Front Row: Archive 2011

Mark Lawson talks to novelists who have taken on another writer's characters, including P D James, who wrote a Pride and Prejudice sequel, Anthony Horowitz, creator of a new Sherlock Holmes story, Jeffery Deaver, author of the latest James Bond book, and Frank Cottrell Boyce, who took on another of Ian Fleming's creations - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. And what happens to a novel left unfinished when a writer dies? Incomplete manuscripts left by British novelist Beryl Bainbridge and American writer Michael Crichton were posthumously brought to publication this year, with the help of editor Brendan King and scientific journalist Richard Preston respectively. They discuss how they approached this poignant task, and A N Wilson, writer and friend of Beryl Bainbridge, reflects on the process. Producer Katie Langton.

John Wilson talks to singers Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Jack Jones and Bruce Forsyth, whose careers began before rock and roll, and whose combined performing experience totals over 200 years. They reflect on the art of 'intimate singing', their inspirations, and the art of sustaining a career in a business which has changed radically over seven decades. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Kirsty Lang examines how writers from India and Pakistan are tackling social and political shifts, with Booker-winner Aravind Adiga, Aatish Taseer, Mohammed Hanif and Moni Mohsin. All have published fiction in the past year with a focus on complex current issues in their respective countries, including terrorism in Pakistan and the huge social changes brought about by India's economic boom. They also reflect on the differences between readers in the Indian subcontinent and those who live outside it, and discuss how - as Aravind Adiga reveals - a warm critical reception in the UK is no guarantee of critical praise at home. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

Mark Lawson talks to three tenors and a counter-tenor: Joseph Calleja (pictured), Ian Bostridge, Mark Padmore and Iestyn Davies reflect on repertoire, singing teachers and the perils of phlegm. Producer Georgia Mann.

Mark Lawson unwraps a further selection of new interviews with arts headline makers of 2011. Stage and screen actor Dominic West discusses playing serial murderer Fred West, Shakespeare's Iago, and upper-class anchorman Hector Madden in The Hour. Tracey Emin, newly-appointed Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy, reflects on opening the new Turner Contemporary gallery in her home town of Margate, her solo show at the Hayward Gallery, London, and her art-work for 10 Downing Street. Director Tom Hooper considers the success of his Oscar-winning film The King's Speech, and how almost a year after its release it is still winning awards. Another British film The Inbetweeners, based on the TV comedy, has taken more than £45 million at the UK box office and is the biggest-selling DVD this Christmas. Writers Iain Morris and Damon Beesley reveal how far they are prepared to push the cast. And Mark meets Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, judges on The Great British Bake Off, one of the year's unexpected TV hits. They discuss their approach to cake-tasting, and the art of judging the perfect bake. Producer Lisa Davis.

Mark Lawson unwraps a selection of new interviews with arts headline makers of 2011. Booker Prize winner Julian Barnes explains why he no longer refuses to read his reviews, and poet Jo Shapcott, winner of the Costa Prize for her collection Of Mutability, discusses why the book's subject, her cancer, is never referred to explicitly. Director Nicholas Hytner and writer Richard Bean reflect on the success of their hit play One Man, Two Guvnors, which will make its way to Broadway after a sell-out UK tour and London run. Film-maker Andrea Arnold is best known for contemporary dramas such as Red Road and Fish Tank, but her 2011 version of Wuthering Heights won wide acclaim. She reveals why her next film won't be an adaptation. Architect Sir David Chipperfield received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal this year, as well as completing the Turner Contemporary in Margate and the Hepworth in Wakefield. He discusses how the current wranglings in Europe could affect his profession. Producer Ellie Bury.

With John Wilson. Paul Merton reviews the new silent film The Artist, which with six Golden Globe nominations is already the surprise hit of this year's Hollywood awards season. Adele's producer Paul Epworth discusses his part in creating this year's biggest album, 21, for which he has received four Grammy nominations, and how he and Adele came up with the hit song Rolling in the Deep. It's almost a century since a Parisian barber's shop began the urban romance with neon when it put up the first commercial neon sign. Although neon has fallen out of commercial favour, artists are breathing new life into the medium. John went to the Neon Workshops in Wakefield, Yorkshire, to learn how to make his own neon artwork. The neon art is now installed at the BBC's building in Salford. The graphic designer Peter Saville, famed for his record sleeves for the likes of New Order, Joy Division, Roxy Music and Pulp - and a huge neon fan - joins John, along with the Junior Royal Northern College Brass Quintet and the BBC North Staff Choir, to switch on the first Front Row artwork. Producer Ekene Akalawu.

