Shows / Front Row
Episodes
- Front Row
Bill Nighy on acting, podcasting and style tips
Bill Nighy joins to talk about his new family drama 500 Miles, where he plays a reclusive painter on the west coast of Ireland who gets an unexpected visit…
- Front Row
Linda Perry sings live, and we celebrate Mel Brooks' 100th birthday
Linda Perry came to fame as lead singer of the all-female band Four Non-Blondes. She went on to be a hugely successful songwriter and producer, writing hits…
- Front Row
Review: Anish Kapoor, Virginia Woolf's Night and Day, Toy Story 5
Writer Stephanie Merritt and Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin join Tom to review Anish Kapoor’s immersive exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London, which…
- Front Row
Katherine Hepburn novel, plus the Obama Presidential Center opens
Priya Parmar's novel The Original tells the story of how actor Katharine Hepburn set out to become one of the true movie icons of the 20th century and…
- Front Row
A new Brian Epstein biography and how Estonia is protecting its cultural treasures from potential attack
The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, is widely regarded as the man who helped the band break through. He's inspired plays, films, and even an artistic…
- Front Row
David Hockney special
Tom Sutcliffe presents a special edition of Front Row on the art of David Hockney. The artists Maggi Hambling and Tacita Dean and Andrew Marr speak to Tom…
- Front Row
Review: Steven Spielberg's alien film Disclosure Day
Film producer Jason Solomons and Guardian columnist Zoe Williams join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day – a film which looks at…
- Front Row
Scotland's National Poet Peter Mackay honours the country's football team
Scotland's Makar Peter Mackay on his poems honouring Scotland's football team as they head to the FIFA World Cup - one, his own work, the other curated from…
- Front Row
Barry Manilow brings the Manilow magic to Front Row
Barry Manilow on maintaining his musical curiosity as he releases his 33rd studio album, What A Time, and what it's like to have one of his biggest hits…
- Front Row
Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter, Pan African art and John Tavener's opera Krishna
Samira Ahmed talks to Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter about their new album MirageEkow Eshun, writer and broadcaster, and Polly Savage, Lecturer in the Art…
- Front Row
Review: High Society and film Savage House
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by writer Alexander Larman and critic Arifa Akbar to discuss:A new production of High Society, Cole Porter's musical showcase at…
- Front Row
Live from the Belfast Book Festival
As the Belfast Book Festival opens Kirsty Wark is joined by a range of guests at the Crescent Arts Centre. She'll be discussing reading and freedom of…
- Front Row
Rivals writer Sophie Goodhart on new TV series Alice and Steve; depictions of dogs in art
Award winning jazz saxophonist and broadcaster Soweto Kinch and writer and director of new film Köln 75, Ido Fluk, join Tom to explore the importance of Keith…
- Front Row
Marilyn Monroe at 100
On what would have been her 100th birthday, we look at the enduring popularity of Marilyn Monroe, with film journalist and fan Kim Morgan and reviewer Angie…
- Front Row
Review Show: Paul McCartney, Russell T Davies, Maggie O'Farrell
Rachel Lloyd, Deputy Culture Editor of The Economist, and writer Lawrence Norfolk join Tom to discuss Channel 4's new queer drama Tip Toe, which is the latest…
- Front Row
Ann Patchett, plus why launch an all-male publishing house?
