Front Row

Episod

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  Front Row at the Contains Strong Language festival 24.09.2026 42min

  A special edition of Front Row from the BBC's poetry and performance festival - Contains Strong LanguageSince self-publishing a poetry pamphlet in 2020, Donna Ashworth has gone on to become the UK's bestselling living poet of the decade. She talks about her new book, The Art of Being Easily Pleased: Words To Unlock A Wonderful life, and shares some of her new poems.The phenomenally successful musical, Operation Mincemeat, which looks at a WW2 deception operation, began life as a 15 minute performance at The Lowry as part of the art centre's artist development programme. Natasha Hodgson and David Cumming, two of the original members of the team that created the show, discuss one of the musical's best loved songs, Dear Bill, and there'll be a special performance of it.Anthony Almeida is directing a new production of Othello, set in 1980s Britain which draws parallels between the political and military turmoil of that time with those of Shakespeare's 16th century setting in Venice and Cyprus. He talks about the play's language of leadership in challenging times.The TS Eliot Prize-winning poet Joelle Taylor set her collection, Maryville, in a butch bar to explore the lives of four butch lesbians and the underground landscape of queer culture. She discusses the new performance version of these poems that she'll be presenting at the Contains Strong Language festival. Presenter - Samira Ahmed Producer - Ekene Akalawu
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  Review Show: Exit Party by Emily St John Mandel, South Korean alien invasion thriller Hope and an adaptation of 1984. 23.09.2026 42min

  In this week's Review Show, our guest critics Hannah McGill and Fergus Morgan join Kirsty Wark to discuss three dystopian thrillers: Bestselling novelist Emily St John Mandel's latest work of speculative fiction, Exit Party, chronicles how a range of characters respond to a complete collapse in society - in America, where Texas and California are now republics, and militia roam the streets, and in Paris, where a giant dome has been constructed to protect elites. An alien invasion in the heart stopping South Korean sci-fi action thriller Hope, by writer, director and producer Na Hong-jin, which received an enthusiastic ovation at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to become a smash box office hit. And a new adaptation of George Orwell's seminal 1984, in which a couple's love affair is an act of rebellion against a totalitarian regime, which is touring Scottish theatres between now and November. Producer: Mark Crossan
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  Comedian Russell Kane on playing an older Romeo 22.09.2026 42min

  Comedian Russell Kane tells us about playing an older Romeo in a new take on Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.Author Samantha Ellis gives her verdict on the new film adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility starring Daisy Edgar-Jones.This week marks 100 years since the birth of John Coltrane. Saxophonist Soweto Kinch and Grammy award winning music historian Ashley Khan discuss Coltrane’s significance and legacy.And we reveal this year’s Booker Prize shortlist live on air. Literary critic and journalist Alex Clark joins Tom to discuss the six shortlisted titles.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet.
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  Roger Taylor, drummer from the super band Queen, on his latest album 21.09.2026 42min

  Roger Taylor has been a driving force behind Queen, one of the most successful bands in history. The songwriter, drummer and singer talks to Tom Sutcliffe about his 7th solo album Violence Insane in a Beautiful World. Stars Wars legend George Lucas has long sought to fulfil his dream to open a museum for his vast art collection, which includes everything from the comics of R. Crumb and Moebius to the art of Frida Kahlo, Banksy and Norman Rockwell. Art critic Jocelyn Silver joins to tell us about what fans can see when the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts opens in Los Angeles tomorrow.Imagine a scenario where Russia attacks the UK and the decisions about how the country responds are down to you. That's the task taken on by ex-politicians from across the political parties in a new TV series called The Wargame. Tom talks to ex MP Jim Murphy, who took part as the Foreign Secretary, and one of the Executive Producers Nicola Brown. As the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has announced a new committee to look into Eurovision, journalist and Eurovision expert William Lee Adams explains why we don’t have the best track record with song success and what the committee could learn from other countries.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Andrea Kidd
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  Review Show: Rose Tremain’s The Housekeeper, inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca 17.09.2026 42min

