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Sarah Gosling is joined by Ferris & Sylvester, music director Kojo Samuel and composer Tom Foskett-Barnes, in a show recorded at the recent BBC Music Introducing Live weekend in London's Tobacco Docks. Ferris & Sylvester are a blues folk duo, championed by BBC Introducing, who played Glastonbury this year and are recording their debut album. Izzy Ferris and Archie Sylvester perform two of their songs, Flying Visit and London's Blues. Kojo Samuel is one of pop music's top music directors, who works with Stormzy, Jess Glynne, Dave, Rudimental and Rita Ora, and was responsbile for Stormzy's Glastonbury performance this year. But what does a music director actually do? Kojo Samuel explains. Composer Tom Foskett-Barnes has created a new audio documentary about the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, the charity phoneline that has provided help since the 1970s. He was comissioned by the New Creative scheme, run by BBC Introducing Arts and Arts Council England. BBC Music Introducing Live is a weekend of masterclasses, interactive sessions and performances for emerging artists, music fans and anyone who wants to know more about how to get into the music industry. Presenter Sarah Gosling is the BBC Music Introducing Presenter for Devon and Cornwall and hosts evening shows on BBC Radio Devon. Producer: Timothy Prosser
Recorded in front of an audience at the Barbican Theatre in Plymouth, Sarah Gosling introduces and showcases the artists and performers making a name for themselves in Devon, in collaboration with BBC Music Introducing. Grace Lightman is an electropop singer whose debut album Silver Eater is about an alien stranded on earth. BBC Music Introducing artist Grace performs her lead track Repair Repair with her band. 17 year old writer Jonny Hibbs has created a comic audio drama about young farmers and a rural dating app called CattleGrid! He was commissioned by the New Creatives talent scheme run by BBC Introducing Arts and Arts Council England, which gives emerging artists aged 16-30 the chance to have their works broadcast. Kimwei McCarthy is a poet and musician who has recently been appointed the Grand Bard of Exeter. He talks about how climate activism and trans activism influences his work, and performs a poem about Devon, Because You Invited Me. Scratchworks Theatre Company are an all-female ensemble who are creating original comic plays retelling history from a woman's perspective. Laura Doble, Alice Higginson Clarke and Sian Keen perform a song from their new plays Hags, about the witch trials of Bideford. Presenter Sarah Gosling is the BBC Music Introducing Presenter for Devon and Cornwall and hosts evening shows on BBC Radio Devon. Producer: Timothy Prosser
John Wilson reports on the nominations for this year's Academy Awards, including interviews with actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Alicia Vikander, Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence.John talks to Amy director Asif Kapadia (Best Documentary), costume designer Sandy Powell, who is up for two awards, and Brooklyn screenwriter Nick Hornby. Plus Film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh gives an overview.Juliet Stevenson discusses the life and work of actor Alan Rickman, with whom she starred on stage at the RSC and in films such as Truly Madly Deeply.Producer: Timothy Prosser.
Samira Ahmed talks to the comedian, actor and music hall veteran Roy Hudd, whose career spans seven decades.Starting out as a redcoat at Butlins in the 1950s, Roy became one the UK's best-loved entertainers. His show The News Huddlines ran for 26 years on Radio 2.As he approaches his 80th birthday, Hudd is playing a Dame for the first time in Panto, in Dick Whittington at Wilton's Music Hall.He talks about his close relationship with Dennis Potter, who left Hudd a role in his will, and his grandmother, who raised him, and to whom he owes his passion for variety and music hall.Producer: Timothy Prosser.
Samira Ahmed discusses the film Nightcrawler, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal as an ambulance chasing cameraman. Laura Mvula and Bastille on composing a new score for the film Drive, commissioned by Radio 1's Zane Lowe. Historian Juliet Gardiner reviews BBC1's new First World War drama series, The Passing Bells. And Paul Ewen on his humorous novel, Francis Plug: How to be Public Author, about a wannabe writer who shows up at literary events starring Man Booker winners in the hope of learning how to achieve literary success. Producer: Timothy Prosser.
