Front Row

This week sees Judi Dench reprise the role of Queen Victoria, in Victoria and Abdul a film about the friendship between the queen and a young Indian clerk. John talks to director Stephen Frears and the actor Ali Fazal, who plays Abdul, about making the film which comically takes on a the unlikely and forgotten friendship. Pears' Cyclopaedia has announced that the recently published 126th edition will be its last. With the Encyclopaedia Britannica heading online in recent years, as well as the explosion in popularity of sites such as Wikipedia, the way we access knowledge is changing. What does this mean for the future of reference books? And what has their significance been over the years? Historian Kathryn Hughes and QI researcher Andrew Hunter Murray discuss.John speaks to BAFTA award winner Jeff Pope (The Moorside, Philomena, Mrs Biggs) about turning his TV drama of Cilla Black's life into a new stage musical. By the age of just 25 Priscilla White was recognised as international singing star Cilla Black an