Podcasts about producer rebecca nicholson

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

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

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

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

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

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

With Naomi Alderman. The last episode of cult TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer was broadcast in Britain ten years ago. At the time, Naomi believed that the show would lead to the creation of a host of other strong and complex female leads - who would inspire young women in the same way Buffy had inspired her. So where are all the "daughters of Buffy"? Naomi explores Buffy's legacy with the help of Buffy's creator Joss Whedon, and with actor Anthony Head, writers Neil Gaiman and Rhianna Pratchett, TV executives Jane Root and Susanne Daniels, and mega-fans Blake Harrison and Bim Adewunmi. Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang Derren Brown's latest television show sees the illusionist attempt to teach a group of senior citizens how to steal a valuable painting from a gallery in broad daylight. Derren tells Kirsty why he chose to focus on an art theft, and also explains his reason for choosing senior citizens to pull it off. Metro Manila, a low-budget thriller set in the Philippines and shot entirely in the Austronesian language of Tagalog, was last night named British independent film of the year. Its director, Sean Ellis - who had to re-mortgage his home to fund the film - picked up the Best Director prize. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews the film, and considers the extraordinary story behind it. Kirsty talks to MJ Delaney about her first feature film, Powder Room. Adapted from a play, When Girls Wee, it follows a group of young women during a night out clubbing. Set mostly in the ladies' room, Sam (Sheridan Smith) is down on her luck and thinks everyone's happier than she is, so she pretends to be something she isn't. MJ made her name as the director of Newport State Of Mind, a music video parody of a Jay-Z and Alicia Keys song, Empire State Of Mind, which went viral in 2010. Author Eimear McBride talks about her debut novel, A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing, which recently won the inaugural Goldsmiths Prize. The book is an experimental work - the story of an Irish girlhood told by an un-named narrator - and it was completed nine years ago, but Eimear struggled to find a publisher for it. She discusses trying to create a new sort of fiction - between the language of James Joyce and the silence of Samuel Beckett - and explains why she believes publishers should take more chances with challenging fiction. Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Ian Rankin talks to John about the latest investigation by his much-loved detective, John Rebus - who has returned to the Edinburgh CID, but at a lower rank. The story is set amidst the current reform to the structure of the Scottish police - and Rebus finds himself in the middle of a culture clash between his fellow old-hands, and younger officers who use social media and what Rebus calls "touchy-feely policing methods". The Bible is an epic, 10 hour mini-series that dramatises the Old and New Testaments - from Genesis to Revelation. Each episode is action-packed: the first one, for example, includes Eden, Noah, Abraham and Isaac, and Moses parting the Red Sea. Natalie Haynes considers whether the series has mass-appeal, or is strictly for viewers interested in religion. The Beatles, David Bowie and Pink Floyd have all had their music mixed in the studio by legendary producer and engineer Ken Scott. He discusses working in Abbey Road, why The Beatles' White Album proved to be pivotal in his career, and the techniques he developed to create a distinctive sound. Stephen Shore is a pioneer of contemporary photography; after developing his style at Andy Warhol's Factory in the 1960s, he was the first living artist to have a solo exhibition of colour photography at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art in New York. Shore continues to focus on the everyday subject matter that brought him attention - open highways, motel interiors, pedestrians and plates of food - but now works in Hebron, Abu Dhabi and Ukraine. Shore discusses his new exhibition, Something + Nothing, which shows his newer photographs side-by-side with work from the 1970s. Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson Author Donna Tartt discusses her long-awaited third novel, The Goldfinch. Like her previous books, The Secret History and The Little Friend, The Goldfinch has taken Tartt a decade to write. The plot centres around the theft of a priceless painting, the goldfinch of the title, which is stolen from a museum after a horrific bombing in the opening chapters. Donna Tartt talks about the long gestation period for her novels, and how studying Greek tragedy informed the book's structure. Actor Forest Whitaker discusses his starring role in The Butler, a film inspired by the real-life story of a White House butler who served during seven presidential administrations. Through the eyes of the butler and his family, the film follows the changing tides in American politics and race relations - from the assassinations of John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King, to the Black Panthers, and Watergate. The Pet Shop Boys' latest single is called Thursday. David Quantick considers which days of the week are the least-loved, by songwriters. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. David Beckham talks about being a photographic muse - and of what's it's been like, living his life in front of a camera-lens. Singer-songwriter Graham Nash found fame with The Hollies and then with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. He's just published his memoirs and reflects on his upbringing in Salford and how his childhood was affected by his father's prison sentence. He also describes the unique harmonies created through his friendship with David Crosby and Stephen Stills - and his thorny relationship with Neil Young. Guitarist Brian May, founder member of Queen, also has a life-long passion for Diableries, 19th century French cards with 3D views of the underworld printed on them. He and fellow-enthusiast Denis Pellerin explain how these gothic images became hugely popular, and how Brian developed a modern day stereoscope in order to view them. A new dramatisation of Dracula arrives on TV for Halloween, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. This version sees the count posing as an American industrialist who arrives in England claiming he wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. In reality, he hopes to wreak revenge on the people who ruined his life, centuries earlier. Antonia Quirke reviews. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Following in the footsteps of Homer's Odyssey, Morrissey's Autobiography has been published as a Penguin Classic. The singer takes readers through his childhood in Manchester, The Smiths' success and subsequent court battles, insights into personal relationships - and unexpected stories, including an invitation to appear in Friends. Philip Hoare, a winner of The Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction, reviews. Director Clio Barnard, who won acclaim for The Arbor, her portrait of the Bradford writer Andrea Dunbar, talks to John about her new film The Selfish Giant, loosely based on a story by Oscar Wilde, which now focuses on two boys lured into the world of scrap metal. Nelson, Navy, Nation is a new permanent gallery at the National Maritime Museum. Opening on Trafalgar Day (21 October) it looks at how the Royal Navy shaped individual lives and the course of British history in the 18th century - a period when sea-faring heroes were national celebrities. Naval historian Dr Sam Willis reviews. Tonight's edition of Glee is a tribute to actor Cory Monteith, who died earlier this year and who played the central role of Finn Hudson in the series. Boyd Hilton, TV editor of Heat magazine, discusses how programme-makers deal with unexpected tragedies or cast-absences in long running series. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson.Sitar player Anoushka Shankar discusses her latest album, Traces Of You, which features vocals from her half-sister, the singer Norah Jones. The album was influenced by the death of her father, the legendary sitar player Ravi Shankar, and explores the cycle of life. Anoushka Shankar explains how the worldwide outcry following the death of a young woman who was gang raped in India, led her to reveal that she too was sexually abused as a young girl.Truckers is the new TV drama by Made In Dagenham writer, William Ivory. Set in Nottingham, each episode tells the story of one character: starting with Stephen Tompkinson as a driver dealing with the breakdown of his marriage. The series also stars Ashley Walters (Top Boy) and Sian Breckin (Tyrannosaur). Matt Thorne reviews.In a rare interview, artist Frank Auerbach talks in detail about his approach to his work, explaining that he goes to his studio every single day, without ever taking a day off, because he enjoys it so much. He also points out that, although he is seen as an abstract artist, he actually paints exactly what he sees in front of him...Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Sting discusses The Last Ship, his latest album and the first original material he has released for nearly a decade. Based on Sting's experiences growing up in a shipbuilding community on Tyneside, The Last Ship is a narrative about the demise of the industry seen through the eyes of a range of characters. Sting talks about the autobiographical element of the songs, and how he is writing a Broadway musical about the same subject, which is due to open next year. Australia, at the Royal Academy in London, is the first major survey of Australian art in the UK for over 50 years, and includes work by early 19th century settlers, aboriginal artists, impressionists, and 20th century painters such as Sidney Nolan. Charlotte Mullins reviews. Front Row announces the winner of Gramophone magazine's Recording Of The Year 2013, and John talks to the winning artist. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang. Skinny jeans, phone calls and cameramen recording intimate footage all appear in a mediaeval setting, in a new National Theatre production of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II. Making his debut at the National Theatre, director Joe Hill-Gibbins adds a modern twist to this erotic and brutal play, which stars John Heffernan in the title role. Jerry Brotton reviews. Alan Cumming stars in the film Any Day Now, set in the late 70s and based on a true story about a gay couple who become guardians of an abandoned young boy with Down's Syndrome. Everyone's delighted with the progress the child makes under their care - until the fact that they're gay becomes public knowledge. Alan Cumming discusses institutional homophobia both in the story and today, working on the US TV hit series The Good Wife - and cabaret-singing with Liza Minnelli. The exhibition Victoriana: The Art Of Revival features new art inspired by the Victorian era, with pieces from 28 artists including Grayson Perry, Paula Rego, and Jake and Dinos Chapman, and work ranging from ceramics to photography to taxidermy. Rachel Cooke reflects on what 21st century artists take from the 19th century. As the dust settles on this year's Edinburgh Fringe, one of the biggest stories to emerge from the festival was the rise of feminist comedy, culminating when Bridget Christie won the Fosters Comedy Award for her stand-up show, A Bic For Her. Nadia Kamil and Mary Bourke, who both brought feminist shows to Edinburgh this year, discuss how they went about making feminism funny. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang. Foxfire is a new film adapted from Joyce Carol Oates' award-winning bestseller, set in America in 1953. Five headstrong teenage girls form a secret society, the Foxfire gang, in defiance of the violent male-dominated culture of their small town. American writer Diane Roberts reviews. Nick Payne's new play, The Same Deep Water As Me, explores the murky world of personal injury claims. Lawyers Andrew and Barry are focussing on legitimate clients until Andrew's old school friend appears with a plan to make a quick buck. Payne's last play, Constellations, was a love story set against a background of quantum physics - and he talks about choosing weighty topics for his dramas. Artist Cornelia Parker, best-known for blowing up a garden shed and suspending the fragments, reveals her Cultural Exchange choice: Dust Breeding, a photograph by the American surrealist, Man Ray. Charlotte Mendelson discusses her latest novel, Almost English, which has been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize for fiction. The heroine, Marina, is a 16 year old brought up by loving but embarrassing elderly Hungarian relatives. In a bid to become a polished and elegant woman, Marina goes to a very English boarding school. Charlotte Mendelson talks about her own family's complicated history and learning to spell the Hungarian words in her novel. