Front Row: Archive 2013

With Mark Lawson, including an interview with critic and writer Hermione Lee about her new biography of Penelope Fitzgerald, who published her first novel at the age of 60, and won the Booker Prize with her book Offshore at the age of 63.

With the news of a massive find of Nazi looted art in a Munich flat this weekend, Mark speaks to art critic Bill Feaver and Head of Collections at the Berlin Jewish Museum Inka Bertz about the connection to the 1937 "Entartete Kunst" - the Degenerate art exhibition in Berlin which included work by Picasso, Paul Klee, Kandinsky and Nolde.

J J Abrams, the creator of TV series Lost, discusses his latest work - S - a novel where the writing is not just between the lines but in the margins and in scraps of paper embedded between the pages. S tells the story of a book written by a mysterious author and two of its readers who correspond to each other via its yellowing pages. Abrams talks of its conception and why he handed the project to novelist Doug Dorst, while he worked on Star Trek and the new Star Wars movies.

Fresh Meat returns to our screens tonight, joining the students at the beginning of their second year at university. John Yorke, former head of EastEnders and author of Into the Woods: A Five Act Journey into Story, joins Mark to reflect on how TV has used the passage of time to bolster plots and storylines.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Kirsty Lang.

The British rapper Tinie Tempah became a global sensation in 2010 with his debut album, winning the 2011 Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act. As he releases his second album, Demonstration, Tinie reflects on his fear of selling out, his support for the royal family and why he mentions Prince Harry, Jeremy Clarkson and Stephen Fry in his songs.

Rosie Boycott reviews the Chilean film Gloria, which stars Paulina Garcia as a divorced woman in her late 50s who goes in search of romance. Garcia won Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival.

Ballet star Carlos Acosta has written his first novel, Pig's Foot, which is the story of one family set against the backdrop of Cuban history from slavery to the present. He discusses why he is turning from ballet to literature.

At the height of his success, novelist Dennis Wheatley sold over 50 million copies of his books worldwide in 28 languages, luring readers in with titles such as The Devil Rides Out and To The Devil A Daughter. Since his death in 1977, his fame and readership have declined. As a selection of Wheatley's books is re-published, Matthew Sweet considers the reasons for his rise and fall - and whether he will rise again.

Producer Timothy Prosser.

With John Wilson.

David Beckham talks about being a photographic muse - and of what's it's been like, living his life in front of a camera-lens.

Singer-songwriter Graham Nash found fame with The Hollies and then with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. He's just published his memoirs and reflects on his upbringing in Salford and how his childhood was affected by his father's prison sentence. He also describes the unique harmonies created through his friendship with David Crosby and Stephen Stills - and his thorny relationship with Neil Young.

Guitarist Brian May, founder member of Queen, also has a life-long passion for Diableries, 19th century French cards with 3D views of the underworld printed on them. He and fellow-enthusiast Denis Pellerin explain how these gothic images became hugely popular, and how Brian developed a modern day stereoscope in order to view them.

A new dramatisation of Dracula arrives on TV for Halloween, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. This version sees the count posing as an American industrialist who arrives in England claiming he wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. In reality, he hopes to wreak revenge on the people who ruined his life, centuries earlier. Antonia Quirke reviews.

Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson.

Joan Collins on her new memoir, picking the wrong husbands, not giving away her age, and why she wasn't the first choice for the now iconic role of Alexis Colby in Dynasty.

The first major UK exhibition of 17th Century artist Giovanni Castiglione is opening this week at Buckingham Palace. Castiglione led a turbulent and violent life, but he was an innovative artist who invented the technique of monotype which is still used by artists such as Tracey Emin, whose works can be seen alongside Castiglione in Gifted: From the Royal Academy to The Queen.

The work of crime writer Ian Rankin and the late Irish musician Rory Gallagher is paired up on a new concept compilation album - which features a story inspired by music which was in turn inspired by crime fiction. Ian Rankin and Rory's brother, Donal discuss the project with Mark.

Indie film Drinking Buddies explores the relationship between two brewery co-workers who seem perfect for each other - except they're both in relationships with other people. All the dialogue is improvised. Rosie Swash reviews.

With Mark Lawson,

Susan Stroman, the American theatre director and choreographer whose productions include the multi-award winning The Producers, talks about her new musical, The Scottsboro Boys. With music and lyrics by Kander and Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago), The Scottsboro Boys is based on the true story of a group of black teenagers in Alabama wrongly accused of rape, whose case became a milestone in the history of US civil rights.

Short Term 12 is a drama set in a foster home for at-risk teenagers, written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (I Am Not a Hipster). Shown from the perspective of a care supervisor played by Brie Larson, the film explores the complex, dark and sometimes humorous life of those working and living within the care system. Film critic Catherine Bray reviews.

Comedian Ross Noble turns TV host this week with a show called Freewheeling, in which he follows invitations he receives on Twitter - whether it's a chance to arrive unannounced at a sales conference, or to meet a man who has a large quantity of custard. He reflects on the spontaneity which this approach allows, and also reveals his views on the less spontaneous TV panel shows.

Producer Claire Bartleet.

With Mark Lawson.

Sandra Bullock, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2010, is now tipped for Oscar success again for her role in Gravity, in which she plays a medical engineer lost in space. She considers the demands of the part, which involves relatively little dialogue and the illusion of weightlessness.

