Front Row: Archive 2014

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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