Neil Gaiman; Seduced and Abandoned; Literary mistranslations

Front Row: Archive 2013

With Mark Lawson.

Seduced and Abandoned is a new documentary made by the actor Alec Baldwin and the writer/director James Toback. The film was shot in Cannes and depicts the difficulties faced by filmmakers trying to find funding for their projects, with contributions from Ryan Gosling and Diane Kruger. Ryan Gilbey reviews this movie about the movie business.

In Doctor Who's 50th anniversary year 11 authors have been commissioned to write short stories about the 11 Doctors. It was announced today that the final author in the series is Neil Gaiman who has written a story about Matt Smith's Doctor, called Nothing O'Clock. He talks to Mark about creating his own villain and why Margaret Thatcher makes a cameo appearance.

As Channel Four receives complaints about the latest joke about Prince Harry's social life, we ask media lawyer Duncan Lamont about the use of irony as a defence - when is a joke not a joke, in terms of fictional wisecracks about real people.

Californian soprano Angel Blue, a former model, is an award-winning opera singer, recently performing at the Wigmore Hall in London. Angel Blue discusses singing with Plácido Domingo, how she prepares for a performance, and her former life as a beauty queen.

Today the world of academia reports that translators of Beowulf have misinterpreted the opening line of the epic poem for at least 200 years. Translator Amanda Hopkinson looks at accidental and deliberate mistranslations as well as untranslatable phrases in literature.

Producer Dymphna Flynn.