  Robbie Collin and Sarah Crompton join Samira Ahmed to review:Rose Tremain’s new book, The Housekeeper, which imagines how Daphne du Maurier’s classic novel, Rebecca, came to be written.Queen at Sea, a film starring Juliette Binoche and Tom Courtenay, which takes on the moral quandaries that occur with care in the advanced stages of dementia, when someone has lost the ability to make critical decisions.Thelma & Louise the new musical which is playing at the Young Vic in London.And we’ll have an interview with Laura Beatty, a finalist in the BBC National Short Story Awards, for her story Two Minutes to Midnight.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jonathan Blackwell
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  The Proclaimers on their new album, You May Offend 16.09.2026 42min

  Twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid emerged almost 40 years ago with their debut album This Is The Story and Top 3 single ‘Letter from America’. The Proclaimers join Kirsty Wark to discuss their new album, the ambiguously titled, You May Offend.Novelist Kate Atkinson won the Whitbread Book of the Year prize with her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum and today she chats about her latest novel, Our Noble Selves, set around the Festival of Britain which is 75 years old this autumn.Ahead of London Fashion Week, Laura Weir, CEO of the British Fashion Council discusses the fashion industry and the British Fashion Council’s recently launched initiative Fashion Britain about devolving fashion outside the London epicentre of the industry.     Edinburgh based menswear designer Kestin Hare joins the conversation to talk about growing a fashion industry away from London centre of the fashion industry.And we'll have an interview with another finalist in the BBC National Short Story Awards, Irish novelist Caoilinn Hughes
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  Hermione Lee on her biography of the notoriously private author Anita Brookner 15.09.2026 42min

  Biographer Hermione Lee talks to Tom about her new book Anita Brookner: Art and Life, which explores the career of the famously private art historian and author of 24 novels including the Booker prize-winning Hotel du Lac.Hollywood is enjoying one of its best summers at the box office as a mix of big budget blockbusters and surprise hits by new directors has powered cinema to a record $4.76 billion in global ticket sales, a 25% increase on the year before. Tim Richards, the CEO of VUE Cinemas, and Clarisse Loughrey, the chief film critic at The Independent, discuss what’s happening and how it is reshaping the films you see.Echo & the Bunnymen’s lead singer Ian McCulloch talks about the band’s latest album Apples for Isaac, their first new release for over a decade.And author Cherise Saywell on her story Ditto, set in a small town in Australia, which has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Andrea Kidd
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  The Beatles' early days, Juliette Binoche's directorial debut, Jack Thorne 14.09.2026 42min

  Samira Ahmed talks to Hunter Davies about his new book Get Back: The Boys Who Became the Beatles, Juliette Binoche about her directorial debut on In-I in Motion, Jack Thorne on his speech arguing for the need to protect writers in the age of AI, and National Short Story Award shortlisted author Lucy Caldwell. Producer: Eliane Glaser
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  Review Show: Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum 10.09.2026 42min

  Viv Groskop and Amanda Vickery join Tom Sutcliffe to review:The Bayeux Tapestry as it goes on display to the public in Britain for the first time since its creation almost a millennium ago. Taipei Story, the new novel from bestselling literary phenomenon Rebecca F Kuang, author of Babel and Yellowface, about a young Chinese-American woman studying in Taiwan and grappling with ideas of disapora and identity. Everybody Digs Bill Evans, the debut narrative feature from filmmaker Grant Gee which looks at the life of the legendary jazz musician Bill Evans.And as the BBC National Short Story Award returns, Tom announces the shortlist live - and talks to one of the shortlisted authors.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Tim Bano
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  Oasis documentary Don’t Look Back in Anger 09.09.2026 42min

  Music critic Neil McCormick shares his verdict on the Oasis documentary, Don’t Look Back in Anger about Noel & Liam Gallagher's reunion tour. Writer Beth Steel talks about her acclaimed play Till The Stars Come Down. The drama is based around a wedding in Mansfield, East Midlands. Originally a sold-out hit at the National Theatre, the production has had a West End Transfer and been performed globally. Beth talks to Samira Ahmed about the show making its regional premiere at the Nottingham Playhouse.This Friday, the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks will be marked by solemn commemorations in the United States. Since 2001, many writers, artists and filmmakers have created work in response to the attacks, and tonight we speak to historian and writer Simon Schama and to film critic and curator Hugo Emmerzael about how cultural responses have helped shape our understanding of what happened that day and in the aftermath – from Jonathan Safran Foer's novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close to the films of Kathryn Bigelow and the music of avant-garde composer William Basinski. And Henry Ward, artistic director of the Freelands Foundation discusses their new £100,000 awards for projects around the country which engage communities with art in interesting ways, including a horse box from the Burton Art Gallery and Museum in Bideford in North Devon which takes art into schools. Presenter: Samira Ahmed
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  Call My Agent's writer and creator Fanny Herrero on bringing the French sitcom to the big screen 08.09.2026 42min

  Fanny Herrero, writer and creator of the French sitcom Call My Agent, joins Tom Sufcliffe to talk about how her show about the antics of the cut-throat Paris talent agency ASK became a global hit and why, after a five year hiatus, she’s got the agents back together for their first ever film.This year’s unprecedented extreme heat and lack of rain in large parts of the UK has wreaked havoc with gardens big and small. How have the historic landscapes, parks and gardens coped? Historic England and The Heritage Fund have worked together on a report to offer guidance to those who care for them on how to adapt and prepare for our changing climate.Maria Friedman's latest role is in the musical Kimberly Akimbo. She explains what's it like to play a teenager with a rare genetic condition that causes her character to age rapidly, giving her the appearance of an elderly woman.As the Scottish Government announces a minimum income scheme for artists, which will be piloted during the current Parliament, we ask Cleo Goodman, co-founder of the Basic Income Conversation project, what it might look like, how much people can expect, and how ‘artists’ will be defined in the application process.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet
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  Helen of Troy - a new play by Ava Pickett 07.09.2026 42min

  Ava Pickett discusses her new play Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy at Theatre Royal Stratford East, and the huge success 1536, her Olivier Award-winning play about the Tudors.Louisa Young on her novel The Golden Years, which continues The Cazalet Chronicles, the hugely popular series of books by Elizabeth Jane Howard. With the opening this week of the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum, Samira talks to Agnes Valencak, Head of Exhibitions at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and art dealer Philip Mould about the challenges of moving priceless pieces of art. Plus Guy Lodge on the latest news from the Venice International Film FestivalPresenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Andrea Kidd
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  Norman Day special 03.09.2026 42min

  Tom Sutcliffe and guests explore the architecture and culture of Norman Britain as part of a special day of programmes on Radio 4 marking the return of the Bayeux Tapestry.From Durham to Peterborough, Lincoln to Norwich, the Norman invasion shaped British architecture, landscape and culture. Beginning in wood but later cemented in stone, power was expressed in the rounded arches and distinctive ornamentation of cathedrals and castles. Beginning in 1066, the Romanesque style can still be seen all over the country today, and Britain also bears the stamp of Norman cultural influence in other ways too - from illuminated manuscripts to our language and music.With: Helen Carr, writer and historian and author of Sceptred Isle: A New History of the Fourteenth CenturyJanina Ramirez, art historian and author of Legenda: The Real Women Behind the Myths that Shaped EuropeSimon Jenkins, author of many books including England's Thousand Best ChurchesVicky Richardson, curator and writer specialising in architecture.Also - John Goodall, Architectural Editor of Country Life, tours Lincoln cathedral and castle.Producer: Eliane Glaser
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  Review: Pedro Almodóvar's new film Bitter Christmas 27.08.2026 42min

  Mark Ravenhill and Leila Latif join Tom Sutcliffe to review:Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's new film Bitter Christmas, a tragi comedy told across different time frames, and questioning the relationship between reality and fiction in the film industry. Author of best selling The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin's new speculative fiction novel is Under Story, which asks if you could turn back the clock, would you live your life a second time?And Ridley Scott's film The Dog Stars, starring Jacob Elordi, set in a post-apocalyptic world.Also, art critic Louisa Buck joins Tom to discuss the life and work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama who has died at the age of 97.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Andrea Kidd
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  YouTube's Pedro Pina on the future of television, and celebrating Tim Curry 26.08.2026 42min

  Ahead of her sixth performance at the BBC Proms the mezzo soprano star Joyce DiDonato talks to Kirsty about the explosive potential of her voice. VP Head of YouTube EMEA - Pedro Pina - delivers the flagship address of this year's Edinburgh TV Festival. He gives his perspective on the continuing evolution of tv as we know it. Comedy is at the heart of the Edinburgh Festivals, and today the shortlist for the Edinburgh Comedy Award has been revealed. Director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards Nica Burns is joined by chair of judges Liz Lewin to discuss the names everyone's talking about this year. Life life and work of legendary singer and actor Tim Curry is celebrated by culture critic and broadcaster David Benedict and Tim’s lifelong friend, the gallerist Richard Cork.Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Caitlin Sneddon
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  Remembering Dolly Parton, Meg Mason and Notting Hill Carnival at 60 25.08.2026 42min

