Saturday Review

BBC Radio 4

Presenter Tom Sutcliffe and guests offer sharp, critical discussion of the week's cultural events

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Society & CultureSociety & Culture

Episodes

The Nest, The Truth, The Bass Rock, Cranach at Compton Verney and Home Entertainment Recommendations
21-03-2020
The Nest, The Truth, The Bass Rock, Cranach at Compton Verney and Home Entertainment Recommendations
The Nest is the new Sunday night drama on BBC1 that raises questions around the ethics of surrogacy as a wealthy couple invite a young woman whose past is not known to them into their lives. The Truth is a French/Japanese production directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2018 for his film Shoplifters. It stars Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche in the story of an ageing actress who publishes her memoirs and is confronted by her daughter. Evie Wyld was named as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists in 2013. Her new novel, The Bass Rock, tells the story of three generations of women whose fates are linked. Two exhibitions at Compton Verney that have sadly had to close because of coronavirus are kept alive by our critics: Cranach: Artist and Innovator and Fabric: Touch and Identity. And we suggest some culture that might already be on your shelves or on a screen near you to enjoy if you're stuck indoors. Tom Sutcliffe's guests this week are Charlotte Mullins, Bob and Roberta Smith and Laurence Scott.Podcast Extra recommendations Bob: Paul Klee, On Modern Art Certain Blacks, album by The Art Ensemble of Chicago The Letters of Van GoghCharlotte: The Gallery of Lost Art - as she explains, what's left of it can be found at galleryoflostart.com and via Tate website The West WingLaurence: Star Trek: the Next Generation, all 7 seasons Tom: Contagion and, as always, Call My AgentPresenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah JohnsonImage: Emily (SOPHIE RUNDLE) in The Nest Credit: Mark Mainz / Studio Lambert / BBC
Mr Jones, Death of England, The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates, British Baroque, This Life
08-02-2020
Mr Jones, Death of England, The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates, British Baroque, This Life
Director Agnieszka Holland assembles a cast including James Norton and Vanessa Kirby to tell the story of Welsh journalist Gareth Jones who in 1933 travelled to Soviet Russia and told the truth about the famine in Ukraine.At the National Theatre, Clint Dyer directs the play he has co-written with Roy Williams, Death of England, starring Rafe Spall as a white working-class man whose father has died and who has to face up to his conflicted feelings about his country and the people who live in it.Ta-Nehisi Coates has earned a great reputation as a writer and thinker on race in America. His first novel, The Water Dancer, is the story of Hiram Walker who becomes involved in a struggle to leave slavery and save those close to him. British Baroque at Tate Britain takes a look at art from the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 until the death of Queen Anne in 1714, highlighting the jostling for power at court and beyond and illustrating the creation of the great buildings of the age.And This Life returns to BBC4, a drama of young people entering the world of work in the law, perhaps best remembered for the simmering sexual tension between Miles and Anna. Will its fans from 1996 stick with it - and can it draw a new audience?Tom Sutcliffe's guests this week are Jen Harvie, Carl Anka and Terence Blacker.Podcast Extra recommendations Carl: YouTube Channel SB Nation and Brian Phillips' obit of Kobe Bryant available here: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/1/30/21114600/kobe-bryant-legacy Jen: film, Parasite on general release; Tate Britain's exhibition Terence: the music of Paolo Conte Tom: Edmund de Waal's book The White Road, and Zadie Smith's essay on Kara Walker in the NY Review of BooksPhoto: James Norton and Vanessa Kirby, (c) Signature Entertainment
David Copperfield, Welkin, Motherwell, Pregnancy exhibition, Windermere Children
28-01-2020
David Copperfield, Welkin, Motherwell, Pregnancy exhibition, Windermere Children
Armando Iannucci has taken on Dickens' David Copperfield with Dev Patel in the lead role A new play by Lucy Kirkwood, Welkin, has opened at London's National Theatre. The Welkin is set in Norfolk in 1759, when a jury of matrons is called to try a female murder suspect who is 'pleading the belly' in order to avoid execution Motherwell is the memoir of journalist, the late Deborah Orr recounting her childhood and growing up in Scotland and trying to break from her family Portraying Pregnancy: From Holbein to Social Media is a new exhibition at London's Foundling Museum which looks at how artists have shown pregnant women over the centuries. Admission fee charged. The Windermere Children on BBC2 is the story of 300 Polish child survivors of concentration camps who were brought to the UK after the war and billetted in The Lake District Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Helen Lewis, Catherine Yass and Mark Billingham The producer is Oliver JonesPodcast Extra recommendations:Catherine: Steve McQueen Year 3 at Tate Britain & A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride & Yinka Shonibare's Farm in Nigeria Mark: Elvis Presley 68 Comeback Special & Long Bright River by Liz Moore Helen: House Of Glass by Hadley Freeman & In The Darkroom by Susan Faludi Tom: Daniel Finkelstein's tweet thread about his mother's escape from Germany & Miss Austen by Gill Hornby & Shook opening at the Trafalgar Studios in April.
