Best Docs In Orbit Podcasts (2025)

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Review show: Paris Lees drama What It Feels Like for a Girl 42:28

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2 days ago42:28

42:28

Tom and guests review What it Feels Like for Girl, the BBC's coming-of-age drama based on the memoir of Paris Lees; Taylor Jenkins Reid's new novel, Atmosphere, set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program and new film, Lollipop, about a young woman released from prison battling to regain custody of her children, written and directed…

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Daisy Goodwin on her play about the late Queen and her dresser 42:30

3 days ago42:30

42:30

Daisy Goodwin discusses her debut play, By Royal Appointment, which stars Anne Reid as Queen Elizabeth and Caroline Quentin as her dresser, and which opens this week at Theatre Royal, Bath. The life and legacy of Irish novelist playwright and poet Edna O'Brien is discussed by writer Jan Carson and the director of the documentary Blue Road: The Edna…

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Nick Mohammed on comedy and improvisation 42:20

4 days ago42:20

42:20

Comedian Nick Mohammed on his stand-up show Mr Swallow, and Deep Cover, his action thriller about a group of comedy improvisers. Kate Wasserberg, Artistic Director of Theatr Clywd on the theatre's £50 million redevelopment, and opening the new auditorium with a production of the musical Tick Tick... Boom! Ulrich Birkmaier, senior conservator of pai…

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Fiddler on the Roof returns to the stage 42:17

5 days ago42:17

42:17

Samira discusses the Olivier award-winning production of Fiddler on the Roof with its star Adam Dannheisser and director Jordan Fein. Sarah Dunant talks about the women in the Renaissance who became art patrons, as she publishes her novel The Marchesa, about Isabella d'Este of Mantua. Screenwriter Frederic Raphael, whose films include Far From the …

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Imelda Staunton in Mrs Warren's Profession 42:25

9 days ago42:25

42:25

Samira Ahmed and writers Dreda Mitchell and Mark Ravenhill review Imelda Staunton and her daughter, Bessie Carter, in Mrs Warren's Profession. They consider, too, theatre director Marianne Elliott's first foray into film, The Salt Path, based on a Raynor Winn's bestselling memoir of how she and her husband, after they have lost their house and farm…

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Paul Hartnoll of Orbital on the band's Brown album, and a new biography of Muriel Spark. 42:13

10 days ago42:13

42:13

Paul Hartnoll of electronic music duo Orbital talks about the reissue of the band's Brown album which was originally released in 1993, with the addition of 23 extra tracks of rarities and previously unreleased material and about the intersection between dance music and politics. Frances Wilson, who has previously published acclaimed biographies of …

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Alison Steadman live from Hay Festival 42:24

11 days ago42:24

42:24

Live from the Hay Festival, Alison Steadman talks to Samira about her career, from Abigail's Party to Gavin and Stacey. Laura Bates and Gwyneth Lewis discuss Arthurian Legends and The Mabinogion. Hisham Matar champions the Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz. And transatlantic husband and wife country duo Outpost Drive perform on stage. Presente…

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Will Butler formerly of Arcade Fire on his play set in a recording studio 42:23

11 days ago42:23

42:23

Stereophonic is a play about the creative process, power dynamics and fraught personal relationships of a 1970s rock band. It won a Tony and many other awards on Broadway. Now Stereophonic has come to the West End. Playwright David Adjmi and Will Butler, sometime of Arcade Fire, who has written the music, discuss their own artistic process as they …

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Mission Impossible & Benicio Del Toro 42:35

16 days ago42:35

42:35

Benicio Del Toro talks about playing a business tycoon in Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme. This aesthetically stylised film, by the director who also made The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel, is reviewed by Tom and critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Rachel Cooke. They also give their verdict on Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckon…

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Shirley Manson of Garbage 42:18

17 days ago42:18

42:18

Frontwoman of Garbage, Shirley Manson talks about the band's latest album Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, which is inspired by contemporary events including the killing of George Floyd in Los Angeles, but which presents an optimistic perspective on a dystopian world. We hear from the winner of the International Booker Prize, which was announc…

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Musician Rhiannon Giddens on returning to her North Carolina roots after working with Beyoncé 42:26