With Matthew d'Ancona Jon Ronson discusses Frank - which he co-wrote with Peter Straughan (The Men Who Stare At Goats). The fictional film was inspired by Jon's experience of touring in Frank Sidebottom's cult band. Ronson talks about why he didn't make a biopic, his relationship with Sidebottom creator Chris Sievey; and working with Michael Fassbender, who plays Frank and wears a fake head for the majority of the film. The multi Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning series, 24, is about to return. Four years have passed and Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer is now living in London and being hunted by the CIA. But then Jack learns of a threat to kill the US President during an official visit to the British Prime Minister, and decides he has to come out of hiding, to prevent it. Critic Sarah Crompton joins Matthew to assess how Jack fares this side of the Atlantic. Award winning composer Julian Anderson talks about his new opera Thebans, based on Sophocles' tragedies. From early Victorian pamphlets to the latest underground offerings, a new exhibition explores the world of British comics. It includes work by Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore and Posy Simmonds and a specially commissioned piece by Tank Girl artist Jamie Hewlett and looks at the way graphic novels have entertained, shocked, disturbed and amused readers for over two hundred years. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With Tom Sutcliffe Actresses Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells have created a sitcom, Doll & Em, about a Hollywood star who hires her best friend as her personal assistant. They talk to Mark Lawson about playing exaggerated versions of themselves and how their own close friendship inspired the series. The 1942 battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest in the history of warfare. Stalingrad 3D is the first Russian film made completely with 3D IMAX technology and is Russia's highest grossing film to date. Film historian Ian Christie reviews. Award winning writer David Grossman talks about Falling Out of Time. Combining drama, prose and poetry, the book tells the story of bereaved parents setting out to reach their lost children. David Grossman, whose own son died in 2006, discusses the art of writing about loss and grief. Producer: Timothy Prosser.
With Mark Lawson. Simon Russell Beale is playing King Lear at the National Theatre, in a new production directed by Sam Mendes. Last night one of the actors lost his voice, prompting Mendes to apologise and bring on the understudy. Simon Russell Beale discusses his approach to the challenging role and what happened behind the scenes last night. Costa biography prize-winner Lucy Hughes-Hallett talks about The Pike, her biography of the Italian poet and daredevil Gabriele D'Annunzio, which also won the 2013 Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction. Quentin Tarantino has announced that he is dropping his new film Hateful Eight, a follow-up to Django Unchained, after the script was leaked. Film critic Mark Eccleston discusses some of the more extreme examples of script security and why film-makers are so keen to keep their scripts secret. Producer: Timothy Prosser.
With John Wilson. As part of Radio 4's MINT Season, John reports on the arts and culture of modern Istanbul. Turkey's most famous cultural figure, the Nobel Prize winning novelist Orhan Pamuk, has created a museum full of objects from his latest novel, the Museum of Innocence. He takes John round this museum and discusses the huge changes taking place in Istanbul. Magnificent Century, a television drama about Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, has become Turkey's most successful cultural export, with 200 million viewers in 45 countries. John meets Selin Arat from production company Tims at Topkapi Palace, the epicentre of the Ottoman Empire for over 300 years and the setting for the show. John talks to Azize Tan, Director of the Istanbul International Film Festival, about the films that top the Turkish box office, including a stand-up show by the comedian Cem Yilmaz, and reports on the controversy surrounding Turkey's oldest cinema which was knocked down last year after 3 years of protest. Baba Zula is Istanbul's most popular alternative music act. John meets founder Murat Ertel, who plays an electric version of the traditional Turkish plucked instrument the Saz. Producer: Timothy Prosser.
With Mark Lawson. The winner of the 25th William Hill Sports Book of the Year is announced live on Front Row from the ceremony in London. The books by the six authors shortlisted for the £25,000 prize cover genetics in sport, Lance Armstrong's doping, international football, rowing, Hitler's Berlin, corruption in cricket, and a racehorse doping gang. The shortlist in full (alphabetically by author's surname): The Boys In The Boat: An Epic True-Life Journey to the Heart of Hitler's Berlin by Daniel James Brown The Sports Gene: What Makes The Perfect Athlete by David Epstein Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy: A Journey to the Heart of Cricket's Underworld by Ed Hawkins I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Lagercrantz and Ruth Urbom Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang by Jamie Reid Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong by David Walsh Mark talks to choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh, who is renowned for dance creations of visceral energy. This autumn tbe Southbank Centre celebrates her company's 25th anniversary. The French writer Marcel Pagnol is best-known for the 1986 screen adaptations of two of his books: Jean De Florette and Manon Des Sources. Actor Daniel Auteuil shot to fame in both films, and he's now directing Pagnol's Marseille trilogy: Marius, Fanny Et César. Fanny and Marius are released this week. Novelist Kamila Shamsie reviews. Producer: Timothy Prosser.
