Front Row

Helen Mirren talks about her latest film Collateral Beauty, seeing more women on screen, that infamous interview with Michael Parkinson, and being "a damn fine woman".Edward Gardner, Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, discusses their forthcoming UK tour and his recent Grammy nomination for Best Choral Performance for his album of Janáček's Glagolitic Mass and other orchestral works.Continuing Radio 4's poetic celebration of the Winter Soltice, Kayo Chingonyi reads his poem, Winter Song, written especially for the occasion.Ben Wardle scrutinises the delicate issue of ageing musicians and their hair, or rather its scarcity.

Barry Jenkins' film Moonlight is nominated in five categories in the Golden Globes and eight in the Screen Actors' Guild Awards. In his first broadcast interview Barry Jenkins talks about the making of this coming-of-age film set in the dangerous Miami neighbourhood where he grew up.The Witness for the Prosecution is a new Agatha Christie adaptation by Sarah Phelps for BBC One starring Kim Cattrall and Andrea Riseborough. Novelist Lauren Henderson gives us her thoughts.Gemma Arterton takes on the title role in Bernard Shaw's classic play Saint Joan. Medieval literature expert Laura Ashe reviews the production at the Donmar Warehouse in London. 2013 was the year that musician Meilyr Jones ended a relationship, broke up the indie pop band he'd been a member of for eight years, and headed to Rome in search of adventure. The result was his debut solo album - 2013. Meilyr joins Kirsty to discuss the album's inventive mix of styles and ideas which has led to it winning this year's Welsh Music Prize. Presenter: Kirs

The last installment of the hit television drama Sherlock - The Abominable Bride - was broadcast on New Year's Day 2016 and went on to become the most watched programme across all channels over the festive season, with 11.6 million viewers. With a fourth series starting on New Year's Day 2017, Martin Freeman who plays Watson, and Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss discuss maintaining the drama's appeal with John Wilson.What's the best album from 2016? We have three selections from across the world of music chosen by Sara Mohr-Pietsch, Kate Mossman and Kieran Yates.Robin Shaw and Joanna Harrison are the co-directors of a new animated film based on Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury's hugely successful illustrated children's book, We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Shaw and Harrison discuss the challenges of bringing a children's classic to life on screen.From the quay Michael Bird describes the Christmas lights in the harbour at Mousehole and considers this popular and poignant work of vernacular art. Producer Julian May.

Dance choreographer and director Matthew Bourne's adaptation of The Red Shoes, inspired by the 1948 Powell and Pressburger film and the fairy-tale by Hans Christian Andersen, opened at Sadler's Wells last night before embarking on a national tour. John Wilson talks to Sir Matthew Bourne about bringing his adaptation to the stage, and the forthcoming year-long programme celebrating the 30th anniversary of Bourne's company, New Adventures. Bafta-winning music producer and composer Marius de Vries, who has worked extensively in film and contemporary music, talks to John Wilson about his latest role on the hit musical film La La Land, and his involvement in some of the most high-profile artists of the past two decades, including Madonna, Bowie, and U2.Donald Trump provided plenty of material for comedians when he was running for president, but what effect will the notoriously litigious businessman have on satirists when he is in office? Political comedian Andy Zaltzman, photographer Alison Jackson, and comedy jou

Richard Strauss's comic opera Der Rosenkavalier is about to open at the Royal Opera House in London. Singers Renée Fleming and Alice Coote discuss the challenges of tackling Strauss's masterpiece. Quarry, a new TV crime drama, centres on the story of a Vietnam vet who struggles to return to normality after his experiences of war and finds himself lured into a life as a professional assassin. The series is directed by Greg Yaitanes (Lost, House, Heroes) and stars Logan Marshall-Green, Jodi Balfour, and Scottish actor Peter Mullan. Critic Stephen Armstrong reviews.The world of Tove Jansson and her famous creation Family Moomintroll is brought to life in the first major UK exhibition of the writer and artist's work. Her niece, Sophia Jansson, and Paul Denton, producer of Adventures In Moominland, discuss the artist's creations and how they reflected the world she inhabited.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Angie Nehring.

