Front Row

Visionary director David Fincher on Mank, his new film about 1930s Hollywood, as seen through the eyes of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) as he races to finish Citizen Kane with Orson Welles. Mank's screenplay is by Fincher's father Jack Fincher, who started writing it in the early 1990s and died in 2003. David Fincher's other films, which have earned thirty Oscar nominations, include Fight Club, Se7en, The Zodiac, The Social Network, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , Gone Girl and Panic Room. Fincher also talks about the future of cinema, streaming, and his early career as a director of iconic music videos such as Madonna's Vogue and George Michael's Freedom. Mank is released on Netflix.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser Studio Manager: Emma Harth

2020 marks Ludwig Van Beethoven’s 250th birthday, and pianist Boris Giltburg has taken on the mammoth task of learning, performing and recording all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas. What does it take to learn and record eleven hours of music and what can you learn about one of the world’s most famous composers.? Boris discusses the project and shares an exclusive recording.As Christmas approaches, we all love to curl up with a cocoa in front of a festive film. Netflix and Hallmark are churning out Christmas rom-coms, but why are they so popular? And should we be expecting more from these seasonal sensations? Gavia Baker-Whitelaw and Amanny Mohamed discuss the film phenomenon. Front Row continues our festive foray into the best parties on screen with artist Scottee. We’re turning up Demis Roussos, cracking open a nice bottle of Beaujolais, but no olives for a celebration of Abigail’s Party. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Hilary Dunn Studio Manager: John Boland

Wonder Woman was the film that turned the reputation of DC Comics’ foray into big budget movies around in 2017. Director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot return for the sequel which sees Wonder Woman and her love interest, played by Chris Pine, transplanted from the trenches of World War I to the technicolour world of the 80s. Can they repeat the success of the first instalment? Critic Leila Latif reviews.On the hundredth anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, violinist Jennifer Pike, who has been playing the piece professionally for over half her life, joins Liv to pull it apart, reveal its mysteries to us, and see what makes it a firm favourite in the British musical consciousness.We know that literature plays a huge role in how we develop our understanding of other people, places and cultures. But a recent survey revealed that of the 11 books the average person reads each year, 33% are either from the same genre or written by the same author and that just 13% of British adults had knowi

Novelist William Boyd and Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies at Oxford, reflect on the work of John le Carré exploring why he was more than a spy novelist, and how history shaped his novels and how they then shaped history.Comedy duo The Pin join Samira to talk about their West End debut “The Comeback”, which wittily dissects the dynamics of double acts. Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen’s show has been described by Sonia Friedman as “the cure for theatre” in these Covid times.Aliza Nisenbaum, the Mexican-born New York-based artist, is currently in her temporary studio in Los Angeles in lockdown. From there she discusses her new exhibition at Tate Liverpool, a series of portraits of key workers in the city that she painted during online conversations in August, including an entire team from the Emergency Department at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and other NHS staff on the Covid frontline.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: Tim Heffer

The death of actress Barbara Windsor was announced today. A household name from EastEnders and the Carry On films, she was also acclaimed for her early performances at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Royal Stratford East. Cultural commentator Matthew Sweet discusses her career. The DCMS announced today the latest release of money from the Cultural Recovery Fund. Previously they issued grants and this time they’re issuing loans. What will this mean for the UK’s arts sector? Front Row asks minister Caroline Dinenage.The Chorus of the Royal Northern Sinfonia is premiering a new choral version of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, using the text of the original hymn on which the fantasia is based. Chorus Director Timothy Burke and soprano Joanna Finlay join Front Row.Spike Lee’s latest film is David Byrne’s American Utopia, a recording of the Broadway stage performance by the former Talking Heads frontman of his 2018 studio album. Kevin Le Gendre reviews the film which also features a n

Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music

The Midnight Sky is George Clooney’s post-apocalyptic new film, which he directs and stars in alongside Felicity Jones and David Oyelowo. Is this Clooney’s Magnum Opus? Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviewsEight years since its announcement and after several delays, futuristic roleplaying game Cyberpunk 2077 is released across consoles and PC this week. Its Warsaw-based studio CD Projekt is famous for The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077 promises to be the most detailed and expansive open-world game out there. But was it worth the wait? Elle Osili-Wood reviews. As debate continues about the role of the National Trust, whose recent work shedding light on many of its property’s links to slavery, as well as other historical injustices, has drawn criticism from members and a group of Conservative MPs, we ask what is the purpose of the Trust now? To explore the issues John is joined by Kirsty Weakley, Editor of Civil Society News, architectural historian Oliver Gerrish and David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood.Presenter:

Writer and director Julia Hart joins Samira to talk about I'm Your Woman, a gritty crime drama set in the 1970s. Rachel Brosnahan (Marvellous Mrs Maisel) stars as a woman forced to go on the run after her husband betrays his partners, sending her and her baby on a dangerous journey.Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera Owen Wingrave was written for television and first appeared on BBC Two in 1971. Grange Park Opera have produced a new filmed version as part of their ‘Interim Season’, and director Stephen Medcalf joins us in the studio to explain how to film a socially-distanced opera.Dulwich Picture gallery is staging its first ever photography exhibition, Unearthed, which tells the story of photography through images of plants and botany. The show’s curator Alexander Moore talks about the work of the early pioneers in the 1840s, including the first known Victorian images by Fox Talbot, as well as the eroticisim of Robert Mapplethorpe's pictures and today’s leading innovatorsPresenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Dymp

Ryan Murphy’s new film, The Prom, bursts into song and dance as four down-on-their-luck Broadway stars descend on a small Indiana town in support of a girl who just wants to go to the high school Prom with her girlfriend. The cast includes Meryl Streep, James Corden and Nicole Kidman and the critical reception in the US has been polarised; what does our reviewer Karen Krizanovich make of it?When theatre director Rebecca Frecknall and playwright Chris Bush began rehearsals for the show that would re-open London's Almeida Theatre after lockdown they had the title, Nine Lessons and Carols, but nothing else. They talk to Kirsty about creating a production, from scratch, with a cast that must maintain social distance; a show that addresses these dark times, but warmly welcomes an audience back to the theatre with lights, sound, and stories. A comic strip “Our Plague Year” by artist and illustrator Nick Burton, conceived in collaboration with HOME in Manchester, draws parallels between the Great Plague which stru

Viggo Mortensen joins us live to talk about his new film, Falling, his debut as a director, which he also wrote. It's the story of a conservative father moving from his rural farm to live with his gay son's family in Los Angeles. We’ve been hearing from figures from the creative industries about their Lockdown Discovery, something that has given them great pleasure or solace during the two lockdowns. Today, the novelist Alex Wheatle, aka the Brixton Bard, who has been working with Steve McQueen on his Small Axe series of dramas and who is the subject of this week’s film, reveals his Lockdown Discovery.Would it be Christmas without A Christmas Carol? Even in 2020, there are still many live productions going on. A new film version by siblings Jacqui and David Morris combines voices of Simon Russell Beale, Daniel Kaluuya and Carey Mulligan with dance performances of Russell Maliphant and others. Sarah Crompton and Tobi Kyeremateng review the film and the phenomenon of Dickens’ story – is it particularly reson

The fourth in the Netflix series of The Crown, written by Peter Morgan and starring Olivia Coleman as the Queen, has raised questions about its historical accuracy, including from Britain’s Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden. Award winning novelist Naomi Alderman and journalist Simon Jenkins discuss the controversy in the context of the number of recent dramas set in the very recent past about real people.The Royal Academy in London has reopened its doors and is preparing to show Tracey Emin/Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul, in which 25 of Emin’s works sit alongside a series of oils and watercolours by the Norwegian artist Emin has been in love with since she was 18, in a shared exploration of grief, loss and longing. Described as somewhere between Mad Men and Agatha Christie, ‘The Announcer’ launched on All 4 this week. TV presenter Christine Beauval crashes against the glass ceiling in 1960s France, as she tries to outrun sinister threats on her life. Hannah McGill reviews.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Pro

