EPISODE · Mar 18, 2026 · 42 MIN
Sylvia Plath's final year, and Hue and Cry perform Labour of Love
from Front Row · host BBC Radio 4
From bellringing to beekeeping - Author Helen Bain talks about the highly detailed research she conducted for the writing of her The Daffodil Days, inspired by Ted Hughes and Sylvia Pllath's year in North Tawton in Devon in 1962, and on why she has told the story in reverse, through the observations of the locals who came into contact with them at the time. Hue & Cry, who first made their name in the mid 80s and who won the Outstanding Contribution prize at last year's Scottish Music Awards, are back with a new single, a 16th studio album and a UK tour. We speak to brothers Pat & Greg Kane about their four decades in the music business, and about fusing acoustic and synth technologies and the duo perform one of their biggest hits in the Front Row studio. At the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1990s, American photographer Catherine Opie honoured members of the gay community with portraits inspired by court artist Hans Holbein. Since then she's become known as an "all-American subversive" for her groundbreaking depictions of queer America. A retrospective of her work - To Be Seen - which also features a new commission of a portrait of Sir Elton John and his family - has opened at the National Portrait Gallery in London and she joins us live to talk about it. Plus the Artistic Director of Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre, James Brining, and The Scotsman's theatre critic, Joyce McMillan, discuss the theatre's decision not to let critics from UK-wide media in to review the world premiere of the new stage production One Day, adapted from David Nicholls' bestselling book. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
What this episode covers
From bellringing to beekeeping - Author Helen Bain talks about the highly detailed research she conducted for the writing of her The Daffodil Days, inspired by Ted Hughes and Sylvia Pllath's year in North Tawton in Devon in 1962, and on why she has told the story in reverse, through the observations of the locals who came into contact with them at the time. Hue & Cry, who first made their name in the mid 80s and who won the Outstanding Contribution prize at last year's Scottish Music Awards, are back with a new single, a 16th studio album and a UK tour. We speak to brothers Pat & Greg Kane about their four decades in the music business, and about fusing acoustic and synth technologies and the duo perform one of their biggest hits in the Front Row studio. At the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1990s, American photographer Catherine Opie honoured members of the gay community with portraits inspired by court artist Hans Holbein. Since then she's become known as an "all-American subversive" for her groundbreaking depictions of queer America. A retrospective of her work - To Be Seen - which also features a new commission of a portrait of Sir Elton John and his family - has opened at the National Portrait Gallery in London and she joins us live to talk about it. Plus the Artistic Director of Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre, James Brining, and The Scotsman's theatre critic, Joyce McMillan, discuss the theatre's decision not to let critics from UK-wide media in to review the world premiere of the new stage production One Day, adapted from David Nicholls' bestselling book. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan
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Sylvia Plath's final year, and Hue and Cry perform Labour of Love
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