Front Row: Archive 2012

Following the announcement of the death of the musician Charlie Watts, tonight's Front Row is an archive edition featuring John Wilson in conversation with the band he was a member of - The Rolling Stones. The programme was recorded in 2012 to mark 50 years since the band's first performance. In it, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood reflect on life in the Rolling Stones as they prepare to return to the stage.

With John Wilson. In a rare extended interview, the Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young discusses his latest disc, a selection of traditional songs, recorded with the uninhibited rock band Crazy Horse. The album includes a version of God Save The Queen, the anthem Young recalls singing as a schoolboy in Canada. Young, who topped the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic 40 years ago with his LP Harvest, also reflects on the role of the protest song in the age of the TV talent show, and considers his own instinctive approach to music-making, and his reluctance to become a crowd-pleaser. Producer John Goudie.

Mark Lawson turns quizmaster to test the cultural knowledge of two teams in the Front Row Quiz of the Year. Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and film-maker Asif Kapadia join team captain Natalie Haynes to compete against actress Maureen Lipman and singer Rumer, under the captaincy of crime writer Mark Billingham. Questions cover a wide range of the year's events, and there's a teasing round of Nordic TV crime drama clips - in their original languages. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With Mark Lawson. Damian Lewis, Hugh Laurie, Thandie Newton, Adrian Lester, Clive Owen and Ashley Jensen are among the actors who discuss the highs and lows of working as British performers in America. Many high profile American TV shows and films are casting British actors in key roles. The success of programmes such as Homeland and House are testament to the strong parts tempting British actors across the pond. Director Stephen Frears explains his theory that there is a crisis in American acting, prompting producers and directors to seek talent on this side of the Atlantic. Hugh Laurie and Damian Lewis reflect on the pros and cons of the long contracts and extended seasons on prime time US TV shows and Adrian Lester and Thandie Newton explore the reasons behind the success of many black British actors in America. Producer Ellie Bury.

Kirsty Lang turns the spotlight on the backstage stars, some of the key individuals behind-the-scenes who play a key role in big events and major TV shows. The band from Strictly Come Dancing lurk at the back of the stage in the shadows as the brightly-lit action takes place on the dance floor in front of them. Band leader Dave Arch, bass player Trevor Barry and singers Haley Sanderson and Lance Ellington give us an insight into the view from the back, and what they can do when things don't quite go according to plan. Costume designer Caroline McCall is in charge of creating, sourcing, designing and hiring the wide selection of period dress for Julian Fellowes' ITV1 hit drama series Downton Abbey. She takes Kirsty round her main costume suppliers who provided the extensive high-end wardrobe for Shirley MacLaine in Series 3, and describes what it's like to see the script for the first time and find there's a big wedding, a jazz party and a trip to London, and filming starts in two weeks. And Patrick Woodroffe, lighting designer of choice for the Rolling Stones since 1982, has had a busy year lighting the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert outside Buckingham Palace, the Stones' 50th anniversary tour, and not least the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics and Paralympics. He discusses the pleasures of creating a new show from scratch and the challenges that faced him when Danny Boyle described his vision for his opening ceremony - and why the big orange Olympic rings so nearly didn't light up. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

John Wilson talks to musicians including Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Paul McCartney, Emeli Sandé, Jonny Greenwood and Pete Townshend about their first musical influences. Neil Young reveals why he recently recorded a version of God Save The Queen, the anthem he sang regularly during his Canadian childhood. Paul McCartney discusses how songs by the great American tunesmiths of the 1930s, which he heard in his childhood home, influenced his own approach to writing. Pete Townshend contrasts his love of abrasive rock and roll with the music performed by his father, who played the saxophone in a dance band. Soul singer Bobby Womack remembers how he also rebelled against his father, who wanted his sons to perform only gospel music, rather than anything more secular. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards reflect on their early shared love of raw American blues records. And Neil Diamond, Emeli Sandé and Jonny Greenwood, from the band Radiohead, recall the early musical encounters which shaped their subsequent careers. Producer John Goudie.

With Mark Lawson. Jack Whitehall, Greg Davies, Niamh Cusack and Frances de la Tour are among the performers and artists who share memories and reflections on working with close members of their families. Christmas is the time when people are most likely to spend time with their closest relatives. But for some in showbusiness the holidays are not a rare family reunion but a continuation of a professional relationship or, for writers and comedians, an encounter with the relatives who have been the source of their best material. Comedians Greg Davies, Jack Whitehall and Sarah Millican regularly exploit cringeworthy family moments in the service of comedy. They describe how it feels to perform the material with the family members in question in the audience. Actress Niamh Cusack reflects on the experience of appearing in Chekhov's Three Sisters with two of her sisters and her father, and Andy and Frances de la Tour discuss working together in Alan Bennett's People, and why they are banned from laughing while watching each other perform. Singer Donny Osmond reveals why he and sister Marie's chemistry on stage does not necessarily reflect the reality off-stage and the conductor Alan Gilbert explains why having his violinist mother in the orchestra prevents the other musicians from indulging in a much-loved pleasure. Producer Ellie Bury.

Mark Lawson unwraps interviews with arts headline makers of 2012, in the second of two programmes. Writer E L James reflects on a year in which she became a global publishing phenomenon, with her best-selling trilogy which began with Fifty Shades of Grey. Mark looks back at the Olympic Opening Ceremony, with director Danny Boyle and designer Thomas Heatherwick, who created the highly original cauldron for the Olympic flame. Singer Emeli Sandé remembers how nervous she felt moments before performing at the Opening Ceremony, and discusses a year in which she has become one of the UK's most high-profile musicians. Broadcaster and writer Clare Balding considers her role as a presenter at the Olympic and Paralympic games, and reveals how she allowed her mother three chances to veto content in her best-selling memoir, published this year. Writer Lolita Chakrabarti and actor Adrian Lester talk about their collaboration on the acclaimed play Red Velvet, based on the life of Ira Aldridge, an African-American actor whose arrival on the 19th century London stage provoked debate and dissent. Producer Ella-mai Robey.

