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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode jump on board to explore the role of trains on our screens.

This week sees the release of Compartment No 6 - a strange and touching romance set on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Trains have played a recurring role in film, right from the inception of the genre. Mark is joined by silent film specialist Bryony Dixon and composer Neil Brand to talk about the appeal of the railway for the pioneers of cinema.

And Ellen talks to Compartment No 6 director Juho Kuosmanen and critic Anna Smith about the cinematic opportunities for connection, contemplation and romance while riding the rails.

Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore hoaxes, fakes and pranks on screen for April Fool's Day.

Mark is joined by documentarian Morgan Neville and Anna Bogutskaya for a deep dive into Orson Welles’ 1973 docudrama about forgers and fakery, F for Fake.

And Ellen looks back at small screen hoaxes, from the 1970s sci-fi mockumentary Alternative 3 to the terrifying BBC1 Halloween drama Ghostwatch via a sprinkling of Noel's House Party, with the help of writers David Ambrose and Mark Gatiss.

Also, critic and filmmaker Mark Cousins shares his Viewing Notes.

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street is released in the UK on 31 January. This feature length documentary provides a rare window into the first years of the ground-breaking children’s TV show.

The adrenaline-inducing film Boiling Point is out in cinemas and online. Shot in a single take on a single night at a London restaurant, the movie has inspired Ellen and Mark to take a closer look at one-shot films and those that appear to be. What does the one-shot do for a movie? Is it any more than showing off?

Boiling Point stars Stephen Graham as an under-pressure chef whose life is unravelling over a busy night in the restaurant. Ellen talks to director Philip Barantini, himself a former chef, about his decision to film the feature as a “oner” and the pressures that caused. 

On the front page of the script for 1917 Sam Mendes had written, "This is envisioned as a single shot,". Mark speaks to legendary cinematographer Roger Deakin about how he realised the director's vision for the First World War epic.

And, fresh from her victory at the British Independent Film Awards, Boiling Point star Vinette Robinson shares what she’s been watching in Viewing Notes.

Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.

Producer: Marilyn Rust

Film noir Nightmare Alley is released next week. It's director Guillermo del Toro's remake of the 1947 film - a baroque tale of carnival hucksters, psychiatrists and betrayal.

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the connections sparked by Nightmare Alley and film noir.

Mark speaks to Guillermo del Toro about his five favourite classic noir films, including Fallen Angel and Born to Kill.

And Ellen looks at how neo-noir movies subverted and reframed the genre from the 1970s onwards, with the help of critics Imogen Sara Smith and Amon Warmann.

Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.

Producer: Jane Long

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore David Bowie's impact on cinema.

Musician, actor, performer and all-round icon David Bowie would have turned 75 on Saturday 8th January. To mark the occasion, the British Film Institute have launched a month-long season celebrating his work in film and television, from The Man Who Fell To Earth to Labyrinth.

Ellen talks to V&A curator Victoria Broackes and BFI programmer Rhidian Davis about Bowie's love of cinema and his performances on screen.

And Mark speaks to Bowie collaborator and long-time friend Tilda Swinton about her memories of working with the star and his impact on her own career.

Also, Bowie's The Man Who Fell to Earth co-star Candy Clark shares what she's been watching recently.

Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide to the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.

Producer: Jane Long

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore New Year’s Eve on film and TV, peering into the dark and the dawn either side of the stroke of midnight.

Mark looks back at director Kathryn Bigelow’s controversial 1995 film Strange Days, a dark tech-thriller set on New Year’s Eve 1999, and coursing with millennial anxieties. He revisits an interview with Bigelow recorded on the film’s release, and speaks to Strange Days star Ralph Fiennes about how it resonates over 25 years on. 

And on a lighter note, Ellen investigates New Year's Eve tropes on screen, from The Poseidon Adventure to When Harry Met Sally. She’s joined by comedian Rose Matafeo, creator of hit BBC series Starstruck, and director Reggie Yates, whose recent movie Pirates is also set on Millennium Eve.

Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.

Producer: Jane Long

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore festive screen favourites for Christmas Eve.

It’s the 75th anniversary of a beloved film that has come to dominate our screens over the holiday period - director Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life. 

Like James Stewart’s George Bailey, who is shown what the world would look like without him by guardian angel Clarence, Ellen learns what subsequent screen culture would look like without It’s A Wonderful Life. Cultural historian and fellow fan Christopher Frayling - who is the same age as the film - takes the role of a cinematic Clarence, guiding her through It's A Wonderful Life’s lasting impact on movies and TV.

Meanwhile, Mark talks to Olivier award-winning playwright turned filmmaker debbie tucker green about her haunting alternative nativity story, 2014’s Second Coming starring Nadine Marshall and Idris Elba.

And throughout the show, Ellen and Mark are joined by guests, including Gillian Anderson and Greg Proops, who share their all-time favourite Christmas movies and TV.

Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide to the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.

Producer: Jane Long

Crowd pleasers Squid Game and Bridgerton could not be further apart in subject matter, but they are currently the two most streamed programmes in Netflix’s history. We get under the bonnet and behind the mask of these phenomena by examining their precedents on both the big and small screen, tracing how previous works have covered similar themes in so many different ways.

Ellen looks at the death-match films from cinema history that form the DNA of Squid Game, with the help of The Purge creator James DeMonaco, critic Anna Bogutskaya and academic Dr Jinhee Choi.

And Mark is joined by screenwriter Andrew Davies and historical consultant Hannah Greig to investigate Bridgerton’s self-consciously modern style influences in historical drama, from The Draughtsman's Contract to Sofia Coppola’s derided but influential 2006 picture Marie Antoinette.

Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.

Producer: Freya Hellier

France’s entry for this year's Oscars is the extraordinary Titane. Beginning as a Cronenbergian body horror movie, Titane constantly plays with genre, while simultaneously dealing with themes of grief, gender identity, and queerness. The film also features scenes depicting mechanophilia - a sexual attraction to machines.

Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones explore the multiple cinematic connections and influences that make up Titane’s DNA.

Mark speaks to the film’s director Julia Ducournau, whose previous feature was 2016’s Raw - the story of a young vegetarian who develops a taste for human flesh.

And Ellen investigates the phenomenon of mechanophilia on screen, with the help of film academic Christine Cornea. Psychotherapist Professor Brett Kahr tells her about the condition and why relationships with machines or objects may develop. And she also hears from director Zoe Wittock, whose recent film Jumbo explored mechanophilia in its depiction of a female protagonist falling in love with Jumbo, a fairground ride.

Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.

Producer: Tom Whalley