John Wilson talks to the fashion designer Paul Smith, on the eve of a major exhibition of his work and influences at the Design Museum, London. Natalie Haynes reviews The Counsellor, a film about drug dealers on the US / Mexico border, starring Cameron Diaz, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt and Penelope Cruz, with an original screenplay by Cormac McCarthy. As the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Richard II, starring David Tennant, is streamed live to cinemas across the UK tonight, Lorne Campbell, artistic director of Northern Stage in Newcastle and Tom Morris from Bristol Old Vic debate the effect that live screening has on regional theatre. Johnny Cash biographer Robert Hilburn was the only journalist to witness the Folsom Prison Concert in 1968. He talks to John Wilson about Cash's troubled life and career. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With Mark Lawson. Bryan Adams - best known as a musician and singer songwriter - also works as a professional photographer. For the past five years, Adams has been taking photographs of British war veterans who have suffered life changing injuries. The series of photographs has been published in a new book "Wounded: The Legacy of War". Bryan Adams discusses working with injured soldiers and his aim to show the effects of war. Mark interviews the Chinese pianist Lang Lang, as he releases a new disc of music by Prokofiev and Bartok, with conductor Sir Simon Rattle. As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, two new films revisit the 22nd November 1963. Parkland, staring Zac Efron, Paul Giamatti and Marcia Gay Harden, focuses on people who were unexpectedly caught up in events - including hospital staff and the brother of Lee Harvey Oswald. In the TV documentary The Day Kennedy Died, key witnesses, including the doctor who tried to save Kennedy's life, offer their version of events. Michael Goldfarb and Diane Roberts review both films. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With Kirsty Lang. The British rapper Tinie Tempah became a global sensation in 2010 with his debut album, winning the 2011 Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act. As he releases his second album, Demonstration, Tinie reflects on his fear of selling out, his support for the royal family and why he mentions Prince Harry, Jeremy Clarkson and Stephen Fry in his songs. Rosie Boycott reviews the Chilean film Gloria, which stars Paulina Garcia as a divorced woman in her late 50s who goes in search of romance. Garcia won Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival. Ballet star Carlos Acosta has written his first novel, Pig's Foot, which is the story of one family set against the backdrop of Cuban history from slavery to the present. He discusses why he is turning from ballet to literature. At the height of his success, novelist Dennis Wheatley sold over 50 million copies of his books worldwide in 28 languages, luring readers in with titles such as The Devil Rides Out and To The Devil A Daughter. Since his death in 1977, his fame and readership have declined. As a selection of Wheatley's books is re-published, Matthew Sweet considers the reasons for his rise and fall - and whether he will rise again. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With Mark Lawson. Sandra Bullock, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2010, is now tipped for Oscar success again for her role in Gravity, in which she plays a medical engineer lost in space. She considers the demands of the part, which involves relatively little dialogue and the illusion of weightlessness. Few musicians experience the success enjoyed by Leonard Bernstein, acclaimed as a charismatic conductor as well as a composer whose work includes West Side Story. Now a 600 page collection of his letters offers a chance to re-assess his life, as revealed in correspondence with family members, numerous high-profile fellow musicians and cultural figures. Nicholas Kenyon, managing director of the Barbican Centre, London, gives his verdict. Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Rafe Spall star in a new Broadway production of Harold Pinter's play Betrayal - the latest staging of a work which has received several high-profile revivals since its premiere in 1978. Theatre critic Dominic Maxwell reflects on Betrayal's popularity, and discusses the plays and musicals which have enjoyed the most new productions in recent years. Film-maker Francis Ford Coppola, director of The Godfather trilogy, has described his position now as 'like a retired businessman - but rather than play golf, I've decided to make art films instead.' As Coppola's latest film goes straight to DVD in the UK, Andrew Collins looks at the artists who have chosen to retire - but then can't resist a come-back. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With John Wilson. Sir Paul McCartney talks about his latest album (called New), he sets the record straight regarding his relationship with John Lennon, and admits that he finds it difficult to say "I love you". The legend of a lost city of gold in South America captivated Europeans for centuries. A new exhibition at the British Museum unravels the myth of El Dorado - it was a man, not a city, and "The Golden One" was covered in powdered gold as part of a ritual. Rachel Campbell-Johnston reviews. War photojournalist Tim Hetherington was killed covering the Libyan conflict in 2011. He'd been Oscar-nominated earlier that year along with his co-director and friend Sebastian Junger. Now Sebastian has made a moving documentary-portrait of his colleague. He talks to John about Tim's courage, his distinctive approach to photography and the effect Tim's death has had on his work. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With Mark Lawson.Tom Hanks reflects on saying no to film offers, playing real people, and his latest role in Captain Phillips, which depicts the ordeal of Richard Phillips, captain of a cargo ship taken hostage by Somali pirates in 2009. Captain Phillips is directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93, The Bourne Supremacy).It was announced today that Alice Munro has been awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature. AS Byatt and Hermione Lee discuss the Canadian author, who writes short stories rather than novels.And Mark talks to the American artist Dana Schutz, whose colourful and fantastical paintings are on show at The Hepworth gallery in Wakefield.Producer Timothy Prosser.
