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

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

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

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Kirsty Lang

Viv Groskop

Karl Jenkins

Alan Smith

Alex Hassell

Jonathan Buckley

Olivia Skinner

Front Row: Downton Abbey, Karl Jenkins, The armoury at the RSC

Downton Abbey, Karl Jenkins, The Armoury at the RSC

18/09/2015

Downton Abbey, Karl Jenkins, The armoury at the RSC

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Downton Abbey, Karl Jenkins, The armoury at the RSC

The end of Downton Abbey, musician and composer Karl Jenkins, armour on stage at the RSC.

Kirsty Lang with a review of the final series of Downton Abbey, musician Karl Jenkins, armour on stage at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Short Story Awards.

The sixth and final series of the award winning TV drama Downton Abbey returns to our screens this weekend. Viv Groskop reviews the new series and asks why Julian Fellowes's drama has had such broad appeal in the UK and abroad. 

Composer and musician Karl Jenkins discusses his journey from a modest upbringing in Penclawdd, Wales to becoming one of the world's most performed living composers. He explains his thoughts on creative inspiration and how composing music for an advert gave rise to his trademark sound.

As Henry V opens at the RSC in Stratford, Kirsty Lang meets one of the most skilled costume makers in the world. The Head of Armoury Alan Smith, who makes and fits the stage armour, discusses his craft and Alex Hassell, who plays King Henry, explains how armour helps him get into character. 

In the first of our interviews with the authors shortlisted for this year's BBC National Short Story Award we hear from Jonathan Buckley. His story Briar Road impressed the judges with its gradual reveal, as a medium visits the home of a family whose daughter is missing. 

Presenter: Kirsty Lang
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.

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