Front Row: Archive 2013

Mark Lawson turns Quizmaster to test the cultural knowledge of two teams in the Front Row Quiz of the Year.

Singer and performer Jackie Clune and playwright Mark Ravenhill are led by writer and Booker judge Natalie Haynes. They are competing against actress and writer Helen Lederer and Citizen Khan creator and star Adil Ray, under the captaincy of crime writer Mark Billingham.

Questions cover a wide range of the year's events, includ...

With Mark Lawson.

This year the shelf of great American authors unexpectedly lengthened when a novel called Stoner by John Williams, forgotten since its first appearance five decades ago, was republished to widespread acclaim. At the same time two neglected novels by Renata Adler received enthusiastic reviews when brought back into print after thirty years and two little known writers, 89 year old James Salter and 76 year old Edith ...

With Naomi Alderman.

The last episode of cult TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer was broadcast in Britain ten years ago. At the time, Naomi believed that the show would lead to the creation of a host of other strong and complex female leads - who would inspire young women in the same way Buffy had inspired her. So where are all the "daughters of Buffy"? Naomi explores Buffy's legacy with the help of Buffy's creator Joss Whedon, and ...

In new interviews, Mark Lawson talks to the people who have had exceptional years in the world of arts, culture and entertainment in 2013, in the second of two special programmes.

David Tennant talks about his roles in the two most highly anticipated television events of 2013 - the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special and the final episode of Broadchurch. He discusses which accent he decided on for his roles in The Escape Artist, the...

With Mark Lawson, who in the first of two special programmes, talks to Front Row's People of the Year : our choice of the artists who have made headlines in the world of arts, culture and entertainment in 2013.

Tonight's selection is : David Suchet - for his portrayal of the detective Poirot who appeared for the last time this year Zawe Ashton - star of Fresh Meat on Channel 4 Lucy Kirkwood - award winning playwright for "Chimerica"...

With Kirsty Lang.

As Mary Poppins looks forward to its 50th birthday, and a film about the making of the movie, Saving Mr Banks, is tipped for Oscar success, Julie Andrews reflects on a career that has made her an icon for generations of children. She also discusses the emotional impact of no longer being able to sing, and reveals how she plans to entertain audiences on a 2014 tour.

Presenter and Python Michael Palin talks to Kirsty ...

With John Wilson.

Ben Stiller directs and stars in the second screen adaptation of the 1939 short story by James Thurber, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Stiller plays a timid magazine photo manager who lives life vicariously through his daydreams, but when a negative goes missing, his real life takes an adventurous turn. Film critic Gaylene Gould reviews.

Actor David Morrissey talks to John about filming on a train with Sheridan Sm...

With Mark Lawson.

Oscar contender American Hustle stars Christian Bale and Amy Adams as a pair of con artists who are forced to help the FBI in a huge sting operation, but things go awry when Bale's erstwhile wife, Jennifer Lawrence, gets involved. Critic Antonia Quirke delivers her verdict.

It would be hard to miss Mark Gatiss' work over the course of the holiday period. On Christmas day, he makes his directorial debut with The Trac...

With Mark Lawson.

Ron Burgundy returns in Anchorman 2. Will Ferrell's hirsute newsreader and his crack team of reporters make it to the big-time as they bring their unique brand of newsgathering to New York city. Mishal Husain discusses whether this sequel to the cult comedy has stayed classy.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest musical examines the life and death of society osteopath Stephen Ward, a key figure in the 1963 Profumo scandal, ...

With Mark Lawson.

Martin Freeman returns this week as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the second film in Peter Jackson's trilogy. He talks to Mark about the physical difficulties of shooting scenes with Ian McKellen's towering Gandalf and how his commitment to the BBC's Sherlock almost cost him the role altogether.

Bret Easton Ellis' cult novel American Psycho has been adapted as a new musical starring Matt Smit...

John Wilson is in Salford for the unveiling of this year's Front Row neon artwork. The artwork was established in 2011 to celebrate the presence of the BBC in the north and involves a cultural luminary supplying a word in their handwriting to be rendered in neon. The writer and comedian Victoria Wood is the guest artist for the 2013 artwork and joins John to switch it on.

Singer-Songwriter Sam Smith is the winner of this year's Brit...

With Mark Lawson

Alan Bennett gives his reaction as his drama The History Boys is named the nation's favourite play by the English Touring Theatre's 21st Anniversary poll.

A forthcoming two-part television drama, starring Jim Broadbent and Luke Evans, is going to show both sides of the 1963 Great Train Robbery. Firstly from the point of view of the criminals and then of the police who tracked them down afterwards. Written by Chris Ch...

With Mark Lawson.

Front Row's annual Christmas Jukebox returns with music writers Rosie Swash and David Hepworth joining Mark to assess the various candidates in this year's festive single line-up, and advise on which are 2013's Christmas crackers.

As a short story by Stieg Larsson is published for the first time, Mark talks to Larsson's friend John-Henri Holmberg, who has edited a collection of Swedish crime stories, A Darker Shade,...

With Kirsty Lang

Derren Brown's latest television show sees the illusionist attempt to teach a group of senior citizens how to steal a valuable painting from a gallery in broad daylight. Derren tells Kirsty why he chose to focus on an art theft, and also explains his reason for choosing senior citizens to pull it off.

Metro Manila, a low-budget thriller set in the Philippines and shot entirely in the Austronesian language of Tagalog,...

With Kirsty Lang.

Lenny Henry pays tribute to Nelson Mandela and discusses the role that musicians and comedians played in the movement to free him.

Mat Fraser and Julie Atlas Muz talk about their retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Fraser is one of the UK's best-known disabled performers and Muz is one of New York's most famous burlesque artists. They met whilst performing at a Freak show on Coney Island and their love story entwines...

With John Wilson.

Daniel Radcliffe's latest project is playing the young Allen Ginsberg in Kill Your Darlings. Based on a true story, the film follows a 17-year-old Ginsberg as he starts at Columbia University in 1944. A murder draws him together with Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs and leads to the birth of the Beat Generation. Writer and critic Michael Carlson gives his verdict.

Writers Alex Clark and Danny Kelly discuss which o...

With Mark Lawson.

Last night Jude Law took to the London stage as Henry V in Michael Grandage's final play in his current West End season. Law, who previously played Hamlet under Grandage's direction, performs a paired-down text in a simple stage setting. Rachel Cooke was at the first night last night and gives her response.

As the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls prepares to play a 'short but difficult' Schumann piano piece at a charity e...

Nebraska is the latest road movie from Alexander Payne, the director of oenophile comedy Sideways. In Nebraska, Bruce Dern plays an ageing father who takes a trip with his son across the mid-west to pick up a million-dollar prize. Critic Leslie Felperin delivers her verdict.

Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday and Julie Andrews have all appeared on the London stage this year, in one-woman shows performed by Cush Jumbo, Nina Kristofferso...