Front Row

Mike Leigh discusses his latest film Peterloo, an historical epic that depicts the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where a peaceful pro-democracy rally at St Peter's Field in Manchester turned into one of the most notorious episodes in British history. The massacre saw British government forces charge into a crowd of over 60,000 that had gathered to demand political reform.Novelist CJ Sansom discusses Tombland, his latest in his Tudor mystery series. The Lady Elizabeth sends lawyer Matthew Shardlake to Norwich to investigate the murder of a distant Boleyn relative during a time of agrarian unrest. Once the domain of children, playing with friends is increasingly seen as an entertainment option for adults and not just the computer game or sporting variety. We talk to two real life gamers: cosplayer Holly Rose Swinyard who attends conventions where players dress as favourite characters from comics and TV, and Ken Ferguson who blogs about escape rooms, physical puzzle games the like of which are popping up across the UK, to explore the changing role of play in our lives.Presenter : Kirsty Lang Producer : Dymphna Flynn

Author Luke Jennings on his Killing Eve novels, which inspired the recent television series. Jennings reveals what motivated him to create the ruthless assassin, Villanelle, and Eve, the agent hunting her, and the somewhat bizarre relationship the two of them seem to have. Revulsion is one of the strongest human reactions and if art is designed to instil an emotional response in the viewer, what is the role of disgust in art? As Halloween approaches we explore what makes us disgusted and how artists have used disgust to enthral or repel audiences. We speak to artist Andrea Hasler, whose wax-based sculptures re-imagine luxury goods like handbags with raw fleshy innards, along with art critic Estelle Lovatt and horror fan Kim Newman to explore the role of disgust in visual art and film. Maggie Gyllenhaal is currently starring in second series The Deuce, a television drama which charts the rise of the porn industry in 1970s New York. We speak to the actress about why she fought to be a producer on the show and what difference that has made both on screen and on set.Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Hannah Robins

Eric Idle is of course a member of the comedy phenomenon Monty Python. His autobiography, or as he fashions it sortabiography, is called Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, after the song he wrote for the end of the troupe’s controversial 1979 film, Life of Brian. He’ll be talking about his role in Python, his career, his friendships with the likes of George Harrison and David Bowie, and the creation of Spamalot.The latest Halloween film is the 11th in the long-running Halloween franchise. Ignoring all but the original 1978 film to which it is a direct sequel, the 2018 movie is set 40 years later with with Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle reprising their roles as final girl Laurie Strode and masked murderer Michael Myers. Critic Hannah Woodhead reviews.With the announcement of the death of Cicely Berry, the legendary voice coach whose seminal work at the RSC revolutionised how actors thought of their voices, we hear from her in her own words.The House of Commons library has opened its doors to Front Row for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour in honour of its 200th anniversary. It has survived air raids, fires and changes of government, but still little is known about this political institution, with access to the general public seldom granted. It not only houses Greek classics, biographies and historical treasures, but also acts as a vital source for MPs, researching and fact-checking policies and questions for the House.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Edwina Pitman

Gerard Butler talks to John Wilson about starring alongside Gary Oldman in his latest action film, Hunter Killer. Set deep under the Arctic Ocean, Butler plays an American submarine captain on the hunt for another US vessel in distress when he discovers a secret Russian coup that could lead to another world war. Bigger budgets, bigger explosions and bigger torsos seem to be dominating our movie screens, with actors such as Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg known for their intense workout regimes. But how damaging is this trend for audiences and is bigger always better? Film critic Adam Smith and Mark Twight, the Hollywood personal trainer responsible for getting Superman, Wonder Woman and the cast of 300 into shape, discuss.Leading Polish novelist Olga Tokarczuk on her International Man Booker prize-winning novel Flights, her new novel in translation, Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of the Dead, and how the history and politics of her home country informs her literary lifeAnd, a classic song is 55 today...Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May

Willy Loman is very much the heart and soul of Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer-prizewinning play, Death of a Salesman. However as a new production opens at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, two actors Maureen Beattie and Marion Bailey - who have played the role of Linda Loman- join Stig to discuss what they found when they played the salesman’s wife.Crime novelist AA Dhand reviews ‘Informer’ a new criminal intelligence thriller set in East London about a police informant programme targeting radicalised youth. ‘Informer’ stars Paddy Considine and newcomer Nabhaan Rizwan.Geology and technology come together in two new exhibitions. The work of artist Dan Holdsworth is the focus of Continuous Topography at the Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art in Sunderland, while at York Art Gallery, there’s a group show, Strata-Rock-Dust-Stars. Cherie Frederico, editor of Aesthetica magazine and Dan Holdsworth join Stig to discuss why the planet has become a new frontier for artists working with digital technology.Liverpool-based Irish poet Ciarán Hodgers is about to take part in the annual Liverpool Irish Festival, which coincides with the publication of Cosmocartography, his first full collection of poetry. The poet discusses his personal experience of migration, which features in his collection, and which is also a theme in this year’s festival. Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Ekene Akalawu

#MeToo one year on – what impact has the hashtag popularised by Hollywood actresses had on the arts and on women around the world? We speak to Jude Kelly, Founder & Director of the Women Of the World Foundation, film critic Larushka Ivan Zadeh, Helen Lewis, Associate Editor Of The New Statesman, and to Naomi Pohl, Assistant General Secretary Of The Musicians Union.Forgotten is a new play about the Chinese Labour Corps, the 140,000 Chinese men who at the height of the First World War travelled half way round the world to work for Britain and the Allies behind the front lines, and whose story is hardly known. Playwright Daniel York Loh talks to Kirsty Lang about his play whose title, written in Chinese characters, can also mean for Left Behind or maybe Erased.

