In the second programme celebrating the arts highlights from 2014, John Wilson hears from Benedict Cumberbatch, Timothy Spall, Keira Knightley and Eddie Redmayne as they discuss the challenges of playing real life figures in film. Dolly Parton, Joan Baez, Iggy Pop and Emma Thompson talk about the impact of age on their chosen careers as Daria Klimentova explains why she decided to retire from the world of ballet. Michael Sheen discusses his passion for Dylan Thomas in this anniversary year, and Simon Schama and Hilary Spurling enthuse about Rembrandt and Matisse. And pop newcomers, Sam Smith and Young Fathers reflect on their successes over the last year.

John Wilson talks to the people who have had exceptional years in the worlds of the arts, culture and entertainment in 2014, in the first of two special programmes. Carey Mulligan discusses making her west end debut in Skylight, and the thrill of taking to the stage after her many film roles. Gillian Anderson, lauded for her performances on television in The Fall and on stage in A Streetcar Named Desire, talks about playing two very different women. Two of the biggest selling musicians of 2014, Ed Sheeran and Paolo Nutini, discuss the song writing process and award winning authors Hilary Mantel and Lionel Shriver on the art of writing short stories. Kristen Scott Thomas and Helen McCrory, who stunned audiences with their stage performances in Greek tragedies Electra and Medea, on the visceral experience of playing tragic heroines. Designer Tom Piper and ceramicist Paul Cummins explain why their poppies installation at the Tower of London, which marked the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI, struck a chord with millions of people and artist Marina Abramovic on her bravest installation yet. And, following two of the biggest comebacks of 2014, John Cleese remembers the Pythons' reunion and Adrian Noble discusses directing Kate Bush. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Kirsty Lang investigates the flourishing phenomenon of so-called event cinema. Plays, musicals and operas in major cities have become available throughout the country on the big - and sometimes small - screen in local cinemas. Eric Felner, the producer of Billy Elliot the Musical tells of his delight at the performance in September that topped the cinema box office, beating Denzel Washington's The Equalizer into second place. David Sabel, the Head of Digital at the National Theatre responsible for NT Live, analyses the success of Frankenstein, War Horse and many other shows. Helen McCrory talks about what the live screening of Medea felt like and Lesley Manville and Richard Eyre describe having their theatre production of Ibsen's Ghosts filmed. Front Row hears from some who fear the impact of event cinema on local theatre and on touring; Lorne Campbell of Northern Stage and the playwright Alan Ayckbourn voice their concerns. And what is the future of event screening? Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Sarah Johnson.

John Wilson explores the art of book cover design and meets artist Suzanne Dean, who has been responsible for more Booker-winning covers than any other designer. Writers Ian McEwan, Tom McCarthy and Audrey Niffenegger discuss the art that represents their words and Telegraph books editor Gaby Wood provides a reader's perspective on what makes a book stand out in a bookshop. As more of us than ever read books on e-readers, is beautiful design the key to the survival of the physical book?

In conversation with Kirsty Lang, Sir Alan Ayckbourn discusses his long and prolific career that has seen him, at the age of 75, premiere his 78th play - Roundelay. Sir Alan is one of this country's most celebrated playwrights. His ability to write and stage his tales of British middle-class domestic disharmony in ever more inventive ways has endeared him to a national audience. However, with his plays performed worldwide, he has a devoted international audience as well. He talks to Kirsty Lang about Scarborough, his adopted home, his love of event theatre, and his belief in theatre's power to connect people - whether they want to be connected or not.

Kirsty Lang talks to John Kander, composer of Cabaret, New York New York and Chicago and one half of Broadway partnership Kander and Ebb. 87 year old John Kander discusses The Scottsboro Boys, his final work with lyricist Fred Ebb, which is currently a hit in London's West End. How he and Ebb discovered Liza Minnelli, and why Judi Dench remains his favourite Sally Bowles (Cabaret) on stage.

Unbroken is Angelina Jolie's second film as director. Starring British actor Jack O'Connell it tells the story of US Olympian Louis Zamperini who was captured during WW2 and sent to a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Mark Eccleston reviews. Mercury Prize winners Young Fathers discuss the origins of the band and why they strive to avoid simple classification. Miranda Richardson discusses her role with Anna Chancellor in a new TV version of Mapp and Lucia. At an exhibition of his photographs in London, dance star Mikhail Baryshnikov explains how smuggled European magazines inspired his love of photography when he was growing up in 1960s Russia.

Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones talk to John Wilson about their new film The Theory of Everything about the physicist Stephen Hawking; soprano Renée Fleming on her new album Christmas in New York; Billie Whitelaw remembered by former theatre critic Benedict Nightingale; and Adam Smith considers the dark side of Christmas films. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Miranda Hart tells Razia Iqbal about the emotional filming of the final episodes of her sitcom Miranda. The latest instalment of the Night of the Museum franchise, starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, is set in the British Museum. But how do you film riotous action sequences in one of the busiest museums in the world, full of priceless artefacts? Razia tours the museum with the film's location manager, Michael Harm. Before his death last August Seamus Heaney was working on a selection of poems from the second half of his career. His 'New Selected Poems 1988 - 2013' has now been published. It ends with 'In Time', a poem written for his granddaughter just a fortnight before he died. Maurice Riordan, editor of 'Poetry Review', reviews the selection. And composer John Rutter tells Razia what makes the perfect Christmas carol.

Two well-loved children's books have been adapted for television - Roald Dahl's Esio Trot and The Boy in the Dress by comedian and author David Walliams. Children's book editor Julia Eccleshare discusses whether the characters in the novels come to life on the small screen. Razia Iqbal talks to Pulitzer prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler who has turned his hand from literary fiction to writing espionage thrillers. He discusses The Hot Country, his new historical novel about an American journalist reporting on the Mexican Revolution. Sony has cancelled the release of The Interview, a comedy starring James Franco and Seth Rogan that pokes fun at North Korea, after threats from hackers. US film critic Matt Prigge has seen The Interview and discusses its merits as a film. Years ago Richard and Linda Thompson were a great musical partnership but then they got divorced. Now their son Teddy has brought them together with their daughter, Kami Thompson and her husband James Walbourne, another son, Jack Thompson, and grandson Zak. The Thompson Family have made an album together called - inevitably - 'Family'. Razia meets Richard, Teddy and Kami as they prepare to perform it live. Presenter: Razia Iqbal Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Double Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz on working with Tim Burton in Big Eyes, and responds to rumours surrounding his role in the new James Bond film. Kirsty goes backstage at the National Theatre on the set that really is the star of Treasure Island - it's a ship, a pub, a cave and a strange, pulsating island. And a pirate's corpse. Radio 3's Petroc Trelawney reviews Mozart in the Jungle, a new 'webseries' about a wild young conductor who tries to rejuvenate the New York Symphony. And, novelists Lawrence Norfolk and Kate Pullinger discuss the implications of the recent data released by e-reader Kobo about which books are most often left unfinished.

Ridley Scott's Moses epic Exodus: Gods and Kings is reviewed by Adam Smith; investigative journalist John Sweeney and Baltimore-based crime novelist Laura Lippman discuss the phenomenon of the 'Serial' podcasts; The Shoemaker's Holiday director Phillip Breen tells Samira Ahmed about his RSC production of Thomas Dekker's Elizabethan comedy of class, conflict and cobblers in love; and Quvenzhané Wallis and director Will Gluck on their new film adaptation of Annie. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Forty years after his breakthrough play - John, Paul, George, Ringo...and Bert, the celebrated playwright, musician, and novelist Willy Russell reveals the word he has chosen for the new Front Row neon artwork. He joins Kirsty Lang on the roof of the BBC's Salford home to turn it on. A review of Kon-Tiki, a new film about Thor Heyerdahl's famous journey across the Pacific ocean. Tomorrow the West Yorkshire Playhouse will be the setting for the UK's first ever 'dementia friendly' theatre performance - a specially adapted theatre performance of a new production of Irving Berlin's Broadway musical White Christmas. Front Row visited the Playhouse to find out more about this performance from those involved with developing it.

Sir Paul McCartney tells John Wilson about creating a song for the video game Destiny and missing the days of vinyl. Peter Schade, Head of Framing at the National Gallery, talks about the gallery's first ever campaign to raise money to buy a frame. It's one he's found for Titian's An Allegory of Prudence. Ian McDiarmid stars as Shylock in the Almeida Theatre's new production of The Merchant of Venice. He and director Rupert Goold talk about setting the play in the bright lights of Las Vegas. And amid the controversy over the singing of Delilah as a rugby anthem John talks to Barry Mason, the man who wrote the song.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Trevor Nunn discuss bringing their musical Cats back to London's West End. Jessie Burton, award-winning author of The Miniaturist, and curator Alice Sage discuss the appeal of dolls' houses as a new exhibition Small Stories: At Home in a Dolls' House opens at The Museum of Childhood. As the late Mary Soames' collection of personal objects is auctioned, Giles Waterfield reviews rarely-seen paintings by her father Winston Churchill. Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, discusses painting a realistic portrait of childhood and why his protagonist never ages. Producer: Ellie Bury Presenter: Samira Ahmed.

Historian Tom Holland delivers his verdict on a new TV drama series charting the life of adventurer Marco Polo. As English National Ballet prepares to stage its Christmas stalwart, Nutcracker at the London Coliseum, Samira Ahmed visits the company's warehouse in Kent to meet the team behind the scenes. With the approach of the centenary of the WWI Christmas truce on the Western Front, playwright Phil Porter, whose new play at the RSC dramatises the truce, and historian Emily Mayhew discuss how the remarkable events of the day have been represented in culture. And Ryan Gilbey reviews a new documentary film Manakamana, shot entirely in a cable-car high above Nepal. Producer Craig Smith.

With Kirsty Lang. Roger Michell talks about his new ITV drama, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, about the retired teacher attacked by the press after being falsely suspected of killing Joanna Yeates in 2010. As teenage 'vlogging' sensation, Zoella, becomes embroiled in a row over hiring a ghostwriter for her best-selling debut novel, Girl Online, we look at the rise of the scribes for hire. BBC diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall reviews new documentary film The Green Prince which won the Global Audience award at the Sundance Festival. It's the extraordinary story of the son of a founding leader in the Palestinian organization, Hamas, who becomes a spy for the Israelis. Jeffery Richards talks about the Golden Age of Pantomime in Victorian England and explains how some of our finest panto traditions came about and have lasted. Plus in the week that part of the Burrell Collection moves from Glasgow to London and then overseas, we find out about William Burrell - the man behind the extraordinary amassing of pieces like rare lace, carpets, Tudor furniture, as well as sculpture by Rodin and paintings by Manet, Cezanne and Degas.

Author Sarah Waters has followed her gothic novel The Little Stranger with her first play which is also a ghost story that aims to spook audiences. She discusses working with experimental theatre-maker Christopher Green to devise a play in which all is not as it seems. Mike Scott of The Waterboys discusses the band's new album Modern Blues, and explains why it was important for the band to record it in Nashville. Dawn Walton, Director of Eclipse Theatre Company and Tom Morris, Artistic Director of the Bristol Old Vic, give their response to today's speech by Peter Bazalgette, Chair of Arts Council England, in which he urges racial diversity and inclusion across the board in arts institutions. Two new documentaries lift the lid on the action behind the scenes at two of the world's most well-known art museums - the National Gallery in London and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Sarah Crompton asks whether museums and galleries make good subjects for films. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Jim Broadbent talks to Kirsty Lang about playing Father Christmas for the third time in his new film Get Santa; Matt Haig and Katherine Woodfine on Young Adult Fiction; Croatian playwright Tena Stivicic discusses her play 3 Winters at the National Theatre; Stephen Armstrong brings us his pick of the year's comedy DVDs; and following the news that the British Museum has loaned one of the Elgin Marbles to the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Peter Aspden considers the role museums and galleries can play when political harmony between nations breaks down. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

The composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle discusses his music as a season celebrating his 80th birthday begins at London's Southbank Centre. Iain Lee reviews The Grandmaster, the new film from Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, which traces the life of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man, who taught Bruce Lee. Boyd Hilton receommends the boxsets that should be making their way into stockings this Christmas. "Great Hera!" - Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder Woman, discusses the strange origins of this female superhero inspired by early 20th century feminism and created by man. Producer: Ellie Bury Presenter: Samira Ahmed.

Director Peter Jackson and co-writer Philippa Boyens talk to John Wilson about their final instalment of The Hobbit film franchise; the author Philip Pullman reflects on one of his heroes, William Blake, as a new exhibition at the Ashmolean in Oxford explores his formation as an engraver; and historian Kathryn Hughes makes her selection of biographies and memoirs of the year.

Suzy Klein, Kate Mossman and Greg James make their picks from pop, classical and alternative for a Christmas wishlist of albums. The artist Jeremy Deller discusses curating an exhibition of work by his artistic heroes - William Morris and Andy Warhol. David Benedict reviews the latest revival of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins; the darkly comic musical depicting the lives of the 13 people who have tried to assassinate a President of the United States. The Royal Photographic Society was founded in 1853. 'Drawn by Light' is the RPS' first major London exhibition showcasing a selection from the treasures of its 250,000 strong collection.

Kirsty Lang reviews the film St Vincent, which stars Bill Murray as a reluctant babysitter. She talks to the winners at last night's Evening Standard Theatre Awards, including Tom Hiddleston and Gillian Anderson. Mark Thomas on his new stand-up show about Surveillance. And Jeff Park chooses his favourite crime books of the year.

Annie Lennox talks to Kirsty Lang about her new album Nostalgia, on which she covers songs from The Great American Songbook. Hollywood actor and director James Franco shows Kirsty round his latest art venture Fat Squirrel. The international human rights lawyer Philippe Sands discusses A Song of Good and Evil, a show he developed when he realised that both a Nuremberg prosecutor and defendant shared a passion for Bach. And with the New York Film Critics Circle Awards kicking off the awards season this weekend, film critic Tim Robey gives us his advice on how to win an Oscar. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Front Row pays tribute the writer PD James who has died aged 94. Fellow crime writer and friend Ruth Rendell reflects on James's life and work and, in a clip from our archive, James describes the four key motives for murder in a good crime story. Rugby player Gareth Thomas, footballer Bobby Moore and ice skater John Curry are among the subjects of the books shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, the longest-running prize for sports writing. At the awards ceremony, John Wilson talks to the seven shortlisted authors and speaks to the winner of the £26,000 prize. Maggi Hambling, who was the National Gallery's very first artist in residence in 1980, has returned to the gallery with "Walls of Water" a new exhibition of her paintings of the sea. She talks to John Wilson about painting raging storms, her tribute to Amy Winehouse and why, in her late sixties, she feels much younger than she used to. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Ellie Bury.

With John Wilson. Actor Idris Elba discusses his album, mi Mandela, inspired by the experience of portraying Nelson Mandela in The Long Walk to Freedom. He also explains why he won't be reprising his role as John Luther in a forthcoming US remake of the BBC drama Luther. Painter Howard Hodgkin talks to John in his studio about 30 gouaches inspired by India which he painted between 1990-91, and are on show for the first time in London. As the V&A Museum prepare to open the newly refurbished Italian Courts, under the new name Weston Cast Courts, curator Marjorie Trusted talks about the renovations and highlights some of the great Italian sculptures in the collection, including a cast of Michelangelo's David.

Barry Manilow talks to Samira Ahmed about his new album, 'My Dream Duets'. It's a collection of duets with artists beyond the grave such as John Denver, Judy Garland and Whitney Houston. Diana Souhami, whose novel Gwendolen imagines life from the point of view of Daniel Deronda's heroine, and Viv Groskop, Artistic Director of the Bath Literature Festival, discuss the trend for novels from the perspective of peripheral characters. David Baddiel and David Schneider unpick the changing nature of Jewish comedy as a new festival begins in London. And a new exhibition of war photography, Conflict, Time, Photography, at Tate Modern in London, hangs pictures according to how long the picture was taken after the events depicted. Is it a successful approach? Colin Ford, founding director of the National Media Museum, reviews.

Samira Ahmed with Jude Law, who discusses how playing Henry V on stage inspired his role as a desperate, out of work submarine captain searching for Nazi gold in his new film Black Sea. The French DJ and record producer David Guetta discusses his latest album Listen, featuring the vocal talents of Emeli Sandé, Sam Martin, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Nicki Minaj, and explains why he has never felt inspired by French Music. A new exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London, Post Pop: East Meets West, explores how pop art has had a powerful and lasting influence on artists around the world from the United States to China. And Catherine Bray reviews Stations of the Cross, a German film about a teenage girl raised in a strict religious family, which is filmed in fourteen long takes. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Kirsty Lang talks to artist and puppet-maker Peter Firmin, whose iconic children's tv characters include Bagpuss, Basil Brush and The Clangers. Robert Edric on his novel Sanctuary, which explores the final months in the turbulent life of Branwell Brontë - brother to the more famous Brontë sisters. Kate Muir reviews the new film from Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Winter Sleep, which won the Palme D'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. And a new exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art revives the reputation of artists Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde. Jan Patience reviews.

Blues legend Dr John talks to John Wilson about his tribute album to fellow New Orleans musician Louis Armstrong, and how the project was the result of a visit from Armstrong in a dream. The American composer John Adams talks about the world stage premiere of his opera The Gospel According to the Other Mary at English National Opera, which tells the Passion story from the perspective of Mary Magdalene. Following the news of the death of director Mike Nichols, best known for his film The Graduate, actor Adrian Lester, playwright David Hare and writer Patrick Marber pay tribute to the man who won a Grammy, an Oscar, four Emmys and eight Tonys for his film and stage work.

Hugh Bonneville discusses his role as Mr Brown in the new Paddington film; Mary J Blige on self doubt, soul music and making an album inspired by London; Michael Palin stars in BBC drama, Remember Me - a contemporary ghost story set in Yorkshire. Chris Dunkley joins John to review it. And two of the biggest comedy hit films of the year have been Bad Neighbours and 22 Jump St, but Adam Smith warns the films' stars not to take too much for granted, because as history shows, comedy can be cruel to its once high-earning, all-conquering funnymen.

The shortlisted authors for the 2014 Costa Book Awards are announced. Critic Stephanie Merritt comments on the authors chosen in five categories: novel, first novel, poetry, biography and children's fiction. Meera Syal discusses her latest stage role in Behind the Beautiful Forevers, based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Katherine Boo, about life in the shadow of Mumbai's luxury hotels. The final part of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay, has been split in two for the film version. Sophia McDougall reviews Mockingjay: Part 1. Peter Bazalgette, Chair of Arts Council England, discusses his campaign to raise the profile of arts in the UK as the political parties write their manifestos for the General Election next May.

Tonight's Front Row reviews The Homesman - a western directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones - and Dave Grohl talks about Foo Fighters' new album, Sonic Highways. Also in the programme: director Blanche McIntyre on her revival of Emlyn Williams' 1950 play about sex, scandal and blackmail, Accolade - and Cecil Beaton's biographer Hugo Vickers considers a new exhibition of his photography.

Tom Hardy and the late James Gandolfini star in the thriller The Drop, reviewed by Jenny McCartney. Saxophonist Jan Garbarek and David James discuss the Hilliard Ensemble. Quentin Blake on Paula Rego and Honoré Daumier: Scandal, Gossip and Other Stories at the House of Illustration. And Assaf Gavron on the reality of life in Israel in the 21st century in his new novel, The Hilltop. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Celebrated American writer Richard Ford discusses his new novel Let Me Be Frank With You - which continues the story of his much loved character Frank Bascombe. A notebook of Dylan Thomas's poetry has been rediscovered after 70 years. It offers a unique insight into the creative workings of Dylan during one of his most creative periods. Sotheby's manuscript expert Gabriel Heaton brings the book into the Front Row studio and discusses its importance. Queen Forever is a new album out this week. It's produced by William Orbit who describes creating a track using previously unheard vocals by Michael Jackson as well as a new mix of an unreleased Queen song. Theatre director Kate Hewitt discusses her new production of Caryl Churchill's Far Away, funded by her receipt of the James Menzies-Kitchin award for young directors of thrilling promise.

The Oscar-winning writer and producer Aaron Sorkin, acclaimed for The Social Network and The West Wing, talks to Kirsty Lang as the final season of The Newsroom airs. Kirsty visits Leighton House in London as paintings from The Pérez Simón Collection, the largest private collection of Victorian art outside the UK, go on display there, including some significant works by Lord Frederick Leighton now returning to the house where they were painted. We speak to Ali Smith, author of How to be Both, the winner of the Goldsmiths Prize 2014. And crime writer Dreda Say Mitchell joins Kirsty to talk about her new thriller, Vendetta - which features an undercover cop who falls in love with one of the members of the criminal gang that he has infiltrated.

John Wilson talks to Chadwick Boseman, who plays soul singer James Brown in the Hollywood biopic Get on Up. Sculptor Allen Jones on his retrospective at the Royal Academy. Artist Jonathan Yeo on portraits in the age of the selfie. And Hannah Price from Theatre Uncut on generating dozens of productions of the same 5 new plays in different places around the world this month.

Bryan Ferry talks to Kirsty Lang about his 14th solo album, Avonmore. Professor Chris Rapley, one of the UK's leading climate scientists, has written his first play, 2071, which focuses on climate change, and Molly Davies has drawn on her years working as a teaching assistant to write God Bless the Child in which a group of eight-year-olds rebel against the school system. They discuss how they turned their professional experiences into theatre. Crime writer Stella Duffy reviews BBC crime drama The Fall, which stars Gillian Anderson as a detective on the hunt for a killer in Belfast, and Richard Cork discusses a new exhibition of work by Peder Balke, a Norwegian artist who was one of the pioneers of modernist Scandinavian painting. Producer Olivia Skinner.

Benedict Cumberbatch talks to John Wilson about his role in The Imitation Game. He plays pioneering computer scientist and Bletchley code breaker Alan Turing. 22-year-old Sumia Sukkar discusses her debut novel The Boy from Aleppo who Painted the War, the story of a teenage boy with Asperger's Syndrome, growing up in Syria which has now been dramatised for Radio 4. As concerns over the raiding of Syrian artefacts grow, Front Row hears from academics, investigators and Unesco about how objects are making their way onto international art markets and whether anything can be done about it. And Pink Floyd release a new album, The Endless River. Based on outtakes from their earlier album The Division Bell, it's intended as a tribute to keyboard player Richard Wright who died in 2008. Mark Ellen reviews. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson.

Tonight's Front Row reviews the stage-musical version of the film, Made In Dagenham, starring Gemma Arterton, and Samira Ahmed is given a guided tour around Gold - a new exhibition at Buckingham Palace. Also in the programme: Elif Shafak talks about her latest novel, The Architect's Apprentice, set in 16th century Istanbul - and whether the increasingly popularity of comic books is making them less subversive.

Successful novelist, playwright and stand-up comic, Ben Elton, a central figure in the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s, joins Kirsty Lang to discuss his new novel, Time And Time Again. His book follows ex-soldier Hugh Stanton who is transported back to 1914 from 2025, in order to prevent the Great War and re-write history. Andy Warhol is the subject of a new show at Tate Liverpool which looks at how this quintessential 20th century artist sought to master the mass media of his day to ensure his art could reach as many people as possible. In the company of Darren Pih, the exhibition's curator, Kirsty Lang takes a look at Transmitting Andy Warhol. Bryony Lavery's latest play, Queen Coal looks at the impact of the 1980s miners strike on the lives of three people who bonded on the picket lines. Writer Joolz Denby reviews. Fresh from its recent win of the Best Film prize at the BFI London Film Festival, Leviathan - a tale of corruption in a small Russian town - opens in cinemas this week. Novelist Nicholas Royle reviews. Helen McDonald has just won the £20,000 Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction for her memoir, H is for Hawk, about coming to terms with the death of her father by trying to win the trust of a goshawk, Mabel. What significance does the bird have here and elsewhere in literature? Kirsty is joined by Horatio Clare, writer and author of A Single Swallow.

Babylon, a new series from the creators of Peep Show, returns for a series after appearing on Channel 4 as a pilot. Brit Marling and James Nesbitt star in this fly on the wall satire about the police. Documentary film maker Roger Graef reviews. Poet Wendy Cope discusses her new book, Life, Love and the Archers, a collection of her prose which includes reviews, essays and recollections from her childhood. We get a rare glimpse of artistic life in North Korea at an exhibition inside the country's secluded London embassy. And Samira takes part in a new immersive theatre experience from the National Theatre of Wales by attempting to cross the border from England.

Novelist Lionel Shriver reviews Christopher Nolan's three-hour film Interstellar, starring Matthew McConaughey. Nick Hornby talks to John Wilson about his new novel Funny Girl, set around a fictional 1960's sitcom. Saxophonist John Harle assesses the musical instrument designed by Adolphe Sax who was born 200 years ago. And Michael Carlson discusses Bob Dylan The Basement Tapes Raw: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11, containing 138 tracks, released today. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Michael Bond, the creator of the much-loved Paddington Bear, joins Kirsty Lang. He'll be talking about writing in Paddington's voice for the first time in a new collection of letters to the bear's Aunt Lucy, Love From Paddington. And he reveals his role in the new Paddington film. Documentary film maker Laura Poitras discusses Citizenfour, her film about being contacted by the mystery whistle blower who eventually revealed himself as Edward Snowden. The dance theatre company DV8 premieres a new verbatim dance work, John, at the National Theatre. Artistic Director Lloyd Newson discusses the art of making a dance documentary. And as pumpkins make their annual appearance, Adam Smith considers how what was once beyond the pale in horror films is now unremarkable. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Sarah Johnson.

Elijah Wood talks to Kirsty Lang about his role in Set Fire to the Stars, a biopic about Dylan Thomas's turbulent time in 1950s New York. Pianist Angela Hewitt discusses her new recording of Bach's The Art of Fugue. Writers Paul Kingsnorth and Julian Gough explain how important crowd-funding was to help them write their novels. And film-maker Molly Dineen reviews The Overnighters, a documentary about a pastor in North Dakota who came to the aid of the flood of men who travelled from all over the USA to seek work in the area's booming oil industry. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Olivia Skinner.

John Wilson talks to Keira Knightley about new film Say When and her preparations for her Broadway debut in Therese Raquin. Gabrielle Drake and Joe Boyd discuss Nick Drake as they publish a book about his life and work. We hear from Emma and Roma Jones as Gillian Wearing prepares to reveal her statue, A Real Birmingham Family, tomorrow in Birmingham. Music journalist Ruth Barnes discusses the runners and riders for tonight's Mercury Music Prize. Producer: Ellie Bury Presenter: John Wilson.

Samira Ahmed discusses the film Nightcrawler, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal as an ambulance chasing cameraman. Laura Mvula and Bastille on composing a new score for the film Drive, commissioned by Radio 1's Zane Lowe. Historian Juliet Gardiner reviews BBC1's new First World War drama series, The Passing Bells. And Paul Ewen on his humorous novel, Francis Plug: How to be Public Author, about a wannabe writer who shows up at literary events starring Man Booker winners in the hope of learning how to achieve literary success. Producer: Timothy Prosser.

Tonight's Front Row reviews Daniel Radcliffe's latest film, Horns, and talks to singer Edwyn Collins about the documentary that's been made about his recovery after two strokes. Also in the programme: Stephen Daldry explains why his film, Trash - set in the slums of Rio de Janeiro - has won top prize at the Rome Film Festival, and composer Thomas Adès on seeing choreographers' response to his music. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

Timothy Spall has brought JMW Turner to life in Mike Leigh's new film, Mr Turner - he tells Damian Barr how he did so, learning to paint like the master and using his own love of the sea. The Picasso museum in Paris closed for renovation in 2009, and was scheduled to re-open two years later. But the work took four years longer than that, went over budget and culminated in the sacking of the museum's president. Waldemar Januszczak reviews the refurbishment. Damian talks to the legendary Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires, who at the age of seventy has recorded Beethoven's Piano Concertos for the first time. And Memphis, the musical, arrives in the UK, starring Beverley Knight and Killian Donnelly. A story of music, race and America in the fifties, how well does it work on the London stage? Gaylene Gould reviews. Presenter: Damian Barr Producer: Sarah Johnson.

In tonight's Front Row Boris Johnson considers Churchill's legacy on the 50th anniversary of his death, and there's a review of the film Serena - a dark tale about a troubled marriage in the Depression-era, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. Also in the programme: this year's Art Review Power 100 List is assessed, and brothers Harry and Jack Williams discuss moving from writing comedy to a sombre subject matter in their TV drama about a missing child. Presenter: Razia Iqbal Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

Michael Sheen talks to Kirsty Lang about performing Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood on stage in New York; Lynda Nead reviews the new Egon Schiele exhibition The Radical Nude at London's Courtauld Gallery; Daniel Kehlmann on his new novel F; and Akala, Erik Parker, One9 and Jacqueline Springer discuss the classic hip hop album Illmatic, 20 years on. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Kirsty Lang talks to John Kander, composer of the hit musicals Cabaret, Chicago and now The Scottsboro Boys. Jimmy Page discusses his project to remaster Led Zeppelin IV. We review Australian horror film The Babadook. Plus Magnum photographer René Burri, who has died aged 81, in an interview from the Front Row archive. Producer: Ellie Bury Presenter: Kirsty Lang.

Damian Barr talks to Brad Pitt about his World War II film, Fury. Anthony Horowitz on his new Sherlock Holmes novel, Moriarty. Robert Webb and Miles Jupp on performing completely wet on stage in Neville's Island. And Sarah Dunant discusses the Royal Academy exhibition of the Renaissance portrait painter, Moroni.

Damian Barr talks to Hollywood's highest-paid actor Robert Downey Jr about his latest role as hotshot young lawyer Hank Palmer in The Judge, in which Palmer and his estranged father - the judge, played by Robert Duvall - are made to face their demons when the judge is accused of murder. Film director David Cronenberg discusses penning his first novel, Consumed, which returns to the blackly comic subject matter of his early cinematic work. Mr Francis Wells, one of the UK's leading cardiac surgeons, reviews medical drama The Knick, directed by Steven Soderbergh. And, as an exhibition of Russian avant-garde theatre designs opens at the V&A in London, the curator Kate Bailey explains why the ground-breaking artists of the early 20th century started designing costumes and sets. Presenter: Damian Barr Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Gillian Anderson tells John Wilson about the stage-fright that has always plagued her, most recently in A Streetcar Named Desire, and discusses her debut sci-fi novel, A Vision of Fire. Also in the programme, Kate Mossman reviews Jimi: All is By My Side, a new biopic of Jimi Hendrix; Michael Frayn discusses Matchbox Theatre, his new collection of short plays to be read in the imagination; and Christie's CEO Steven Murphy explains how tablet technology has transformed the art market. Producer: Ellie Bury Presenter: John Wilson.

Yusuf Islam, also known as Cat Stevens, talks to Samira Ahmed about his new album Tell 'Em I'm Gone, his first for five years. Miranda Sawyer reviews a new film Northern Soul, about the music and dance phenomenon from the late '60s and early '70s. William Morris is the focus of a new exhibition Anarchy & Beauty at the National Portrait Gallery. The show's curator Fiona MacCarthy reveals there's a great deal more to him than wallpaper and furniture design. And the multi-award-winning American TV documentary-maker Ken Burns - he of the 'Ken Burns Effect' - looks back over a career in which he has covered The Civil War, the history of Jazz and the Great Depression, and discusses his latest 14-hour series The Roosevelts: an Intimate History. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Simon Schama reviews the National Gallery's new blockbuster exhibition Rembrandt: The Late Works, the first-ever exploration of his final paintings. Bob Geldof joins John to talk about the recent re-forming of The Boomtown Rats, and the release of a new compilation of classic Rats tracks. He explains how a band is like a surrogate family, how the songs' subject-matter is still relevant today - and how singing with the Rats again has helped him cope with the death of his daughter, Peaches. Here Lies Love at the National Theatre tells the story of Imelda Marcos through the medium of disco. With music composed by David Byrne of Talking Heads and DJ Fatboy Slim, the interactive musical has the audience dancing with world leaders as it portrays Marcos's rise to power and fall from grace. Shahidha Bari reviews. And what are the odds on tonight's Man Booker Shortlist, open to Americans for the first time? John hears from Graham Sharpe of William Hill. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson.

With Samira Ahmed. Historian Justin Champion reviews a major new TV drama series set during the time of the Great Fire of London, when the country was at war and there were also fears of Catholic plots against King Charles II. Rachel Joyce's first novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was the bestselling debut of 2012. She describes her new book The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy as a companion to that novel, and tells Samira why she returned to their story. American artist Richard Tuttle has been commissioned to install a new work in the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall and also has a retrospective of his work opening at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. Richard Tuttle talks about his hopes for his new Turbine Hall commission and Rachel Campbell-Johnston reviews both exhibitions. Leonora Gummer from the Artists' Collection Society explains how artists can make sure they get paid as their works are sold on from collector to collector. Eighteen years since East Is East hit the London stage, playwright and actor Ayub Khan Din stars alongside Jane Horrocks in a fresh revival of his modern, multiracial drama. Samira talks to Ayub Khan Din about his own British-Pakistani upbringing in the north of England and the politics of race and identity in flux.

John Wilson talks to the godfather of punk, Iggy Pop, ahead of this year's BBC Music John Peel Lecture. Disney chief Thomas Schumacher on creating The Lion King and a stage version of Frozen. Artists Cornelia Parker and Keith Tyson in praise of surrealist Marcel Duchamp.

The actress Sheila Hancock talks to John Wilson about her debut novel, Miss Carter's War, which explores the repercussions of the Second World War on 20th Century Britain. The German artist Gerhard Richter gives a rare interview about his long career. Jenny McCartney reviews the film '71 starring Jack O'Connell, which follows a unit of inexperienced soldiers posted to Belfast during the Troubles. We hear from the Nigerian drummer and songwriter Tony Allen, one of the pioneers of Afrobeat. And as the French author Patrick Mondiano wins the Noble Prize for Literature, Dr Dervila Cooke explains the importance of his work. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Phyllida Lloyd talks to Samira Ahmed about her all-female Henry IV and the importance of casting women in plays about political power. Professor Griselda Pollock reviews The Sensory War, a new exhibition in Manchester which reflects on how artists have tried to capture the impact of military conflict between 1914 and 2014. Photographer and official war artist Robert Wilson discusses Helmand Return, a new series of 59 billboards across the UK of his photos which capture the daily life of British troops in Afghanistan in their final tour of duty. And tomorrow is Super Thursday, the day when more than 300 books will be published on the same day. We ask why this has evolved, and what it means for the books market. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

In tonight's Front Row, John Cleese talks to John Wilson about his memoir, So, Anyway - an account of the influences that shaped his comedy - and singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran considers song-writing as revenge and explains why so many of his lyrics are about drinking. Also in the programme, Tracey Emin makes it clear why she feels motherhood and a career as an artist are incompatible. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

Clive James talks to Samira Ahmed about his new publication Poetry Notebook 2006-2014, in which he presents a distillation of all he's learned about the art form that matters to him most; Sarah Dunant reviews Emma Thompson and Dakota Fanning in new film Effie Gray about the life of the Victorian art critic and painter John Ruskin; playwright Brad Birch on his new production, Selfie, an update on Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray; and Niven Govinden on his novel All the Days and Nights Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks of Genesis discuss a new documentary about the band and Sarah Churchwell reviews David Mamet's Speed the Plow starring Lindsay Lohan. Also on the programme Jude Kelly and Stella Duffy explain how this weekend they're hoping to fulfil Joan Littlewood's vision of making art and science available to all through the Fun Palaces initiative and Victoria Hislop reveals the real history behind her new novel. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Ellie Bury.

Rosamund Pike talks to Kirsty Lang about her emotionally and physically demanding role in the much-anticipated screen adaptation of the crime thriller Gone Girl. Many operatic heroines die at the end - but not Minnie, the gun-toting heroine of Puccini's opera, The Girl Of The Golden West. Director Richard Jones and conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson talk about this "wild west" opera at the ENO. 21 year-old Aisling Fahey has just been appointed Young Poet Laureate For London; she describes her beginnings in poetry using magnets on the fridge. And Sarah Crompton reviews ITV's upcoming 1950s mystery drama Grantchester, starring James Norton as clergyman turned sleuth Sidney Chambers alongside Robson Green as a police investigator. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Sarah Johnson.

Stephen Fry discusses his memoir, More Fool Me; the writer and political commentator Polly Toynbee reviews Tony Benn: Will and Testament, a new autobiographical documentary about Britain's longest-serving Labour MP; Kei Miller talks to Kirsty about winning the Forward Poetry Prize; Curator Tim Pye takes Kirsty round the British Library's new exhibition, Terror and Wonder: the Gothic Imagination, and shows her exhibits including a Victorian vampire slaying kit and a stage version of Dracula handwritten by Bram Stoker.

In a special edition of Front Row live from the BBC Radio Theatre, John Wilson and guests celebrate the short story. He'll be joined on stage by Hilary Mantel and Laura Dockrill. And chair of the judges Alan Yentob will be announcing the winner of the BBC National Short Story Award 2014 from the all female shortlist of Tessa Hadley, Rose Tremain, Francesca Rhydderch, Zadie Smith and Lionel Shriver.

Kristin Scott Thomas and director Ian Rickson discuss reuniting for a new stage production of Sophocles's Greek tragedy Electra, which has music by PJ Harvey. Mackenzie Crook tells John Wilson about Detectorists, a new BBC comedy about people who go in search of buried treasure with their metal detectors, which he has written and directed and also stars in alongside Toby Jones. Critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston reviews the work of the four shortlisted artists for the Turner Prize 2014, on show at Tate Britain. George Harrison's widow Olivia Harrison discusses a new CD set of his tracks both as a Beatle and solo artist. Plus, a tribute to poet Dannie Abse whose death was announced on Sunday. Presenter : John Wilson Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

A new exhibition by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei at Blenheim Palace will be his biggest UK show to date, which Craig Clunas reviews with Kirsty Lang. Eimear McBride, who won the Bailey's Women's Prize for her debut novel A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, and theatre director Annie Ryan discuss adapting McBride's experimental and challenging book for the stage. Playwright Roy Williams talks about putting Sophocles's Greek tragedy Antigone in a contemporary setting, and as Prince releases two new albums on the same day, Matt Thorne asseses whether the Minneapolis singer-songwriter still has the power to thrill and surprise. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Bernard Sumner, one of the founding members of Joy Division and the lead singer of New Order, discusses his autobiography "Chapter and Verse: New Order, Joy Division and Me" which charts his part in the Manchester music scene since the late 1970s, author Lionel Shriver discusses her short story Kilifi Creek, which has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, as two plays about youth activism open, playwrights James Graham and Tim Price discuss portraying political protest on stage and What We Did On Our Holiday, a comedy starring David Tenant, Rosamund Pike and Billy Connolly, reviewed. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Zadie Smith discusses Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets, her shortlisted entry for the BBC National Short Story Award; Tom Dyckhoff reviews The Art of the Brick, a new exhibition of artworks built with Lego; musician Ryan Adams on the analogue joys of the typewriter and the tape recorder. And as last night's controversial art performance featuring black actors in a recreation of a "human zoo" is called off after protests at its opening night in London, John Wilson hears both sides of the argument. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Ricky Tomlinson and playwright Neil Gore talk to John Wilson about United We Stand, a new play which looks at the controversial criminal prosecution that followed the 1972 national building workers' strike; Dreda Say Mitchell reviews The Driver, BBC1's new drama starring David Morrissey whose life takes an unexpected turn when he finds himself moonlighting for a criminal gang. Also on the programme, Francesca Rhydderch, who's been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, reveals the research she undertook for her entry, The Taxidermist's Daughter; and this week the German artist Anselm Kiefer, whose 40-year career wrestles with the darkness of Germany's history, has his first major UK retrospective. The exhibition's curator Kathleen Soriano discusses the themes and the monumental scale of Kiefer's work on show at the Royal Academy.

British actor Toby Jones discusses his role in new TV drama Marvellous and Jason Solomons reviews David Cronenberg's latest film, the dark Hollywood satire Maps to the Stars. Also on the programme Rose Tremain explains the idea behind her shortlisted entry for this year's BBC National Short Story Award, and John Lahr on how he got inside the mind of Tennessee Williams for a new biography. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Ellie Bury.

Zach Braff on the film Wish I was Here, which he directed, wrote and starred in, and which is the biggest original project funded by Kickstarter. Kirsty Lang talks to the French singer Charles Aznavour, whose hits include the classic She. Writer Tessa Hadley on her story Bad Dreams, which has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, and which can be heard read by Carey Mulligan, here on BBC Radio 4 at 3.30 Monday 22 Sept. Following the result of the Scottish Independence Referendum, Scottish poet Robert Crawford selects and reads one of his poems, which - for him - sums up the mood of the moment. Plus the winner of the John Moores Prize for Painting is announced.

Denzel Washington on getting revenge in his new film, action thriller The Equalizer. Samira Ahmed talks to conductor Riccardo Chailly, whose recordings of Brahms Symphonies last night won Gramophone Record the Year. Howard Brenton discusses Doctor Scroggy's War, his new play for Shakespeare's Globe about the founding father of plastic surgery. And 80 year old Leonard Cohen releases his 13th studio album, Popular Problems. Ruth Barnes reviews.

With John Wilson. The singing legend with the bell-like voice, Joan Baez, about to perform at the Royal Festival Hall, talks about her extraordinary life and musical career. Alan Yentob announces the shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award 2014, and James Schamus - the writer and producer whose films include Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain and Lost in Translation - talks about the future of Hollywood, ahead of his opening talk for the BAFTA Screenwriting Lectures Series. Plus, Susannah Clapp reviews Maxine Peake as Hamlet at Manchester's Royal Exchange theatre. Presenter : John Wilson Producer : Dymphna Flynn Image Credit: Marina Chavez.

Tonight's Front Row reviews Woody Allen's Magic In The Moonlight, starring Colin Firth, and Samira Ahmed visits the new Constable exhibition at the V&A. Also in the programme: Enda Walsh on his latest play Ballyturk, and documentary-maker André Singer on Night Will Fall, the untold story of how Alfred Hitchcock became involved in the making of a Holocaust documentary - and why that film was suppressed. (Image: Full-Scale Study for The Hay Wain, John Constable, 1821. Copyright: Victoria and Albert Museum, London).

The Riot Club, whose cast includes Max Irons and Jessica Brown Findlay, is a film based on Laura Wade's play Posh, about a fictional elite Oxford University male members club. Rachel Cooke reviews. John Wilson tours the 15th Century Ming treasures at the British Museum's new exhibition - Ming: 50 years that changed China. With curator Jessica Harrison-Hall. One of the world's top percussionists, Colin Currie, talks about becoming a human drum kit for the first night of Metal, Wood, Skin: his four month long festival at the Royal Festival Hall. And Viv Groskop on the return of ITV's Downton Abbey. Presenter John Wilson Producer Claire Bartleet.

Kate Mosse discusses her new novel The Taxidermist's Daughter and actor Stellan Skarsgård tells Kirsty about his role in Norwegian comic thriller In Order of Disappearance . Also tonight Rosie Swash reviews Glue, a new teen drama from the writer of Skins and Enn Reitel remembers Sir Donald Sinden, who he portrayed for Spitting Image. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Ellie Bury.

Including a review of Sheridan Smith as Cilla Black in a new three part series about the singer's early career, and an interview with actors Oliver Chris and Lydia Wilson as they return to their roles as Will and Kate in Mike Bartlett's King Charles III. Also on the programme, historian Jessie Childs reviews a new exhibition of Tudor portraiture and artefacts at the National Portrait Gallery, and poet Alice Oswald discusses the animal poetry of Ted Hughes. Presenter: Razia Iqbal Producer: Ellie Bury.

