Podcasts about producer olivia skinner

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In new interviews, Mark Lawson talks to the people who have had exceptional years in the world of arts, culture and entertainment in 2013, in the second of two special programmes. David Tennant talks about his roles in the two most highly anticipated television events of 2013 - the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special and the final episode of Broadchurch. He discusses which accent he decided on for his roles in The Escape Artist, the Politician's Husband and to play Shakespeare's Richard II on stage. Dame Helen Mirren, who won the Evening Standard Best Actress award for her role in The Audience, talks about playing Queen Elizabeth II for the second time. Olivia Colman remembers the night she won two Bafta Awards, for Accused and Twenty Twelve, and reveals her strategies for avoiding unwanted attention from the paparazzi. Stephen Frears talks about working with Judi Dench and Steve Coogan on his hit film Philomena and why he is drawn to make films about real people and events. Director Clio Barnard won critical acclaim for her second film The Selfish Giant, an adaptation of an Oscar Wilde fairy tale. She discusses taking The Selfish Giant to the Cannes Film Festival and explains why she will always work with children and animals. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Front Row's annual Christmas Jukebox returns with music writers Rosie Swash and David Hepworth joining Mark to assess the various candidates in this year's festive single line-up, and advise on which are 2013's Christmas crackers. As a short story by Stieg Larsson is published for the first time, Mark talks to Larsson's friend John-Henri Holmberg, who has edited a collection of Swedish crime stories, A Darker Shade, which also features the first work of fiction by Larsson's partner Eva Gabrielsson to be published in English. Howard Brenton's latest work Drawing the Line at the Hampstead theatre is set on the Indian sub-continent during Partition in 1947. Kamila Shamsie reviews the play in which Cyril Radcliffe, with no knowledge of India or expertise in cartography, is set the daunting task of drawing the new border. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Front Row announces the shortlist for each category for this year's Costa Book Awards. Critics Sam Leith and Gaby Wood discuss the books nominated in the novel, first novel, poetry, biography and children's book categories and respond to the choices of books and writers. Comedian Russell Brand talks about the ideology behind his new tour The Messiah Complex - including why he is calling for a revolution. Brand also discusses whether there are limits to what he will tackle on stage, and how performing in Turkey made him re-evaluate how much he talks about sex while performing. Brian de Palma's 1976 horror movie, Carrie, was the first of Stephen King's books to be turned into a film. It was a box-office success - and its two female stars, Sissy Spacek as Carrie and Piper Laurie as her mother, were both nominated for Oscars. Now Carrie has just been remade, with Chloë Grace Moretz stepping into Sissy Spacek's shoes - but is it as scary as the original? Film critic Matt Thorne reviews. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Kirsty Lang. Borgen is the Danish political drama that became an unexpected hit for the BBC when the first series aired in 2012. Now back on our screens with the third and potentially final series, creator Adam Price discusses why it was so important for the central character of the Prime Minister to be female and why Danish television has taken the world by storm in recent years. Jason Manford's career has taken him from stand-up to prime time presenter to singer, after winning TV talent show Born to Shine. Currently touring a new comedy show, Manford discusses entertaining the troops in Afghanistan, his scientific evaluation of his performances and, following his departure from The One Show, reflects on the roller coaster nature of fame. Collider, a new exhibition at The Science Museum, takes visitors into the heart of the biggest scientific experiment of our time, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Through the use of performance, music and video installations, the exhibition explains the discovery of the Higgs boson. Kirsty Lang takes a first look inside Collider and meets the curator, designer and particle physicists who have worked out how to convey the complex scientific concepts involved. Jude Law plays the title role in Dom Hemingway, a film about a London gangster looking to get compensation for spending twelve years in prison. Richard E. Grant co-stars as Hemingway's devoted best friend and side kick Dickie. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson.In one of his final films, the late James Gandolfini stars alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld) in Enough Said. The pair play two single parents whose romance runs into problems. Sarah Crompton reviews.The singer-songwriter Tori Amos has written a new musical for the National Theatre, in collaboration with the playwright Samuel Adamson. The Light Princess is adpated from a fairy tale, with a new feminist twist. Tori Amos and Samuel Adamson discuss their partnership and how they worked within the traditional structure of a musical while breaking the rules.Stephen Fry and Karl Pilkington have both been travelling around the world, for TV documentaries which examine cultural attitudes. Stephen Fry: Out There looks at attitudes towards homosexuality, while in The Moaning of Life, Karl Pilkington investigates Marriage, Happiness, Kids, Vocation and Death. Rachel Cooke reviews.The work of the artist Paul Klee is explored in a major new exhibition at Tate Modern. The show focuses on the decade that Klee spent teaching and working at the Bauhaus, the centre of modern design in the 1920s, developing his unique style. Author Iain Sinclair reviews.Producer Olivia Skinner.

