Main content

Peter Jackson; Philip Pullman on William Blake; Memoirs of the Year

Peter Jackson on his final instalment of The Hobbit, Philip Pullman on William Blake at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, Kathryn Hughes picks her biographies and memoirs of the year.

Director Peter Jackson and co-writer Philippa Boyens talk to John Wilson about their final instalment of The Hobbit film franchise; the author Philip Pullman reflects on one of his heroes, William Blake, as a new exhibition at the Ashmolean in Oxford explores his formation as an engraver; and historian Kathryn Hughes makes her selection of biographies and memoirs of the year.

Download

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Wed 3 Dec 201419:15
BBC Radio 4

More episodes

Previous

Sondheim's Assassins, Albums of the year, Jeremy Deller, Royal Photographic Society

Next

Harrison Birtwistle; The Grandmaster; Christmas boxset recommendations; Wonder Woman's historical significance

See all episodes from Front Row

Clip

Chapters

  • Peter Jackson

    Duration: 10:14

  • William Blake exhibition

    Duration: 07:37

  • The Factory theatre & arts venue

    Duration: 04:29

  • Christmas Wish List: Biographies and Memoirs

    Duration: 05:33

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, directed by Peter Jackson, is released in UK cinemas on 12 December, certificate 12A.

William Blake: Apprentice and Master

William Blake: Apprentice and Master
The exhibition William Blake: Apprentice and Master opens at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford on 4 December and runs until 1 March 2015.

Image: William Blake, Nebuchadnezzar, c. 1795–1805. © Tate, London.

Christmas Wish List: Biographies and Memoirs

Kathryn Hughes chooses the following books for Front Row's Christmas Wish List:

  • Common People: The History of an English Family, by Alison Light 
  • H is for Hawk, by Helen MacDonald
  • John Wayne: the Life and Legend, by Scott Eyman
  • An Encyclopaedia of Myself, by Jonathan Meades
  • Those Wild Wyndhams, by Claudia Renton

Credits

PresenterJohn Wilson
Interviewed GuestPeter Jackson
Interviewed GuestPhilippa Boyens
Interviewed GuestPhilip Pullman
Interviewed GuestKathryn Hughes
ProducerJerome Weatherald

Broadcast

  • Wed 3 Dec 201419:15
    BBC Radio 4

Featured in...

BBC Arts Digital

BBC Arts Digital

The best of British culture live and on demand.

Inspire

Inspire

A season discovering where artists find inspiration and helping listeners get creative.

Podcast

  • Front Row

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

Gallery