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Alexander McCall Smith; The Walshes review; Stella Feehily

Arts news with Samira Ahmed. Alexander McCall Smith discusses The Forever Girl; a review of The Walshes, from the creator of Father Ted; and Stella Feehily on This May Hurt a Bit.

With Samira Ahmed

Award winning writer Alexander McCall Smith talks about his latest novel The Forever Girl, which focuses on an expatriate community in the Cayman Islands. Smith talks about writing from a female perspective, Tartan Noir, and why - despite addressing serious issues - his work remains resolutely cheerful.

The Walshes is a new comedy series about a tight-knit family in Dublin - really tight-knit: the Walshes are tripping over each other as the two kids out-grow the family home. The series is co-written by Graham Linehan with the five-strong comedy troupe, Diet Of Worms, who also play the main roles. Boyd Hilton, TV editor of Heat magazine, reviews.

Set in Laos and written and directed by Australian Kim Mordaunt, The Rocket has won acclaim at film festivals. The central character is Ahlo, a young boy whose family believes he brings bad luck. After his family is displaced from their village to make way for a huge dam, Ahlo decides to prove his worth by building a rocket. Ryan Gilbey reviews.

The creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have brought out a computer game. South Park: The Stick Of Truth is an epic quest...to become cool. Armed with weapons of legend, gamers defeat underpant gnomes, hippies and other forms of evil - and earn a place at the side of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. Computer-game author Naomi Alderman reviews.

Playwright Stella Feehily talks about bringing her play about the NHS to the stage. Based in part on Feehily's experiences after her husband, director Max Stafford-Clark, had a stroke, This May Hurt A Bit stars Stephanie Cole (Coronation Street, Waiting For God) as an NHS supporter who becomes ill and finds that all is not necessarily well with the NHS.

Producer Claire Bartleet.

Available now

30 minutes

Chapters

  • Alexander McCall Smith

    Duration: 08:52

  • The Walshes

    Duration: 04:30

  • The Rocket

    Duration: 03:41

  • This May Hurt A Bit

    Duration: 07:03

  • The Stick Of Truth

    Duration: 03:53

Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith
Main image: Alexander McCall Smith

by Alexander McCall Smith is out now in hardback, paperback and ebook, published by聽Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited.聽

This May Hurt A Bit

This May Hurt A Bit
Image:聽Stephanie Cole and Natalie Klamar in This May Hurt A Bit. Photo: John Haynes

by Stella Feehily,聽directed by Max Stafford-Clark, is at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmonds from Friday 7 March until Saturday 15 March 2014.

The Walshes

The Walshes
New sitcom聽聽begins on 麻豆社 4 next Thursday 13 March 2014 at 10pm on 麻豆社4.

The Rocket

The Rocket
is out in key UK cities from next Friday 14 March 2014, certificate 12A.

The Stick of Truth

The Stick of Truth
, a video game based on the TV show South Park, is out now, certificate 18.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Samira Ahmed
Interviewed Guest Alexander McCall Smith
Interviewed Guest Boyd Hilton
Interviewed Guest Ryan Gilbey
Interviewed Guest Naomi Alderman
Actor Stella Feehily
Producer Claire Bartleet

Broadcast

  • Fri 7 Mar 2014 19:15

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