Front Row

New movie King Richard stars Will Smith and focuses on the father of Venus and Serena Williams. The Wife of Willesden is the first play by Zadie Smith. And Wheel of Time is a new fantasy series on Amazon Prime Video. Ashley Hickson-Lovence and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh join Samira to review all three.Moira Buffini on her darkly comic new state of the nation play for the National Theatre, Manor, directed by her sister Fiona.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Laura Northedge

‘A spiritual enquiry into what it is to be human’ is how Ralph Fiennes describes T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. On the eve of the opening in the West End he tells presenter Elle Osili-Wood about his stage presentation and his relationship with the poems.An exhibition that was a smash hit in Australia has come to Plymouth. “Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters” explores the ancient stories of Indigenous Australians through more than 300 works of art. Senior curator Margo Neale explains the meaning of the Seven Sisters Dreaming stories, that are central to the exhibition.Plus BBC Devon presenter Sarah Gosling takes us to the south coast and to Plymouth, where this Friday hip hop takes over the city thanks to Roots Up festival, as part of the Mayflower 400 anniversary celebrations. We also hear about grassroots theatre, comedy, and the thriving music scene which is pulling creatives to the south west from across the country.PRESENTER: Elle Osili-Wood PRODUCER: Julian MayPHOTO: Ralph Fiennes on stage in Four Quartets PHOTO CREDIT: Matt Humphrey

Céline Sciamma’s last film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, won awards worldwide after its release in 2019. Now the French filmmaker is back with Petite Maman – a meditative film set in the French countryside in which an eight year old girl, while helping her parents clear her mother’s family home, meets a mysterious girl of the same age in the woods. Less than a year since the UK emerged from lockdown, Sarah Moss has captured the experience of the pandemic in her new novel. The Fell follows a mother and son self-isolating and the fall-out when being confined to the house becomes too much to bear. Many sea shanties, it turns out, have their roots in African-American work songs. Singers, dancers and academics Angeline Morrison and Fay Hield discuss diversity in the folk arts and how their new projects will widen this. PRESENTER: Tom Sutcliffe PRODUCER: Olivia SkinnerPHOTO: Céline Sciamma CREDIT: Claire Mathon

Lin-Manuel Miranda makes his debut as film director with a cinematic retelling of the stage musical - tick, tick…Boom! The film stars Andrew Garfield as a musical theatre composer desperate to succeed in his chosen field before his 30th birthday.In the aftermath of COP 26, with progress made but pledges watered down, how should fiction respond to climate change? Omar El Akkad, journalist and author of American War and Dr Lisa Garforth, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Newcastle, discuss whether utopia or dystopia is more in tune with our times and more helpful in a climate emergency.And, as it returns for a second series writer of the BBC Three comedy drama In My Skin, Kayleigh Llewellyn, tells Samira about how to strike the balance between comedy and tragedy in telling the story of a family beset by mental health issues.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson

Tori Amos plays live and tells presenter Tom Sutcliffe about going from rock bottom to renewal in her lockdown album conceived on the Cornish coast, Ocean to Ocean.The Courtauld Gallery in London, renowned in particular for its collection of Impressionist art, reopens after a major 3-year refurbishment. Reviewers Waldemar Januszczak and Subhadra Das join Tom to assess the refreshed setting. They’ll also be watching new series Dopesick, starring Michael Keaton and Rosario Dawson and directed by Barry Levinson, a drama about the impact of OxyContin on a small mining town in the Eastern US.And Heidi Stephens who liveblogs Strictly Come Dancing for The Guardian joins Front Row to talk about the joy of sharing with an online community and how to get it right – fast.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo: Tori Amos Photo credit: Desmond Murray

For many years Shetlanders with ambitions to become artists had to leave to train and work. Not any longer, and young artists are also returning to the islands. Jen Stout reports on the ancient and modern arts in Shetland.Nigerian novelist Timothy Ogene tells Kirsty about the experiences that led him to write Seesaw, his satirical novel about the transatlantic creative writing industry.Fresh from the final day of the Museums Association annual conference, the organisation’s Director, Sharon Heal, joins Front Row to discuss the subjects currently occupying those working in the museum sector, and that will impact those who visit museums.And Paul McCartney's final journey Inside the Songs with You Tell Me.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May Production Coordinator: Lizzie Harris

The unique cultural heritage of Venice is under threat from increasingly frequent flooding and rising sea levels. Anna Somers Cocks OBE, founding editor of the Art Newspaper and Fellow of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, signed a letter appealing to the Italian Prime Minister to safeguard the city, on the eve of COP 26. She’s joined by Francesco da Mosto, Venetian architect and author, to tell us what’s at stake in the World Heritage Site he calls home.In his new book Kevin Birmingham investigates the true story that inspired Crime and Punishment. Marking the 200th anniversary of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s birth Birmingham joins Russian literature specialist Sarah Hudspith and Samira Ahmed on Front Row to consider Dostoevsky’s continuing relevance today.Paul McCartney explores the inspiration behind Pretty Boys, a song from his most recent album McCartney Three.The Hollywood actor Dean Stockwell, best known for his roles in Blue Velvet and Quantum Leap, has died. Film critic Tim Robey remembers some of his outstanding moments on screen. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon RichardsonPhoto: High water in St. Mark's Square, Venice (stock photo) Credit: Getty Images

British filmmaker, singer-songwriter and music producer Jeymes Samuel AKA The Bullitts discusses his new film The Harder They Fall.Finnish-Estonian author Sofi Oksanen on her new novel Dog Park.Jon Gilchrist, Executive Director of Home in Manchester and incoming president of UK Theatre, on the state of regional theatre this autumn.And in the latest instalment of our series Inside the Songs, Paul McCartney remembers the loss he felt after the murder of John Lennon in 1980 and how he reconnected with his friend in the song Here, Today.Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene AkalawuPhoto: A still from the film The Harder They Fall (L to R): Regina King as Trudy Smith, Idris Elba as Rufus Buck, Lakeith Stanfield as Cherokee Bill Photo credit: David Lee/ Netflix 2021

Alan Cumming discusses his autobiography, Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life. This volume chronicles some of his career highs after Hollywood came calling, including working with Stanley Kubrick, filming with the Spice Girls and holidaying with Gore Vidal.Front Row critics Alexandra Shulman and Leila Latif review this week's cultural highlights including Diana biopic Spencer, Israeli drama Valley of Tears and discuss the ABBA revival ahead of the release their new album Voyage.And Paul McCartney describes the painful conflict with John Lennon that inspired his song Too Many People.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Laura Northedge

Shortlisted authors Anuk Arudpragasam, Damon Galgut, Patricia Lockwood, Nadifa Mohamed, Richard Powers and Maggie Shipstead join Samira Ahmed live in Broadcasting House's Radio Theatre for the announcement of the winner of the 2021 Booker Prize.Last year's winner Douglas Stuart is in conversation with HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. And 30 years on from his historic Booker win, Ben Okri reflects on how the prize changed his life.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson