Front Row

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by reviewers Dreda Say Mitchell and Viv Groskop to consider Lena Dunham's controversial memoir - Famesick. A new adaptation of Ken Kesey's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - directed by Clint Dyer at London's Old Vic Theatre. And Dan "Schitts Creek" Levy has a new dark comedy series on Netflix; "Big Mistakes"

Scottish Ballet's Starstruck honours Gene Kelly's creative legacy and his passion for creating "dance for the common man". His wife Patricia Ward Kelly tells us about this fusion of ballet, jazz, tap and tango danced to the music of Chopin, Ravel and Gerswhin. As the winner of the inaugural Sherborne Prize for Travel Writing is announced as Adam Weymouth for his book Lone Wolf, about a journey from Slovenia to Italy across the Alps, Adam joins us along with veteran writer Colin Thubron to discuss the art of travel writing. And as he receives an Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize and as his work goes on show at the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition in London, photographer Joel Meyerowitz talks to us about his career - documenting everything from London in the swinging sixties to New York in the aftermath of 9/11. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

Jack Savoretti sings a song from his latest album We Will Always Be The Way We Were, which is leading the race to top the charts this week. David Szalay's Booker Prize-wnnning novel Flesh is currently at the centre of a debate around inspiration and homage, as critics point to similarities between his novel and Stanley Kubrick's film Barry Lyndon. Literary critics Aled Maclean-Jones and Alex Clark discuss. Turner Prize-winning artist Veronica Ryan on her new show at the Whitechapel Gallery which brings together work that spans the many decades of her career. David Austin, Chief Executive of the British Board of Film Classification on creating a new AI tool to help with their work. Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer: Ekene Akalawu

Mark Gatiss takes on the role he's always wanted to play, the lead in Brecht's Hitler satire The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. As the Government considers charging tourists to visit England's national museums, we discuss these proposals with TV executive and arts advocate Sir Peter Bazalgette, who’s been an advisor to the DCMS, and Alison Cole - Director, The Cultural Policy Unit think tank. As she releases her new collection of short stories and memoir pieces, The Great Good Places, Dame Margaret Drabble speaks to us about her extraordinary life and career. Legendary playback singer Asha Bhosle has died. Her voice was heard in countless Bollywood films, often lip-synced by the most famous actresses of the day And she inspired UK band Cornershop's song Brimful of Asha. Joining us to discuss her life and glittering career is BBC presenter Nikki Bedi. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry Graham

We review Francois Ozon's film: The Stranger. Based on the Albert Camus novel which has often been described as unfilmable...how well has he done? Amitav Ghosh's novel; Ghost Eye, set in India and dealing with parallel timelines, multiple global locations, environmental catastrophe and a young girl with mysterious powers. Jim Jarmusch's latest film 'Father Mother Sister Brother' won the Golden Lion award at Venice. Are our critics won over? And we discuss whether it's ever okay to take a photograph of a theatrical production. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Muriel Zagha and Tahmima Anam

Writer and director John Morton, one of the team behind 2012 and W1A, on the new comedy Twenty Twenty Six, set in the run up to this year's football World Cup. Artist Lachlan Goudie's new book The Secrets of Painting explores the creative big bangs in art over the centuries which have given us artistic movements - from Giotto and Rembrandt's use of oil paint to Berthe Morisot's use of an outdoor easel and Jackson Pollock's use of materials intended for industrial use, Goudie tells us how he has undergone a series of experiments to inform his understanding of pioneering techniques. A new gig theatre production at The Mac in Belfast honours the Women's Coalition in Northern Ireland whose activism was an important force behind the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Writer Vittoria Cafolla joins us to tell us their story. And as we go on air, the winners of this year's Windham-Campbell Awards for writing are announced. Each recipient receives $175,000, and we'll hear from one of the winners, as well as the Director who heads up the judging panel. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

Writer Daisy Goodwin on Victoria: A Queen Unbound. Was the marriage between Victoria and Albert as idyllic as it has been portrayed? Her new play explores the idea that Prince Albert exerted coercive control over Queen Victoria. Following the launch of the Official UK Christian & Gospel Singles Chart, we speak to the founder of the chart's partner organisation, O'Neil Dennis, and Mobo winning Christian rapper Guvna B, who's playing live in studio. Tayari Jones, Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction, discusses on her new novel, Kin. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer Harry Graham