With John Wilson.Front Row is live from the BBC National Short Story Award ceremony, where the chair of the judges, Mariella Frostrup, announces the winner of the £15,000 first prize, and we hear from the winning writer. The Beatles biographer and historian Mark Lewisohn discusses the first in his trilogy of books about the band, Tune In , which ends in 1962 as they're about to release their first single Love Me Do. The work is a weighty tome, running to 960 pages, and examines their lives week by week in the run-up to global fame, with the help of letters written by the group to their fans, which have been unearthed for the first time.The Fifth Estate is cinema's take on the story of Wikileaks, played out through the friendship and subsequent rivalry of website activists Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Bruhl). Rosie Boycott reviews.Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson.David Tennant and RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran discuss their forthcoming production of Richard II. Tennant talks about switching accents and the difference between working on the stage and screen. Gregory Doran reveals his techniques for making Shakespeare understandable, why he won't change words and how he copes with his dual role of managing the RSC whilst directing his own plays.The analysis and control of human sexuality are the focus of a new film and a TV drama series. The film Thanks for Sharing, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Ruffalo and Tim Robbins, is set in the world of recovering sex addicts, whilst the series Masters of Sex stars Michael Sheen as the pioneering sex researcher Dr William Masters. Advice columnist Bel Mooney gives her verdict.Bill Bryson, whose bestselling books includes Notes form a Small Island and A Short History of Nearly Everything, discusses his latest work, One Summer: America 1927. Covering a period of just a few months in 1927, the book explores how events including Charles Lindbergh's non-stop flight from New York to Paris, a sensational murder trial and the President's shock decision not to stand for re-election gripped America and shaped its future. Bill Bryson discusses how concentrating on a snapshot of history gave him insights that might elude other biographers and historians.Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Mark meets Vince Gilligan, the creator of hit American TV series Breaking Bad, about a chemistry teacher who becomes a drugs overload after being diagnosed with cancer. Meg Rosoff reviews the film What Maisie Knew. Based on the 1897 novel by Henry James, the film is set in modern day New York and stars Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan as parents going through an acrimonious custody battle, in which their young daughter Maisie has become a pawn. Nadifa Mohamed, the award winning author of Black Mamba Boy, discusses her second novel The Orchard of Lost Souls. Set in her birthplace of Somalia, the novel tells the stories of two women and a young girl who are living through the destruction of the 1988 civil war. Mohamed talks about the difficulties of writing the book, her relationship with Somalia and the experience of moving to London. A London theatre has had to cancel some performances of one of its productions as a cast member is indisposed and there are no understudies. Actor Michael Simkins discusses the balancing act between cancelling a performance, carrying on with the show despite illness or injury and calling in an understudy at the last minute. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Kirsty Lang. Booker Prize-winning Irish author Roddy Doyle discusses why he decided to resurrect one of his earliest characters - Jimmy Rabbitte who first appeared in The Commitments 25 years ago - in his new novel The Guts. He also reflects on topics of conversation among men his own age, and offers his top tip to stop snoring. Sir Richard Eyre has returned to the National Theatre to direct Liola, a drama by the Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello. Set in rural Sicily at the end of the 19th century, the play centres on Liola - a charming young man who has caused controversy by fathering three sons with different women. Andrew Dickson reviews the new version by Tanya Ronder, which is performed by an Irish cast. The theatre director Josie Rourke brings the 1987 comedy drama film Broadcast News, starring William Hurt and Holly Hunter, to the Cultural Exchange. Disney's summer blockbuster The Lone Ranger, which stars Johnny Depp as Tonto, has flopped at the US box office and is expected to lose millions of dollars. Adam Smith explains why, despite many attempts to re-vamp the genre, Westerns from Wild Wild West, via Cowboys and Aliens to Jonah Hex have failed to deliver. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Kirsty Lang. In Johnny Depp's latest film, he plays Tonto, the loyal companion to the Lone Ranger, played by Armie Hammer. The masked hero and his Native American friend fought injustice together in the Wild West, in a popular American TV series of the 1950s - but will the 21st century cinema version of The Lone Ranger be as successful? Writer Matt Thorne gives his verdict. Artist Conrad Shawcross has transformed the Roundhouse in London into a giant clock for his latest work Timepiece. However, it's a clock with a difference, as it has no face and incorporates a sun-dial which casts shadows on the floor of the performance venue. With this year's Edinburgh Festival fringe now in full swing, Stephen Armstrong reports on the comedy which has caught his eye so far. Actress Gemma Chan nominates the 1987 film The Princess Bride for the Cultural Exchange. It's arguably the best of times of jazz fans hoping to build a collection of classic albums, as LPs by jazz legends of the past are re-issued on CD at bargain prices, often in box sets. Kevin Le Gendre considers the pleasures and pitfalls of the piles of cut-price jazz classics. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With John Wilson. Hugh Jackman returns to the role of Wolverine in his new film, embroiled in a conflict that forces him to confront his own demons. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews The Wolverine. The late singer-songwriter Ian Dury is best known as the front man for Ian Dury and the Blockheads and for writing songs including Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick. But before he became an entertainer, Dury trained at the Royal College of Art and had a career as an artist that lasted nearly a decade. As an exhibition of his work opens at the RCA, Dury's daughter Jemima and his old Kilburn and the Highroads band-mate Humphrey Ocean discuss his art and his legacy. Following today's announcement of the longlist for this year's Man Booker Prize for Fiction, Robert Macfarlane, chair of judges, joins John to discuss the 13 books and their authors. The shortlist will be announced on 10 September, and the winner - who will receive a £50,000 prize - will be announced on 15 October. For Cultural Exchange, the musician James Blake chooses Stalker, a film made in 1979 film by the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Natalie Haynes reviews the new West End stage musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, directed by Sam Mendes, and starring Douglas Hodge as Willy Wonka. The Chancellor George Osborne today announced a 7% cut in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport's budget, and a 5% cut to budgets for arts organisations, as part of the government's spending review. Broadcaster Janet Street-Porter, music commentator Norman Lebrecht and Richard Mantle of Opera North suggest areas of the arts which they believe should receive less funding. The playwright and screenwriter Lee Hall selects his Cultural Exchange. He explains why Briggflatts, an autobiographical poem by Basil Bunting, has revealed new layers of meaning over the 30 years that he has been re-reading it. The concert promoter AEG has been warned by the Advertising Standards Authority after they described a Kanye West gig as a "one off" London show, only to announce more dates. Lawyer Duncan Lamont discusses the legal issues around advertising "one offs" and "farewell tours." Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life, a new exhibition at Tate Britain, compares Lancashire born artist L S Lowry with the French tradition of the time and argues for his pre-eminence as a painter of the industrial city. Rachel Cooke reviews. The writer Jonathan Dee, whose novel The Privileges was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, discusses his latest work. A Thousand Pardons explores what it means to apologise and the tradition of apology and forgiveness in public life. Jonathan Dee talks about receiving an angry e-mail from a reader shocked by the novel's dramatic twist. This is the End is the latest collaboration from Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, following Superbad and Pineapple Express. It's set at a glamorous party, where James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill play versions of themselves, with cameos from stars including Rihanna and Emma Watson. The festivities are in full swing when the apocalypse arrives. Viv Groskop reviews. The writer Brian Aldiss, best known for his science fiction, chooses his Cultural Exchange. He explains how The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff, the diary of a young artist written between 1860 and 1884, influenced him when he discovered it as a young boy. Scared To Get Happy is a 5 CD, 134 track box set which charts the history of indie music from 1980 to 1990. An exhaustive collection, it includes tracks from famous names such as The Stone Roses, Primal Scream and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions as well as less familiar groups like Trixie's Big Red Motorbike and Tallulah Gosh, featuring 2013 Turner Prize winner Elizabeth Price. Andrew Collins traces the sound that defined a generation. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Author and illustrator Judith Kerr is best known for her much-loved children's books, which include The Tiger who Came to Tea and When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. In the week of her 90th birthday, she discusses her latest book, Judith Kerr's Creatures, which celebrates her life, family and work. She talks about the inspiration for her books and her family's remarkable story of escape from Nazi Germany. Admission is a new comedy set at Princeton University. Tina Fey is an admissions officer who's approached by a teacher (Paul Rudd) trying to persuade her to accept his brilliant but troubled pupil. Critic and writer Elaine Showalter, who used to teach at Princeton, gives her verdict. Dates, a new TV drama series, focuses on the uncomfortable, funny and complex situations arising when people meet for a first date. The series, created by Bryan Elsley, who also launched Skins, features a cast including Sheridan Smith, Will Mellor, Oona Chaplin and Gemma Chan. Writer and advice columnist Bel Mooney reviews. In Cultural Exchange, in which creative minds share a cultural passion, novelist Mark Haddon nominates the Uffington White Horse, a giant prehistoric chalk figure on the Berkshire Downs. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Kirsty Lang. The artist Alfred Munnings is best remembered as a painter of English rural scenes and horses. An ill- judged speech to the Royal Academy in 1949, in which he attacked Picasso, Henry Moore and modern art in general, led him to be seen as a reactionary and conservative figure. But a new film about his early life, Summer in February, reveals another side to Munnings. Set in an artists' colony in Cornwall, the film explores the bohemian existence and love affairs of painters including Sir Alfred Munnings and Dame Laura Knight before they became established. Kirsty Lang discovers the love triangle that tore young Munnings's life apart and asks whether his outspoken views and traditional approach to art in later life has led him to be overlooked as a painter. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Award-winning documentary maker Norma Percy's latest series, The Iraq War, investigates the events that led Britain and America to go to war with Iraq, with testimony from major players including Tony Blair, Jack Straw and key figures in the Iraqi government. Chris Mullin and Richard Ottaway MP discuss whether the series give us a new insight into how the war came about. To celebrate the centenary of Stravinsky's controversial ballet The Rite of Spring, dancer and choreographer Akram Khan has created a new interpretation of the piece with an original score by Nitin Sawnhey, Jocelyn Pook and Ben Frost. Akram Khan discusses his new work ITMOi (In the Mind of Igor) and explains how he went about following in Stravinsky's footsteps. In Cultural Exchange, in which leading creative minds share a cultural passion, historian Antonia Fraser champions J M W Turner's painting The Fighting Temeraire. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Writer Allan Cubitt discusses his new TV drama The Fall. Set in Belfast, it stars Gillian Anderson as Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson, who has been brought in from the Metropolitan Police to review an unsolved murder. Allan Cubitt discusses creating the tense atmosphere and tangled plot lines of the new crime drama. In the latest Cultural Exchange, The Archbishop of Canterbury shares his passion for Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, and also reflects on how we should commemorate the forthcoming centenary of the 1914-18 war. Shakepeare's Titus Andronicus includes a notorious scene requiring a pie with gruesome ingredients. As a new production of the play opens at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Craig Almond, Senior Prop Technician at the RSC, discuss the art of creating food on stage, and Alycia Smith-Howard, author of The Food of Love, examines Shakespeare's other culinary demands. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Zoe Wanamaker, familiar to TV and cinema audiences from her roles in My Family, Poirot and the Harry Potter films, returns to the stage in a new production of Passion Play by Peter Nichols - a drama about marriage and temptation. She reflects on her approach to theatre, and remembers her father Sam, founder of Shakespeare's Globe theatre. Swedish novelist and critic Jan Arnald uses the pen-name Arne Dahl when writing crime-fiction. His novels about Paul Hjelm and his colleagues in the Intercrime Group, an elite team of Swedish detectives, were adapted for Swedish TV, and are currently being broadcast on BBC Four. The books themselves are now being published in English. He discusses the advantages of having a team of detectives, rather than an individual, and about the reaction in Sweden to the British passion for Scandi Noir fiction. In the latest edition of the Cultural Exchange project, in which 75 leading creative minds share their passion for a book, film, poem, piece of music or other work of art, Suggs from Madness nominates the poem On a Portrait of a Deaf Man by John Betjeman. It's 50 years since The Beatles first topped the UK singles chart with From Me to You, which was a hit in May 1963. But what else was in the Top 40 back then? David Hepworth considers whether this was a turning-point in pop history, and identifies some other classics in that week's chart. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. On 3 April 2011, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was arrested at Beijing airport. He disappeared for 81 days and on his release the government claimed his imprisonment related to tax evasion. Howard Brenton's latest play is based on an account of conversations with Ai, in which he told the story of that imprisonment. Howard Brenton discusses the creation of the play, and also the DVD release of his memorable but never repeated 1986 noir BBC series Dead Head. William McIlvanney's Laidlaw trilogy of crime novels created a hard-drinking, Glaswegian, middle-aged cop with marital issues that inspired a generation of fellow Scottish writers including Ian Rankin, Christopher Brookmyre, Val McDermid and Denise Mina. As the Laidlaw series is republished, William McIlvanney talks about Raymond Chandler, poetry and the moment he realized that not everybody's mother read the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Io e Te (Me and You) is the latest film from Bernardo Bertolucci, the Italian director of Last Tango in Paris. Adapted from a novel by Niccolo Ammantini , Io e Te follows Lorenzo, a teenage boy who, keen to be alone, pretends to be on a school trip while he hides out in a basement, only to find himself unexpectedly joined by his half-sister. Gaylene Gould reviews. The contenders for the Ivor Novello Awards for songwriting, announced today, include an unexpected name: the composer Dmitri Shostakovich receives a co-writing nomination in the Best Contemporary Song category - because his music was sampled on a song by rapper and singer Plan B. Steve Yates looks at other unusual borrowings by contemporary stars. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Richard Bean's play One Man, Two Guvnors, a re-working of A Servant of Two Masters, has proved one of the biggest theatrical hits of recent years. His earlier play Smack Family Robinson - a dark comedy about the family of a well-to-do drug dealer - now receives a new production starring Keith Allen and Denise Welch. Richard Bean reflects on drugs, gags, and being labelled a right wing playwright. Actress Olga Kurylenko, who reached a global audience in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, discusses her latest role in Oblivion, a dystopian thriller which also stars Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman. The Ukrainian-born actress, who moved to France when a teenager to work as a model, talks about her journey from small town Ukraine to Hollywood. A new Nordic crime drama starts on BBC Four this weekend. Arne Dahl, from Sweden, follows a team of detectives in pursuit of a serial killer, and follows the popular Scandinavian dramas The Killing, Borgen and Wallander. Arne Dahl is the pseudonym of writer Jan Arnald, on whose books the series is based. Jeff Park, who has read the books, discusses whether they work on screen. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson In the film Compliance, a police officer phones a fast food restaurant and tells the middle-aged manageress that a young employee is accused of stealing. He asks her to detain the girl until the police arrive. She complies. As the situation develops, in near real time, it becomes uncomfortable to remember that the film is based on real events. Jenny McCartney reviews. Writer and producer Kay Mellor discusses the return of her TV drama The Syndicate, which stars Alison Steadman and Jimi Mistry. This time it's the turn of five low-paid workers at a Bradford hospital to win the Euro millions jackpot. Kay Mellor discusses writing about the experience of gaining sudden wealth against a backdrop of economic austerity. A new version of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler tranports the play to Birmingham in the early 1960s, with the central character now called Heather Gardner. Similarly, Strindberg's Miss Julie has been reworked to become Mies Julie, set in the Karoo, South Africa. Writers Robin French and Yael Farber discuss their current productions, and Patrick Marber reflects on relocating Strindberg to Britain in 1945, in his play After Miss Julie. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Actor Mark Strong is familiar from TV dramas including Our Friends in the North, Prime Suspect and The Long Firm, and feature films such as Green Lantern, Sherlock Holmes and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He now co-stars in Welcome To The Punch, playing a notorious criminal alongside James McAvoy's embittered cop. He reflects on playing villains, acting in slow motion and the art of wearing wigs. Author Tash Aw discusses his new novel, Five Star Billionaire. Set in Shanghai, the story is told from the perspective of five migrant Malaysian workers. Sketch comedy duo Anna Crilly and Katy Wix have a new TV series starting this week, which showcases their comic creations and satirizes well-known TV formats. They discuss their new characters and continuing the long tradition of comedy double acts. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Kirsty Lang Tracey Thorn is best known as one half of Everything But the Girl, the band she formed with her partner Ben Watt while they were still at University in the early 1980s. Now semi-retired from music, the singer has written a memoir about her career in the music industry, Bedsit Disco Queen. Tracey Thorn talks to Kirsty Lang about her ambivalent attitude to fame and how she was so shy as a teenager that she auditioned to be the singer in a band from inside a wardrobe. Gael García Bernal discusses his Oscar-nominated film, No, set in Pinochet's Chile. García Bernal stars as an advertising executive hired to spearhead the "No" campaign against the military dictator in the 1988 referendum. Kimberley Walsh of Girls Aloud has just released her debut solo CD, Centre Stage, an album of classic songs from musicals. She joins a long list of diverse singers who have covered show tunes. Cultural commentator Sarfraz Mansoor discusses the various reasons artists are attracted to show tunes, and what it is they - and their fans - get out of it. Nicholas Hoult stars as a curiously introspective teenage Zombie in romantic comedy Warm Bodies. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews the latest twist on the "zom rom com". Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Terry Jones and his son, director Bill Jones, discuss working together on the film A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman. Based on recordings made by Chapman, the animated film also includes the voices of fellow Pythons Terry Jones, John Cleese, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam. Chiwetel Ejiofor talks about his role in Dancing on the Edge, the new TV drama from writer and director Stephen Poliakoff, in which he plays a 1930s jazz band leader. He also reflects on previous roles, which include Othello on stage. The new TV series Being Eileen continues the story of the dysfunctional Lewis family, first seen in the one-off Christmas drama Lapland. Chris Dunkley looks back at the tradition of turning one-off dramas into long-running series. The film I Give It A Year is the directorial debut of Dan Mazer, co-writer of films including Borat and Bruno. Unlike traditional rom-coms, the story unfolds after the wedding, with Rafe Spall and Rose Byrne playing newly-weds battling against a potential break-up. Gaylene Gould gives her verdict. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With John Wilson. Wilko Johnson, one of Britain's most charismatic guitarists, has terminal cancer, with doctors suggesting that he has less than a year to live. As he prepares for farewell UK concerts in March, he reflects on how his diagnosis has made him feel "vividly alive". And, guitar in hand, he demonstrates the distinctive terse sound which powered the band Dr Feelgood in the 1970s, when they became one of the UK's most influential live acts. To mark the centenary of the birth of painter William Scott, the Tate St Ives is celebrating his life and art with an exhibition of his most important work. John talks to William Scott's son about his father's life and legacy, and how he influenced Rothko's