Front Row

Music critic Neil McCormick shares his verdict on the Oasis documentary, Don’t Look Back in Anger about Noel & Liam Gallagher's reunion tour.

Writer Beth Steel talks about her acclaimed play Till The Stars Come Down. The drama is based around a wedding in Mansfield, East Midlands. Originally a sold-out hit at the National Theatre, the production has had a West End Transfer and been performed globally. Beth talks to Samira Ahmed about the show making its regional premiere at the Nottingham Playhouse.

This Friday, the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks will be marked by solemn commemorations in the United States. Since 2001, many writers, artists and filmmakers have created work in response to the attacks, and tonight we speak to historian and writer Simon Schama and to film critic and curator Hugo Emmerzael about how cultural responses have helped shape our understanding of what happened that day and in the aftermath – from Jonathan Safran Foer's novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close to the films of Kathryn Bigelow and the music of avant-garde composer William Basinski.

And Henry Ward, artistic director of the Freelands Foundation discusses their new £100,000 awards for projects around the country which engage communities with art in interesting ways, including a horse box from the Burton Art Gallery and Museum in Bideford in North Devon which takes art into schools.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed

Fanny Herrero, writer and creator of the French sitcom Call My Agent, joins Tom Sufcliffe to talk about how her show about the antics of the cut-throat Paris talent agency ASK became a global hit and why, after a five year hiatus, she’s got the agents back together for their first ever film.

This year’s unprecedented extreme heat and lack of rain in large parts of the UK has wreaked havoc with gardens big and small. How have the historic landscapes, parks and gardens coped? Historic England and The Heritage Fund have worked together on a report to offer guidance to those who care for them on how to adapt and prepare for our changing climate.

Maria Friedman's latest role is in the musical Kimberly Akimbo. She explains what's it like to play a teenager with a rare genetic condition that causes her character to age rapidly, giving her the appearance of an elderly woman.

As the Scottish Government announces a minimum income scheme for artists, which will be piloted during the current Parliament, we ask Cleo Goodman, co-founder of the Basic Income Conversation project, what it might look like, how much people can expect, and how ‘artists’ will be defined in the application process.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe

Ava Pickett discusses her new play Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy at Theatre Royal Stratford East, and the huge success 1536, her Olivier Award-winning play about the Tudors.

Louisa Young on her novel The Golden Years, which continues The Cazalet Chronicles, the hugely popular series of books by Elizabeth Jane Howard.

With the opening this week of the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum, Samira talks to Agnes Valencak, Head of Exhibitions at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and art dealer Philip Mould about the challenges of moving priceless pieces of art.

Plus Guy Lodge on the latest news from the Venice International Film Festival

Presenter: Samira Ahmed

Tom Sutcliffe and guests explore the architecture and culture of Norman Britain as part of a special day of programmes on Radio 4 marking the return of the Bayeux Tapestry.

From Durham to Peterborough, Lincoln to Norwich, the Norman invasion shaped British architecture, landscape and culture. Beginning in wood but later cemented in stone, power was expressed in the rounded arches and distinctive ornamentation of cathedrals and castles. Beginning in 1066, the Romanesque style can still be seen all over the country today, and Britain also bears the stamp of Norman cultural influence in other ways too - from illuminated manuscripts to our language and music.

With:

Helen Carr, writer and historian and author of Sceptred Isle: A New History of the Fourteenth Century

Janina Ramirez, art historian and author of Legenda: The Real Women Behind the Myths that Shaped Europe

Simon Jenkins, author of many books including England's Thousand Best Churches

Vicky Richardson, curator and writer specialising in architecture.

Also - John Goodall, Architectural Editor of Country Life, tours Lincoln cathedral and castle.

Producer: Eliane Glaser

Mark Ravenhill and Leila Latif join Tom Sutcliffe to review:

Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's new film Bitter Christmas, a tragi comedy told across different time frames, and questioning the relationship between reality and fiction in the film industry.

Author of best selling The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin's new speculative fiction novel is Under Story, which asks if you could turn back the clock, would you live your life a second time?

And Ridley Scott's film The Dog Stars, starring Jacob Elordi, set in a post-apocalyptic world.

Also, art critic Louisa Buck joins Tom to discuss the life and work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama who has died at the age of 97.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe

Ahead of her sixth performance at the BBC Proms the mezzo soprano star Joyce DiDonato talks to Kirsty about the explosive potential of her voice. 

VP Head of YouTube EMEA - Pedro Pina - delivers the flagship address of this year's Edinburgh TV Festival. He gives his perspective on the continuing evolution of tv as we know it. 

Comedy is at the heart of the Edinburgh Festivals, and today the shortlist for the Edinburgh Comedy Award has been revealed. Director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards Nica Burns is joined by chair of judges Liz Lewin to discuss the names everyone's talking about this year. 

Life life and work of legendary singer and actor Tim Curry is celebrated by culture critic and broadcaster David Benedict and Tim’s lifelong friend, the gallerist Richard Cork.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark

Samira Ahmed spoke to Dolly Parton in 2023. As her death is announced Front Row pays tribute to the star of country music who sold more than 100 million records and wrote over 3,000 songs in a career that spanned six decades.

A chance to hear Meg Mason, the bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss, about her new novel, Sophie Standing There, which deals with celebrity obsession and the publishing industry.

Producer: Ruth Watts

Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and William Lee Adams join Tom Sutcliffe to review:

The Life of M - the new novel from Rachel Cusk. The book centres on a writer’s attempt to chronicle the life of a globally famous film star, and explores the strangeness of celebrity.

Stop! That! Train! - a comedy disaster movie featuring many of the stars from RuPaul's Drag Race.

Coyote vs Acme - after a lengthy and tumultuous journey, including being shelved by its studio, the much anticipated Looney Tunes film finally reaches cinemas. The blend of live action and animated film follows Wile E. Coyote as he takes legal action against the Acme Corporation for providing him with defective goods.

Chinese animated film Niu Lai has become an unexpected box-office and social media phenomenon. Initially released to little attention, the film gained widespread visibility online, generating debate about independent filmmaking, internet culture and the economics of contemporary cinema in China.

And as HMV announces that it wants to become a 'destination' for books on the high street, a group of independent booksellers calls on the Prime Minister to provide the same tax relief that pubs and live music venues have recently been granted. What is the state of bookselling on the high street? Lauren Brown, Deputy News Editor at The Bookseller, joins.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe

Ann Droid and Motherland star Paul Ready on his debut one man show Little Animals, a powerful piece of writing on climate, consumerism and the anxieties of being a Dad in today's world.

The founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales on his book The Seven Rules of Trust, an optimistic view of how technology can impact on our lives.

Comedian and actor Rosie Holt on her two shows at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe - Churchill's Urinal and The Illegal Aliens Have Landed.

And Senegalese musician Senny Camara talks to us about performing on the kora, traditionally the preserve of male musicians, and performs for us live.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark

As contemporary art venue, The Light, prepares to open in Durham, its artistic director Tony Guillan, and the art critic Louisa Buck, discuss the new building and its opening exhibition, Victory Over the Sun: Encounters with Light.

Comedian Iain Stirling is known to many for narrating Love Island. He's stepped out from behind the scenes to front new reality tv show Race Against The Tide where participants compete against each other and the shoreline to create sandcastle art.

As her latest novel, Little Spark, is published, novelist Jess Kidd explains the appeal of the Victorian century.

Presenter: Nick Ahad