With John Wilson. Michelle Yeoh, star of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Tomorrow Never Dies, on playing Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in The Lady. Luc Besson's film tells the extraordinary story of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who sacrificed her personal life for her people, remaining under house arrest in Burma even when her Oxford-based husband Michael Aris was dying of cancer. Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills; BBC Proms presenter Suzy Klein; and writer and critic David Hepworth nominate their album of the year for 2011. And - Julian Barnes thanked his book jacket designer in his Booker acceptance speech this year and emphasised the importance of books as beautiful objects. At a time when e-readers are changing the publishing landscape, Barnes' designer Suzanne Dean and art director at Harper Collins Alice Moore reflect on how the role of the cover designer might evolve. Producer Lisa Davis.

With Mark Lawson. Jennifer Saunders reflects on the return of Absolutely Fabulous, 20 years after Patsy and Eddy first staggered onto our screens. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is the latest instalment of the action-packed franchise. The film sees Tom Cruise return as undercover operative Ethan Hunt, trotting the globe in an attempt to clear his name of terrorism charges and prevent a nuclear attack. Naomi Alderman gives her verdict. Television is as much part of a traditional Christmas as turkey, with programmes including Downton Abbey, Doctor Who and Great Expectations on offer this year. Sarah Crompton makes her selection. And a tribute to Vaclav Havel, the playwright and former Czech President who died this weekend, from his friend and translator Paul Wilson. Producer Katie Langton Presenter Mark Lawson.

With Mark Lawson. Former Monty Python star Terry Jones has now written 26 books. His latest, Evil Machines, is a collection of 13 short stories which explore what happens when everyday objects take on a life of their own. He discusses the inspiration for the book, life as a Python and his relationship with the group now. The young lives of James Herriot and Inspector Morse will soon arrive on our TV screens. Glasgow in the 1930s is the setting for the adventures of James Herriot as an idealistic student vet; and Endeavour turns the clock back to 1965, when the young Morse is in Oxford to hunt for a missing schoolgirl. Rebecca Nicholson and Chris Dunkley assess the new portrayals of two much-loved TV characters. And conductor Jeremy Summerly gives an illustrated guide at the keyboard to those underrated Christmas carols which deserve to be better known. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson. David Fincher's directing credits include The Social Network, Fight Club, Se7en and Alien3, and his latest film is an adaptation of Stieg Larsson's book The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, starring Daniel Craig. Fincher discusses his approach to filming a book that has already sold 65 million copies worldwide and been made into a successful trilogy of movies in Swedish. Mark Lawson and Jeff Park make their selection of crime books for Christmas including works by P D James, Umberto Eco and Anthony Horowitz. Vikram Seth is best known for his novel A Suitable Boy, but he's also written a series of opera libretti, as part of a collaboration with composer Alec Roth, and now published as The Rivered Earth. Vikram Seth discusses the working process and how a former owner of his house made a mark on the project. Producer Nicki Paxman.

