Review Show: David Bowie Centre and the BBC National Short Story Award Shortlist
Writer Jenny McCartney and journalist and screenwriter Sarfraz Manzoor join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the David Bowie Centre at the V&A East Storehouse in London – the new home for the Bowie archive, where visitors can book one-on-one time with items. They also discuss the film Spinal Tap II- the sequel to the cult 1984 mockumentary about a heavy metal band. Plus Jung Cheng’s Fly, Wild Swans – the follow up to her best-selling family autobiography Wild Swans. And we’ll be revealing the shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award.
--------
42:28
--------
42:28
The Grand Finale of Downton Abbey
As the Downton Abbey franchise comes to an end after fifteen years, with the cinema release of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale this Friday, we discuss the enduring appeal of the upstairs-downstairs class-based period drama with the chatelaine of the 'real Downton', Highclere Castle, the Countess of Carnarvon, and with Caroline Frost of The Radio Times. Suede frontman Brett Anderson talks to us about the 21st century anxieties which have informed the renowned indie-rock band's new album, Antidepressants. Two medical professionals who've turned a razor-sharp scalpel to writing informed by their careers in the NHS: Adam Kay, the junior doctor-turned writer of the bestselling memoir This Is Going to Hurt, discusses writing his debut novel, A Particularly Nasty Case, a murder-mystery set in the corridors of a busy hospital. And nurse and playwright Uma Nada-Rajah talks about her tragicomic production Black Hole Sign which is set in an A+E department and which opens in Scotland this weekend.Plus we hear about a new initiative - launched today - which aims to develop filmmaking skills in children as young as 3 years old. Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Mark Crossan
--------
42:30
--------
42:30
Marks and Gran on Freud and Hitler, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason performance, Medea on stage and screen
Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran have created some of comedy's most beloved characters, including Birds of a Feather's Sharon and Tracey, and The New Statesman's Alan B'Stard. As their play Dr Freud Will See You Now Mrs Hitler comes to London, they discuss alternate histories, the limits of comedy, and how they still make each other laugh. Medea remains one of the most complex and terrifying characters in mythology, and Natalie Haynes's new novel No Friend to this House reimagines the story of the sorceress from Colchis. She discusses depictions of Medea with theatre director Carrie Cracknell. As the National Gallery launches an architectural competition to build a new wing, funded by two huge donations from charitable foundations, art curator and critic Kate Bryan joins Tom to discuss what the building might hold, how the National Gallery might be able to attract new audiences, and the place of art in today's world. And the award-winning pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason joins Front Row to talk about her upcoming concerts, her album Fantasie and gives us a special performance. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Tim Bano
--------
42:24
--------
42:24
Maxine Peake on Mary Whitehouse, West End star Marisha Wallace
Maxine Peake talks about starring in the Nottingham Playhouse's new show The Last Stand of Mary Whitehouse, which explores the life of the 60s conservative campaigner whose views on sexuality and morality always kept her in the news.The National Library of Scotland is celebrating its centenary with an exhibition showcasing books nominated by the public. But the Library has found itself making headlines for not including one gender critical book, The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht. We speak to one of the book's editors Lucy Hunter Blackburn.Crooked Cross by Sally Carson was published in 1934 and has recently been republished by Persephone Books. The novel explores six months in the life of a Bavarian family during the rise of Hitler. We ask publisher Francesca Beauman and historian Lara Feigel why the novel needs to be read today. Marisha Wallace discusses her new concert album Live in London, on which she sings hits from Oklahoma, Guys & Dolls, Dreamgirls and Cabaret while telling how a young farm girl from the American south should become a big star on the West End.
--------
42:23
--------
42:23
Review Show: CMAT's new album, The Office spin-off series The Paper, Jacob Elordi in On Swift Horses
Critics William Lee Adams and Laura Barton join Samira to review the new album from Irish popstar CMAT which reflects on her home country, the sexist comments she has received, as well as Jamie Oliver and Teslas. More than a decade after the US version of sitcom The Office ended, it gets a spin-off called The Paper, set in a local newspaper office in Ohio. And Jacob Elordi and Daisy Edgar-Jones lead the cast of a new gay romance film called On Swift Horses, set in fifties California. London's Southbank Centre will be covered in dance for 3 nights, when "We Should Have Never Walked On The Moon" takes over The Royal Festival Hall and The Queen Elizabeth Hall. Visitors will witness dance in new spaces, by Ballet Rambert and (LA)HORDE. Samira speaks with dancers, choreographers, organisers and directors about what will happen and what it all means.Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Tim Bano