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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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John Wilson

Stephen Frears

Ali Fazal

Kathryn Hughes

Andrew Hunter Murray

Jeff Pope

Rebecca Armstrong

Front Row: Stephen Frears and Ali Fazal, Pears' Cyclopaedia final edition, Jeff Pope on Cilla

Stephen Frears and Ali Fazal; Pears' Cyclopedia final edition; Jeff Pope on Cilla

11/09/2017

Stephen Frears and Ali Fazal, Pears' Cyclopaedia final edition, Jeff Pope on Cilla

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Stephen Frears and Ali Fazal, Pears' Cyclopaedia final edition, Jeff Pope on Cilla

Victoria and Abdul, the last edition of Pears' Cyclopaedia, and Cilla The Musical.

Stephen Frears and Ali Fazal discuss Victoria and Abdul. Plus, the final edition of Pears' Cyclopaedia is released. And Jeff Pope on Cilla The Musical.

This week sees Judi Dench reprise the role of Queen Victoria, in Victoria and Abdul a film about the friendship between the queen and a young Indian clerk. John talks to director Stephen Frears and the actor Ali Fazal, who plays Abdul, about making the film which comically takes on a the unlikely and forgotten friendship. 

Pears' Cyclopaedia has announced that the recently published 126th edition will be its last. With the Encyclopaedia Britannica heading online in recent years, as well as the explosion in popularity of sites such as Wikipedia, the way we access knowledge is changing. What does this mean for the future of reference books? And what has their significance been over the years? Historian Kathryn Hughes and QI researcher Andrew Hunter Murray discuss.

John speaks to BAFTA award winner Jeff Pope (The Moorside, Philomena, Mrs Biggs) about turning his TV drama of Cilla Black's life into a new stage musical. By the age of just 25 Priscilla White was recognised as international singing star Cilla Black and by the age of 30 she had become Britain's favourite television entertainer. Jeff explains why he wanted to focus on Cilla's early years and tell the story of her rise to fame. 

Presenter: John Wilson 
Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

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