Babylon; The Mistress Contract

Front Row: Archive 2014

With Kirsty Lang.

Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, writers of the comedy series Peep Show and Fresh Meat, discuss their new TV drama, Babylon, in which they've joined forces with Danny Boyle. It focuses on the people and politics of the Metropolitan Police - both in the command rooms and on the streets - as they struggle to keep law and order under the constant scrutiny of social media.

The Mistress Contract, a book written by an anonymous couple, has been adapted for the stage by Abi Morgan. Morgan, who is best known for her screenplay for the Thatcher biopic, The Iron Lady, documents the couple's relationship over the decades after they agreed to sign a "mistress contract." Sarah Dunant reviews.

English National Opera is the latest opera company to start screening their productions live into cinemas around the country and worldwide. ENO's Artistic Director, John Berry, and Kasper Holten, Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House, talk about the creative challenges of making an opera production that can simultaneously fill an opera house and a cinema screen.

The Night Guest is the first novel by Australian writer Fiona McFarlane. Ruth, an elderly widow, lives in a secluded house on the coast of New South Wales when she receives an unexpected visit from a woman who says she has been sent by the government to help out. Fiona McFarlane discusses the themes of confusion and mental disintegration that lie at the heart of the book.

Producer: Rebecca Nicholson.