Screenshot

BBC Radio 4
Screenshot
Latest episode

120 episodes

  • Screenshot

    Teachers

    01/05/2026 | 42 mins.
    Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode head back to class to learn how teachers have been depicted on screen, from Goodbye, Mr Chips to Adolescence. What can film and television teach us, if anything, about what it takes to be a good teacher?
    Mark speaks to east London-based teacher and film critic Charlotte Harrison about the enduring appeal of inspirational mentor figures in cinema, from Sidney Poitier in To Sir, with Love to Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society, and how far these stories reflect - or distort - the realities of life in the classroom. She also highlights the films and TV series that come closest to capturing the day-to-day experience of teaching.
    Ellen talks to Guz Khan, star of Man Like Mobeen, who first honed his crowd-control skills in a Coventry classroom before turning to stand-up comedy and acting, about how screen depictions compare with his own experience as a teacher.
    She also speaks to British television legend Sir Philip Redmond about Grange Hill, the groundbreaking, long-running school drama he created in 1978, whose characters - from Mr Bronson to Mrs McClusky - became as familiar to generations of British pupils as their real-life teachers.
    Producer: Jane Long
    A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4.
  • Screenshot

    Nudity

    24/04/2026 | 42 mins.
    Screenshot lays bare the long, often controversial history of nakedness in film and TV, from shocking and titillating moments, to those that reveal deeper truths about our bodies, vulnerabilities and desires.
    Mark speaks to film critic Pamela Hutchinson about the history of nudity throughout film history. They discuss some of cinema's most notable and shocking films as well as how changing attitudes are effecting what we see on screen.
    Ellen then speaks to writer and film director Bridgett M. Davis, about her 1996 film, Naked Acts. A film ahead of its time, it explores the nuances of nudity on screen for women, and Black women in particular.
    Mark then talks to director Tim Mielants about his existential comedy, Patrick, which takes place in a nudist camp.
    Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales
    A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
  • Screenshot

    Boxing

    17/04/2026 | 42 mins.
    Ellen and Mark step into the ring to explore cinema's most heavyweight genre, fifty years on from Sylvester Stallone's smash-hit film Rocky. What is it about the boxing movie that makes it not just a sports movie, but a genre of its very own?
    Critic Christina Newland gives Mark a punchy rundown of how boxing movies throughout history - from Body And Soul to Raging Bull - have tackled themes of race, class and identity.
    Ellen speaks to former world cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew, who moved from the ring to the big screen in 2016, acting in the Creed films.
    And Ellen also talks to actor Amir-El Masry, who played the Yemeni-heritage, Yorkshire-born maverick boxing champion Prince Naseem Hamid in the electrifying 2026 biopic Giant.
    Producer: Jane Long
    A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
  • Screenshot

    Telephones

    10/04/2026 | 42 mins.
    Alexander Graham Bell made the first ever telephone call 150 years ago this spring. That single moment of connection would transform communication - and provide storytellers with a rich device for drama, comedy, intimacy and tension. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode trace the history of the phone on screen, and examine how the movies have handled the thorny problem of the smartphone.
    Mark speaks to author and critic Kim Newman about some of the most iconic telephone calls in cinema, from Dr Strangelove to Scream.
    Meanwhile, Ellen delves into how film and TV are responding to the smartphone age, with the help of critic Kayleigh Donaldson. And she speaks to American filmmaker Janicza Bravo, whose 2015 film Zola made inventive use of the cellphone.
    Producer: Jane Long
    A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
  • Screenshot

    Fishing

    03/04/2026 | 42 mins.
    Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode swap film reels for fishing reels, to ponder why fishing onscreen has got us hooked. The net is cast wide to consider everything from industrial scale fleets showcased in films like The Perfect Storm and long running series, Deadliest Catch, to more leisurely endeavours like The River Runs Through It, and the BBC’s Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing.
    With guests, Mark Jenkin, John Lurie and Gagga Jónsdóttir.
    Mark speaks to Cornish film director Mark Jenkin about why fishing has continued to have such a strong presence in his films, and how the industry has often been romanticised onscreen. Jenkins 2019 feature debut Bait dramatised clashes between tourists and locals in a once flourishing fishing village, and in his newest film, Rose of Nevada, a fishing vessel lost for 30 years mysteriously reappears in a derelict harbour.
    The actor, painter and frequent Jim Jarmusch collaborator, John Lurie, shares with Ellen how his 90s cult TV show, Fishing With John, hauled away the conventions of late night cable fishing shows, and what it was like onboard with the actors, Dennis Hopper and Willem Defoe.
    Ellen also talks to the Icelandic writer-director, Gagga Jónsdóttir, about her documentary, Strengur, and some of her unexpected cinematic sources of inspiration. The film follows the journey of four teenage girls challenging traditional gender roles on the River Laxá, as seventh generation angling guides.
    Producer: Mae-Li Evans
    A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

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About Screenshot

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode guide us through the expanding universe of the moving image revealing fascinating links and hidden gems from cinema and TV to streaming and beyond.
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