Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore a once-popular genre of cinema which flourished in the mid-20th Century with films like Now Voyager, Mildred Pierce and All That Heaven Allows, and is still alive and kicking today - albeit often in unexpected ways.

Ellen speaks to film critic Pamela Hutchinson about the melodramatic women's pictures of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, and about why the melodrama genre may be thriving in the current day, in the form of the male melodrama.

Meanwhile, Mark talks to two directors from either side of the Atlantic, both well acquainted with the 21st century melodrama.

British-Moroccan director Fyzal Boulifa talks about the influence of a 1950s Joan Crawford melodrama noir on his 2022 indie film The Damned Don't Cry, and about the post-revolutionary roots of the melodrama form.

And American indie darling Todd Haynes discusses how melodrama runs through his filmography, from 2002's Far From Heaven, which reimagined the world of director Douglas Sirk for a 21st Century audience, to the ‘queer-melodrama’ classic Carol.

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Ellen and Mark explore the enduring appeal of Frankenstein.

Mark speaks to director Guillermo Del Toro on his new adaptation of the classic novel and why the Frankenstein story has had such an influence on his career.

Ellen then talks to critic Anne Billson about the history of Frankenstein throughout cinema history as well as speaking to director Bomani J. Story on his interpretation in his film, The Angry Black Girl and her Monster.

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Mark and Ellen celebrate 50 years of the ground breaking TV drama, The Naked Civil Servant.

Mark speaks to Rob Halford of Judas Priest about how The Naked Civil Servant changed his life. Mark then talks to filmmaker and drag queen Amrou Al-Kadhi about how forward thinking the show was and its influence on their own work.

Ellen talks to historian Stephen Bourne about the impact of The Naked Civil Servant on British television.

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This week, Ellen and Mark read between the lines, and find out what can get lost in translation.

Mark speaks to the film critic, Manuela Lazic, who discusses the impossibility of translation, and her experiences of watching films and television across languages. Next, the translator and film critic, Irina Margareta Nistor details her role in overdubbing bootlegged VHS tapes during the Ceaușescu dictatorship in Romania. During the 1980s, her work allowed local audiences an escape from the regime through the medium of foreign cinema.

Meanwhile, Ellen discusses the poetry of translation with Darcy Paquet. The translator has produced subtitles with collaborators including the South Korean film director, Bong Joon Ho, on the Oscar award winning film, Parasite. Darcy shares the challenges found in a set character count, and some of the cultural specificities he's noted along the way.

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Viewers are so used to seeing death and dying on screen, often in dramatic or unrealistic ways. Ellen and Mark explore how films and TV are drawn to personifications of death, why we need more realistic depictions and who is making them. 

Mark speaks to film critic Kim Newman about the way in which personifications of death have been portrayed throughout cinema history, from The Seventh Seal to the Final Destination series. Mark then talks to director Kristen Johnson about her film, Dick Johnson is Dead.

Ellen talks to academic Michele Aaron about how death and dying has been depicted in film and if we need more realistic depictions.

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2025 marks 250 years since the birth of JMW Turner - the great 19th century landscape artist, whose expressive, atmospheric paintings transformed British art. His life and genius was also unforgettably brought to the screen in Mike Leigh’s 2014 film Mr Turner, starring Timothy Spall. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at the long relationship between cinema and painting.

Mark speaks to cultural historian Professor Sir Christopher Frayling on Hollywood's approach to the history of art, from Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh to Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo. He then talks to actor Timothy Spall on how playing JMW Turner led to a parallel career as a painter.

Ellen explores the relationship between painting and cinematography with cinematographer Sir Roger Deakins. She also speaks to artist Cathy Lomax on the painterly in cinema - and the cinematic in painting.

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As cult classic American Psycho turns 25 this year, Ellen and Mark investigate the world of yuppies on screen and ask, are yuppies a thing of the past or more prevalent than ever? They talk to director of American Psycho Mary Harron, co creators of BBC/HBO drama Industry and indie film director Whit Stillman.

Ellen speaks to director Whit Stillman, whose ‘doomed bourgeois in love’ trilogy chronicles the lives of yuppies in the late 80’s. Ellen talks to him about his affectionate take on the era and whether his aunt really did invent the phrase ‘yuppie’.

