Episode details

Radio 4,16 Mar 2011,30 mins

Frank Skinner interview, Syd Barrett's artwork discussed

Front Row

Available for over a year

With John Wilson. Comedian Frank Skinner talks about making the news funny as he prepares to return to BBC television with Opinionated, a series which sees him discussing the big stories of the week with guests and a live studio audience at different locations across the country. Graham Coxon from Blur reviews the exhibition Syd Barrett: Art and Letters which celebrates the original Pink Floyd frontman's work as a visual artist. The show includes previously unseen love letters, sketches and paintings. Mike Leigh returns to directing for the stage with a revival of his 1979 play, Ecstasy, which follows a group of old friends in a rundown bedsit, just at the point when Margaret Thatcher's government is about to transform the country. Writer and historian Dominic Sandbrook reviews the production. Novelist Tracy Chevalier - author of the bestselling novel Girl With a Pearl Earring - is one of the judges of this year's Orange Prize for Fiction, the UK's annual book award for fiction written by a woman. With the annoucement of the longlist, John talks to Tracy about this year's selection. Producer India Rakusen.

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