Peter Capaldi tells Samira Ahmed what it's like for a young sci-fi fan to regenerate as one of his heroes - he's Dr Who in the Christmas Special. He touches, too, on another doctor, Martin Tucker, the eloquently foul-mouthed spin man in The Thick of it. Rogue One is a new Star Wars story that goes back before the beginning. It's a prequel to the original 1977 block-buster. Lots of familiar archetypes, a C3PO-type droid, Darth Vader himself and storming troops of Stormtroopers. But is it adequately Force-full? Critic Catherine Bray considers. Ben Lerner recently wrote a monograph, The Hatred of Poetry, in which he questions why there is such anxiety and embarrassment about the art, and so reveals his love of it. Now he has published, No Art, which brings together his many poems old and new. He explains that in a world of Trump, climate change and poverty, poetry is as important as ever.E.R. Braithwaite has died aged 104. His novel 'To Sir With Love', about a black teacher's struggles, and eventual success, as

Darcey Bussell discusses her new documentary, Darcey Bussell: Looking For Margot, in which she traces the dramatic life and career of the dancer who inspired her own ballet career.The survey of every significant building in England, Scotland and Wales started in 1951 by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner has come to a close with the publication of the 68th and final volume of the Pevsner Architectural Guides. Its editor Simon Bradley and Pevsner's biographer Susie Harries discuss one of the most quintessentially British cultural projects.A new production of Othello has just opened on Broadway starring Daniel Craig and David Oyelowo. Chief Theatre Critic of The Hollywood Reporter David Rooney gives us his verdict.As charity singles compete with X Factor winners for the much-coveted 'Christmas Number 1', music writer Ben Wardle reveals the four essential rules you need to follow if you want to be in with a yuletide shout.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Edwina Pitman.

The Eagle Huntress reviewed by author Mark Cocker, Love - a new play about hostel living, hidden treasures of Scunthorpe, diversity in the arts, John Montague remembered.

New film The Birth of a Nation takes the title from DW Griffith's 1915 silent film but not much else. Directed by and starring Nate Parker, it tells the true story of an 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia. Ashley Clarke reviews.Poet Ruth Padel discusses her latest book Tidings, a narrative Christmas poem about a little girl, a homeless man and a fox. It takes the reader all around the world, from St Pancras churchyard in London to Bethlehem, Australia and New York. Joan Eardley's painting career lasted only 15 years but, at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, her work gets more requests than Picasso. The gallery's curator Patrick Elliott discusses a new exhibition of her work alongside composer Helen Grime, whose composition Snow is inspired by Eardley's paintings. In the spring of 1995, actor Mark Lockyer was playing Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet for the Royal Shakespeare Company when he was overcome with anxiety, fear and paranoia. It was the start of a bipolar attack. Now he has turned t

Oliver Stone's new film Snowden stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the controversial employee of the National Security Agency in the US who leaked thousands of classified documents to the press in 2013. Science journalist Angela Saini reviews. The Christmas books market has been flooded this year with titles that poke fun at everything from Ladybird to I-Spy books. Author Bruno Vincent explains his modern take on Enid Blyton's The Famous Five series, and journalist Cathy Rentzenbrink discusses the phenomenon that is shaking up the bestseller lists this year.Following the recent reaction from actors about inappropriate behaviour on film sets, writer Karen Krizanovich and actor Malcolm Sinclair give their take on the issue.The artist Wynford Dewhurst, born in Manchester in 1864, was a proud Brit and a devoted Francophile. He was a conservative by nature who championed Impressionism at the time it was regarded as a radical art movement. Dewhurst was passionate about the work of Claude Monet and his mastery of Monet's

