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Guests: David Benedict – theatre critic
Louise Doughty – novelist
Matthew Sweet – writer and broadcaster

Tom and his guests pick their highlights of the cultural year.
The recommendations of the panel included:

BOOKS:

Fiction
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant
Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold
A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: or the Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale

Non Fiction
The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum by Sarah Wise
The Phoenix by Leo Hollis

FILM:

Feature Films
Hunger directed by Steve McQueen
I Have Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime) written and directed by Philippe Claudel
No Country For Old Men written and directed by the Cohen Brothers
In Bruges written and directed by Martin McDonagh
WallE directed by Andrew Stanton

Documentaries
Man on Wire, directed by James Marsh

THEATRE:
Now or Later by Christopher Shinn at The Royal Court, now ended
The Norman Conquests by Alan Ayckbourn at The Old Vic, now ended
Douglas Hodge’s performance in the musical Cage aux Folles by Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein at The Playhouse Theatre, Graham Norton takes over this role on January 19
August: Osage County by Tracy Letts is at The National Theatre until January 21
Shoot/Get Treasure /Repeat by Mark Ravenhill various venues
The Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold at The Donmar
War Horse (revised production) by Nick Stafford from the novel by Michael Morpurgo will start a new run at the New London Theatre on March 31 2009

EXHIBITIONS:
Renaissance Faces at The National Gallery until 18 January 2009
Francis Bacon at Tate until 4 January 2009
Vilhelm Hammershøi: The Poetry of Silence at The Royal Academy, now ended
Hadrian: Empire and Conflict at The British Museum, now ended
Miró, Calder, Giacometti, Braque: Aimé Maeght and His Artists at The Royal Academy until Jan 2 2009

TELEVISION:

Documentaries
Chosen directed by Brian Wood on ±«Óãtv4
The Fallen directed by Morgan Matthews for ±«Óãtv2

Comedy Series
Outnumbered written and directed by Guy Jenkin and Andy Hamilton on ±«Óãtv1

Drama Series
The Wire, an American Series created by David Simon, available in the UK on DVD or the digital channel Channel FX
Little Dorrit adapted by Andrew Davies
Ten Days To War by Ronan Bennett

Drama
A Number by Caryl Churchill on ±«Óãtv2

Drama Documentary
The Long Walk To Finchley by Tony Saint on BB4

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