With John Wilson. Historian Simon Schama has selected his pick of works from the Government Art Collection for an exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery. While hanging the exhibition, he reveals how his choices were inspired by the British romance with travelling. Dame Edna Everage, Ann Widdecombe and Vanilla Ice are all making their pantomime debuts this year. Danny Robins has seen all three and considers the qualities needed for panto success. A large crane has been lowering a new art project onto the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank today. Created by artist Fiona Banner and architect David Kohn, A Room for London is designed to look like a boat, and is going to be available for people to live and sleep in for a night. The Artangel/Living Architecture project will be there for the whole of 2012. John reports from the site. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Mark Lawson Two decades after the last series of Only Fools and Horses, Sir David Jason returns to BBC One as the star of a new comedy series. He discusses his role as the incompetent bodyguard of the Queen, his close relationship with Ronnie Barker, and whether he can predict which lines will get the best laugh. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law have joined forces again for a second Sherlock Holmes film, directed by Guy Ritchie. In A Game of Shadows, Holmes and Dr. Watson take on their fiercest adversary, Professor Moriarty. Crime writer Natasha Cooper reviews. Hit or miss? The Front Row Jukebox Jury delivers its verdict on a sackful of this year's festive releases. Music critics David Hepworth and Rosie Swash discuss songs from Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber, the cast of The Only Way Is Essex, Michael Buble, The Killers and many more. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With Kirsty Lang. Meryl Streep is hotly tipped for Oscar success for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in the forthcoming film The Iron Lady. She discusses how she mastered Thatcher's famous voice, why she decided to donate her fee for the film to charity and how she feels about her daughters following her into the acting profession. Director Shane Meadows continues the story of a group of young skinheads who first appeared in his film This is England, set in 1983. This is England 88 is the second in a series of television sequels, and stars Vicky McClure as Lol, now struggling to cope with life as a single mother. Dreda Say Mitchell reviews. Reviewers Georgia Coleridge and Damian Kelleher offer their pick of the year's children's books, ranging from picture books to teenage fiction. Producer Nicki Paxman.

With Kirsty Lang. Lee Evans, Peter Kay, Ross Noble, Sarah Millican, Alan Carr and Milton Jones are among the host of comedians releasing new DVDs aimed at Christmas shoppers. Comedy critic Stephen Armstrong discusses the stand-up boom, and whether any of the DVDs is worth a second viewing. Sophie Okonedo and Ben Daniels star in Haunted Child, a new play by Joe Penhall. A small boy and his mother struggle to understand why the father abandoned them to join a religious cult, and his motives for returning to the family home. Julie Myerson reviews. The artist Graham Sutherland is the focus of a new exhibition curated by Turner Prize nominee George Shaw. Sutherland, who died in 1980, produced a wide range of work, including landscapes, images of the Blitz and portraits, including one of Winston Churchill, which was loathed by Churchill's wife. Writer Alexandra Harris and art critic Richard Cork reflect on Sutherland's current reputation. Composer Joshua Cody was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer when in his early thirties. He charts his experience of treatment and his reaction to the diagnosis, whilst aiming to avoid what he describes as the classic cancer memoir. Instead, he describes his morphine delusions, and the comfort he found in writers, poets and artists. Crime writer Mark Billingham loves a good narrative. And particularly in pop songs. He raises a glass to Two Little Boys, Copacabana and Bohemian Rhapsody, as there's nothing better than a good yarn with a beginning, a middle and an end set to music. Producer Katie Langton.

With Kirsty Lang. Singer Annie Lennox reflects on a career which has seen her push boundaries in both music and fashion, as she releases an album of Christmas songs and sees her V&A exhibition, The House Of Annie Lennox, go on tour early next year. The Ladykillers, the classic Ealing comedy film, now arrives on stage in a new adaptation by Graham Linehan, with a cast including Peter Capaldi, Ben Miller and James Fleet. Writer Iain Sinclair reviews. Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park makes a foray into live action directing with a music video for the band Native and the Name. He explains why the song in question had such resonance and how he persuaded 50 members of the Aardman staff to donate their time to help. In the film Another Earth, a young woman's life is changed forever by the discovery of an identical Earth, moving ever closer to ours. Roger Luckhurst reviews this debut feature from screen-writer and actress Brit Marling. The musical 42nd Street features a young unknown chorus-line dancer who's forced to step into the starring role when the leading lady can't go on. This actually happened in the opening night of a new production in Leicester. Understudy Lucinda Lawrence reveals what it was like to "come back a star". Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson. Singer and songwriter Carole King enjoyed her first hit fifty years ago, and released her landmark album Tapestry four decades ago. She discusses her career so far and her first-ever seasonal album, A Christmas Carole, including a Chanukah Prayer recorded with her daughter and grandson. Eddie Redmayne takes the title role in a new staging of Shakespeare's Richard II, directed by Michael Grandage. Adam Mars-Jones gives his verdict. Don DeLillo, whose novels include the epic Underworld, talks about his new collection of short stories, The Angel Esmeralda, and reflects on his approach to writing and the depictions of time and history shown in his work. Two films out this week make visual references to other films from the same production team. Mark Eccleston discusses the art of inter-film referencing, undertaken by directors including Tim Burton and Stanley Kubrick. Producer Georgia Mann.

