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

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Samira Ahmed

Alexander McCall Smith

Boyd Hilton

Ryan Gilbey

Naomi Alderman

Stella Feehily

Claire Bartleet

Front Row: Alexander McCall Smith; The Walshes review; Stella Feehily

Alexander McCall Smith; The Walshes review; Stella Feehily

07/03/2014

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Alexander McCall Smith; The Walshes review; Stella Feehily

Arts news with Samira Ahmed. Alexander McCall Smith discusses The Forever Girl.

Arts news with Samira Ahmed. Alexander McCall Smith discusses The Forever Girl; a review of The Walshes, from the creator of Father Ted; and Stella Feehily on This May Hurt a Bit.

With Samira Ahmed

Award winning writer Alexander McCall Smith talks about his latest novel The Forever Girl, which focuses on an expatriate community in the Cayman Islands. Smith talks about writing from a female perspective, Tartan Noir, and why - despite addressing serious issues - his work remains resolutely cheerful.

The Walshes is a new comedy series about a tight-knit family in Dublin - really tight-knit: the Walshes are tripping over each other as the two kids out-grow the family home. The series is co-written by Graham Linehan with the five-strong comedy troupe, Diet Of Worms, who also play the main roles. Boyd Hilton, TV editor of Heat magazine, reviews.

Set in Laos and written and directed by Australian Kim Mordaunt, The Rocket has won acclaim at film festivals. The central character is Ahlo, a young boy whose family believes he brings bad luck. After his family is displaced from their village to make way for a huge dam, Ahlo decides to prove his worth by building a rocket. Ryan Gilbey reviews.

The creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have brought out a computer game. South Park: The Stick Of Truth is an epic quest...to become cool. Armed with weapons of legend, gamers defeat underpant gnomes, hippies and other forms of evil - and earn a place at the side of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. Computer-game author Naomi Alderman reviews.

Playwright Stella Feehily talks about bringing her play about the NHS to the stage. Based in part on Feehily's experiences after her husband, director Max Stafford-Clark, had a stroke, This May Hurt A Bit stars Stephanie Cole (Coronation Street, Waiting For God) as an NHS supporter who becomes ill and finds that all is not necessarily well with the NHS.

Producer Claire Bartleet.

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