Mark Lawson unwraps new interviews with arts headline makers of the year, in the first of two special programmes. In the wake of the record-breaking success of the James Bond film Skyfall, Judi Dench reflects on her role as M, and director Sam Mendes discusses the pressures of working on such a high-profile movie - and whether he knew about Bond's secret role in the Olympic opening ceremony. Hilary Mantel remembers the night when she won the Man Booker Prize for the second time - the only woman to do so - and Sheridan Smith looks back on a year in which her roles have ranged from Hedda Gabler on stage to the wife of train robber Ronnie Biggs on TV. Dramatist James Graham won acclaim for This House, his play about the struggles of the Labour government between 1974 and 1979. He reveals how he has seen many key politicians of the period in the audience, comparing his version of events with their own memories. Rebecca Front, winner of a British Comedy Award for her role in the political TV comedy The Thick Of It, considers how the latest series regularly seemed to predict the news headlines, and members of the Mercury Prize-winning band alt-J talk about their approach to rehearsals, with strict rules about attendance and mobile phone use. Producer Ella-mai Robey.

With Kirsty Lang. A new film The Impossible, starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, focuses on the powerful tsunami which occurred in the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004, and killed over 280,000 people. The film shows how events affected one family on a Christmas holiday in Thailand. Novelist Kamila Shamsie reviews. Ed Vaizey, the Minister for Culture, and Tom Morris, Artistic Director at Bristol's Old Vic Theatre, discuss the future of arts funding. Leading figures in the arts, including Sir Nicholas Hytner and Danny Boyle have expressed concerns about how government funding cuts could affect regional theatre. Following the news that Arts Council England will have its funding cut by a further £11.6m before 2015, Ed Vaizey outlines his thoughts on the future of UK arts organisations. Comedian Simon Amstell's stand-up show, Numb, is on TV on New Year's Eve. The former host of Never Mind The Buzzcocks, who also wrote and starred in the autobiographical TV comedy, Grandma's House, reveals how creating Numb from his own insecurities, led him to a happier place - helped by a pungent potion in Peru. With Christmas on the horizon, Front Row takes a look at the wealth of festive television programmes. Time Out's TV Editor Gabriel Tate, discusses a selection of the drama, factual and children's programmes on offer, and recommends some must-see shows. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang. Barry Norman reviews Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut, Quartet. The film is set in a home for retired opera singers and features Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly and Michael Gambon among the all-star cast. Katy Carr is a singer, songwriter and aviator. She's half Polish and her album, Paszport, focuses on Polish stories from World War II, including a veteran who escaped from Auschwitz. She reflects on how she turns personal histories into songs. The release of new DVDs by leading stand-up comedians has become a Christmas tradition. Stephen Armstrong offers his guide to the best of this year's stocking-fillers. Many of today's newspapers feature a photograph of the Queen and the Cabinet, with the monarch flanked by politicians who are laughing, looking away or unprepared. Jeremy Selwyn, the photographer who took the memorable shot, discusses the art of the group photo. According to a Mayan prophecy, the world will end on 21 December. Making good use of the remaining time, David Quantick has pulled together a selection of music for an apocalypse. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson Salman Rushdie has written his first ever screenplay, an adaptation of his own Booker Prize-winning novel Midnight's Children. He reflects on condensing the family saga which follows India from Colonialism to Partition, about filming in Sri Lanka, and about the experience of writing his memoir, Joseph Anton. Victoria Wood discusses her TV drama Loving Miss Hatto, in which Francesca Annis and Alfred Molina play real-life concert pianist Joyce Hatto, who died in 2006, and her husband Barrington Coupe. He caused a storm when he hoodwinked the classical music world by releasing recordings by other pianists under his wife's name. It's time for Front Row's Christmas Jukebox: music writers David Hepworth and Rosie Swash join Mark for their annual assessment of the merits of a host of Christmas singles. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With John Wilson. Photographer Don McCullin was on Front Row earlier this year talking about an exhibition of some of his most famous photographs of conflict, from Vietnam to Iraq. He said then that - at the age of 75 - his days on the frontline were over. But this morning The Times newspaper published new McCullin photographs of life on the streets of Alleppo, Syria, taken over the last few days. He explains why he decided to go back. Martin Freeman discusses playing Bilbo Baggins in the first of the trilogy of films that form the screen-version of Tolkien's classic, The Hobbit. The story focuses on events 60 years before The Lord Of The Rings, when Bilbo was still a young hobbit. Martin reflects on how he'll cope with the possibility that he'll forever be identified with this role. Gemma Cairney, Suzy Klein and Kate Mossman look back at 2012 in music, choosing their CDs of the year and talking about the importance of record labels, the role of technology and the Olympic opening ceremony. Since the start of 2012, The Listening Project has been collecting conversations between friends and family throughout the country. To mark its first year, composer Gary Carpenter has been commissioned to set fragments of the conversations to music. The result is The Listening Project Symphony which receives its premiere on Radio 4 tomorrow evening. Gary discusses how he approached creating music to fit the words. Producer Ellie Bury.

With Kirsty Lang. Writer William Boyd discusses the television adaptation of his novel, Restless, which stars Michael Gambon, Michelle Dockery and Charlotte Rampling. Ravi Shankar, who has died at the age of 92, took the sitar to a global audience, and was a huge influence on many musicians. Choreographer Akram Khan pays tribute. Dramatist Martin Crimp discusses his new play In the Republic of Happiness. It centres on a family Christmas interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Uncle Bob, who's not seen his relatives for a long time. Their world will never be the same again. The video gaming year is reviewed by writer Naomi Alderman. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson. Director Paul Thomas Anderson reflects on his film The Master, which has already won numerous awards and is heavily tipped for Oscar success. In the week that Green Day release the third in a trilogy of albums and Peter Jackson announced that The Hobbit will be divided into three parts, Mark asks whether three is the magic number for films, novels and albums, with Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Toby Litt and David Hepworth. Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars in the film Smashed, a comedy drama which examines the strains experienced by an alcohol-dependent married couple, when the wife decides to get sober. Critic Mark Eccleston gives his verdict. Playwright Jim Cartwright, best known for Road and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, has just written his first play in 12 years. A Christmas Fair is a commission by The Milton Rooms in Ryedale, Yorkshire, and is a community project staffed by volunteers. Jim Cartwright discusses the play and what it was about the Yorkshire venue that appealed so much to him. Producer Stephen Hughes.

With John Wilson. Paul Auster is the best-selling author of The New York Trilogy and Moon Palace. His latest book, Winter Journal, takes him in a more reflective direction, examining his own life through a series of autobiographical fragments and memories. He explains why he refuses to call the book a memoir and why - despite priding himself on being a safe driver - he has given up driving completely. The musician Beck has sold millions of CDs, but his latest album Song Reader exists only as sheet music. No recording is available. Singer-songwriter Tom Robinson brings his guitar to the studio to try out a selection from the album. Trevor Noah is a South African comedian whose talent was spotted by Eddie Izzard. The son of a black South African mother and a white Swiss father, Noah is currently performing a stand-up show called The Racist, with tales of growing up under apartheid. He reflects on his early years and the importance he places on the precise use of language. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson. The 1992 film The Bodyguard, starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, was a huge box office hit. Now a stage musical version of the film has opened, with Heather Headley in the leading role. Music critic Rosie Swash gives her verdict. Writer Ali Smith combines fiction and essays in her new book Artful. She discusses the challenges involved in working in different forms. The pioneering jazz pianist Dave Brubeck has died at the age of 91. Front Row pays tribute to the musician whose 1959 release, Time Out, was the first jazz album to sell a million copies.There is another chance to hear an interview Brubeck recorded with Mark in which he revealed one of the secrets of his long career. Jeff Park returns to Front Row with one of his regular round-ups of the best new crime fiction. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Mamma Mia and The Iron Lady director Phyllida Lloyd returns to the stage with a new all-female staging of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. It's set in a women's prison and contains a heavy-metal soundtrack. Harriet Walter takes the role of Brutus alongside Frances Barber as Caesar. Writer and critic Bidisha reviews. Playwright Mike Bartlett is known for writing Earthquakes in London, Love Love Love, 13 and for adapting Chariots of Fire into a stage production. His first television drama is The Town - a three part exploration of a young man's return to his home town after a ten year absence. Bartlett talks about writing around the ad breaks, recession drama and balancing champagne glasses on hurdles. John Rutter is one of the best-loved contemporary British composers. He is best known for his choral compositions, especially his carols and Christmas music. He discusses his latest project, composing and arranging music for the harp, and his commission for a piece of music to celebrate the Royal Wedding. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With John Wilson. Elizabeth Price has won this year's Turner Prize for work including her video installation The Woolworths Choir of 1979. She discusses her inspirations and what winning the prestigious art prize might mean for her future plans. Ben Folds is best known for his musical career, notably with his band Ben Folds Five, but he is also a keen photographer and takes his camera on tour, sometimes capturing images of the audience at his gigs from the stage. Ben Folds discusses why Ben Folds Five are back together after a 13 year break, his collaborations with the novelist Nick Hornby and why taking photographs is similar to song-writing. The Charles Dickens Museum, the author's former Bloomsbury home, is about to re-open following a £3.1 million refurbishment project. Historian Kathryn Hughes and actor and author Simon Callow explore the rooms where Dickens lived at the start of his career, and where he wrote Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. Hip hop musician and producer RZA, of the Wu-Tang Clan, has also acted in several movies. He now makes his directing debut with The Man With The Iron Fists - and he also plays the title role and co-wrote the screenplay. Inspired by kung fu classics and featuring an international cast including Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu and Chinese star Daniel Wu. the film is set in 19th century China, and follows the fortunes of a series of lone warriors forced to unite to defeat a common enemy. Film critic Mark Eccleston gives his verdict. Producer Olivia Skinner.

Martin McDonagh won the 2008 Best Original Screenplay Oscar for In Bruges, starring Colin Farrell as an unlucky hit-man. In McDonagh's new film, Seven Psychopaths, Farrell is a struggling screenwriter dragged into the Los Angeles crime world when his quirky friends (Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken) kidnap a dog belonging to a gangster (Woody Harrelson). Kamila Shamsie reviews. Novelist Beryl Bainbridge, who died in 2010, won the Whitbread Prize twice and was nominated for the Booker Prize five times. But she was also an accomplished and prolific painter, whose subjects include The Titanic, Napoleon, and Captain Scott's journey - as well as Liverpool memories and portraits of her children. As The Museum Of Liverpool prepares to open the exhibition, Beryl Bainbridge: Painter, her longtime friend A.N Wilson talks about her paintings and their relationship to her writing. This week Young Voices launches its latest national arena tour in Birmingham NEC, with 7,000 UK schoolchildren. To discuss the pros and cons of different choir sizes, Mark Lawson is joined by Jeremy Summerly from the Royal Academy of Music and Suzi Digby of BBC TV's Last Choir Standing. Two of the best known faces on television are returning to our screens this week, but both will be out of their comfort zone. Richard Madeley, best-known for being one half of Richard And Judy, is investigating squatting in the UK in the documentary, Madeley Meets The Squatters - and Jamie Oliver is sharing the limelight with his good friend Jimmy Doherty in, Jamie And Jimmy's Food Fight Club. Gabriel Tate joins Mark to discuss whether the new formats have worked. Producer Nicki Paxman.

