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Front Row: David Tennant and Gregory Doran; Bill Bryson; Sex on film and TV

David Tennant and Gregory Doran; Bill Bryson; Sex on film and TV

01/10/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, David Tennant and Gregory Doran; Bill Bryson; Sex on film and TV

Mark Lawson talks to David Tennant as he prepares to play Richard II at the RSC, Stratford

David Tennant and Gregory Doran on their new staging of Richard II, Bill Bryson examines the year 1927, and sexual addiction and research are the focus for a new film and TV drama.

With Mark Lawson.

David Tennant and RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran discuss their forthcoming production of Richard II. Tennant talks about switching accents and the difference between working on the stage and screen. Gregory Doran reveals his techniques for making Shakespeare understandable, why he won't change words and how he copes with his dual role of managing the RSC whilst directing his own plays.

The analysis and control of human sexuality are the focus of a new film and a TV drama series. The film Thanks for Sharing, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Ruffalo and Tim Robbins, is set in the world of recovering sex addicts, whilst the series Masters of Sex stars Michael Sheen as the pioneering sex researcher Dr William Masters. Advice columnist Bel Mooney gives her verdict.

Bill Bryson, whose bestselling books includes Notes form a Small Island and A Short History of Nearly Everything, discusses his latest work, One Summer: America 1927. Covering a period of just a few months in 1927, the book explores how events including Charles Lindbergh's non-stop flight from New York to Paris, a sensational murder trial and the President's shock decision not to stand for re-election gripped America and shaped its future. Bill Bryson discusses how concentrating on a snapshot of history gave him insights that might elude other biographers and historians.

Producer Olivia Skinner.

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