Nashville-based novelist Ann Patchett tells us about her tenth novel, Whistler, in which a chance encounter between a woman and her stepfather after many years…
- Front Row
Jazz legend Miles Davis at 100
Writer and broadcaster Kevin Le Gendre, and trumpeter and composer Yazz Ahmed on 100 years of Miles Davis - the musician regarded as the Picasso of jazz.Artist…
- Front Row
Live from Hay with Jack Thorne and Val McDermid
Live from Hay, celebrating reading and writing in many different forms, Samira is joined on stage by Jack Thorne - multi-award-winning screenwriter of the TV…
- Front Row
Review Show: Douglas Stuart's John of John and Cannes Film Festival
Samira Ahmed is joined by writer Matt Cain and critic Suzi Feay to review:Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart's new novel John of John…
- Front Row
Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid
Canadian author Rachel Reid talks to us about the the phenomenon which has followed the publication of her books about the romantic relationship between rival…
- Front Row
Winston Churchill: The Painter, and Smoggie Queens creator and star Phil Dunning
The paintings of Winston Churchill are being exhibited at the Wallace Collection in London. Xavier Bray, Director of the Wallace Collection, and Katharine…
- Front Row
White Lotus and Bridget Jones star Leo Woodall on his new film
Leo Woodall stars in the film Tuner, about a young piano prodigy who turns to crime, in cinemas on the 29th May.The classical music world has been paying…
- Front Row
White Lotus and Bridget Jones star Leo Woodall on his new film
Leo Woodall stars in the film Tuner, about a young piano prodigy who turns to crime, in cinemas on the 29th May.The classical music world has been paying…
- Front Row
Review Show: Rivals and Ian McKellen in The Christophers
Observer Theatre critic Susannah Clapp and Heat's Entertainment Director Boyd Hilton join Samira to discuss The Christophers - Steven Soderbergh’s film about…
- Front Row
Mark Cousins on his 16-hour epic documentary
From landmark releases to hidden treasures, director Mark Cousins on his 16-hour epic The Story of Documentary Film, which is screening at the Cannes Film…
- Front Row
The rock star architect of the Baroque age, Sir John Vanbrugh
This year marks the tercentenary of polymath Sir John Vanbrugh, regarded as the rockstar architect of the Baroque era. Art historian Sir Charles Saumerez…
- Front Row
Highs, lows and naked jet-skiers at the Venice Biennale
Critics Ben Luke and Aviva Dautch bring us all the news from The Venice Biennale. Following the death of the great Shakespearean actor Michael Pennington, we…
- Front Row
Reviewing The Sheep Detectives, Elizabeth Strout and Henry Moore at Kew
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by journalist and podcaster Nick Hilton and writer and historian Catherine McCormack to review a selection of cultural items from this…
- Front Row
Author Siri Hustvedt on her memoir, Ghost Stories
Acclaimed author Siri Hustvedt on Ghost Stories, her memoir of her marriage to novelist, poet and filmmaker Paul Auster and her grief following his death in…
- Front Row
Antony Gormley in 2D
Antony Gormley joins Samira Ahmed. The sculptor and artist is best known for landmarks such as Angel of the North or the beach figures of Another Place, in…
- Front Row
Celebrating the art of Illustration, with Sir Quentin Blake and Posy Simmonds
As the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration prepares to open in London, we find out how illustrators are adapting to a changing world.Starting with a rare…
- Front Row
Review: Spanish master Zurbarán at the National Gallery
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by playwright Mark Ravenhill and academic and critic Maria Delgado to review:The first major UK exhibition of Spanish master Francisco…
- Front Row
Paul Weller on his musical evolution
From the rebellious spirit of The Jam in the 1970s to the soulful sound of The Style Council and mellow ballads as a solo artist, singer-songwriter Paul Weller…
- Front Row
Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce on the new Children's Booker Prize
Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce launches the Children's Booker Prize and discusses some of the themes of his forthcoming Waterstones Children's…
- Front Row
The Devil Wears Prada 2, with director David Frankel
The Devil Wears Prada 2 director David Frankel on why it was time to bring the old gang back together again. David Haig's new play "Magic" imagines the real…
- Front Row
Review: Half Man, Richard Gadd’s follow up to Baby Reindeer
Critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Ludovic Hunter-Tilney join Tom to review Half Man, Richard Gadd’s follow up to his hit Baby Reindeer. They also discuss Anne…
- Front Row
Michael Jackson biopic controversy
A new biopic chronicles one of the 20th century’s biggest and most controversial music icons, but appears not to paint the whole picture about his life. We…
- Front Row
Vivaldi film, author Ben Lerner and V+A East's Music Is Black exhibition
Primavera, a new film about Vivaldi tells the story of his composing for pupils of an institution for abandoned girls. We speak to the film's director Damiano…
- Front Row
Are straight male novelists avoiding sex scenes? Plus new BBC drama Mint
Director Charlotte Regan on her new BBC thriller, MintHave heterosexual male novelists stopped writing sex scenes? We discuss with writer Luke Kennard, author…
- Front Row
Reviewing Lena Dunham's memoir, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Big Mistakes
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by reviewers Dreda Say Mitchell and Viv Groskop to consider Lena Dunham's controversial memoir - Famesick. A new adaptation of Ken…
- Front Row
Dancer and choreographer Gene Kelly's wife and biographer Patricia Ward Kelly on Starstruck
Scottish Ballet's Starstruck honours Gene Kelly's creative legacy and his passion for creating "dance for the common man". His wife Patricia Ward Kelly tells…
- Front Row
Jack Savoretti sings live, plus Turner Prize winner Veronica Ryan
Jack Savoretti sings a song from his latest album We Will Always Be The Way We Were, which is leading the race to top the charts this week. David Szalay's…
- Front Row
Mark Gatiss at the RSC and novelist Margaret Drabble
Mark Gatiss takes on the role he's always wanted to play, the lead in Brecht's Hitler satire The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. As the Government considers…
- Front Row
Review: Is it ok to film theatre curtain calls on your phone?
