The Movie That Changed My Life

'Nothing beats listening to film on the radio'

In an unforgettable collection of programmes, six well-known figures each choose their favourite movie - one that might have even changed their life. Our presenters have each selected a landmark film which they review with the assistance of an impressive line up of expert contributors. Their choice alone reveals something about them, but through the course of each programme, they also reveal more about their preoccupations, aspirations and obsessions at different times in their lives.

Programme One:

Suzanne Vega's Funny Face

Suzanne Vega chooses Funny Face: a stylish, romantic musical starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. Mousey intellectual Jo Stockton is discovered in a Greenwich Village bookshop by Dick Avery, the

photographer for New York fashion magazine, Quality. Crowned the reluctant new face of the magazine, she is flown to Paris where she is to model the latest collection by France's leading designer. Jo, however, has her own motivation for visiting Paris: she wants to find Professor Flostre, the man behind the Empathicalist philosophy she follows. But when Jo finds she has to choose between Flostre and Avery, which way will she go? Directed by Stanley Donen with songs by George and Ira Gershwin and clothes by Givenchy, Funny Face is as charming today as when it was first released in 1957.

This episode is available until 7.00pm on 28th August as part of the Series Catch-up Trial.

Suzanne Vega reviews her favourite film - the stylish, romantic musical Funny Face.

Well-known figures review their favourite movie with the assistance of expert contributors

In programme two, Lenny Henry chooses A Matter of Life and Death. This 1946 Powell and Pressburger film was intended to soothe post war animosity between Britain and America. It stars David Niven as Peter Carter, a fighter pilot who escapes his burning plane as it crashes in the Channel.

He finds and falls in love with the American wireless operator (Kim Hunter), the last voice

before he bailed out. But Carter is troubled by hallucinations...the powers in heaven have slipped up and want him there...he must fight for the right to live.

Listeners will be enthralled by Lenny Henry's passion for this film - a film buff through and through, his reading of the film makes compelling listening. Contributors include Ian Christie, Powell's widow Thelma Schoonmaker, and the director Martin Scorsese.

This episode is available until 7.00pm on 28th August as part of the Series Catch-up Trial.

Lenny Henry reviews his favourite film: A Matter of Life and Death.

Well-known figures review their favourite movie with the assistance of expert contributors

In programme three, Siouxsie Sioux chooses Hitchcock's Psycho. She vividly recalls watching it with abject horror, but ultimately it had a profound influence on her ideas about style and music. She shares with Hitchcock a flair for the subversive, always wanting to shock and disconcert the repressive suburban community in which she grew up.

She regards Hitchcock as a genius whose strong visual sense is second to none: 'He used 70 or more frames for that single 45 seconds in the shower and you feel as though you can remember each one - the way the water spirals down the plug - incredible.' Bernard Herrmann's score for Psycho was a direct source of inspiration for a number of her songs: 'Suburban Relapse was made with aggressive strings, discordant, jarring stabs and Staircase Mystery is a tribute to both Herrmann and Hitchcock'.

Contributors to this episode include Alan Parker, Peter Bogdanovich and Paul Morley.

This episode is available until 7.00pm on 28th August as part of the Series Catch-up Trial.

Siouxsie Sioux reviews her favourite film: Hitchcock's Psycho.

Well-known figures review their favourite movie with the assistance of expert contributors

In programme four, Spandau Ballet's Martin Kemp chooses the landmark martial arts film Enter The Dragon. It was the first kung fu film to have been made by a major Hollywood studio and paved the way for the genre of films which have developed into the supernatural modern legends which include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Enter the Dragon is largely set in Hong Kong in the 1980s, 'an impossible place' in the mind of the young Kemp, then a teenager. The film called on the best stuntmen in town, the Seven Little Fortunes including Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. In this programme, Kemp kicks and flips his way through his life changing film.

Spandau Ballet's Martin Kemp reviews the landmark martial arts film Enter the Dragon.

Well-known figures review their favourite movie with the assistance of expert contributors

Honor Blackman chooses the 1950 classic All About Eve, in which ageing actress Margo Channing (Bette Davis), sees her career threatened by young devotee and aspiring star, Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter).

The film, which includes among its cast a young Marilyn Monroe, won six Academy Awards, and its screenplay by director Joseph Mankiewicz is a sharp and witty take on the ruthless world of celebrity. Honor recalls when she first saw the film as a rising star herself, and the effect it had on her own acting career.

Honor Blackman chooses the 1950 classic All About Eve, starring Bette Davis.

Well-known figures review their favourite movie with the assistance of expert contributors

Released in 1969, it's a flamboyant last blast of a Hollywood era before the less flamboyant 1970's cinema took hold. It follows the story of the real life Monte Carlo Rally - the race to the Riviera from points across Europe, with cheating, scheming and speeding. It's a big budget family fun, with scenes from Scotland, Sicily, Portugal, Athens, India and France. It's also got a stellar line up including Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Tony Curtis, Susan Hampshire, Terry Thomas and Eric Sykes. This episode includes an interview with Eric Sykes himself.

Joe Brown reviews his favourite movie, the 1969 comedy Monte Carlo or Bust.

Well-known figures review their favourite movie with the assistance of expert contributors