Front Row: Archive 2013

With John Wilson.

In 2010 Dawn Brancheau, a trainer at the Seaworld theme park, died after being dragged into the water by Tilikum, Seaworld's largest performing Orca. A new documentary, Blackfish, explores how Tilikum came to be in captivity and asks whether whales kept as performing animals will inevitably become aggressive. Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan Or The Whale, reviews.

The vocal group Naturally 7 are about to perform at this year's BBC Proms. They demonstrate how they create the sounds of a variety of instruments using just their voices, and reveal how they build up a song, layer by layer.

A big new library is the flagship project of Birmingham City Council's plans for the regeneration of the city. Ahead of the opening early in September, John takes a tour of the £188 million building, with project director Brian Gambles, and Birmingham-born author Jonathan Coe.

Author Kamila Shamsie reveals her Cultural Exchange choice: the 1950 classic movie All About Eve, with Bette Davis as an aging Broadway star.

Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson.

Kevin McNally has acted on stage opposite Jude Law and Kenneth Branagh, and has appeared in more than two dozen films, including all four Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He now stars in The Mill, a new four-part TV drama, which depicts events in rural-industrial England in 1833 and is based on the extensive archive of Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire. He discusses the appeal of playing characters who are far from likeable, and reveals how he thinks it helped that he was a little tipsy when he auditioned for Pirates Of The Caribbean.

The latest artwork to be commissioned for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square has been unveiled by London Mayor Boris Johnson. Hahn / Cock by the German artist Katharina Fritsch is a sculpture of a giant blue cockerel. Katharina Fritsch and Boris Johnson explain what the latest statue to occupy the plinth means to them.

For Cultural Exchange, Monty Python's Terry Jones selects Under Milk Wood, the play for voices by Dylan Thomas, which was narrated by Richard Burton and first broadcast on the BBC Third Programme in 1954.

Producer Karla Sweet.

With Mark Lawson.

Steve Coogan returns as his best-known character, Norwich radio DJ Alan Partridge, in a new film Alpha Papa, which sees Partridge involved in an unusual hostage situation at a local radio station. Steve Coogan discusses the evolution of the character from the small to the big screen, the pressure from fans to reprise his 'hit' character, and how his fears of turning into Alan Partridge himself inspire his performances.

For Cultural Exchange, crime writer Ruth Rendell discusses her choice of Handel's oratorio Solomon, based on the bible story and containing the sinfonia The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.

On the day that Arts Council England announces investment plans for 2015 to 2018, Peter Bazalgette, its chairman, talks to Mark about what these plans will involve - in the light of cuts to local authority budgets.

Producer Claire Bartleet.

With John Wilson.

Hugh Jackman returns to the role of Wolverine in his new film, embroiled in a conflict that forces him to confront his own demons. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews The Wolverine.

The late singer-songwriter Ian Dury is best known as the front man for Ian Dury and the Blockheads and for writing songs including Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick. But before he became an entertainer, Dury trained at the Royal College of Art and had a career as an artist that lasted nearly a decade. As an exhibition of his work opens at the RCA, Dury's daughter Jemima and his old Kilburn and the Highroads band-mate Humphrey Ocean discuss his art and his legacy.

Following today's announcement of the longlist for this year's Man Booker Prize for Fiction, Robert Macfarlane, chair of judges, joins John to discuss the 13 books and their authors. The shortlist will be announced on 10 September, and the winner - who will receive a £50,000 prize - will be announced on 15 October.

For Cultural Exchange, the musician James Blake chooses Stalker, a film made in 1979 film by the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky.

Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson.

Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West star as the ultimate celebrity couple, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, in a new BBC Drama written by William Ivory. Focusing on the period when they appeared together on Broadway in Noel Coward's Private Lives, Burton and Taylor imagines the complex relationship between the ex-husband and wife. Linda Grant reviews.

Writer Denise Mina has received the Theakstons Old Peculier crime novel award, for the second year running. Her winning novel, For Gods and Beasts, weaves together three stories of Glasgow's criminal underworld. She explains why she had to re-write it over a weekend and reveals the flaws in her books.

Director Noah Baumbach discusses Frances Ha, his acclaimed black and white drama about the misadventures of a twentysomething dancer, played by co-writer Greta Gerwig. He also reveals what his parents thought of his break-through film, The Squid And The Whale, which was inspired by the fall-out from their divorce

For Cultural Exchange, dramatis Mark Ravenhill chooses Casanova, the first television series from Dennis Potter, starring Frank Finley as Casanova.

Producer Nicki Paxman.

