Front Row Folgen

The £23m Weston Tower and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries at Westminster Abbey will be opening to the public next month. Architecture critic and historian Tom Dyckhoff gives his response to these two new additions to the abbey church, the site of all royal coronations since William the Conqueror in 1066.Why are so many British writers setting their stories in the countryside at the moment? From the second series of the BBC comedy drama This Country, to plays including Barney Norris's Nightfall, Joe White's Mayfly and Simon Longman's Gundog, and novels such as Jon McGregor's Reservoir 13 and Ali Smith's Autumn, writers are turning to a new vision of 'the pastoral' for inspiration. Writer Barney Norris joins novelist Sarah Hall - who was born and raised in the Lake District - to consider whether writing about the countryside has become part of the zeitgeist again and why.Gillian Allnutt's career as a poet stretches over four decades. In 2016 she was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. The poet discusses and reads from her new collection, Wake.Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen star in the rom-com Book Club which makes its older cast the heart of the story. But does it make good use of such stellar talent? Angie Errigo reviews. Singer-song writer Angélique Kidjo performs live from her new album Remain In Light, which re-imagines track-by-track the original post-punk band Talking Heads' landmark album. She talks about making the album and why she wants to take Rock back to Africa.As Roseanne, the top rated American sitcom, is dramatically axed following offensive tweets sent by it's star Roseanne Barr, John discusses the fallout with Washington Post TV critic Hank Stuever. Indian novelist Anuradha Roy discusses her new novel All the Lives We Never Lived, about one woman's escape from a stultifying marriage set against India's fight for independence and a world war. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Hannah Robins.

French director François Ozon discusses his latest film L'Amant Double, a psychological thriller in which a young woman falls in love with her secretive psychiatrist.Patrick Heron, the British artist and critic is celebrated in a new retrospective exhibition at Tate St Ives. Heron played a major role in the development of British post-war abstract art exploring the Cornish light and colour in the landscape surrounding his home. Curator Andrew Wilson and artist Susanna Heron, Patrick's daughter, join Samira. The acclaim for Rachel Kushner's novel The Flamethrowers brought her to a wide audience. Now she has written The Mars Room, the fictional account of a woman in a US prison with a double life sentence - plus 6 years. She describes getting access to the Californian prison system and the extraordinary stories she uncovered there.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Caroline Donne.