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New TV comedies; Tom Hooper on life after The King's Speech

Mark Lawson reviews two new TV comedies with a focus on a central female role; director Tom Hooper on his next project after The King's Speech; new film Mother and Child reviewed.

With Mark Lawson.

Two new TV comedies, both with a central female role, begin tomorrow. Stella is a comedy drama written by and starring Ruth Jones as a single mother living in the Welsh valleys. New Girl stars Zooey Deschanel as a teacher who moves into an apartment with three single men, after breaking up with her boyfriend. Rachel Cooke reviews.

In the third of three reports on the art of following up a great success, film director Tom Hooper, who won an Oscar for The King's Speech, discusses his next project - a big-screen version of the musical Les Miserables.

Annette Bening and Naomi Watts star in the film Mother and Child, which focuses on women whose lives are profoundly affected by adoption. Antonia Quirke reviews.

American writer Padgett Powell is not afraid of experimentation. Every single sentence in his novel The Interrogative Mood is a question, and he followed this with You & I, a book written entirely in dialogue between two unnamed people. He discusses his move away from what he describes as 'comfy realism'.

Producer Claire Bartleet.

Available now

30 minutes

Chapters

  • Stella and New Girl

    Rachel Cooke reviews new TV comedies, Stella and New Girl

    Duration: 06:28

  • Tom Hooper

    Director Tom Hooper on the art of following up a great success

    Duration: 06:06

  • Mother and Child

    Antonia Quirke reviews film Mother and Child

    Duration: 05:16

  • Padgett Powell

    Interview with American writer Padgett Powell

    Duration: 10:03

Broadcast

  • Thu 5 Jan 2012 19:15

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