Front Row has been broadcast since 1998. It developed out of
BBC Radio 4's previous daily arts programme
Kaleidoscope, which ran from 1973 to 1998. The programme's presenters include
Tom Sutcliffe,
Samira Ahmed,
John Wilson, and
Kirsty Lang. Former presenters include
Stig Abell,
Francine Stock (1998–?) and
Mark Lawson (1998–2014). In 2013,
Tracey Emin presented, for a brief while, a series on the programme where people discussed their favourite piece of art work. A total of 75 creative minds appeared on the programme and talked about their favourite piece of art work, which they all felt had particularly inspired them. This feature was called "Cultural Exchange" and for the first night of the feature (22 April 2013) Emin herself appeared on the programme and said that her favourite piece of art work would be a painting by
Vermeer. Other people on the Cultural Exchange have included
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, who selected
The War Requiem by
Benjamin Britten;
Nicholas Hytner, Director General of the
National Theatre, who chose
Mozart's opera
The Magic Flute; historian
Antonia Fraser, who selected the painting
The Fighting Temeraire by
J. M. W. Turner; novelist
Sarah Hall, who selected the film
Blade Runner; the author
Mark Haddon, who chose The
Uffington White Horse; and pianist
Stephen Hough, who selected a piece of music by
Franz Schubert called "The Hurdy Gurdy Man". The first writer to be interviewed on the programme was
Beryl Bainbridge.
Front Row has also covered popular media topics, among them
Buffy the Vampire Slayer covered by
Neil Gaiman and
Joss Whedon in December 2013. Since 23 September 2017, a television version – entitled
Front Row Late and billed as a "live arts and cultural debate programme" – has been broadcast on
BBC Two, in two series per year of about eight editions each. The first series of 30-minute programmes was scheduled for transmission on Saturday evenings (normally at 19:30); subsequent series have gone out on Friday nights at 23:05 (after
Newsnight). In 2019 the number of editions in each series was cut back to six but the programme's running-time was extended to 40 minutes per edition. ==References==