Front Row: Archive 2013

With Kirsty Lang.

Actor Cillian Murphy, who reached a global audience in films such as Batman Begins and Inception, now stars as a gang leader in the BBC Two drama Peaky Blinders, set in Birmingham in 1919. He reflects on the historical background to the drama, and the blurring of the divide between film and TV.

Director Mira Nair discusses her film The Reluctant Fundamentalist, based on the novel by Mohsin Hamid, in which Riz Ahmed plays a Pakistani financier whose life in America is dramatically altered by the attacks of September 11 2001. The film is about to be released on DVD.

The Million Second Quiz is a new high-profile TV show, about to start in America, in which contestants compete over 11 days, 24 hours a day, aiming to win the biggest prize in game show history - $3 million. Stephen Lambert, the British producer who has created the show, talks about his desire to create a TV event for viewers watching live.

Singer Alexandra Burke has released a track called Day Dream, reportedly about her former partner, footballer Jermain Defoe, which contains pointed lyrics about his behaviour. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift accepted an award for her track I Knew You Were Trouble and thanked "the person who inspired this song." Many have assumed that she was talking about Harry Styles from One Direction. Jane Graham discusses the history of revenge songs about high-profile partners, from Carly Simon to Justin Timberlake.

Producer Tim Prosser.

With Kirsty Lang.

Skinny jeans, phone calls and cameramen recording intimate footage all appear in a mediaeval setting, in a new National Theatre production of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II. Making his debut at the National Theatre, director Joe Hill-Gibbins adds a modern twist to this erotic and brutal play, which stars John Heffernan in the title role. Jerry Brotton reviews.

Alan Cumming stars in the film Any Day Now, set in the late 70s and based on a true story about a gay couple who become guardians of an abandoned young boy with Down's Syndrome. Everyone's delighted with the progress the child makes under their care - until the fact that they're gay becomes public knowledge. Alan Cumming discusses institutional homophobia both in the story and today, working on the US TV hit series The Good Wife - and cabaret-singing with Liza Minnelli.

The exhibition Victoriana: The Art Of Revival features new art inspired by the Victorian era, with pieces from 28 artists including Grayson Perry, Paula Rego, and Jake and Dinos Chapman, and work ranging from ceramics to photography to taxidermy. Rachel Cooke reflects on what 21st century artists take from the 19th century.

As the dust settles on this year's Edinburgh Fringe, one of the biggest stories to emerge from the festival was the rise of feminist comedy, culminating when Bridget Christie won the Fosters Comedy Award for her stand-up show, A Bic For Her. Nadia Kamil and Mary Bourke, who both brought feminist shows to Edinburgh this year, discuss how they went about making feminism funny.

Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Mark Lawson.

Tamsin Greig, familiar to Radio 4 listeners as Debbie Aldridge in The Archers, is also well known from TV comedies such as Black Books and Green Wing, along with numerous acclaimed stage roles. This week she stars in the TV drama series The Guilty, as a mother who is also leading a police investigation into the death of a young boy. She reflects on the relationship between comedy and tragedy, corpsing on stage and the importance of pauses.

Jonathan Coe, best known for What a Carve Up! and The Rotters Club, discusses his new novel Expo 58. It's set at the 1958 World Fair in Belgium, where a naïve young civil servant is sent to run the British pavilion against a backdrop of the Cold War. Jonathan Coe discusses spies and intrigue in his latest comic novel.

A rare photograph of one of Vincent Van Gogh's sunflower paintings has been tracked down by writer Martin Bailey. The original painting, Six Sunflowers, was destroyed in Japan, during bombings in 1945. Martin Bailey explains how he found the image, and how he believes it enhances our understanding of Van Gogh's work.

As Cliff Richard prepares to release his 100th album, The Fabulous Rock 'n' Roll Songbook, David Hepworth attempts to chart which band or artist has recorded the most albums.

Producer Nicki Paxman.

With Mark Lawson

The Italian film The Great Beauty was acclaimed at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and now arrives in British cinemas. Set in contemporary Rome, it's the story of an ageing writer looking back with bitterness on his passionate youth. Sarah Crompton reviews.

Stephen Fry is curating the Deloitte Ignite Festival at the Royal Opera House, London. Events focus on Verdi and Wagner, to mark the bicentenaries of their births. Stephen Fry discusses his ideas for the Festival, which include taking QI panellist Alan Davies to his first opera for a scientific experiment. He also talks about the political situation in Russia, and not wanting to make a career out of his personal life.

The Great Tapestry of Scotland, thought to be the longest in the world, is being unveiled today in Edinburgh. It is more than 140 metres long and depicts the history of Scotland from pre-history to the present. The work was conceived by author Alexander McCall Smith, and the panels were designed by artist Andrew Crummy, with input from the historian Alistair Moffat. More than 1000 stitchers from every corner of Scotland have been working on the project for a year. Poet and dramatist Liz Lochhead discusses one of Scotland's biggest community arts projects.

Producer Claire Bartleet.

With Mark Lawson.

About Time, a new film written and directed by Richard Curtis, is the story a 21 year old, played by Domhnall Gleeson, who is told by his father (Bill Nighy) that he has the ability to travel back in time and change events. He uses this ability to woo future girlfriend Mary, played by Rachel McAdams. Camilla Long reviews.

