The Essay

Catherine Fletcher unveils handguns' explosive Renaissance origin

Simon Heffer continues his highly-authored and deeply-informed exploration of British cinema by viewing five New Wave or so-called "Kitchen Sink" films of the late 1950s and 1960s.5.Billy LiarKeith Waterhouse's novel about Billy Fisher was turned into a film, starring Tom Courtenay, in 1963. The story of Billy's real life in a semi somewhere in the West Riding, and his vividly imagined alternative life in Ambrosia, lived to the accompaniment of a brass band, was unlike any film that had come before, but was it tragedy or comedy? Simon Heffer ends his account of the New Wave with this highly contentious film. Producer: Beaty Rubens.

Simon Heffer continues his highly-authored and deeply-informed exploration of British cinema by viewing five New Wave or so-called "Kitchen Sink" films of the late 1950s and 1960s. 4.This Sporting LifeSimon Heffer examines the powerful film version of how David Storey's novel about Frank Machin, a talented rugby league player, hungry for success and love.

Simon Heffer continues his highly-authored and passionate exploration of British cinema by viewing five New Wave or so-called "Kitchen Sink" films of the late 1950s and 1960s. Having explored the stereotyping of working class characters in his previous series of Essays on British film, Simon Heffer turns his gaze upon the films written and directed by a new generation of grammar school-educated young men, whose gritty depiction of the lives of ordinary working men and women was to shock and delight the cinema-going public in the 1960s.3.The Loneliness of the Long Distance RunnerSimon Heffer examines a second Alan Sillitoe novel, this time turned into a cinematic masterpiece by Tony Richardson: the story of Colin Smith, a boy whose chance to escape borstal and, possibly, to improve his life chances, depends on his talent as a cross-country runner. Producer: Beaty Rubens.

Simon Heffer continues his highly-authored and deeply-informed exploration of British cinema by viewing five New Wave or so-called "Kitchen Sink" films of the late 1950s and 1960s. Having explored the stereotyping of working class characters in his previous series of Essays on British film, Simon Heffer turns his gaze upon the films written and directed by a new generation of grammar school-educated young men, whose gritty depiction of the lives of ordinary working men and women was to shock and delight the cinema-going public in the 1960s.2.Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Simon Heffer reveals how Alan Sillitoe's novel was turned into a stunning film, directed by Karel Reisz, produced by Tony Richardson, and starring Albert Finney as Arthur Seaton, the anti-hero whose motto is "Don't Let the bastards grind you down". Producer: Beaty Rubens.

Simon Heffer continues his highly-authored and deeply-informed exploration of British cinema by viewing five New Wave or so-called "Kitchen Sink" films of the late 1950s and 1960s. 1.Room at the TopHaving explored the stereotyping of working class characters in his previous series of Essays on British film, Simon Heffer turns his gaze upon the films written and directed by a new generation of grammar school-educated young men, whose gritty depiction of the lives of ordinary working men and women was to shock and delight the cinema-going public. John Braine's novel, Room at the Top, was a literary sensation when it was published in 1957 and caused further shock waves when it was released as a film two years later, starring Laurence Harvey as the determined Joe Lampton, determined to marry a rich man's daughter and live in the "Top" district of town. Producer : Beaty Rubens.

Poet Alyson Hallett is drawn to chalk landscapes and the large horse at Westbury in Wilts

Novelist Sarah Moss discusses basalt and dolerite, the fire rocks that underpin castles.

Writer Paul Evans traces a family line back through Shropshire's seams of coal.

Derbyshire poet and climber Helen Mort visits Stanage Edge, famed for its millstone grit.