With Mark Lawson. Amy Winehouse's posthumous album Lioness: Hidden Treasures was released yesterday and is already topping the midweek charts. Editor of NME magazine Krissi Murison gives her critical verdict on the disc, and considers the issues surrounding the release of recordings after an artist's death. The acerbic art reviewer Brian Sewell reflects on his experience as a student at the Courtauld Institute with Anthony Blunt, his life as a critic and 21st century attitudes to art. New Year's Eve is a seasonal romantic comedy, with an ensemble cast including Hilary Swank, Sarah Jessica Parker, Halle Berry and Robert De Niro. Jason Solomons reviews. Producer Ellie Bury.

With Mark Lawson. Writer and comedy performer John Cleese reflects on his career, including the rivalries between the Monty Python team, the creation of Fawlty Towers and the film A Fish Called Wanda. He also discusses breaking taboos, morality in comedy and the multi-million dollar divorce settlement which led to his recent show The Alimony Tour. Producer Claire Bartleet.

The Heart of Robin Hood is the new family show at the RSC. But it's the Robin Hood story with a twist. The production is directed by Gisli Örn Gardarsson, who has a reputation for challenging staging. Andrew Dickson reviews. Novelists Joanna Trollope and Tracy Chevalier discuss how a selection of Tudor portraits of unknown people at the National Portrait Gallery in London inspired them to invent fictional biographies for the mystery portrait sitters. Professional double-bass player Andy Wood and percussion instrument maker Paul Jefferies discuss making music out of scrap, and perform with instruments including a boiler double bass and tea urn snare drum. The challenge, to be shown in a BBC4 documentary, was to build a Scrapheap Orchestra in 11 weeks and perform Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture at the 2011 Proms. And John Wilson concludes his reports on the Turner-Prize-shortlisted artists when he meets painter George Shaw, whose landscapes feature the area of Coventry where he grew up. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Kirsty Lang. Kirsty meets Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, whose hugely successful musicals include Godspell and Wicked, and whose 1972 show Pippin now receives a new British production. Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and Jack Black star in the film The Big Year, in which they compete to see who can spot the most species of birds in North America in one year. Comedian Alex Horne spent a year following his bird watching father and discusses whether the passion and paranoia on screen accurately represent the real world of birding. Arts Council England has just published Internships in the Arts, which suggests that arts organizations should pay young people working as interns. Martin Bright, founder of New Deal of the Mind, and Richard Mantle, General Director of Opera North, discuss whether theatres and galleries can afford to pay interns in these cash-strapped times. John Wilson talks to the artist Hilary Lloyd in his latest report on this year's Turner Prize nominees. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

Lenny Henry was acclaimed when he made his stage debut as Othello, and now he returns to Shakespeare as Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, in a new production at the National Theatre. Rachel Cooke reviews. Comedy performer and actor Rob Brydon reflects on his career so far, including his first appearance in a play, starring alongside Kenneth Branagh in Belfast earlier this year. He also recalls an awkward encounter with Harold Pinter. Charlie Brooker's latest project is Black Mirror, described as a dark trilogy of twisted tales about the power of technology in the 21st century. In the first episode of the TV drama, The National Anthem, written by Brooker, the Prime Minister finds himself forced to consider how far he would go for his country. Matt Thorne gives his verdict. And John Wilson talks to the artist Martin Boyce in his latest report on Turner Prize nominees. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson. Ricky Gervais discusses the response to his TV comedy series Life's Too Short, which stars Warwick Davies as a "showbiz dwarf", and his return as host of the Golden Globes, following this year's insult-packed ceremony. Choreographer Wayne McGregor and composer Mark-Anthony Turnage discuss their new collaboration, Undance, inspired by the 19th Century photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Wealth-creation gurus are the focus of a new three-part documentary series Money by the film-maker Vanessa Engle. Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times reviews the series alongside Channel 4's documentary The Ultimate Guide to Penny Pinching, about the UK's thriftiest people. And in the first of a series of interviews with the four artists contending for this year's Turner Prize, John Wilson meets sculptor Karla Black. Producer Timothy Prosser.

