Shows / Front Row
Episodes
- Front Row
Anne-Marie Duff, M John Harrison, Bayreuth 150th anniversary
Bad Sisters actress Anne-Marie Duff talks to Samira about her latest role as Julie in Helen Edmundson’s play in Some Woman on stage at the National Theatre in…
- Front Row
Christine Baranski and Richard E Grant on Hay Fever
We speak backstage with Christine Baranski and Richard E Grant on appearing in Noel Coward's Hay Fever in London's West End. Writer Douglas Stuart on John of…
- Front Row
Review Show: The Social Reckoning, The 90s at Tate Britain and reaction to Nobel Prize winner Anne Carson
Zoe Williams and Laurence Scott join Tom Sutcliffe to review:The Social Reckoning, Aaron's Sorkin's new film which revisits the world of Facebook and Mark…
- Front Row
Does the discovery of a 'talkie' made in 1926 change cinema history?
News broke today of a discovery which may rewrite cinematic history. In 1926 Scottish playwright Graham Moffat's film - Till the Bells Ring - using pioneering…
- Front Row
Johnny Marr on his new album
The legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr is back with his fifth solo album The Age of Everything, which he's described as the most cathartic album he's ever…
- Front Row
SNL, Paul Greengrass, The Bayeux Tapestry and Sarah Hall
Two of the young stars of Saturday Night Live UK on bringing live satire back to television. Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, Captain Philips…
- Front Row
Review Show: Tom Cruise in the film Digger
Susannah Clapp and Nick Hilton join Tom Sutcliffe to review Tom Cruise as a prosthetic laden billionaire oil tycoon in the film Digger, who is out to save…
- Front Row
Actors David Harewood and Sir Simon Russell Beale
Sherwood and Homeland star David Harewood talks to us about his lead role in Channel 4's new legal drama Pierre, which is co-written by John Donnelly and…
- Front Row
BBC National Short Story Award and Young Writers Award 2026
Tom Sutcliffe hosts the ceremony for BBC National Short Story Award and Young Writers Award 2026, in partnership with University of Cambridge, live from BBC…
- Front Row
Es Devlin retrospective, Sebastian Faulks, Turner Prize, Apple Music Hall
The multi-award winning stage designer and artist Es Devlin talks to Samira as a retrospective of her work opens at the Design Museum in London. Devlin has…
- Front Row
Front Row at the Contains Strong Language festival
A special edition of Front Row from the BBC's poetry and performance festival - Contains Strong LanguageSince self-publishing a poetry pamphlet in 2020, Donna…
- Front Row
Review Show: Exit Party by Emily St John Mandel, South Korean alien invasion thriller Hope and an adaptation of 1984.
In this week's Review Show, our guest critics Hannah McGill and Fergus Morgan join Kirsty Wark to discuss three dystopian thrillers: Bestselling novelist Emily…
- Front Row
Comedian Russell Kane on playing an older Romeo
Comedian Russell Kane tells us about playing an older Romeo in a new take on Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.Author Samantha Ellis gives her verdict on the new…
- Front Row
Roger Taylor, drummer from the super band Queen, on his latest album
Roger Taylor has been a driving force behind Queen, one of the most successful bands in history. The songwriter, drummer and singer talks to Tom Sutcliffe…
- Front Row
Review Show: Rose Tremain’s The Housekeeper, inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca
Robbie Collin and Sarah Crompton join Samira Ahmed to review:Rose Tremain’s new book, The Housekeeper, which imagines how Daphne du Maurier’s classic novel…
- Front Row
The Proclaimers on their new album, You May Offend
Twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid emerged almost 40 years ago with their debut album This Is The Story and Top 3 single ‘Letter from America’. The…
- Front Row
Hermione Lee on her biography of the notoriously private author Anita Brookner
Biographer Hermione Lee talks to Tom about her new book Anita Brookner: Art and Life, which explores the career of the famously private art historian and…
- Front Row
The Beatles' early days, Juliette Binoche's directorial debut, Jack Thorne
Samira Ahmed talks to Hunter Davies about his new book Get Back: The Boys Who Became the Beatles, Juliette Binoche about her directorial debut on In-I in…
- Front Row
Review Show: Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum
Viv Groskop and Amanda Vickery join Tom Sutcliffe to review:The Bayeux Tapestry as it goes on display to the public in Britain for the first time since its…
- Front Row
Oasis documentary Don’t Look Back in Anger
Music critic Neil McCormick shares his verdict on the Oasis documentary, Don’t Look Back in Anger about Noel & Liam Gallagher's reunion tour. Writer Beth Steel…