  Samira Ahmed spoke to Dolly Parton in 2023. As her death is announced Front Row pays tribute to the star of country music who sold more than 100 million records and wrote over 3,000 songs in a career that spanned six decades. A chance to hear Meg Mason, the bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss, about her new novel, Sophie Standing There, which deals with celebrity obsession and the publishing industry. A new film looks at the story of the Second World War through General De Gaulle’s eyes. We speak to its director, Antonin Baudry, about De Gaulle: Resistance - this summer's hit in French cinemas. And we mark sixty years of the Notting Hill Carnival with founder member Allyson Williams and Ricky Belgrave, DJ and chair of the British Association of Sound Systems.Producer: Ruth Watts
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  Review Show: Rachel Cusk's new novel and the return of the Looney Tunes 20.08.2026 42min

  Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and William Lee Adams join Tom Sutcliffe to review:The Life of M - the new novel from Rachel Cusk. The book centres on a writer’s attempt to chronicle the life of a globally famous film star, and explores the strangeness of celebrity.Stop! That! Train! - a comedy disaster movie featuring many of the stars from RuPaul's Drag Race.Coyote vs Acme - after a lengthy and tumultuous journey, including being shelved by its studio, the much anticipated Looney Tunes film finally reaches cinemas. The blend of live action and animated film follows Wile E. Coyote as he takes legal action against the Acme Corporation for providing him with defective goods. Chinese animated film Niu Lai has become an unexpected box-office and social media phenomenon. Initially released to little attention, the film gained widespread visibility online, generating debate about independent filmmaking, internet culture and the economics of contemporary cinema in China.And as HMV announces that it wants to become a 'destination' for books on the high street, a group of independent booksellers calls on the Prime Minister to provide the same tax relief that pubs and live music venues have recently been granted. What is the state of bookselling on the high street? Lauren Brown, Deputy News Editor at The Bookseller, joins. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Tim Bano
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  From the Edinburgh Festivals: Ann Droid and Motherland star Paul Ready; founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales; comedian Rosie Holt 19.08.2026 41min

  Ann Droid and Motherland star Paul Ready on his debut one man show Little Animals, a powerful piece of writing on climate, consumerism and the anxieties of being a Dad in today's world. The founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales on his book The Seven Rules of Trust, an optimistic view of how technology can impact on our lives. Comedian and actor Rosie Holt on her two shows at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe - Churchill's Urinal and The Illegal Aliens Have Landed. And Senegalese musician Senny Camara talks to us about performing on the kora, traditionally the preserve of male musicians, and performs for us live. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan.
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  The Light opens in Durham, and Iain Stirling on the art of sandscastles 18.08.2026 42min

  As contemporary art venue, The Light, prepares to open in Durham, its artistic director Tony Guillan, and the art critic Louisa Buck, discuss the new building and its opening exhibition, Victory Over the Sun: Encounters with Light.Comedian Iain Stirling is known to many for narrating Love Island. He's stepped out from behind the scenes to front new reality tv show Race Against The Tide where participants compete against each other and the shoreline to create sandcastle art.As her latest novel, Little Spark, is published, novelist Jess Kidd explains the appeal of the Victorian century.Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
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  Joe Lycett on his first solo exhibition, Everything Must Go 17.08.2026 42min

  The comedian Joe Lycett has long dabbled in art, but it's a serious business now as his first ever solo exhibition ‘Everything Must Go’ has just opened at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. He talks about how this show came together and why its most eye-catching piece is a giant pink and blue woolly mammoth called Martin.Charlotte Higgins talks to Samira Ahmed about her book Ukrainian Lessons, and the role artist's play in the cultural identity of the country. With poetry sales at an all time high, we speak to poets Nikita Gill and Lucas Jones, two writers credited as being part of this boom. Entries for A-level arts subjects continue to fall. However, this year saw a drop of nearly six per cent in entries for A level English Literature. What does this continued decline mean for the health of the arts and humanities? Hetan Shah is Chief Executive of the British Academy and Professor Robert Eaglestone is education policy lead at the English Association. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Andrea Kidd