Front Row Folgen

One of the TV hits of 2023, Ghosts returns for a one-off special on Christmas Day. Festive viewing for many families will also probably include other work by one of its creators, Simon Farnaby, who co-wrote Wonka as well as the Paddington films. Critics Kate Maltby and Boyd Hilton review Donmar Warehouse’s Macbeth starring David Tennant and Cush Jumbo – which includes headphones for the audience. They also give Samira Ahmed their verdict on Next Goal Wins, the film version of the documentary about the true story of the American Samoan football team trying to qualify for the World Cup. And culture journalist Gary Raymond on whether the National Theatre of Wales has a future now it’s lost all of its Arts Council Wales funding.

Acclaimed English folk group The Unthanks are currently touring the UK with what they describe as a winter fantasia - a mix of traditional and newly written songs inspired by winter and Christmas. They join Front Row, as the winter solstice draws near, to discuss and perform some of the songs they've been playing.Screenwriter Lucinda Coxon talks to Nick Ahad about her new film One Life which stars Anthony Hopkins as humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who helped to rescue Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in the months leading up to World War II. How successful has the North East Culture Partnership been so far? 10 years on from its launch and halfway through the 15 year timeline for the partnership's cultural strategy, Front Row hears from former Culture Minister Lord Ed Vaizey, Jane Robinson Co-Chair of the North East Cultural Partnership board, and Keith Merrin, Director of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums,. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu

Adam Driver stars in Michael Mann’s film Ferrari, set in the summer of 1957 as the ex-racer turned entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari pushes his drivers to the limit on a thousand mile race across Italy while his business and marriage are failing. A poet would never publish a first draft. Well, not until Rosanna McGlone interviewed 15 of our finest poets – Don Paterson, Gillian Clarke and Pascale Petit among them. They revealed their first drafts alongside their finished poems in her book The Process of Poetry. Tom Sutcliffe talks to her and to Don Paterson about writing poetry. As radio drama turns 100 this year, Bill Nighy is stars in A Single Act, a new radio drama going out on Boxing Day written by long term collaborator AL Kennedy. They both talk to Tom Sutcliffe about their mutual love of the form – and whether the pictures really are better on radio.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters