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Bring Up the Bodies, 56 Up, Babel

Presented by Anne McElvoy. With Hilary Mantel on her novel about Anne Boleyn, film-maker Michael Apted discussing 56 Up, and Susannah Clapp reviewing the theatre project Babel.

Anne McElvoy talks to Hilary Mantel about her new historical novel Bring up the Bodies. It's the follow up to her prize winning Wolf Hall, and examines the downfall of Anne Boleyn.

Michael Apted is the film maker behind the ground-breaking television documentary project which has been following the lives of a selection of English people at seven year intervals. The project began when the participants, primarily selected for their class origins, were 7 years old Anne talks to him as latest instalment, 56 Up, is about to be shown on ITV.

Susannah Clapp reviews Babel, the latest project from the immersive theatre company who won plaudits for last year's mammoth theatrical extravaganza, The Passion, in Port Talbot. This event has been commissioned for World Stages London as part of the Cultural Olympiad and uses the biblical story of the Tower of Babel as a starting point around which to organise 500 performers in an outdoor performance that has been billed as the theatrical event of the year.

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45 minutes

Broadcast

  • Thu 10 May 2012 22:00

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