100 years ago, inventor John Logie Baird demonstrated his new 'televisor' to the public for the first time. In this special edition of Front Row, Samira Ahmed and guests explore the origins of television in the UK, charting how those early experimental days set a template for this exciting new medium. Guests: TV producer and historian Professor John Wyver, whose new book Magic Rays of Light tells the story of the early days of TV Lisa Kerrigan, senior curator of TV at the BFI Francis Spufford, whose new novel Nonesuch is partly set in the BBC studio at Alexandra Palace in 1939 Joy Whitby, TV producer and creator of iconic programmes including Play School and Jackanory Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Tim Bano

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics Tim Robey and Nancy Durrant to review: Robert Pattinson and Zendaya's new film The Drama about a young couple in the lead up to their wedding. Life of Pi author Yann Martel's novel Son of Nobody about a newly discovered classic text with the story partly told in footnotes. And from the creator of Mum and Him and Her, Stefan Golaszewski's new BBC drama series Babies which follows one couple's experience of pregnancy loss. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Lucy Collingwood

In venues around the UK and here on BBC Radio 4 and on BBC Sounds, it’s Live Comedy Day today – a celebration of live comedy and grassroots clubs. We’re joined by two of the cast of the new Saturday Night Live UK, Emma Sidi and Hammed Animashaun, and by Amanda Dwyer, who won the Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award at the Glasgow Comedy Festival this weekend, to discuss the stand-up landscape right now. Mink Stole is an icon of “trash cinema” and has appeared in every one of filmmaker John Waters’ features, from the infamous cult classic Pink Flamingos to mainstream hits Hairspray and Serial Mom. She talks about her long association with Waters and his ensemble of Dreamlanders, and about her show Idol Worship in which she and actor and drag queen Peaches Christ reflect on her career in front of an audience. And live from opening night at the V&A Dundee where Catwalk – The Art of The Fashion Show celebrates over a hundred years of spectacular fashion displays, from Frederick Worth to Vivienne Westwood and Versace, curator Kirsty Hassard talks us through the history of the runway. And we are also joined by curator Rachel Whitworth from the Bowes Museum in County Durham to discuss one of the modern day pioneers of the fashion show, Vivienne Westwood, as the exhibition Rebel, Storyteller, Visionary opens there. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

Writer Robert MacFarlane on the world underground as a new documentary, Underland, inspired by his award-winning book of the same name is released in cinemas. Dancer and choreographer Meryl Tankard on creating a new work, Echoes of '78, which pairs the original dancers of a work created by German choreographer Pina Bausch with their younger selves. Singer Hak Baker and journalist Ludovic Hunter-Tilney on the evolving nature of the protest song plus a live performance from Hak of his song Windrush Baby. Translator and judge Sophie Hughes on the International Booker Prize shortlist 2026 which was announced today. The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar, translated by Ruth Martin She Who Remains by Rene Karabash, translated by Izidora Angel The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated by Padma Viswanathan The Witch by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated by Lin King Artist Glen Baxter remembered. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ekene Akalawu

Lesley Manville, on appearing in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at London's National Theatre Art In Space: As Nasa prepares to send people back to the Moon, former astronauts Helen Sharman and Cady Coleman talk us through the books & music they took with them into space. Do classicists underestimate how difficult it is to read Homer's Odyssey? Ahead of Christopher Nolan's new adaption, we'll discuss with Mary Beard and Professor Emily Wilson about reading and translating one of the oldest surviving works of literature. Should Russia be readmitted to The Venice Biennale? A public letter signed by dozens of MEPs is calling for EU funding to be suspended if Russia is allowed to participate Presenter: Samira Ahmed

On this week's review show, critic and broadcaster Rhianna Dhillon and fashion historian and writer Amber Butchart join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss Riz Ahmed's new comedy series Bait, which follows a struggling actor who auditions for the role of James Bond and has to deal with the fallout. They give their verdicts on Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at the V&A in London, featuring the work of designer Elsa Schiaparelli. And they review Two Prosecutors, the new film from Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, a bleak comedy following a prosecutor as he attempts to help a political prisoner during the Stalinist Purge of 1937. Plus, the ongoing story of the novel that was pulled by its publisher after allegations that it was partly written by AI. Tom talks to Alexandra Alter, the New York Times journalist who broke the story, and Anna Ganley from the Society of Authors. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Tim Bano

Actor Forbes Masson on the National Theatre of Scotland's stage musical revival of cult sitcom The High Life in which he starred alongside Alan Cumming as air stewards working the commuter route between London and Scotland. The writers behind the hotly anticipated whodunnit novel The Ending Writes Itself - billed as being by Evelyn Clarke but in fact written by Cat Clarke and VE Schwab - talk about satirising the publishing industry and about the challenges and pleasures of writing collaboratively. And as The Coming of Age - a new exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London - explores experiences and perceptions of ageing, art historian Richard Cork reflects on how older people have been represented in art and culture. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

