Loose Ends

Loose Ends this week is a masterclass in the many ways human beings find to laugh: the writer and comic Jenny Eclair started her career as a punk performance poet, who created her stage name to chime with the band she joined - Cathy le Creme and the Rumbabas. But as we learn in her new memoir, she knew as a small child called Jenny Hargreaves that she had the "funny bones" required to make her a comedy star. There is little about Ferdia Lennon's debut novel Glorious Exploits that might suggest comedy - its set in 412 BC Sicily, in the years after Athens’ failed invasion and tells the story of two locals who get Athenian prisoners of war to stage a production of the play Medea. Yet this book's just won an award for comic writing. Nikki Amuka-Bird is a Bafta-winning actor and her new movie Rumours features a constellation of Hollywood stars. But this comedy-horror-satire features her alongside Cate Blanchett and Charles Dance prat-falling as world leaders at a summit. And stand-up Lou Sanders is about to go on the road with a show called No Kissing In The Bingo Hall, but she's taken diversions via Dancing on Ice and Taskmaster and will be trying not to laugh in series one of Last One Laughing UK next year. With music by Roddy Woomble of Idlewild.Presenter: Clive Anderson Producer: Olive Clancy

Author and historian Charles Spencer has written many books including The White Ship, To Catch A King and A Very Private School, and now finds himself down a Rabbit Hole – along with his fellow trivia hunters Cat Jarman and Richard Coles - in their podcast The Rabbit Hole Detectives. Digging into the past and uncovering weird and wonderful stories, every week the trio discuss the whos, whats, whens and whys and have now turned all this into a book… aptly titled The Rabbit Hole Book. Charles joins us to dig a little deeper… Romy Gill is a celebrated chef and food writer whose many TV appearances include Ready Steady Cook, Morning Live, Countryfile and Celebrity Masterchef, as well as being a regular voice on Radio 4 on The Food Programme. Her food is inspired by both her West Bengal and Punjab roots, and she tells us all about her new book in which she collects many recipes of home, Romy Gill’s India. Former EastEnder turned X Man Ben Hardy has left both Albert Square and his superhero wings behind to take on the role of Luke, a single father and a seemingly straight, white, car mechanic, who meets and forms a deep relationship with a south Asian, queer, club dancer called Ayesha in the film Unicorns. Ben joins Clive to talk about the challenges of the role and his leap from the small to the big screen. Comedian, writer and campaigner Sarah Mills was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2018, or, as she puts it, “my bum tried to kill me”. Since then, she has tried to shine a light on hidden disability and has been breaking taboos in conversations around what would normally be seen as embarrassing bodily functions. She tells us all about her new Radio 4 series Sarah Mills’ Bad Bod Squad, and all things leaky, squeaky, lumpy and wonky. There's music from New Starts who bring their style of new wave and angular guitar rock with two songs - Don't Need Persuading and Let Me Start Again.Presenter: Clive Anderson Producer: Elizabeth Foster Production Co-ordinator: Lydia Depledge-Miller

Loose Ends embraces the great outdoors this week at the Kendal Mountain Festival. Stuart talks to festival patron and bestselling writer Robert Macfarlane about his "mountain DNA" and unusual walking snack. Broadcaster and writer Louise Minchin loves a mountain too. Having put aside the extreme working practice of rising at 3am for Breakfast TV she now loves a triathlon, a free-dive at night under ice or the extreme experience that is learning to cook a soufflé from an online video for Celebrity Masterchef. Space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock - who is such a star there is even a Barbie doll in her image - on being inspired by the night sky, be that incredible telescope images or The Clangers as she was as a child. And for a counterpoint approach we have a relative newcomer to the country, the comedian Chris Cantrill who describes himself as a "rural imposter" and hosts a podcast about adapting to the northern wilds by competitive leek growing and donning a cape. Plus music from Lake District singer songwriter Olivia Fern and Cumbrian-born indie artist Melanie Baker, who loves mountains so much she once filmed a music video at the top of one. Presenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Olive Clancy