Mark speaks to Mary Harron, director of American Psycho. They discuss the film's surprising legacy and the casting of Christian Bale in his now iconic role as product-obsessed super-yuppie Patrick Bateman.

Ellen then speaks to Konrad Kay and Mickey Down, co creators of finance-world drama, Industry. They discuss their love of American Psycho and the way in which wealth is portrayed on screen.

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For a very special 100th episode of Screenshot, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the cult classic TV show.

The great surrealist American filmmaker David Lynch died in January 2025 at the age of 78. Lynch's films spanned the underground midnight movie Eraserhead, the black and white heartbreaker The Elephant Man and the critically beloved Mulholland Drive. Yet the director was perhaps most appreciated for the TV show he co-created with screenwriter Mark Frost - Twin Peaks.

Mark speaks to Mark Frost about his relationship with Lynch, and about the impact and legacy of their ground-breaking series. The pair discuss how pressure to solve the central murder of high school student Laura Palmer impacted Twin Peaks, and how the revival of the series in 2017 - after a 25 year hiatus - now seems fated.

Meanwhile, Ellen talks to critic and die-hard Twin Peaks fan Jourdain Searles about the series' dedicated cult following.

And she speaks to actor Tim Roth, star of Reservoir Dogs and Rob Roy, who got a chance to work with his hero David Lynch in 2017 on Twin Peaks: The Return.

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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode are on patrol, investigating why the police procedural continues to be so arresting for audiences.

Mark meets the film writer and critic Kim Newman who charts the beginnings of the genre and some of its tropes. Next, he talks to the director and documentarian Sandhya Suri, to discuss her feature film debut, Santosh, that follows the journey of a widow turned police constable.

Meanwhile, Ellen discusses how fiction aimed to mimic reality in 90s TV series, Homicide: Life on the Street, with actor from the show, Kyle Secor. She also speaks to Simon Ford, executive producer of the documentary series, 24 Hours in Police Custody, who explains how dramatic structure borrowed from fiction has helped the award-winning programme tell wider stories about the world around us.

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Remakes continue to proliferate on our screens. Over the last few months, we’ve had live action remakes in cinemas of classic animations Snow White, Lilo And Stitch, and How To Train Your Dragon, along with legacy reboots of the horror hit I Know What You Did Last Summer and DC’s Superman, and - coming soon - a new spin on the 1980s comedy The Naked Gun.

So is this all just evidence of a dearth of creativity in Hollywood? Or are there some artistically valid reasons to re-make existing films? And can a remake ever be better than the original? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode delve into the past, present and future of the remake.

Mark speaks to critic Anne Billson about the remakes she considers worthy of our attention, from Brian De Palma’s Scarface to John Carpenter’s The Thing. And he also talks with Jim McBride who, in 1983, directed Breathless - a remake of Jean-Luc Godard’s French New Wave classic A Bout de Souffle, which Mark has long considered superior to the original.

Ellen talks to TV critic Roxana Hadadi about what television can bring to the remake party - and about the TV series that managed to improve on their source material. And Ellen also speaks to Noah Hawley, showrunner of the multi-Emmy winning Fargo and upcoming Alien: Earth TV series, about the creative possibilities of TV reboots.

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30 years after Mel Gibson's Braveheart cloaked Hollywood in fake tartan, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode take the high roads and the low roads to look for the real Scotland on screen.

Ellen talks with Tayside journalist Kayleigh Donaldson about the trouble with Braveheart, why veteran Scottish director Bill Forsyth's hyper local comedy dramas Local Hero, Gregory's Girl, and That Sinking Feeling have such international appeal, and why movies such as Ben Sharrock's Limbo tell a different kind of story about Scotland.

Comedian and writer Frankie Boyle tells Ellen why Gregory's Girl is one of Scotland's most beloved films, why Lynne Ramsay's New York City based thriller You Were Never Really Here starring Joaquin Phoenix as a violent mercenary feels so Scottish, and his reservations about Danny Boyle's Trainspotting.

Mark reconnects with legendary Scottish actor and star of Succession Brian Cox who has returned to Scotland to make his directorial debut Glenrothan. They discuss Brigadoon, Braveheart (which starred Brian Cox), cultural neglect, and the Powell & Pressburger classic movie set on the Isle of Mull, I Know Where I'm Going.