With Kirsty Lang. Following the huge success of Matilda, the RSC has a new Christmas show for family audiences. The Mouse and His Child is based on a book by Russell Hoban, and features the adventures of two wind-up mice, a purple elephant, and Manny Rat who pursues the mice as they try to find their home. Writer Jamila Gavin reviews.. Writer Robert Greene has inspired rappers such as Jay-Z and 50 Cent and attracted hard-to-reach readers, including prisoners, with his best-selling books which reveal strategies to gain influence and power. Greene discusses whether he has mellowed with his new book which focuses on obtaining Mastery. Mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli has established a reputation for releasing challenging material which doesn't follow the opera hits formula. Her latest release is Mission, an exploration of the life and work of largely forgotten Italian composer Agostino Steffani. She explains why Steffani merits revival and how writer Donna Leon became involved in the project. A caravan trip around England turns into a killing spree in the bleak comedy film Sightseers, an unsettling mixture of Mike Leigh and Grand Guignol. Critic Natalie Haynes goes along for the ride. Producer Ellie Bury.

With Kirsty Lang, Booker Prize-winning novelist Roddy Doyle talks about his new novella, Two Pints. It's a year's dialogue between two men in a Dublin pub over their pints. Beginning with the landmark Royal visit to Ireland in May 2011 and ending with the Paralympics last September, they set the world to rights and talk about the day's news. Michael Boyd's last production as Artistic Director of the RSC is an adaptation of Pushkin's Boris Godunov. Theatre critic Andrew Dickson reviews the play and assesses Boyd's tenure. The Staves are three singing sisters from Watford. They grew up singing harmonies around the kitchen table at home, and are on a sell-out UK tour. Jessica, Emily and Camilla Stavely-Taylor tell Kirsty how it all began. Peter Mullan stars as Brighton crime-boss-turned-entrepreneur Richie Beckett in a new four-part Channel 4 TV drama The Fear, which chronicles the disintegration of a criminal mind. Crime writer Dreda Say Mitchell gives her verdict. Producer Penny Murphy.

With Mark Lawson. Daniel Radcliffe and John Hamm star in A Young Doctor's Notebook, a new four-part TV comedy drama based on a collection of short stories by the celebrated Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov. Including graphic scenes, the series is partly based on the author's experiences as a young country doctor working at the dawn of the Russian Revolution in 1917. Leading neurosurgeon Henry Marsh reviews. Oliver Sacks' seminal 1985 book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat described some of the most intriguing case histories he encountered through his work in neurology. Sacks discusses his latest book Hallucinations, a collection of mind-altering episodes experienced by his patients and himself. The Danish director of Festen, Thomas Vinterberg, has returned to the controversial subject of child abuse for his latest film. The Hunt is the story of a primary school teacher who is accused of exposing himself to one of his pupils and is subsequently ostracized by his friends and community, even though there is no real proof of a crime. Briony Hanson delivers her verdict. And as Antony Gormley fills the entire space at the White Cube gallery in south London with his vast new sculpture Model, created from 100 tons of weathering sheet steel, Mark and art critic Rachel Campbell Johnston explore the large-scale artwork. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson. Bryan Ferry discusses The Jazz Age, a new album of instrumental versions of his greatest hits including Love Is The Drug, Virginia Plain and Avalon. Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong are the writing duo behind Channel 4 comedies Peep Show and Fresh Meat. In the week that Peep Show began its eighth series and the current series of Fresh Meat ends, they reflect on their unusual collaborative methods and the perils of getting to know the actors too well. Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes and Robbie Coltrane star a new film adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, directed by Mike Newell. Rachel Cooke reviews. Producer Stephen Hughes.

With Mark Lawson. Dame Judi Dench, Danny Boyle and Simon Russell Beale were just some of the winners at last night's Evening Standard Theatre Awards. Despite the glamour of the ceremony, the mood was reflective, with speeches addressing proposed funding cuts to arts organisations. The night's winners reflect on the past year on stage. Clint Eastwood returns to the big screen in baseball drama Trouble With The Curve. He plays a veteran scout on a last trip before retirement. Joining him on the journey is his daughter (Amy Adams) and the pair bond as they share the crucial talent spotting decisions that her father's entire career will be judged by. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh gives her verdict. The winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year is announced today, from a varied shortlist which features cycling, the Isle of Man TT races, squash, Ironman, running, cricket and football. Each of the shortlisted authors discuss their subjects and the chair of the judges, John Inverdale, assesses the current state of sports writing in this country. Producer Ellie Bury.

With Kirsty Lang Producer and musician Brian Eno discusses his new album Lux and his new app, which allows listeners to create their own music by selecting a variety of shapes and sounds. The story behind Michael Jackson's multimillion selling album, BAD 25, is shown in a new Spike Lee documentary. A fan of Jackson, Spike Lee wanted his film to remind audiences of the talent and creativity behind a singer whose troubled life and early death has overshadowed his musical career. Music journalist Jacqueline Springer reviews. The Coen Brothers have written the screenplay for an updated version of the 1966 Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine classic film, Gambit. The American director of this new release is Michael Hoffman - whose last film was the Oscar-winning The Last Station, about Leo Tolstoy. He discusses working with Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz and Alan Rickman, and the challenge of making a film whose roots lie in classic British film and TV comedy. This week sees the release of the film, Nativity 2: Danger In The Manger! - in which David Tennant plays twins. Adam Smith considers other actors who've been given the chance to double their screen-time, if not their salaries. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. When Matthew Bourne established the dance company Adventures in Motion Pictures in 1987, his pioneering fusion of contemporary dance, classical ballet, and theatre thrilled audiences worldwide, won prizes on both sides of the Atlantic, and divided critics. He discusses his new production of Sleeping Beauty and what he's learned from Strictly Come Dancing. It's exactly 99 years since the birth of composer Benjamin Britten, and next year's centenary celebrations include numerous concerts, operas and broadcasts. But the events of recent weeks have renewed the focus on Britten's friendships with adolescent boys, a subject covered in biographies and documentaries - although there is no evidence of criminal behaviour. Singer Ian Bostridge, Jonathan Reekie of Aldeburgh Music and writer Martin Kettle reflect on Britten's current reputation. The American actor John Lithgow takes the title role in The Magistrate, in a new National Theatre staging of Pinero's farce about a respectable man caught up in a series of scandalous events. Sarah Crompton reviews. Producer Nicki Paxman.