18 days ago42:26

42:26

Musician Rhiannon Giddens on returning to her North Carolina roots after working with Beyoncé. As a huge retrospective of the work of the artist Helen Chadwick opens at The Hepworth Wakefield, art critic Louisa Buck and the exhibition's curator, Laura Smith, discuss why Chadwick should be viewed as the godmother for a golden generation of British c…

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Joanne Harris on the return of Chocolat 42:21

19 days ago42:21

42:21

25 years after Joanne Harris introduced readers to the soothing delights of Chocolat, she's released her new book Vianne. It’s the prequel that explains how her heroine found her way into the world of high end French confectionery. A new exhibition at the British Museum sheds light on the provenance of popular images of the Hindu god Ganesha, the B…

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Review: Sondheim's final musical Here We Are, The Marching Band, Daniel Kehlmann's The Director 42:31

23 days ago42:31

42:31

David Benedict and Viv Groskop review Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, Here We Are, a surreal story of brunch and existential dread; French film about about grassroots music, The Marching Band and Daniel Kehlmann’s new novel, The Director, about a real life German filmmaker navigating the Third Reich. Presenter: Tom SutcliffeProducer: Simon Richar…

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Ocean with Attenborough, Garden Design, Turning Contemporary Politics into Opera 42:43

24 days ago42:43

42:43

Colin Bulfield, Executive Producer of the new film Ocean With Attenborough, talks about working with the celebrated broadcaster and filmmaker Sir David Attenborough on his latest project, an exploration of the vital importance of healthy oceans to our planet which is in cinemas around the country now. Current exhibitions at V&A Dundee and the Briti…

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Morcheeba perform, Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway 100th anniversary 42:22

25 days ago42:22

42:22

Novelist Elif Shafak, artist and writer Edmund de Waal and Professor Rachel Bowlby join Samira to discuss the centenary of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway. As the Semi Finals of Eurovision start tonight in Basel, Switzerland, Paddy O'Connell talks about this year's contest. Four hundred leading British Artists such as Paul McCartney and Kate Bush hav…

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Suzanne Vega sings in the studio, P Diddy trial, Mother Courage in County Durham 42:22

26 days ago42:22

42:22

Suzanne Vega has just released her first album of all-new material for nearly a decade. "Flying With Angels" continues her folk-influenced sound and introduces influences of soul as well as a song in tribute to Bob Dylan's "I Want You". She performs in the studio with guitarist Gerry Leonard. Sean Combs aka P Diddy is on trial in New York, charged …

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Review, The Wedding Banquet, Isabel Allende, The Brightening Air 42:34

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about a year ago42:34

42:34

Authors Matt Cain and Eimear McBride join Tom Sutcliffe to review a new remake of Ang Lee's 1993 classic The Wedding Banquet. They also discuss Isabel Allende's new novel My Name is Emilia del Valle and the play The Brightening Air, on at the Old Vic theatre in London. And the National Gallery is having a re-hang, we speak to Head of the Curatorial…

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Leni Riefenstahl, Queen Elizabeth Memorial, Keli 42:26

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about a year ago42:26

42:26

Acclaimed German journalist and film producer Sandra Maischberger talks about her new documentary about Leni Riefenstahl, which re-examines the life and career of the filmmaker and Nazi propagandist who was one of the most controversial women of the 20th century. Art historian and curator Sandy Nairne, a member of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Commi…

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Hamlet Radiohead mashup, Stoke-on-Trent pottery in crisis 42:23

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about a year ago42:23

42:23

In the wake of President Trump's proposed film tariffs, Jake Kanter, International Investigations Editor at Deadline, discusses what the impact could be for the British film industry. Last week Moorcroft became the latest heritage ceramic company to close its doors in Stoke-On-Trent. Emma Bridgewater, founder of the eponymous ceramics company, and …

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A snapshot of culture on VE Day 1945 42:08

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about a year ago42:08

42:08

To mark the 80th anniversary this week, we explore British culture around VE Day in 1945, reflecting on the music, books, films and theatre that defined the moment and the complex emotional landscape that followed the war’s end. Songwriter and pianist Kate Garner joins us at the piano. Guests: Michael Billington, theatre critic; Ian Christie, film …

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Ryan Coogler on Sinners, The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, Book Bans in the US 42:23

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about a year ago42:23

42:23

US director Ryan Coogler on his supernatural horror film, Sinners. Anne Sebba discusses her new book, The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, about the orchestra formed in 1943 among the female prisoners at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. And as a new report looking at so-called book banning in the United States is published, we talked to au…

