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Andrew Scott is the latest in a long line of actors to play Thomas Ripley - the seductive, sociopathic conman created by American crime writer Patricia Highsmith, and immortalised in films from Plein Soleil to The Talented Mr Ripley.
Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at Ripley and other social strivers on screen, asking how these interlopers have insinuated themselves into our hearts and minds.
Ellen explores what makes Patricia Highsmith’s work so cinematic, with a lifelong Highsmith fan – critic and novelist Kim Newman. And she speaks to Swiss documentary filmmaker Eva Vitija about her 2022 film Loving Highsmith – a fascinating look at the author’s life and artistry, told through her unpublished diaries, and interviews with her friends and former lovers.
Mark Kermode looks beyond Highsmith’s work, to explore how the 'Ripleyesque' figure has endured. He discusses cinema’s most notorious interlopers, from The Great Gatsby to Saltburn, with Manuela Lazic, a French critic, writer and filmmaker.
Mark also talks to two of his favourite filmmakers, Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor. Christine and Joe’s newest film Baltimore – about the debutante turned IRA member Rose Dugdale – is just one of many stories about interloping and identity that they’ve brought to the screen over the years. They tell Mark why the theme fascinates them.
Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

As the British Board of Film Classification publishes its new guidelines, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode delve into the long, chequered history of film censorship and classification in the UK.
Mark speaks to BBFC President (and original Strictly Come Dancing winner) Natasha Kaplinsky about her role, and about her reaction to the new guidelines. And he discusses the Board's controversial history, and some of its most notorious decisions, with ex-BBFC Head of Compliance Craig Lapper.
Ellen talks to director Prano Bailey-Bond about her debut film Censor, which was inspired by the 'video nasty' moral panic of the 1980s. And pop culture critic Kayleigh Donaldson talks her through some of the differences between the BBFC and its US equivalent, the MPA Ratings Board.
Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at divorce in film and TV, from His Girl Friday to The Split.
Ellen looks at comedic takes on divorce, first discussing marriage, divorce and remarriage in the 1930s screwball comedy genre with critic Pamela Hutchinson.
She then speaks to comedian Rob Brydon, who made what she considers to be the greatest TV programme about divorce - the BBC2 sitcom Marion and Geoff.
Meanwhile, Mark talks to screenwriter Abi Morgan about her BBC1 series The Split, which follows a family of high-end divorce lawyers working in London.
He also talks to Los Angeles family law attorney and chief of divorce evolution at Divorce.com, Laura Wasser about how accurate or misleading Hollywood depictions of breakups really are.
Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode take a deep dive into the cinematic subconscious to explore dreams in film and television.
Mark talks to Sandra Hebron, psychotherapist and head of screen arts at the National Film and Television School, about the origins and history of dreams in film.
He also speaks to director Bernard Rose, best known for his 1992 film, Candyman. They discuss his debut film, Paperhouse, and how it portrays the blurred lines between reality and dreams.
Taking a look at everything from The Sopranos to The Big Lebowski, Ellen investigates some of film and TV's most memorable dream sequences with help from film critic, Anne Billson.
Ellen then speaks to independent film director, Tom DeCillo, whose 1995 film, Living in Oblivion sought to subvert the clichés of the cinematic dream sequence.
Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Forty years on from 1984 and the release of the John Hurt-starring big screen adaptation of George Orwell’s novel, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore dystopian visions from British film and TV.
Mark speaks to film critic Kim Newman about the literary roots of the dystopia, from 1984 to A Clockwork Orange. And he talks to actor Brian Cox about how, in a career that has included roles as Dr Hannibal Lecter and Logan Roy, the prophetic 1968 TV play The Year of The Sex Olympics remains one of the projects he is most proud of.
Meanwhile, Ellen talks to Ngozi Onwurah, the director of landmark film Welcome II The Terrordome. Released in 1995, the radical British dystopian tale was the first feature directed by a black woman to get a UK cinema release. Ellen and Ngozi discuss why Welcome II The Terrordome was so prescient.
And Ellen also speaks to Kibwe Tavares, who co-directed new film The Kitchen, about a dilapidated housing estate in a near-future London, with Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya.
Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

In the year of a Presidential election, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode investigate the murky world of American Elections on screen.
Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 Presidential election, inspired many film lovers to reconnect with two films - John Frankenheimer’s 1962 political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate, and David Cronenburg’s 1983 adaptation of Stephen King’s sci-fi horror The Dead Zone. Both films are steeped in subterfuge, conspiracy and corruption.
Mark speaks with politically engaged comedian Greg Proops to ask why two movies from the 20th century seem so relevant to 21st century politics. Former Obama speech writer turned podcaster Tommy Vietor talks with Mark about the relationship between fictional presidents and real life PR.
Ellen takes a look at the iconic and beloved drama The West Wing, and how it affects real world opinions on American politics and presidents. She speaks with West Wing writer Paul Redford to talk about what this portrayal of the perfect President does to real life democracy and the mindset of the electorate. Does it give us something to aim for? Or might it distract us from what’s really going on?
And Professor Kristina Riegert talks about the wealth of academic research that The West Wing has been the focus of - political compromise is just as essential on screen as it is in real life.
Producer: Freya Hellier
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4