
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 pursued careers in music and acting, playing paramedic Finlay Newton in BBC One's Casualty, before finding success at a writer. His award-winning plays include Elmina's Kitchen and Statement of Regret, both staged at the National Theatre. He tells John Wilson about his early years at stage school, how seeing a production of Joe Turner's Come and Gone, by August Wilson, changed the way he saw what theatre could do, and how Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave set him on a different path.
Source: BBC 4
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Peter Kosminsky
Having started out as a current affairs journalist, Peter Kosminsky made his name by telling contemporary social and political stories in the form of television drama. Warriors ...
14-12-2024
BBC 4
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
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
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
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
Series 1: 2. Bernardine Evaristo
Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo talks to John Wilson about the formative experiences and cultural influences that have had a profound effect on her work.\n\nEvar ...
20-11-2023
BBC 4
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
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
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 ...
06-02-2022
BBC 4
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
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
Series 2: Margaret Atwood
John Wilson talks to award-wining author Margaret Atwood about the experiences that shaped her writing.
25-11-2023
BBC 4