Few musicians experience the success enjoyed by Leonard Bernstein, acclaimed as a charismatic conductor as well as a composer whose work includes West Side Story. Now a 600 page collection of his letters offers a chance to re-assess his life, as revealed in correspondence with family members, numerous high-profile fellow musicians and cultural figures. Nicholas Kenyon, managing director of the Barbican Centre, London, gives his verdict.

Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Rafe Spall star in a new Broadway production of Harold Pinter's play Betrayal - the latest staging of a work which has received several high-profile revivals since its premiere in 1978. Theatre critic Dominic Maxwell reflects on Betrayal's popularity, and discusses the plays and musicals which have enjoyed the most new productions in recent years.

Film-maker Francis Ford Coppola, director of The Godfather trilogy, has described his position now as 'like a retired businessman - but rather than play golf, I've decided to make art films instead.' As Coppola's latest film goes straight to DVD in the UK, Andrew Collins looks at the artists who have chosen to retire - but then can't resist a come-back.

Producer Timothy Prosser.

With Kirsty Lang

Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love spent nearly 200 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list and was made into a film starring Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem. Elizabeth talks to Kirsty about returning to fiction for her new book The Signature of All Things, a story which spans the 18th and 19th centuries and sees its heroine, botanist Alma Whittaker, travel from Philadelphia to Tahiti and Amsterdam in search of answers, adventure, and love.

James Corden stars as Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts in the biopic One Chance.

Robert Webb and Tamzin Outhwaite star in Raving, a new play about competitive parenting and middle class status anxiety by Simon Paisley Day. Critic Viv Groskop delivers her verdict.

This week Qatar's Sheikha Al-Mayassa was deemed to be the most powerful person in the art world, topping The ArtReview Power 100 list. The sheikha and her family are estimated to spend more than £600 million per year on art. But do the tastes of the big art buyers influence what kind of art is produced? Art market watcher Sarah Thornton reflects on the impact of the new international tastemakers.

Produced by Ella-mai Robey.

With Kirsty Lang.

From Here To Eternity is given the musical treatment by Sir Tim Rice, the lyricist who gave us Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, with Pop Idol contestant Darius Campbell in the role of Sergeant Milt Warden, memorably played by Burt Lancaster in the film adaptation. Critic Jason Solomons delivers his verdict.

Earth, Wind And Fire, the American group behind hits September, Let's Groove and Boogie Wonderland in the late '70s, have just released their first studio album in eight years. Verdine White, Philip Bailey and Ralph Johnson, the three core members of the group - its founder Maurice White is no longer performing as a result of Parkinson's Disease - discuss the legacy of those early hits and the renewal of interest in their music following the success of Daft Punk.

Artist Maggi Hambling and Tim Marlow pay tribute to the sculptor Sir Anthony Caro, whose death at the age of 89 was announced today.

The V And A's new exhibition of Chinese painting promises to be "the most ambitious survey of one of the world's greatest artistic traditions". It covers 11 centuries and features an expansive collection ranging from scrolls which measure over 14 metres long, to intimate and poetic fan paintings. To find out whether the exhibition lives up to expectations, Chinese born artist Aowen Jin went to take a look.

Producer Stephen Hughes.

With Mark Lawson.

Dame Judi Dench discusses her role in the new film Philomena, in which she plays a 70-year-old Irish woman who is looking to trace her son, taken away from her when she was a teenager. She discusses portraying and meeting the real Philomena Lee, and working with Steve Coogan, who co-scripted and co-stars in the film as Martin Sixsmith, the man who helped Philomena find her child.

Honoré Daumier was a French printmaker, sculptor and painter whose work offered a social commentary on 19th Century French life. A new exhibition, Visions of Paris, explores his legacy. Booker Prize-winning novelist Julian Barnes reviews the show.

Henrik Ibsen's play Ghosts is enjoying two very different new productions at the moment. In English Touring Theatre's staging, the sets take inspiration from designs originally made for the play by Edvard Munch in 1906. In Richard Eyre's new version, at the Almeida Theatre, London, the transparent walls of the set provide a stark contrast to the secrets hidden by the characters. Tim Hatley who designed the Almeida's production and Sue Prideaux, Munch's biographer, discuss the different approaches to representing the text.

Peep Show stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb reunite in Ambassadors, a TV comedy-drama series about the inner-workings of an embassy in the fictional country of Tazbekistan. Briony Hanson of the British Council delivers her verdict.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Mark Lawson presents a special programme from Derry~Londonderry, UK City of Culture 2013.

This year's Turner Prize for contemporary art is on show in Derry~Londonderry and features artists Tino Sehgal, Laure Prouvost, David Shrigley and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. David Shrigley and Laure Prouvost discuss their work and critic Philip Hensher delivers his verdict on the show.

Derry-based writer Jennifer Johnston was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for her novel Shadows on Our Skin. Her Three Monologues, in response to The Troubles, are being performed as part of the City of Culture celebrations and her new novel A Sixpenny Song is published this month. She discusses the impact of the 2013 celebrations on the atmosphere in the city.

Gerald Barry's comic opera The Importance of Being Earnest is being performed in Derry this week and then in Belfast, Cork and Dublin later in the year. He explains how he went about filleting Oscar Wilde's text and why Lady Bracknell was always going to be cast as a basso profondo.

The inaugural City of Derry International Choral Festival is being hosted by local chamber choir Codetta. The festival's artistic director Dónal Doherty and soprano Laura Sheerin discuss how it feels to be taking part.

Producer Ellie Bury.