Earlier this year celebrated architect Zaha Hadid died suddenly in Miami. Now, as the Serpentine Gallery exhibits a collection of her early drawings and a new wing of the Science Museum designed by the architect opens to the public, Front Row considers the breadth of her work.Last month, 90-year-old British film editor Anne V Coates received an honorary Oscar - her second statuette. She won an Oscar for editing Lawrence of Arabia in 1963. Anne discusses her remarkable career which has included cutting David Lynch's The Elephant Man, Stephen Soderbergh's Out of Sight and, just last year, Sam Taylor-Johnson's 50 Shades of Grey. In Jennifer Aniston's new film the office Christmas bash, that annual opportunity for excruciating embarrassment, assumes new significance. The office workers have to host an epic Christmas do in an effort to impress a potential client and close the sale that will save their jobs. The cast includes Kate McKinnon, of Saturday Night Live. Laroushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews Office Christmas Party

Dreamgirls was a hit Broadway show which became an Oscar-winning film starring Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy. As the musical arrives in the UK for the first time since it opened there 31 years ago, we speak to the composer and co-creator, Henry Krieger.Helen Martens recently shared her cheque for winning The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture with the other shortlisted artists. Now she's done the same with her Turner Prize winnings. What does this desire to share say about the artist?41 paintings from four of the most innovative Australian Impressionist artists are on show at The National Gallery in London for the first time. As curator Chris Riopelle explains, they reveal how the artists were influenced by European Impressionism, a growing sense of national identity, and their desire to capture the great Australian landscape.Porridge co-creator Dick Clement remembers the actor Peter Vaughan who has died aged 93. Vaughan played a devoted butler in The Remains of the Day, a villainous

Thriller writers Lee Child, Megan Abbott and Lawrence Block discuss their new collection of short stories inspired by the paintings of American artist Edward Hopper. The anthology, In Sunlight or in Shadow, also includes stories by Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates and Robert Olen Butler.English National Opera's CEO Cressida Pollock discusses the company's recent struggles, which have seen stringent funding cuts, strikes and, most recently, the postponement of a season in Blackpool.Tim Robey reviews the film The Pass, about two young professional football players whose kiss echoes through the next ten years of both their lives.ITV's new drama, In Plain Sight, is based on the true story of Scottish serial killer, Peter Manuel and the attempts of Lanarkshire detective William Muncie to bring him to justice in the 1950s. The writer Nick Stevens and actor Martin Compston, who plays Manuel, discuss the challenges of making a drama about real life crime.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Rachel Simpson.

As Alison Steadman wins the Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film at the British Independent Film Awards, and the BFI announces a season dedicated to her TV work in the New Year, we speak to the actress about her career.What links baroque bad-boy painter Caravaggio and a present-day retired docker from Merseyside? Compassion, according to Anders Lustgarten's new play The Seven Acts of Mercy. Kirsty talks to the playwright and political activist about his latest work for the Royal Shakespeare Company.After news in October that AQA, the last exam board in England offering History of Art A-level, was dropping the subject from 2018, the schools standards minister, Nick Gibb, has announced that a new A-level in art history is being developed by the Pearson exam board for teaching from September 2017. Artist Cornelia Parker and Griselda Pollock, Director of the Centre for Cultural Analysis, Theory & History at Leeds University, give their reaction. The Top 40 Singles chart this week includes

The City Sculpture Projects 1972 was a six-month initiative to bring contemporary sculpture to the streets of Britain's cities, but the chosen cities proved resistant and none of the commissioned sculptures was kept. The enterprise is now the subject of a new exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds. Curator Dr Jon Wood, one of the original artists Liliane Lijn, and Professor Susan Tebby who worked on the project in Sheffield, look back at the concept.Baz Luhrmann's film Strictly Ballroom has been adapted for the stage at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Olivier award-winning Drew McOnie, the choreographer of Strictly Ballroom The Musical, discusses his adaptation. Disney's latest movie is Moana, about a Polynesian girl charged with saving her island by taking on a deadly mission and enlisting the help of demi-god Maui, played by Dwayne Johnson. The film's directors Ron Clements and John Musker discuss their approach to the latest Disney princess.Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Ekene Akalawu.