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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate 25 years of In The Mood For Love - director Wong Kar Wai's acclaimed romantic drama starring Maggie Cheung as Mrs Chan and Tony Leung as Mr Chow - two neighbours in 1960s Hong Kong, bonded by a revelation about their respective spouses.

Critically beloved on its first release back in 2000, the film is now reaching an entirely new generation of young film fans, thanks in part to its popularity on social media sites like Letterboxd and TikTok.

Mark speaks to critic and sometime filmmaker Tony Rayns, who was a key part of Wong Kar-Wai's team for many years, working closely with the director on the English subtitles for his films. Tony gives Mark the inside story of the production of In The Mood For Love, as well as some insight into the enigmatic director's sometimes chaotic working methods.

Ellen takes a trip to The Prince Charles Cinema in London's Leicester Square - where film fans in their early 20s have been packing screenings of In The Mood For Love - to try to get a sense of why Wong Kar Wai's modern masterpiece has developed such a devoted fanbase. And she speaks to Paul Vickery - Head of Programming at the Prince Charles - about the film's continuing popularity with audiences.

And Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Bradford Young tells Mark how he fell in love with the work of Wong Kar-Wai - and why he thinks In The Mood For Love is still resonating with young viewers a quarter century on.

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As music festival season takes hold of the summer, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at festival films from Woodstock to Summer of Soul. Can you really capture the spirit of a music festival on screen?

Mark speaks to legendary editor Thelma Schoonmaker about her era-defining, Academy Award-nominated work on the documentary film Woodstock. He then talks to maverick British director Julien Temple about filming Glastonbury - his very personal film about the history of the English music festival.

Ellen talks to music journalist Shaad D’Souza about the relationship between festivals and screen culture in the 21st century, from Bridget Jones to Beyonce at Coachella. And she also speaks to director Jamie Crawford, whose 2022 documentary series Trainwreck: Woodstock 99 showed - in some detail - what can happen when the festival dream gets torn down and trampled underfoot.

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Fifty years ago this summer, Jaws was released in the US. Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the bestselling novel by Peter Benchley, the film - about a coastal resort town threatened by a great white stark at the busiest time of the year - was a groundbreaking box office phenomenon.

Jaws changed the industry overnight - pioneering new marketing and release patterns, and altering the focus and mix of movies that Hollywood made - some say for the worse.

From Jaws and Star Wars through to the double whammy of Barbenheimer, summer blockbusters have dominated cinemas. But is this changing? And is there more to the summer blockbuster than big box office and a summer release date? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode join the queue for popcorn to explore the genre.

Mark speaks to critic and author Tim Robey about how Jaws went from potential disaster to record-breaking hit, and about the summer blockbusters that followed. And he also speaks to Jenny He, senior exhibitions curator at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, about the museum’s forthcoming ‘Jaws: The Exhibition’ and the marketing techniques that helped make the 1975 film such a success.

Meanwhile, Ellen talks to pop culture critic Kayleigh Donaldson about box office mega-hits for the modern age - and how the inescapable megalith of Marvel has impacted the summer film landscape.

And Ellen also speaks to Canadian filmmaker Nyla Innuksuk about her 2022 film Slash/Back - a Spielberg-influenced summer-blockbuster-in-spirit sci-fi adventure movie set in the remote Arctic fishing town of Pangnirtung.

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The Brutalist has been one of the most talked about films of the year and taps into a rich vein of films and television that dramatise the immigrant experience.

From The Godfather Part 2 to Small Axe, The Emigrants to Home and Away and An American Tail - Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode examine how filmmakers have investigated and portrayed the perils, patterns and adventure of human movement across the globe.

Mark speaks to film critic Christina Newland about the history of immigrant epics in Hollywood - from Once Upon a Time in America to The Brutalist.

Ellen then speaks to writer and creator of the tv series Get Millie Black, Marlon James, about his experience watching Small Axe for the first time. Ellen also talks to director Sir Steve McQueen about his anthology series Small Axe and how the films act as their own immigrant epic for the Windrush generation.

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Pretty Woman was released in 1990. One of the most beloved and successful romantic comedies of all time, the film tells the Cinderella story of a sex worker, played by Julia Roberts, who finds love with a slick businessman - Richard Gere - after he picks her up on Hollywood Boulevard.