With Samira Ahmed Singer-songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright on his Late Night Prom; a review of The Leftovers the latest series to come from the creator of Lost; we take a look at the late Sir Anthony Caro's final sculptures; and the story behind the Kinshasa Symphony Orchestra, the first from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Produced by Ella-mai Robey.

Cathy Rentzenbrink from The Bookseller gives her verdict on the Man Booker Prize shortlist; James Ellroy, perhaps best known for his LA Quartet books, which include LA Confidential and The Black Dahlia, is set to publish his largest book to date. ‘Perfidia’ revolves around the brutal murder of a Japanese family on December 6th, 1941; a day before the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and it sheds light on the violence that was happening in the city of Los Angeles on the cusp of America's entrance into WW2. Joyce DiDonato reveals what's on her latest CD of Bel Canto opera arias; and we get a sneak preview of the Great Gallery at the Wallace Collection which opens its doors again after two years, during which time it has been redesigned and the paintings rehung.

Philip Seymour Hoffman's final film A Most Wanted Man, based on the novel by John le Carré, is reviewed by Mark Eccleston; Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson discusses his exhibition influenced by JMW Turner at Tate Britain with Kirsty Lang, and critic Charlotte Mullins reviews a major new exhibition Late Turner at the same gallery, and Tamzin Outhwaite and Ben Ockrent on their play Breeders. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Pride is a new British film, starring Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Dominic West, that tells the extraordinary story of the Lesbian and Gay group that travelled to South Wales in 1984 to support the striking miners. Kirsty talks to writer Stephen Beresford and director Matthew Warchus. Kirsty Lang explores a major retrospective of master photographer Horst P Horst, with fashion and lifestyle writer Martin Raymond . Featuring famous photographs including Mainbocher Corset, recreated by Madonna in her Vogue video, alongside Hollywood portraits, Vogue covers and nude studies. Tyrant is a new American thriller series whose creative team also worked on Homeland and 24 and - like them - it interweaves political drama and family issues. Tyrant focuses on Barry, youngest son of a war-torn fictional country's dictator, who's escaped his past and now lives in California with his American wife and children. But despite themselves, this all-American family becomes embroiled in the political intrigues of the nation they've left behind. American writer and critic Michael Carlson reviews. And novelist Rachel Cusk talks about her new book Outline. It tells the story of an English writer, teaching in Athens, who finds that everyone she meets wants to share their stories with her.

Tony Bennett joins Kirsty Lang to talk about his seven-decade career and working with Lady Gaga to create an album of jazz duets. Author Will Self talks about his new novel Shark, inspired by the film Jaws and the true story of a terrible shark attack during the Second World War. Little Revolution takes the London riots of 2011 as its starting point. The play is created by Alecky Blythe (London Road), with a cast including Imogen Stubbs and Ronni Ancona. Susannah Clapp reviews. Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) stars with Paul Rudd in a new parody of the Nora Ephron-style romcom: They Came Together. Does the comedy come off? Katie Puckrik reviews. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Claire Bartleet.

Samira Ahmed talks to actor Dan Stevens, who has gone from Downton Abbey to Hollywood and is starring in a horror film, The Guest. Regeneration author Pat Barker discusses a new stage version of her First World War trilogy with adaptor Nicholas Wright. Val McDermid reviews ITV's new crime series Chasing Shadows, which stars Reece Shearsmith and Alex Kingston. And author Matthew Thomas discusses his novel We are not Ourselves, about an American family coping with Alzheimer's.

In tonight's programme, John Wilson talks to Dame Helen Mirren about her new film The Hundred-Foot Journey, and to David Mitchell about his novel The Bone Clocks - and concert pianist Lang Lang gives John a demonstration of his new technique for learning the piano. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Smokey Robinson (Tracks of My Tears, Being With You, Tears of a Clown) was once pronounced by Bob Dylan as America's greatest living poet. Smokey talks to John about his new CD of duets with Elton John, Mary J Blige and Jessie J. Before I Go to Sleep was a huge bestseller as a novel in 2011. The film adaptation opens this week with Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman and Mark Strong. Sarah Dunant reviews. Lenny Henry talks about bringing Radio 4 sitcom Rudy's Rare Records to the stage in Birmingham, as well as discussing his career, music and father-son relationships. Plus, Boyd Hilton reviews The Secrets, BBC1's new series of stand-alone dramas by new writers starring Olivia Colman and Alison Steadman amongst others. Presenter : John Wilson Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Kirsty Lang talks to Olivier and Tony Award winning playwright Alan Ayckbourn about Roundelay, his 78th play. Comedian Omid Djalili discusses his memoir Hopeful: An Autobiography which is about his unconventional childhood and adolescence. Two developers of "video games" that have no visuals but are just audio explain how to play these imaginative games and Catherine Bray joins Kirsty from the Venice Film Festival with news of the films that are making waves and the up and coming directing talent to look out for. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Canadian writer Margaret Atwood discusses Stone Mattress, her new collection of nine short stories. Flamenco guitarist Paco Peña tells Samira Ahmed about his latest work Patrias which is being performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, inspired by the writer Federico García Lorca who was murdered at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. Shahidha Bari reviews new film Obvious Child, about a comedienne who faces some challenging realities when she discovers she's pregnant. And artist Michael Sailstorfer on his interactive work at the Folkestone Triennial. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

The Social Network's Jesse Eisenberg discusses his latest role as a radical environmentalist in his new film Night Moves; Norwegian novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard on Boyhood Island, the latest addition to his autobiographical My Struggle series; Lucy Jones reviews Kate Bush's comeback concert in London last night, and Rachel Cooke reviews new TV drama series Our Zoo, based on the creation of Chester Zoo in the 1930s. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Johnny Marr discusses his new album Playland and reflects on his relationship with the guitar from The Smiths to his solo work. As Tate Britain unveils Lucian Freud's collection of Frank Auerbach's work, curator Elena Crippa explains what the collection can tell us about the relationship between the two artists. And Oscar-winning documentary maker Alex Gibney, famous for his investigative films about Enron and Lance Armstrong, explains why his new film explores the life and music of Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti. Producer: Ellie Bury Presenter: John Wilson.

In a Front Row special, playwright Richard Bean discusses his prolific and varied career, which includes One Man, Two Guvnors and three new plays this year alone: Great Britain, Pitcairn and Made in Dagenham. James Corden, who played the original lead in One Man, Two Guvnors, talks to John Wilson about what is possibly the best role he'll ever play. And National Theatre director Nicholas Hytner explains the success of his collaborations with Bean, which include this year's phone-hacking satire starring Billie Piper, Great Britain. Presenter John Wilson Producer Claire Bartleet.

Razia Iqbal talks to Mad Men actor Jon Hamm, whose new film - Million Dollar Arm - tells the extraordinary story of two Indian baseball pitchers who were discovered after winning a reality show competition. Dreda Say Mitchell reviews BBC Four's Crimes of Passion, a new Swedish crime series set in the 1950s. Ed Stoppard gives voice to the statue of Sherlock Holmes, as part of the Talking Statues project. And Razia explores the rise of Digital Art.

With Razia Iqbal Two Days, One Night starring Marion Cotillard is reviewed; Timothy West on lending his voice to a statue of Sir John Barbirolli ; Scottish novelist Alan Warner discusses his new novel Their Lips Talk of Mischief; and as the Iceland Symphony Orchestra makes its debut at the BBC Proms, conductor Ilan Volkov and critic Hilary Finch discuss the influence of Iceland's dramatic landscape on its classical music.

With John Wilson Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is reviewed, actor Tom Conti on finding a voice for an Abraham Lincoln statue, Andy Bell and Vince Clarke from Erasure on their new album, and unscripted TV crime drama with a new series of Suspects starring Fay Ripley. Produced by Ella-mai Robey.

With John Wilson, who reviews Luc Bresson's new action thriller Lucy, which stars Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman. John talks to Irish actor Lisa Dwan about performing Beckett's play Not I with just her mouth visible, and discusses creating new tv quiz shows with BBC's Richard Osman and Channel 4's Justin Gorman. Plus Mark Ravenhill on taking the voice of Alan Turing as part of Talking Statues initiative, where 35 statues in London and Manchester will tell their own stories. Presenter : John Wilson Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Howard Jacobson, who won the 2010 Man Booker prize with The Finkler Question, has been nominated again for his new novel, called J, which is set in a dystopian future where people are afraid to talk about the past. Helen Lederer meets John Wilson at Dick Whittington's cat statue in London. Helen's brought the statue to life as part of a Talking Statues initiative, where 35 statues in London and Manchester will tell their own stories. The artist Bob & Roberta Smith talks about Art Party, his documentary advocating the importance of art and its place in education. It's being released in cinemas this Thursday - the same day as this year's GCSE results - and Bob & Roberta explains why. The Scottish Poetry Library has published "Tools of the Trade" a collection of poems for new doctors. One of the editors of the collection, Dr Lesley Morrison, and a newly qualified doctor, Dr Jude Fleming, discuss the place of poetry in contemporary Medicine. Image: Howard Jacobson Photo Credit: Keke Keukelaar Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Claire Bartleet.

With Damian Barr Doctor Who is about to return to the small screen, this time starring Peter Capaldi. Dr Jason Dittmer, academic and sci-fi fan, reviews the Time Lord's latest regeneration. Actor Simon Pegg on his new film about a man in search of happiness. Man Booker-nominated author Alison Moore on her follow-up novel, He Wants. Plus the artist Katie Paterson, whose latest work has been rocketed into space, and the European Space Agency engineer who sent it there. Producer Ella-mai Robey.

John Wilson hosts a special edition of Front Row, recorded in front of an audience in the BBC blue tent at the Edinburgh Festival, featuring The Killing actress Sofie Gråbøl, who plays Queen Margaret in a new play about James III of Scotland and the director of the acclaimed James plays Laurie Sansom. Plus, comedian Al Murray on his new stand-up show One Man, One Guvnor, Hollywood actress Anne Archer on playing Jane Fonda, and music from piano double-act Worbey and Farrell. Images: Anne Archer as Jane Fonda by Steve Ullahorne, Pub Landlord Al Murray & Sofie Gråbøl as Queen Margaret by Robert Day Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Jerome Weatherald.

John Wilson reports from the Edinburgh Fringe as he talks to comedian Phill Jupitus about about his love of art and drawing, which has inspired his new Edinburgh Fringe event Sketch Comic. Jonathan Glazer remembers Lauren Bacall. Sabrina Mahfouz and Jade Anouka, the writer and performer behind a new award-winning Edinburgh monologue drama Chef, and comedian Sara Pascoe on her new stand-up show which covers Darwin, Freud and Napoleon's love life. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Jerome Weatherald.

George RR Martin, whose epic series of fantasy novels A Song Of Ice And Fire formed the basis for the TV hit Game Of Thrones, discusses creating an imaginary world loosely based on historical fiction. Alison Jackson is known for creating spoof photographs of celebrities caught in compromising positions, such as Madonna changing nappies or a member of the Royal Family in the bath. Having worked in photography, film and television, Alison Jackson is now producing an opera featuring celebrity-lookalikes, including Nigella Lawson, Boris Johnson and Prince Harry, singing well-known arias. Also tonight: Viv Groskop reviews the new film The Congress starring Robin Wright and Jon Hamm, and Terry Gilliam remembers the actor and comedian Robin Williams. Producer: Ellie Bury Image: George RR Martin Photo Credit: Karolina Webb.

Front Row comes from Edinburgh with Dylan Moran who, along with fellow comedian Eddie Izzard, is producing a showcase of stand ups from around Europe as part of the Edinburgh Fringe. Representing Russia is Igor Meerson who joins Dylan Moran to discuss the differences between British and Russian humour. Jung Chang, whose family memoir Wild Swans sold more than 13 million copies, discusses researching her biography of the Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi in China, director Todd Miller talks about his documentary Dinosaur 13, which follows the bitter custody battle over an extraordinary T Rex skeleton found in South Dakota in 1990. And, as several plays at the Edinburgh Festivals explore the Scottish Referendum, Kirsty Lang looks at how playwrights are tackling the subject. Photo Credit: Dylan Moran by Andy Hollingworth Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Olivia Skinner.

We review the new BBC One comedy series, Boomers. Set in Thurnemouth, 'Norfolk's only West facing resort', it follows the ups and downs of a group of baby boomers wrestling with the unique challenges of life in retirement, featuring an all-star cast including Alison Steadman, Stephanie Beacham, Russ Abbot and June Whitfield. Actor Ben Whishaw on his new film Lilting, in which he plays a grieving man who tries to befriend his late boyfriend's Chinese mother. Margaret Kennedy's 1924 novel, The Constant Nymph, was a sensational bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic and inspired a West End play and three films. Kennedy enjoyed success with her subsequent novels but today few recognise her name. With the reissue of her books, novelist Joanna Briscoe and Dr Anne Manuel discuss the qualities of this former literary lioness. And where art meets science: Front Row spoke to three chemists who work in art galleries, preserving, restoring and even discovering, paintings. Presenter: Damian Barr Producer: Nicola Holloway.

Damian Barr talks to actor Guy Pearce, whose new film The Rover is set in the Australian Outback just after a great economic collapse. Joseph O'Neill discusses his new novel, The Dog, which has recently been longlisted for this year's Man Booker prize. Stephen Armstrong reports from Edinburgh on the best of this year's Fringe. And Naomi Alderman explores the current glut of television shows about geeks, including Silicon Valley and the Big Bang Theory.

Sir Neville Marriner, who turned 90 this year, is the most recorded living conductor. He talks to Kirsty Lang about his long and varied career, and his return to the BBC Proms. The Inbetweeners is a rare example of a television sitcom which made a successful transfer to the big screen. Co-creators Damon Beesley and Iain Morris discuss their second Inbetweeners film in which the four friends take their teenage antics on a gap year to Australia. The words of Poets Laureate across three and a half centuries feature in a new exhibition opening this week. From the first poet appointed to the post, John Dryden, to the current one, Carol Ann Duffy - original manuscripts and rare editions of their works are on display. In addition, historic recordings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ted Hughes and Sir John Betjeman, as well as readings by actors Timothy West, Sir Daniel Day-Lewis and Dame Judi Dench can be heard, bringing new resonance to the poems themselves. Curator Deborah Clarke tells Kirsty about the start and development of the post of Poet Laureate, and about bringing their words to life. Kirsty is joined by critic David Benedict to review a new production of My Night With Reg, a 1994 gay comedy set during the AIDS crisis. Image: Sir Neville Marriner (c) Mark Allan.

In tonight's Front Row, Christina Hendricks talks about working with Philip Seymour Hoffman on one of his last roles, in the film God's Pocket - and Sinead O'Connor discusses her latest album, her dramatic new image, and whether she still likes Nothing Compares 2 U. Also in the programme: the artist behind spectra - the giant light-beam which appeared at dusk in London yesterday - and art critic William Feaver chooses paintings which evoke summer. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

Samira Ahmed talks to author DBC Pierre, reviews the film Welcome to New York starring Gerard Depardieu, and discusses the world premiere of John Tavener's Requiem Fragments.

Kirsty Lang with the singer Loudon Wainwright III, father of Rufus and Martha, who discusses his latest album Haven't Got the Blues (Yet). It covers subjects including ageing, death, depression - and despair at trying to find a parking space. As best-selling Japanese novelists Haruki Murakami and Kanae Minato publish new novels, we discuss contemporary Japanese fiction. Briony Hanson reviews Guardians of the Galaxy, a Marvel action film about a team of superheroes from the studios that made Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, and - as Northampton Museum and Art Gallery loses its Arts Council accreditation for selling an Egyptian statue in its collection - we discuss what this means for the museum. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood discusses the world premiere screenings of Paul Thomas Anderson's film There Will Be Blood, with Greenwood's score being performed live by the London Contemporary Orchestra. South African writer Deon Meyer on his latest thriller Cobra, where the arrival of a Cambridge maths professor leads to a spiralling body count. As Amazon announces it is to launch a books subscription service, Charlie Redmayne of Harper Collins and Phillip Jones of The Bookseller discuss the implications for readers, authors and publishers. And film producer and critic Catherine Bray makes her selection of films that conjure up summer. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Line of Duty's Adrian Dunbar discusses directing Samuel Beckett's 1982 one-act play Catastrophe at the Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival; violinist Tasmin Little selects her sounds of the summer; Jenny McCartney reviews Michel Gondry's new film Mood Indigo starring Audrey Tautou, and artist Katie Paterson on her ambitious project to send a meteorite back into space. Producer: Jerome Weatherald Image Credit: Brian O'Neill.

Gillian Anderson stars in a new production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic Theatre in London, which Matt Wolf reviews. Composer Gabriel Prokofiev and violinist Daniel Hope discuss their collaboration for tonight's Prom which features the world premiere of Gabriel's Violin Concerto 1914. Kate Mossman evokes the pop songs that conjure up summer. And the crime reporters who turn to crime novel-writing: Laura Lippman, former crime reporter at the Baltimore Sun and David Mark, former crime reporter at the Yorkshire Evening Post, discuss how their new careers in crime fiction have been influenced by their former trade.

Gareth Malone and Adrian Sutton discuss Sunday's Prom which takes World War One as its theme. Gareth's Military Wives choir will be performing and Adrian Sutton talks about his War Horse Suite which he's composed from his score for the original theatre production. Bel Mooney reviews In The Club, a new BBC drama series written and directed by Kay Mellor, which follows the lives of a group of friends who have met at an antenatal class. Neil Bartlett talks about his latest novel The Disappearance Boy, set in the world of 1950s Variety. And poet Michael Symmons Roberts chooses three poems that evoke summer for him.

Julian Lloyd Webber tells Kirsty Lang about his future plans, after being forced to retire due to a neck injury. Andrew Graham-Dixon on his new TV series The Art Of China - which explores China's artistic heritage and the way contact with the West transformed Chinese art. Jennifer Haley talks about her award winning play The Nether - a disturbing work about the internet and personal responsibility in virtual worlds. And The Galapagos Affair - an incredible true-life 1930s murder mystery set on the Pacific islands.

Tonight's Front Row celebrates the return of giant puppets to Liverpool. This time, the little girl and her dog are joined by her grandmother: Kirsty Lang finds out about the threesome, and how Liverpool council copes with turning the city-centre into a giant's performance-space. Also in the programme: thriller writer Gerald Seymour on the changing face of contemporary Irish politics; Rufus Bonds Jnr and Nicola Hughes on singing Porgy And Bess; and a review of the first solo exhibition of works by Gego - who has been described as the grandmother of Venezuelan contemporary art.

Chair of the judges A C Grayling and his fellow judge Erica Wagner join John Wilson to discuss the longlist for this years' Man Booker Prize. It's the first time that American novelists have been eligible for this prestigious award, and four of the listed writers are American. Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall talks about creating a stage play out of the Oscar winning film Shakespeare in Love. Hall also reveals that he's been busy reading Elton John's personal diaries in preparation for making a biopic of the singer. Tonight's Front Row features the first joint performance, in the studio, by two leading figures in world music. Dom Flemons - co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops - and Martin Simpson - renowned acoustic and slide guitarist - have been researching and exploring how folk songs travelled back and forth between England and North America, changing shape as they journeyed. They retraced the fieldwork done by folklorist Cecil Sharp, a hundred years ago - and give John a musical demonstration of how an English dancehall ballad became a ragtime blues number. Image: Shakespeare In Love - Company with Tom Bateman as Will. Photo by Johan Persson (c) Disney.

In tonight's Front Row: Judith Weir talks to John Wilson about being appointed Master Of The Queen's Music, and Eamonn Holmes - Manchester United superfan - reviews the film, Believe, about Sir Matt Busby's last great coaching challenge. Also in the programme: the curators of the Ashmolean's new exhibition about Tutankhamun give John a tour and explain the continuing fascination with the Egyptian boy-king - and author Philip Hensher discusses his latest novel, The Emperor Waltz.

With Samira Ahmed. Nicolas Cage's new film is Joe - about an ex-con who becomes an unlikely father-figure to a troubled fifteen year old boy. Mark Eccleston reviews. David Eldridge talks about his epic play Holy Warriors (at Shakespeares Globe), which looks at the struggle for Jerusalem. Carole Cerasi introduces Samira to Bach's favourite instrument, the Clavichord. And the objects created by political activists in a new exhibition at the V&A. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Claire Bartleet.

Actress Rebecca Hall discusses new film A Promise and explains why she'd love to be cast in a singing part. Also conductor Long Yu on bringing a Chinese orchestra to the Proms for the first time, and the National Theatre's Ben Power on adapting Medea and attracting new audiences. Finally, as the Commonwealth Games Festival gets under way this weekend, artist Phil Collins explains what he's doing to kick it off.

Artistic duo Gilbert & George on their provocative exhibition, Scapegoating Pictures, and why they think religion should be banned. Author and Coronation Street writer Jonathan Harvey on his new novel, The Girl Who Just Appeared, set amidst the searing tension of the Toxteth Riots. As the Chichester Festival Theatre prepares to re-open its doors tonight after a £22m refurbishment - with Rupert Everett in Amadeus - the theatre's Artistic Director Jonathan Church and architect Steve Tompkins discuss their vision for the 1960s brutalist concrete hexagon. And why a new 'memoir' about Harper Lee has forced the famously reclusive author back in to the public limelight. Photo Credit: Ben Westoby.

The curators of the new First World War Galleries at the Imperial War Museum in London walk Samira Ahmed round their new exhibition, part of the extensive new design for the building. Linda Grant discusses her new novel Upstairs at the Party, where the arrival of a glamorous, androgynous couple at a university campus in the '70s has long-term consequences. John Fay returns to The Mill, his Channel 4 drama series. And Catherine Bray reviews the French film Grand Central which stars Blue is the Warmest Colour's Léa Seydoux.

