Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Front Row

Magazines & Reviews

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music

BBC Radio 4 LW

Kirsty Lang

Roddy Doyle

Josie Rourke

Adam Smith

Olivia Skinner

John Goudie

Front Row: Roddy Doyle; Josie Rourke; Liola reviewed; Why modern Westerns don't work

Roddy Doyle; Josie Rourke; Liola reviewed; Why modern Westerns don't work

08/08/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Roddy Doyle; Josie Rourke; Liola reviewed; Why modern Westerns don't work

Roddy Doyle on the return of his character Jimmy Rabbitte in his new novel The Guts.

Roddy Doyle on the return of his character Jimmy Rabbitte in his new novel The Guts, Liola at the National Theatre reviewed, and director Josie Rourke shares her Cultural Exchange.

With Kirsty Lang.

Booker Prize-winning Irish author Roddy Doyle discusses why he decided to resurrect one of his earliest characters - Jimmy Rabbitte who first appeared in The Commitments 25 years ago - in his new novel The Guts. He also reflects on topics of conversation among men his own age, and offers his top tip to stop snoring. 

Sir Richard Eyre has returned to the National Theatre to direct Liola, a drama by the Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello. Set in rural Sicily at the end of the 19th century, the play centres on Liola - a charming young man who has caused controversy by fathering three sons with different women. Andrew Dickson reviews the new version by Tanya Ronder, which is performed by an Irish cast.

The theatre director Josie Rourke brings the 1987 comedy drama film Broadcast News, starring William Hurt and Holly Hunter, to the Cultural Exchange.

Disney's summer blockbuster The Lone Ranger, which stars Johnny Depp as Tonto, has flopped at the US box office and is expected to lose millions of dollars. Adam Smith explains why, despite many attempts to re-vamp the genre, Westerns from Wild Wild West, via Cowboys and Aliens to Jonah Hex have failed to deliver.

Producer Olivia Skinner.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Front Row

Roddy Doyle; Josie Rourke; Liola reviewed; Why modern Westerns don't work

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4