Saturday Review

A new film telling the story of Mary Queen of Scots and her relationship with Elizabeth I, stars Saiorse Ronan and Margot Robbie as the 2 queens Approaching Empty is a new play by Ishy Din just opened at The Kiln Theatre in London. Set in a run-down minicab office in the north of England, it deals with how far you can trust your oldest friends Prix Goncourt-winning Leila Slimani's latest novel Adele is about a woman who - bored with her apparently idyllic married life - decides to plunge into a world of illegal drugs, anonymous rampant sex, excessive alcohol and she has to lie to her disabled husband. Fausto Melotti was an Italian Futurist sculptor. Revered in Italy, he is less known beyond its borders but an exhibition at The Estorick Collection hopes to increase awareness of his harmonious and delicately-poised work Ride Upon The Storm is part of Channel 4's Walter Presents strand of international dramas. A Danish series by BAFTA award winning writer Adam Price, who previously created Borgen. Starring Lars Mikkelsen, it's about a family of priests with an ungodly father and all-too-human sons Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Luke Jennings, Deborah Bull and Patrice Lawrence. The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast Extra recommendations Luke: Mr Robot TV series Patrice: audiobook of The Rivers of London, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith Deborah: Until The Lions by Akram Khan Tom: the book A Long Way To Shilo by Lionel Davidson and the film Free Solo

The staging of all Harold Pinter's one act plays at The Pinter Theatre in London continues - We've been to see Party Time and Celebration Stan and Ollie is a film that examines the relationship between the two film comedy pioneers Laurel and Hardy as they toured the UK in their twilight years. Starring Steve Coogan and John C Reilly it deals with their occasional disputes and deep love and respect for each other Eric Vuillard's novel The Order Of The Day won 2017's Prix Goncourt. It's about Hitler's annexation of the Sudetenland, imagining the processes and machinations that made it possible and not quite the triumph it was portrayed The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has an exhibition of "Whistler and Nature". exploring how J.M. Whistler's relationship towards the natural world evolved throughout his life Guitar Drum and Bass is a new series on BBC4, exploring the role that these instruments have played in the development of popular music - what makes a great drummer/bassist/guitarist? Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Mark Billingham, Alice Jones and Susannah Clapp. The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast extra Alice recommends Daniel Kitson at Battersea Arts Centre Mark recommends the Twitter poetry exchange between Richard Osman and Piers Morgan. Also the reissue of The Beatles' White Album, Willie Vlautin Susannah recommends Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies Tom recommends the podcast Broken Hearts

Is 2019 the year to try something new? In this alternative edition of Saturday Review presented by Jordan Erica Webber, the panel review a fashion exhibition, a horror podcast, a murder mystery video game, two coming of age graphic novels and try to get out of a World War Two themed escape room. The Return of the Obra Dinn, a video game set in the 1807 in which you take on the role of an insurance adjuster, tasked with investigating a ship that has drifted into harbour after five years lost at sea, and determining the fates of the 60 people aboard. Fashioned from Nature, an exhibition in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum looking at the natural origins to the clothes we wear as well as the fashion industry’s toll on nature. The Horror of Dolores Roach, is a gory podcast drama which updates Sweeney Todd into a contemporary gentrified New York neighbourhood, starring Daphne Rubin-Vega and Bobby Cannavale. Two coming of age graphic novels, Grafity’s Wall by Ram V and My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies from Ed Brubaker. The former is about four young people living in Mumbai, the latter is a pulp-fiction tale about a American teenage girl in a rehabilitation centre. Plus the panel visit an escape room, a physical game which asks players to solves puzzle in order to win their escape from a room within a set time. The Adventure Begins in London, is themed around a World War Two prisoner of war camp, will our panelist make it out in time? Jordan’s guests are Shahidha Bari, Amber Butchart, and Rajan Data. Produced by Kate Bullivant.

Find out what Saturday Review listeners chose as their cultural highlights of 2018. We'll discuss all the regular genres: films, theatre, exhibitions, books and television. And lots of items which we didn't get a chance to review from the past 12 months. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Tiffany Jenkins and Ekow Eshun and lots of listeners on the phone from around the country, who tell us what particularly impressed them last year. The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast extra recommendations: Ekow: Strange days exhibition Tiffany: pre-sale auction houses Tom; Bill Viola

Mary Poppins returns to the silver screen with Emily Blunt in the title role and Lin-Manuel Miranda as Jack the lamplighter. It's a sequel not a remake with all new songs very much in the style of The Sherman Brothers' originals. Is it unfair to compare it with the much-loved Disney original? or is it impossible not to? The screenwriter of Black Panther, Danai Gurira's play The Convert at London's Young Vic stars Letitia Wright and Paapa Essiedu. Set in late 19th century Africa, a young woman is working for a devout Catholic priest who wants to spiritually mould her. John Lanchester's novel The Wall is about why the young are correct to distrust the old Dead Poets Live is about putting poetry on the stage, drawing together the most exciting performers to bring our greatest poets to new audiences, creating theatre out of poems and poets BBC1 has some BIG Christmas drama offerings. And it includes a 3 part adaptation of Andrea Levy's award-winning novel The Long Song, set in Jamaica during the final years of slavery and the transition to freedom. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Andrew O'Hagan, Rowan Pelling and Stephanie Merritt. The producer is Oliver Jones. Main image: Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns. Credit: Disney Pictures. Podcast Extra Andrew recommends The Life of Saul Bellow, Vol II - Love and Strife, 1965-2005 by Zachary Leader. Rowan recommends Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake. Stephanie recommends The Affair, ITV. Tom recommends James Joyce's Letters to Nora.