A look at the 18 year career of a band who, until their latest album The Seldom Seen Kid, were considered a well-kept secret. Now with a host of prizes and awards, Elbow are the music story of 2009. Melvyn Bragg interviews lead singer Guy Garvey, while keyboardist Craig Potter talks about the band's evolution musically and his other role as producer. Including exclusive footage of Elbow at their MEN arena gig in Manchester, and archive footage of the band when they were teenagers in Bury.

The final South Bank Show goes behind the scenes of The Royal Shakespeare Company, as it embarks on an ambitious and exciting new programme of work inspired by Russia and the ex-Soviet Union.

Melvyn Bragg presents the final South Bank Show Awards in front of a star-studded audience at The Dorchester in London. These unique awards celebrate the best of British talent across the arts including classical music, comedy, dance, literature, film, pop, TV drama and theatre. The event includes a world exclusive premiere, the first public performance of the title song from Andrew Lloyd Webber's long anticipated new show Love Never Dies, sung by its star Sierra Boggess.