Shows / Front Row
Episodes
- Front Row
Timothy Spall, Tracy Chapman's Fast Car turns 30, Novelist Lissa Evans
Timothy Spall discusses his new film Stanley, A Man of Variety, in which he plays every character on screen. It follows Stanley, the only inmate in a failing…
- Front Row
Pieter-Dirk Uys, Joan Bakewell and Christopher Frayling on older audiences, Gaël Faye
Pieter-Dirk Uys, a leading satirist in South Africa, has spent his career poking fun at politicians. In a new show, The Echo of a Noise, he looks back at his…
- Front Row
Rupert Everett, Abir Mukherjee, Sex and the City 20 years on
Rupert Everett discusses his life-long passion for Oscar Wilde as he directs, writes and stars in his film The Happy Prince. Framed around Wilde's short story…
- Front Row
Women's Prize for Fiction winner, Jurassic World, Sunderland musician Nadine Shah, The Future Library
Front Row announces the winner of the £30,000 Women's Prize for Fiction, 2018, and talks to her about her winning novel. Sunderland indie rocker and songwriter…
- Front Row
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Shebeen in Nottingham, Will Sharpe, Vampyr video game
The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition opens on 12th June. It has been held every year without interruption since 1769 providing a platform for emerging and…
- Front Row
David Edgar, Women's non-fiction writing, Art in the aftermath of World War One
Playwright David Edgar is 70 this year. He was 20 in 1968 coming of age, in Bob Dylan's words, when 'there was music in the cafes at night and revolution in…
- Front Row
Orlando Bloom, Grief as muse, Antony Gormley, Novello Award-winning rapper Dave.
Orlando Bloom swaps Middle-earth and the high seas for a Texas trailer park in his first West End production in over a decade, Killer Joe. He talks about…
- Front Row
Westminster Abbey, The culture of the countryside, Gillian Allnutt
The £23m Weston Tower and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries at Westminster Abbey will be opening to the public next month. Architecture critic and…
- Front Row
Angélique Kidjo, Book Club reviewed, Roseanne controversy, novelist Anuradha Roy
Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen star in the rom-com Book Club which makes its older cast the heart of the story. But does it make…
- Front Row
François Ozon's L'Amant Double, Patrick Heron, Rachel Kushner
French director François Ozon discusses his latest film L'Amant Double, a psychological thriller in which a young woman falls in love with her secretive…
- Front Row
Dame Cleo Laine
At the age of ninety jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine looks back at her extraordinary career. She talks to Stig Abell about her lasting musical and romantic…
- Front Row
Akram Khan, Egon Schiele and Francesca Woodman exhibition, soldier-turned-novelist Kevin Powers
Iconic dancer and choreographer Akram Khan shows John around his studio at his home and discusses a life of dance, preparing for his final solo performance and…
- Front Row
Orla Kiely, British Asian theatre, Belinda Bauer
Designer Orla Kiely is famous for her distinct Stem-patterned bags and a global brand that includes fashion, accessories and homeware. Now the first exhibition…
- Front Row
Novelist Philip Roth remembered
The American writer Philip Roth, whose death at the age of 85 was announced today, is remembered by Ian McEwan, his biographer Claudia Pierpont, and American…
- Front Row
Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge on Star Wars, Andrew Sean Greer, Comic novels
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, writer and star of TV series Fleabag, discusses balancing performance and writing, and her latest role as L3, a female droid in the…
- Front Row
Ian McKellen, The Handmaid's Tale Season 2, Bill Gold remembered, Tishani Doshi
Ian McKellen looks back on his acting career and his work as a gay rights activist as a new documentary film comes out about his life.Critic Julia Raeside…
- Front Row
Hamlet and As You Like It at Shakespeare's Globe, Mysterious Marginalia, Morris Dance Music
Shakespeare's Globe found itself in a storm of controversy when Artistic Director Emma Rice left the theatre amid objections to her use of modern lighting and…
- Front Row
Joel Meyerowitz, The Girl on the Train on stage, the Famous Women Dinner Service
As he celebrates his 80th birthday, photographer Joel Meyerowitz looks back at his career which is the focus of his new book of photos, Where I Find Myself. It…
- Front Row
Brighton Festival, Laurie Anderson on the poetry of Lou Reed, Cannes Film Festival
Film critic Jason Solomons reports from Cannes on the big films, rising stars and talking points at this year's festival.In 1970 Lou Reed not only left The…
- Front Row
King Lear, Tom Wolfe remembered, Deadpool 2, Royal Academy at 250
The American writer Tom Wolfe has died aged 88. His style of reportage in the late 60s became known as the New Journalism, and his best known books were the…
