Season 1994 1994

American novelist, Joseph Heller (Catch 22), is interviewed by Jeremy Isaacs. Editor Michael Poole

One of the most successful film directors of all time, Steven Spielberg, talks about his career to Jeremy Isaacs

For decades Billy Connolly has been one of Britain's most popular comedians. Tonight he talks to Jeremy Isaacs about stand-up comedy, bodily functions and the night someone set fire to his hair.

A rare television interview with one of Britain's greatest writers, V S Naipaul. Best known for his novels A House for Mr Biswas , A Bend in the River (winner of the Booker Prize), and The Enigma of Arrival, he talks with Jeremy Isaacs about his life and work.

Jeremy Isaacs asks the black American writer Maya Angelou about her life, her writing and her hopes for the future. What unfolds is a frank and sometimes shocking account of her journey to becoming an established author.

The black American writer Maya Angelou won international acclaim with the publication of the first volume of her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, an eloquent memoir of a tragic childhood in the deep south. Raped by her mother's boy-friend at 8, she became mute for five years. Despite these harrowing accounts, her writing is full of hope, providing inspiration for a whole generation.

Jeremy Isaacs talks to award-winning writer Jeanette Winterson, who discusses her love of writing and reflects on the ways in which her upbringing and sexuality have influenced her work. Winterson also explains her desire to avoid being categorised, either in terms of her work or her life, and the ways in which her non-conformist style of writing and 'taboo' subject matter reflect this and have, perhaps, contributed to her success.

Jeremy Isaacs comes Face to Face with Ken Loach , one of Britain's best known and most provocative film-makers, who talks about his new film Ladybird Ladybird.

Novelist Salman Rushdie talks to Jeremy Isaacs.