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Front Row: Morecambe and Wise, Kate Tempest, Poets' Corner, the return of Blofeld

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22/11/2013

Morecambe and Wise, Kate Tempest, Poets' Corner, the return of Blofeld

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Morecambe and Wise, Kate Tempest, Poets' Corner, the return of Blofeld

Arts news with Kirsty Lang, including Morecambe and Wise remembered.

Arts news with Kirsty Lang. Morecambe and Wise remembered, performance poet and rapper Kate Tempest, the CS Lewis memorial in Poets' Corner, and the return of Blofeld.

With Kirsty Lang.

Morecambe and Wise are remembered and revived in a new stage production called Eric And Little Ern, which follows on from a TV biopic of the double-act, a one-man show about Eric Morecambe, and the award-winning The Play What I Wrote. The writers and stars of this latest homage, Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens, discuss the reasons for the comedians' enduring appeal.

Performance poet and rapper Kate Tempest won this year's Ted Hughes Prize for innovation in poetry for Brand New Ancients, an hour long spoken story depicting the intertwining lives of two families. As she begins a tour which will take the show all over the country, she explains who the Brand New Ancients are and reveals the play that changed her life.

James Bond producers found themselves embroiled in a legal dispute with Kevin McClory - a co-writer of the 1965 film Thunderball - over who invented the cat-stroking supervillain Blofeld. As a result, the character was left on the shelf for 30 years but with news that the relevant rights have been acquired from the McClory estate, it looks like our most famous screen villain could be given a new lease of life. To reflect on the character of Blofeld and why he has become so ubiquitous in popular culture, journalist Stephen Armstrong came to the rescue.

And 50 years after his death, the Chronicles of Narnia writer CS Lewis has been honoured with a memorial stone in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, explains how the selection process works.

Produced by Ella-mai Robey.

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