Front Row: Archive 2014

Successful novelist, playwright and stand-up comic, Ben Elton, a central figure in the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s, joins Kirsty Lang to discuss his new novel, Time And Time Again. His book follows ex-soldier Hugh Stanton who is transported back to 1914 from 2025, in order to prevent the Great War and re-write history. Andy Warhol is the subject of a new show at Tate Liverpool which looks at how this quintessential 20th century artist sought to master the mass media of his day to ensure his art could reach as many people as possible. In the company of Darren Pih, the exhibition's curator, Kirsty Lang takes a look at Transmitting Andy Warhol. Bryony Lavery's latest play, Queen Coal looks at the impact of the 1980s miners strike on the lives of three people who bonded on the picket lines. Writer Joolz Denby reviews. Fresh from its recent win of the Best Film prize at the BFI London Film Festival, Leviathan - a tale of corruption in a small Russian town - opens in cinemas this week. Novelist Nichola

Babylon, a new series from the creators of Peep Show, returns for a series after appearing on Channel 4 as a pilot. Brit Marling and James Nesbitt star in this fly on the wall satire about the police. Documentary film maker Roger Graef reviews. Poet Wendy Cope discusses her new book, Life, Love and the Archers, a collection of her prose which includes reviews, essays and recollections from her childhood. We get a rare glimpse of artistic life in North Korea at an exhibition inside the country's secluded London embassy. And Samira takes part in a new immersive theatre experience from the National Theatre of Wales by attempting to cross the border from England.

Novelist Lionel Shriver reviews Christopher Nolan's three-hour film Interstellar, starring Matthew McConaughey. Nick Hornby talks to John Wilson about his new novel Funny Girl, set around a fictional 1960's sitcom. Saxophonist John Harle assesses the musical instrument designed by Adolphe Sax who was born 200 years ago. And Michael Carlson discusses Bob Dylan The Basement Tapes Raw: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11, containing 138 tracks, released today. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Michael Bond, the creator of the much-loved Paddington Bear, joins Kirsty Lang. He'll be talking about writing in Paddington's voice for the first time in a new collection of letters to the bear's Aunt Lucy, Love From Paddington. And he reveals his role in the new Paddington film. Documentary film maker Laura Poitras discusses Citizenfour, her film about being contacted by the mystery whistle blower who eventually revealed himself as Edward Snowden. The dance theatre company DV8 premieres a new verbatim dance work, John, at the National Theatre. Artistic Director Lloyd Newson discusses the art of making a dance documentary. And as pumpkins make their annual appearance, Adam Smith considers how what was once beyond the pale in horror films is now unremarkable. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Sarah Johnson.

Elijah Wood talks to Kirsty Lang about his role in Set Fire to the Stars, a biopic about Dylan Thomas's turbulent time in 1950s New York. Pianist Angela Hewitt discusses her new recording of Bach's The Art of Fugue. Writers Paul Kingsnorth and Julian Gough explain how important crowd-funding was to help them write their novels. And film-maker Molly Dineen reviews The Overnighters, a documentary about a pastor in North Dakota who came to the aid of the flood of men who travelled from all over the USA to seek work in the area's booming oil industry. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Olivia Skinner.

John Wilson talks to Keira Knightley about new film Say When and her preparations for her Broadway debut in Therese Raquin. Gabrielle Drake and Joe Boyd discuss Nick Drake as they publish a book about his life and work. We hear from Emma and Roma Jones as Gillian Wearing prepares to reveal her statue, A Real Birmingham Family, tomorrow in Birmingham. Music journalist Ruth Barnes discusses the runners and riders for tonight's Mercury Music Prize. Producer: Ellie Bury Presenter: John Wilson.

Samira Ahmed discusses the film Nightcrawler, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal as an ambulance chasing cameraman. Laura Mvula and Bastille on composing a new score for the film Drive, commissioned by Radio 1's Zane Lowe. Historian Juliet Gardiner reviews BBC1's new First World War drama series, The Passing Bells. And Paul Ewen on his humorous novel, Francis Plug: How to be Public Author, about a wannabe writer who shows up at literary events starring Man Booker winners in the hope of learning how to achieve literary success. Producer: Timothy Prosser.

Tonight's Front Row reviews Daniel Radcliffe's latest film, Horns, and talks to singer Edwyn Collins about the documentary that's been made about his recovery after two strokes. Also in the programme: Stephen Daldry explains why his film, Trash - set in the slums of Rio de Janeiro - has won top prize at the Rome Film Festival, and composer Thomas Adès on seeing choreographers' response to his music. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

Timothy Spall has brought JMW Turner to life in Mike Leigh's new film, Mr Turner - he tells Damian Barr how he did so, learning to paint like the master and using his own love of the sea. The Picasso museum in Paris closed for renovation in 2009, and was scheduled to re-open two years later. But the work took four years longer than that, went over budget and culminated in the sacking of the museum's president. Waldemar Januszczak reviews the refurbishment. Damian talks to the legendary Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires, who at the age of seventy has recorded Beethoven's Piano Concertos for the first time. And Memphis, the musical, arrives in the UK, starring Beverley Knight and Killian Donnelly. A story of music, race and America in the fifties, how well does it work on the London stage? Gaylene Gould reviews. Presenter: Damian Barr Producer: Sarah Johnson.