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. In 2010 Dawn Brancheau, a trainer at the Seaworld theme park, died after being dragged into the water by Tilikum, Seaworld's largest performing Orca. A new documentary, Blackfish, explores how Tilikum came to be in captivity and asks whether whales kept as performing animals will inevitably become aggressive. Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan Or The Whale, reviews. The vocal group Naturally 7 are about to perform at this year's BBC Proms. They demonstrate how they create the sounds of a variety of instruments using just their voices, and reveal how they build up a song, layer by layer. A big new library is the flagship project of Birmingham City Council's plans for the regeneration of the city. Ahead of the opening early in September, John takes a tour of the £188 million building, with project director Brian Gambles, and Birmingham-born author Jonathan Coe. Author Kamila Shamsie reveals her Cultural Exchange choice: the 1950 classic movie All About Eve, with Bette Davis as an aging Broadway star. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson. Composer Murray Gold discusses his music for Doctor Who, to be performed in two BBC Proms concerts this weekend. He also explains his aims when writing for such a much-loved series, and how advances in technology have affected his work. Run is a four part Channel 4 series of interlinked stories, with each episode concentrating on a different character. The cast includes Olivia Colman, Lennie James, Katie Leung and Jamie Winstone, and the first episode stars Olivia Colman as a single mother with some difficult choices to make, whilst trying to keep her family together after an act of random violence. Writer Dreda Say Mitchell reviews. Black and white films have returned to the big screen in recent weeks, with Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing and Ben Wheatley's A Field in England, and Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha arrives in the UK later this month. Film critic Ryan Gilbey reflects on why these directors have forsaken colour photography, and considers other directors who have followed a similar route recently. Artist Maggi Hambling discusses her Cultural Exchange choice: the Bacchus series of cascading blood red paintings by the American painter Cy Twombly. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Mary, Queen of Scots: betrayed Catholic martyr or murdering adulteress? A new exhibition at the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh re-examines Mary Stewart through portraits, documents, jewellery and furniture. Poet and dramatist Liz Lochhead - whose play, Mary Queen Of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off, looked at the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth I - reviews the exhibition. Film director Mike Figgis is best-known for Timecode and Leaving Las Vegas, for which he was nominated for an Oscar. His latest project is Suspension Of Disbelief, a noir thriller which focuses on the art of film-making and narrative. He discusses storytelling in cinema, the current state of the UK film industry and his experiences directing James Gandolfini on the set of The Sopranos. Front Row pays tribute to stage designer Mark Fisher, who completely transformed the way that rock shows took place, and designed for The Rolling Stones, U2, Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd, as well as for the Beijing and London Olympics, and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert. Oscar-nominated actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste, currently starring in The Amen Corner at the National Theatre, reveals her choice for Cultural Exchange: jazz trumpeter Miles Davis's influential album, Kind Of Blue. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson Mike Oldfield's album Tubular Bells was released 40 years ago this month - the first disc on Richard Branson's Virgin Records label. Since then, the album has sold millions of copies, featured in the London 2012 opening ceremony, and is now being performed by a duo in the show Tubular Bells For Two on a UK tour. Richard Branson reflects on the genesis of the album, his relationship with Mike Oldfield, and the concert that cost him a car. This year's Cannes Film Festival opened on Wednesday: critic Jason Solomons reports on the hits and misses so far. Trumpeter Alison Balsom reveals her choice for Cultural Exchange: a recording of Bach's St Matthew Passion. She first heard it in her 20s, and feels the work sums up every possible human emotion. The music doesn't feature any trumpets - but she says adding one would spoil its perfection. The film Fast And Furious 6 has just been released - the fifth sequel to 2001's original, The Fast And The Furious. Film critic Adam Smith considers the art of naming sequels. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Agnetha Fältskog talks about her years with Abba, the painful break-up from her marriage to Björn, her solo career and her new album - the first of original material for 25 years - which is called simply A. Hannibal Lecter, the psychiatrist and cannibalistic killer created by Thomas Harris, is about to reappear - this time in a TV series starring Mads Mikkelsen, set before Red Dragon and The Silence Of The Lambs. Hannibal is employed by the FBI to help an unusually gifted criminal profiler, Will Graham, who's haunted by his ability to see into the minds of serial killers. Crime writer Mark Billingham reviews. In the latest episode of Cultural Exchange, in which creative minds select a favourite art-work, writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie nominates Tutu, a painting by Igbo Nigerian painter and sculptor Ben Enwonwu. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson, Nijinsky is known as one of the greatest dancers and most experimental choreographers of the 20th century, but his career was curtailed by mental illness. Lucy Moore has written the first English language biography of Nijinsky for more than 30 years, and she discusses the myths which surround him, his complex relationship with the impresario Diaghilev, and the possible reasons for his breakdown and inability to work again. More from 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: tonight Oscar-winning director Bernardo Bertolucci nominates Federico Fellini's film La Dolce Vita. Dead Man Down is the first Hollywood film from Niels Arden Oplev, the Danish director of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This dark thriller stars Colin Farrell as a hit man working for a New York crime boss and Noomi Rapace, who Arden Oplev worked with on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as a damaged woman seeking his help in her own revenge plot. Mark Eccleston discusses the film and considers the choices European directors have made when making their Hollywood debut. With less than a year to go until the first exhibition opens in the British Museum's new Exhibitions Gallery, John gets a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how the £135 million project is progressing. British Museum director Neil MacGregor explains how the new part of the building will aid conservators and museum scientists in their work, provide a new display areas - and not add a single penny to the museum's current heating or lighting bills. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Matt Damon's new film, Promised Land, based on a story by Dave Eggers, focuses on fracking - extracting gas by fracturing rock layers. Damon plays Steve Butler, an executive sent to a rural town to gain drilling rights, who comes into conflict with an environmental campaigner. The film reunites Damon with Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant. Natalie Haynes reviews. Radio 3 and Proms Controller Roger Wright reveals highlights of this summer's BBC Proms season - including Marin Alsop, the first woman to conduct The Last Night Of The Proms. Singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves has taken US country and western music by storm, topping the country charts with her songs inspired by the darker side of life in small-town America. Guitar in hand, Kacey Musgraves reflects on her inspirations, and how she hopes to confound the expectations of the music industry. The contenders for this year's Deutsche Börse Prize for photography include two projects in which the photographers have curated images they have found online, rather than photos they have taken themselves. Mishka Henner, who has gathered images from Google Streetview, and duo Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, who borrow images from the war on terror, discuss changing ideas about how photographers can capture the world. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson The Broadway hit musical The Book Of Mormon has opened in London. The show is a satirical tale of Mormon missionaries visiting a Ugandan village threatened by a brutal warlord. Book, lyrics and music are by Trey Parker and Matt Stone - creators of the animated comedy, South Park - and Robert Lopez, composer of Avenue Q. Grace Dent reviews. Comedian Lee Mack, writer and star of TV sitcom Not Going Out, talks about surviving the death of British sitcom, the perfect gag-rate and filming two alternative endings for the new series - depending on whether Lee and Lucy finally get together or not. ZSL London Zoo's new "tiger territory" was designed in collaboration with the zoo keepers, and the new enclosure aims to provide the tigers with the most suitable environment. The zoo is known for its famous buildings, and the Lubetkin penguin pool and Snowdon aviary are architectural icons. Michael Kozdon, the architect who designed the new tiger enclosure, zoo keeper Teague Stubbington and architecture critic Owen Hatherley discuss how zoo buildings have changed to accommodate the animals, rather than to make an architectural statement. Nigerian poet and novelist Ben Okri pays tribute to his celebrated countryman Chinua Achebe, who has died aged 82. A novelist, essayist and poet, Achebe is best-known for his novel, Things Fall Apart, which has become the most widely-read book in modern African literature. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Side Effects is a new psychological thriller from director Steven Soderbergh. He claims that it is his final film for cinema, in a career which began with Sex, Lies and Videotape in 1989. Rooney Mara stars as a woman who suffers unexpected side effects from medication prescribed by her psychiatrist, played by Jude Law. Antonia Quirke reviews. The American artist Chuck Close discusses his highly-detailed portraits, created from hundreds of smaller images. He explains why his inability to recognise faces, a consequence of a disability, has led to his focus on portraiture. A new TV series, Bluestone 42, covers unusual ground for a comedy as it follows the fortunes of a bomb disposal squad in Afghanistan. Writers James Cary and Richard Hurst discuss how they researched the storylines with the help of army advisors, and consider the moral dilemmas involved in getting laughs from a war in which soldiers are still serving. The video game icon Lara Croft is making a comeback, five years after the last Tomb Raider game was released. Written by Rhianna Pratchett, the new game explores Lara Croft's origins as a young archaeologist. Helen Lewis reflects on the significance of Lara Croft for a generation of female gamers. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson Damien Hirst talks about humour in art, on the day that a limited edition of 50 signed prints of his diamond encrusted skull go on sale for Red Nose Day. Entitled, For The Love Of Comic Relief, the prints show the skull wearing a glittery red nose, and each is priced at £2500. All proceeds go to Comic Relief. To The Wonder, a new film directed by Terrence Malick and starring Ben Affleck, explores themes of love and separation. Critic Briony Hanson reviews the latest art house film from the director who made his name with Badlands and Days Of Heaven. American-born painter R.B. Kitaj was one of The School Of London: a group of artists, which included Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, who pioneered a new, figurative art. In 1994 a Tate exhibition of his work provoked a torrent of negative reviews, which Kitaj termed The Tate War. This, coupled with the sudden death of his wife, prompted him to leave London for Los Angeles a couple of years later. He died in 2007. Now, in the first major exhibition since then, two galleries are jointly displaying a retrospective of his paintings. Art critic Richard Cork joins John to consider Kitaj's work, and assess the rights and wrongs of The Tate War. Director Marc Isaacs takes John down the stretch of the A5 which inspired his documentary The Road: A Story Of Life And Death. It tells the stories of immigrants who seek a better life in London - facing struggles, loneliness and sometimes tragedy. Starting at London's Marble Arch, Isaacs discusses the areas and characters he met, and how he made the film. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson. Anthony Hopkins plays "the Master of Suspense" in a new film which looks at how Hitchcock made one of his best known films, Psycho, and explores his relationship with his wife Alma, played by Helen Mirren. Novelist and Hitchcock aficionado Nicholas Royle reviews. Antony Sher discusses Richard III, gay marriage and taking the lead in satirical play, The Captain Of Köpenick. Described by its author, Carl Zuckmayer, as a German fairy tale, the story shows how an ex-convict shoemaker manages to impersonate an officer and as a result gains money and power. Novelist Michelle Paver, creator of a fantasy series set in the pre-agricultural Stone Age, joins Mark to discuss the British Museum's exhibition of Ice Age sculpture, ceramics and ornaments. World-renowned Swiss architect Peter Zumthor has been named as recipient of the 2013 RIBA Royal Gold Medal. He talks to Mark about his work and why it was so useful that his own father was a cabinet-maker. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang. Alexei Sayle, often described as the godfather of alternative comedy, is returning to solo stand-up shows after a break of more than 16 years. Sayle, who was known throughout the 1980s for his politically charged rants, reflects on the reasons for his stage come-back, and gives his views on the current generation of comedians. Anna Maxwell Martin, Tamzin Outhwaite and Gina McKee star in Di And Viv And Rose, a play written by Amelia Bullmore, well-known to TV audiences for her own roles in Twenty Twelve and Scott and Bailey. The play examines the relationship between three women, from a university house-share in 1983 to the traumas of middle age. Novelist Naomi Alderman reviews. Violinist Vanessa-Mae is taking a year's sabbatical from performing, in order to try to qualify as a skier in the Thai Winter Olympics team. She explains her motives and talks about why she's prepared to risk - through possible injury - her musical career. The Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh celebrates its 50th birthday this year. It's marking the occasion with a competition for new playwrights, to write a play in just 500 words. The theatre is now staging the 50 winning entries. Two of the writers discuss the challenge of writing such a short drama and playwright Zinne Harris, one of the judges, considers how to make an impact with a script only one page long. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang. A Mormon community in Lancashire provides the setting for The Friday Gospels, a novel by Betty Trask Prize-winner Jenn Ashworth. She was raised as a Mormon until she was a teenager, and she reflects on why she wanted to write about her experience as a British Mormon, when most literature focuses on American Mormon communities. My Mad Fat Diary is a new TV comedy drama series, based on the real life journals of Rae Earl, who recorded her teenage life in Lincolnshire. Stand-up comic Sharon Rooney stars as an overweight 16 year-old, recently released from a psychiatric hospital, and attempting to find a new circle of friends. Writer Grace Dent reviews. Cellist Matthew Barley is celebrating Benjamin Britten's centenary year with 100 concerts and workshops, with a focus on the composer's Third Suite For Cello - written for Rostropovich in 1971. Barley's tour, Around Britten, visits castles, hospices, lighthouses and a cave in the Peak District - as well as concert halls from Orkney to Devon. He tells Kirsty the links between Britten, Russia and his own grandfather - and the experience of recording overnight in Canterbury Cathedral. What Richard Did, the third film from Irish director Lenny Abrahamson, is set in the privileged world of Dublin's young elite. Richard, who is handsome, popular and the star of the rugby team, lives a charmed life - until his carefree existence is destroyed by a violent event. Meg Rosoff discusses the film's treatment of moral choices. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

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 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 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 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 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. Jack Kerouac's novel On The Road has finally been turned into a film - directed by Walter Salles and starring Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley and Kristen Stewart - 60 years after he wrote it. The original manuscript, written over three weeks on one long scroll, is currently on view at the British Library. Writer Iain Sinclair discusses whether the book has made a successful trip from scroll to screen The Broadway musical American Idiot, based on the music of rock band Green Day, has just begun a British tour. It follows the fortunes of three young friends, finding their way in post 9/11 American suburbia. Music critic Kate Mossman reviews. The Cold War has fascinated artists Jane and Louise Wilson ever since they established themselves with two works, Gamma, about the Greenham air force base, and Stasi City, examining the secret police HQ in East Berlin. They tell Kirsty about their latest show, the culmination of a three year project looking at the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Supermodel Agyness Deyn talks about her first major film role, in the thriller Pusher, playing a stripper and drug-dealer's girlfriend. She also describes making the transition to acting, and the art of mastering tricky accents for her forthcoming role in Terence Davies' film Sunset Song. Miranda Hart, Cheryl Cole, Tom Daley and Pudsey the dancing dog are among the wide range of the celebrities who have just published their memoirs. As the rush to top the Christmas book charts begins, The Bookseller's Benedicte Page analyses the state of the autobiography market. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