With Mark Lawson. Agatha Christie's classic murder mystery play The Mousetrap has now been continuously in performance in London for 60 years, and the first ever touring production of the show is currently on a 60 date tour. Front Row sent three crime writers - Frances Fyfield, Mark Billingham and Suzette A Hill - to see The Mousetrap at three different locations. All three join Mark to debate whether the production has aged well. The theatre director Calixto Bieito is renowned for his radical productions of classic operas. His version of Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera opened with a row of singers on toilet seats, trousers down. As his sexually-explicit production of Carmen opens, Bieito reveals how travels to Morocco, seeing his first bull fight and the plight of women in Spain fed into his vision of Bizet's very popular opera - and the relevance of Henrik Ibsen's unusual pet. A new exhibition of contemporary Russian art at the Saatchi Gallery showcases work by emerging young artists. Gaiety is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union: Art from Russia, charts their response to the break-up of the Soviet Union. Author and former Moscow correspondent A.D. Miller discusses what the work tells us about politics and society in a changing Russia. Producer Ella-mai Robey.

With John Wilson. Front Row reveals the shortlists for this year's Costa Book Awards. Gaby Wood of the Daily Telegraph and The Guardian's Alex Clark join John to discuss the nominations for the best first novel, novel, biography, poetry and children's book. The morning after appearing on The Royal Variety Performance, American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond talks to John about his five decades in music. Relationships, mental illness and a dance competition all come together in the film Silver Linings Playbook - starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro. After losing everything, and spending 8 months institutionalised, Pat Solitano (Cooper) returns to his family home with the goal of remaining positive and being reunited with his wife. Antonia Quirke reviews. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson. Actor Derek Jacobi talks about his new TV series, Last Tango In Halifax, co-starring Anne Reid, Sarah Lancashire and Nicola Walker. He also reflects on moving away from traditional character roles, his desire to appear in a film franchise, and whether he would ever return to the role of King Lear. Crime writer Denise Mina discusses how she has worked on a graphic novel version of Stieg Larsson's best seller The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and plans to adapt all three volumes of the Millennium Trilogy - each in two parts. Jake Gyllenhaal stars in police drama End Of Watch. Based around the patrol teams in one of LA's toughest neighbourhoods, South Central, the film chronicles the day-to-day work of Gyllenhaal and his partner (Michael Peña). Naomi Alderman reviews. David Gilmour's concert DVD is being released as an App. Beck's forthcoming work, Song Reader, is to be released in the form of 20 new songs available only as online sheet music. Neil McCormick, author and the Daily Telegraph's chief rock music critic, considers why musicians are finding new ways of bringing their music to listeners. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With Kirsty Lang. Jimmy Page is the guitarist and founder member of Led Zeppelin. As Celebration Day, a film of their one-off 2007 reunion concert is released on DVD, Jimmy reflects on the performance, and why it's very unlikely the band will re-form. Sir David Attenborough is celebrating six decades of natural history programmes for the BBC. Charles Lagus was his cameraman in the 1950s when they worked as a two-man team on Zoo Quest. Simon King is a cameraman and film maker who's worked with Attenborough more recently. They consider the huge changes in technology in making wildlife programmes. Suranne Jones and Tom Ellis star in The Secret of Crickley Hall, a new TV adaptation of a novel by James Herbert. Natalie Haynes reviews the programme. Producer Ellie Bury.

With John Wilson Ben Elton began his career as a stand-up comedian, and went on to write TV comedies, musicals and novels including Popcorn. His latest novel is Two Brothers, inspired by his family history about adopted brothers who go on to fight on opposite sides of the second world war. He reveals why this is a story he'd always wanted to tell. Danny Boyle - film-maker and impresario behind the London Olympics Opening Ceremony - joins regional theatre directors from across the UK who are meeting at the National Theatre to raise concerns about their funding and the potential cuts they may soon face. Creating art on a computer is commonplace now, but in the early days of computing, it was quite unexpected. As new solo shows of work by pioneering computer artists Ernest Edmonds and Manfred Mohr open this week, Catherine Mason, author of A Computer in the Art Room, discusses how they created a new area of art in the 1960s and changed the way that computers are viewed. As Silver Linings Playbook is released in cinemas next week, critic Jane Graham considers other film titles which may seem baffling or too long and considers whether a bad title can affect a movie's box-office takings Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson Billie Piper stars in The Effect, a new play by Lucy Prebble about drugs trials and mental health. It's Prebble's first major new work since her success with ENRON, her play about the American financial scandal. Senior consultant neurosurgeon Henry Marsh reviews. The Heresy of Dr Dee is the latest in a series of novels about the Tudor astrologer and magician Dr John Dee by writer Phil Rickman. The novel explores the mysterious death of Amy Dudley, wife of Elizabeth I's favourite Lord Robert Dudley. Phil Rickman explains his fascination with Dee and why self-publishing is a temptation he's keen to resist. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart star in Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, the final instalment in the globally successful vampire film franchise. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh gives her verdict. Death: A Self Portrait is a new exhibition with more than 300 works - from images by Rembrandt and Goya to a chandelier made from 3000 plaster-cast bones - which confront our mortality. Dr Sarah Jarvis considers how attitudes have changed over the centuries. And we mark 90 years of BBC radio by remembering the moment when playwright Joe Orton was discovered by a young drama producer. Producer Penny Murphy.