With Mark Lawson Hugh Jackman returns to our cinema screens this week, starring alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the thriller Prisoners, about a man who takes the law into his own hands when his young daughter goes missing. Jackman discusses his latest role, a far cry from playing Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. The Wrong Mans is a new TV comedy drama written by and starring James Corden and Horrible Histories' Mathew Baynton, about two office workers who accidentally get entangled in a criminal conspiracy. Rebecca Nicholson reviews. The next writer in Front Row's series of interviews with the contenders for the BBC National Short Story Award 2013 is Lisa Blower, whose story is about a disastrous family trip to Barmouth. You can hear her story tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday). Last night the Netflix drama House of Cards became the first internet streamed programme to win an Emmy Award, as its director David Fincher picked up Best Director of a Drama Series. And Breaking Bad, also available on Netflix, won Outstanding Drama Series. Mark talks to Ted Sarandos, head of content for the video on demand service, about the change in how we consume entertainment. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With Mark Lawson, who interviews writer and director Woody Allen. Allen's new film Blue Jasmine stars Cate Blanchett as Jasmine, a wealthy Manhattan socialite, and Sally Hawkins as Ginger, her poor sister in San Francisco. They end up together when Jasmine's husband is declared bankrupt. Blue Jasmine is already one of Woody Allen's most financially successful films, proving a hit at the US box office. In this Front Row special, Mark talks to Woody Allen about Blue Jasmine, his unique methods of working and why he never watches his own films. And there are interviews with Mike Leigh, who Allen cites as one of his favourite directors, and actress Sally Hawkins, who has worked with both directors. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With Mark Lawson. Fran Healy, lead singer of the band Travis, discusses their first new album for six years, and reflects on a career which includes the hits Why Does it Always Rain on Me, Driftwood and Sing. At the recent Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, Mark talked to three writers about how new technology makes it more difficult for characters to disappear without trace, or to hide or change their identities. With Lottie Moggach, Colette McBeth and Michael Robotham. Simon Bird, one of the stars of The Inbetweeners, and Jonny Sweet discuss their TV comedy series Chickens, which they co-wrote with Joe Thomas. It focuses on three young men who have avoided active service in the First World War. Producer Timothy Prosser.
John Wilson meets Naughty Boy, the British-born Pakistani songwriter, musician and producer, who has worked with Emeli Sande and Britney Spears and is now releasing his debut album Hotel Cabana. Zoe Williams reviews the film Lovelace, starring Amanda Seyfried as Deep Throat actress Linda Lovelace. An extract from John's 2002 interview with the American crime writer Elmore Leonard, whose death was announced today. And Harry Nilsson's biographer Alyn Shipton discusses the life and career of the singer whose hits included Everybody's Talking, Without You, and Coconut. Producer Timothy Prosser.