John Wilson talks to Nigel Havers and director Lucy Bailey about their revival of The Importance of Being Earnest, framed within the confines of an amateur dramatics production of the play. Art critic Charlotte Mullins reviews a major retrospective of Russian modernist Kazimir Malevich at Tate Modern. The winner of the Caine Prize for African writing, Okwiri Oduor, talks about her winning short story and the impact she hopes the prize will have on her Writing, and head judge, Jackie Kay, reveals why Okwiri's story was an unanimous winner. And author Michael Rosen on the enduring appeal of We're Going On A Bear Hunt, 25 years on and a record-beating reading.

Paul Theroux, Albie Sachs and Justin Cartwright remember the Nobel Prize-winning South African novelist Nadine Gordimer whose death was announced today; Matt Reeves on directing Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, starring Andy Serkis and Gary Oldman; and Dennis Kelly discusses his TV drama series Utopia, which deals with a plan created by 'The Network' to control the expanding world population by sterilising 95% of its inhabitants.

Booker Prize winning novelist Graham Swift has just published a collection of short stories concerned with life, death and the state of the nation. He talks to Razia about tackling big themes in short form. How To Train Your Dragon 2 continues the story of Viking Hiccup and his dragon friend Toothless. The animated children's film is based on the stories by Cressida Cowell. Matt Thorne reviews. The story of a group of Glasgow school girls who changed immigration practices in Scotland has already been dramatised for the stage and has now been transformed into a BBC Three musical drama. Razia speaks to co-writer and director Brian Welsh and real life 'Glasgow Girl' Emma Clifford explains what it's like to see herself portrayed on screen. Architect Jack Pringle and architecture critic Hugh Pearman discuss the ethical responsibilities of architects - should they be held accountable for the condition of workers building their designs?

Razia Iqbal talks to director Peter Greenaway about his film Goltzius And The Pelican Company, which tells the story of the 16th century Dutch painter Hendrik Goltzius. A new exhibition at the National Maritime Museum explores the race to determine longitude at sea. Scottish poet Robert Crawford discusses his latest collection, Testament. And Peter Murray, founding director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, winner of the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2014.

John Wilson talks to actor Gina McKee about starring in Richard III, and reports on the new collection of portraits of Virginia Woolf at the National Portrait Gallery. Plus a review of Morrissey's new album World Peace Is None of Your Business - his tenth studio album which contains flamenco influences and a celebration of animal rights. And leading French artist Daniel Buren, who has a major show at Baltic in Gateshead.

Extant is a new sci-fi series produced by Stephen Spielberg and starring Halle Berry as an astronaut. It's being broadcast on television in the US, but in Britain it's being streamed on demand. Boyd Hilton of Heat Magazine reviews and considers the burgeoning ways of small-screen viewing. Tomorrow the Art Fund both announces the winner of Museum of the Year and holds their inaugural museums summit. To discuss the value of museums in today's social and economic climate, Front Row brought directors from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Detroit Institute of Arts, and Palestinian Museum, together with the director of the Art Fund. Influential American architect Louis Khan's designs can be seen in Yale University and the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad. Now an exhibition of his models, drawings and photographs are being exhibited in the Design Museum and architect Amanda Levete reviews. Plus it's been 50 years since The Beatles film A Hard Day's Night was released. David Hepworth revisits the film and tells John whether it works today and how its influence can still be seen.

In tonight's Front Row, Andrew Lloyd Webber talks about the return of Cats to the West End stage, directed by Trevor Nunn, and a review of Richard Linklater's new film Boyhood - which was filmed over twelve years and tells the story of a divorced couple raising their son from age 6 to age 18. Also in the programme: Kirsty meets Fredrik Backman, author of A Man Called Ove, the word-of-mouth bestseller in Sweden and this week's Book at Bedtime on Radio 4. Ove is a newly-retired, very grumpy widower, but behind the surly pedant there is a story, and a sadness. And as Ed Sheeran's new album X retains its number one position, we examine maths in pop songs.

As the final preparations are made for the arrival, in Yorkshire, of the world's most famous cycle race, Front Row comes from Britain's largest county with a special edition dedicated to the first cultural festival to accompany the Tour de France. Kirsty's guests include Maxine Peake on making her stage debut as a playwright with the premiere of Beryl; David Nobbs, the creator of Reginald Perrin, discusses his new novel which is set in a small town in the Pennines; Graham Watson on photographing every Tour de France since 1983, and a visit to the Fields of Vision, a project which has turned farmers' fields into works of art.

Maureen Lipman and Harry Shearer talk to John in the hours leading up to curtain call of the West End transfer of their critically acclaimed play, Daytona; Caitlin Moran discusses her debut novel and explains why it's the hardest thing she's ever done; American talk show host, comedian, and author Chelsea Handler discusses her stand-up tour, why she's been insulting people all her life, and whether her confessional style is all true; and technology journalist Aleks Krotoski reviews Digital Revolution, a new exhibition at the Barbican Centre which explores the evolution of digital art from the early video games of the 1970s to the visual effects used in the film Gravity.

A review of Monty Python's tour which sees John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin on stage together for the first time in over 40 years; actor Mark Ruffalo on playing drunk in his new film Begin Again also starring Keira Knightley; acclaimed South African playwright and director Yaël Farber on her re-imagining of The Crucible; plus ahead of his appearance at the Cheltenham Centenary Prom, one-handed pianist Nicholas McCarthy discusses his technique and with historian Alexander Waugh, looks back at music that was created due to the physical effects of war.

Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe discuss their BBC late-night Prom which includes the world premiere of A Man From the Future, about Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing; Private Eye editor Ian Hislop reviews last night's opening of the Richard Bean play Great Britain starring Billie Piper, which deals with Leveson and the phone-hacking affair; English National Opera's Artistic Director John Berry on today's announcement of Arts Council cuts in funding; and Romesh Gunesekera on Noontide Toll, his new collection of related stories which deal with the effects of Sri Lanka's civil war.

Screenwriter Jimmy McGovern talks about his new BBC drama, Common, which was inspired by a letter from a mother whose son was imprisoned under the controversial Joint Enterprise law. Tony Hatch, composer of TV theme tunes for Crossroads, Neighbours and Sportsnight, looks back over his career and the hits he wrote for Petula Clark, Scott Walker and The Searchers. Amanda Hopkinson reviews a new Royal Academy exhibition, Radical Geometry, which focuses on art produced during a 50-year period in distinct parts of South America, and Ryan Gilbey reviews The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared, a new film adapted from the novel by Swedish author Jonas Jonasson. And as Ed Sheeran's album X - which is pronounced "multiply" - reaches number one, David Quantick discusses numbers in music.

Tonight's Front Row considers the big-screen debut of Mrs Brown, Brendan O'Carroll's TV creation. Whilst not receiving critical acclaim, the award-winning programme regularly attracts millions of viewers - so does it work as a film? Also in the programme - Richard Wilson on performing Beckett's monologue, Krapp's Last Tape; Arcade Fire's Will Butler speaks from Glastonbury as the band prepares to go onstage; and Michelle Magorian recalls writing her classic novel, Goodnight Mister Tom. Plus, how artists respond creatively to bridges. Presenter: Matthew D'Ancona Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

Kirsty Lang discusses a huge exhibition of Scottish contemporary art which features over 100 artists at over 60 venues throughout Scotland. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich talks about headlining Glastonbury this weekend. A review of new film Keeping Rosie, starring Maxine Peake as a disgruntled city high flyer. How the novel Dr Zhivago was used as an ideological weapon by the CIA during the Cold War . And Kneehigh's latest play, Dead Dog In A Suitcase, a reworking of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, opens in Liverpool. Image: ‘Real Life, Rocky Mountain’, courtesy of the artist Ross Sinclair

Kirsty Lang talks to actress Lesley Manville and director Richard Eyre about filming their award-winning production of Ibsen's Ghosts. Best-selling author James Patterson on giving away his own money to UK bookshops. National Theatre director Nicholas Hytner on Richard Bean's new play Great Britain, a satire on the press and politics. And a review of the National Museum of Scotland's exhibition Ming: The Golden Empire. With art historian Duncan McMillan.

Dennis Hopper starred in cult films like Easy Rider and Apocalypse Now - but he was also a fine photographer. In tonight's Front Row, Eamonn McCabe and John Wilson consider a new exhibition of Hopper's images. Also in the programme: composer David Arnold - whose soundtracks include Bond films, Sherlock and the London 2012 Olympic closing ceremony - on his new musical Made in Dagenham; a review of the biopic Seve - the rags-to-riches story of charismatic golfer Seve Ballesteros. Plus a look at the art market's incredible growth over the past twenty years: some contemporary pieces now sell for tens of millions of pounds - can these prices ever be justified?

John Wilson with the Manic Street Preachers ahead of their appearance at Glastonbury. Kevin Brooks, winner of the 2014 Carnegie Medal for children's literature for his novel The Bunker Diary. Allegra McEvedy reviews the film Chef. And war artist Anna Redwood documents the Desert Rats last tour of duty in Afghanistan. Presenter: John Wilson Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Kirsty reviews the new film The Fault in Our Stars, adapted from John Green's best-selling young adult novel and speaks to Peter Brook, whose new play In the Valley of Astonishment explores the sensory condition synaesthesia. Also tonight debut novelist and director of creative writing at Harvard University Bret Anthony Johnston discusses his novel Remember Me Like this, about a kidnapped child who returns home after four years. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Ellie Bury.

Don Johnson became a household name through his role as shiny suited Miami police officer Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice. He discusses the art of the comeback as he stars alongside Sam Shepherd in new film Cold in July. Novelist Carys Bray discusses her own devout Mormon upbringing in the North-West of England which lies at the heart of her debut novel A Song For Issy Bradley. As new poems are discovered by Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, we speak to his acclaimed biographer Adam Feinstein about their significance. Plus we discuss why some established authors are choosing to self-publish their work with writer Kate Pullinger and Cathy Rentzenbrink of the Bookseller.

The American writer Toni Morrison is renowned for novels which focus on the experience of black Americans, particularly emphasising black women's experience in an unjust society and the search for cultural identity. Her books include Beloved, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize, Song of Solomon and The Bluest Eye, and in 1993 she was awarded the Noble Prize for literature. In a special programme recorded at this year's Hay Literary Festival, she talks to Razia Iqbal about, among other things, her writing, her childhood, being awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, and what place the issue of race has in America today. Presenter: Razia Iqbal Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

As actress Carey Mulligan makes her West End debut in David Hare's 1995 drama Skylight, she discusses playing opposite Bill Nighy and how she chooses film roles. A new exhibition, Making Colour at the National Gallery in London, charts and analyses the variety of raw materials used by artists across the centuries to provide colour in paintings and other works of art, Shahidha Bari reviews. 30 years ago this week, a protest at the Orgreave coking plant turned into the most notorious confrontation of the 1984-85 miners' strike. Artist Jeremy Deller, poet Helen Mort and playwright Beth Steel discuss why the events of June 18th 1984 proved such fertile ground artistic response. And following the news that Harrison Ford has injured his ankle on the set of Star Wars, Adrian Wootton discusses how film-makers work around cast injuries.

The tenor, baritone and conductor Plácido Domingo discusses his return to the Royal Opera House to conduct Jonathan Kent's production of Puccini's Tosca. Alex Clark reviews Robert Galbraith's (aka JK Rowling) new novel The Silkworm. Jason Solomons reviews Clint Eastwood's film Jersey Boys, about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. And Laura Mvula and Julian Lloyd Webber discuss the new BBC Music initiative Ten Pieces, announced today. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Historian and broadcaster Amanda Vickery gives her verdict on the film Belle, set in the eighteenth century, which tells the true story of the illegitimate daughter of a British naval officer and a slave, who was brought up by her great uncle in Georgian London. Bafta award-winner Roger Graef has been making documentaries for fifty years. A pioneer of "fly-on-the-wall" formats and films made in closed institutions such as prisons, police stations and government ministries, Roger has just been given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sheffield DocFest. He joins Kirsty to discuss his work - and to give his predictions for the future of documentary-making. Dazzle Ships were used in the First World War to confuse the enemy. A variety of British ships were painted in bright, colourful patterns to disorientate and confuse German sailors trying to judge the vessels' speed and direction. As two new Dazzle Ships are created in the UK, Front Row hears from the project curator and a naval historian. Tom Rachman's first novel, The Imperfectionists, about a failing newspaper received rave reviews. His second novel The Rise & Fall of Great Powers, starts off in failing bookshop. He talks to Kirsty about why he thinks books, if not newspapers, will survive the digital future. Kirsty Lang - Presenter Nicola Holloway - producer.

Tonight, Helena Bonham Carter talks to Kirsty Lang about her role in The Young And Prodigious T.S.Spivet - and on the unusual part her own brother played in her upcoming film, Suffragette. Also in the programme: a review of the exhibition, The Human Factor, which considers how artists represent human figures - and Syrian writers discuss the art that's currently coming out of the violent conflict there. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Rebecca Nicholson Production Co-Ordinator: Blaise Hesselgren.

Damian Barr talks to Dolly Parton about how she writes her songs, her poor childhood in Tennessee, and her passion for reading; Sarah Crompton reviews a new stage production of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons; and an interview with Turner prize winning photographer Wolfgang Tillmans.

With Matthew d'Ancona Antonio Pappano, music director of the Royal Opera House, talks about Puccini's first great operatic success, Manon Lescaut. We review Devil's Knot, the latest film from Atom Egoyan. Based on a true story about the savage murders of three boys in Arkansas in 1993, the film stars Colin Firth as Ron Lax, the case's private investigator. Writer Anne Washburn talks about her play Mr Burns, where The Simpsons provide the narrative in a post-apocalyptic world, and pop songs assume a similarly revered cultural position. Art critic Adrian Searle discusses a large retrospective of Banksy's work including paintings, prints and sculptures. Street art is not included in the exhibition, which has been curated without the involvement of the mysterious artist. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With Matthew d'Ancona. A tribute to the Young Ones and Black Adder actor Rik Mayall whose death was announced today; a review British Folk Art at Tate Britain, a collection of mostly unknown art from local museums round the country. Sir John Tusa describes his vision of the current state of the arts in the UK and sets our the range of leadership skills needed by those who run arts bodies. On the 50th anniversary of the film Zulu, Matthew talks to Prince Buthelezi who played his own great grandfather King Cetshwayo in the story of the battle at Rorke's Drift between 150 British soldiers and 4,000 Zulu warriors, and how at a time of apartheid restrictions the film set was a non-racist one. Plus, we consider the current storylines of EastEnders and Coronation Street where a murder on each show has increased viewing figures to over 8 million on some nights. Coronation Street Producer Stuart Blackburn and TV executive Mal Young, who has overseen programmes including EastEnders, discuss the mechanics of executing a big storyline. Presenter : Matthew d'Ancona Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Performance artist Marina Abramovic discusses her new project 512 Hours at the Serpentine Gallery in London in which there is no art on display, simply Abramovic herself welcoming 300 visitors a day to an empty gallery space; Hotel is a new play by Polly Stenham, best known for writing That Face and Tusk Tusk. Set in an exclusive hotel on a beautiful but poverty-stricken island, a family's luxury holiday is interrupted by violence. Susannah Clapp reviews. Emma Healey's debut novel Elizabeth Is Missing is told from the perspective of 82-year-old Maud who is suffering from dementia. Emma discusses the inspiration behind her book and reveals the tactics of some of the nine publishers who tried to woo her. And composer David Lang on his composition for 1000 voices, Crowd Out, to be performed in Birmingham this weekend, inspired by a trip to the Arsenal football stadium.

As Dirty Rotten Scoundrels extends its West End run, star Robert Lindsay reflects on the challenges of staging a hit musical, and father son kora stars Toumani and Sidiki Diabaté perform music from their new album. Also tonight, Rachel Cooke reviews series two of the hit Netflix drama Orange is the New Black, and London's Foundling Museum celebrates its 10th birthday and marks the 250th anniversary of William Hogarth's death with a new exhibition of work by David Hockney, Yinka Shonibare, Grayson Perry and Jessie Brennan, inspired by Hogarth's A Rake's Progress.

John Wilson has live news of the winner of the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction and speaks to the artist Cornelia Parker who has curated a monochrome room at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition. He also meets English National Ballet's lead principal Daria Klimentová as she prepares for her final professional performance, in Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Albert Hall, and hears about two stage adaptations of American anti-war novels currently on in the UK.

Kirsty Lang talks to conductor and violinist Bernard Haitink as he looks back over his career as he celebrates his 85th birthday. Catherine Bray reviews buddy cop movie sequel 22 Jump Street, starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. Róisín Murphy, the lead singer of Moloko, is back with a solo EP all in Italian, covering some classic Italian torchsongs. She tells Kirsty why she's decided to make life difficult for herself by singing in a language she can't speak fluently. And the directors of a new free-running theatre show The Roof, which takes place in a converted outdoor car park next to London's National Theatre, discuss the challenges of parkour on rooftops and why the audience are handed out headphones as they enter the arena.

Fruitvale Station is the debut film from director Ryan Coogler and it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance in 2013. It narrates the last day in the life of Oscar Grant, a young African American man who was shot by transport police in California on New Year's Day in 2009. Gaylene Gould reviews the film. Clean Bandit scored a number one with their single Rather Be which fused classical music with electronic dance rhythms. As they release their debut album, they discuss how they found their musical style and the reaction from the classical world. Terry Gilliam is returning to the English National Opera to direct Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini, teaming up again with music director Edward Gardner. Terry and Edward discuss the director/conductor relationship and the appeal of Berlioz's seldom performed work. Author Joshua Ferris, best known for his debut novel Then We Came to the End, discusses his latest book, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour. Set in a Manhattan dental practice, it explores faith, belonging and the power of the internet.

In a special programme from the Hay Festival, John Wilson talks to thriller writer Lee Child about the latest in his Jack Reacher series. Award-winning biographer Lucy Hughes-Hallett explains why she is writing her first novel. Children's authors and former Children's Laureates Michael Morpurgo and Julia Donaldson discuss how their writing has developed over the course of their careers. Plus songwriter, author and performer Cerys Matthews talks about how the poetry of Dylan Thomas has inspired her.

Tonight's Front Row, presented by Samira Ahmed, reviews Ken Loach's new film Jimmy's Hall - based on the true story of 1930s Irish hero Jimmy Gralton, who defied his parish priest and built a community hall. Also in the programme: Liel Leibovitz on Leonard Cohen's enduring appeal and why he wrote a biography of him; Geoff Dyer on being a writer-in-residence aboard an American naval vessel; and three fictional US television characters take on the British Royal family.

With Kirsty Lang. A tribute to the poet and author Maya Angelou, Simon Russell Beale discusses performing all of Shakespeare's sonnets; a review of Angelina Jolie as the evil Queen in Maleficent. Plus, we hear about the work and life of MF Husain, dubbed in the art world as the Picasso of India.

Kirsty Lang discusses Venus in Fur, the new film by Roman Polanksi; playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, whose 2001 play Bezhti was pulled from theatres after rioting, on her new work for the Birmingham Rep Theatre - Khandan - about cultural clashes in a modern Sikh family; Boyd Hilton reviews HBO / Sky Atlantic drama The Normal Heart, starring Julia Roberts as a doctor dealing with the AIDs crisis in 80s New York; and author Michael Cunningham (The Hours), who has based the characters in his new novel The Snow Queen on real-life friends.

Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood discusses the world premiere of her first opera Pauline, live from Vancouver; Ranald McInnes on the Glasgow Art School fire; Neel Mukherjee on his new novel The Lives of Others, set during the political unrest in India in the 1960s; Amat Escalante, director of new film Heli, reveals the background to his drama about drugs, violence and corruption in a remote community in rural Mexico; and Jake Arnott reviews new British TV drama Quirke starring Gabriel Byrne and written by Andrew Davies and Conor McPherson, an adaptation of the novels by Benjamin Black (John Banville). Producer Jerome Weatherald.

John Wilson with guitarist and songwriter Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders who discusses her new solo album Stockholm. Hynde looks back at being on campus in her native Ohio in 1970 on the day the National Guard opened fire on unarmed students, leaving four dead. As two exhibitions of work by Mondrian open at Tate Liverpool and Turner Contemporary in Margate this summer, the curators discuss Mondrian's art and legacy. Also tonight, we hear from the winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and review a new production of Miss Saigon, which returns to the London stage 25 years after it first opened.

Kirsty talks to Kathleen Turner and Ian McDiarmid who are starring in Bakersfield Mist in London's West End, and meets artist Bill Viola who has created a new permanent installation for St Paul's Cathedral. Also tonight, musician St Vincent discusses her literary influences, and should opera stars be critiqued on their appearance?

John Wilson reviews Fading Gigolo, which follows two friends who become an unlikely gigolo and pimp in a bid to make money. Written and directed by John Turturro, the film stars Woody Allen as a Brooklyn bookseller who becomes his friend's "manager." Larushka Ivan-Zedeh reviews. DJ and producer Fatboy Slim discusses his new double album of Brazilian party music which coincides with the start of the World Cup and is a reaction against the pop-heavy official album released by Fifa. Plus the artist Julian Opie on a new exhibition at the Holburne Museum in Bath which brings together his work with art that he has collected, including 17th Century painting and ancient Egyptian sculpture. And Jason Solomons reports from the Cannes Film Festival.

Ceramic artist Edmund de Waal, author of the award-winning memoir The Hare with Amber Eyes, shows John Wilson around his London studio and demonstrates how he creates an 'Edmund de Waal' bowl at the potter's wheel; The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is a band of eight brothers from Chicago, all taught by their jazz musician father, Phil Cohran. They perform in the studio and talk about continuing their father's legacy; Last night, 17-year-old pianist Martin James Bartlett won the BBC Young Musician 2014 competition. He discusses entering the competition for a second time and why he chose Rachmaninov for his performance in the finals; E4's series Youngers chronicles the attempts of two teenage musicians to make it in the Peckham urban music scene. Writer Levi David Addai and star Calvin Demba discuss the challenges of keeping the show authentic, while Val McDermid, Phil Redmond and Joss Whedon reflect on how they've tried to make their teen characters ring true. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

Actress, writer and comedian Dawn French talks candidly to Kirsty about preparations for her first ever solo stage show, and why she's decided to include personal stories in her performance ranging from her marriages, body issues and family tragedy. Ben Miles - who plays Thomas Cromwell in the RSC version of Hilary Mantel's novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies - on being onstage for nearly six hours. Plus after lead singer Chris Martin's conscious uncoupling from Gwyneth Paltrow, we review the Coldplay album which supposedly reveals his heartbreak.