decision to bequeath his paintings to the Tate. Henry James' classic horror story The Turn Of The Screw has been adapted by Benjamin Britten into an opera, produced as a ballet by William Tuckett, turned into a film starring Deborah Kerr and become several TV dramas. Now playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz has created a stage version, co-produced by Hammer Theatre Of Horror - the company's first venture into theatre. Author Kate Saunders joins John to assess just how chilling this new incarnation is. Producer: Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln has been nominated for 12 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Daniel Day-Lewis is favourite to win Best Actor for his portrayal of the 16th American president Abraham Lincoln, as he fights to abolish slavery. Elaine Showalter reviews. Northern Irish crime novelist Adrian McKinty has just published the second book in his Sean Duffy trilogy. I Hear the Sirens in the Street features Duffy, a Catholic detective inspector in the RUC at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. McKinty now lives in the US and Australia, and discusses his latest novel and his recent return to his home town of Carrickfergus, County Antrim, to discover that violence and demonstrations are still a potential feature of daily life. In the latest of Front Row's interviews with the winners of the Costa Book Awards, Hilary Mantel reflects on the continuing success of her novel Bring Up The Bodies, which also won the Man Booker Prize. She also discusses the forthcoming TV and stage adaptations of her work, in the light of today's announcement that the Royal Shakespeare Company will produce versions of Wolf Hall, which also won the Booker, and Bring Up The Bodies. Lesley Joseph and Brian Conley discuss what it's like still performing in panto at the end of January. Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates is running in Birmingham until the end of this week. The actors explain how the show has to change after Christmas. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With John Wilson. David Cameron, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton and David Attenborough are among 135 people each reading a chapter a day of Herman Melville's epic novel Moby Dick, on a website curated by writer and whale enthusiast Philip Hoare. He talks about choosing an appropriate reading for the Prime Minister, and pairing chapters with works by artists such as Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Tony Oursler - director of the video for David Bowie's new single - who created today's image of a whale's eye. To mark the 150th birthday of the London Underground tomorrow, John and author Iain Sinclair go down the escalators to discuss the Tube's contribution to our culture, from the graphic-design, murals and architecture at the stations themselves, to the ways the Tube has cropped up in art, books and films - from Henry Moore's wartime drawings to American werewolves chasing hapless commuters. Utopia is a new TV thriller which focuses on a mysterious graphic novel and the sinister events that befall a group of people when they get hold of an original manuscript of it. Graphic novel enthusiast Rachel Cooke gives her verdict. Winner of the 2013 Brits Critics' Choice award Tom Odell has been writing music since he was 13. Now aged 22, he signed a record deal after four gigs. He discusses his debut EP Songs From Another Love, and the expectations that can accompany a high-profile award. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson. Tom Hooper, director of the King's Speech, has now taken on one of the most successful musicals of all time, Les Miserables. Jason Solomons reviews the film in which actors, including Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, had to sing live on set. The latest novel from Mo Yan, the Chinese winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize for literature, has been published in English before Chinese. Described as a "bizarre romp through the Chinese countryside" Pow! examines life in contemporary China. Alex Clark discusses Mo Yan's take on Chinese society. Ben Miller returns to our screens this evening in the second series of Death in Paradise, a quirky TV crime drama set on the island of Guadeloupe. He reflects on playing a British police inspector who finds he is a fish out of water when he lands a job as the island's new detective. Producer Olivia Skinner.

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. 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 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.

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. 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.