Front Row: Archive 2014

Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh talks to Samira Ahmed about his new novel The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins, which is set in contemporary Miami. Advertising expert Rory Sutherland unpicks the row over the Morrisons baguette beamed onto the Angel of the North. A cheeky stunt gone wrong or a violation of much-loved public art? Rachel De-lahay's new play Circles focusses on Birmingham's number 11 outer circle bus route and investigates cycles of violence and what it takes to break them. Hayao Miyazaki's latest animated film The Wind Rises has been announced as his last. The writer and director who brought us Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away bows out with the story of Jiro, a young man who dreams of flying and becomes a designer of aeroplanes as the Second World War looms. Critic Robbie Collin reviews.

Kirsty Lang presents a special programme dedicated to one of Britain's most commercially successful composers, Michael Nyman, as he celebrates his 70th birthday. Perhaps best known for his film scores, including Jane Campion's The Piano, his minimalist music can also be enjoyed in the form of operas, string quartets, song cycles and now symphonies. Kirsty is joined by classical music critics, Fiona Maddocks and Jonathan Lennie, to discuss his music and legacy; woodwind player, Andy Findon, who's been a member of the Michael Nyman Band since the 1980s; singer David McAlmont, who wrote The Glare, a song cycle of news stories, with Nyman; and by the composer himself who talks about, among other things, The Hillsborough Symphony, soon to have its premiere, and how that came about.

Presenter: Kirsty Lang

The Testament Of Mary, Colm Tóibín's Man Booker-nominated novella, has now been adapted for the theatre - starring Fiona Shaw and directed by Deborah Warner. Fiona Shaw joins Razia to discuss the effort and concentration required for a 100-minute monologue, and the way the production mixes religious and secular aspects.

Award winning revenge thriller Blue Ruin tells the story of an American man, Dwight Evans, who is seeking to kill his parents killers. As events unfold Evans, played by Macon Blair, undergoes a transformation from traumatised homeless drop-out to novice assassin. Mark Eccleston reviews.

Novelist Edward St Aubyn talks about his new book Lost For Words, a satirical look at the world of literary prizes.

And a new BBC and theatre production of Under Milk Wood to mark the centenary of Dylan Thomas' birth which includes contributions from Charlotte Church, Tom Jones and Michael Sheen.

Razia Iqbal - Presenter

Image Credit: Hugo Glendinning.

With Matthew d'Ancona

Jon Ronson discusses Frank - which he co-wrote with Peter Straughan (The Men Who Stare At Goats). The fictional film was inspired by Jon's experience of touring in Frank Sidebottom's cult band. Ronson talks about why he didn't make a biopic, his relationship with Sidebottom creator Chris Sievey; and working with Michael Fassbender, who plays Frank and wears a fake head for the majority of the film.

The multi Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning series, 24, is about to return. Four years have passed and Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer is now living in London and being hunted by the CIA. But then Jack learns of a threat to kill the US President during an official visit to the British Prime Minister, and decides he has to come out of hiding, to prevent it. Critic Sarah Crompton joins Matthew to assess how Jack fares this side of the Atlantic.

Award winning composer Julian Anderson talks about his new opera Thebans, based on Sophocles' tragedies.

From early Victorian pamphlets to the latest underground offerings, a new exhibition explores the world of British comics. It includes work by Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore and Posy Simmonds and a specially commissioned piece by Tank Girl artist Jamie Hewlett and looks at the way graphic novels have entertained, shocked, disturbed and amused readers for over two hundred years.

Producer Timothy Prosser.

John Wilson remembers the actor Bob Hoskins, whose death was announced today, talking to director Neil Jordan and actress Cathy Tyson about Hoskins' Oscar nominated performance in the film Mona Lisa.

Sports presenter Eleanor Oldroyd reviews Next Goals Wins, a film about the American Samoa football team, who after suffering the worst loss in international football history (31-0 to Australia), attempt to qualify for the World Cup.

Swiss novelist Joël Dicker is a publishing sensation - his novel The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair has won prizes in Europe and been translated into 38 languages. Now it's arrived in the UK. The novel is an intricate murder mystery and an exploration of writing and the writing industry. Joël Dicker talks to John Wilson about being at the centre of a publishing whirlwind and how similar - or not - his own life is to that of his glamorous novelist hero.

Grammy award winning duo The Black Keys discuss their new album Turn Blue. Guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Pat Carney reflect on their transition from garage band to stadium success, the impact of break-ups; and life on the road.

Sculptor Phillip King on his career as he turns 80 this week, Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott have released an album together for the first time since their multi-million selling days of The Beautiful South. They talk to John about their reunion and about Paul's belief in the importance of maintaining a "lippy" attitude. Writer Sally Wainwright talks about turning to crime with BBC One's Happy Valley after the success of Last Tango in Halifax; and we review Seth Rogan's latest film Bad Neighbours.

With John Wilson.

In tonight's Front Row: David Haig talks to John Wilson about his play, Pressure - which he also stars in - about the weatherman who persuaded Eisenhower to postponed the D-Day landings because of an incoming storm; Ziggy Marley explains the importance of reggae in his music, and Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford reviews A Thousand Times Good Night - starring Juliette Binoche as a photojournalist. Also in the programme: a review of ITV's new series Prey, with John Simm as a detective trying to clear his name.

Image Credit: Drew Farrell.

Mandy Walker, the Director of Photography of new film Tracks, discusses the challenges she faced capturing the remote and hostile Australian outback on screen. Welsh drama Hinterland, a dark crime series filmed simultaneously in English and Welsh, is coming to BBC4 this Monday, lead actor Richard Harrington and co-creator Ed Talfan discuss the epic process of filming the whole drama twice. The philosopher Alain de Botton has put his theory that art can be therapeutic into practice, with a new exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. De Botton explains why he hopes visitors will find this sort of exhibition more fulfilling. And playwright Bryony Lavery discusses her new work The Believers, which explores faith, belief systems and parenting.

Presenter: Kirsty Lang

John Wilson is in the recording studio with Damon Albarn to discuss his latest album Everyday Robots, an autobiographical journey in which he returns to his childhood and his London and Essex roots. Albarn describes the stories that lie behind the songs of this his first fully-realised solo album. Roger Wright reveals the line-up for his last ever BBC Proms. The poet and crime writer Sophie Hannah on her new novel The Telling Error, a psychological puzzle about about the seductive appeal of lying. Plus The Art Fund director Stephen Deuchar announces the shortlist for the Museum of the Year Prize.

Producer Elaine Lester

Artist Richard Wilson unveils his vast 77-tonne new silver sculpture, Slipstream, in Heathrow's new Terminal 2 building. Playwright Mike Bartlett, who is currently enjoying a major critical success with King Charles III, discusses his play about the potential future monarch as well as An Intervention which premieres in Watford this week. Booker-winning novelist Rachel Seiffert discusses the new German TV drama series Generation War which follows the lives of five friends in Berlin on different paths through Nazi Germany and World War II. British director Joanna Hogg returns with her third film Exhibition starring Viv Albertine of punk band The Slits. Shahidha Bari reviews.

Producer Jerome Weatherald.