- Front Row
Backstage at Swan Lake, Emily Bronte and Wuthering Heights, Kaffe Fassett
As the Royal Ballet stages their new production of Swan Lake this week, we go behind the scenes during rehearsals to meet some of the cast and crew, including…
- Front Row
David Nicholls on Patrick Melrose, Gaz Coombes, Kayo Chingonyi
Writer David Nicholls, best known for One Day, talks about bringing sex, drugs and a silver spoon to life in his television adaptation of Edward St Aubyn's…
- Front Row
Male full-frontal nudity, Chris Lang, Stuart Hall's memoirs
Michael Fassbender was reportedly happy to be filmed completely naked in the film Shame, but compared with female nudity, male full-frontal shots are still…
- Front Row
Neil Gaiman's How To Talk To Girls At Parties and rewatching old films in the #MeToo era
Neil Gaiman discusses the big-screen adaptation of his 2006 short story How To Talk To Girls At Parties. Directed by Hedwig and the Angry Inch director John…
- Front Row
On Chesil Beach with Ian McEwan, Older people and the arts, Drew McOnie
Ian McEwan discusses the process of adapting his novel On Chesil Beach for the big screen. Set in 1962, it tells the story of two young newlyweds spending…
- Front Row
Literary Norwich
Norwich will soon be home to the new National Centre for Writing in the medieval Dragon Hall. Chris Gribble tells Kirsty Lang about the extraordinary building…
- Front Row
David Shrigley, Madeline Miller, the Power of Netflix
Graphic artist David Shrigley discusses his role as Guest Director of the Brighton Festival 2018, and his new book Fully Coherent Plan for a New and Better…
- Front Row
Kate Mosse, Kanye West, Loewe Craft Prize
The Burning Chambers is the latest historical novel from bestselling author of Labyrinth and co-founder of the Women's Prize for Fiction, Kate Mosse. Set in…
- Front Row
Benjamin Zephaniah, Male suicide on Coronation Street, I Feel Pretty, Mircea Eliade
In a BBC national poll Benjamin Zephaniah was voted the nation's third favourite poet of all times, after TS Eliot and John Donne, and the only living one in…
- Front Row
Tate Modern's Shape of Light; Art Fund Museum of the Year Prize 2018; Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling
Shape of Light: 100 Years of Photography and Abstract Art, a new exhibition at Tate Modern, explores the intertwined stories of the two art forms from the…
- Front Row
Plan B on his new album, Women in Chinese art, plus art reproduced on household items.
Plan B - the singer, director and actor, aka Ben Drew - releases his fourth studio album this week. Plan B discusses Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose…
- Front Row
The Marvel Universe, Libraries today, Kizzy Crawford and Gwilym Simcock
Avengers: Infinity War is released in cinemas today. Fans have been counting the days until the film's release, but what does this ambitious high-budget…
- Front Row
Janelle Monae, The Assassination of Katie Hopkins, Turner Prize shortlist
Janelle Monáe, the American singer and actress, discusses her new album Dirty Computer, working with Prince, and her roles in recent films Hidden Figures and…
- Front Row
Rodin, Curtis Sittenfeld, Mark Simpson's cello concerto, Korean television drama
Rodin and the art of ancient Greece is a new exhibition at the British Museum which highlights the influence the Greek Parthenon sculptures had on the French…
- Front Row
Millicent Fawcett statue, Joe Penhall, Stage lighting under review, Thomas Chippendale at 300
Today the first statue of a woman in Parliament Square in London was unveiled. Millicent Fawcett, the suffragist who fought for women's right to vote in the…
- Front Row
Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist, The Shires, Poet Sean O'Brien
The shortlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2018 has been announced today, critics Alex Clark and Toby Lichtig comment on the six novels that made it…
- Front Row
Romola Garai, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Guy Gunaratne
Romola Garai is known for her roles in films such as Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights, and in The Hours, Emma and The Miniaturist on television. For her latest…
- Front Row
Windrush cultural contribution, Dale Winton remembered, Poet Imtiaz Dharker, BBC Proms season
When the Empire Windrush docked, the first contribution of the arrivals from the Caribbean was cultural - Lord Kitchener singing his calypso "London is the…
- Front Row
Tina the Musical, Nicola Walker, Venue Accessibility, Cherry Blossom Poetry
Tina Turner has been closely involved with Tina, the musical which tells the story of her tempestuous life. It has just opened and Front Row has a review. The…
- Front Row
The royals on TV, Luke Evans, Stabat Mater at the Sistine Chapel
Following last night's broadcast of The Queen's Green Planet on ITV, which features the Queen in intimate conversation with Sir David Attenborough, we talk to…
