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Saturday Review

Magazines & Reviews

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Sharp, critical discussion of the week's cultural events, with Tom Sutcliffe and guests

Presenter Tom Sutcliffe and guests offer sharp, critical discussion of the week's cultural events

Tom Sutcliffe

Oliver Jones

Saturday Review: Gravity; Stanley Spencer; nut; Rustication

Gravity; Stanley Spencer exhibition; new play Nut; and new book Rustication

09/11/2013

Gravity; Stanley Spencer; nut; Rustication

BBC Radio 4 - Saturday Review, Gravity; Stanley Spencer; nut; Rustication

Bullock and Clooney in outer space in new film Gravity; the paintings of Stanley Spencer.

Bullock and Clooney in outer space in new film Gravity, Stanley Spencer's Sandham Memorial paintings, and new book Rustication are all reviewed by Tom Sutcliffe and his guests.

Life in space is impossible, Gravity is a film about surviving out there. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney play astronauts working on a space shuttle when their lives are threatened by space shrapnel - a disintegrating satellite sends million of pieces of potentially murderous debris hurtling at them. Directed by Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, it cost $100m to make and has taken more than $400m at the box office already, but will our reviewers be impressed by the scale of its reach and its success?

Rustication is the first novel in 14 years from the highly-acclaimed writer Charles Palliser. It's a mystery story set in 1864 in a rural village where someone is sending anonymous threatening letters and immolating livestock. The protagonist is a 17 year old opium addict who has tricky relationships with just about everybody, including his own family, but how much can we trust his version of events

Young black British playwright debbie tucker green's latest work - nut - looks at mental health issues. Opening with two friends planning their own funeral orations and wondering which of them will die first and how, it's full of honest language, frank portrayals of long-established relationships and sadness. Does the joyful use of language make for a joyful play?

Between 1927 and 1932, Stanley Spencer was commissioned to paint a series of canvases showing his experience of the first world war to be displayed in a specially constructed chapel in Berkshire. Because of reconstruction work being undertaken on the chapel's fabric, 16 of the paintings are on display outside their original setting (for only the second time in nearly 80 years). Can the non-consecrated context of Somerset House in London do them justice?

Yonderland is the new comedy TV series from the team behind Horrible Histories. Humans and puppets work together to create a fairytale fantasy set in a magical kingdom far far away. With puppets created by Henson alumni, it certainly has a fine pedigree, but will it live happily ever after?

Producer: Oliver Jones.

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Gravity; Stanley Spencer; nut; Rustication

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