Episodes
1. Episode 1
October 22, 2009
Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo present a packed edition from the London film festival, featuring highlights and an interview with David Morrissey about his directorial debut. Michael Palin discusses his films and new book, while Toby Young talks to Cosmo Landesman and Peter Bradshaw about the role of the critics. Plus Miranda Sawyer 's visit to the Frieze Art Fair.
2. Episode 2
October 29, 2009
As the Glasgow School of Art celebrates its centenary, Lauren Laverne is on hand to tell its story. Art critic Matthew Collings looks at an exhibition of Van Gogh's letters, while Andrew Graham-Dixon reviews a National Gallery exhibition of Spanish religious art. Actor and Motown fan Martin Freeman interviews his idol, iconic soul star Smokey Robinson, and there's a look at Halloween movies.
3. Episode 3
November 5, 2009
With the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford due to reopen after a multimillion-pound makeover, Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the 39 new galleries. Meanwhile, writer Michael Smith looks at the city's "town and gown" divide. Jane Campion, director of Bright Star, a new film about John Keats, discusses the poet's oeuvre with his biographer Andrew Motion. Also, Lauren Laverne looks at how the internet is the early bird when it comes to new formats for comedy, and Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode discuss the future of 3-D films.
4. Episode 4
November 12, 2009
Tom Dyckhoff takes a look around the new Nottingham Contemporary Art Centre, which opens with a show devoted to painter David Hockney, and examines how art galleries have become icons in their own right. Crime writer James Ellroy talks to Miranda Sawyer about artist Ed Ruscha, while Harold Evans discusses the future of the British press with Matthew d'Ancona. Plus a short film by Alain de Botton about Heathrow's Terminal 5 and a tour of places associated with great poets to mark publishing house Faber & Faber's 80th anniversary.
5. Episode 5
November 19, 2009
Mark Kermode is at Aardman Studios in Bristol to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Wallace & Gromit's first outing, with contributions from creator Nick Park and celebrity fans including Sir Terry Wogan, Jonathan Ross and Ian Hislop. Elsewhere, actor and comedian Steve Martin talks to Lauren Laverne about his love of the banjo and bluegrass music.
6. Episode 6
November 26, 2009
Is it last orders for the public house, once a cornerstone of British cultural life? Lauren Laverne looks at the past, present and future of the drinking establishment. Sting performs songs from his new album at the Cumberland Arms, one of the oldest inns in Newcastle, and Carol Ann Duffy reads a poem she has written to celebrate the pub. Elsewhere there's an interview with musician John Cale, a debate on films with an end-of-the-world theme, and Martha Wainwright joins Lauren to sing a track from her new album.
7. Episode 7
December 3, 2009
News presenter Mishal Husain is at the new medieval and Renaissance galleries at the Victoria & Albert Museum, where Andrew Graham-Dixon picks out his favourites from the collection. He also meets up with singer John Lydon, who performs with his recently re-formed band Public Image Ltd. Elsewhere Tom Dyckhoff meets industrial designer Dieter Rams, comedian Josie Long investigates online comedy, Mark Kermode travels to a special screening of Me and Orson Welles on the Isle of Man, and Clemency Burton-Hill talks to renowned opera director Graham Vick.
8. Episode 8
December 10, 2009
Daniel Day-Lewis gives a rare interview as his latest film "Nine" - a musical inspired by Federico Fellini and also starring Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench and Sophia Loren - is released. Elsewhere Andrew Graham-Dixon looks back at some of the year's highlights on the show, including director Danny Boyle discussing his Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire", actor Robert Carlyle reading Robbie Burns and the best of the Manchester and Edinburgh Festivals.