In tonight's Front Row, John talks to Gary Kemp about his role in a revival of Lionel Bart's East End musical, Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be - and Rachel Johnson and Nicola Beauman consider the legacy of Diary Of A Provincial Lady, the hilarious and quintessentially English journal of a fictional country wife, first published in 1930. Also in the programme: a review from the Cannes Film Festival of Mike Leigh's new film, Mr Turner, which stars Timothy Spall as JMW Turner - and, as a new exhibition opens exploring the impact of art historian Kenneth Clark, one of the most influential twentieth century figures in British art, his biographer, James Stourton, and exhibition curator, Chris Stephens, discuss Clark's role as patron, broadcaster and collector.

With Kirsty Lang. Thriller writer Louise Welsh reviews Penny Dreadful, produced by Sam Mendes and staring Eva Green; Kirsty talks to The Two Faces of January star Oscar Isaac; gets the low down from Cannes; and discusses Moog synthesizers with Goldfrapp's Will Gregory. Produced by Claire Bartleet.

With John Wilson. Godzilla's back in cinemas this Thursday in a new film by British director Gareth Edwards, who earned worldwide acclaim for his debut Monsters in 2010. This time the world's most famous monster is pitted against a humanity arrogant enough to think it can control nature. Antonia Quirke reviews. John meets Ailyn Perez and Stephen Costello, two young American singers dubbed "America's fastest-rising husband-and-wife opera stars" who are starring in La Traviata at London's Royal Opera House. From There To Here is the latest TV series from writer Peter Bowker. The drama follows two families from different backgrounds in the aftermath of the 1996 bomb explosion in central Manchester. Peter tells John about his desire to write a love-letter to Manchester. Six British feature films including A Matter of Life and Death and Bend It Like Beckham are being celebrated today with a new issue of stamps. Philip Parker, Head of Stamps Strategy at the Royal Mail explains the choices.

With John Wilson Actor James McAvoy (Atonement, The Last King of Scotland, Trance) discusses being one of the X-Men, and what it has in common with playing Macbeth. To mark the centenary of Dylan Thomas' birth, Andrew Davies has written a new TV drama focusing on the poet's fourth and fatal visit to New York in 1953. Starring Tom Hollander, the story captures the last few days of Dylan Thomas' life - weaving in the memories of his childhood in Wales and his relationship with his wife, Caitlin. Gillian Clarke, National Poet Of Wales, reviews. Natalie Merchant, the American singer-songwriter known for the poetry in her songs, talks to John about her new CD. The self-titled album is her first collection of all her own work for 13 years. Tuesday sees the British Council unveiling its first ever photographic exhibition - their Director of Visual arts Andrea Rose travelled to North Korea with acclaimed photojournalist Nick Danziger as they collected images of people doing ordinary things, swimming, waiting for a tram, students walking down the street. Andrea describes the experience.

Acclaimed choreographer Hofesh Shechter talks to Kirsty Lang in his role as Guest Artistic Director for this year's Brighton Festival, and for her report she also visits a disused beer depot which is staging a production of Sir Harrison Birtwistle's chamber opera Down by the Greenwood Side. Also tonight, a review of Michael Jackson's second posthumous album Xscape; 20 years after Nelson Mandela's inauguration, young South African playwrights Amy Jeptha and Napo Masheane respond to the change their country has witnessed; and blog-turned-film documentary Advanced Style follows the sartorially elegant older women of New York. Producer: Ellie Bury Presenter: Kirsty Lang.

The artist Yinka Shonibare MBE talks to Kirsty Lang about his latest work The British Library, a study of immigration in Britain, currently showing at the Brighton Festival. US Novelist Akhil Sharma's new novel Family Life is based on his own family history and the tragedy of his brother's death, so why a novel rather than a memoir? A new report released this morning highlights a significant lack of female film directors on the big and small screen. Drama director Beryl Richards reflects on the findings. And as a new musical version of The Water Babies opens this week at Curve Theatre in Leicester, which features a waterfall, video projections of the performers singing under water and a hologram of Richard E Grant, the director, video designer and one of the actors discuss the mixture of musical theatre and special effects. Producer Jerome Weatherald Image: The British Library by Yinka Shonibare MBE.

Antony Gormley and Simon Starling reflect on the influence of Henry Moore on a new generation of sculptors, author Alice Hoffman discusses her latest novel The Museum of Extraordinary Things, the story of love between two vastly different souls in New York during the volatile first decades of the twentieth century and Rachel Campbell-Johnston discusses the Turner Prize shortlist and what the choices say about the world of contemporary art. Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang on his play Yellow Face, which explores issues of race and identity through the the playwright's real life involvement in protests about the casting of Jonathan Pryce in Miss Saigon and, as Russia's entry for Eurovision is booed, music journalist John P Lucas talks us through the political pressures of the competition.

Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh talks to Samira Ahmed about his new novel The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins, which is set in contemporary Miami. Advertising expert Rory Sutherland unpicks the row over the Morrisons baguette beamed onto the Angel of the North. A cheeky stunt gone wrong or a violation of much-loved public art? Rachel De-lahay's new play Circles focusses on Birmingham's number 11 outer circle bus route and investigates cycles of violence and what it takes to break them. Hayao Miyazaki's latest animated film The Wind Rises has been announced as his last. The writer and director who brought us Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away bows out with the story of Jiro, a young man who dreams of flying and becomes a designer of aeroplanes as the Second World War looms. Critic Robbie Collin reviews.

Kirsty Lang presents a special programme dedicated to one of Britain's most commercially successful composers, Michael Nyman, as he celebrates his 70th birthday. Perhaps best known for his film scores, including Jane Campion's The Piano, his minimalist music can also be enjoyed in the form of operas, string quartets, song cycles and now symphonies. Kirsty is joined by classical music critics, Fiona Maddocks and Jonathan Lennie, to discuss his music and legacy; woodwind player, Andy Findon, who's been a member of the Michael Nyman Band since the 1980s; singer David McAlmont, who wrote The Glare, a song cycle of news stories, with Nyman; and by the composer himself who talks about, among other things, The Hillsborough Symphony, soon to have its premiere, and how that came about. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

The Testament Of Mary, Colm Tóibín's Man Booker-nominated novella, has now been adapted for the theatre - starring Fiona Shaw and directed by Deborah Warner. Fiona Shaw joins Razia to discuss the effort and concentration required for a 100-minute monologue, and the way the production mixes religious and secular aspects. Award winning revenge thriller Blue Ruin tells the story of an American man, Dwight Evans, who is seeking to kill his parents killers. As events unfold Evans, played by Macon Blair, undergoes a transformation from traumatised homeless drop-out to novice assassin. Mark Eccleston reviews. Novelist Edward St Aubyn talks about his new book Lost For Words, a satirical look at the world of literary prizes. And a new BBC and theatre production of Under Milk Wood to mark the centenary of Dylan Thomas' birth which includes contributions from Charlotte Church, Tom Jones and Michael Sheen. Razia Iqbal - Presenter Nicola Holloway - producer Image Credit: Hugo Glendinning.

With Matthew d'Ancona Jon Ronson discusses Frank - which he co-wrote with Peter Straughan (The Men Who Stare At Goats). The fictional film was inspired by Jon's experience of touring in Frank Sidebottom's cult band. Ronson talks about why he didn't make a biopic, his relationship with Sidebottom creator Chris Sievey; and working with Michael Fassbender, who plays Frank and wears a fake head for the majority of the film. The multi Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning series, 24, is about to return. Four years have passed and Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer is now living in London and being hunted by the CIA. But then Jack learns of a threat to kill the US President during an official visit to the British Prime Minister, and decides he has to come out of hiding, to prevent it. Critic Sarah Crompton joins Matthew to assess how Jack fares this side of the Atlantic. Award winning composer Julian Anderson talks about his new opera Thebans, based on Sophocles' tragedies. From early Victorian pamphlets to the latest underground offerings, a new exhibition explores the world of British comics. It includes work by Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore and Posy Simmonds and a specially commissioned piece by Tank Girl artist Jamie Hewlett and looks at the way graphic novels have entertained, shocked, disturbed and amused readers for over two hundred years. Producer Timothy Prosser.

John Wilson remembers the actor Bob Hoskins, whose death was announced today, talking to director Neil Jordan and actress Cathy Tyson about Hoskins' Oscar nominated performance in the film Mona Lisa. Sports presenter Eleanor Oldroyd reviews Next Goals Wins, a film about the American Samoa football team, who after suffering the worst loss in international football history (31-0 to Australia), attempt to qualify for the World Cup. Swiss novelist Joël Dicker is a publishing sensation - his novel The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair has won prizes in Europe and been translated into 38 languages. Now it's arrived in the UK. The novel is an intricate murder mystery and an exploration of writing and the writing industry. Joël Dicker talks to John Wilson about being at the centre of a publishing whirlwind and how similar - or not - his own life is to that of his glamorous novelist hero. Grammy award winning duo The Black Keys discuss their new album Turn Blue. Guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Pat Carney reflect on their transition from garage band to stadium success, the impact of break-ups; and life on the road.

Sculptor Phillip King on his career as he turns 80 this week, Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott have released an album together for the first time since their multi-million selling days of The Beautiful South. They talk to John about their reunion and about Paul's belief in the importance of maintaining a "lippy" attitude. Writer Sally Wainwright talks about turning to crime with BBC One's Happy Valley after the success of Last Tango in Halifax; and we review Seth Rogan's latest film Bad Neighbours. With John Wilson.

In tonight's Front Row: David Haig talks to John Wilson about his play, Pressure - which he also stars in - about the weatherman who persuaded Eisenhower to postponed the D-Day landings because of an incoming storm; Ziggy Marley explains the importance of reggae in his music, and Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford reviews A Thousand Times Good Night - starring Juliette Binoche as a photojournalist. Also in the programme: a review of ITV's new series Prey, with John Simm as a detective trying to clear his name. Image Credit: Drew Farrell.

Mandy Walker, the Director of Photography of new film Tracks, discusses the challenges she faced capturing the remote and hostile Australian outback on screen. Welsh drama Hinterland, a dark crime series filmed simultaneously in English and Welsh, is coming to BBC4 this Monday, lead actor Richard Harrington and co-creator Ed Talfan discuss the epic process of filming the whole drama twice. The philosopher Alain de Botton has put his theory that art can be therapeutic into practice, with a new exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. De Botton explains why he hopes visitors will find this sort of exhibition more fulfilling. And playwright Bryony Lavery discusses her new work The Believers, which explores faith, belief systems and parenting. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

John Wilson is in the recording studio with Damon Albarn to discuss his latest album Everyday Robots, an autobiographical journey in which he returns to his childhood and his London and Essex roots. Albarn describes the stories that lie behind the songs of this his first fully-realised solo album. Roger Wright reveals the line-up for his last ever BBC Proms. The poet and crime writer Sophie Hannah on her new novel The Telling Error, a psychological puzzle about about the seductive appeal of lying. Plus The Art Fund director Stephen Deuchar announces the shortlist for the Museum of the Year Prize. Producer Elaine Lester Presenter: John Wilson.

Artist Richard Wilson unveils his vast 77-tonne new silver sculpture, Slipstream, in Heathrow's new Terminal 2 building. Playwright Mike Bartlett, who is currently enjoying a major critical success with King Charles III, discusses his play about the potential future monarch as well as An Intervention which premieres in Watford this week. Booker-winning novelist Rachel Seiffert discusses the new German TV drama series Generation War which follows the lives of five friends in Berlin on different paths through Nazi Germany and World War II. British director Joanna Hogg returns with her third film Exhibition starring Viv Albertine of punk band The Slits. Shahidha Bari reviews. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

As he celebrates his 70th birthday, composer Michael Nyman reveals for the first time the inspiration for his new cycle of symphonies, playwright James Graham and director Josie Rourke discuss their new play Privacy which examines how our personal data is collected and what governments are doing with it. Also tonight Catherine Bray reviews Johnny Depp in sci-fi spectacle Transcendence. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Ellie Bury.

In a special edition of Front Row, John Wilson talks to the writers of two of the biggest stage musicals of all time - Miss Saigon and Les Misérables. Composer Claude-Michel Schönberg and lyricist Alain Boublil discuss their working process and how they bring a French sensibility to a modern American artform, as their musical, Miss Saigon - now in its 25th anniversary year - is reinvented for a new production. Producer Ella-mai Robey.

Kirsty Lang presents a Front Row special celebrating the big screen's love affair with the Biblical epic. It's a genre that defined the golden age of Hollywood, but it's undergoing something of a resurrection in 2014 thanks to the release of Darren Aronofsky's Noah starring Russell Crowe, a film soon to be joined in cinemas by Ridley Scott's Exodus, and the long awaited prequel to The Passion of The Christ - Mary. And whilst general audiences seem hungry for the bible on screen, churches across America are showing Son of God, a faithful retelling of the life of Jesus Christ. In the company of Hollywood's hottest directors, Life of Brian's Michael Palin, and the British actor who played Jesus Christ himself, join Kirsty as she sets off on her own pilgrimage in search of the roots of the biblical epic. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Craig Smith.

Martin Freeman, star of The Hobbit, talks about acting in sub zero temperatures for his latest role in the television adaptation of cult Coen brothers film Fargo. And from the snow to the stage: he discusses his next project - playing Richard III. Singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini is a platinum selling artist who's now released his third album. He talks to John about his journey from 'New Shoes' to this darker, more serious work. He reveals the influence of his opera loving Italian grandfather on his career and performs for Front Row in the studio. Glasgow artist Andy Scott talks about his largest creation yet- two giant horse heads based on the mythical Celtic creatures Kelpies. The sculptures, which are in Falkirk's new Helix park, are being unveiled and illuminated as part of an inaugural festival dedicated to conservationist John Muir. The latest film from cult Swedish director Lukas Moodysson is a coming-of-age drama about three young girls in Stockholm in 1982. Klara, Bobo and Hedwig are ignored by their parents and seen as misfits by everyone else - so they decide to form a punk band. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Nicola Holloway.

Kirsty Lang discusses a new film adaptation of John Banville's Man Booker prize winning novel The Sea. With Rachel Cooke. House of Cards writer Keith Huff talks about his play A Steady Rain. A hit on Broadway in 2009 starring Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, it receives its UK premiere at the Theatre Royal Bath. Is it ok to steal a Banksy? Lawyer Karen Sanig, from Mischon de Reya, offers legal advice. Poet Patience Agbabi on her new collection Telling Tales, an updating of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, with the pilgrims travelling on a Routemaster bus. And TV critic Boyd Hilton reviews Trying Again, the new sitcom from Thick of It duo Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell, about a couple stuggling after an affair. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Timothy Prosser.

Kirsty Lang discusses a TV adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn with novelist Sarah Dunant. Chart topping classical guitarist Milos Karadaglic talks about reinterpreating Rodrigo's famous guitar concerto, which he is touring around the country. Dr Jason Dittmer reviews Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. And The Flame Throwers author Rachel Kushner on her debut novel Telex from Cuba, which is being published in the UK for the first time.

John Wilson discusses Tate Modern's Matisse: The Cut-Outs with Matisse biographer Hilary Spurling and curator Nicholas Cullinan. Also in the programme: Val McDermid is renowned as a crime-writer, but Jane Austen isn't - so what attracted Val to the idea of updating Northanger Abbey? Plus reviews of the film Locke, starring Tom Hardy - and of two new Broadway musicals: Woody Allen's stage version of his film Bullets Over Broadway, and a new show about Billie Holiday, Lady Day. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With Razia Iqbal. Actor Mark Strong and director Ivo van Hove discuss their new production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge. Mark Strong explains why this play, and the role of Brooklyn longshoreman Eddie Carbone, persuaded him to return to the stage for the first time in a decade. Bernadette Peters is one of Broadway's most critically acclaimed performers, known as a key interpreter of Stephen Sondheim's musicals. In London to perform at the Olivier Awards, Bernadette Peters discusses her relationship with Sondheim and the resilience needed to maintain a long career. Best-selling author Harlan Coben talks about his latest thriller, Missing You. He discusses creating his protagonist Kat Donovan, an NYPD cop, the current "golden age" of crime writing and the impact that the internet and online dating sites have had on the police thriller. The Lunchbox, an Indian film from director Ritesh Batra, explores a mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system that connects a young housewife to an older man. Anil Sinanan reviews. We remember the author Sue Townsend, who has died aged 68. In a Front Row interview from 2012 she discusses her unusual sense of humour and what she wants next for Adrian Mole.

Emma Thompson and Celia Imrie discuss their new film comedy The Love Punch; choreographer Chris Wheeldon, composer Joby Talbot and principal ballerina Lauren Cuthbertson look ahead to tonight's opening of The Winter's Tale, the Royal Ballet's first original full-length Shakespeare ballet in 50 years; Gaylene Gould reviews Simon Stephens' play Birdland starring Andrew Scott; and actor Sam West on a new arts funding campaign.

Award-winning actor Chiwetel Ejiofor talks to John Wilson about his new film Half of a Yellow Sun and his journey from filming in Nigeria to 12 Years A Slave in Louisiana. Daily Telegraph Arts Editor Sarah Crompton makes her wish-list for the new Culture Secretary, Sajid Javid. The musician Ben Watt, half of Everything But The Girl, discusses waiting 31 years to release his second solo album, falling out of love with song-writing and the events that drew him back in. And the thriving writing scene in South Korea that is taking centre stage at the London Book Fair. Producer Elaine Lester.

Kirsty Lang talks to the enfant terrible of the fashion world, designer John Paul Gaultier, as a retrospective of his work opens at the Barbican Centre in London. Gaultier discusses where the inspiration for his iconic striped t-shirts and the conical bras worn by Madonna came from and explains why he has always been inspired by London style. As Michael Palin announces his first one man show, he talks to Kirsty about going on tour at 71, trying to make audiences laugh and taking the his first lead role in a TV drama for more than 20 years. Christy Moore, the Irish folk singer, looks back over his five-decade musical career and his 25 solo albums as he prepares to perform a series of concerts in the UK. Welsh director Gareth Evans had a surprise hit with 2012's The Raid, an Indonesian martial arts film which took place in a run-down fifteen story apartment block. He's now followed it up with The Raid 2, catching up with the hero Rama, battling the enemies he made in the first instalment. Briony Hanson reviews. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Kirsty Lang talks to Emmy Award-winning actor Brendan Gleeson about his role in new film Calvary; as it opens at London's Apollo theatre, writers Jack Thorne and John Ajvide Lindqvist discuss adapting vampire tale Let the Right One In for the stage; Mary Beard reveals the six shortlisted authors for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction and Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, Desmond Shawe-Taylor, discusses the new exhibition The First Georgians: Art & Monarchy 1714-1760, at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace. Producer: Ellie Bury.

Kirsty Lang talks to Rory Bremner about satire, snobbery and starring in Noel Coward's play Relative Values; bestselling children's author, and creator of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson takes Kirsty on a tour of an exhibition which recreates her childhood bedroom - and features extracts of her teenage diaries that reveal an early desire to write more realistic books than those of Enid Blyton. Produced by Nicola Holloway Photo: Rory Bremner and Patricia Hodge in Relative Values, Harold Pinter Theatre Image Credit: Catherine Ashmore.

On Front Row tonight, Richard Ayoade talks to John Wilson about the practicalities of making The Double, a film about a doppelganger - and about why, when directing, he never uses technical jargon. Also in the programme: reviews of the stage musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and The Crimson Field - a new TV series about nurses in World War 1; and we look back at forty years of the Sunday Times Bestseller list.

On Front Row tonight Kirsty Lang talks to Kate Winslet about her new film Divergent - aimed at young adults she plays an arch villain in a dystopian future and she explains why making the film made her feel old; and Kirsty meets German author Timur Vermes who's written a best-selling satire depicting Hitler as a present day celebrity after awakening from a 66-year sleep in 2011. There's a review of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's new tv series The Trip to Italy and we go backstage at rehearsals for Matthew Bourne's new dance production of Lord of the Flies in Salford. Plus - as a rail design exhibition opens at the National Railway Museum in York and RIBA shortlists entrants in their aesthetic overhead line structures competition, we consider the design of rail-gantries past and present. Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

With John Wilson Writer Chris Chibnall talks to John about his new play at the Salisbury Playhouse, Worst Ever Wedding, a comedy about a mother organising her daughter's wedding. Chris is best known for Broadchurch, the gripping TV series about a murder in a close community in Dorset. Chris discusses the step from writing heightened suspense to farcical comedy, and why featuring Dorset in his work is so important to him. Author Kamila Shamsie reviews Shan Khan's directorial debut Honour, an urban thriller set in west London, starring Paddy Considine and Aiysha Hart. Mona is a young British Muslim girl on the run from her family after they find out about her relationship with a Punjabi boyfriend. In a bid to save their family honour, her mother and older brother hire a bounty hunter to help track Mona down. Russian violinist Viktoria Mullova is widely recognised in classical music as one of the world's leading virtuosos and has recorded her first album of an eclectic range of Brazilian music - Stradivarius in Rio. She discusses her dramatic defection to the West in 1983, plus learning to improvise the music she played for her new album which was recorded in just two days, and with no rehearsals. John visits Pangaea. Not the prehistoric supercontinent but the exhibition which hopes to reunite two of the continents which formed that landmass - Africa and South America - through contemporary art. Produced by Ella-mai Robey.