- Front Row
Call My Agent's writer and creator Fanny Herrero on bringing the French sitcom to the big screen
Fanny Herrero, writer and creator of the French sitcom Call My Agent, joins Tom Sufcliffe to talk about how her show about the antics of the cut-throat Paris…
- Front Row
Helen of Troy - a new play by Ava Pickett
Ava Pickett discusses her new play Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy at Theatre Royal Stratford East, and the huge success 1536, her Olivier Award-winning play…
- Front Row
Norman Day special
Tom Sutcliffe and guests explore the architecture and culture of Norman Britain as part of a special day of programmes on Radio 4 marking the return of the…
- Front Row
Review: Pedro Almodóvar's new film Bitter Christmas
Mark Ravenhill and Leila Latif join Tom Sutcliffe to review:Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's new film Bitter Christmas, a tragi comedy told across different…
- Front Row
YouTube's Pedro Pina on the future of television, and celebrating Tim Curry
Ahead of her sixth performance at the BBC Proms the mezzo soprano star Joyce DiDonato talks to Kirsty about the explosive potential of her voice. VP Head of…
- Front Row
Remembering Dolly Parton, Meg Mason and Notting Hill Carnival at 60
Samira Ahmed spoke to Dolly Parton in 2023. As her death is announced Front Row pays tribute to the star of country music who sold more than 100 million…
- Front Row
Review Show: Rachel Cusk's new novel and the return of the Looney Tunes
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and William Lee Adams join Tom Sutcliffe to review:The Life of M - the new novel from Rachel Cusk. The book centres on a writer’s attempt…
- Front Row
From the Edinburgh Festivals: Ann Droid and Motherland star Paul Ready; founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales; comedian Rosie Holt
Ann Droid and Motherland star Paul Ready on his debut one man show Little Animals, a powerful piece of writing on climate, consumerism and the anxieties of…
- Front Row
The Light opens in Durham, and Iain Stirling on the art of sandscastles
As contemporary art venue, The Light, prepares to open in Durham, its artistic director Tony Guillan, and the art critic Louisa Buck, discuss the new building…
- Front Row
Joe Lycett on his first solo exhibition, Everything Must Go
The comedian Joe Lycett has long dabbled in art, but it's a serious business now as his first ever solo exhibition ‘Everything Must Go’ has just opened at the…
- Front Row
Review Show: Tony, film about the early life of chef Anthony Bourdain
Academic and critic Maria Delgado and writer and producer Jake Cunningham join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the film Tony, a film about the early career of food…
- Front Row
The best theatre at this year's Edinburgh Festivals
Australian writer and performer Hannah Reilly talks to us about her much-anticipated one woman show about sex, power and authenticity, Roleplay, which is…
- Front Row
Steph McGovern on how to buy art
Steph McGovern, presenter of new BBC show The Big Deal, is joined by Marie Le Conte to discuss how to buy art.Fleabag actor Sian Clifford on her lead role in…
- Front Row
Game of Thrones at the RSC first night review
What's the Royal Shakespeare Company's much anticipated stage adaptation of Game of Thrones like? Critics Boyd Hilton and Kate Maltby give their verdict…
- Front Row
Review Show: Irvine Welsh's new novel and Glenn Close's new film
Suzi Feay and John-Paul Stonard join Samira to review:Can Nothing Save Us?, the new novel from Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh, a state-of-the-nation…
- Front Row
Live from the Edinburgh Festivals: Stockard Channing on directing Krapp's Last Tape
In the first of our special programmes from the Edinburgh Festivals, actress Stockard Channing - star of Grease, Six Degrees of Separation and Practical Magic…
- Front Row
Magic live in the studio
Samira is joined by two magicians live in the studio, from the stage show "Now You See Me Live". And then she takes part in a trick and is bamboozled!…
- Front Row
John Hannah on his new comedy crime drama set in Benidorm
John Hannah plays a washed-up former detective who has moved to Spain to run a pub in the new Channel 5 comedy drama Benidorm is Murder. He discusses the…
- Front Row
Review show: Childhood in War, Children of Wolves and kids in Luton
Rhianna Dhillon and Sarfraz Manzoor join Tom Sutcliffe to review:Childhood in War, an exhibition at the Imperial War Musuem exploring how children have…
- Front Row
How the opiod crisis inspired an opera
Composer Missy Mazzoli discusses her opera The Galloping Cure, which fuses a live orchestra with electronic beats and features a charismatic antihero and…
- Front Row