Clive Anderson is joined by actor Shazad Latif, who stars as Nemo in 'Nautilus', a new ten part TV series based on Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. Latif's TV credits include Spooks, The Pursuit of Love and Toast of London, where he played the fan favourite Clem Fandango. And he's also joined by Michael Cumming, who directed Latif in three series of Toast of London. He is currently touring his documentary film 'Oxide Ghosts', a collection of outtakes and behind the scenes footage from the cult series 'Brass Eye' only ever shown at special live screenings.Laurie Anderson is one of the world’s most pioneering creative artists. Her documentary film 'Heart of a Dog' was nominated for an Oscar, and she had a surprise hit in 1981 with her song 'O Superman', which reached number two in the UK singles chart. Her new Multimedia show ARK: United States V has just opened at Manchester's Factory International. Comedian Sooz Kempner's most recent stand up show is 'Class of 2000'. It takes her back to sitting her GCSE's in a state school in the year 2000 while being preoccupied with horses, EastEnders and the millenium bug. It's also about the architectural wonder of the Viennetta. Sooz is also one of the hosts of The Queen Podcast. Music is from Trust Fund, the musical project of Ellis Jones. After taking a break from music Jones is back with a new album 'Has it been a while?' And we also have a performance from Manchester based soul-pop artist Ellen Beth Abdi.Presenter: Clive Anderson Producer: Jessica Treen

The comedian and actor John Bishop is about to head off on a tour celebrating 25 years in stand up - a quarter century since he took to the stage on a whim and ended up one of the UK's favourite stars. The explorer Lucy Shepherd is more likely to be found fighting off venomous spiders than hecklers. For her latest TV series she's embarked on a never before completed journey across Guyana. How did she cope with the threat of trench foot, zero daylight and the ominous warnings from the locals - "don't go, you might not get back"? The Comic and podcaster Grace Campbell is also one for exploration but hers involve the world of dating and parties in her tour - On Heat. She'll be competing on tall tales and ominous warnings, no doubt. And broadcaster and columnist Adrian Chiles will cast a cool eye on proceedings as he does in his much-shared newspaper articles on chewy topics such as home urinals, favourite spoons and the biggie - we can go to the moon, so why can’t we stop my glasses sliding down my nose? With music by "the songwriter's songwriter" Ron Sexsmith and "Hendrix of the kora" Seckou Keita. Presented by Stuart Maconie Produced by Olive Clancy

Monty Python star and king of the travel documentary Michael Palin has just published the fourth volume of his best-selling diaries. In 'There and Back' he covers the years 1999-2009. He joins Clive to talk about how the 21st Century has treated him.The actor and Call The Midwife star Jessica Raine is soon to return to our screens in the second series of 'The Devil's Hour' where she plays Lucy Chambers, the insomniac social worker who wakes every night at 3.33am.Susan Wokoma has just finished playing Charlotte in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing at the Old Vic and she will soon be back as Fola in the BBC drama Cheaters, which starts its second series later this month.The WAEVE are a collaboration between Blur guitarist Graham Coxon and singer-songwriter Rose Elinor Dougall. They perform a track from their new album City Lights.And there's more music from the London based Jazz musican Ashley Henry who has just released his sophmore album 'Who We Are'Presenter: Clive Anderson Producer: Jessica Treen

Loose Ends is at the Stratford-upon-Avon Literary Festival and Stuart Maconie is joined by Harriet Walter, who has played many roles at the RSC in Stratford and has just published 'She Speaks!', a book imagining what Shakespeare's women might have said if they'd been given half a chance. John Douglas Thompson is one of America's finest classical actors, now playing his first role on the main stage at the RSC. He is returning to the role of Othello, 16 years after first taking it on. Comedian and writer Robert Popper created the beloved sitcom Friday Night Dinner and has been the scourge of many with his 'Time Waster Letters'. He's back writing letters again, this time as Elsie Drake (104 years old). Jessica Hepburn is an 'arts adventurer', and the only woman to have swum the English Channel, run the London marathon and summitted Everest. She might also be the only person in the world to have listened to every available episode of Desert Island Discs...And there's music from Emily Burns and Wes FinchPresenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Jessica Treen

Stuart is joined in the Loose Ends Salford Studio by comedian, musican, actor and Strictly winner Bill Bailey. His new book is 'My Animals, and Other Animals: A memoir of sorts'. It's the story of his life through the creatures who have meant something to him, and a celebration of how animals bring us joy. The Yorkshire Shepherdess, Amanda Owen, talks about her latest Channel 4 series - Our Farm Next Door - where she and her large family adapt a ruined farm for a show described as Grand Designs meets Our Yorkshire Farm. In 2022 the comedian and podcast host Kiri Pritchard-McLean hosted a Radio 4 programme Egg-sistential Crisis, exploring her decision not to have children. In her new stand up tour, Peacock, she continues her story now that she and her partner have become foster carers. Maya Sondhi played the hapless PC Maneet Bandra in Line of Duty and Shazia Khan in Citizen Khan. But she is also the writer and creator of ITV’s police thriller DI Ray starring Parminder Nagra who describes her role as “a female Columbo in a green coat”. And there's music from the acclaimed folk singer Katherine Priddy, who released her second album 'The Pendulum Swing' earlier this year. She also performs a duet with Grammy nominated songwriter Richard WaltersPresenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Olive Clancy

The poet Pam Ayres, author of Oh, I wish I'd looked after Me Teeth - which was voted one of the UK's top ten comic verses - joins Clive to discuss almost half a century of writing and a new volume of her collected works - Doggedly Onwards. Dawn O'Porter was once the journalist behind documentaries on topics from extreme dieting to poligamy and even the movie Dirty Dancing. Now she's a bestselling novelist and her latest work Honeybee is the taboo-tackling tale of twentysomething friends Renee and Flo who grew up, like Dawn herself, on Guernsey and seem to be failing at life. The comedian Ahir Shah went to Edinburgh festival last year with a work-in-progress show about family, immigration, Rishi Sunak and baked beans. He came home with the 2023 Edinburgh Comedy Award. Now that show is on Netflix and he's taking off on a UK tour. And Poppy O'Toole, a Michelin-trained chef who's become a TikTok sensation with the moniker "The Potato Queen" on gadgets and keeping eating interesting. Plus music from soul singer Dee C Lee, who worked with Wham! and The Style Council but is now back with a new album and touring for the first time in 25 years. Presented by Clive Anderson Produced by Olive Clancy

Stuart Maconie presents Loose Ends from the North Cornwall Book Festival in St Endellion. He is joined by Patrick Gale, Tom Allan, Anna Keirle and Tim Smit, and there's music from the multi-instrumentalist Angeline Morrison.Patrick Gale is the author of the Emmy award-winning BBC drama Man in an Orange Shirt and novels including A Place Called Winter, A Perfectly Good Man and Notes From An Exhibition. He’s been the Artistic Director of the North Cornwall Book Festival since it began in 2012. He joins Loose Ends to tell us all about his final year in the role. Born in Scotland and armed only with an English degree, Tom Allan turned his back on his desk-based city job and headed west, where a life out in the open air beckoned. Now a full-time thatcher and writer, Tom’s book On The Roof tells tales of craftmanship from around the world and he joins Stuart to talk nitches, yealms and exactly what to do with a biddle. Anna Keirle is stand-up, writer and actor who has been working the comedy circuit for over 20 years performing from Cornwall to Edinburgh and beyond. She co-wrote and starred in Radio 4’s Wosson Cornwall alongside Dawn French, and faced Anne Robinson when she took on - and won - The Weakest Link. Former archaeologist-come-songwriter-come-producer-come-entrepreneur Sir Tim Smit KBE once sheltered from the Cornish rain in an estate agents while on holiday - and ended up buying a house. After relocating to Cornwall, he came across someone who needed a little archaeology expertise for some overgrown and neglected land... and the Lost Gardens of Heligan were reborn. Spotting a disused pit a little further up the road, and - one night in the local pub later - plans for the Eden Project were formed. Opening in 2001, the Project has contributed over £1.9 billion to the Cornish economy. And there's music from Angeline Morrison, who joins us to play Fair Maid In Bedlam and the haunting Unknown African Boy. Angeline has been unearthing the voices of black ancestors whose footprint has been missing from the collected British folk history. Affectionately referred to as 're-storying', the result of her work - 2022’s The Sorrow Songs - drew acclaim across the board, praising her “courage in reconstructing folk repertoire” as “truly revolutionary”. Presenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Elizabeth Foster Production Co-ordinator: Lydia Depledge-MillerPhoto: Drew Shearwood