Beckett triple bill, Bombshell, Avenue 5, American Dirt, Tullio Crali
18-01-2020
Beckett triple bill, Bombshell, Avenue 5, American Dirt, Tullio Crali
A triple bill of Samuel Beckett plays has just started at London's Jermyn Street Theatre. Directed by Trevor Nunn, it's a chance to see Krapp's Last Tape as well as two lesser-known works - Eh Joe and The Old Tune.https://bit.ly/2Rm8AtG https://bit.ly/2uWA95b Bombshell has been Oscar nominated. It's the story of Roger Ailes' reign at Fox News and the sexual harrasment cases that were brought against him. It stars Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie Armando Iannucci has a new comedy TV series on HBO. Avenue 5 is set onboard a luxurious interplanetary cruiseship when things start to malfunction. American Dirt is a new novel from Jeanine Cummins which follows a Mexican woman and her young son who have to flee to El Norte to escape drug cartel violence. They have become migrants Tullio Crali was an Italian futurist painter who has an exhibition at London's Estorick Collection. He was a fervent futurist and you can see his paintings and sassintessi - compositions of stones and natural found objectsTom Sutcliffe's guests are Rosie Boycott, Ekow Eshun and Amanda Craig. The producer is Oliver JonesPodcast Extra recommendations Amanda: Kara Walker at Tate Modern and The Gulbenkian in Lisbon Rosie: Garden Museum at Newt Hotel in Somerset Ekow: Atlantiques on Netflix Tom: The Kinks' Days on Radio 4's Soul Music and Lucy Hughes-Hallett's The Pike Main image: Detail taken from Tricolour Wings, 1932 by Tullio Crali
1917, London International Mime Festival, King Gary, Ismail Kadare, Saad Qureshi,
11-01-2020
1917, London International Mime Festival, King Gary, Ismail Kadare, Saad Qureshi,
Sam Mendes' film 1917 is set during the First World War and based on his Grandfather's experiences during the conflict. It's already won a Golden Globe and is touted for more awards glory. What do our reviewers make of it? This Time is a show by the group Ockham's Razor and part of The London International Mime Festival 2020. It tells an inter-generational story through circus skills with a 4 person troupe whose member range from 13 to 60 Albanian author Ismail Kadare was the inaugural winner of the Man Booker International Prize and his latest novel to be translated into English is The Doll, It's the story of his mother and her difficulties when she married his father British artist Saad Qureshi has an exhibition at The Chapel at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Something About Paradise considers the widely differing ideas of what paradise might look like BBC1 has a new sitcom,King Gary, co-written by and starring Tom Davis as Gary King a builder and building entrepreneur. It was launched with a pilot episode last year and is now a six part series. Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Sarah Crompton, Rajan Datar and Lynn Nead. The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast Extra recommendations:Sarah: Bombshell, Little Women and Top Hat Lynn: Musicals at the BFI and her son's vegan Christmas cake Rajan: Death Of A Salesman with Wendell Pearce, and In The Viper's Shadow by Prince Fatty and Play Well at the Wellcome Collection Tom: Guys and DollsPhoto by Nik Mackey
Little Women, War Of The Worlds Immersive Experience, Untitled Goose Game, Graphic novels, podcasts
04-01-2020
Little Women, War Of The Worlds Immersive Experience, Untitled Goose Game, Graphic novels, podcasts
There's a new all-star Little Women on the big screen. The cast includes Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emily Watson, Laura Dern, Timothee Chalamet and Meryl Streep. Louisa May Alcott's novel has been a popular text for film makers since the first silent version in 1912 - is there anything new which director Greta Gerwig can bring to this version? HG Wells' novel The War Of The Worlds is probably best known to many people as the Jeff Wayne musical version, it's the UK's 32nd best-selling studio album of all time. It's been a touring show, made into a video game and now it's become an immersive theatrical experience,complete with AI headsets. Untitled Goose Game is an award-winning game in which the player is a goose who wanders around irritating characters by honking and flapping at them. We look at a couple of graphic novels: Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me and November. Four hundred years ago, in August 1619, a ship carrying more than 20 enslaved Africans arrived in America. A podcast series “1619,” from The New York Times, hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones, examines the long shadow of that fateful moment. You're Dead To Me is a BBC podcast series which describes itself as "a history podcast for people who don't like history". Presented by Greg Jenner, it looks at a variety of subjects from a lighthearted perspectiveJordan Erica Webber's guests are Arifa Akbar, Naima Khan and Carl Anka. The producer is Oliver Jones.Podcast Extra Recommendations: Naima - Christina Craig; Mint Tea and Other Stories Carl - Super Eyepatch Wolf Arifa - Death Of England at The National Theatre Jordan Spinning by Tilley Walden