John Wilson reports live from the BBC International Short Story Award ceremony, where chair of judges Clive Anderson presents the winner with the £15,000 prize. John also talks to members of the band Mumford and Sons about their latest album, Babel, their encounter with the Obamas and borrowing a line or two from a Booker Prize winner. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang. The French film Holy Motors, which provoked boos and cheers at the Cannes film festival, arrives in UK cinemas this week. The cast includes Kylie Minogue as an enigmatic singer. Jason Solomons and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh debate whether the film adds up to more than its parts. The Paradise, a new TV drama series, is a romance set in a glamorous department store in 1875. It's based on a novel by Zola, given a British setting - and the love it depicts includes the female customers' adoration of the products on sale. Biographer Kathryn Hughes reviews. The RSC's latest production of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Iqbal Khan, is set in contemporary India. Writers Jatinder Verma and Hardeep Singh Kohli have done the same for Moliere's The Miser, transporting it from 17th century France. A forthcoming Radio 3 production of Ibsen's A Doll's House, adapted by Tanika Gupta, takes place in 19th century India, rather than Norway. Iqbal Khan, Hardeep Singh Kohli and Tanika Gupta discuss how relocating these dramas to India offers new perspectives on classic works. The latest contender for the £15,000 BBC International Short Story Award is Australian Chris Womersley. He's also a crime writer, and explains why he enjoys working in shorter forms. His story is broadcast tomorrow at 3.30pm. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Clive Anderson, the chair of judges and fellow judge Anjani Joseph announce the 10 contenders for the £15,000 BBC International Short Story Award. All the stories can be heard on Radio 4 from 17 - 28 September, and each writer will be interviewed on Front Row, starting tonight with the author of the story to be broadcast on Monday afternoon. The ten shortlisted stories for the BBC International Short Story Award are: Escape Routes, by Lucy Caldwell The Goose Father, by Krys Lee Sanctuary, by Henrietta Rose-Innes Even Pretty Eyes Commit Crimes, by MJ Hyland Black Voda, by Deborah Levy East Of The West, by Miroslav Penkov A Lovely And Terrible Thing, by Chris Womersley In The Basement, by Adam Ross Before He Left The Family, by Carrie Tiffany The iHole, by Julian Gough Musician John Cale first entered the spotlight as a member of The Velvet Underground in the mid-1960s. Cale, who celebrated his 70th birthday this year, is about to release a new disc, Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood. He reflects on his troubled Welsh childhood, his current feelings about his musical past, and whether he would work again with Lou Reed. The John Moores Painting Prize is a long-standing award, with past winners including David Hockney and Richard Hamilton. The presentation of the £25,000 first prize signals the start of the Liverpool Biennial which opens tomorrow. John talks to this year's winner and to George Shaw - one of this year's judges - who was himself a John Moores Painting Prize winner in 1999. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette reflects on her career so far, and her latest album, Havoc And Bright Lights. Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman star in the film Take This Waltz, a story of eroticism and infidelity that plays out through a sweltering Toronto summer. The film is directed by Sarah Polley. Antonia Quirke reviews. The author of the music business satire Kill Your Friends, novelist John J Niven, reveals why he's written his first crime thriller, Cold Hands American composer John Cage is celebrated for the way he challenges assumptions about what constitutes music. His work Branches uses cactuses as instruments. Ahead of a performance at the BBC Proms, cactus-player Robyn Schulkowsky brings cactuses to the studio, to demonstrate what Cage had in mind - and why. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang Meera Syal has made her professional Shakespeare debut playing Beatrice in the RSC's new production of Much Ado About Nothing. Directed by Iqbal Khan, this latest adaptation sets the comedy in modern-day India - with Paul Bhattacharjee playing Benedict. Author Bidisha gives the critical verdict. Director Lynn Alleway discusses her experiences making a documentary, which follows an Old Order Amish family in America. According to the strict rules of the Amish church, filming is not permitted, so by opening up their homes and life to the cameras Miriam and David risk being ex-communicated and excluded from their society. Glasgow writer Louise Welsh talks about her latest novel, The Girl on the Stairs, a thriller set in Berlin - and also about the libretto she's written for a short opera called Ghost Patrol, about soldiers returning from an unspecified war. The opera is part of a Scottish Opera season opening at the Edinburgh Festival. With Kate Moss appearing in a video for George Michael's track White Light, and Daniel Radcliffe in a Snow Club video - David Quantick considers cameos in pop videos. In celebration of the Olympics, the BBC - in partnership with the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh - has selected and recorded a poem representing every country that's competing. Each poem is introduced and read by a native of the country in question, who has made their home here in Britain. Every night during the Olympics, Front Row features one of these poems. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson. Matthew McConaughey and Channing Tatum star in Magic Mike, the latest film from Traffic and Ocean's Eleven director Steven Soderbergh. The film explores the world of all-male dance shows with Channing Tatum as the young stripper who dreams of something more. Antonia Quirke reviews. As John Morton's mockumentary Twenty Twelve - about the challenges facing the team charged with staging the 2012 Olympics - reaches its climax in three final episodes, he discusses the difficulty of making comedy just to the side of reality, and why he had no time to buy tickets to the real Olympic Games. Italian writer Andrea Camilleri, winner of this year's Crime Writers' Association International Dagger Award for the best crime novel translated into English, reflects on his famous creation - the food-loving Sicilian detective, Inspector Montalbano. Niall Leonard - the husband of E.L.James, creator of the best-selling 50 Shades of Grey series - also has a book deal. Professor John Sutherland joins Mark to discuss husband-and-wife writing careers. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang Zoe Williams, critic and author of What Not To Expect When You're Expecting, reviews the film Friends With Kids - a new comedy starring many of the cast of Bridesmaids, about a couple of friends who decide to have a child together, but not a relationship. A new exhibition of the art of Edvard Munch aims to make us look again at the artist best known for The Scream. It reveals his obsession with the rise of photography, film and stage production, features around sixty paintings and fifty photographs - and also includes his lesser-known filmic work. Critic Jackie Wullschlager of the Financial Times gives her verdict. The Poetry Parnassus is a London 2012 project which has worked to bring together the poetry from all two hundred and four nations competing in the Olympics. Simon Armitage discusses the project and introduces Audrey Brown-Pereira of the Cook Islands and Zeyar Lynn of Burma - who reflect on their involvement in the project. Author Clare Clark talks to Kirsty about her latest novel, Beautiful Lies. Set in Victorian London when society is all a flutter over Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, the story examines questions of authenticity and faith. Clare Clark considers why the period in question holds such fascination for her. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang Gatz is a unique adaptation of The Great Gatsby, requiring an actor to read all 49,000 words of the novel as the rest of the cast bring it to life, in a production that lasts almost 8 hours. But is this more than just a feat of memory? Andrew Dickson delivers his verdict. Olympic gold medal winner Denise Lewis reviews Fast Girls, a new British drama about a women's relay team, and considers whether fiction can ever compete with the real drama of sport. In the last of FRONT ROW's reports on the four shortlisted contenders for this year's £100,000 Art Fund Prize, Kirsty visits Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery, in Exeter - to see the results the results of their multi-million-pound redevelopment. Helene Hegemann's novel, Axolotl Roadkill, published when she was 18, was a literary sensation in her native Germany. A grim tale of drugs, sex and mental illness, it features 15 year-old Mifti, an abused child in freefall. When claims of plagiarism were made its author was pilloried in the press. Now, as the book is published in the UK, Helene Hegemann puts her side of the story. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Musician and writer Patti Smith joins John to talk about her new album, BANGA, which features a song in memory of Amy Winehouse. Film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews Snow White And The Huntsman, a twist on the classic fairy tale - which stars Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron. Ben Drew, aka rapper Plan B, discusses his directorial debut Ill Manors and explains why he's always thought of himself as a film director who sings rather than vice versa. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Novelist Mark Haddon found fame with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, an adventure story from the perspective of a boy with Asperger syndrome. His latest book is The Red House which explores modern life through the prism of a family holiday. The shortlist for the 2012 Turner Prize for art is announced today. Critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston gives her verdict on the contenders. Norah Jones, singer-songwriter and daughter of sitar legend Ravi Shankar, achieved great success with her debut album Come Away with Me, which sold more than 10 million copies. Her new album Broken Little Hearts details a recent break-up. She reflects on why this is such a rich theme in her music. Roy Hodgson is the new manager of the England football team but that's not the only thing he shares with predecessor Fabio Capello. Both men are fans of the artist Wassily Kandinsky. Football writer Jim White reflects on why the artist might particularly appeal to these football heavyweights. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson. Actor David Suchet discusses his role in a new production of Long Day's Journey Into Night and laments the passing of Poirot. Roger Wright, controller of Radio 3, joins Mark to share a few highlights of this summer's BBC Proms concerts: Daniel Barenboim conducting his first ever Beethoven symphony cycle in London; operas including Nixon In China, Congolese musicians Staff Benda Bilili and Radio 4's Desert Island Discs celebrating its 70th birthday with a live prom; and this year's Children's Prom launches the audience into the wonderful world of Wallace and Gromit. To celebrate the centenary of the British Board of Film Classification, The British Silent Film Festival is hosting an examination of the early days of film censorship. Bryony Dixon of the British Film Institute and Lucy Brett, education officer at the BBFC, tell Mark how and why censorship came about, what sort of person was hired as a sensor of silent films - and what sort of things they cut out. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson. A major Damien Hirst retrospective exhibition opens this week at Tate Modern. Damien Hirst discusses his success and the reaction he gets from cab-drivers, and critic Jackie Wullschlager gives her verdict. In his new film This Must Be The Place, Sean Penn is almost unrecognisable as Cheyenne, a fifty year-old Goth and former rock star, who sets off on a journey of discovery after his father's death. Jenny McCartney reviews. Michael Grade has held top positions at the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. He's now presenting a Radio 2 series examining Britain's television industry. The former BBC Chairman discusses commissioning Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective in the BBC toilets, being asked to lower ratings at ITV, and the moment he thought that Bob Geldof had ended his career. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang in New York. Thomas Campbell, the British director of the vast Metropolitan Museum, talks about his plans for the future and coping with the financial restraints of a recession. The British TV series Downton Abbey has proved to be a spectacular success in the US. Some of New York's die-hard fans analyse why it appeals to Americans. Trumpeter and composer Nicholas Payton caused a storm in a recent blog, when he wrote that the word jazz should be replaced by the term Black American Music. He feels "the J-word" has become outdated, and he explains why. Gatz, an eight hour long stage version of the classic American novel The Great Gatsby, is coming to the UK in the summer. Director John Collins and lead actor Scott Shepherd tell Kirsty why their production is so long, and how Scott ended up learning the entire book off by heart. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Dame Judi Dench leads a cast of British stars, including Bill Nighy and Maggie Smith, in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a film which follows a group of pensioners attracted by the prospect of spending their golden years in India. Joan Bakewell gives her verdict. Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller is about to open a new exhibition which brings together almost all his major works to date, including installations, videos, photographs, performance works and sound pieces. Some works also feature volunteers as participants. John talks to Jeremy and to three of the volunteers. On the eve of the 2012 Brit Awards, John speaks to nominees who have found inspiration in great literary figures, with Kate Bush and Laura Marling on James Joyce and Charlotte Bronte, Critics' Choice Winner Emeli Sande on Virginia Woolf, Guy Garvey from Elbow on Alan Bennett; and PJ Harvey on Harold Pinter. Plus producer Paul Epworth on working on the album which dominated 2011 - Adele's 21. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Don McLean, winner of a lifetime achievement award at the Radio 2 Folk Awards last night, discusses his classic album American Pie 40 years after it topped the British charts. Yayoi Kusama is perhaps Japan's best known living artist. In the 1960s and 1970s she became an important figure in the New York avant-garde. As a major retrospective of her work opens at the Tate Modern, she reflects on the mental illness that has informed her art and her influence on artists from Andy Warhol to Damien Hirst. The Golden Collar Awards - the Oscars for dogs - take place on Monday, and Martin Scorsese has been campaigning for Blackie, the canine star of his film Hugo, against stiff opposition from The Artist's Uggie. John and his dog, Jock, meet Blackie and her trainer Julie Tottman, to find out what it takes to be a dog star. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson. Hajj: Journey To The Heart Of Islam, at the British Museum, is the first major exhibition dedicated to the pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Historian Thomas Asbridge and Mehdi Hasan of the New Statesman give their verdict. The film Like Crazy was a hit at last year's Sundance Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prize. British actress Felicity Jones - who played Emma in The Archers - won best actress for her starring role in this largely improvised film, which tracks a long-distant relationship. Rebecca Nicholson reviews. Last year, writer and actor Chris Larner accompanied his chronically ill ex-wife, Allyson, to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland. His one-man show about the experience won a Fringe First Award in Edinburgh, and he's about to take it on a national tour. He tells the story of its creation, and discusses what it's like to go straight from playing a pantomime dame to this more reflective show. Comedian and actress Andi Osho is now an established figure on the stand-up circuit. She tells John about why she thinks her early acting career featured so many medical roles - and what drew her to comic performance. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson Screenwriter Heidi Thomas, whose credits include Cranford, discusses her forthcoming TV adaptation of Jennifer Worth's best-selling memoir Call The Midwife, set in the East End of London in the 1950s. John talks to the trumpeter Alison Balsom, twice-winner of the Female Artist Of The Year award at the Classic Brits, whose latest CD showcases 20th century works for trumpet, including a piece written for Alison by the composer James MacMillan Publisher Jamie Byng tells the story behind The Last Holiday, the posthumous memoir of singer-songwriter Gil Scott-Heron In a year where arts organisations around the UK are calling for volunteers for a range of projects, Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller explains why he's advertising for people to help with his own installations, which include a fully-functional cafe. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

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

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

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

With Kirsty Lang. Tamsin Greig, who plays Debbie in The Archers, returns to the stage in Jumpy, a new play by April De Angelis which focuses on the relationship between a mother and her difficult teenaged daughter. Tamsin discusses why she doesn't see herself as a comic actress, and reflects on the uncertainties of the actor's life. In 1979, Monty Python's film Life Of Brian caused outrage around the world. Michael Palin and John Cleese took part in a televised debate with Malcolm Muggeridge and the Bishop of Southwark, to defend their film against charges of blasphemy. A new TV drama, Holy Flying Circus, tells the story of this encounter. Writer Peter Stanford reviews. Former Python turned director Terry Gilliam has made a short film which was wholly financed by an Italian pasta company. Wholly Family is being screened as part of the BFI London Film Festival. He talks about the making of the film - and why he feels he wasn't selling out. A new documentary Blood In The Mobile examines how minerals commonly used in mobile phones are extracted in illegal mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and could fund the conflict there. The film's director Frank Poulsen, who appears on screen, discusses his approach to this difficult subject. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With John Wilson, who presents live from the BBC National Short Story Award ceremony, with news of this year's winner of the £15,000 prize, announced by the chair of judges Sue MacGregor. Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason reveals some of the untold stories behind previously-unheard tracks by the band, now released for the first time. Jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli played on a version of Wish You Were Here (Yehudi Menuhin declined the invitation), and you can hear the results on tonight's progamme. Helen Mirren stars as a former Mossad agent, brought out of retirement to catch an elderly Nazi, in the new film thriller The Debt. Mark Eccleston reviews. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.