The 2011 Norwegian terrorist attack at Utøya island summer camp has been made into a film by Paul Greengrass. The director, whose previous work includes the Jason Bourne thrillers, Bloody Sunday and Captain Phillips, explains his approach to making such an emotional and politically charged picture, which shows both the attack itself and the perpetrator Anders Breivik’s justifying his actions in court.Best mates and actors Lisa Hammond (formerly of EastEnders) and Rachael Spence wanted to make their own show but had no idea where to start. So in 2010 they asked members of the public to come up with stories for them. When they saw Lisa in a wheelchair and Rachael not, what the public suggested was funny, staggering and sad. They made a show about it and called it No Idea. Fast forward to 2018 and Lisa and Rachael felt that by now attitudes had surely changed. Their new show Still No Idea reflects what they found. A new report commissioned by Arts Council England, ‘What is Resilience Anyway?’, offers advice for tackling challenges faced by arts organisations from funding shortages to the increasing dominance of screens in audiences’ lives. It includes some challenging findings. Kirsty is joined by former Culture Minister Ed Vaizey and one of the main authors of the report Patrick Towell, Executive Director of Golant Media Ventures, the enterprise arm of The Audience Agency.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Sarah Johnson

Desiree Akhavan has not only co-written Channel 4's new comedy drama The Bisexual, but directs and stars in it as well. The series centres on Leila, who after splitting from her long-term girlfriend, attempts to navigate the dating scene as she becomes involved with both men and women.Film critic Rhianna Dhillon reviews ensemble thriller Bad Times at the El Royal starring Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth and Dakota Johnson, where seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at a rundown motel on the California/Nevada border.The 2018 RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s best new building has been awarded to Bloomberg, London, the billion-pound structure sometimes described as the world’s most sustainable office. Former jury member, architectural historian and writer Tom Dyckhoff comments on this year’s choice.Bertolt Brecht’s play Mother Courage, set in the midst of the Thirty Years War, turns 80 next year. Theatre Directors Rod Dixon and Hannah Chissick discuss why the German playwright's creation continues to resonate in the twenty first century.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Ben Mitchell

When Stig Abell was in his mid-twenties he went through a period where he would wake up in the middle of the night uncontrollably anxious and found reading, especially the novels of PG Wodehouse, provided respite. In this special programme on World Mental Health Day, Stig goes on a journey to try and understand what it is about reading which can improve mental well-being, and talks to writers Marian Keyes and Laura Freeman, and comedian Russell Kane about the role reading has played in helping their own. He visits Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust to talk to Dr Pravir Sharma about the efficacy of reading as a treatment for mental health conditions and peer support worker Eugene Egan, a former service user, whose involvement in the Trust's Reading Well group has contributed to his recovery amid other positive outcomes.Marian Keyes suffered a period of debilitating, clinical depression. As she recovered she turned to writers such as Margery Allingham and Agatha Christie, finding the gentle worlds they recreated, in which there was always a resolution, made her feel the world could be a safe place again.Russell Kane stood out as an avid reader growing up in a working class family where reading – especially for boys - was frowned upon. Now a highly successful comedian, reading a wide range of fiction is an essential part of his daily life and helps with the stresses of performing.Eugene Egan is a former inpatient with Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust whom he now works for the as a peer support worker and as a facilitator for the Recovery College Reading for Wellbeing groups. It was while on a mental health ward that he started reading Homer's Odyssey. Odysseus's travels related to his own periods of homelessness - and started a passion for reading which he continues to maintain his recovery.Dr Pravir Sharma is a consultant psychiatrist at the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust which supported the creation of Reading Well groups.Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Hilary Dunn

An entire disused swimming pool has been built on the ground floor of the Whitechapel Gallery in London for the new exhibition from the Scandinavian duo Elmgreen & Dragset. The artists discuss how they have been inspired by the work of David Hockney and Ed Ruscha. Then film critic Mark Eccleston art critic Jacky Klein and artist and former Canadian national competitive swimmer Leanne Shapton reflect on the swimming pool in the arts. Kwame Kwei-Armah opens his first season as the Artistic Director of London’s Young Vic with a musical adaptation of Twelfth Night. This reworking of Shakespeare’s comedy, which includes soul music and show tunes from songwriter Shaina Taub, has already impressed audiences in New York. Theatre critic Sam Marlowe gives her verdict.Green Noise is the title of poet Jean Sprackland’s new collection which encapsulates her concerns with the natural world on which she focuses minutely, as well as the sounds of the street, the wind, and resonating history. She reads her work and talks about writing poems that listen to the green noise of life.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Edwina Pitman