01/07/2008 The Culture Show : Season 2008 Episode 17

Celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of George Orwell's 1984, we form a book group consisting entirely of ex Big Brother contestants to discuss the work, chaired by literary critic and ex Celebrity Big Brother housemate Germaine Greer. The panellists, including 'nasty' Nick Bateman, ex-Tory candidate Derek Laud and Aisleyne Horgan Wallace, discuss the parallels between the Orwellian nightmare and their own experiences in the house. Also, London DJ and musician Bishi, whose unique sound fuses English, Bengali and Bulgarian music, gives us behind -the -scenes access to rehearsals for her most audacious collaboration yet - with the London Symphony Orchestra. Fellow DJ Nihal talks to Bishi and members of the LSO about the collaboration which is part of UBS Soundscapes: Eclectica, a project which brings together artists from vastly different styles and backgrounds. Plus tightrope walker Phillippe Petit joins Mark and Lauren in the studio to discuss the extraordinary new documentary Man on Wire, which tells the story of Petit's audacious wire walk between New York's twin towers back in the 1970s. The gripping tale of how it was planned and carried out won the film the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at this year's Sundance Festival. Petit himself is an extraordinary autodidact who taught himself magic, drawing, fencing, horseback riding, bullfighting, five languages and finally tightrope walking, after being legally emancipated by his parents while in his teens. Music comes from The Raconteurs, the band formed by Detroit neighbours Jack White and Brendan Benson, who will be in the studio to perform a track from their new album, Consolers Of The Lonely, and to talk to Lauren in the studio.