Front Row: Archive 2014

John Wilson reports from the Edinburgh Fringe as he talks to comedian Phill Jupitus about about his love of art and drawing, which has inspired his new Edinburgh Fringe event Sketch Comic. Jonathan Glazer remembers Lauren Bacall. Sabrina Mahfouz and Jade Anouka, the writer and performer behind a new award-winning Edinburgh monologue drama Chef, and comedian Sara Pascoe on her new stand-up show which covers Darwin, Freud and Napoleon's love life.

Presenter: John Wilson

George RR Martin, whose epic series of fantasy novels A Song Of Ice And Fire formed the basis for the TV hit Game Of Thrones, discusses creating an imaginary world loosely based on historical fiction. Alison Jackson is known for creating spoof photographs of celebrities caught in compromising positions, such as Madonna changing nappies or a member of the Royal Family in the bath. Having worked in photography, film and television, Alison Jackson is now producing an opera featuring celebrity-lookalikes, including Nigella Lawson, Boris Johnson and Prince Harry, singing well-known arias. Also tonight: Viv Groskop reviews the new film The Congress starring Robin Wright and Jon Hamm, and Terry Gilliam remembers the actor and comedian Robin Williams.

Producer: Ellie Bury

Image: George RR Martin

Front Row comes from Edinburgh with Dylan Moran who, along with fellow comedian Eddie Izzard, is producing a showcase of stand ups from around Europe as part of the Edinburgh Fringe. Representing Russia is Igor Meerson who joins Dylan Moran to discuss the differences between British and Russian humour. Jung Chang, whose family memoir Wild Swans sold more than 13 million copies, discusses researching her biography of the Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi in China, director Todd Miller talks about his documentary Dinosaur 13, which follows the bitter custody battle over an extraordinary T Rex skeleton found in South Dakota in 1990. And, as several plays at the Edinburgh Festivals explore the Scottish Referendum, Kirsty Lang looks at how playwrights are tackling the subject.

Photo Credit: Dylan Moran by Andy Hollingworth

Presenter: Kirsty Lang

We review the new BBC One comedy series, Boomers. Set in Thurnemouth, 'Norfolk's only West facing resort', it follows the ups and downs of a group of baby boomers wrestling with the unique challenges of life in retirement, featuring an all-star cast including Alison Steadman, Stephanie Beacham, Russ Abbot and June Whitfield.

Actor Ben Whishaw on his new film Lilting, in which he plays a grieving man who tries to befriend his late boyfriend's Chinese mother.

Margaret Kennedy's 1924 novel, The Constant Nymph, was a sensational bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic and inspired a West End play and three films. Kennedy enjoyed success with her subsequent novels but today few recognise her name. With the reissue of her books, novelist Joanna Briscoe and Dr Anne Manuel discuss the qualities of this former literary lioness.

And where art meets science: Front Row spoke to three chemists who work in art galleries, preserving, restoring and even discovering, paintings.

Presenter: Damian Barr

Damian Barr talks to actor Guy Pearce, whose new film The Rover is set in the Australian Outback just after a great economic collapse.

Joseph O'Neill discusses his new novel, The Dog, which has recently been longlisted for this year's Man Booker prize.

Stephen Armstrong reports from Edinburgh on the best of this year's Fringe.

And Naomi Alderman explores the current glut of television shows about geeks, including Silicon Valley and the Big Bang Theory.

Sir Neville Marriner, who turned 90 this year, is the most recorded living conductor. He talks to Kirsty Lang about his long and varied career, and his return to the BBC Proms.

The Inbetweeners is a rare example of a television sitcom which made a successful transfer to the big screen. Co-creators Damon Beesley and Iain Morris discuss their second Inbetweeners film in which the four friends take their teenage antics on a gap year to Australia.

The words of Poets Laureate across three and a half centuries feature in a new exhibition opening this week. From the first poet appointed to the post, John Dryden, to the current one, Carol Ann Duffy - original manuscripts and rare editions of their works are on display. In addition, historic recordings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ted Hughes and Sir John Betjeman, as well as readings by actors Timothy West, Sir Daniel Day-Lewis and Dame Judi Dench can be heard, bringing new resonance to the poems themselves. Curator Deborah Clarke tells Kirsty about the start and development of the post of Poet Laureate, and about bringing their words to life.

Kirsty is joined by critic David Benedict to review a new production of My Night With Reg, a 1994 gay comedy set during the AIDS crisis.

Image: Sir Neville Marriner (c) Mark Allan.

In tonight's Front Row, Christina Hendricks talks about working with Philip Seymour Hoffman on one of his last roles, in the film God's Pocket - and Sinead O'Connor discusses her latest album, her dramatic new image, and whether she still likes Nothing Compares 2 U.

Also in the programme: the artist behind spectra - the giant light-beam which appeared at dusk in London yesterday - and art critic William Feaver chooses paintings which evoke summer.

Presenter: Kirsty Lang

Samira Ahmed talks to author DBC Pierre, reviews the film Welcome to New York starring Gerard Depardieu, and discusses the world premiere of John Tavener's Requiem Fragments.

Kirsty Lang with the singer Loudon Wainwright III, father of Rufus and Martha, who discusses his latest album Haven't Got the Blues (Yet). It covers subjects including ageing, death, depression - and despair at trying to find a parking space. As best-selling Japanese novelists Haruki Murakami and Kanae Minato publish new novels, we discuss contemporary Japanese fiction. Briony Hanson reviews Guardians of the Galaxy, a Marvel action film about a team of superheroes from the studios that made Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, and - as Northampton Museum and Art Gallery loses its Arts Council accreditation for selling an Egyptian statue in its collection - we discuss what this means for the museum.

Presenter: Kirsty Lang

Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood discusses the world premiere screenings of Paul Thomas Anderson's film There Will Be Blood, with Greenwood's score being performed live by the London Contemporary Orchestra. South African writer Deon Meyer on his latest thriller Cobra, where the arrival of a Cambridge maths professor leads to a spiralling body count. As Amazon announces it is to launch a books subscription service, Charlie Redmayne of Harper Collins and Phillip Jones of The Bookseller discuss the implications for readers, authors and publishers. And film producer and critic Catherine Bray makes her selection of films that conjure up summer.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.