With Mark Lawson. This week sees the return of The Hour, the drama set in a TV newsroom in the 1950s. The series picks up where the last one left off with ambitious producer Bel, played by Romola Garai, attempting to keep Dominic West's newsreader Hector in check, with a little help from Peter Capaldi as the new head of news. Former Deputy Director of BBC News Mark Damazer gives his verdict. A new Tate Modern exhibition takes David Hockney's A Bigger Splash and Jackson Pollock's action painting Summertime as its starting point, and surveys modern art movements which claimed that the making of art is as important as the art itself, whether it's Yves Klein painting nude models blue and imprinting their figures on rolls of paper or Niki De Saint Phalle shooting her paintings with air rifles. Lionel Shriver delivers her verdict. Dramatist Nick Dear's new play is the story of poet Edward Thomas, scraping a living in the Hampshire countryside in the winter of 1913. He meets the American poet Robert Frost and as their friendship blossoms, so does Thomas's work. Nick Dear and director Richard Eyre discuss the play, The Dark Earth and the Light Sky, and its approach to biography. Light from the Middle East at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the first major UK museum exhibition of contemporary photography from the region, spanning North Africa to Central Asia. It includes a series of images of Mecca, which on closer inspection are of architect's models of the city; photojournalism from the streets of Kabul and portraits of professional women in Saudia Arabia. Shahidha Bari reviews. Producer Dymphna Flynn.

With Mark Lawson. Quentin Blake is known for his illustrations of books by Roald Dahl and Michael Rosen, as well as his work as a writer and an exhibiting artist. In his 80th year and as he publishes a new book of drawings, he reflects on how the breadth of his work, from children's books to hospital wards, makes him one of Britain's most recognized artists. Dramatist Anya Reiss, who was a teenager when her first play ran in 2010 at the Royal Court in London, has now adapted Chekhov's The Seagull. She and actor Matthew Kelly, who stars in the production, discuss the new version, and reveal why one of the play's most famous lines has disappeared. A new TV series examines how Adolf Hitler managed to persuade millions of people to support his vision for Europe that led to the deaths of 60 million people. Historian and documentary maker Laurence Rees is the writer and producer of The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler, and he explains his theories. Producer Stephen Hughes.

With Kirsty Lang. Jeff Wayne has made a new version of his 1978 hit album The War Of The Worlds, now starring Liam Neeson as the narrator, stepping into Richard Burton's shoes - with Ricky Wilson, Gary Barlow and Joss Stone taking on the roles sung originally by David Essex, Justin Hayward and Julie Covington. Jeff Wayne reflects on the original appeal of HG Wells' story, and the aspects of the show he has now changed. Gregory Doran's first production since taking over as Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company is a Chinese play called The Orphan of Zhao - which dates from 4th Century BC and has been described as the Chinese Hamlet. The production generated some debate, covered on Front Row, as the cast includes few Asian actors. Front Row sent critic Andrew Dickson to see the play, as it takes to the stage. Crime Stories is a new daily TV drama, which follows two detectives as they spend their day in a police station talking to witnesses and suspects connected to a particular crime. The dialogue is part-improvised, and one of officers is played by a retired real-life policewoman, making her acting debut. Crime writer NJ Cooper reviews. Five pianos - stripped bare and hanging above pools of water - play themselves while the voices of people such as William S Burroughs and Malcolm X echo within a vast concrete hall. This is Stifter's Dinge, a composition by German composer Heiner Goebbels, inspired by the Austrian author, painter, and poet Adalbert Stifter. Jeremy Summerly of the Royal Academy Of Music shares his impressions of his encounter with the work. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson, Alan Bennett's new play People stars Frances de la Tour as a former model living in her family's crumbling stately home. The comedy, staged at the National Theatre, focuses on the future preservation of the house, with options ranging from a heritage site to location hire for a porn film. Writer Kate Saunders reviews. Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov - whose books include Death and the Penguin - talks to Mark about how he was almost seduced by the Writer's Union into being an official writer in the old Soviet Union, why his books might not be considered Ukrainian literature by some, and how he was helped by the protection mafia while trying to sell his books on the streets of Kiev. Director Michael Winterbottom's latest film Everyday was filmed over five years and portrays a family living through a prison sentence, with John Simm as the prisoner and Shirley Henderson as his wife. Their children are very young at the start of the story, but visibly age in the course of the film. Writer and critic Bidisha gives her verdict. The powerful Mughal Empire dominated the Indian subcontinent from the 16th to the 19th century. The British Library has brought together over 200 objects, including paintings and literature, to create a major exhibition examining the entire reign of the Mughals. Curator Malini Roy discusses what the exhibits reveal. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With John Wilson. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood reflect on life in The Rolling Stones, as they prepare to return to the stage next month. It's now 50 years since the band's first performance, and they discuss at their early shared love of the blues, the experience of rehearsing and performing, and the future. Producer John Goudie.

With Mark Lawson. In a rare interview, acclaimed director Michael Haneke talks about his most recent film, Amour, which won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Festival. Haneke, whose previous films include Funny Games and The White Ribbon, discusses how he works with actors, and the films he has turned down. Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, 9 to 5 The Musical and Our Boys are just three of the many current stage productions featuring actresses and actors who have to cry on stage. Actors Laurence Fox, Mariah Gale and Natalie Casey discuss the art of acting tearfully, and Christian Burgess from the Guildhall School Of Music And Drama reveals how he teaches crying. Full English is a new animated TV comedy series aimed very much at adults, and broadcast late at night. Writer Stephen Armstrong joins Mark to consider adult animation past and present. The celebrated American composer Elliott Carter has died at the age of 103. In tribute, there's another chance to hear his thoughts on his education, and his views on contemporary music, from a Front Row interview recorded shortly before his 100th birthday. Producer Ella-mai Robey.