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Review: John Lennon docs, Tina Fey's The Four Seasons and The Great Gatsby musical 41:51

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about a year ago41:51

41:51

Critic Kate Maltby and Beatles author Ian Leslie join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss two documentaries about John Lennon remaking his life in New York - Borrowed Time: Lennon's Last Decade and One to One: John & Yoko. They also discuss Tina Fey’s new series The Four Seasons, based on the 1981 film of the same name, which explores the relationships of thr…

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King James VI & I, Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, The Extraordinary Miss Flower 41:59

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about a year ago41:59

41:59

Jeff Pope on his new series Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent man who was killed by police on a London tube in 2005, which launches tonight on Disney+. James VI of Scotland & I of England is the subject of a major exhibition at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. We’re joined by the historical writers Lucy Hu…

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Noddy Holder of Slade, Stephen Rea and Simone de Beauvoir 41:53

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about a year ago41:53

41:53

In 1975, at the height of their fame, British band Slade made a feature film, Slade in Flame. The film was a critical and commercial failure at the time, but has built up a cult following over the years. Now it's being re-released in cinemas and on DVD. Frontman Noddy Holder and film director Richard Loncraine spoke to Samira Ahmed in studio. With …

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Universal Theme Park, Olivier award-winning play Giant, Two to One 42:18

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about a year ago42:18

42:18

Mark Rosenblatt on Giant, his Olivier award-winning play starring John Lithgow as Roald Dahl. As Universal Studios announce plans for a major new theme park in Bedfordshire, what does this mean for the UK entertainment industry? Samira is joined by entertainment journalist Ella Baskerville and Gareth Smy from Framestore to discuss its signficance a…

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Review: Self Esteem's album A Complicated Woman; RSC's Much Ado About Nothing; Julie Keeps Quiet tennis film 42:30

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about a year ago42:30

42:30

Journalist Siân Pattenden & critic Stephanie Merritt join Tom to discuss Self Esteem's third album A Complicated Woman, which features collaborations with Nadine Shah and Moonchild Sanelly. Ahead of the release, Self Esteem AKA Rebecca Lucy Taylor showcased the album by staging a five-night theatrical presentation at London's Duke of York theatre. …

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The ethics of publishing posthumous diaries, Pianist Igor Levit, and Memorials to great women. 42:06

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about a year ago42:06

42:06

As the journals of the American writer Joan Didion (based on conversations with her psychiatrist) are published, writer and journalist Rachel Cooke and Alan Taylor, editor of actor Alan Rickman's diaries, discuss the challenges, responsibilities and ethics of posthumously publishing the diaries of great writers, artists and actors. Acclaimed German…

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Dante's Inferno in Jamaica, Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time re-examined, Shakespeare's first theatre 42:32

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about a year ago42:32

42:32

Jamaica's former poet laureate, Lorna Goodison, on setting Dante's Inferno on the island of her birth; Journalist Joanna Moorhead on Pope Francis' relationship with the arts; Poet and librettist Michael Symmons Roberts on writing a form-breaking book to re-examine French composer Olivier Messiaen's form-breaking masterwork - Quartet for the End of …

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JMW Turner: 250th anniversary of Britain's greatest painter 42:24

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about a year ago42:24

42:24

Mr. Turner director Mike Leigh, art historian Charlotte Mullins and senior curator at Tate Amy Concannon join Tom Sutcliffe to celebrate the life and work of JMW Turner, as we approach the 250th anniversary of his birth. Also in this edition, David Hockney on Turner's skill as an artist, Alvaro Barrington talks about his continuing influence on art…

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Review: Alex Garland's film Warfare, Audition by Katie Kitamura, Shanghai Dolls by Amy Ng on stage 42:20

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about a year ago42:20

42:20

Alex Garland's latest film Warfare, which is co-directed by US military veteran Ray Mendoza turns back the clock back nearly twenty years to reconstruct a real-life surveillance mission in Iraq. Film critic Tim Robey and journalist Zing Tsjeng give their verdict on the analysis of the theatre of war, which unfolds in real time. They've also been to…

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Photographer Susan Meiselas, The Impact of Trump's Tariffs on Musical Instrument Manufacturers, Author Ewan Morrison. 42:18

