Front Row - 03/03/2009

Presented by Mark Lawson. Writer Antonia Quirke gives her verdict on Watchmen, the film based on the iconic 1980s comic book series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Leading tenor Ian Bostridge and pianist Antonio Pappano talk to Mark about their continuing collaboration, how the credit crunch is affecting classical music and why they chose to record the third and last of Schubert's song cycles. Mark talks to Ian Kennedy Martin about his new play, The Berlin Hanover Express, set in the Irish legation in Berlin in 1942, and about the challenges and opportunities of switching to playwriting late in life. Following the news that Liverpool Hope University is to introduce an MA course on the Beatles, Mark consults two experts in all Beatles-related matters - authors and journalists Hunter Davies and Ray Connolly - to ascertain what they think should be on the curriculum.