With John Wilson Director Darren Aronofsky's latest film, Noah, is a contemporary take on the Hollywood biblical epic - starring Russell Crowe as the Old Testament patriarch who organises the construction of a vast ship, and Anthony Hopkins as his grandfather, Methuselah. However, Aronofsky's Noah is no saint, but a flawed husband and father. Briony Hanson, the British Council's Director of Film, reviews. Rachel Seiffert's latest novel, The Walk Home, looks at sectarian tensions in Glasgow through the eyes of Stevie, a young worker on a building site, and - a generation back - Lindsey, his Irish mother who left her family to run her own life and Stevie's uncle Eric, who ran away for love. Rachel herself is half-German, and talks to John about family tensions. Alex Beard discusses his first season launch in his role as Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House. Having spent six months in the role he discusses creative plans - which includes seven opera and ballet world premieres - and the challenges that lie ahead. The sculptor Phyllida Barlow shows John Wilson her latest work, dock 2014, which has been commissioned for the Tate Britain's Duveen Galleries. The artwork is made up of seven different sculptures and is inspired by the Tate's location by the river Thames. Phyllida Barlow discusses creating vast sculptures from everyday materials and directing a team of expert riggers to install her work. Produced by Ella-mai Robey.

With Kirsty Lang Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs, talks about the challenges of making their new album - Education, Education, Education and War - after the departure of their co-founding drummer, and also about his role as judge on BBC1's The Voice and the reservations he had about doing it initially. Muppets Most Wanted is the latest film featuring Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang, who this time fall prey to an evil mastermind who bears a striking resemblance to Kermit himself. Duped by tour manager Dominic Badguy - played by Ricky Gervais - the Muppets soon find themselves unwittingly taking part in a the crime of the century. Comedian Viv Groskop reviews. Sebastian Barry is one of Ireland's leading writers. He talks about his new novel The Temporary Gentleman, which continues his story of 20th century Ireland told through the McNulty family of Sligo. Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. Sebastian tells Kirsty about how Jack is based on his maternal grandfather, with whom he shared a bed as a child, listening to tales of his adventures in Africa, India and as a bomb disposal expert during the war. To mark Radio 4's Character Invasion tomorrow - when fictional characters will be taking over the network - Front Row asked five of Britain's leading actors to talk about their experience of playing an iconic character. Tonight actress Cush Jumbo discusses the challenges of playing Mark Antony in an all-female production of Julius Caesar set in a women's prison. Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

A number of former US soldiers have recently published books which focus on their time serving with US forces in the second Iraq War. Phil Klay's series of short stories - Redeployment - and Kevin Powers' debut collection of poems - Letter Composed During a Lull in Fighting - are just two books which cover the first-hand experience of war, and its physical, emotional and psychological effects. Phil Klay and Kevin Powers discuss war as inspiration for literature and their own experience of desert warfare. 20 Feet From Stardom won the Academy Award for Best Documentary at this year's Oscars. The film looks behind the stars of music to focus on their backing singers and the important contribution these singers have made to the history of pop, as well as the difficulties of breaking out into the spotlight. Jacqueline Springer reviews the film. Union is a play by Scottish playwright Tim Barrow which explores the 1707 Act of Union with England which linked the English and Scottish Parliaments. The play examines the context of bankruptcy and political turmoil which led the Scottish politicians to accept bribes in exchange for supporting the act. Tim Barrow discusses the pertinence of the subject to the forthcoming independence referendum and explains why he thinks Scottish children should be given better education on this period of history. To mark Radio 4's forthcoming Character Invasion Day - when fictional characters will be taking over the network - Front Row asked five of Britain's leading actors to talk about their experience of playing an iconic character. Jane Horrocks discusses playing the withdrawn LV with a talent for mimicking great singers in the award-winning play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, and the subsequent film.

With Kirsty Lang. Anne Hathaway is back in cinemas this week in Rio 2, an animated film about a rare blue macaw, set in Brazil. She reprises her role as the voice of Jewel, a free-spirited bird, who discovers that the family she thought had been killed are still alive and living in the Amazon jungle. Anne Hathaway discusses the challenges of playing an animated character and what she looks for when choosing a role. Believe is a new American fantasy and adventure TV drama series from Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) and Star Wars writer J.J. Abrams. A young girl with mysterious powers is placed under the protection of an escaped Death Row inmate, who must shield her from the mysterious forces out to hunt her down. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh gives her verdict. The African-American photographer Lorna Simpson discusses the work on show in her new retrospective at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead. Large-scale photographs printed on felt are on display alongside her video works, watercolours and drawings, which often deal with themes of identity, desire and race. To mark Radio 4's forthcoming Character Invasion - when fictional characters will be taking over the network - Front Row asked five of Britain's leading actors to talk about their experience of playing an iconic character. Tonight, David Threlfall describes his experience of playing Frank Gallagher for a decade in the Channel 4 drama series Shameless. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With John Wilson Andrew Dickson reviews Channel 4's new drama series New Worlds, set in the turbulent 1680's, a time of torture and show trials as the reign of Charles II goes from tolerance to tyranny. New Worlds stars Jamie Dornan and Freya Mavor. American photographer Nan Goldin talks to John about her latest collection of work which comprises of more than 300 photographs exploring the theme of childhood, why digital photography is not for her, and how the camera saved her life. To mark Radio 4's forthcoming Character Invasion Day - when fictional characters will be taking over the network - Front Row asked five of Britain's leading actors to talk about their experience of playing an iconic character. Sir Ian McKellen discusses taking on the role of Estragon in Waiting for Godot - a play voted the most significant English language play of the 20th century in a National Theatre poll of 800 playwrights, actors, directors and journalists. The Past is the new film from the Iranian writer and director of the Oscar-winning A Separation. In Asghar Farhadi's latest film, Bérénice Bejo (from The Artist) plays a French woman who embarks on a new relationship after her Iranian husband leaves her behind and returns to his homeland. But when she arranges for a divorce he returns to find unexpected tragic consequences. Shahidha Bari reviews. Producer : Dymphna Flynn Image: Ian McKellen in Waiting for Godot performed in rep with No Man's Land by Harold Pinter, directed by Sean Mathias at Broadway's Cort Theatre, New York Photo Credit: Joan Marcus 2013.

With John Wilson Tom Hollander on playing The Reverend Adam Smallbone as television sitcom Rev returns to our screens for a third series. Emma Donoghue talks about 'Frog Music', her first novel since 'Room', and in a stark departure, her new book is set in 1876 in San Francisco, in the middle of a stifling heat wave and smallpox epidemic. Based on real events, the story opens with the murder of the eccentric Jenny Bonet, frog catcher and wearer of "mens' clothes" at a time when such a thing was illegal. Emma Donoghue tells John Wilson how the idea she first had 15 years ago, has finally come to fruition, and how she came to draw the conclusion that detectives at the time didn't. The latest addition to the Marvel Comics film franchise is Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which sees Scarlett Johansson and Robert Redford take their part in the superhero battle between good and evil. Novelist Naomi Alderman reviews. To mark Radio 4's forthcoming Character Invasion - when fictional characters will be taking over the network - Front Row asked five of Britain's leading actors to talk about their experience of playing an iconic character. To start us off, Dame Harriet Walter describes her experience of playing Lady Macbeth in a celebrated production of the play by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1999. Produced by Ella-mai Robey.

Kirsty Lang talks to Kristin Davis, best known for playing Charlotte in Sex and the City, as she makes her West End debut in Fatal Attraction, directed by Trevor Nunn. The latest Nordic Noir to arrive on British TV screens is Mammon, a Norwegian thriller about a newspaper journalist. Crime writer Dreda Say Mitchell reviews. Documentary maker Errol Morris (The Fog of War) on his latest film The Unknown Known, which profiles former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld from his early days as a congressman to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. In August Kate Bush will play her first live concerts in 35 years. She recently talked to John Wilson about her fears of performing live.

With John Wilson. Five of the world's greatest ballet stars are together on stage this week in Kings Of The Dance at The London Coliseum. John talks to principal dancers Roberto Bolle and Marcelo Gomes. John Banville, the Man Booker Prize winning author of The Sea, also writes crime fiction under the pen name Benjamin Black. Now Banville, writing as Black, has taken on the legacy of Raymond Chandler and penned a hardboiled detective novel. John Banville discusses Chandler's iconic private eye, Phillip Marlowe, and the re-creation of Chandler's literary style. The life of French designer Yves Saint Laurent is the subject of two films this year. The first biopic looks at his taking over Christian Dior's fashion house at the age of 21, and finding creative success whilst battling with personal demons. Linda Grant, Orange Prize winner and author of The Thoughtful Dresses, reviews. Director Nicholas Hytner discusses his plans for the National Theatre in the year ahead. It's the last year Hytner will be responsible for the theatre, before Rufus Norris takes over the role. The season is dominated by new works from David Hare, Polly Stenham and Tom Stoppard. Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Kylie Minogue has achieved record sales of around 70 million, and received multiple awards including a Grammy. She discusses 26 years in the music industry, her new album Kiss Me Once - which features collaborations with artists including Pharrell Williams, and the possibility of Kylie The Musical. William Kent was an 18th century polymath, an architect, designer, sculptor, artist and landscape gardener. In the years after the act of union with Scotland (1707) and the accession of the Hanoverian Royal Family (1714) Britain redefined itself as a new nation - and Kent played a dominant role in the aesthetic of the Georgian era. A new exhibition at the V&A examines Kent's life and works, demonstrating his transformative effect on the nation's taste - from Whitehall (he designed Horse Guards and the Treasury), to grand country estates, fashion and furniture. Amanda Vickery reviews. "Starred up" is the process by which difficult young offenders are moved early to adult prisons. Writer and former prison counsellor Jonathan Asser, and actor Jack O'Connell, talk to John about the film, Starred Up - which Jonathan has written and which stars Jack as Eric, a troubled young prisoner who finds himself moved into the same prison as his own father. When the old Parliament building burned down in 1834, JMW Turner was one of those who went to watch. He produced two oil paintings and a series of watercolour sketches - or so everyone thought. However, new research has revealed that the watercolour sketches are actually of a fire at the Tower Of London, instead. John visits Tate Britain, where David Brown, Turner Curator, explains how this news will change things. Producer: Claire Bartleet.

With Kirsty Lang. A new exhibition at the National Gallery Veronese: Magnificence in Renaissance Venice brings together masterpieces by Veronese from around the world, some of which have not been united since they were painted in Veronese's studio in the 16th century. Sarah Dunant reviews. Following the success of Twenty Twelve, the comedy series which revolved around preparations for the London Olympics, writer John Morton now turns his attention to the BBC. In W1A, Hugh Bonneville's Ian Fletcher has been head-hunted for the role of the BBC's Head Of Values. John talks to Kirsty about the series, and about the art of accurately catching the tone of the worlds he portrays. Labor Day stars Kate Winslet as the mother of a young boy who falls for an escaped convict, played by Josh Brolin, over the course of a Labor Day weekend. The film was adapted for the screen by the writer/director Jason Reitman from a novel by Joyce Maynard. Kate Muir reviews. Violinist and conductor Sigiswald Kuijken gives Kirsty a studio demonstration of an "extinct" instrument: the violoncello da spalla or "shoulder cello". It went out of fashion in the middle of the 18th century, and Sigiswald explains his theory that many of Bach's works, including the Brandenburg concertos and cello suites, may have been originally written not for the cello, but for the violoncello da spalla. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

I Can't Sing is a new musical based on the ITV talent show, The X -Factor, starring Nigel Harman as the Simon Cowell character. Comedian Harry Hill, who wrote the musical, and its director Sean Foley discuss bringing the talent show format from the TV screen to the stage. George Michael has released his sixth studio album Symphonica, recorded during his 2011-12 tour. The last work of legendary producer Phil Ramone, it features orchestral versions of songs by George Michael, Sting, Rufus Wainwright and Nina Simone. Nick Hornby's novel A Long Way Down has been made into a film starring Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul, Toni Collette, Pierce Brosnan and Imogen Poots. Set on New Year's Eve, the story focuses on four people brought together as they face a difficult crossroad in their lives. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews. Plus Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy on composing a piece for the Royal Festival Hall's newly renovated organ. Called To Our Fathers in Distress, the work is inspired by Hannoh's childhood as the son of a Church of Ireland Bishop. Produced by Claire Bartleet.

With John Wilson. David Hare's 2011 TV film Page Eight starred Bill Nighy as idealistic MI5 officer Johnny Worricker. Now Hare has written and directed two follow up films, Turks and Caicos and Salting the Battlefield, beginning where the last film left off with Johnny on the run from the British government after stealing an incriminating document. Ralph Fiennes, Winona Ryder and Helena Bonham Carter co-star. Folk musician Sixto Rodriguez released a couple of albums in the 1970s and then drifted into obscurity. Unbeknownst to him his music, and especially his song Sugarman, went on to become iconic in South Africa as anthems for the anti-apartheid struggle. The award-winning 2012 documentary Searching for Sugarman, which traced his revelatory trip to South Africa to meet his legion of fans, brought his music to global attention. Now 72 and touring the UK, Rodriguez discusses the impact of the rediscovery on his life since. Stage Kiss is Sarah Ruhl's play examining the onstage and offstage ramifications of locking lips night after night in front of an audience. She discusses why the subject fascinated her, with contributions from Guildhall's Director of Drama Christian Burgess and actor Jimmy Akingbola. After a week in which Amnesty International levied criticism at the Globe theatre for its decision to take a production to Hamlet to North Korea, John speaks to the theatre's Artistic Director, Dominic Dromgoole. They discuss the world tour of the play, whether cultural organisations have a moral responsibility as well as an artistic one, and whether the North Korean government have asked for any part of the play to be edited or censored.

With John Wilson Terry Gilliam discusses his new film The Zero Theorem set in a dystopian future where a computer hacker tries to find the meaning of life, and reflects on the Monty Python reunion. Artist Michael Craig-Martin joins John at the grounds of Chatsworth House to discuss his latest exhibition. From contemporary sculpture based on a series of line drawings by the artist and made from vibrantly coloured steel, to a curated series of head portraits from the estate's collection of old master drawings. Siri Hustvedt's best-selling novels include What I Loved and The Summer Without Men. Her new book is The Blazing World, a feminist fable about an artist who assumes the identity of various young men in order to prove that her work is taken more seriously. Siri reflects on the recurring themes of creative process and gender dynamics within her work. Produced by Ella-mai Robey.

With Kirsty Lang Veronica Mars, the film spin-off of the noughties TV show, is the first major Hollywood film to be crowd-funded. Raising its entire budget through the Kickstarter platform, its success inspired other high profile stars including Spike Lee and Zach Braff to finance their passion projects through the site. Briony Hanson, Head of Film at the British Council, reviews the film and discusses the impact of Kickstarter on film financing. To discuss the impact of Kickstarter - which marked another milestone last week as total pledges to the site surpassed $1 billion - CEO and co-founder Yancey Strickler discusses the future for the platform, and whether controversial pitches by celebrities are really contrary to the site's original ethos. Vivienne Franzmann's first play, Mogadishu, explored the culture of a contemporary London secondary school. It drew on her background as a secondary school teacher and went on to win her the Bruntwood Prize - the UK's biggest national playwriting competition - in 2008. Franzmann is now a full-time playwright and as her third play, Pests, opens at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, she talks to Kirsty Lang about her writing life and being inspired by the women she came across as a resident prison playwright. As Ricky Gervais prepares for his UK tour as David Brent and his backing band Foregone Conclusion, David Quantick looks at the history of the fake band from Spinal Tap to The Rutles. Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

With Kirsty Lang. Scarlett Johansson plays an alien wandering around Glasgow looking for human prey in Under The Skin, which was filmed without some of the cast realising they were in a movie or that they were talking to a Hollywood star. Novelist Toby Litt delivers his verdict on Jonathan Glazer's adaptation of Michael Farber's science fiction novel. On the day research from the University of Sheffield shows half the country picks up a book at least once a week for pleasure, and 45% prefer television, Front Row looks at the fast changing world of publicising books. Publishers are producing their own book programmes and podcasts, authors are appearing in online trailers and are increasingly responsible for promoting their own work. Kirsty finds out about the latest developments from Cathy Rentzenbrink from the Bookseller, Sara Lloyd from Pan Macmillan and author Toby Litt. Karen Joy Fowler's novel The Jane Austen Book Club spent 13 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was a successful Hollywood film. She talks to Kirsty about her latest book We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. It's the story of an American family - with a twist. Karen explains how she drew upon her psychologist father's work with rats and chimpanzees when writing the novel, and how important it is to learn good 'chimp manners' when visiting a chimp colony. After a successful on-air pilot, Douglas Henshall returns as a detective and single dad in Shetland, an adaptation of Ann Cleeves' series of crime novels about nefarious activities on the remote Scottish islands. Producer: Ellie Bury.

With John Wilson. We announce the winner of the inaugural Folio Prize and speak to her/him live from the ceremony in London. The £40,000 prize celebrates the best English-language fiction from around the world, regardless of form, genre, or the author's country of origin. Cézanne and the Modern is a new exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum Oxford, featuring the collection of Henry and Rose Pearlman. They began collecting in 1945 with a work by Jacques Lipchitz and it now includes a matchless group of paintings and watercolours by Paul Cézanne, as well as paintings and sculptures by artists including Paul Gauguin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edouard Manet, Vincent van Gogh, and Edgar Degas. Curator John Whitely talks to John Wilson about the collection. John also talks to guitar hero Jeff Beck about a 50 year career that has seen him play with the likes of The Yardbirds, David Bowie, Eric Clapton and Morrissey. And as a new teen movie the GBF (Gay Best Friend) is about to open, writer Damian Barr looks at the appeal of the gay best friend in film. Producer Dymphna Flynn.

With Samira Ahmed Award winning writer Alexander McCall Smith talks about his latest novel The Forever Girl, which focuses on an expatriate community in the Cayman Islands. Smith talks about writing from a female perspective, Tartan Noir, and why - despite addressing serious issues - his work remains resolutely cheerful. The Walshes is a new comedy series about a tight-knit family in Dublin - really tight-knit: the Walshes are tripping over each other as the two kids out-grow the family home. The series is co-written by Graham Linehan with the five-strong comedy troupe, Diet Of Worms, who also play the main roles. Boyd Hilton, TV editor of Heat magazine, reviews. Set in Laos and written and directed by Australian Kim Mordaunt, The Rocket has won acclaim at film festivals. The central character is Ahlo, a young boy whose family believes he brings bad luck. After his family is displaced from their village to make way for a huge dam, Ahlo decides to prove his worth by building a rocket. Ryan Gilbey reviews. The creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have brought out a computer game. South Park: The Stick Of Truth is an epic quest...to become cool. Armed with weapons of legend, gamers defeat underpant gnomes, hippies and other forms of evil - and earn a place at the side of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. Computer-game author Naomi Alderman reviews. Playwright Stella Feehily talks about bringing her play about the NHS to the stage. Based in part on Feehily's experiences after her husband, director Max Stafford-Clark, had a stroke, This May Hurt A Bit stars Stephanie Cole (Coronation Street, Waiting For God) as an NHS supporter who becomes ill and finds that all is not necessarily well with the NHS. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With John Wilson. The poets laureate of the UK, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland will share a stage for the first time this Friday. All the poets laureate are women - and this has never happened before in the history of the laureateships. Carol Ann Duffy, Gillian Clarke and Liz Lochhead discuss their roles as national poets and talk about reflecting a nation in verse. Reece Shearsmith (Psychoville, The League Of Gentlemen) swaps surreal dark comedy for factual drama in The Widower. Based on the crimes of convicted murderer, Malcolm Webster, the three part series charts the events that led to a charming male nurse systematically attempting to murder more than one wife. Chris Dunkley reviews. Elizabeth McGovern discusses performing with her band, Sadie And The Hotheads. Best-known for playing Cora, the Countess of Grantham, on Downton Abbey, McGovern currently switches between filming Downton Abbey in the day, and performing on stage with The Hotheads at night. She talks about song-writing and how everyday experiences have inspired her songs. Director Jamie Lloyd talks to John on the set of his latest musical. With The Commitments already in London's West End, Jamie discusses taking on the oddly titled and unexpected Broadway hit, Urinetown. He also talks about his fast-paced and sometimes bloody style, working with Harold Pinter, and plans to bring the film Back To The Future to the stage. Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Guy Garvey, Elbow's lead singer and guitarist, talks about the band's sixth studio album, The Take Off and Landing of Everything. Written during a period of change for the band, the lyrics cover the break-up of a long term relationship. Guy Garvey discusses how recent events inspired the band's song writing. 300: Rise Of An Empire is the sequel to 2007's 300, and - like the original - inspired by the work of graphic novelist Frank Miller, and with the same stylised, blood-spattered storyline. The sequel focusses on Themistokles, the Athenian general who - during the same three days as Thermopylae - led the Greek navy against the Persian navy, commanded by a brutal woman named Artemisia. Natalie Haynes reviews. The broadcaster Sir David Frost is to have a memorial stone in Westminster Abbey. The Dean of the Abbey gives John a tour of the site and David Frost's new neighbours, and explains how decisions about these memorials are reached. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With John Wilson, An enormous Viking longboat - the biggest ever discovered - is the central piece in the British Museum's new exhibition about the Viking era. Taking pride of place in the museum's newly-constructed Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery, the longboat is surrounded by other artefacts of warfare, as well as many treasures that the Vikings created - or looted. A year ago, British Museum director Neil MacGregor took John round the work-in-progress when the gallery was still a building-site; now he explains how the new space will aid future displays, and curator Gareth Williams gives John a tour of the ferocious Viking weaponry and stunning jewellery. As part of a BBC series marking the centenary of World War One, Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars) and Tim Pigott-Smith (Spooks) star in political thriller 37 Days. Set in Whitehall and Berlin during 1914, the factual drama chronicles the count down to the start of the First World War. Sarah Crompton reviews. John Carter Cash talks about his father and his legacy as never-heard-before recordings, made in the 1980s during Cash's last days with his long-time label Columbia Records, are being released. A lost novella by Jack Kerouac has been published for the first time, more than seventy years after the author left it in a university dorm room in New York. The Haunted Life is a coming of age story and, like much of Kerouac's later work, is autobiographical. Michael Carlson discusses whether Kerouac's early writing tells us anything new about his later works, On the Road and Big Sur. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With Samira Ahmed. The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest film from Wes Anderson, the director of Moonrise Kingdom and The Royal Tenenbaums. It follows the adventures of a flamboyant hotel concierge Gustave H, played by Ralph Fiennes, and his trainee Lobby Boy, Zero, played by Tony Revolori. Larushka Ivan-Zedeh reviews. The French film director Alain Resnais has died at the age of 91. His last film, The Life of Riley, was based on a play by Alan Ayckbourn and will be released this month. Alan Ayckbourn discusses his relationship with Resnais, who adapted three of his plays for the screen. A new exhibition at Tate Britain explores the lure of ruins for artists ranging from John Constable to Rachel Whiteread. Ruin Lust includes paintings of picturesque ruins from the 18th Century and 20th century photographs of inner city decay. Author Iain Sinclair discusses why so many artists have found ruins compelling. French author Marie Darrieussecq's latest novel, All The Way, charts the sexual awakening of Solange, a young French girl who's obsessed with sex and with losing her virginity. Marie Darrieussecq became a French literary sensation with her first novel, Pig Tales, about a woman turning into a pig. She discusses writing about adolescence, desire and the feminine experience.