Fast forward to 2025 and the astonishing Oscar success of Anora - director Sean Baker’s tale of a young sex worker whose whirlwind affair with a Russian billionaire’s son turns bad, fast.

So how has the way we treat sex work on screen changed? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode delve into the long and thorny relationship between cinema and sex work.

Mark speaks to film historian and critic Pamela Hutchinson about how sex work has been tackled in over a hundred years of movies - from early silent films like Pandora’s Box, to the work of Sean Baker. They discuss Jane Fonda’s Oscar-winning turn as a ‘call girl’ in Klute, and look at how male sex worker films like Midnight Cowboy might approach the subject differently.

Meanwhile, Ellen talks to Andrea Werhun, the writer, performer and real-life sex worker who served as a consultant on Anora - about her work on the film, and her love for another Richard Gere sex work film, American Gigolo.

And Ellen also speaks to Kristen Lovell and Zachary Drucker, whose 2023 documentary The Stroll traced the history of trans sex workers in New York City’s Meatpacking District. Kristen and Zachary discuss why sex work has been a key part of trans history - and what they think Anora’s success means for sex workers.

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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode waltz into the magical world of Studio Ghibli, as the animation giant celebrates its 40th birthday.

Ellen speaks to the film, TV and video game critic, Kambole Campbell about Studio Ghibli's origin story and key aspects of visual style. Also, the animator and co-founder of Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, Nora Twomey discusses the emotional impact of films like My Neighbour Totoro, and Grave of the Fireflies.

Mark meets actor, Emily Mortimer who discusses the process of re-dubbing for the film, Howl's Moving Castle. And the animator and director, Michaël Dudok de Wit discusses the collaborative relationship forged with Studio Ghibli, while working on his feature length production, The Red Turtle.

Producer: Mae-Li Evans A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

With the latest series of the much-discussed drama The White Lotus recently wrapped up, Screenshot asks why cinema and TV make so many return visits to hotels as a setting.

Whether sinister and scary like in The Shining or Psycho, fabulous but faded like The Grand Budapest Hotel, or comically chaotic like in Fawlty Towers, hotels offer a myriad of possible opportunities for drama. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode check in to check out their rich history on screen.

Ellen talks to film critic Hannah Strong about the timeless appeal of screen stays from the 1932 classic Grand Hotel to The White Lotus - and about how directors Wes Anderson and Sofia Coppola have made hotels the focus of some of their most famous films.

Ellen also speaks to Sean MacPherson, hotelier, cinephile and co-owner of the storied Hotel Chelsea in New York City, about the glamorous allure of historic hotels - and the impact of the movies on hotel design.

Mark speaks to writer and critic Anne Billson about the seedier - and scarier - side of hotels on screen, from the Coen Brothers' 1991 cult classic Barton Fink, to the 1990 Roald Dahl fantasy The Witches.

And Mark also talks to director Rodney Ascher, whose 2012 documentary Room 237 explored Stanley Kubrick's The Shining from the unusual points of view of a number of theorists - all of whom seem to have checked into the film's Overlook hotel and never been able to leave.

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With the Robert Pattinson starring film Mickey 17 fresh out in the cinema, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the world of doppelgangers and doubles on screen.

Ellen speaks to academic and doppelganger scholar Adam Golub about the difference between clones and doppelgangers and what the doppelganger tells us about life in 2025. Ellen then talks to an actress about what its like playing a clone.

Mark speaks to director Richard Ayoade about his 2013 film The Double. It stars Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska and is an adaptation of the classic Fyodor Dostoevsky novel from 1866. Mark and Richard discuss adapting such a classic novel, the distinct look of the film and the idea of Jung's 'shadow self' and its influence on doubles on screen.

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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate weddings in film and TV, from Muriel's Wedding to Married at First Sight.

Mark speaks to Richard Curtis about the inspiration behind the classic British wedding film, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and about Curtis' own recent wedding to long-term partner Emma Freud. And he gets critic Manuela Lazic's rundown of some of the most memorable cinematic weddings, from The Godfather to The Graduate.

Meanwhile, Ellen talks to actor Susan Wokoma about her favourite wedding romcoms - including the Julia Roberts-starring My Best Friend's Wedding. And she attempts to get to grips with the world of wedding reality TV with comedian Ashley Ray.

Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4