Front Row Weekly

John Wilson meets Kylie Minogue to discuss her new album and Harry Hill and Sean Foley, creators of the new 'X Factor' musical. He talks to writer John Banville about his new take on Raymond Chandler and to two of the stars of the King of Dance. Sarah Dunant reviews the Veronese exhibition at the National Gallery and Kirsty Lang meets John Morton, creator of Twenty Twelve about his new series W1A.

In Oxford, John views works by Cezanne, Manet, Degas and Van Gogh – part of a great private collection that has left America for the first time. Rock guitarist Jeff Beck on how he joined the Rolling Stones…for two days. Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson goes undercover in Glasgow for her latest film. Award winning writer Alexander McCall Smith discusses his latest novel about an expatriate community in the Cayman Islands. The Duke Of Devonshire takes John on a buggy trip round the Chatsworth estate and author Siri Hustvedt on the line from New York talks about her novel The Blazing World.

Guy Garvey of Elbow talks to John Wilson about writing songs of love and loss. A trio of poets laureate examine the question of national verse. John heads to the British Museum to find out if the Vikings were ruthless raiders or international traders? Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews the film The Grand Budapest Hotel. And an album by Johnny Cash, rediscovered by his son John Carter Cash.

Comedian Stewart Lee tells John Wilson why he’s still so grumpy on stage. We review the film adaptation of bestselling novel The Book Thief plus an exhibition of Great War portraits at the National Portrait Gallery. Peter Gabriel revisits his biggest album on stage and screen. Young novelist Helen Oyeyemi talks about myths and fairy tales. Will Gompertz marks the re-opening of the new Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. And why black actors need black playwrights to help them audition for roles.

John Wilson talks to Martin Scorsese and film maker Thelma Schoonmaker about commemorating the work of Michael Powell and Emerik Pressburger. Lynda La Plante reveals her plans for a Prime Suspect prequel. Andrew Graham-Dixon explains why German renaissance art was once deemed too ugly for British galleries and music producer Jon Hopkins talks about his very solitary creative process. Jane Graham reviews the Lego movie and Tom Sutcliffe interviews author Joanne M Harris whose latest novel, The Gospel of Loki, is the first epic adult fantasy book.

John Wilson talks to Barkhad Abdi, the debutante actor who took Tom Hanks hostage in Captain Philips. Author Armistead Maupin tells John why his latest Tale From The City is also his last. Architects Norman Foster and Richard Rogers reunite for a rare interview. More than a year after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Wilko Johnson and his new musical partner Roger Daltrey talk about the album they've recorded together. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews the film The Monuments Men. And John checks in to The Langham Hotel to watch Tennessee Williams plays.

Dame Angela Lansbury on returning to London theatre, Swedish actress Sofia Helin and Danish actor Kim Bodnia from TV show The Bridge; sculptor Richard Deacon on his career and actor Reece Shearsmith discusses his latest post-Gentleman project. Kirsty Lang talks to author Hanif Kureishi about a novel that isn’t about VS Naipaul and to actress Isabella Rossellini about dramatising the sex lives of insects

Kirsty Lang talks to Annie Proulx about the opera of her novel Brokeback Mountain and artist Martin Creed about his retrospective at the Hayward Gallery; and hears from actress Juliet Stevenson about the challenges of acting in the Samuel Beckett play Happy Days; while Mark Lawson talks to Matthew McConaughey about losing 47lbs for his film Dallas Buyers Club and to Ralph Fiennes about directing his film The Invisible Woman. comedians Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker discuss the their series of The Last Leg on Channel 4.

Simon Russell Beale on King Lear and Julie Hesmondhalgh on her controversial exit from Coronation Street; Sir Kenneth Branagh discusses the transition from Shakespeare to directing and playing the baddie in a thriller set in the new Cold War. John Wilson talks to special effects expert Tim Webber about defining Gravity; we count up rather more than three Musketeers and Tasmin Little delivers a Winter Olympics-related musical surprise.

This week - writer Christios Tsiolkas on following his global bestseller The Slap and violinist Maxim Vengerov on the benefits of selective hearing; cellists Julian and Jiaxin Lloyd Webber discuss their new work and director Dominic Dromgoole on working in a new Shakespearean space. Kirsty Lang talks to actor Colin Firth and theatre designer Es Devlin and John Wilson film directors The Coen Brothers and we review The Wolf of Wall Street.