Presented by John Wilson Since Damon Albarn's introduction to the public as the lead singer of Blur, he's become famous for his collaborations with a wide range of partners including artist Jamie Hewlett, the next Artistic Director of the National Theatre Rufus Norris, and Soul legend Bobby Womack. As he prepares to play songs from his forthcoming debut solo album, for a special 6Music festival gig, Damon talks to John about going it alone. Maxine Peake is one of the subjects in a new exhibition at the Lowry dedicated to portrait painter Jonathon Yeo. Maxine and Jonathan describe the experience of creating a portrait from their different perspectives. And when she's not being captured in oils, Maxine is the star of the BBC legal drama Silk where she plays the role of barrister Martha Costello QC. The new series of Silk starts this week and Maxine discusses how Martha's character has developed. Suranne Jones plays one half of television police duo Scott and Bailey. The series, described as the "Cagney and Lacey of Manchester", arose out of Suranne's desire to find better parts for women. She's now playing one of Virginia Woolf's most distinctive creations, Orlando, in a new production at the Royal Exchange Theatre. Suranne discusses with John what this play, about a character who lives as a man and a woman, can contribute to our contemporary view of the gender divide. The musician Kiran Leonard will be performing on the main stage of the 6Music festival on Saturday 1 March. He released his debut album last year at the age of 17 and he's a multi-instrumentalist who lists Mothers of Invention, Sufjan Stevens, Albert Ayler, Krzysztof Penderecki, and the Beach Boys, as just a handful of his influences. He'll be playing live on Front Row. Producer: Ekene Akalawu.

With Will Gompertz. Marc Almond and John Harle discuss their new collaboration, The Tyburn Tree, a collection of songs about Gothic London, whose subjects include the Highgate Vampire, Jack The Ripper and the Elizabethan mystic John Dee. 50 years ago the Liverpool Everyman theatre opened its doors to the public for the first time. 40 years ago, Willy Russell provided the theatre with his first big hit play and their first London transfer - John, Paul, George, Ringo... and Bert. As the Everyman re-opens after an extensive three-year building project, Willy Russell discusses the theatre's past. Gemma Bodinetz, Artistic Director of the Everyman and Playhouse theatres, and theatre writer Lyn Gardner discuss what the role of the theatre building should be in the 21st century. Gary Shteyngart, the Russian-born American author, whose books include The Russian Debutante's Handbook and Super Sad True Love Story, has recently released his memoir, Little Failure. Named after the nickname bestowed upon him by his mother, the book documents Gary's childhood in the Soviet Union, his move to America at the age of seven, and his life thereafter as a Russian Jewish immigrant and wannabe writer. Glastonbury was named Best Festival at last night's NME Awards and this morning Dolly Parton announced that she has been booked for this year. Emily Eavis explains how they choose their megastar line-ups and what she intends to do with the festival as she takes a more prominent role in its planning. Producer: Ellie Bury.

With John Wilson. Peter Gabriel's film Back to Front documents the experience of performing his most commercially successful album, 1986's So, with the band he originally toured with. He tells John why despite being a famously forward looking artist, he wanted to revisit the album once more. The National Portrait Gallery's exhibition The Great War in Portraits explores how artistic representations of the conflict and its participants changed as the fighting progressed. Beginning with magisterial portraits of leaders and generals and finishing with the anguished German expressionism of the Die Brücke group, the show depicts the vastly divergent experiences bound up in 'the war to end all wars'. Rachel Cooke reviews. One of the world's most celebrated flamenco guitarists, Paco de Lucia, has died in Mexico, at the age of 66. In 2004, he was awarded Spain's prestigious Asturias Prize for Art as the "most universal of flamenco artists". We speak to his friend and fellow flamenco guitarist Paco Pena about his legacy and why he will be remembered as a revolutionary and a genius. Helen Oyeyemi was listed as one of Granta's Best Young Novelists 2013. She wrote her first novel The Icarus Girl whilst studying for her A-levels - and secured a book deal on the same day as she received her results. Still only 29, she is about to publish her fifth title Boy, Snow, Bird. She talks to John about confronting issues of race in the novel, her love of fairy tale and myth and how Hitchcock inspired her lead character. Mark Thomas discusses the legacy of controversial comedian Bill Hicks, who died 20 years ago today. Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

With John Wilson. Critic Matt Wolf discusses the reasons that new musicals from both Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice will be closing early, on the same day. Comedian Stewart Lee returns to our screens this weekend with series 3 of the Bafta-winning Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle. This time satirist Chris Morris is taking Armando Ianucci's role as counsellor/interrogator, intercut with the cynical, meta stand-up that Lee is known for. He discusses the differences between the Stewart Lee we see onscreen and his real personality. Alan Davies returns to our screens in the first new series of Jonathan Creek for five years, the offbeat crime drama written by One Foot in the Grave's David Renwick. Davies reprises his central role as an inventor of magic tricks who also has a talent for solving mysteries. Critic Naomi Alderman gives her response to the show's return. Playwright Peter Gill discusses his World War I drama Versailles, about the treaty that would define the future of Europe, the Middle East and the rest of the world.

With John Wilson. Based on the bestselling novel by Markus Zusak, the film of The Book Thief - starring Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson - tells the story of a spirited young girl Liesel in World War II Germany. Liesel finds solace from the war by stealing books and sharing them with others. Novelist Meg Rosoff reviews. Professor Joseph Rykwert is one of the few critics to win the prestigious Royal Gold Medal for architecture for a body of work that includes the ground-breaking book The Idea Of a Town. Written in 1963, it warned of the problems of traffic congestion in cities and the rise of the high-rise building. He tells John if anything has improved over the last 50 years. The comedian and actress Isy Suttie, from the TV series Peep Show, discusses her new stage role in a 'musical fable' The A-Z of Mrs P, about Phyllis Pearsall, the woman who set out to map an entire city in 1936, resulting in the classic A-Z map of London. Two books of monologues for black actors have been published to provide young performers with a diverse range of speeches to use at auditions. The monologues are taken from the Black Play Archive and have been compiled by theatre producer Simeilia Hodge-Dallaway. She and actor Jimmy Akingbola explain why these books are needed and discuss whether there is a glass ceiling for black British actors. Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

With Tom Sutcliffe Actresses Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells have created a sitcom, Doll & Em, about a Hollywood star who hires her best friend as her personal assistant. They talk to Mark Lawson about playing exaggerated versions of themselves and how their own close friendship inspired the series. The 1942 battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest in the history of warfare. Stalingrad 3D is the first Russian film made completely with 3D IMAX technology and is Russia's highest grossing film to date. Film historian Ian Christie reviews. Award winning writer David Grossman talks about Falling Out of Time. Combining drama, prose and poetry, the book tells the story of bereaved parents setting out to reach their lost children. David Grossman, whose own son died in 2006, discusses the art of writing about loss and grief. Producer: Timothy Prosser.

Nymphomaniac is the latest film from acclaimed Danish director Lars Von Trier. It stars Charlotte Gainsbourg as Joe, a woman who describes herself as "nymphomaniac", telling her story to a man who has found her in the street after a beating. In the flashbacks to her past, the young Joe is played by Stacey Martin alongside a cast that includes Shia LaBeouf and Christian Slater. Antonia Quirke reviews. Joanne M. Harris, bestselling author of Chocolat, has written her first epic fantasy novel for adults, The Gospel of Loki. Based on ancient mythology, the book follows the rise and fall of the Norse gods from the perspective of the trickster Loki, popularised in Marvel's Thor comics which have recently been adapted into blockbuster films. Robert Cohan is widely described as the founding father of Britain's contemporary dance movement. His career, spanning over 6 decades, has included dancing with Ginger Rogers and the legendary Martha Graham. Cohan, who was born in America, discusses how he came to revolutionise British dance whilst rehearsing a reimagining of his only female solo Canciones Del Alma. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson star in True Detective, a new HBO detective series. The show follows two contrasting detectives as they investigate a ritual killing in Louisiana. Producer: Claire Bartleet.

With John Wilson Andrew Sachs' new autobiography describes his journey from arriving in Britain as a young Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany to playing Manuel in Fawlty Towers. He discusses the physical hazards of being Manuel and his reaction to the infamous prank phone-calls from Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand. Tonight musician Martin Carthy is receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Radio 2 Folk Awards. Carthy discusses his love of playing live, starting out in the early 60s, getting over his annoyance about Paul Simon's success with Scarborough Fair, and making his first album with daughter Eliza. John visits The Courtauld Gallery in London to discover the story behind one of the most beautiful and enigmatic objects in their collection; a seven hundred year old bag made in Northern Iraq. And with the film awards season in full swing, Stephen Armstrong looks at the art of the awards speech, from the inspiring, to the cringe-worthy and the downright bizarre. Producer: Gabriella Meade.

With John Wilson. Prime Suspect creator Lynda La Plante reveals her plans for a prequel focusing on the early life of DCI Tennison. Who will play the iconic detective? The makers of Spooks have teamed up with writer Lucy Kirkwood (Skins, Chimerica) to create a new Sky1 drama about firemen, starring Jamie Bamber and Jodie Whittaker. Sarah Crompton reviews. Andrew Graham Dixon reviews Strange Beauty, a new exhibition of German Renaissance painting at the National Gallery, which includes work by Hans Holbein and Albrecht Dürer. And musician Jon Hopkins on his Mercury nominated album Immunity, in which he uses real sounds such as exploding fireworks and creaking doors, on his relationship with Brian Eno, and on improvising for Coldplay.

With John Wilson. The legendary film-making duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were commemorated today with the unveiling of an English Heritage blue plaque. The plaque was unveiled by Thelma Schoonmaker, film-editor and Powell's widow, and by film-director Martin Scorsese. Both talk to John about their love of Powell and Pressburger's work. The Welsh director Kieran Evans has won the BAFTA for an Outstanding Debut for his feature film Kelly + Victor. Evans, who started his career as a music video director, discusses what winning the BAFTA means to him. John talks to the actress Lesley Sharp (Scott and Bailey, Clocking Off) about A Taste of Honey, the taboo-breaking play which was written by Shelagh Delaney in 1958 when she was only 18. Set in working class Salford in the 1950s, it's about social prejudice and the volatile relationship between a mother and her teenage daughter. Only Lovers Left Alive, the latest release from independent director Jim Jarmusch, is a vampire romance drama nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton star as the music-loving, undead couple Adam and Eve, who have been married for centuries. Briony Hansen reviews. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Kirsty Lang As the US political drama House of Cards returns for its second season, actor and producer Kevin Spacey discusses the success of streaming and looks ahead to his plans for his remaining 18 months as artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London. The Lego Movie was the big hit at the U.S. box office last weekend, taking almost three times as much as The Monuments Men, and winning rave reviews in the process. Critic Jane Graham considers whether it's really just a long advert for a toy company. Belfast novelist Glenn Patterson's new novel The Rest Just Follows focuses on three teenagers in the city who are growing up amidst the Troubles in the 1970s. Patterson discusses the setting for his book, and his nomination for this weekend's BAFTA awards for his screenplay for the film Good Vibrations. John Travolta jets into London this weekend to take part in an on-stage interview about his career, following the example of Al Pacino and Sylvester Stallone who also spent "An Evening With" a British audience. Writer Antonia Quirke considers the appeal of the film star Q&A. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With John Wilson. Architects Richard Rogers and Norman Foster discuss their 50-year friendship in a rare interview together, and reveal which of each the other's buildings is their favourite, as the exhibition The Brits Who Built the Modern World opens at RIBA's new Architecture Gallery. In 1982 Simon Parkes paid just £1 to buy the former Astoria cinema in Brixton, south London. He turned it into the Brixton Academy and, over the next 14 years, put on gigs by the likes of The Clash, Bob Dylan and U2. On the publication of his memoir Live At The Brixton Academy, Simon Parkes gives John Wilson a tour of the historic venue. The US artist George Condo began his artistic career as an assistant to Andy Warhol but he has become renowned for his grotesque figures and portraits which feature misshapen limbs, asymmetrical eyes and terrifyingly toothy mouths, controversially notable in a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. More recently he has become widely known for a collaboration with Kanye West. Condo discusses his career and two new exhibitions of his work. Producer: Ellie Bury.

With Kirsty Lang. Oh What a Lovely War, Joan Littlewood's controversial musical satire about the First World War, is being revived in its original home, the Theatre Royal Stratford East. The 1963 production, which Littlewood intended would mock 'the vulgarity of war', was loved by audiences, but detested by some who saw its message as unpatriotic. Critic and historian Kathryn Hughes reviews the production and considers whether the play has the same impact today. After the success of the 'Child 44' trilogy, author Tom Rob Smith has just published a somewhat different type of crime novel. 'The Farm' is a psychological thriller, set in Sweden and England, which keeps the reader guessing throughout. He reveals how the main premise for the novel was inspired by a real life event very close to home. The first series of the television drama, Line Of Duty, found many fans for its study of police corruption. The writer, Jed Mercurio, has now written a second series with a new police officer, Detective Inspector Lindsay Denton played by Keeley Hawes, under investigation. The writer MJ Hyland reviews. How best to translate a novel is a perennial question, but some authors whose works have been published in China have also found the stories themselves being censored. Kirsty hears from journalist Jonathan Fenby and from literary-translation rights specialist Jenny Robson - and US based crime-writer Qiu Xiaolong and Booker Prize winner AS Byatt relate their two very different experiences. Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

With John Wilson. George Clooney directs and stars in The Monuments Men, a drama set in the Second World War. Based on a true story, he plays a member of a group of curators and scholars attempting to rescue art works from the Nazis. The film co-stars Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett and John Goodman. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews for Front Row. Tennessee Williams spent much of his later life living in hotel rooms, inspiring his 'hotel plays' which open this week in performance at London's Langham Hotel. John meets the director, set designer and cast from Defibrillator theatre to talk about the logistics of staging three plays in three different rooms on three floors of the grand hotel. Grammy-winning singer songwriter Enrique Iglesias began his career as a Spanish language artist before crossing over to the English market with hits like Bailamos and the global number one single Hero. Now releasing his tenth album, he talks to John about keeping his record contract secret from his father Julio Iglesias, and why he sees concern over sexualised music videos as hypocritical. Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

With John Wilson. Armistead Maupin discusses The Days of Anna Madrigal, the ninth (and possibly final) instalment of his celebrated Tales of the City series of novels. Madrigal is reunited with the former tenants of 28 Barbary Lane, San Francisco, as they prepare to spend time at Burning Man, the avant-garde festival in Nevada. Transgender Anna is now 92, and determined 'to leave like a lady', and embarks on a road trip to the desert - to the brothel where she lived as a teenage boy. Her is the romantic tale of a man (played by Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with the voice of his computer's operating system (the voice provided by Scarlett Johansson). Complications ensue when his feelings are reciprocated. Novelist Toby Litt delivers his verdict on this latest idiosyncratic movie from Being John Malkovich director Spike Jonze. The inaugural shortlist of The Folio Prize was announced today. Chair of Judges, Lavinia Greenlaw, discusses the eight shortlisted books in the running for the £40,000 prize, which celebrates the best English-language fiction from around the world, regardless of form, genre, or the author's country of origin. Cellist Raphael Wallfisch discusses his new CD of Jewish music, including Schelomo by Bloch, which he has dedicated to his grandparents who died in the Holocaust, and to his mother Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who survived Auschwitz by playing the cello in the Auschwitz Women's Orchestra. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With John Wilson. Wilko Johnson and Roger Daltrey of The Who have teamed up for a new project. Since he was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year, Wilko has been collaborating with Daltrey on an album, Going Back Home. They talk about their shared musical interests and Roger explains why Wilko reminds him of a young Pete Townsend. John talks to first time actor and former limo driver Barkhad Abdi, whose extraordinary performance as a Somali pirate in the film Captain Phillips opposite Tom Hanks has earned him Oscar, Golden Globe and Bafta nominations. Salamander is the latest Euro-thriller to arrive on British TV - this time from Belgium, and in Flemish. Disguised as builders, a gang rob a top Belgian bank - but the burglars only target a small handful of the vaults, the ones belonging to the country's industrial, financial, judicial and political elite. These stolen safe-deposit boxes contain secrets that could bring down the nation. Crime writer Dreda Say Mitchell reviews. Hans Haacke and David Shrigley will be the next two artists to display their work on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth. Haacke's sculpture of a horse's skeleton will go up in 2015, followed by Shrigley's giant thumbs up in 2016. Both artists discuss developing an idea for one of London's busiest civic spaces and explain why humour is important in public art. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Kirsty Lang. Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, writers of the comedy series Peep Show and Fresh Meat, discuss their new TV drama, Babylon, in which they've joined forces with Danny Boyle. It focuses on the people and politics of the Metropolitan Police - both in the command rooms and on the streets - as they struggle to keep law and order under the constant scrutiny of social media. The Mistress Contract, a book written by an anonymous couple, has been adapted for the stage by Abi Morgan. Morgan, who is best known for her screenplay for the Thatcher biopic, The Iron Lady, documents the couple's relationship over the decades after they agreed to sign a "mistress contract." Sarah Dunant reviews. English National Opera is the latest opera company to start screening their productions live into cinemas around the country and worldwide. ENO's Artistic Director, John Berry, and Kasper Holten, Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House, talk about the creative challenges of making an opera production that can simultaneously fill an opera house and a cinema screen. The Night Guest is the first novel by Australian writer Fiona McFarlane. Ruth, an elderly widow, lives in a secluded house on the coast of New South Wales when she receives an unexpected visit from a woman who says she has been sent by the government to help out. Fiona McFarlane discusses the themes of confusion and mental disintegration that lie at the heart of the book. Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang David Bailey is one of the best known British photographers. He is perhaps most celebrated for his distinctive 1960s portraits but he has also worked in fashion, music and documentary in a career that has spanned five decades. A new exhibition of his work at the National Portrait Gallery, Bailey's Stardust, explores Bailey's diverse work from photographs taken in the East End in the 1960s, a self-portrait with Salvador Dali, to a series taken in the Naga Hills in Southern India. Charlotte Mullins reviews. Hanif Kureishi, celebrated for both his novels and screenplays, speaks to Kirsty about his latest book The Last Word. It follows the relationship between an elderly writer and his young biographer, who is commissioned to tell the story of the former's life. Having just sold his own diaries and manuscripts to the British museum, Kureishi talks about the complexities of looking back on one's life, collaborating on his latest film Le Weekend, and whether this new novel will indeed be his own last word. Mark Eccleston reviews The Patrol, the first British feature film about the war in Afghanistan, written and directed by ex-Army officer Tom Petch. Actress and model Isabella Rossellini is best known for films such as Blue Velvet but she is now writing, staring and directing a series of award winning short films, about the sex lives of insects and marine animals. The success of these films has led to the "Green Porno" stage show. Rossellini discusses the show, becoming a student again and how her admiration for David Attenborough affected her work. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With Mark Lawson. The League of Gentlemen and Psychoville's Reece Shearsmith discusses his new TV series, co-written with Steve Pemberton. Inside No. 9 tells darkly comic stories from six separate settings, with guests including Gemma Arterton. The Dulwich Picture Gallery is holding an exhibition of David Hockney's printmaking, which will coincide with the 60th anniversary of Hockney's first print. The exhibition includes more than 100 works dating from etchings made when Hockney was an art student to more recent graphic works created using a computer. Richard Cork reviews. Harvard business professor, Anita Elberse, joins Mark to discuss her book, Blockbusters, an economic scrutiny of the entertainment business. She explains why there are no batting averages in the entertainment industry, the business link between Spiderman and Lady Gaga, and what she means by The Blockbuster Trap. The number of incidents relating to graffiti fell by 63 per cent between 2007 and 2012 according to a report from the British Transport Police. Kid Acne, a former Graffiti artist who now works in design and print making, discusses why CCTV, the threat of a custodial sentence and the fact that aspiring artists can find a bigger audience for their work online may have led to less graffiti on British streets. Producer: Gabriella Meade.

Mark Lawson talks to Dame Angela Lansbury, who returns to the West End stage after 40 years to play Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit. She discusses her mother, an actress, her wish to return to Murder She Wrote, and her ambivalence about Hollywood. Philip Seymour Hoffman's death was announced yesterday. Anton Corbijn - who directed him recently in A Most Wanted Man - pays tribute to the actor, whose films include The Master, Doubt, Happiness and Capote, for which he won an Oscar. Mark talks to the Turner Prize-winning artist Richard Deacon, whose exhibition of sculptures and drawings is about to open at Tate Britain. For more than four decades he has used materials ranging from laminated wood and polycarbonate to leather, cloth and ceramic.