With Mark Lawson. Anna Friel returns to the stage in a new production of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, with a cast which also includes Ken Stott, Laura Carmichael and Sam West. Writer and performer Viv Groskop reviews. In 1964, a devoutly Christian Shropshire schoolteacher co-launched a Clean Up TV campaign - and it turned her into a media star. Mrs Mary Whitehouse wrote letters of complaint to programme-makers, politicians, pop stars and playwrights. A selection of her correspondence, preserved in the archives of her National Viewers And Listeners Association, has now been published. Its editor Ben Thompson discusses her targets and the reactions to her attacks. Chris O'Dowd stars as a talent scout in The Sapphires, an Australian film about four Aboriginal women who form a group - Australia's answer to The Supremes - and whose first gig is to travel to Vietnam in 1968 to sing for the troops. Kate Mossman reviews. The Charles Dickens novel Nicholas Nickleby receives a modern makeover in a new TV adaptation, where penniless hero Nick finds himself fighting corruption within care homes. Novelist Kamila Shamsie discusses this latest updating of Dickens, and reflects on other adaptations of literary classics, including works by Jane Austen, Chaucer and Shakespeare. Producer Ella-mai Robey.

With Kirsty Lang. As the longer, American version of The Shining is released in the UK for the first time, a new documentary about the film's obsessive fans is also in cinemas. Room 237 documents the various theories about Stanley Kubrick's horror classic and what it really means. Jon Ronson, the director of Stanley Kubrick's Boxes, gives his response to the documentary and the longer version of The Shining. Lucy Kirkwood is one of the UK's most high-profile young playwrights. Her new play NSFW examines society's attitudes to women's bodies through daily life at men's magazine Doghouse and women's publication Electra. Lucy Kirkwood explains why the subject appealed to her and what she makes of the 'political playwright' tag. Colm Toibin, whose award-winning novels include Brooklyn and The Master, discusses his new novel The Testament of Mary, which explores the life of Mary, mother of Jesus, in her old age. Some Girls, a new TV drama series, focuses on a group of 16-year-old girls who play on the same school football team and live on the same inner city estate. We follow them as they make their journey through adolescence, taking in boys, sex, teachers and heartbreak along the way. Rosie Swash reviews. Producer Penny Murphy.

With Mark Lawson. Actor John Goodman discusses his latest role in Argo, Ben Affleck's film about a high-risk cinematic solution to the Iranian hostage crisis in the late '70s, which is based on a true story. Secret State is a new TV adaptation of Chris Mullin's novel A Very British Coup. Gabriel Byrne stars as the Deputy Prime Minister thrown into the limelight when his boss disappears. Political journalist Andrew Rawnsley reviews the programme. Orhan Pamuk was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006, recognized for novels including Snow and My Name is Red. Silent House is his second novel and has just been translated into English for the first time. The Turkish writer reflects on what makes his writing political and why Silent House is oddly prophetic. As the Vatican newspaper gives its blessing to the new James Bond movie, Papal expert John Cornwell surveys the history of the Catholic Church's complex relationship with cinema. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Kirsty Lang. Rust and Bone, Jacques Audiard's follow-up to his award-winning prison drama A Prophet is an earthy romantic fable about the unlikely relationship between a bare-knuckle boxer and a trainer of killer whales. Marion Cotillard, the star of Rust and Bone, talks to Kirsty, and critic Sandra Hebron reviews the film. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith discuss their album, Music From Another Dimension. The band members talk about working with Julian Lennon and Johnny Depp, and why it's been over a decade since they last released new material. Paper is the subject of a new exhibition, The First Cut, at Manchester Art Gallery. The show features 31 artists from around the world who use this most basic of artistic materials to create their art. Kirsty Lang talks to Rob Ryan, one of the artists involved in the show who is known for his detailed papercuts, and curator Fiona Corridan. As Secret Cinema launch a Secret Hotel, writer Adam Smith acts as our guide on a whistle-stop tour of the great hotels in film, from The Shining to Psycho, and imagines what your experience might be if you were to stay there. Producer Ellie Bury.

With Mark Lawson. The film The Master is an impressionistic tale of an American war veteran who drifts into a cult led by a charismatic writer. Paul Thomas Anderson's follow-up to There Will Be Blood is partly inspired by the activities of novelist and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, and the director even invited Scientologist Tom Cruise to a personal screening. Lionel Shriver, author of We Need To Talk About Kevin, delivers her verdict. Seduced By Art is the National Gallery's first major exhibition of photography. Recent photographs by Martin Parr hang next to a painting by Thomas Gainsborough from 1750, as the exhibition explores the relationship between historical painting, early photography and works created by photographers today. Photographer Jillian Edelstein and art critic William Feaver give their reaction. In a rare broadcast interview recorded in New York, composer Thomas Adès discusses his opera The Tempest, which he is currently conducting at Metropolitan Opera. He also reveals why he fled from a performance of Britten's Peter Grimes, and why he was unable to produce a score for a libretto written by James Fenton. And James Grant, film locations manager on Skyfall, talks about the most desirable movie locations world-wide, as Big Ben opens for filming. Producer Dymphna Flynn.

Mark Lawson interviews the American writer Tom Wolfe, as he publishes a new novel, Back to Blood, which is set amidst the wealth, sex and crime of contemporary Miami. It's now 25 years since Wolfe published his first novel, the controversial best-seller Bonfire Of The Vanities, and his new book is also a dissection of racial tension in urban America. The writer reflects on what, if anything, has changed in the intervening years. In a wide-ranging conversation, Wolfe also discusses political correctness, online pornography, his chances of winning a Nobel Prize and why he believes the French ruined American literature. Producer Stephen Hughes.

