Advertise on podcast: Front Row: Archive 2012

Following the announcement of the death of the musician Charlie Watts, tonight’s Front Row is an archive edition featuring John Wilson in conversation with the band he was a member of - The Rolling Stones. The programme was recorded in 2012 to mark 50 years since the band’s first performance. In it, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood reflect on life in the Rolling Stones as they prepare to return to the stage.

With John Wilson. In a rare extended interview, the Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young discusses his latest disc, a selection of traditional songs, recorded with the uninhibited rock band Crazy Horse. The album includes a version of God Save The Queen, the anthem Young recalls singing as a schoolboy in Canada. Young, who topped the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic 40 years ago with his LP Harvest, also reflects on the role of the protest song in the age of the TV talent show, and considers his own instinctive approach to music-making, and his reluctance to become a crowd-pleaser. Producer John Goudie.

Mark Lawson turns quizmaster to test the cultural knowledge of two teams in the Front Row Quiz of the Year. Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and film-maker Asif Kapadia join team captain Natalie Haynes to compete against actress Maureen Lipman and singer Rumer, under the captaincy of crime writer Mark Billingham. Questions cover a wide range of the year's events, and there's a teasing round of Nordic TV crime drama clips - in their original languages. Producer Claire Bartleet.

With Mark Lawson. Damian Lewis, Hugh Laurie, Thandie Newton, Adrian Lester, Clive Owen and Ashley Jensen are among the actors who discuss the highs and lows of working as British performers in America. Many high profile American TV shows and films are casting British actors in key roles. The success of programmes such as Homeland and House are testament to the strong parts tempting British actors across the pond. Director Stephen Frears explains his theory that there is a crisis in American acting, prompting producers and directors to seek talent on this side of the Atlantic. Hugh Laurie and Damian Lewis reflect on the pros and cons of the long contracts and extended seasons on prime time US TV shows and Adrian Lester and Thandie Newton explore the reasons behind the success of many black British actors in America. Producer Ellie Bury.

Kirsty Lang turns the spotlight on the backstage stars, some of the key individuals behind-the-scenes who play a key role in big events and major TV shows. The band from Strictly Come Dancing lurk at the back of the stage in the shadows as the brightly-lit action takes place on the dance floor in front of them. Band leader Dave Arch, bass player Trevor Barry and singers Haley Sanderson and Lance Ellington give us an insight into the view from the back, and what they can do when things don't quite go according to plan. Costume designer Caroline McCall is in charge of creating, sourcing, designing and hiring the wide selection of period dress for Julian Fellowes' ITV1 hit drama series Downton Abbey. She takes Kirsty round her main costume suppliers who provided the extensive high-end wardrobe for Shirley MacLaine in Series 3, and describes what it's like to see the script for the first time and find there's a big wedding, a jazz party and a trip to London, and filming starts in two weeks. And Patrick Woodroffe, lighting designer of choice for the Rolling Stones since 1982, has had a busy year lighting the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert outside Buckingham Palace, the Stones' 50th anniversary tour, and not least the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics and Paralympics. He discusses the pleasures of creating a new show from scratch and the challenges that faced him when Danny Boyle described his vision for his opening ceremony - and why the big orange Olympic rings so nearly didn't light up. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

John Wilson talks to musicians including Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Paul McCartney, Emeli Sandé, Jonny Greenwood and Pete Townshend about their first musical influences. Neil Young reveals why he recently recorded a version of God Save The Queen, the anthem he sang regularly during his Canadian childhood. Paul McCartney discusses how songs by the great American tunesmiths of the 1930s, which he heard in his childhood home, influenced his own approach to writing. Pete Townshend contrasts his love of abrasive rock and roll with the music performed by his father, who played the saxophone in a dance band. Soul singer Bobby Womack remembers how he also rebelled against his father, who wanted his sons to perform only gospel music, rather than anything more secular. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards reflect on their early shared love of raw American blues records. And Neil Diamond, Emeli Sandé and Jonny Greenwood, from the band Radiohead, recall the early musical encounters which shaped their subsequent careers. Producer John Goudie.

With Mark Lawson. Jack Whitehall, Greg Davies, Niamh Cusack and Frances de la Tour are among the performers and artists who share memories and reflections on working with close members of their families. Christmas is the time when people are most likely to spend time with their closest relatives. But for some in showbusiness the holidays are not a rare family reunion but a continuation of a professional relationship or, for writers and comedians, an encounter with the relatives who have been the source of their best material. Comedians Greg Davies, Jack Whitehall and Sarah Millican regularly exploit cringeworthy family moments in the service of comedy. They describe how it feels to perform the material with the family members in question in the audience. Actress Niamh Cusack reflects on the experience of appearing in Chekhov's Three Sisters with two of her sisters and her father, and Andy and Frances de la Tour discuss working together in Alan Bennett's People, and why they are banned from laughing while watching each other perform. Singer Donny Osmond reveals why he and sister Marie's chemistry on stage does not necessarily reflect the reality off-stage and the conductor Alan Gilbert explains why having his violinist mother in the orchestra prevents the other musicians from indulging in a much-loved pleasure. Producer Ellie Bury.

