has previously been won by the likes of Steve Coogan, Jenny Eclair, The League of Gentlemen and Tim Minchin. The founder of theatre company Complicité, Simon McBurney, who himself won that award back in 1985, joins us in the studio to talk about Figures In Extinction, a collaborat...
Tom Hiddleston on becoming a dancing accountant in new Stephen King inspired film, The Life of Chuck. Sir Anish Kapoor on making a protest artwork in the North Sea with Greenpeace. A report from Bradford as artist Luke Jerram works with local communities to create a giant ball of yarn for new work, A Good Yarn, which celebrates the region's textile heritage. Michael Frayn's play Noises Off is a landmark of British theatre which relies on showing the two sides - on stage and off stage - of a thea...
As the National Theatre’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest transfers to the West End with Stephen Fry taking the role of Lady Bracknell, but do older actresses lose out when men are cast in women’s roles? Nikolai Foster, Artistic Director of the Leicester Curve Theatre and Nicky Clark, founder of the Acting Your Age Campaign discuss. The bestselling author of Yellowface, R.K. Kuang, discusses her new novel Katabasis. Director Daniels Evans talks about his production of Born With Tee...
A revival of Brigadoon at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre; is it Scottish cultural cringe or a tartan triumph? The Bitter Water of the Lake by Italian novelist Giulia Caminito, tells a story about poverty and anger from the point of view of a young woman in Rome in the noughties Norwegian film Love, directed by Dag Johan Haugerud, is part of The Oslo Trilogy - Dreams Love and Sex. Taiwanese TV series Zero Day has been accused of scaremongering about a potential invasion by China. We speak with sh...
Scottish Ballet's new production Mary, Queen of Scots is a punk inspired production which tells the story of the ill-fated queen through the imagination and memories of her cousin, Elizabeth I, who authorised her execution. And a Fringe production Mary Queen of Rock portrays Mary as a rock star in a world in which rock and roll is banned. We discuss why her story continues to inspire so many productions today. Eva Victor, star of Sorry, Baby, the opening film of this year's Edinburgh Internation...
Norwich Castle has reopened to the public after a major revamp. Historian Alice Loxton joins Tom to discuss what has been done to bring the 900 year old site up to 21st century tourist expectations At 21 years old, Aigul Akhmetshina was the youngest singer to perform Carmen at the Royal Opera House. She'd already come a long way from home, a rural village in the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan. Award winning director Adrian Noble talks about directing The Gathered Leaves – a play about turning...
Peter Sellers was a comic genius who changed British comedy forever. With this year marking his centenary, Samira is joined by Dick Fiddy, curator of an new season of his films at the BFI, and comedy historian Robert Ross to discuss his films and legacy. The Edinburgh International Book Festival got underway at the weekend. The theme is repair, but the festival has to navigate a fractious cultural landscape. Festival director Jenny Niven speaks to Samira. A new novel from Nicola Barker is always...
Noah Hawley talks about creating Alien: Earth which is the first ever TV series based on the blockbuster Alien films created by Ridley Scott. Film critic Rhianna Dhillon and poet and editor Tristram Fane Saunders join Tom Sutcliffe to review the series. They also review Celine Song's new romantic comedy-drama Materialists starring Dakota Johnson as a New York Matchmaker. And John Burnside's final collection of poetry, The Empire of Forgetting. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet...
A special edition of the programme recorded in front of an audience at the Edinburgh Festivals earlier this week. Emmy and Olivier Award-winning actor Brian Cox discusses his role as the ghost of economist Adam Smith in James Graham's satirical play Make It Happen. The National Theatre of Scotland production at the Edinburgh International Festival chronicles the rise and downfall (in 2008) of the world's biggest bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and also features an actor playing the role of the...
Tom Sutcliffe speaks to Sean Hayes, best known for his role as Jack in Will and Grace. Now he's playing pianist Oscar Levant in Broadway hit Good Night Oscar, which has just opened at the Barbican in London. Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his Symphony No 5 under massive pressure, having been denounced by Stalin the year before during the great purge of 1936. The success of Symphony No 5 saved his career, and now it's being performed from memory by the Aurora Orchestra for the BBC Proms. Nicholas Coll...
Freakier Friday is an update on the 2003 hit body-swap movie, and it features the return of the original stars - Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan. Samira, with film critic Larushka Ivan-Zedah and Jesse Green, the chief New York Times' theatre critic, look at the legacy and impact of the book on which the films were based. Auction house Sotheby's is returning a set of sacred jewels believed to be linked to the Buddha's remains, to India - William Dalrymple joins Front Row to discuss the gems' r...