British reggae group UB40 are back with Getting Over the Storm, their 20th studio album, which includes new versions of country and western songs, including covers of tracks made famous by Jim Reeves and Willie Nelson. Saxophonist Brian Travers and drummer Jimmy Brown, original members of the band, discuss the inspiration behind the album, and reflect on recent financial troubles.

Two new TV documentary series starting this week go behind the scenes at two very different schools. Sky 1's Harrow: A Very British School charts life at one of the UK's most famous boarding schools, while Channel 4's Educating Yorkshire follows staff and pupils at Thornhill Community Academy in Dewsbury. Former Education Secretary Baroness Estelle Morris and free school founder Toby Young review.

As actor Dominic West makes a cameo appearance on the new album by British rappers Rizzle Kicks, David Quantick examines the tradition of using actors' voices on records, including songs featuring Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed and Sadie Frost.

Mark Lawson reflects on the life and work of the Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney, whose death was announced today.

Writers including Edna O'Brien, Colm Toibin, Michael Longley and Hermione Lee consider Seamus Heaney's long writing career, and there's another chance to hear part of a special Front Row interview, recorded before an audience on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

Producer Stephen Hughes.

With Kirsty Lang

Historian Simon Schama discusses the challenge of bringing his latest project The Story of the Jews to television, the importance of story-telling to the Jewish experience, and how his former professor inspired him to focus on bringing history to popular audiences.

The vast and ever-growing amount of information now stored on computer servers around the world has become a ready source of inspiration for artists. With an estimated 90 per cent of the world's data having been created in the last two years, there is plenty to call on. Artists Stanza and R Luke Dubois explain how they mine so-called "Big Data" to create images and music, and curator Hannah Redler describes how data has been used to make art since the early days of the internet.

The British Film Institute kicks off its Gothic Season with a restored print of cult classic Night Of The Demon. This 1957 horror, by Cat People director Jacques Tourneur, stars Dana Andrews as a psychologist who enters a battle of wills against a psychic and cult leader called Karswell. The film partly owes its cult status to its monster, one of the most famous in British film history, and Matthew Sweet goes on its trail.

Producer Ella-mai Robey.

With Mark Lawson.

American conductor Marin Alsop discusses becoming the first woman to conduct the Last Night of the Proms. She also reflects on toying with the idea of conducting with one hand after injuring her wrist, and falling in love with Leonard Bernstein at the age of nine.

As Philip French puts away his pen after being The Observer's film critic for 50 years, coinciding with his 80th birthday today, he discusses the 2,500 films he has watched and the changes he has seen in cinema in that time.

As Bonjour Tristesse is re-released in cinemas, the tragic life of actress Jean Seberg is re-assessed by her biographer Garry McGee. The star of A Bout De Souffle and Saint Joan was a political activist and supporter of the Black Panther movement and became the subject of an investigation by the FBI. She committed suicide in 1979, after her film career had faded away amid bad press and conspiracy theories.

American drama series The Newsroom, created by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network), returns to our TV screens this week for a second series, and Bad Education, a comedy written by and starring Jack Whitehall, also begins its second run. TV critic Chris Dunkley considers different ways to approach the potentially tricky second series.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.

With Mark Lawson.

Super Size Me director Morgan Spurlock's latest film is a 3D documentary about the boy band One Direction. The film promises a behind-the-scenes look at the famous five-piece who were brought together on The X Factor in 2010. Rosie Swash gives her verdict.

Scottish playwright and artist John Byrne has added his distinctive visual style to the King's Theatre in Edinburgh, where he has created a new mural for the auditorium's dome. He explains how the commission emerged from a visit to the theatre to watch a production of The Ladykillers.

Nic Roeg, the acclaimed director of classic films such as Walkabout and Don't Look Now, discusses his career, sex scenes and much more besides, in the light of his newly-published memoir.

With the announcement of the death of comedian Mike Winters, half of a double-act with his brother Bernie, comedy performer and writer Steve Punt considers the role of the 'straight man' in comedy.

Producer Kate Bullivant.

With Mark Lawson, who reports from this year's Harrogate Crime Writing Festival.

Ruth Rendell and Jeanette Winterson discuss their friendship, which began when Winterson was a house-sitter for Rendell in 1986. The writers also discuss crime plots, exercise regimes and mammoth book signing sessions.

Kate Atkinson turned to crime-writing with Case Histories, which has become a TV series with Jason Isaacs playing private investigator Jackson Brodie. Atkinson reveals her reluctance to call herself a crime-writer and why she often comes up with titles before stories.

For the second year running Denise Mina received the Novel of the Year award. But there were times when she feared her winning book wouldn't be published. Mina discusses rewriting her book in a weekend.

Val McDermid, Erin Kelly, David Mark, Steve Mosby and Nicci French - husband and wife duo Nicci Gerrard and Sean French - discuss debut writers and JK Rowling's The Cuckoo's Calling, writers' block and tweeting, pure evil and taking inspiration from real life events.

In front of an audience, Stuart MacBride, Catriona McPherson, Manda Scott and Cathi Unsworth reflect on how crime novels of the future could change, in the light of new technology and online developments.

Producer Claire Bartleet.