Seventeen years after achieving global success with her debut album, Katie Melua talks about her latest record Album No.8, and how she took a course in short fiction writing before embarking on the lyrics. Plus she performs a special acoustic performance for Front Row.British-Ghanaian artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye paints 'figments': portraits of fictitious people constructed from memory and fantasy. As Tate Britain re-opens, her Covid-postponed show Fly in League With the Night surveys her body of work from 2003 to the present day with a distinctive sense of mystery. Art critic Asana Greenstreet reviews the exhibition and gives us a sense of Yiadom-Boakye’s importance to British art now.Husband and wife team Feargus Woods Dunlop and Heather Westwell from the New Old Friends Theatre company have come up with a novel way of beating Covid restrictions on live performances by turning their traditional Christmas show into an online advent calendar podcast – Crimes Against Christmas, which is loosely based on Agatha

Yazz Ahmed, trumpeter and composer, and winner of the Innovation Award at tonight’s Ivors Awards, joins us in the studio. Yazz’s music blends jazz, arabic scales and rhythms, electronics, and the music of Bahrain, where she spent her childhood.Francis Ford Coppola's first two Godfather films are considered cinematic masterpieces, but The Godfather Part III never received such acclaim. Thirty years after its release, Coppola has recut the film and renamed it The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. Film critic Tim Robey gives his verdict. When Oleanna was first staged in 1992 it prompted intense responses. “People used to get into fistfights in the lobby,” David Mamet said. In his play a student visits a professor for help, but then lodges a complaint of sexual harassment that will ruin his career. How will a new production fare today, after Me Too and Harvey Weinstein's conviction? Samira Ahmed hears from the director, Lucy Bailey.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser

As museums and galleries in tiers one and two prepare to reopen on Wednesday, we consider what the future might look like for these much loved institutions. Has the pandemic changed their fundamental purpose or merely accelerated shifts that had already begun? What might museums and galleries look like as physical and social entities in ten years’ time? To explore these questions, Kirsty is joined by Jenny Waldman, Director of Art Fund, an organisation currently working to assist organisations in innovating to meet the challenges COVID 19 presents, and museum and gallery designer Dinah Casson, whose new book Closed on Mondays: Behind the Scenes at the Museum is released tomorrow.Screenwriter and director Henry Blake talks about his forthcoming film, County Lines. Inspired by the stories Blake heard while mentoring young people at an East London pupil referral unit, County Lines follows Tyler, a 14-year-old boy who is groomed into a criminal network trafficking drugs between communities.John Mullen has been ma

Avi Avital., the world's leading mandolin player, on his new album The Art of the Mandolin, in which he performs music specially written for the instrument by Vivaldi, Beethoven and Scarlatti through to contemporary composers David Bruce and Giovanni Sollima. Yesterday the Government announced which areas of England will be in Tiers 1, 2 or 3. For theatres and live performance venues in Tier 3 it's disappointing news as they will have to remain closed. What will be possible in Tier 2? Matt Hemley of The Stage joins us to look at the picture across the nation including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and we hear from Chris Stafford of the Curve Theatre in Leicester.Marina Abramović, the celebrated performance artist, discusses her takeover of a whole evening of Sky Arts next weekend. The five-hour series of programmes she’s curating and directing will delve into a hundred years of performance art, and guest Jarvis Cocker will explore meditation according to the ‘Abramović Method’.Possessor is a sci-fi

