Fresh from winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Howards End, Emma Thompson speaks about the experience of attending the Oscars and mingling with Hollywood royalty ("It's like meeting Mount Rushmore"). With self-deprecating wit, Thompson describes the Academy Awards as a sort of "ghastly wedding", complete with frock anxieties and endless "limo jams".

At the time of this 1993 broadcast, Thompson was one half of a formidable 'golden couple' of British cinema with her then-husband, Kenneth Branagh, and the pair were both making great strides into the Hollywood limelight - as evidenced by Thompson's Oscar triumph, which made her the first British actress to win Best Actress in over 20 years, since Glenda Jackson's two wins in the category in the early 1970s.

And yet, for all the success, Thompson comes across as down-to-earth, unreserved and engaging when speaking about her career, her early aspirations to become a comedian, and, ultimately, the importance of finding a work-life balance. "Making films is a wonderful job," she reveals. "But there's nothing to compare to your family, your friends, your life... If you don't have a life, I don't think you have much to offer in films. How can you hope to represent human beings if you're not living with them and connecting with them?"

This edition of The Frost Programme expands beyond the one-on-one chat show format to embrace current affairs and commentary. First, the controversial LBC radio contributor and Sun columnist Richard Littlejohn presents a guest editorial, a wry rant about rail strikes, working from home, office flings and workplace caricatures. Finally, Metropolitan Police commissioner Paul Condon is interviewed by Frost and the audience, which includes television executive Michael Grade, about the policing of London, the increase in crime, low clear-up rates, complaints against the police, and corrupt officers.