The South Bank Show

Melvyn Bragg and Ballard discuss his experiences as a medical student (encouraging everyone to spend some time studying anatomy), through to his discovery of science fiction. Ballard talks about the influence of the Surrealist painters on his early novels, which all dealt with natural catastrophe (The Drowned World, The Crystal World, The Drought) and the death of his wife and the effect this had on his fiction. They talk also about Crash, Ballard's most controversial novel, which inspired one publisher's reader to write "This author is beyond psychiatric help. Do not publish" - which Ballard took as a huge compliment!

This episode of The South Bank Show provides a unique insight into Damien Hirst not as the enfant terrible of an art world but as an art collector and businessman. Known for creating one of the most famous icons of modern art, a 14ft tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde, which shocked the public, he also produces decorative spot and spin paintings. His prolific output and entrepreneurialism have made him one of the world's most expensive living artists, with an estimated fortune of £100 million. One of Hirst's motivations for his growing art collection is Toddington, a dilapidated Gothic Manor house in Gloucestershire, which he purchased in 2005 for £3 million and will one day house his entire collection. Here, he shows Melvyn Bragg around Toddington, outlining his plans for its future. They discuss his art collection, his artistic heroes and the relationship between money and art.

31-14 04 May 08 Liza Minnelli

Melvyn Bragg looks back at an eye-opening interview with American writer Gore Vidal on The South Bank Show in 2008.