- Front Row
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society director Mike Newell, Joanna Walsh, Milos Forman, 1978 in music
Mike Newell discusses his film The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which stars Lily James as a writer uncovering a mystery from World War II on…
- Front Row
Sharlene Teo, Alice Oswald, William Tillyer, The Chelsea Hotel, Coronation Street's women
Sharlene Teo on her debut novel Ponti, an account of teenage friendship and fraught mother/daughter relationships set in a sweltering Singapore, that's been…
- Front Row
Janelle Monáe's PYNK, Young People's Laureate for London, A Clockwork Orange score, Oldest bridge in the world
As singer Janelle Monaé's video for her new single PYNK goes viral, music journalist Ruth Barnes looks back at other game-changers in the genre. The new Young…
- Front Row
Naomie Harris, Working class talent, Gurrumul
Actress Naomie Harris talks about her latest role in Brad Peyton's big-screen video game adaptation Rampage, which sees her fighting a trio of oversized…
- Front Row
Viv Albertine, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall reopens, BBC Three controller Damian Kavanagh
Viv Albertine was the guitarist in the cult punk band The Slits and a key player in British counter culture before working as a film maker and launching a solo…
- Front Row
Tate Liverpool's Exploring the Unseen, Ben Okri and Joanne Harris, Fortnite Battle Royale, Universal Love album
Tate Liverpool's arts handler Ken Simons has just retired after working there since its opening 30 years ago. To mark his retirement, Tate have allowed him to…
Front RowFront Row 20th Anniversary
To mark 20 years of Front Row Kirsty Lang and John Wilson host a celebratory extended edition live from the Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House in London.Liz…
- Front Row
The City and The City, Monet and Architecture, Rapid Response Unit Liverpool
Actor David Morrissey, well known for his roles in TV dramas like State of Play, The Deal, Red Riding, The Walking Dead and Britannia. He talks about his…
- Front Row
Cuba Gooding Jr, Sean Penn - novelist, Love, Simon - a teen rom-com with a twist
Cuba Gooding Jr is taking to the stage in the new West End production of one of the world's most successful musicals - Chicago. He talks to Stig Abell about…
- Front Row
Aminatta Forna, romantic fiction post #MeToo, the Hollywood sign
Prize-winning author Aminatta Forna on the many different ingredients that make up her new novel, Happiness, a multi-layered story set in modern London, seen…
- Front Row
Nottingham: Rebel City
Ever since the legendary heroic outlaw Robin Hood first stole from the rich to give to the poor, Nottingham has had a tradition of political defiance…
- Front Row
Leonard Bernstein: A Centenary Celebration
This year marks the centenary of Leonard Bernstein's birth and to celebrate the occasion Front Row explores his life and music. John Wilson is joined by his…
- Front Row
David Mamet, Meghan Markle in Suits, Poetry Jukebox
David Mamet, the American playwright, director and novelist, talks to Stig about his new novel, Chicago, set amongst the gangster rivalry of the 1920s. He…
- Front Row
Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs, Sporting theme tunes, National poetry competition winner, AJ Pearce
Wes Anderson discusses his film Isle of Dogs, including working with stop-motion animation and drawing inspiration from Studio Ghibli director Miyazaki for the…
- Front Row
Ready Player One, Church Ministers for the Arts, Mental Institutions in Film, The York Realist
Steven Spielberg, director of films like The Post, The BFG and Bridge of Spies, returns to the science fiction genre with an action adventure set in a…
- Front Row
Anna Chancellor, Harshdeep Kaur, Hilton Als
Anna Chancellor stars in the new TV adaptation of Agatha Christie's murder mystery Ordeal By Innocence this weekend, in which she plays Rachel Argyll, heiress…
- Front Row
Sonia Boyce, Debussy, Black Men Walking
Artist Sonia Boyce's career has been punctuated by series of firsts - the first black woman to have her work collected by the Tate, the first black woman to be…
- Front Row
Macbeth, The British Council, Performing couples who tour
Macbeth is on at the National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House, and there will be at least 15 more Macbeths at theatres and…
- Front Row
Steven Soderbergh's Unsane, America's Cool Modernism, Life after the Double Act, Stage Blood
Director Steven Soderbergh on his latest film, Unsane, which stars Claire Foy as a woman admitted to a mental health facility against her will. The film was…
- Front Row
Jimmy Iovine, Donal Ryan, Glyndebourne Opera Cup, Spring equinox poems
Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon and Patti Smith are just a few of the artists who trusted an inexperienced recording engineer, Jimmy Iovine, at the controls of…