Jonathan Lethem talks about his latest novel Dissident Gardens. It's an epic family novel criss-crossing generations from the '50s to the present day, focussing on Rose, an American Communist. Based on his own upbringing and radical grandmother, Lethem describes how even as a youngster he guessed he'd never be able to stand for President, as there surely would have been a 'problem with my files'. This weekend the final two episodes of The Bridge are screened on BBC4. The series, which has spawned many international remakes, follows a Swedish and a Danish detective working on a case together, and explores the cultural differences that inform their relationship. Sofia Helin and Kim Bodnia, aka detectives Saga Norén and Martin Rohde, discuss the surprise popularity of the show and the challenges of acting with someone who is speaking a different language. This week a crisps manufacturing company admitted they had used a photograph of the late Welsh poet R.S. Thomas to advertise a competition on their packets, without knowing who he was. Thomas's biographer Byron Rogers reflects on the strange case of the poet and the crisp packet. Many of this year's Oscar contenders claim to be 'based on a true story', among them 12 Years a Slave, Philomena, Saving Mr Banks, Captain Phillips and The Wolf of Wall St. Adam Smith has been digging around and begs to take issue with the veracity the film-makers claim. Producer Stephen Hughes.

With Mark Lawson. Ralph Fiennes discusses his latest film The Invisible Woman, about the relationship between Charles Dickens and his mistress, which Fiennes stars in and directs. In his latest novel, the American author E L Doctorow takes us on a journey into the mind of a man who, more than once in his life, has been the cause of disaster, albeit inadvertently. In Andrew's Brain he thinks and talks about the various events of his life that have lead him to this point in time. E L Doctorow describes how he came up with this particular character, and the novel-writing process. This week sees the return of Channel 4's topical comedy series The Last Leg. The show became a hit when it was first broadcast during the 2012 Paralympics and this new series will provide an offbeat take on the forthcoming Sochi Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Presenters Adam Hills and Josh Widdicombe discuss the surprise popularity of the format and the appetite for representations of disability on television. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson. Matthew McConaughey is Oscar nominated for his starring role in Dallas Buyers Club. He lost 47 lbs to play Ron Woodroof, a Texas electrician who became an unlikely AIDS activist after being diagnosed with HIV in the mid-1980s. He discusses the physical endurance of the part and his recent career renaissance. Nathan Filer, a registered mental health nurse, has won the Costa Book of the Year award with his debut novel The Shock of the Fall, a story about loss, guilt and mental illness. A surprise win, Filer beat the favourite Kate Atkinson with her novel Life after Life, and other award winning writers Lucy Hughes-Hallett for The Pike, an account of the life of Italian poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, and poet Michael Symmons Roberts for his collection Drysalter. Nathan Filer tells Mark about what the award will mean for his writing. In the week that Rory Kinnear won twice at the Critics Circle for best actor and most promising playwright, David Edgar muses on the long tradition of the actor/writer, from Shakespeare to Pinter. Grammy winning singer/songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter discusses her new album Songs from the Movie, a re-working of 10 of her songs, recorded with a full orchestra and 15 voice choir. She reveals what inspires her new songs and the emotional pain of revisiting old material. Producer: Ellie Bury.

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong is the subject of Oscar-winning documentary-maker Alex Gibney's latest film, The Armstrong Lie. In 2009 the film-maker, whose previous documentaries include Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, set out to make a film about Armstrong's comeback year after a four-year retirement from the sport, but found himself with a bigger story in the wake of his doping confession on Oprah. Michael Carlson reviews. Juliet Stevenson stars as Winnie in Samuel Beckett's play of resilience and self-reliance, Happy Days, at the Young Vic. Juliet tells Kirsty about her reservations in playing this major role, seen by some as the female Hamlet, and about the challenges of acting when submerged from the neck up. In American writer Willy Vlautin's new novel The Free, a young member of the National Guard is returned home after suffering serious brain injury as a result of a roadside bomb in Iraq. The Free charts his slow recovery and the struggles he faces in a country which seems not to care. Vlautin discusses his novel and the dispossessed who feature so much in his work and his songs. The poet Ahren Warner, who recently took up his position as poet-in-residence at London Zoo, joins Gillian Clarke - who had a similar role at the Museum of Zoology in Cambridge - to discuss the experience of writing from nature, and the inspiration it can bring. Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Arts news, interviews and reviews with Kirsty Lang.

With Kirsty Lang. Two versions of Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers have been reunited for the first time in more than sixty years. Sunflowers is one of The National Gallery's best-loved paintings and it will be shown alongside another version from the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Art critic Martin Bailey discusses what seeing the paintings side-by-side tells us about Van Gogh's methods, and why the paintings are so captivating. In the film, Grudge Match, Hollywood heavyweights Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone star as old boxing rivals who come out of retirement for one final match. Hal Cruttenden, comedian and recent winner of Celebrity Mastermind - with, as his specialist subject, The Rocky Films - reviews. Author and political cartoonist, Chris Riddell, discusses his gothic novel for eight year olds, Goth Girl: And The Ghost Of A Mouse, which has won the children's category for the Costa Book Awards. Chris Riddell talks about the overlap between the world of Westminster and children's books, and his love of puns and literary references - including the ghost of a mouse who says "call me Ishmael". Following the publication of Justin Bieber's surprisingly cheerful police mug-shot, Daily Mail columnist Viv Groskop joins Kirsty to assess the art of the celebrity mug-shot. Theatre director, Max Stafford-Clark, former Artistic Director of The Royal Court, talks about his new book, Journal Of The Plague Year. Described as a 'howl of rage' against the drastic funding cuts to his renowned theatre company, Out Of Joint, the book details Max's correspondence with the Arts Council, and he makes his case to Kirsty for public funding of the arts. Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson Sir Kenneth Branagh talks about his latest film: the return of Tom Clancy's iconic creation, Jack Ryan. In Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, the CIA analyst is up against a ruthless Russian oligarch, played by Branagh - who also directed the thriller. He discusses the parallels between directing multi-million dollar action films and stage-productions of Shakespeare, and the influence of Laurence Olivier. Costa poetry prize winner Michael Symmons Roberts discusses his latest collection, Drysalter. The book is his sixth collection of poetry, consisting of 150 poems, each one fifteen lines long. He explains why it was helpful to have formal constraints to hold the poems together, and the social uses of poetry. The main galleries of the Royal Academy have been transformed by its latest exhibition, Sensing Spaces, in which seven architectural practices from around the world have been commissioned to allow visitors to engage with structures, perspectives, sounds, textures - even scents. Mark visits the exhibition, together with author and critic Rachel Cooke. Producer: Gabriella Meade.

With Mark Lawson. Simon Russell Beale is playing King Lear at the National Theatre, in a new production directed by Sam Mendes. Last night one of the actors lost his voice, prompting Mendes to apologise and bring on the understudy. Simon Russell Beale discusses his approach to the challenging role and what happened behind the scenes last night. Costa biography prize-winner Lucy Hughes-Hallett talks about The Pike, her biography of the Italian poet and daredevil Gabriele D'Annunzio, which also won the 2013 Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction. Quentin Tarantino has announced that he is dropping his new film Hateful Eight, a follow-up to Django Unchained, after the script was leaked. Film critic Mark Eccleston discusses some of the more extreme examples of script security and why film-makers are so keen to keep their scripts secret. Producer: Timothy Prosser.

As Conor McPherson's multi-award-winning play The Weir opens in the West End, director Josie Rourke talks about reviving this modern Irish ghost story whilst preparing to screen her production of Coriolanus, starring Tom Hiddleston, in cinemas worldwide. Julie Hesmondhalgh has been making headlines as her Coronation Street character Hayley Cropper, suffering from terminal pancreatic cancer, leaves the soap by taking her own life. She discusses being involved in a storyline that has generated a national debate, and about her latest role in Blindsided, a new play by Simon Stephens. Nathan Filer, the winner of the Costa Book Award for the first novel category, discusses his debut The Shock of the Fall. Following a protagonist who suffers from mental health problems, the novel explores themes of guilt, grief and mental illness. Nathan Filer discusses his other career as a mental health nurse and his plans for a second novel. Classical violinist Vanessa Mae has qualified to compete with the Thai ski team in this year's Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. Violinist Tasmin Little explains why violinists and skis are an unusual combination.

With Mark Lawson. Conductor Simon Rattle remembers Claudio Abbado, the acclaimed Italian conductor and former musical director of La Scala, Milan, who has died aged 80. The Pulitzer prize-winning play, August: Osage County, a dark comedy looking at the lives of a group of women brought back to the Oklahoma house they grew up in, has been adapted for the screen. The all-star cast includes Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, both nominated for Academy Awards, alongside Ewan McGregor and Benedict Cumberbatch. Diane Roberts comments on whether the translation from stage to screen is successful. In the first of five interviews with the authors who have won their categories for this year's Costa Book Awards, Mark talks to Kate Atkinson. She discusses winning the best novel category for her book Life After Life, the unusual structure of the book - in which the protagonist dies and is re-born - and imagining alternative futures. BBC One's family comedy, Outnumbered, is returning for a fifth series. Hugh Dennis and Tyger Drew-Honey talk about their roles as father and son, the development of the show from improvised to scripted scenes, and watching the family drama with their own families. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With John Wilson. Joyce Carol Oates talks about her latest novel, Carthage, in which a teenage girl disappears having last been seen with her sister's ex-fiancé, an injured soldier recently back from Iraq. In a story told from various perspectives we watch what happens to a family destroyed by tragedy, and to a soldier who can't come to terms with what he's seen during combat. Writer William Burroughs, artist Andy Warhol and film-maker David Lynch are the subjects of a trio of exhibitions at The Photographers' Gallery in London. The shows set out to illustrate how their personal photographs influenced and informed the work for which they are better known. Art critic Charlotte Mullins gives her response. As a new interpretation of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers begins on BBC One, Stephen Armstrong considers the enduring appeal of the swashbuckling trio and how each generation has been reflected in new Musketeer adaptations. Visual effects expert Tim Webber has been Oscar-nominated for sending George Clooney and Sandra Bullock into space in the film Gravity. He reveals that - despite having designed virtual worlds for films including Avatar and Where The Wild Things Are - creating the illusion of zero gravity was the most challenging work of his career. Producer: Ellie Bury.

Mark Lawson talks to some of the nominees of this year's Oscars including Steve Coogan who has two nominations for best adapted screenplay and best picture for Philomena. David O. Russell's con-artist movie American Hustle received the most nominations, along with Gravity, 10 in all, including best actor, actress, and both supporting roles. Sally Hawkins, who got a best supporting actress nod for Blue Jasmine, is one of the Brits who also got a thumbs up from the Academy Awards.

With Mark Lawson. Julian Lloyd Webber and his wife Jiaxin Lloyd Webber are touring the UK with a concert featuring world premiere performances of duets for two cellos with piano. They tell Mark about their choice of music from composers such as Vivaldi to Arvo Pärt, Dvorák, Bach, Rachmaninov, Saint-Saëns - and Julian's plans to collaborate with his brother Andrew on the works of the Everley Brothers. Today sees the opening of a newly built Jacobean theatre next to Shakespeare's Globe. The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is an candlelit venue, seating 340 people with galleried seating as well as historically accurate pit seating area. The first performance is The Duchess of Malfi with Gemma Arterton, and Mark talks to the Globe's artistic director from inside the auditorium. Dan O'Brien's play The Body of an American, which opens in London next week, explores the moment photographer Paul Watson captured a Pulitzer Prize-winning image of murdered American soldier Staff Sgt. William Cleveland in Mogadishu in 1993. After the success last year of Chimerica, a play exploring the famous 'tank man' image from the 1989 protest in Tiananmen Square, we report on the power of photography to inspire other artforms. Produced by Dymphna Flynn.

With Mark Lawson. Australian writer Christos Tsiolkas, who came to worldwide recognition with his controversial novel The Slap, discusses his follow up, Barracuda, the story of a young man with the potential to become an Olympic swimming champion and his struggle with self-acceptance. Violinist Maxim Vengerov, who is performing a series of concerts at London's Barbican this year, discusses the challenges of the more demanding elements of the repertoire, how he responds to different audiences, and how he alters his playing technique to suit the acoustics of a venue. Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl With a Pearl Earring, reviews a new documentary film Tim's Vermeer, in which inventor Tim Jenison attempts to understand and recreate the painting techniques used by Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer. Two American cop shows begin on TV this week. Mob City, created by Oscar-nominated writer Frank Darabont, is a neo-noir drama looking at the LAPD in the 1940s. Brooklyn Nine-Nine won two Golden Globes at this weekend's ceremony and takes a comic look at the exploits of a contemporary Brooklyn police department. Crime fiction expert Jeff Park delivers his verdict on the two shows. Producer: Jerome Weatherald.

With John Wilson. The Coen brothers discuss their latest film, Inside Llewyn Davis, which follows a young folk musician, played by Oscar Isaac, as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961 trying to make it as a solo artist. Ethan and Joel Coen, whose directorial repertoire includes No Country for Old Men and The Big Lebowski, explain how far the characters in their latest work are inspired by the real musical figures of this folk period, and the casting challenges for a film which features full live performances by its actors, who include Carey Mulligan, John Goodman and Justin Timberlake. Leonardo DiCaprio won a Golden Globe this week for his performance as real-life rogue trader Jordan Belfort in The Wolf Of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorsese. Critic Catherine Bray delivers her verdict. The Pass is a topical new play about homosexuality and homophobia in football, centring on the complicated relationship between two Premier League players. John talks to its writer John Donnelly. The T S Eliot Prize for Poetry will be awarded this evening to the author of the best new collection of poetry published in the UK or Ireland. This year's shortlist includes 90-year-old Dannie Abse for his collection Speak, Old Parrot, 28-year-old Helen Mort for Division Street as well as Daljit Nagra for his re-telling of the Ramayana. John Wilson talks to the winner, live from the ceremony. Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

With Kirsty Lang. Colin Firth talks about his new film, The Railway Man, a true story in which he plays Eric Lomax, a British Army officer who is tormented as a prisoner in a Japanese labour camp during World War II. Decades later, Eric learns that the Japanese interpreter he holds responsible for much of his treatment is still alive, and sets out to confront him. Colin also considers the fine art of pretending to be patrician - and Paddington Bear as Mr Darcy. Hostages is a new US TV drama, hot on the heels of Homeland and - like it - based upon an Israeli TV series. Hostages stars Toni Collette as a top surgeon in Washington DC, who - together with her family - gets caught up in the middle of a grand political conspiracy. Sarah Crompton, arts editor of the Telegraph, reviews. Es Devlin is a stage designer whose work has ranged from west end theatre productions, to designing the London Olympics closing ceremony, and creating tour-sets for artists including Kanye West, Pet Shop Boys and Take That. Es takes Kirsty around her studio where she is preparing work for Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House, Harry Hill's new musical I Can't Sing and Miley Cyrus's upcoming tour. She discusses working in genres as diverse as opera, theatre and pop music, and why she feels stage directors should get more credit. Singer Sam Smith is tipped for success after winning BBC's Sound Of 2014; previous winners include Adele, Jessie J and Haim. Smith, who topped the charts in 2013 with his Naughty Boy collaboration, La La La, is also the winner of the BRIT Critics' Choice. He talks to Kirsty about his reaction to receiving both awards and his plans for the year ahead. Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. As part of Radio 4's MINT Season, John reports on the arts and culture of modern Istanbul. Turkey's most famous cultural figure, the Nobel Prize winning novelist Orhan Pamuk, has created a museum full of objects from his latest novel, the Museum of Innocence. He takes John round this museum and discusses the huge changes taking place in Istanbul. Magnificent Century, a television drama about Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, has become Turkey's most successful cultural export, with 200 million viewers in 45 countries. John meets Selin Arat from production company Tims at Topkapi Palace, the epicentre of the Ottoman Empire for over 300 years and the setting for the show. John talks to Azize Tan, Director of the Istanbul International Film Festival, about the films that top the Turkish box office, including a stand-up show by the comedian Cem Yilmaz, and reports on the controversy surrounding Turkey's oldest cinema which was knocked down last year after 3 years of protest. Baba Zula is Istanbul's most popular alternative music act. John meets founder Murat Ertel, who plays an electric version of the traditional Turkish plucked instrument the Saz. Producer: Timothy Prosser.

With Mark Lawson. The Bletchley Circle, a drama about a group of women who worked at Bletchley Park during WWII, returns to our screens this week. It stars Anna Maxwell Martin, Rachael Stirling, Sophie Rundle and Julie Graham as former code-breakers turned detectives who have uncovered a conspiracy. The writer and creator of the series, Guy Burt, on imagining post-war life for the Bletchley code-breakers. Author Donal Ryan discusses his second novel, The Thing About December. Donal discusses his love of exposing his characters' interior monologues and explains how his day job as an Employment Inspector helps impose a discipline on his writing. Molly Dineen reviews two documentaries released this week. Kiss the Water is a poetic biography of Megan Boyd, who spent her life in the remote Scottish Highlands making anglers' flies so unique that they were desired all over the world, whilst The Square documents the ongoing struggles of the Egyptian Revolution through the eyes of the activists involved in the conflict. As part of Radio 4's MINT season, Front Row has been investigating arts and culture in the emerging economies of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. Tonight, Nigerian film maker Obi Emelonye discusses the rise of the multiplex in Nigeria. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion was one of the surprise hits of last year and has been published in more than thirty countries. The protagonist Don Tillman - a socially-awkward professor who may be on the autistic spectrum - has devised a questionnaire to ask women, in his quest to find love. Graeme Simsion explains how the book started life as a screenplay, and talks about writing a romantic novel from an unexpected perspective. Delivery Man stars Vince Vaughn playing another slacker character. This time he's an under-achiever who finds out that his donations to a fertility clinic have resulted in his fathering over five hundred children, with 142 of them legally trying to find out their father's identity. Journalist and broadcaster Katie Puckrik reviews. The artist Jeff Koons broke the record for the highest price paid for a work of art by a living artist, when his Balloon Dog (Orange) sold at auction for $58,405,000 last year. A major retrospective of Koons's work is opening at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York in 2014. Jeff Koons talks to Mark about whether the vast prices paid for his art affect his work, and explains why we should not be afraid of contemplating contemporary art work. As part of Radio 4's MINT Season, looking at the world's new group of emerging economies, Front Row is exploring the cultural life of the four MINT countries. Today we move to Indonesia: arts and culture critic Amir Sidharta tells Mark about the rising trends in Indonesian standup comedy and popular music. Mark asks some of Front Row's 2013 People Of The Year about their plans for 2014. David Suchet discusses whether he will play King Lear, and Eleanor Catton talks about the film of her Booker Prize winning novel, The Luminaries. Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson Front Row announces the category winners for this year's Costa Book Awards. The director of the Costa Book Awards, Bud McLintock, announces the winners of the novel, first novel, poetry, biography and children's book categories and literary critic Sam Leith discusses the judges' choices. Steve McQueen discusses 12 Years A Slave, a film which tells the true story of Solomon Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The film has already seen McQueen named Director of the Year at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and is hotly tipped for Oscar success. With previous films including Hunger and Shame, McQueen explains what attracts him to projects, and why the subject of slavery needed to be tackled. As part of Radio 4's MINT season, Front Row begins a short series of discussions and interviews looking at the cultural life of the MINT countries. Today the focus is on Mexico: film critic Fernanda Solórzano tells Mark about the current state of Mexican cinema. Mark hears from some of Front Row's People of the Year 2013 about their plans for 2014, and their upcoming projects in the next year. Film director Clio Barnard discusses working with a writer for the first time to adapt a novel for the screen, and actress Olivia Colman talks about learning to salsa with Nick Frost for her next film. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With John Wilson. Naomie Harris talks about playing Winnie Mandela in the biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Harris discusses taking on the part without realising the crucial role that Winnie Mandela played in forming the modern South Africa, researching her life and relationships and meeting Winnie Mandela herself. Nigella Lawson is one of three judges in new cookery show The Taste. Part Masterchef, part The Voice, the programme, which has already been a hit in America, involves judges eating just one anonymous spoonful of each dish, and judging on taste alone. Boyd Hilton discusses the increasing number of fusion TV formats. John talks to the Iranian-American harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, who in 2011 gave the first solo harpsichord recital at the BBC Proms, and who is now releasing his debut CD featuring sonatas by CPE Bach, son of JS Bach. Front Row looks ahead to what 2014 may have in store in literature and art. Alex Clark discusses the books that are likely to make an impact this year and Rachel Campbell-Johnston previews the exhibitions to look forward to.

With John Wilson. Last Vegas stars Hollywood heavyweights Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro and Kevin Kilne as a group of sixty and seventy somethings throwing a stag do for their old friend Billy, played by Michael Douglas. The film, which has been described as The Hangover for the older generation, explores issues of retirement and bereavement against the backdrop of the excesses of Las Vegas. Antonia Quirke reviews. The novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard, known for her best-selling series about the lives of the Cazalet family, has died at the age of 90. In interviews previously recorded for Radio 4, we hear from Elizabeth Jane Howard and her step-son, Martin Amis. Sculptor Tom Price talks about a new exhibition of his work at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. His bronze sculptures of contemporary figures were initially inspired by the expressions on people's faces as they watched a performance piece by Price in which he spent a week licking a gallery wall. Tom Price discusses the legacy of the YBAs and using dentists' tools to create the fine detail on his sculptures. Jarvis Cocker and Martin Wallace talk about their film The Big Melt which was commissioned to celebrate the centenary of stainless steel production in Sheffield. Created from archive from the British Film Institute and set to a score composed by Cocker and performed by Sheffield musicians, the film tells the story of steel and of Sheffield's past. Front Row looks ahead to what 2014 may have in store in the world of pop music. Music journalist Kitty Empire discusses the musicians that are likely to dominate the next twelve months and which artists are likely to release new albums. Producer: Olivia Skinner.