John Wilson brings the Cultural Exchange project to a close, with Armando Iannucci, Laura Mvula, Germaine Greer, Paul Weller, Terence Stamp, the Archbishop of Canterbury and others choosing their favourite artwork. John looks back at the 75 selections made over the past four months, and identifies trends and surprises. Visit the Cultural Exchange website for all 75 interviews and archive clips featuring Jack Nicholson, Bette Davis, Nina Simone and more. Also on the Cultural Exchange website: John Wilson and Mark Lawson make their choices. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With John Wilson. The film The Hunger Games, based on the best-selling book by Suzanne Collins, is set in a future dystopia in which young people are forced to kill each other as entertainment. Antonia Quirke gives her verdict. Kensington Palace is about to re-open to the public after a multi-million pound transformation, including an exhibition about Queen Victoria in the apartments in which she grew up. Writer and biographer A N Wilson reviews. The BBC's new talent show The Voice begins this weekend, in which the judging panel cannot see the contestants when they first appear, relying only on what they hear. Pop critic Kitty Empire and James Inverne, former editor of Gramophone magazine, consider whether image plays too great a role in musical success. Poet Michael Horovitz, who is now in his late 70s, has written a new long poem, commissioned by Paul Weller for the cover of his new album Sonik Kicks. They discuss the energy of beat poetry, and the relationship between poems and song lyrics. Producer Timothy Prosser.
Mark Lawson talks to Andrew Lloyd Webber, who reflects on Love Never Dies, his follow-up to Phantom of the Opera, which is now released on DVD. In a special edition of Front Row, Lloyd Webber explains what was wrong with the original production of Love Never Dies, why he regrets taking Cats off the West End stage, what his plans are for the new ITV talent search for Jesus Christ Superstar, and why his next project is a musical based on the tragic life of osteopath Stephen Ward, one of the central figures in the 1963 Profumo affair. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With Mark Lawson. Mark reports on the latest art-work to adorn the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar - a golden boy on a rocking horse designed by Elmgreen and Dragset. and unveiled today by Joanna Lumley, who discusses the work. Peter Ackroyd reflects on his biography of Wilkie Collins, author of the Moonstone and The Woman in White, and friend of Charles Dickens, whose personal life was full of secrets. In Basildon is a new play by David Eldridge about a close knit Essex family coming to terms with a recent death. Writer Tim Lott gives his verdict. And Mark speaks to two of the ten composers taking inspiration from Handel's Water Music for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The new works will be performed as part of the 1000 boat flotilla travelling down the Thames on June 3. Debbie Wiseman, whose film scores include Tom and Viv and Wilde, and Christopher Gunning, whose music includes the theme for Poirot, talk about the challenges of re-imagining Handel's famous score. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With Mark Lawson. Mark Eccleston reviews Black Gold, a film about warring Arabian tribes during the 1930s oil boom, which was financed by Qatar and stars Antonio Banderas as a desert sheikh and Freida Pinto as a harem charmer. Three decades after publishing the first of her hugely successful Adrian Mole books, Sue Townsend talks about her new novel about modern family life, The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year, and how losing her eyesight has affected her writing process. Charlotte Keatley's play My Mother Said I Never Should is, according to the National Theatre, one of the most significant plays of the 20th Century. Charlotte tells Mark about her latest play, Our Father, and explains why writing a play is like unravelling a dream. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With Mark Lawson. Writer-director J C Chandor discusses his acclaimed feature directorial debut Margin Call, about an American investment bank during the financial crisis, starring Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons and Demi Moore. The writer and former cricketer Ed Smith reviews a TV documentary by former England cricket captain Freddie Flintoff about depression in sport. Scottish composer Anna Meredith discusses her new piece, entitled Hands-Free. It's written for the National Youth Orchestra but uses no instruments, involving instead clapping, body-percussion and beat-boxing. David Quantick tucks into the long history of songs featuring food - from Oliver, via The Beatles and Bob Dylan, to reggae, ska and beyond. Producer Timothy Prosser.
With Mark Lawson. Ricky Gervais discusses the response to his TV comedy series Life's Too Short, which stars Warwick Davies as a "showbiz dwarf", and his return as host of the Golden Globes, following this year's insult-packed ceremony. Choreographer Wayne McGregor and composer Mark-Anthony Turnage discuss their new collaboration, Undance, inspired by the 19th Century photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Wealth-creation gurus are the focus of a new three-part documentary series Money by the film-maker Vanessa Engle. Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times reviews the series alongside Channel 4's documentary The Ultimate Guide to Penny Pinching, about the UK's thriftiest people. And in the first of a series of interviews with the four artists contending for this year's Turner Prize, John Wilson meets sculptor Karla Black. Producer Timothy Prosser.