Front Row

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 Doyl...

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. Th...

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...

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...

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...

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 Lond...

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 –...

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 abo...

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 charac...

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 hea...

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 le...

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 an...

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...

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 re...

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 pr...

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 w...

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 la...

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, d...

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 seri...

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 produ...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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 caree...