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Episode details

Radio 4,11 Dec 2017,30 mins

The Bette Davis/Joan Crawford Feud, The Twilight Zone, A Snow Poem

Front Row

Available for over a year

An eight-part series about the legendary rivalry between Hollywood icons Bette Davis and Joan Crawford comes to BBC2 this Christmas. Matthew Sweet reviews. What makes going to the theatre or cinema a pleasurable experience and what -such as long loo queues, smelly snacks and mobile phones - can ruin a night out. Matthew Sweet stays on to discuss this with journalist Rosamund Urwin. 'Snow was general all over Ireland' wrote James Joyce, memorably, in Dubliners. Snow has been a great inspiration to writers and poets. In America Emily Dickinson, Wallace Stevens and Robert Frost have all written beautiful snow poems. But snow is nothing unusual there. Poets here are inspired by snow partly because it comes unexpectedly. There is always an element of surprise and wonder. Gillian Clarke reads her poem Snow, from her collection, Ice. Anne Washburn thinks that almost every American aged over 30 has seen the sci-fi series The Twilight Zone. The playwright tells Kirsty Lang about bringing this television classic to the English stage. The television presenter Keith Chegwin's death was announced today. There will be many tributes to Cheggers, Front Row celebrates his foray into high culture, linking his name forever with Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Roman Polanski and an obscure ensemble called The Third Ear Band. In 1971 Chegwin played Fleance in Polanski's wonderful film of Macbeth and he sang part of the Rondel of Merciless Beauty by Chaucer - an unexpected contrast to Cheggers Plays Pop. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May.

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