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about a year ago42:18

42:18

American documentary photographer and President of the Magnum Foundation Susan Meiselas speaks about her fifty-year career, as she receives the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award at the Sony World Photography Awards 2025, and as her work goes on display at Somerset House in London. We hear how President Trump's economic tariffs are affec…

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Muriel's Wedding the Musical, Dr Who, Anthony Horowitz on Marble Hall Murders 42:17

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about a year ago42:17

42:17

Director and Screenwriter PJ Hogan, creator of the 1994 comedy Muriel's wedding, speaks to Samira Ahmed about the new musical adaptation of his film. With lead actors leaving, and ratings down, there are questions about the future of Doctor Who. Author John Higgs, and entertainment writer Caroline Frost, talk about the past, present and future of t…

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Review: Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes in The Return, On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle, Holy Cow film 42:06

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about a year ago42:06

42:06

Classics professor Edith Hall and writer Lawrence Norfolk join Tom to review The Return, a retelling of the end of Homer’s Odyssey, where the hero Odysseus returns to his kingdom decades after the battle of Troy to find his wife Queen Penelope fending off suitors out to take his throne. The film stars Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche talk to Tom …

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Tracy Chapman, the Arthur Miller moment in UK theatres, Rock Royalty 42:03

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about a year ago42:03

42:03

Singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman talks about the re-release of her eponymous debut album after 35 years, about how those songs of oppression and aspiration, written so long ago, speak to us today, and about going from almost unknown to world famous in one performance. We ask two directors of productions of The Crucible (by Scottish Ballet, and at Sh…

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Kym Marsh on Abigail's Party, Severance creator Dan Erickson, film franchises in flux 42:38

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about a year ago42:38

42:38

Kym Marsh on stepping into the iconic role of Beverly in theatre classic Abigail's Party as the play opens at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. Film critic Hannah Strong and George Pundek, co-host of the Pulp Kitchen film podcast, on why so many of the big film franchises are facing difficulties. Severance creator Dan Erickson on making a t…

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Manhunt play by Robert Icke, new Edwardians exhibition, film director Waris Hussein 42:44

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about a year ago42:44

42:44

Theatre director Robert Icke's production of Oedipus won best revival and a best actress award for Lesley Manville at last night's Olivier Awards - but his new play Manhunt is now demanding his attention at the Royal Court Theatre in London. The drama focuses on the story of Raoul Moat who attacked his ex-girlfriend and killed her new boyfriend bef…

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Reviews of Mobland, The Most Precious of Cargoes and Giuseppe Penone exhibition 42:27

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about a year ago42:27

42:27

Nancy Durrant and Jason Solomons join Tom to review:The new offering from Guy Ritchie, Mobland, with familiar themes of drug gangs and violence and starring Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Tom Hardy, amongst others.Giuseppe Penone's Thoughts in the Roots exhibition which is in and outside the Serpentine gallery, expanding on the significance of trees…

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Tilda Swinton, Michael Sheen on the new Welsh National Theatre, Richard Burton's influential teacher 42:13

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about a year ago42:13

42:13

Tilda Swinton talks about her role in Joshua Oppenheimer's post-apocalyptic musical film The End, and about her intention to take a break from acting, Actor and artistic director of the new Welsh National Theatre Michael Sheen, and screenwriter Russell T Davies reveal plans for the company's first season. Plus we discuss the influence of schoolmast…

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Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker, Design Council at 80, The Women of Llanrumney 42:23

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about a year ago42:23

42:23

Charlie Brooker talks about the return of his wildly popular tech and sci-fi dystopian drama Black Mirror. This new six-part series includes Paul Giamatti as a man using AI to reconnect to a lost love who has died, Emma Corrin as a digitally recreated 40s screen star and, for the first time, follow-up episodes of two of the show's most popular epis…

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Freedom of Expression in the Arts 42:24

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about a year ago42:24

42:24

Front Row looks at freedom of expression in the arts. From rows about cancel culture to allegations of censorship and the charge that the arts has become 'woke', we explore what is happening. Samira is joined by art curator, Ekow Eshun, novelist Philip Hensher, poet and author of Hounded, Jenny Lindsay and theatre critic Kate Maltby, who sits on th…

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Review: The Studio, Grayson Perry, La Cocina 42:26

