Front Row: Archive 2013

Austenland, Stephen Poliakoff, Hannah Kent, Elmgreen and Dragset


Listen Later

With Kirsty Lang.

The romantic comedy Austenland, based on a novel of the same name, centres on a single 30-something American woman who travels to Britain to visit a resort where the Jane Austen era is recreated, hoping to find her very own Colin Firth version of Mr Darcy. Critic Viv Groskop - who was born a stone's throw away from Chawton, where Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice - reviews.

Stephen Poliakoff, writer of Caught On A Train and Shooting The Past, reflects on his controversial debut TV drama Hitting Town, which was made in 1975 and is released on DVD for the first time. Written when he was 23, the TV play made headlines when Mary Whitehouse campaigned for it to be banned, appalled by its storyline about a brother and sister who embark on an incestuous affair. Poliakoff reveals his own sister's reaction to Hitting Town and his other incest drama Close My Eyes.

Australian author Hannah Kent's debut novel Burial Rites tells the story of the last woman executed in Iceland. Set in the winter of 1829 and including real court documents, the book combines Nordic noir with cold case fiction. Kent describes how she first heard about the story when visiting Iceland as a teenager and what drew her to write about the case a decade later.

Artists Elmgreen and Dragset have turned five former textile galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum into an apartment belonging to a fictional retired architect, using objects from the museum's collection alongside items from antique markets. Kirsty and architecture critic Hugh Pearman visited the apartment to see if they could decode its secrets.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Front Row: Archive 2013By BBC Radio 4

  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4

4

1 ratings


More shows like Front Row: Archive 2013

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,731 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,057 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,535 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,795 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,827 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,084 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,960 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,220 Listeners

Americast by BBC News

Americast

760 Listeners

The Bomb by BBC World Service

The Bomb

1,036 Listeners

The Borris Broadcasts by The Festival of Writing and Ideas

The Borris Broadcasts

0 Listeners