´óÏó´«Ã½

Guests: Novelist Denise Mina
Historian Tristram Hunt
Television Editor of heat magazine Boyd Hilton

Slumdog Millionaire
Danny Boyle’s new movie about a boy from the slums of Mumbai was almost sunk when his distributor went out of business. But the film’s uplifting story won it new backers, and now it’s hotly tipped to win Oscars. In the film itself, Jamal endures a brutal life until he manages to find his way onto the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? – where his experiences allow him to answer question after question, until it looks as though he’ll really win big. But were Denise, Boyd and Tristram won over?

Slumdog Millionaire is on general release now, certificate 15.

Heliopolis
Like Danny Boyle’s film, James Scudamore’s novel ventures into the fast-changing world of the slums – this time in Sao Paolo, Brazil, to explore the ways extremes of wealth and poverty collide. Ludo is a slum-born boy who has been brought up in the house of a supermarket magnate. But he is forced to confront his origins when his adoptive Dad deploys him to advertise his new venture – a supermarket aimed at the favelas...

Heliopolis is published by Harvill Secker.

Hunter
Hugh Bonneville and Janet McTeer reprise their roles as a dysfunctional detective double-act which they created for the ground-breaking series Five Days. In this spin-off, they investigate the abduction of two boys by fanatics determined to win media attention for their cause. But does it match up to its acclaimed parent show?

Hunter is on ´óÏó´«Ã½ 1 at nine o’clock in the evening on Sunday 18 and Monday 19 January.

The Last Days of Woolworths
From its arrival from America in 1909, through its place in novelist JB Priestley’s iconic non-fiction travelogue ‘English Journey’, to the childhood memories of millions of contemporary Britons, Woolworths became a symbol of continuity in our national life. Many complain about the phenomenon of ‘clone town’ Britain, but the death of this particular feature of the high street this week has been widely mourned. So how much does its disappearance really matter for British culture? Tristram, Denise, Boyd and Tom each went down to their local branch in its last days to watch the end of a century of British tradition.

Christianity: A History
Channel 4 begins the New Year with a major, eight-part exploration of the history of one of the world’s most powerful religions. Eight public figures each go on a personal journey into a particular aspect of the Christian story. But will this approach help us on the way to enlightenment?

Christianity: A History begins on Channel 4 at 7pm on Sunday 11 January with Howard Jacobson’s Jesus the Jew and continues with films presented by Michael Portillo, Dr Robert Beckford, Rageh Omaar, Ann Widdecombe, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Professor Colin Blakemore and, on 1 March, Cherie Blair.

Show less