Martin Scorsese has directed his first film in 3D. Adapted from the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Hugo is the tale of a boy who lives in a Paris railway station in the 1930s, and features Ben Kingsley, Jude Law and Sacha Baron Cohen. Naomi Alderman reviews. The winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2011 is announced today. Mark interviews all seven shortlisted authors, whose books cover a range of sports including football, rugby, cycling, running and bullfighting, and the winner of the £27,500 prize responds to the judges' verdict. The death of the film-maker Ken Russell was announced today. He was 84. Critic Mark Kermode reflects on Russell's life and career, and there's another chance to hear Ken Russell himself discussing his home movies and his opinions on the film industry, from a Front Row interview recorded in 2008. Producer Nicki Paxman.

With Kirsty Lang. Shakespeare scholar Eric Rasmussen has spent the last decade tracking down every extant copy of one of the world's most sought-after books: Shakespeare's First Folio. With fewer than 750 printed in 1623, the first edition of Shakespeare's collected works has proved a magnet for thieves, forgers and eccentric collectors ever since. Eric Rasmussen discusses what his quest revealed. Essex, Chelsea and Newcastle have all been settings for so-called scripted reality TV shows in recent months. The latest place to get the reality treatment is Liverpool, with two planned series about Merseyside life. The first is E4's Desperate Scousewives which follows the blingtastic lives of Liverpool's most glamorous residents. Boyd Hilton reviews the programme and reflects on the scripted reality phenomenon. A new generation of book events is attracting new and younger audiences to hear novelists read their work. Organisers of events in London, Glasgow and Cornwall, as well as best-selling writer David Nicholls, discuss how these literary night clubs are changing attitudes to books and driving sales during a tough period for the publishing industry. Fyfe Dangerfield is best known as the lead singer of the band The Guillemots. Now he's creating the score for a stage version of Howl's Moving Castle. He explains how he captured the eerie mood of the book and why he never set out to be a singer. Producer Katie Langton.

With Kirsty Lang. Film-maker Terence Davies has adapted and directed The Deep Blue Sea, based on the play by Terence Rattigan. It stars Rachel Weisz as a woman who walks out on her husband and her comfortable life, to move in with a young former RAF pilot. Peter Kemp give his verdict. As piano duo Katia and Marielle Labèque embark on a three day festival celebrating minimalist music, they discuss whether sisterhood is useful when sharing a piano, and why minimalism has a lot in common with rock and roll. To mark four decades of Newsround, the children's news programme will receive a special Children's BAFTA award this weekend. John Craven, its original presenter, reflects on it covering difficult events such as the Challenger shuttle disaster and the arrest of murderer Fred West. Pixie Lott's new album has a track which includes a harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder. It's the first time the two artists have worked together, though Stevie Wonder's distinctive harmonica-playing has featured in a host of songs by other musicians. David Quantick considers the art of the harmonica solo. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson As he releases an album of his favourite songs, Sir Bruce Forsyth reflects on seven decades in show business, from duetting with Nat King Cole at the Palladium to his pre-show nerves at last weekend's Wembley Arena edition of Strictly Come Dancing. Brad Pitt stars in Moneyball, a new film written by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin. Pitt plays the manager of a low-budget baseball team who uses computer data to identify the best players. Eleanor Oldroyd reviews. The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is about to open six new galleries for its collections from Ancient Egypt and Nubia. The new displays more than double the number of mummies and coffins on show, bringing to light items kept in the stores for more than half a century. John takes a tour of the new galleries with the project's curator Liam McNamara. Producer Ellie Bury.

With John Wilson. Kate Bush talks about 50 Words for Snow, her first album of brand new material for six years. She discusses her fears about the demise of the album as a format, and reveals that she is already working on new songs. The film My Week With Marilyn stars Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe and Kenneth Branagh as Laurence Olivier. It tells the story of Colin Clark's experiences working in a lowly position on the set of The Prince And The Showgirl, which disastrously paired Monroe and Olivier. Antonia Quirke gives her verdict. This week sees the publication of what's billed as Jack Kerouac's 'lost' novel, The Sea Is My Brother. 2011 has also seen 'lost' works by C S Forester, Daphne du Maurier and Arthur Conan Doyle arrive in our bookshops. Benedicte Page, associate editor of The Bookseller, explains why publishers are so keen on tracking down missing texts. Producer Georgia Mann.