With John Wilson.

Wadjda is the first film from Saudi Arabia to be directed by a woman, Haifaa Al Mansour. It's the story of an 11-year-old girl who enters a Koran recitation competition in order to buy a bike with the winnings, even though women are discouraged from cycling and are banned from driving cars. Critic Shahidha Bari delivers her verdict.

American writer Philipp Meyer's ambitious new novel, The Son, maps the legacy of violence in the western United States. When a young man is taken captive by the Comanches, he learns to adapt to their way of life before their tribe is destroyed by disease, starvation and an overwhelming number of armed, white settlers. Philipp Meyer discusses the breadth of scope - and the five years it took to research and write - of his epic 560-page novel.

Starring trumpet soloist Alison Balsom, Gabriel opens at Shakespeare's Globe this evening. The play, set during the Glorious Revolution, showcases the music of Purcell through a combination of drama, instrumentals and songs. John talks to Balsom, as well as the play's director Dominic Dromgoole, about the project.

Producer Karla Sweet.

With John Wilson.

Susannah Clapp reviews the new Punchdrunk production The Drowned Man, A Hollywood Fable. The company is known for not using stages or even seats, and their groundbreaking immersive style - in previous shows like Sleep No More - has had a huge influence in contemporary theatre.

As an Eduardo Paolozzi retrospective opens in Chichester, John meets the artist's lifelong friend Sir Terence Conran. Conran, who has since had success in design, retail and restaurants, remembers helping Paolozzi put together some of his early sculptures.

In Cultural Exchange, singer Laura Mvula chooses the song Four Women by Nina Simone. Released on the 1966 album Wild is the Wind, it tells the story of four different African-American women.

The shortlist for the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize was announced today. This year's list, in which housing features prominently, includes the regenerated Park Hill housing estate in Sheffield. Architect and Chair of the Judges Philip Gumuchdjian, and journalist Tom Dyckhoff discuss the six buildings that have been nominated.

Producer Kate Bullivant.

With Mark Lawson.

Writer and poet Clive James discusses his ambitious version of Dante's 14th century epic poem The Divine Comedy. He reflects on the challenge and pleasure of translating the 14,233 lines which took him several years, while struggling with ill health which made him wonder whether he'd live to see it published.

Directed by Joe Wright and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, the UK premiere of A Season in the Congo by Aimé Césaire opens on stage this week. Set in the Congo during the country's first year of independence, the play charts the life of Patrice Lumumba from his campaigning against Belgian rule, to becoming Prime Minster, to his assassination. Novelist Justin Cartwright gives his verdict.

Screenwriter Paula Milne offers her choice for Cultural Exchange - Five Easy Pieces, an influential 1970 film starring Jack Nicholson as a frustrated musician who drifts from job to job and embarks on a road trip to see his seriously ill father.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson.

Christopher Guest, the writer best known for This Is Spinal Tap, makes his BBC debut with Family Tree, a TV comedy series about an ancestral quest starring Chris O'Dowd from Bridesmaids and The IT Crowd. Antonia Quirke discusses whether Guest has turned the laughs all the way up to 11.

Josephine and I, written by and starring Cush Jumbo, is a one-woman show about the life of dancer, singer and actress Josephine Baker. Jumbo reflects on why she wanted to bring Baker's story to the stage.

Easy Money is the latest slab of Nordic Noir to hit the big screen. It's an adaptation of Jens Lapidus' debut novel about a student who gets caught up in a drug heist. Jeff Park decides whether this noir should have seen the light of day.

Artist Conrad Shawcross offers his choice for Cultural Exchange, in which leading creative minds nominate a favourite work. His selection is Monet's painting Water-Lilies, currently on show at Tate Modern.

Producer Stephen Hughes.

With Mark Lawson.

The World's End is a new comedy film from Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright, completing a trilogy which began with Shaun of the Dead and continued with Hot Fuzz. Adam Smith reviews.

Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning dramatist Marsha Norman discusses how she adapted Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple as a musical for the stage. The show is about to receive its British premiere. Marsha Norman also reflects on how she teaches the art of writing for musicals.

Badults is a new TV comedy which follows the exploits of three childhood friends who made a pact to live together when they grew up, but find themselves struggling to adapt to adult life. The show is written by and stars Ben Clark, Matthew Crosby and Tom Parry, also known as the comedy troupe Pappy's. They discuss their move from the live comedy circuit to the small screen.

In tonight's Cultural Exchange, American writer David Sedaris chooses the TV programme Ru Paul's Drag Race.

Producer Dymphna Flynn.