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John Agard; David Walliams in Big School; CJ Sansom on Doctor Who

John Agard explains why water and cricket inspire his poetry, David Walliams in Big School, crime novelist CJ Sansom on Doctor Who, and films you can't watch. Mark Lawson presents.

With Mark Lawson

David Walliams writes, and stars in Big School as the Deputy Head of Chemistry in a comprehensive school who's smitten by the new French teacher, Catherine Tate, but finds a love rival in the shape of PE master Philip Glenister. Critic and ex-teacher Natalie Haynes delivers her verdict.

Award winning poet John Agard received the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry earlier this year. Agard, who was born in Guyana and moved to Britain in 1977, talks about what the award means to him. He also discusses how his dual heritage and cricket were sources of inspiration for his latest collection Travel Light Travel Dark.

Jerry Lewis' film about a clown who entertains children in a concentration camp, The Day the Clown Cried, has never been shown to the public after the comedian decided he was too embarrassed for it to be screened. Yesterday, footage from a behind-the-scenes documentary emerged online over 40 years after it was made, allowing us a glimpse of a film we never thought we'd see. Critic Adam Smith considers other films that suffered the same fate.

Plus in tonight's Cultural Exchange, C J Sansom - author of the historical crime series Shardlake - picks the first incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, William Hartnell.

Available now

30 minutes

Chapters

  • Big School

    Critic and ex-teacher Natalie Haynes delivers her verdict on the new David Wallims comedy

    Duration: 05:00

  • John Agard

    Award winning poet John Agard talks about his latest collection Travel Light Travel Dark

    Duration: 13:11

  • The Day the Clown Cried

    Critic Adam Smith considers films that suffer the fate of never been screened.

    Duration: 03:30

  • Cultural Exchange: C J Sansom

    C J Sansom on the first incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, William Hartnell

    Duration: 06:00

Big School

Big School is a new 6x30 minute series for 麻豆社 One beginning this Friday 16th August at 9pm.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Mark Lawson
Interviewed Guest John Agard
Interviewed Guest Adam Smith
Interviewed Guest CJ Sansom
Producer Kate Bullivant
Editor John Goudie

Broadcast

  • Tue 13 Aug 2013 19:15

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