Front Row - Jane Campion and Alice Englert, Chris Smith's Queer Icon, Lucy Kirkwood, Love Island
Download Jane Campion and Alice Englert, Chris Smith's Queer Icon, Lucy Kirkwood, Love Island
Kate Muir explains the unexpected appeal and popularity of Love Island. Is it just another television reality show or has it got something extra?
The first season of Top of the Lake was garlanded with praise and won an Emmy for its cinematography and a Golden Globe for Elisabeth Moss; season 2 is about to begin on BBC2. The action moves away from New Zealand to the brothels and backstreets of Sydney, Australia. Celebrated director Jane Campion is the co-writer and co-director and she's joined by her daughter, Alice Englert, who stars along with Nicole Kidman. They talk to Kirsty about creating the unique atmosphere of the series and how to ensure more opportunities for women directors.
For our Queer Icons series, E.M. Forster's novel Maurice is championed by Chris Smith, the former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who in 1984 became the first MP to come out publicly.
Lucy Kirkwood discusses her new play Mosquitoes which focuses on two sisters played by Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams. One sister works for CERN on the Large Hadron Collider and the other in a call centre. Kirsty asks the playwright about the appeal of physicists as characters, increasing scepticism about expert opinion and whether scientists are really trying to play god.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Harry Parker.
Published on Friday, 21st July 2017.
Available Podcasts from Front Row
We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the Front Row webpage.