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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

Tim Collins

John Simenon

Natasha Cooper

David Benedict

Gregory Lee

Frances Hardinge

Angie Nehring

Front Row: A War, Maigret, Guys and Dolls, Frances Hardinge, The missing Hong Kong booksellers

A War, Maigret, Guys and Dolls, Frances Hardinge, The missing Hong Kong booksellers

07/01/2016

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, A War, Maigret, Guys and Dolls, Frances Hardinge, The missing Hong Kong booksellers

Tim Collins reviews Danish film A War, and Natasha Cooper on the return of Maigret.

Tim Collins reviews Danish film A War, Guys and Dolls reviewed, crime writer Natasha Cooper on the return of Maigret and Costa Children's Book Award winner Frances Hardinge.

Colonel Tim Collins reviews the new Danish feature film A War which offers a foot soldiers' view of life on the frontline. Set in the recent military conflict in Afghanistan, the company commander makes a decision that has grave consequences for him and his family back home. Tobias Lindholm's film is Denmark's entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category at this year's Oscars.

2016 sees the return of Inspector Maigret, both on screen and in print. John Simenon, son of Maigret's creator Georges Simenon, and crime writer Natasha Cooper discuss the French detective's enduring appeal.

It's the musical that brought us Luck Be A Lady and Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat. David Benedict reviews Guys and Dolls, starring Sophie Thompson and David Haig, as the acclaimed Chichester Festival production opens in the West End before embarking on a UK tour.

In Hong Kong the whereabouts of five missing booksellers remains a mystery, although they are widely suspected to have been detained by the Chinese authorities. As one major bookshop chain stops selling politically sensitive books in Chinese, Professor Gregory Lee, a specialist in Chinese cultural and literary studies, assesses the implications.

Frances Hardinge, winner of the Costa Children's Book Award with The Lie Tree, discusses her tale of murder and deception set in Victorian England.

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