Front Row - Writer Bernard MacLaverty, Nicholas Hytner's Queer Icon, Riding the Mail Rail

Writer Bernard MacLaverty, Nicholas Hytner's Queer Icon, Riding the Mail Rail

Download Writer Bernard MacLaverty, Nicholas Hytner's Queer Icon, Riding the Mail Rail

For our Queer Icons series, director Sir Nicholas Hytner chooses the Rodgers and Hart song Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, which he reveals was written by Lorenz Hart with a gay subtext.

Northern Irish writer Bernard MacLaverty returns with his first novel in 16 years, Midwinter Break: the small details of a retired couple's trip to Amsterdam build into a portrait of ageing, alcoholism, faith and love.

The new Postal Museum in London features the art and artefacts which have shaped the British postal service. Samira and Trainspotting Live presenter Tim Dunn ride the 100-year-old Mail Rail, the small train that runs on miles of subterranean track linking the capital's main railway stations which used to carry millions of letters and parcels across the city.

The Californian company SciFuture are commissioning science fiction writers to help corporations cope with change. Scientist Susan Stepney explains the interplay between science fiction and the future.

Presenter : Samira Ahmed
Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Published on Tuesday, 1st August 2017.

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