With Kirsty Lang The Riots, a new play by Gillian Slovo, draws on 55 hours of interviews with people who were involved in the disturbances earlier this year, ranging from policemen to the rioters themselves. She reflects on whether theatre can help to uncover the truth behind the unrest. A sound designer won the prize for Best Design at last night's Evening Standard Theatre Awards, winning against three set designers. Adam Cork discusses the soundscapes he created for productions including Derek Jacobi's King Lear. Resistance is a new film based on a novel by Owen Sheers, which imagines that Britain is under Nazi occupation. In a Welsh valley, the farmers' wives wake up one morning in 1944 to discover that all their men have disappeared. Mark Eccleston reviews. Oliver Messel was perhaps the most celebrated theatrical designer Britain has ever produced. His white-on-white design in 1932 for Helen, an updating of Offenbach's operetta, caused a sensation not just on stage but in the world of fashionable society, when people began painting their walls white - a previously unused colour in interior design. Thomas Messel, Oliver's nephew, has edited the first-ever study of Messel's complete work and explains why his uncle's approach was so new. Producer: Lisa Davis.

With Kirsty Lang. Tim Minchin describes himself as an Australian musician, composer, songwriter, actor, comedian and writer. He wrote the songs for Matilda: The Musical, the RSC's acclaimed adaptation of Roald Dahl's book about a girl with special powers. He discusses how he writes, and reveals how he fell into comedy by chance. Rihanna is releasing her sixth album in six years next week, while continuing her world tour. Her manager argues that her fans demand new material, amidst reports of unhappy arena audiences and criticisms of raunchy routines. Rosie Swash considers how stars can best sustain a career. Nigeria's Nollywood has the second largest film industry in the world by volume - yet very few African films make it into mainstream British cinemas. Gaylene Gould looks at why films such as District 9 from South Africa and Congolese gangster movie Viva Riva! have been successful internationally, whilst many critically-acclaimed African films only make it to art-house cinemas and film festivals. Gershwin's classic song Someone To Watch Over Me features on the new albums from Susan Boyle, Twiggy and Alfie Boe. It also appears every night in the musical Crazy For You, currently running in London. Gareth Valentine, musical supervisor of the show, analyses why the song is still popular 85 years after it was written. Producer: Philippa Ritchie.

