Only Artists

Shobana Jeyasingh is a British choreographer. Born in Chennai, she grew up studying the classical Indian dance form bharatanatyam. She launched her own contemporary dance company in 1988. Past works have explored science, classical painting and urban architecture, working with composers, mathematicians and filmmakers. In 2015 she created a piece, commissioned by the Royal Ballet, that directly challenged the stereotype of the exotic Indian dancer.

For Only Artists she meets Hussein Chalayan at the Place Theatre, the home of the London Contemporary Dance School.

Hussein Chalayan has twice won the Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards, and was awarded the MBE in 2006. He was born in Cyprus and moved to Britain with his family when he was 8. From his first graduation collection which he left to decompose buried in a garden, to a coffee table which transforms into a skirt and remote-control dresses, Chalayan is known for his highly creative designs, worn by the likes of Bjork and Lady Gaga. He has made films, had his work shown in galleries and directed and designed a dance piece, Gravity Fatigue, at Sadler's Wells Theatre.

The artist Humphrey Ocean is Professor of Perspective at the Royal Academy of Arts, and his portraits of Paul McCartney, Philip Larkin, Tony Benn and Lord Whitelaw are in the National Portrait Gallery. While at art school, he became a member of the band Kilburn and the High Roads, led by singer and songwriter Ian Dury - who was also Humphrey's tutor. Dury was an important influence on Humphrey Ocean's student work, and they remained friends until Dury's death in 2000.

For Only Artists, he meets the painter Mark Alexander. Mark attended art school as a mature student: before that, he had trained as a silversmith, before finding better paid work in factories, where he moved from job to job, becoming a charge hand and then a quality inspector in the aerospace industry.

As a painter, his works include versions of Van Gogh's Dr Gachet, rendered entirely in shades of black, and portraits of Beethoven, following a residency at Beethoven's house in Bonn.

Producer Clare Walker.

The director and actor Alice Lowe meets the singer and actor Toyah Willcox.

Alice Lowe wrote, directed and starred in the acclaimed comedy slasher film Prevenge, which she made while pregnant. Her work on screen as an actor includes roles in Hot Fuzz, Horrible Histories and the horror parody series Garth Marenghi.

By the age of 20, Toyah Willcox had appeared on stage at the National Theatre, recorded an album and taken a leading role in Derek Jarman's film Jubilee, as the flame-haired pyromaniac Mad. Since then she has acted in more than forty plays, recorded over a dozen studio albums, and appeared in numerous feature films - alongside icons such as Katherine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier. She is currently performing as Elizabeth 1 in a stage version of Jubilee.

The writer Mark Haddon meets the portrait and landscape artist Tai Shan Schierenberg. They talk about the connection between painting and short stories, capturing the English landscape and creative flow.

Mark's best-selling novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time has won numerous awards and become an internationally successful play. Most recently he published his first ever collection of short stories called The Pier Falls.

Tai Shan Schierenberg won the National Portrait Gallery's Portraiture Award in 1989, and the Ondaatje Prize in 2011. His works hang in the National Portrait Gallery and notable sitters include the Queen with Prince Philip, Seamus Heaney and Stephen Hawking.

Producer: Clare Walker.

The portrait painter Jonathan Yeo meets the music producer William Orbit.

Jonathan Yeo's subjects include David Attenborough, Malala Yousafzai, Grayson Perry and numerous Hollywood stars. He has also been an official General Election artist, and has painted Tony Blair, David Cameron and Charles Kennedy.

Musician and composer William Orbit has won worldwide renown for his work as a music producer, most notably for his recordings with Madonna. Other high-profile collaborations include work with Blur, U2 and Britney Spears, along with albums he has released under his own name. He began by setting up his own studio, with equipment bought from a nearby junk shop.

Series producers Alex Mansfield and Clare Walker.

The theatre and film director Angus Jackson meets the singer-songwriter Nadine Shah.

Series in which two artists discuss creative questions. In this edition, painter Rose Wylie meets comedian Stewart Lee.

Sex, fiction and non-fiction. Novelist Eimear McBride meets the former punk musician, film director and author Viv Albertine.

Tom Morris , artistic director of the Bristol Old Vic theatre, meets Bristol's Poet Laureate Miles Chambers, to discuss how the theatre can best address Bristol's complex past, and its engagement with the transatlantic slave trade.

Producer Clare Walker.

Two artists discuss creative questions. What part can wild places play in creative composition? Musician and composer Kerry Andrew travels to meet the novelist Sarah Hall.