Mary Beard reveals the Booker Prize longlist, plus Bill Pullman on taking on Chekhov
Professor Dame Mary Beard reveals the 2026 Booker longlist and how she has found the process of being Chair of the judges.British contemporary pop artist…
- Front Row
Bill Oddie, remembered by his friend Graeme Garden
Graeme Garden remembers his friend and Goodies colleague, Bill Oddie.Frank Miller reimagined Batman as a tougher, grittier sort of comic book hero: The Dark…
- Front Row
Review Show: Trainspotting the Musical, Colson Whitehead's new novel
Hanna Flint and Chris Power join Tom Sutcliffe to review:The new stage musical adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting, featuring famous songs from…
- Front Row
Andrew Ridgeley on Wham in China
In 1985, Wham were the first Western pop group to perform in communist China, and the tour changed people's lives. As a new documentary about this landmark…
- Front Row
Ruth Madeley on new TV drama The Rapture, Nadine Shah on her BBC Prom
Actor Ruth Madeley on starring in new TV drama The Rapture - a psychological thriller where the competing interests of an oil company, a religious cult, a…
- Front Row
The first PM with an English degree, plus a new museum of WWII espionage
Trent Park, the House of Secrets is a new museum in north London which explores the story of the secret listeners who eavesdropped on the conversations of…
- Front Row
Review: Christopher Nolan's film The Odyssey with Matt Damon and Zendaya
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by film critic Tim Robey and classicist Edith Hall to discuss:Christopher Nolan's much anticipated film version of Homer's epic The…
- Front Row
Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman
The coming-of-age series Heartstopper has been a phenomenon with young readers and viewers in recent years. Its creator Alice Oseman joins us as the film…
- Front Row
Christopher Nolan on his film The Odyssey, Little House on the Prairie, novelist Candice Carty-Williams
British director Christopher Nolan discusses his biggest cinematic blockbuster yet: The Odyssey, which stars Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and more…
- Front Row
Diane Morgan on playing a robot in TV comedy Ann Droid.
Diane Morgan on her BBC TV comedy series Ann Droid, in which she stars as the eponymous robot helper to Sue Johnston. We pay tribute to actor Sam Neill, who…
- Front Row
Review Show: The Rolling Stones album Foreign Tongues
Critic and columnist Dr Kate Maltby and author Michael Donkor join Tom Sutcliffe to review Robota, the inaugural large-scale production at the Schwarzman…
- Front Row
Lynval Golding of The Specials on the band's swansong album
Lynval Golding of two-tone and ska legends The Specials , on the band’s final album, Live from the Cathedral, which was recorded in Coventry Cathedral. and…
- Front Row
Ai Weiwei in Manchester
Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has just created his largest site-specific exhibition - Ai Weiwei: Button Up! - which has now opened at Aviva Studios in…
- Front Row
Madonna's Confessions II album, Daphne du Maurier, Sky buying ITV
Confessions II is Madonna's first album in 7 years. Novelist Matt Cain and journalist and broadcaster Miranda Sawyer discuss going back to the dancefloor.Sky…
- Front Row
Review Show: Penélope Cruz in The Invite, Pride the Musical
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics Bidisha and David Benedict to review:The Invite, a new film directed by Olivia Wilde about two couples who join each other…
- Front Row
Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro on his passion for films featuring trains
The acclaimed novelist Kazuo Ishiguro talks about how he went about curating a season of films featuring trains for the BFI - from classics such as Shanghai…
- Front Row
Dave Eggers on his new novel Contrapposto and Supergirl director Craig Gillespie
Author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and The Circle, Dave Eggers is back with a new novel about a young aspiring artist. Contrapposto follows…
- Front Row
Penelope Keith tribute, Russell Tovey, Katherine Rundell on fairy tales
We mark the passing of actress Dame Penelope Keith, speaking with John Lloyd and Mel Giedroyc about her long career. Actor Russell Tovey plays a troubled…
- Front Row
Review Show: Frida Kahlo, Mads Mikkelsen in The Last Viking, Museum of the Year
Writer Charlotte Mullins and author Viv Groskop join Tom to discuss the Frida Kahlo exhibition at Tate Modern in London. It's the highest pre-selling…
- Front Row
Lauren Child on 25 years of Charlie & Lola
25 years since she published her first Charlie and Lola book, former Children's Laureate Lauren Child returns with a new friendship-focused series featuring…