With Kirsty Lang. The first series of The Killing, the 20 part Danish crime drama, was widely acclaimed as a TV highlight of the year. Now Detective Inspector Sarah Lund returns with a new investigation. With a double-bill of the first two episodes of the second series being screened this weekend, writer John Harvey reflects on the appeal of this crime marathon. Perrier Award-winner Sean Hughes reveals why he decided to discuss his father's death in his new stand-up show. The comedian, writer and former Never Mind The Buzzcocks captain considers our reactions to death, and recalls his original route into comedy. The AIDS epidemic of the early 80s in San Francisco is the subject of a new documentary by the film-maker David Weissman. Five individuals who lived through it look back at a period when thousands of their friends were dying of a disturbing and unfamiliar illness. David Weissman discusses why he felt now was the right time to make his film We Were Here. A new bargain box set of music by jazz saxophonist Joe Harriott places him back in the spotlight, almost four decades after his death. Jamaican-born Harriott made Britain his home, and argued strongly that musicians here should not feel overshadowed by American stars. Kevin LeGendre looks back at his career. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With Mark Lawson. Joanna Lumley and Robert Lindsay star in Trevor Nunn's new production of The Lion in Winter, taking the roles made famous by Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole in the 1968 film, the tale of a dysfunctional family Christmas with the Plantaganets. Kathryn Hughes reviews. America Ferrera, the star of TV show Ugly Betty, discusses making her British stage debut as the alluring publicity-seeker Roxy Hart in the musical Chicago. She also reflects on her famous TV role, and how she prepared for it. Welsh composer Paul Mealor received an unexpected boost to his career when his choral piece Ubi Caritas was chosen to be performed at the Royal Wedding earlier this year. He discusses how Ubi Caritas started life as a secular rather than a sacred piece, and why he wasn't in Westminster Abbey on day itself, despite receiving a much-coveted invitation. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson. Sir Terence Conran, designer, restaurateur and founder of the Habitat chain, celebrated his 80th birthday last month, and tomorrow sees the opening of a major retrospective at the Design Museum in London. The Way We Live Now explores Conran's impact, legacy and approach to design. He discusses his career from post-war austerity through to the present day, and the moment he first realised British design needed an urgent overhaul. Front Row announces the shortlists for the 2011 Costa Book Awards. The awards recognise the 'most enjoyable' books in five categories - First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book - published in the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. Gaby Wood of The Daily Telegraph and Alex Clark of The Observer give their response to the shortlisted books and writers. The independent American film Welcome to the Rileys boasts a cast including Oscar winner Melissa Leo, James Gandolfini from The Sopranos, and Kristen Stewart from the Twilight films. She plays a New Orleans stripper befriended by a grieving Gandolfini. Matt Thorne reviews. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With Mark Lawson. Playwright and film director Neil LaBute discusses his new play Reasons to be Pretty, starring Billie Piper, which asks if conventional beauty can be a curse. Writer Ian Rankin reviews two new TV shows which focus on undercover operators: Confessions of an Undercover Cop, and Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story. In his new film Justice, Nicolas Cage plays a man who enlists the services of a vigilante group to settle the score after his wife is assaulted. Dreda Say Mitchell reviews. Although the sales of vinyl records are rising again, the days when every high street boasted a shop filled with LPs and singles are long gone. David Hepworth recalls the vanishing pleasures offered by record shops. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Kirsty Lang. Pan Am, a new American TV drama, lands on BBC Two next week. The series follows the lives and loves of a group of air hostesses in the early 1960s, who are apparently empowered by their new profession. Janet Street Porter reviews. Songs of War is a new disc by award-winning British baritone Simon Keenlyside, featuring his personal selection of music by composers including Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Butterworth and Kurt Weill. He explains why some of his choices may come as a surprise. Remembrance Day is a fitting release-date for new British horror film The Awakening, starring Rebecca Hall and Dominic West. It's set in the years immediately after the First World War, when many of the bereaved sought solace in spiritualism. Professor Steven Connor gives his verdict. A photograph of the Rhine by Andreas Gursky has fetched $4.3m (£2.7m) in an auction, setting a new world record for photography. Art market watcher Sarah Thornton explains why photographs are becoming the art market's hottest property. The Caine Prize-winning Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina has published One Day I Will Write About This Place, a memoir of his middle-class childhood in Kenya. He reflects on growing up in a country whose literature was, he argues, stuck in a colonial time-warp. Producer Georgia Mann.

With Mark Lawson. Michael Sheen stars in the Young Vic's new production of Hamlet. Director Ian Rickson sets the play in the Elsinore Mental Asylum, an institution the audience must also check in to. Hermione Lee reviews. Kelvin Mackenzie, former editor of The Sun, gives the critical verdict on Tabloid: a new documentary charting the way British newspapers covered the extraordinary tale of Joyce McKinney, a US beauty queen accused of imprisoning a young Mormon missionary in 1977. Jeffrey Eugenides, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex, talks about his long- awaited third novel: The Marriage Plot. He discusses how this novel is born of a previous abandoned book, and how a friendly competition with fellow American author Jonathan Franzen has spurred him on throughout his career. The British Library's collection of medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts are on display together for the first time. The manuscripts were collected over 800 years by Kings and Queens of England. Writer A N Wilson reviews the exhibition. Producer Ellie Bury.

With John Wilson. Johnny Depp's latest cinematic tribute to Hunter S Thompson, The Rum Diary, is based on the late journalist's novel of the same name. The semi-autobiographical story follows the boozy and increasingly unhinged exploits of a young American reporter in Puerto Rico in the late 1950s. Iain Sinclair reviews. Musician, songwriter and producer Nile Rodgers first found fame with his band Chic, before working with Diana Ross, David Bowie, Madonna and many more. He reflects on his unconventional childhood and the unexpected starting points for some of his most popular songs. Viking gods, murderous giants, monsters and magical transformations provide the raw material for the new novels by Horrid Henry author Francesca Simon and by Joanne Harris, the writer of the bestselling Chocolat. They discuss why Norse mythology still inspires 21st century writers. Producer LISA DAVIS Presenter JOHN WILSON.

