Catch up TV
Series 1: 6. Nicole Kidman
Oscar winner Nicole Kidman talks to John Wilson about the influence on her career of working with great film-makers.\n\nSince her breakthrough in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm, Nicole Kidman has played a hugely diverse array of roles, in arthouse films like Lars Von Trier’s Dogville and blockbusters including Paddington. She discusses her long friendship with Jane Campion, who directed her in Portrait of a Lady, and the impact of working with Stanley Kubrick, who she became close to after she and her ex-husband, Tom Cruise, starred in Eyes Wide Shut. \n\nKidman recalls the making of Baz Luhrmann's musical Moulin Rouge and Stephen Daldry's The Hours, the film for which she won the best actress Academy Award for playing Virginia Woolf. She also discusses the excitement and fear she experienced on the London stage in the plays The Blue Room and Photograph 51.
Source: BBC 4
Most recent episodes of This Cultural Life
This Cultural Life
Series 1: 7. Kwame Kwei-armah
Playwright and artistic director of London's Young Vic theatre Kwame Kwei-Armah shares some of the influences that have had a significant impact on his work.\n\nKwei-Armah pursu ...
04-10-2026
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Lubaina Himid
Artist Lubaina Himid talks to John Wilson about her creative influences.
14-09-2026
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Series 2: 6. Ken Loach
Over six decades, Ken Loach has forged a reputation as Britain’s foremost politically engaged film-maker, exploring issues of social justice, freedom and power. He has twi ...
10-06-2026
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Mark Ronson
Musician Mark Ronson talks about his cultural influences.
28-02-2026
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Juliette Binoche
Actor Juliette Binoche talks to John Wilson about the formative influences that shaped her career.
14-02-2026
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend, songwriter, guitarist and co-founder of The Who, talks to John Wilson about his cultural influences.\n\nThe Who first stormed the pop charts in 1965 with teenage ...
30-01-2026
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson’s breakthrough television role in the sci-fi series The X-Files made her a global star in 1993, and she played cool-headed Agent Dana Scully for nearly a ...
02-10-2025
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Series 1: 8. Evelyn Glennie
The world's leading classical solo percussionist Evelyn Glennie talks to John Wilson about her career and some of the key influences on her artistic path.\n\nFrom growing up in ...
20-07-2025
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Sheku Kanneh-mason
Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason was born in Nottingham in 1999 into a big musical family. He and his six siblings all grew up learning classical instruments and appeared on Britain&r ...
22-06-2025
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Abi Morgan
Screenwriter and playwright Abi Morgan has worked across a diverse array of themes and genres for more than 25 years. She wrote the television series The Split, a domestic drama ...
10-05-2025
BBC 4
Most popular episodes of This Cultural Life
This Cultural Life
Sheku Kanneh-mason
Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason was born in Nottingham in 1999 into a big musical family. He and his six siblings all grew up learning classical instruments and appeared on Britain&r ...
22-06-2025
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Abi Morgan
Screenwriter and playwright Abi Morgan has worked across a diverse array of themes and genres for more than 25 years. She wrote the television series The Split, a domestic drama ...
10-05-2025
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Lubaina Himid
Artist Lubaina Himid talks to John Wilson about her creative influences.
14-09-2026
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers is one of the most successful and influential figures in popular music. As a songwriter, producer and arranger, he has enjoyed a 50-year career with his bands Chic ...
02-03-2025
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson’s breakthrough television role in the sci-fi series The X-Files made her a global star in 1993, and she played cool-headed Agent Dana Scully for nearly a ...
02-10-2025
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Series 1: 1. Kenneth Branagh
Actor and film-maker Sir Kenneth Branagh talks to John Wilson about the key influences and inspirations that have shaped his own work. In a wide-ranging conversation, he reveals ...
06-02-2025
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Thelma Schoonmaker
John Wilson talks to three-time Oscar-winning film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who, for over five decades, has been Martin Scorsese’s cutting room collaborator. \n\nHaving ...
28-11-2024
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Series 1: 5. Carlos Acosta
Cuban ballet star Carlos Acosta talks to John Wilson about some of the key moments of his cultural life.\n\nHe discusses the influence of his father, his early love of breakdanc ...
23-01-2022
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Mark Ronson
Musician Mark Ronson talks about his cultural influences.
28-02-2026
BBC 4
This Cultural Life
Salman Rushdie
One of the world’s greatest novelists, Salman Rushdie has won many prestigious international literary awards and was knighted for services to literature in 2007. He won th ...
27-03-2025
BBC 4