The actress Amy Adams is one of Hollywood’s brightest stars with multiple Oscar nominations and a roster of unforgettable roles to her name from the adorable pregnant teenager in Junebug, to the lovable Disney Princess in Enchanted, to full on 1970s disco in American Hustle. Now she’s taken on the distinctly un-glamorous role of a drug addicted mother in the movie version of the best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, a book that aimed to explain Trump’s appeal to white working class America. Nick Ahad talks to Amy Adams about poverty, Trump and what happens next. When ITV’s Coronation Street began in 1960 a columnist in a national newspaper predicted it wouldn't last more than three weeks. Now, as it prepares to celebrate 60 years on air next month, it’s the longest running TV soap opera in the world. Nick discusses the enduring charm of Weatherfield with former writer and archivist Daran Little and superfan BBC 6 Music DJ Chris Hawkins, who chose Coronation Street as his topic when invited on celebrity Maste

Roy Williams joins Samira Ahmed to talk about Death of England: Delroy. Just before Lockdown 2, this play’s opening night became its closing night. The understudy Michael Balogun had just stepped into the role. Luckily the press and audience loved it, and the film of that performance will be available on the National Theatre’s youtube channel this Friday. Directed by Clint Dyer, and written by Roy Williams and Clint Dyer, this powerful monologue explores the experiences of a working class Black British man who has been told by his best friend that he ‘will never be one of us’. Fred D’Aguiar spent his childhood in Guyana, his teens in South London and now lives in California. All this experience is distilled in his novels, plays and, especially, his many books of poetry. We talk to him about his new collection, Letters to America which addresses his adopted country in poems such as ‘Burning Paradise’ and ‘Downtown L.A’, but also Britain and the Caribbean, with work influenced by Philip Larkin, Derek Walcott an

We exclusively reveal and analyse the 2020 Costa Book Prize shortlists. Critics Alex Clark and Jade Cuttle discuss the books chosen in the five categories: Novel, First Novel, Poetry, Biography and Children's fiction. Category winners will appear on the programme in January and Front Row will announce the overall prize-winner on 26 January 2021.Guy Garvey from Elbow reports on what he said to MPs earlier today during the DCMS inquiry into the rise of music streaming services and the effect on musicians themselves. Are artists being fairly re-numerated or does the business model of streaming need an urgent overhaul? Simon Russell Beale, always a busy actor, gives his voice to Scrooge in a new dance-film version of A Christmas Carol directed by Jacqui and David Morris and will be giving his voice, and the rest of him, playing the epitome of meanness in Nicholas Hytner’s new production – with just three actors – at the Bridge Theatre. He talks to Irenosen about performing the role in the film and in the theatre,

On Front Row last week, Douglas Stuart was awarded the 2020 Booker Prize for Fiction for Shuggie Bain, his debut novel about a boy in 1980s Glasgow who supports his mother as she struggles with addiction. Tonight Douglas Stuart talks in-depth with John Wilson about his extraordinary journey from Glasgow to becoming a fashion designer in New York and now a best-selling novelist, after being rejected by more than 30 publishers. Plus we announce the winner of this year’s George Devine Award – the £15,000 prize for an original stage play. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prossermain image: Douglas Stuart Image credit: Martyn Pickersgill

Tim Minchin - the Australian actor, comedian, performer, musician, and composer and lyricist of the Olivier Award-winning RSC stage show Matilda The Musical – discusses his first solo album Apart Together, the themes he chooses to reflect on, and his approach to composition.Xbox Series X and Playstation 5 are in the shops. The much-anticipated new generation of gaming consoles has arrived seven years after the previous iteration. We review both consoles as well as new games Spiderman: Miles Morales and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla with video games broadcaster and writer Aoife Wilson.Travel writer and journalist Jan Morris, whose death was announced today at the age of 94, is remembered by fellow travel writer Horatio Clare.British actor Nicholas Pinnock on his leading role in the American TV drama series For Life, in which he plays a prisoner who trains to become a lawyer whilst incarcerated.Presenter Tom Sutcliffe Producer Jerome Weatherald