With Mark Lawson. As queues form for the largest-ever show of Leonardo da Vinci's paintings at the National Gallery, artist Tom Phillips reviews and considers whether the exhibition justifies the hype. At just 33, Maltese singer Joseph Calleja is tipped as one of the most promising tenors of the 21st century. He talks about his new album and his singing ambitions. Linguistics specialist David Crystal has selected 100 words which he feels best illustrate the huge variety of sources and events which have shaped the English language. He elaborates on some of his choices, showing how, for example, hello is a relatively new invention - whereas unfriend is nothing like as modern as we think. Producer Lisa Davis.

With Mark Lawson. Andrea Arnold's latest film is a re-telling of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. The director of Red Road and Fish Tank cast mainly non-professional actors in the film, which aims to escape the conventions of a costume drama. Sarah Crompton reviews. Oscar-nominated screenwriter Peter Morgan returns to TV with a second series of the legal drama The Jury, nine years after the original series was aired. Morgan, whose credits include The Queen and Frost/Nixon, discusses why he favours writing for TV over cinema, the pressures of writing about living people and a letter he received from Tony Blair. The Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner, created by Charles Sargeant Jagger, was unveiled in 1925 and features a larger-than-life howitzer carved from Portland stone, standing on a large plinth surrounded by four bronze figures of artillery men. Richard Cork visits the newly-restored memorial ahead of Remembrance Sunday, and re-assesses the power of Jagger's work. Best-selling crime novelist Peter James talks about his latest book, Perfect People, a thriller set in the pioneering world of gene manipulation. As he explains, though this may sound like science-fiction, genetic planning is already possible to some extent - and so his book also explores the ethics of creating designer babies. Producer Katie Langton.

With Kirsty Lang. Singer Michael Stipe and bassist Mike Mills from the band REM discuss what it feels like to 'call it a day as a band' after 30 years, 15 studio albums and 85 million albums sold. They reflect on their career in the light of a new retrospective double album called REM, Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage, 1982-2011. Artists including Tracey Emin, Rachel Whiteread, Howard Hodgkin and Martin Creed have created posters for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, unveiled today. Three of the artists reveal their inspirations, and Waldemar Januszczak discusses whether the new posters are winners. In a time of austerity, the TV schedules still find space for programmes about the super-rich. Boyd Hilton assesses the appeal of shows such as Billion $$ Girl, about the daughter of F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, and Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Mark Lawson. Anthony Horowitz, author of the Alex Ryder spy series, has written a new Sherlock Holmes novel. He discusses how he has approached the distinctive narrative voice, and reflects on the potential pitfalls in taking on such well-loved characters. Alice in Wonderland, an exhibition at Tate Liverpool, examines how Lewis Carroll's classic books have inspired a wide range of art, from Victorian paintings to videos. Children's author and illustrator Chris Mould reviews. Dramatist David Edgar talks about his new play Written on the Heart, which marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. The play explores the different fates of the two translators: death at the stake for one, and for the other the possibility of an archbishop's mitre. The next James Bond film will be called Skyfall - which is not one of Ian Fleming's original titles. Language expert David Crystal reflects on the possible sources of the word skyfall, and film critic Mark Eccleston discusses what makes a great Bond title. Producer: Georgia Mann.

With Mark Lawson. At the age of 91, P D James has published a new crime novel, which is a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. Death Comes To Pemberley is set in Mr Darcy's ancestral home, where he and Elizabeth Bennet are living in marital bliss, which is suddenly ruptured by a brutal murder on the estate. P D James discusses her passion for Jane Austen and the challenge of living up to the great writer. Collaborators is a new play by John Hodge, whose film scripts include Trainspotting and Shallow Grave. It's set in Moscow in 1938, where writer Mikhail Bulgakov, played by Alex Jennings, accepts a tricky commission: to write a play celebrating the 60th birthday of Stalin, played by Simon Russell Beale. Michael Berkeley reviews. Cellist Steven Isserlis believes that the cello is closest of all instruments to the human voice, and his forthcoming concerts at the Wigmore Hall in London investigate the repertoire for voice and strings. Tenor Mark Padmore joins Steven Isserlis to discuss the tensions between singer and player in attempting to create the perfect balance of voice and music. Producer Jerome Weatherald.