Front Row

Sir Michael Parkinson discusses his love of jazz and big-band music, and the choices he made for a collection of his favourite songs: Our Kind of Music: The Great American Songbook. He also reflects on his years spent interviewing the showbiz A list. Hull is rounding off its year as UK City of Culture with a new adaptation of 'A Christmas Carol' by Deborah McAndrew who sets it in the port. The Royal Shakespeare Company has a new version by David Edgar, who adapted their world-famous 'Nicholas Nickelby', and The Old Vic has one, too, by Jack Thorne, famous for writing the stage version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Front Row gathers all three to discuss the enduring appeal of Dickens's story, and how to make it new.R J Palacio's award-winning book, Wonder, about a young boy with facial differences, has just been made into a film starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay. Lisa Hammond reviews.Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.