In tonight's Front Row Boris Johnson considers Churchill's legacy on the 50th anniversary of his death, and there's a review of the film Serena - a dark tale about a troubled marriage in the Depression-era, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. Also in the programme: this year's Art Review Power 100 List is assessed, and brothers Harry and Jack Williams discuss moving from writing comedy to a sombre subject matter in their TV drama about a missing child. Presenter: Razia Iqbal Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

Michael Sheen talks to Kirsty Lang about performing Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood on stage in New York; Lynda Nead reviews the new Egon Schiele exhibition The Radical Nude at London's Courtauld Gallery; Daniel Kehlmann on his new novel F; and Akala, Erik Parker, One9 and Jacqueline Springer discuss the classic hip hop album Illmatic, 20 years on. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Kirsty Lang talks to John Kander, composer of the hit musicals Cabaret, Chicago and now The Scottsboro Boys. Jimmy Page discusses his project to remaster Led Zeppelin IV. We review Australian horror film The Babadook. Plus Magnum photographer René Burri, who has died aged 81, in an interview from the Front Row archive. Producer: Ellie Bury Presenter: Kirsty Lang.

Damian Barr talks to Brad Pitt about his World War II film, Fury. Anthony Horowitz on his new Sherlock Holmes novel, Moriarty. Robert Webb and Miles Jupp on performing completely wet on stage in Neville's Island. And Sarah Dunant discusses the Royal Academy exhibition of the Renaissance portrait painter, Moroni.

Damian Barr talks to Hollywood's highest-paid actor Robert Downey Jr about his latest role as hotshot young lawyer Hank Palmer in The Judge, in which Palmer and his estranged father - the judge, played by Robert Duvall - are made to face their demons when the judge is accused of murder. Film director David Cronenberg discusses penning his first novel, Consumed, which returns to the blackly comic subject matter of his early cinematic work. Mr Francis Wells, one of the UK's leading cardiac surgeons, reviews medical drama The Knick, directed by Steven Soderbergh. And, as an exhibition of Russian avant-garde theatre designs opens at the V&A in London, the curator Kate Bailey explains why the ground-breaking artists of the early 20th century started designing costumes and sets. Presenter: Damian Barr Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Gillian Anderson tells John Wilson about the stage-fright that has always plagued her, most recently in A Streetcar Named Desire, and discusses her debut sci-fi novel, A Vision of Fire. Also in the programme, Kate Mossman reviews Jimi: All is By My Side, a new biopic of Jimi Hendrix; Michael Frayn discusses Matchbox Theatre, his new collection of short plays to be read in the imagination; and Christie's CEO Steven Murphy explains how tablet technology has transformed the art market. Producer: Ellie Bury Presenter: John Wilson.

Yusuf Islam, also known as Cat Stevens, talks to Samira Ahmed about his new album Tell 'Em I'm Gone, his first for five years. Miranda Sawyer reviews a new film Northern Soul, about the music and dance phenomenon from the late '60s and early '70s. William Morris is the focus of a new exhibition Anarchy & Beauty at the National Portrait Gallery. The show's curator Fiona MacCarthy reveals there's a great deal more to him than wallpaper and furniture design. And the multi-award-winning American TV documentary-maker Ken Burns - he of the 'Ken Burns Effect' - looks back over a career in which he has covered The Civil War, the history of Jazz and the Great Depression, and discusses his latest 14-hour series The Roosevelts: an Intimate History. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Simon Schama reviews the National Gallery's new blockbuster exhibition Rembrandt: The Late Works, the first-ever exploration of his final paintings. Bob Geldof joins John to talk about the recent re-forming of The Boomtown Rats, and the release of a new compilation of classic Rats tracks. He explains how a band is like a surrogate family, how the songs' subject-matter is still relevant today - and how singing with the Rats again has helped him cope with the death of his daughter, Peaches. Here Lies Love at the National Theatre tells the story of Imelda Marcos through the medium of disco. With music composed by David Byrne of Talking Heads and DJ Fatboy Slim, the interactive musical has the audience dancing with world leaders as it portrays Marcos's rise to power and fall from grace. Shahidha Bari reviews. And what are the odds on tonight's Man Booker Shortlist, open to Americans for the first time? John hears from Graham Sharpe of William Hill. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson.

With Samira Ahmed. Historian Justin Champion reviews a major new TV drama series set during the time of the Great Fire of London, when the country was at war and there were also fears of Catholic plots against King Charles II. Rachel Joyce's first novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was the bestselling debut of 2012. She describes her new book The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy as a companion to that novel, and tells Samira why she returned to their story. American artist Richard Tuttle has been commissioned to install a new work in the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall and also has a retrospective of his work opening at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. Richard Tuttle talks about his hopes for his new Turbine Hall commission and Rachel Campbell-Johnston reviews both exhibitions. Leonora Gummer from the Artists' Collection Society explains how artists can make sure they get paid as their works are sold on from collector to collector. Eighteen years since East Is East hit the London stage, playwright

John Wilson talks to the godfather of punk, Iggy Pop, ahead of this year's BBC Music John Peel Lecture. Disney chief Thomas Schumacher on creating The Lion King and a stage version of Frozen. Artists Cornelia Parker and Keith Tyson in praise of surrealist Marcel Duchamp.

The actress Sheila Hancock talks to John Wilson about her debut novel, Miss Carter's War, which explores the repercussions of the Second World War on 20th Century Britain. The German artist Gerhard Richter gives a rare interview about his long career. Jenny McCartney reviews the film '71 starring Jack O'Connell, which follows a unit of inexperienced soldiers posted to Belfast during the Troubles. We hear from the Nigerian drummer and songwriter Tony Allen, one of the pioneers of Afrobeat. And as the French author Patrick Mondiano wins the Noble Prize for Literature, Dr Dervila Cooke explains the importance of his work. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Olivia Skinner.