Cats, Susan Hill's Ghost Story, Martin's Close, Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck, Gypsy
21-12-2019
Cats, Susan Hill's Ghost Story, Martin's Close, Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck, Gypsy
The much-anticipated film of Cats with its stellar and fur-enhanced cast including Judi Dench and Taylor Swift finally reaches the big screen. Catnip or catastrophe?Spooky offerings in the Christmas TV schedule this year include Martin's Close by Mark Gatiss on BBC 4 and Susan Hill's Ghost Story on Channel 5. How shiver-inducing are they?Nora Ephron's collection of essays on ageing and much else - I Feel Bad About My Neck - is being reissued with a new introduction by Dolly Alderton. It's a book that Alderton recommends giving as a present so Saturday Review suggests some other enduring literary choices that work as gifts.And Gypsy starring Ria Jones is on at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in a new production directed by Jo Davies. Do its songs keep our critics smiling in an age of different sexual politics? Rowan Pelling, Linda Grant and Kerry Shale join Tom Sutcliffe. The books recommended as gifts are: The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden Karoo by Steve Tesich The Prince of West End Avenue by Alan Isler Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote Love Lessons by Joan Wyndham The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson This is Pleasure by Mary Gaitskill Haunts of the Black Masseur by Charles Sprawson The Compleet Molesworth by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald SearleThis week's podcast choices are: Linda: podcast and Radio 4 programme Fake Heiress Kerry: album If You're Going to the City, a tribute to Mose Allison Rowan: TV series The Young Offenders, BBC3 Tom: TV series Watchmen, HBO
The Nightingale, My Brilliant Friend, Lee Child, Troy: myth and reality, Upright
30-11-2019
The Nightingale, My Brilliant Friend, Lee Child, Troy: myth and reality, Upright
The Nightingale is a film set in Tasmania in the brutal days of convict settlers and soldiers. A young wife faces violence as she tries to track down a man who has violated her family The National Theatre's adaptation of Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend condenses the four wildly-successful novels into 2 three-hour plays at The Olivier. The creator of Jack Reacher - Lee Child- has written a short book about The Hero. It's the first of two publications in the new Times Literary Supplement imprint - the other reproduces Virginia Woolf's reviews from the TLS. Troy: myth and reality is the latest big exhibition at London's British Museum. trying to work out where legends end history begins in these classical tales Tim Minchin co-wrote and stars in a new roadtrip-based TV comedy series Upright which has just begun on Sky TV. In it he has to transport an old piano across Australia, accompanied by a sassy grumpy young female companion. Is it funny? Is it worth watching? Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Deborah Moggach, Tom Shakespeare and Briony Hanson. The producer is Oliver Jones.Podcast extra recommendations: Tom Sh: Independence Square by AD Miller Deborah: Netherlandish Proverbs explained video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tboRw6CPXjI Briony: Hanna Gadsby's Douglas (and Nanette) Tom S: The End of the F***ing World on All 4 and Les Indes Galantes https://youtu.be/Q4jy2wrjESQ and Jo Jo Rabbit film
The Gangster The Cop The Devil, Touching the Void, Romesh Gunesekera, Gold Digger, George IV : Art and Spectacle
16-11-2019
The Gangster The Cop The Devil, Touching the Void, Romesh Gunesekera, Gold Digger, George IV : Art and Spectacle
The Gangster The Cop The Devil is an award-winning Korean action thriller about an unlikely alliance between a maverick police detective and a ruthless mobster who have to work together to catch a serial killer Touching the Void began life as a book by Joe Simpson, about a climbing accident which nearly killed him. It has since been turned into a film and now a stage play. How can you show vertiginous dangers and a lot of internal thought processes in the theatre? Sri Lankan writer Romesh Gunesekera was born in Ceylon - as it was known then - and his coming of age novel "Suncatcher" is set in his native country in 1964, as the struggle for independence began. Gold Digger is a Sunday night series just started on BBC1. When their 60 year old mum meets and moves in with a much younger man, Julia's children decide they don't like it and start to try and drive them apart George IV : Art and Spectacle has just opened at The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace. He was arguably the most magnificent of British monarchs and formed an unrivalled collection of art, much of which remains in the Royal Collection Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Charlotte Mullins, Lynn Shepherd and Jim White. The producer is Oliver JonesPodcast Extra recommendations: Lynn - Leonardo Da Vinci at London's National Gallery Charlotte - Kathe Kollwitz at British Museum and Elizabeth Peyton at London's National Portrait Gallery Jim - Bruce Springsteen, Western Stars Tom - Giri Haji on BBC2Rembrandt van Rijn, The Shipbuilder and his Wife: Jan Rijcksen and his Wife, Griet Jans, 1633 Image credit: Royal Collection Trust / (c) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019