With Mark Lawson Dramatist Jez Butterworth talks about the pressures of following on from the success of his play Jerusalem, which starred Mark Rylance. His new play The River stars Dominic West and is being staged in a very small theatre. Jez Butterworth explains the choice of venue, and the unusual ticketing arrangements introduced to cope with demand. Doctor Who and Sarah Jane Adventures writers Russell T Davies and Phil Ford have created a new action thriller, Wizards vs Aliens. In the CBBC series, a 16 year old wizard and his best friend are the only people who can protect Earth from magic hungry aliens. Novelist Matt Thorne and his young son give the verdict from different generations. The idea of music on the move has inspired two specially-commissioned soundscapes to fit specific journeys. Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley has created a piece of music for the National Trust, to accompany a walk at Croft Castle in Herefordshire, and composer Philip Sheppard has written a score to accompany the Gatwick Express rail route between Victoria and Gatwick Airport. They discuss the art of responding in music to very specific locations. Producer Ella-mai Robey.

With Mark Lawson. Mark Gatiss stars as King Charles I in Howard Brenton's play 55 Days, which focuses on the period culminating in the trial and execution of the monarch, as Oliver Cromwell takes control. Peter Kemp reviews. Cartoonist and writer Posy Simmonds, whose creations include Tamara Drewe, discusses Mrs Weber's Omnibus - a collection of the newspaper comic strips she began in 1977 and continued for more than a decade. The strips centre on three middle-class, middle-aged school friends and their families, and Posy Simmonds reflects on finding inspiration from everyday life, and how she approached the ageing of her characters. At lunchtime today Derry~Londonderry City of Culture 2013 announced its programme of events. Executive Programmer Graeme Farrow reveals what's happening, and the decisions behind his choice. Seal Team Six: the Raid on Osama Bin Laden is a new film to be broadcast on TV in America two days before the Presidential election - and it has prompted controversy following reports that producer Harvey Weinstein, a Democrat supporter, had added more footage to highlight the role played by the current President. David Darcy reports from New York. Producer Ella-mai Robey.

With Mark Lawson. Thomas Keneally, who won the Booker Prize for Schindler's Ark, discusses the inspiration for his new novel The Daughters of Mars. Set in 1915, the book focuses on two Australian sisters who join the war effort as nurses, bringing a guilty family secret with them. Keneally talks about his technique of taking historic subjects and showing them from an individual perspective. Dan Stevens, best known for his role as Matthew Crawley in ITV's Downton Abbey, is making his first appearance on Broadway. He plays the charming suitor Morris Townsend in a revival of The Heiress, a play based on Henry James' novel Washington Square. He reflects on making Broadway history as the first actor to take a break from performing to judge the Man Booker prize. Michael Palin's career after Monty Python has taken him literally around the world. For 25 years he has been making travel documentaries, starting with Great Railway Journeys of the World, and his latest series takes him to Brazil. Rebecca Nicholson and Chris Dunkley discuss Palin's global exploration over the decades. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Kirsty Lang. When poet Sharon Olds' husband told her he was leaving her, she took out her notebook and started writing. Her new volume, Stag's Leap, charts the death of that marriage in a collection of poems now shortlisted for the T S Eliot Prize for Poetry. Sharon Olds is known for being a poet of the personal, and she joins Kirsty to discuss her latest revelations. A black female lead character is a rare sight in television, which is why Scandal - a new drama from the US about political corruption - has attracted attention. It stars Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope, a crisis-management expert in Washington DC, and is loosely based on Judy Smith, former press aide to President George H. W. Bush. Gaylene Gould reviews. Elena, a new film from Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev, won the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize earlier this year. Elena is forced to fight for an inheritance from her wealthy husband, in a modern take on the classic noir. Author A D Miller, a former Moscow correspondent for The Economist, discusses what the film tells us about contemporary Russia. Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of the band Squeeze are preparing to tour the UK next month. Following each performance they will be behind the counter of their Pop-Up Shop, where they'll be selling recordings of that evening's concert. Tilbrook and Difford discuss this new venture, the first music they've written together for 14 years, and what it's like to sing the old hits more than 30 years on. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang. Sam Mendes, director of the new James Bond film Skyfall, discusses the vital ingredients needed to make a successful 007 adventure, and the art of updating Ian Fleming's classic character for a contemporary audience. Kevin Costner won the Best Actor in a mini-series award at the Emmys this year for his performance in the TV drama Hatfields & McCoys. He's not the only Hollywood star winning acclaim on TV - Claire Danes, Julianne Moore and Jessica Lange all also won Emmys this year for their small-screen work. As Hatfields & McCoys comes to the UK, Sarah Churchwell reviews the programme, and considers the allure of TV for cinema stars. Biographer Tom Reiss discusses the real Count of Monte Cristo: General Alexandre Dumas was an idol of Revolutionary France, famed for his military exploits and physical courage. He inspired the adventure novels The Three Musketeers and The Count Of Monte Cristo, which were written by his son, also called Alexandre. Tom Reiss discusses how General Dumas, the son of a black slave, rose to a position of power, which brought him into conflict with Napoleon. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With Kirsty Lang. Ginger & Rosa is a coming-of-age drama set during the Cuban missile crisis about two teenage girls who find that the bomb has brought them together. A heady mix of jazz, love, politics and shrink-to-fit jeans, it's a partly autobiographical tale from director Sally Potter, best known for Orlando. Writer and Spare Rib founder Rosie Boycott delivers her verdict. Ralph Steadman is famous for his illustrations accompanying the work of Hunter S Thompson and his political and social caricatures. His latest project is the book Extinct Boids, a collaboration with film-maker Ceri Levy which aims to draw attention to the risk of extinction faced by many bird species. They explain how what started off as a one off commission became 130 drawings. Lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe has spent the last 30 years creating light shows in the worlds of music, fashion, art, architecture and film. He has done the lighting design for large-scale concerts by the likes of Lady Gaga, Elton John and Michael Jackson, and is currently working on the new show for The Rolling Stones, announced this week. Patrick Woodroffe discusses the challenge of the collaborative process, whether it's the opening and closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert or the current arena show of Jesus Christ Superstar. Producer Stephen Hughes.