On the review show this week: critics Muriel Zagha and Tahmima Anam review Francois Ozon's film The Stranger., based on the Albert Camus novel which has often…
- Front Row
W1A creator John Morton on Twenty Twenty Six
Writer and director John Morton, one of the team behind 2012 and W1A, on the new comedy Twenty Twenty Six, set in the run up to this year's football World…
- Front Row
Was Queen Victoria coercively controlled by Prince Albert?
Writer Daisy Goodwin on Victoria: A Queen Unbound. Was the marriage between Victoria and Albert as idyllic as it has been portrayed? Her new play explores the…
- Front Row
The Birth of Television: A Forgotten History
100 years ago, inventor John Logie Baird demonstrated his new 'televisor' to the public for the first time. In this special edition of Front Row, Samira Ahmed…
- Front Row
Review: The Drama starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics Tim Robey and Nancy Durrant to review:Robert Pattinson and Zendaya's new film The Drama about a young couple in the lead up…
- Front Row
SNL UK Cast, plus Trash Cinema Icon Mink Stole
In venues around the UK and here on BBC Radio 4 and on BBC Sounds, it’s Live Comedy Day today – a celebration of live comedy and grassroots clubs. We’re joined…
- Front Row
Robert Macfarlane on the revelations to be found underground
Writer Robert Macfarlane on the world underground as a new documentary, Underland, inspired by his award-winning book of the same name is released in cinemas…
- Front Row
Lesley Manville, and what do astronauts listen to in space?
Lesley Manville, on appearing in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at London's National TheatreArt In Space: As Nasa prepares to send people back to the Moon, former…
- Front Row
Review: Riz Ahmed comedy Bait, Schiaparelli at the V&A
On this week's review show, critic and broadcaster Rhianna Dhillon and fashion historian and writer Amber Butchart join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss Riz Ahmed's…
- Front Row
Actor Forbes Masson on the stage production of cult sitcom The High Life
Actor Forbes Masson on the National Theatre of Scotland's stage musical revival of cult sitcom The High Life in which he starred alongside Alan Cumming as air…
- Front Row
Noah Wyle on hit hospital drama The Pitt
The much anticipated, Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning medical drama The Pitt finally hits HBO max screens in the UK this week. Samira talks to lead actor…
- Front Row
Saturday Night Live arrives in the UK
The UK now has its own SNL, 50 years after the US original. But is it funny? Culture journalist Natalie Jamieson gives her verdict. As the BFI begins a season…
- Front Row
Review: La Grazia, the latest film from The Great Beauty director Paolo Sorrentino
Writer Alexander Larman and journalist Zoe Williams join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the film La Grazia - which was written and directed by The Great Beauty’s…
- Front Row
Sylvia Plath's final year, and Hue and Cry perform Labour of Love
From bellringing to beekeeping - Author Helen Bain talks about the highly detailed research she conducted for the writing of her The Daffodil Days, inspired by…
- Front Row
Gentleman Jack ballet, BTS reunited, Irish myths - a feminist retelling, Len Deighton remembered
Anne Lister, the 19th century landowner and diarist, better known by her nickname, Gentleman Jack, has inspired folksongs, television dramas, and now a ballet…
- Front Row
The Oscars, Ryan Gosling, Self Esteem performs
Self Esteem, aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor, performs her new song written for David Hare’s play Teeth 'n' Smiles.We bring you a roundup of the 2026 Academy Awards…
- Front Row
Review: David Hockney in Normandy, and Asako Yuzuki's new novel
Art critic Ben Luke and writer Sarah Crompton join Samira Ahmed to review David Hockney’s first exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London: A Year in…