The much anticipated, Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning medical drama The Pitt finally hits HBO max screens in the UK this week. Samira talks to lead actor Noah Wyle who plays Dr ‘Robby’ Robinavitch, about being back in a high octane emergency department drama decades after making his name as Dr Carter in ER. The Elizabethan composer John Dowland died 400 years ago this month. Next weekend there will be a celebratory Weekend of his music performed at London's Wigmore Hall. We speak with two musicians who will be celebrating Dowland's music: Counter tenor Iestyn Davies and lutenist Elizabeth Kenny. Does opera need to be telling new stories? The ENO’s former artistic director John Berry, and playwright Mark Ravenhill join us to discuss. Presenter: Samira Ahmed

The UK now has its own SNL, 50 years after the US original. But is it funny? Culture journalist Natalie Jamieson gives her verdict. As the BFI begins a season of boxing films, we explore why the sport has inspired so much influential cinema, with BFI curator Dr Clive Chijioke Nwonka and boxing broadcaster Steve Bunce. Phil Dunster, best known for his role in Ted Lasso, discusses his new comedy Rooster. Folk trio Leveret improvise live in the Front Row studio. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Graham

Writer Alexander Larman and journalist Zoe Williams join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss the film La Grazia - which was written and directed by The Great Beauty’s Paolo Sorrentino, and stars Toni Servillo as a fictional Italian President. They also review Summerfolk at the National Theatre in London. Brother and sister writers Moses and Nina Raine have adapted this version of Maxim Gorky’s play which centres around a privileged group of friends at a country retreat. Finally, Tom reviews The Tribe by Michael Arditti, an epic family drama which spans five decades and three continents. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet

From bellringing to beekeeping - Author Helen Bain talks about the highly detailed research she conducted for the writing of her The Daffodil Days, inspired by Ted Hughes and Sylvia Pllath's year in North Tawton in Devon in 1962, and on why she has told the story in reverse, through the observations of the locals who came into contact with them at the time. Hue & Cry, who first made their name in the mid 80s and who won the Outstanding Contribution prize at last year's Scottish Music Awards, are back with a new single, a 16th studio album and a UK tour. We speak to brothers Pat & Greg Kane about their four decades in the music business, and about fusing acoustic and synth technologies and the duo perform one of their biggest hits in the Front Row studio. At the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1990s, American photographer Catherine Opie honoured members of the gay community with portraits inspired by court artist Hans Holbein. Since then she's become known as an "all-American subversive" for her groundbreaking depictions of queer America. A retrospective of her work - To Be Seen - which also features a new commission of a portrait of Sir Elton John and his family - has opened at the National Portrait Gallery in London and she joins us live to talk about it. Plus the Artistic Director of Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre, James Brining, and The Scotsman's theatre critic, Joyce McMillan, discuss the theatre's decision not to let critics from UK-wide media in to review the world premiere of the new stage production One Day, adapted from David Nicholls' bestselling book. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

Anne Lister, the 19th century landowner and diarist, better known by her nickname, Gentleman Jack, has inspired folksongs, television dramas, and now a ballet. As Northern Ballet begin a UK tour of their new Gentleman Jack production, Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa explains how she translated Lister's diaries into dance. As K-Pop super band BTS are set to return with a new album on 20th March and a live streamed concert and a documentary on Netflix, we hear from Julie Yoonnyung Lee from the BBC Korean Service and music journalist Katie Hawthorne about their comeback. We’ll also hear what’s been popular in K-Pop during their absence - including Korean Trot music which is having a resurgence. New anthology, Banshee, aims to cast a feminist light on the female figures in Irish myths. Editor of the anthology, Ailbhe Malone, and one of the contributing writers, Salma El‑Wardany, discuss reimagining some of Ireland's oldest stories. And we remember the writer Len Deighton whose death was announced today. He was the author of The Ipcress File along with over thirty other novels, cookbooks, and graphic novels. Fellow crime writer Martin Edwards reflects on Len Deighton's influential career. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu

Self Esteem, aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor, performs her new song written for David Hare’s play Teeth 'n' Smiles. We bring you a roundup of the 2026 Academy Awards. Ryan Gosling discusses his new sci-fi adventure film Project Hail Mary. And a look at the BBC's new talk show format, The Claudia Winkleman Show, with Boyd Hilton, entertainment director at Heat Magazine, and Bea Ballard, executive producer on the Jonathan Ross show. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry Graham