Robert Rauschenberg was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, photographer and performance artist who worked with John Cage and Jasper Johns and has influenced artists today like Damien Hurst and Tracey Emin. John Wilson talks to his son Christopher Rauschenberg and curator Catherine Wood on the day a major retrospective opens at Tate Modern.This Friday sees the unveiling of a memorial stone to poet Philip Larkin at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, 31 years after his death. Fellow poets Carol Rumens and Blake Morrison discuss Larkin's legacy.The trailer for new US comedy drama This Is Us has had a record-breaking 64 million Facebook views and 8.5 million on Youtube, so with its first episode about to be shown on Channel 4 on Tuesday 6 December, Katie Puckrik joins John Wilson to see what all the fuss is about.Plus, on the 50th anniversary of Barbados gaining independence from the UK, music journalist Kevin LeGendre looks at the Caribbean Island's influence on hip-hop, jazz and reggae.Presenter : John Wilson Pro

Clint Eastwood's latest film Sully tells the story of Captain Chesley Sullenberger who landed an airliner on New York's Hudson river in 2009. Critic Angie Errigo discusses how Eastwood's 35th film as a director fits into his remarkable career.Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Robert Olen Butler discusses his latest book, Perfume River, which explores how the Vietnam war resonates down the generations. Roger Law used to make the puppets for Spitting Image, the satirical TV show which poked fun at celebrities and politicians showing them with grotesque mouths and rheumy eyes. Now he makes porcelain vases and plates portraying Weedy Sea-Dragons and Long-nosed Poteroos. As his exhibition Transported opens at The Scottish Gallery, in Edinburgh, he explains why he's made the change.Last month, the Culture Secretary announced that the British Army would establish a specialist cultural property protection unit. As the bill comes closer to becoming law, Lt Colonel Tim Purbrick, an art dealer and British army reservist w

The Rolling Stones release their first studio album in over a decade this Friday. Blue & Lonesome, which takes the band back to their blues roots, was recorded over the course of three days, at British Grove Studio near Eel Pie Island. Where the band started playing the pubs and clubs. Music critic Kate Mossman reviews the album.Actor Miles Teller discusses his new film Bleed For This, based on the true story of world champion boxer Vinny Pazienza and his recovery from a life-threatening road accident. Teller, who played a jazz drummer in the film Whiplash, talks about his own brush with death in a car crash in 2007.Could the post-referendum fall in sterling be the reason why the National Gallery is struggling to secure a Pontormo's portrait, despite having raised more than £30million to keep it in the UK? Martin Bailey of The Art Newspaper joins John Wilson to discuss the unusual case of the Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Cap. The Last Poets are a radical group of African American poets and musicians w

Game of Thrones meets Bake Off as Mel Giedroyc and Gemma Whelan discuss their involvement in New Songs 4 New Shows, a gala evening showcasing four new musicals currently in development, directed by West End grandee Maria Friedman.The Booker Prize-winning author Penelope Lively discusses her latest collection of short stories, The Purple Swamp Hen & Other Stories. After J.K. Rowling sends copies of her Harry Potter novels to a girl in Aleppo, Syria, fellow children's writer Michael Morpurgo discusses the importance of books in war zones.Billy Bob Thornton reprises his role as the foul-mouthed, whisky-fuelled 'Father Christmas' in Bad Santa 2. Mark Eccleston reviews.Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Marilyn Rust.

It was announced today that William Finnegan has won the 2016 William Hill Sports Book of the Year for his book Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life. John Wilson reports from the ceremony and speaks to each of the authors of the seven shortlisted books, including Diana Nyad, who, aged 64, became the first person to swim the 100-mile stretch of shark-infested ocean between Cuba and Florida. Rillington Place, a street in West London, became notorious as the home of John Christie, the serial killer who framed another man, Timothy Evans, for one of his murders. Evans was hanged in 1950 and it would be another three years before Christie was convicted. The story is the subject of a new three-part BBC drama starring Tim Roth and Samantha Morton. Crime writer Natasha Cooper reviews. Johnny Cash Forever Words is a collection of previously unpublished and unseen poems by the singer songwriter. They were discovered by his son, John Carter Cash, who asked the poet Paul Muldoon to select 41 poems from 200. Muldoon discusses Ca