Front Row: Archive 2014

John Wilson reports from the Edinburgh Fringe as he talks to comedian Phill Jupitus about about his love of art and drawing, which has inspired his new Edinburgh Fringe event Sketch Comic. Jonathan Glazer remembers Lauren Bacall. Sabrina Mahfouz and Jade Anouka, the writer and performer behind a new award-winning Edinburgh monologue drama Chef, and comedian Sara Pascoe on her new stand-up show which covers Darwin, Freud and Napoleon's love life. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Jerome Weatherald.

George RR Martin, whose epic series of fantasy novels A Song Of Ice And Fire formed the basis for the TV hit Game Of Thrones, discusses creating an imaginary world loosely based on historical fiction. Alison Jackson is known for creating spoof photographs of celebrities caught in compromising positions, such as Madonna changing nappies or a member of the Royal Family in the bath. Having worked in photography, film and television, Alison Jackson is now producing an opera featuring celebrity-lookalikes, including Nigella Lawson, Boris Johnson and Prince Harry, singing well-known arias. Also tonight: Viv Groskop reviews the new film The Congress starring Robin Wright and Jon Hamm, and Terry Gilliam remembers the actor and comedian Robin Williams. Producer: Ellie Bury Image: George RR Martin Photo Credit: Karolina Webb.

Front Row comes from Edinburgh with Dylan Moran who, along with fellow comedian Eddie Izzard, is producing a showcase of stand ups from around Europe as part of the Edinburgh Fringe. Representing Russia is Igor Meerson who joins Dylan Moran to discuss the differences between British and Russian humour. Jung Chang, whose family memoir Wild Swans sold more than 13 million copies, discusses researching her biography of the Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi in China, director Todd Miller talks about his documentary Dinosaur 13, which follows the bitter custody battle over an extraordinary T Rex skeleton found in South Dakota in 1990. And, as several plays at the Edinburgh Festivals explore the Scottish Referendum, Kirsty Lang looks at how playwrights are tackling the subject. Photo Credit: Dylan Moran by Andy Hollingworth Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Olivia Skinner.

We review the new BBC One comedy series, Boomers. Set in Thurnemouth, 'Norfolk's only West facing resort', it follows the ups and downs of a group of baby boomers wrestling with the unique challenges of life in retirement, featuring an all-star cast including Alison Steadman, Stephanie Beacham, Russ Abbot and June Whitfield. Actor Ben Whishaw on his new film Lilting, in which he plays a grieving man who tries to befriend his late boyfriend's Chinese mother. Margaret Kennedy's 1924 novel, The Constant Nymph, was a sensational bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic and inspired a West End play and three films. Kennedy enjoyed success with her subsequent novels but today few recognise her name. With the reissue of her books, novelist Joanna Briscoe and Dr Anne Manuel discuss the qualities of this former literary lioness. And where art meets science: Front Row spoke to three chemists who work in art galleries, preserving, restoring and even discovering, paintings. Presenter: Damian Barr Producer: Nicola Hol

Damian Barr talks to actor Guy Pearce, whose new film The Rover is set in the Australian Outback just after a great economic collapse. Joseph O'Neill discusses his new novel, The Dog, which has recently been longlisted for this year's Man Booker prize. Stephen Armstrong reports from Edinburgh on the best of this year's Fringe. And Naomi Alderman explores the current glut of television shows about geeks, including Silicon Valley and the Big Bang Theory.

Sir Neville Marriner, who turned 90 this year, is the most recorded living conductor. He talks to Kirsty Lang about his long and varied career, and his return to the BBC Proms. The Inbetweeners is a rare example of a television sitcom which made a successful transfer to the big screen. Co-creators Damon Beesley and Iain Morris discuss their second Inbetweeners film in which the four friends take their teenage antics on a gap year to Australia. The words of Poets Laureate across three and a half centuries feature in a new exhibition opening this week. From the first poet appointed to the post, John Dryden, to the current one, Carol Ann Duffy - original manuscripts and rare editions of their works are on display. In addition, historic recordings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ted Hughes and Sir John Betjeman, as well as readings by actors Timothy West, Sir Daniel Day-Lewis and Dame Judi Dench can be heard, bringing new resonance to the poems themselves. Curator Deborah Clarke tells Kirsty about the start and devel

In tonight's Front Row, Christina Hendricks talks about working with Philip Seymour Hoffman on one of his last roles, in the film God's Pocket - and Sinead O'Connor discusses her latest album, her dramatic new image, and whether she still likes Nothing Compares 2 U. Also in the programme: the artist behind spectra - the giant light-beam which appeared at dusk in London yesterday - and art critic William Feaver chooses paintings which evoke summer. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.

Samira Ahmed talks to author DBC Pierre, reviews the film Welcome to New York starring Gerard Depardieu, and discusses the world premiere of John Tavener's Requiem Fragments.

Kirsty Lang with the singer Loudon Wainwright III, father of Rufus and Martha, who discusses his latest album Haven't Got the Blues (Yet). It covers subjects including ageing, death, depression - and despair at trying to find a parking space. As best-selling Japanese novelists Haruki Murakami and Kanae Minato publish new novels, we discuss contemporary Japanese fiction. Briony Hanson reviews Guardians of the Galaxy, a Marvel action film about a team of superheroes from the studios that made Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, and - as Northampton Museum and Art Gallery loses its Arts Council accreditation for selling an Egyptian statue in its collection - we discuss what this means for the museum. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Olivia Skinner.

Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood discusses the world premiere screenings of Paul Thomas Anderson's film There Will Be Blood, with Greenwood's score being performed live by the London Contemporary Orchestra. South African writer Deon Meyer on his latest thriller Cobra, where the arrival of a Cambridge maths professor leads to a spiralling body count. As Amazon announces it is to launch a books subscription service, Charlie Redmayne of Harper Collins and Phillip Jones of The Bookseller discuss the implications for readers, authors and publishers. And film producer and critic Catherine Bray makes her selection of films that conjure up summer. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Line of Duty's Adrian Dunbar discusses directing Samuel Beckett's 1982 one-act play Catastrophe at the Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival; violinist Tasmin Little selects her sounds of the summer; Jenny McCartney reviews Michel Gondry's new film Mood Indigo starring Audrey Tautou, and artist Katie Paterson on her ambitious project to send a meteorite back into space. Producer: Jerome Weatherald Image Credit: Brian O'Neill.

Gillian Anderson stars in a new production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic Theatre in London, which Matt Wolf reviews. Composer Gabriel Prokofiev and violinist Daniel Hope discuss their collaboration for tonight's Prom which features the world premiere of Gabriel's Violin Concerto 1914. Kate Mossman evokes the pop songs that conjure up summer. And the crime reporters who turn to crime novel-writing: Laura Lippman, former crime reporter at the Baltimore Sun and David Mark, former crime reporter at the Yorkshire Evening Post, discuss how their new careers in crime fiction have been influenced by their former trade.

Gareth Malone and Adrian Sutton discuss Sunday's Prom which takes World War One as its theme. Gareth's Military Wives choir will be performing and Adrian Sutton talks about his War Horse Suite which he's composed from his score for the original theatre production. Bel Mooney reviews In The Club, a new BBC drama series written and directed by Kay Mellor, which follows the lives of a group of friends who have met at an antenatal class. Neil Bartlett talks about his latest novel The Disappearance Boy, set in the world of 1950s Variety. And poet Michael Symmons Roberts chooses three poems that evoke summer for him.

Julian Lloyd Webber tells Kirsty Lang about his future plans, after being forced to retire due to a neck injury. Andrew Graham-Dixon on his new TV series The Art Of China - which explores China's artistic heritage and the way contact with the West transformed Chinese art. Jennifer Haley talks about her award winning play The Nether - a disturbing work about the internet and personal responsibility in virtual worlds. And The Galapagos Affair - an incredible true-life 1930s murder mystery set on the Pacific islands.

Tonight's Front Row celebrates the return of giant puppets to Liverpool. This time, the little girl and her dog are joined by her grandmother: Kirsty Lang finds out about the threesome, and how Liverpool council copes with turning the city-centre into a giant's performance-space. Also in the programme: thriller writer Gerald Seymour on the changing face of contemporary Irish politics; Rufus Bonds Jnr and Nicola Hughes on singing Porgy And Bess; and a review of the first solo exhibition of works by Gego - who has been described as the grandmother of Venezuelan contemporary art.

Chair of the judges A C Grayling and his fellow judge Erica Wagner join John Wilson to discuss the longlist for this years' Man Booker Prize. It's the first time that American novelists have been eligible for this prestigious award, and four of the listed writers are American. Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall talks about creating a stage play out of the Oscar winning film Shakespeare in Love. Hall also reveals that he's been busy reading Elton John's personal diaries in preparation for making a biopic of the singer. Tonight's Front Row features the first joint performance, in the studio, by two leading figures in world music. Dom Flemons - co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops - and Martin Simpson - renowned acoustic and slide guitarist - have been researching and exploring how folk songs travelled back and forth between England and North America, changing shape as they journeyed. They retraced the fieldwork done by folklorist Cecil Sharp, a hundred years ago - and give John a musical demonstration of how

In tonight's Front Row: Judith Weir talks to John Wilson about being appointed Master Of The Queen's Music, and Eamonn Holmes - Manchester United superfan - reviews the film, Believe, about Sir Matt Busby's last great coaching challenge. Also in the programme: the curators of the Ashmolean's new exhibition about Tutankhamun give John a tour and explain the continuing fascination with the Egyptian boy-king - and author Philip Hensher discusses his latest novel, The Emperor Waltz.

With Samira Ahmed. Nicolas Cage's new film is Joe - about an ex-con who becomes an unlikely father-figure to a troubled fifteen year old boy. Mark Eccleston reviews. David Eldridge talks about his epic play Holy Warriors (at Shakespeares Globe), which looks at the struggle for Jerusalem. Carole Cerasi introduces Samira to Bach's favourite instrument, the Clavichord. And the objects created by political activists in a new exhibition at the V&A. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Claire Bartleet.

Actress Rebecca Hall discusses new film A Promise and explains why she'd love to be cast in a singing part. Also conductor Long Yu on bringing a Chinese orchestra to the Proms for the first time, and the National Theatre's Ben Power on adapting Medea and attracting new audiences. Finally, as the Commonwealth Games Festival gets under way this weekend, artist Phil Collins explains what he's doing to kick it off.

Artistic duo Gilbert & George on their provocative exhibition, Scapegoating Pictures, and why they think religion should be banned. Author and Coronation Street writer Jonathan Harvey on his new novel, The Girl Who Just Appeared, set amidst the searing tension of the Toxteth Riots. As the Chichester Festival Theatre prepares to re-open its doors tonight after a £22m refurbishment - with Rupert Everett in Amadeus - the theatre's Artistic Director Jonathan Church and architect Steve Tompkins discuss their vision for the 1960s brutalist concrete hexagon. And why a new 'memoir' about Harper Lee has forced the famously reclusive author back in to the public limelight. Photo Credit: Ben Westoby.