Mark Lawson unwraps interviews with arts headline makers of 2012, in the second of two programmes. Writer E L James reflects on a year in which she became a global publishing phenomenon, with her best-selling trilogy which began with Fifty Shades of Grey. Mark looks back at the Olympic Opening Ceremony, with director Danny Boyle and designer Thomas Heatherwick, who created the highly original cauldron for the Olympic flame. Singer Emeli Sandé remembers how nervous she felt moments before performing at the Opening Ceremony, and discusses a year in which she has become one of the UK's most high-profile musicians. Broadcaster and writer Clare Balding considers her role as a presenter at the Olympic and Paralympic games, and reveals how she allowed her mother three chances to veto content in her best-selling memoir, published this year. Writer Lolita Chakrabarti and actor Adrian Lester talk about their collaboration on the acclaimed play Red Velvet, based on the life of Ira Aldridge, an African-American actor whose arrival on the 19th century London stage provoked debate and dissent. Producer Ella-mai Robey.

Mark Lawson unwraps new interviews with arts headline makers of the year, in the first of two special programmes. In the wake of the record-breaking success of the James Bond film Skyfall, Judi Dench reflects on her role as M, and director Sam Mendes discusses the pressures of working on such a high-profile movie - and whether he knew about Bond's secret role in the Olympic opening ceremony. Hilary Mantel remembers the night when she won the Man Booker Prize for the second time - the only woman to do so - and Sheridan Smith looks back on a year in which her roles have ranged from Hedda Gabler on stage to the wife of train robber Ronnie Biggs on TV. Dramatist James Graham won acclaim for This House, his play about the struggles of the Labour government between 1974 and 1979. He reveals how he has seen many key politicians of the period in the audience, comparing his version of events with their own memories. Rebecca Front, winner of a British Comedy Award for her role in the political TV comedy The Thick Of It, considers how the latest series regularly seemed to predict the news headlines, and members of the Mercury Prize-winning band alt-J talk about their approach to rehearsals, with strict rules about attendance and mobile phone use. Producer Ella-mai Robey.

With Kirsty Lang. A new film The Impossible, starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, focuses on the powerful tsunami which occurred in the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004, and killed over 280,000 people. The film shows how events affected one family on a Christmas holiday in Thailand. Novelist Kamila Shamsie reviews. Ed Vaizey, the Minister for Culture, and Tom Morris, Artistic Director at Bristol's Old Vic Theatre, discuss the future of arts funding. Leading figures in the arts, including Sir Nicholas Hytner and Danny Boyle have expressed concerns about how government funding cuts could affect regional theatre. Following the news that Arts Council England will have its funding cut by a further £11.6m before 2015, Ed Vaizey outlines his thoughts on the future of UK arts organisations. Comedian Simon Amstell's stand-up show, Numb, is on TV on New Year's Eve. The former host of Never Mind The Buzzcocks, who also wrote and starred in the autobiographical TV comedy, Grandma's House, reveals how creating Numb from his own insecurities, led him to a happier place - helped by a pungent potion in Peru. With Christmas on the horizon, Front Row takes a look at the wealth of festive television programmes. Time Out's TV Editor Gabriel Tate, discusses a selection of the drama, factual and children's programmes on offer, and recommends some must-see shows. Producer Rebecca Nicholson.

With Kirsty Lang. Barry Norman reviews Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut, Quartet. The film is set in a home for retired opera singers and features Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly and Michael Gambon among the all-star cast. Katy Carr is a singer, songwriter and aviator. She's half Polish and her album, Paszport, focuses on Polish stories from World War II, including a veteran who escaped from Auschwitz. She reflects on how she turns personal histories into songs. The release of new DVDs by leading stand-up comedians has become a Christmas tradition. Stephen Armstrong offers his guide to the best of this year's stocking-fillers. Many of today's newspapers feature a photograph of the Queen and the Cabinet, with the monarch flanked by politicians who are laughing, looking away or unprepared. Jeremy Selwyn, the photographer who took the memorable shot, discusses the art of the group photo. According to a Mayan prophecy, the world will end on 21 December. Making good use of the remaining time, David Quantick has pulled together a selection of music for an apocalypse. Producer Olivia Skinner.

With Mark Lawson Salman Rushdie has written his first ever screenplay, an adaptation of his own Booker Prize-winning novel Midnight's Children. He reflects on condensing the family saga which follows India from Colonialism to Partition, about filming in Sri Lanka, and about the experience of writing his memoir, Joseph Anton. Victoria Wood discusses her TV drama Loving Miss Hatto, in which Francesca Annis and Alfred Molina play real-life concert pianist Joyce Hatto, who died in 2006, and her husband Barrington Coupe. He caused a storm when he hoodwinked the classical music world by releasing recordings by other pianists under his wife's name. It's time for Front Row's Christmas Jukebox: music writers David Hepworth and Rosie Swash join Mark for their annual assessment of the merits of a host of Christmas singles. Producer Claire Bartleet.