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about a year ago42:26

42:26

For our review programme Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics Dorian Lynskey and Briony Hanson. They are looking at: New comedy series The Studio, set in Hollywood and starring Seth Rogan and Catherine O’Hara. Delusions of Grandeur, Grayson Perry’s new exhibition where he selects items from the Wallace Collection, adds 40 new works and a new alter eg…

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Peter Capaldi's new album, the great Ossian myth, Brian Friel's short stories 42:09

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about a year ago42:09

42:09

Peter Capaldi talks about his latest album – Sweet Illusions – a nod to the thriving 80s music scene in Glasgow where Peter made his musical debut fronting The Dreamboys. Through the Shortbread Tin is a new National Theatre of Scotland production about the supposed third century Scottish bard Ossian. Its writer – poet Martin O’Connor – and director…

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Peter Mullan as Bill Shankly, 100 years of Art Deco, Jonathan Pie 42:57

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about a year ago42:57

42:57

The actor and director Peter Mullan talks about taking on the role of Bill Shankly in the new theatre production in Liverpool, Red or Dead, about the much-loved Liverpool football club manager. In April 1925 the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, a seven-month exhibition of contemporary design, opened in Paris. A…

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Bryan Ferry, Disney's Snow White, the impact of cash prizes on creativity 42:21

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about a year ago42:21

42:21

Bryan Ferry discusses his latest album, Loose Talk and reflects on his long career in music. Disney's new live action version of Snow White has just opened and has attracted criticism from those who felt it departed too far from the original film. Film critics Larushka Ivan Zadeh and Al Horner explore why Disney's reinterpretation of its own canon …

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Review: Clueless the Musical, Oscar winning animated film Flow, Robert de Niro in The Alto Knights. Plus poetry from Seán Hewitt 42:32

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about a year ago42:32

42:32

Critics Hanna Flint and Boyd Hilton join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss Clueless, a new musical based on the 1995 film staring Alicia Silverstone. They also discuss Flow, Oscar-winning, dialogue-free, animated film based around the story of a cat who must find safety after its home is devastated by a flood. Plus Robert de Niro playing two gangsters in th…

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Francois Ozon's new film When Autumn Falls, Pierre Boulez Centenary, Shona McCarthy on leaving Edinburgh Festival's Fringe 42:00

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about a year ago42:00

42:00

French auteur Francois Ozon, whose previous films include 8 Women, Swimming Pool and Potiche, talks about his latest, When Autumn Falls, a bittersweet story of age, youth and breaking the rules, set in a picturesque Burgundy village. As the centenary of his birth approaches, leading pianist Tamara Stefanovich and musicologist Jonathan Cross discuss…

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Julian Barnes's new book Changing My Mind, Victor Hugo's artwork, Emma Donoghue's novel The Paris Express 42:25

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about a year ago42:25

42:25

Sculptor Antony Gormley and Professor of French literature, Catriona Seth discuss Victor Hugo's visual art with Tom Sutcliffe. Victor Hugo was a 19th century cultural colossus, known for monumental works such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables as well as his poems, plays and political writings. It's not so well known that throughout …

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Vikingur Olafsson's lockdown piano performance, how the pandemic changed The Arts, Liz Pichon's interactive world of The Mubbles 42:21

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about a year ago42:21

42:21

Front Row's artist in residence, acclaimed Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson, reflects on five years since lockdown and we have another listen to his Front Row lockdown performance of the Adagio from Bach's Organ Sonata Number 4. How were the arts affected when the country locked down five years ago? Matthew Hemley of The Stage and Louisa Buck of…

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Review: Edvard Munch portraits, Indian film Sister Midnight, Chekhov's The Seagull with Cate Blanchett 42:19

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about a year ago42:19

42:19

Samira Ahmed and guest critics - the novelist and anthropologist Tahmima Anam and Ben Luke from the Art Newspaper - give their verdict on the week’s cultural releases. They’ve been to see Cate Blanchett in Anton Chekhov’s play The Seagull at the Barbican Centre. The classic drama still features characters from Russian nobility – but it’s given a mo…

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Former Orange Juice frontman Edwyn Collins performs, Torrey Peters' new book, centenary of Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay 42:19

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about a year ago42:19

42:19

Songwriter and musician Edwyn Collins performs live from his latest album, Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation, a series of 11 optimistic and defiant tracks released two decades on from two devastating cerebral haemorrhages. American novelist Torrey Peters, whose book Detransition, Baby became a bestseller and was nominated for the Women's Prize for Fic…