Front Row - 19/02/2009

Presented by Mark Lawson. Lenny Henry has been a star of British comedy for many years but how does he handle one of the great Shakespearean tragic roles, Othello? Writer Jackie Kay was at the press night and shares her thoughts with Mark. The poet Peter Porter celebrated his 80th birthday this week. He joins Mark to discuss his new collection, Better Than God, and to reflect on his long career and his enduring love for the poetic form. Rank: Picturing The Social Order 1516 - 2009 is a new exhibition in Leeds that looks at how artists from the Renaissance to the present have represented inequality and tried to give a true picture of class in their societies. Playwright Jim Cartwright and the collector Greville Worthington review the exhibition. Bradley Walsh, Freema Agyeman and Bill Paterson star in a new crime drama based on an acclaimed American show. Law and Order: UK follows the British criminal justice system from both police and Crown Prosecution Service perspectives. Novelist and critic Matt Thorne gives his verdict on this transatlantic transfer.