Saturday Live

Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by Tim Vine, a comedian who eschewes the observational / confessional style, and celebrates joke telling and puns, his latest tour combines his love of music with comedy. Listener Fiona Maher grew up hearing that she had a half-brother that she’d never met.  After 40 years, she finally found him. She joins us to tell us what it’s like to have a new family.  Phil Manzanera has played in some of the biggest stadiums in the world as the guitarist of Roxy Music. His South American heritage is at the root of his latest work. Yazz Ahmed is a trumpeter described as “the high priestess of psychedelic Arabic Jazz”, she joins us. We have the Inheritance Tracks of actor David Thewlis, who chooses Starry Starry Night by Don McLean, and 11.59 by Blondie. And your Thank you.

Ellie Taylor joins Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles. The comedian, writer and The Mash Report newsreader talks about her path to stand-up, real life inspiration, and ruining her life in the best way possible.Listener Tom Edwards has had a successful broadcasting career but he hit rock bottom and ended up homeless. He talks about his road to recovery, and how he was helped by a well-known comedian.Mevan Babakar's family fled Iraq in 1991 and she spent her childhood moving from country to country. She explains why she decided to track down the asylum centre worker who gifted her a bike when she was five.Andy Hamilton shares his Inheritance Tracks: It’s Impossible by Perry Como and It Doesn’t Matter Anymore sung by Buddy Holly.SK Shlomo can produce more noises from his mouth than the average orchestra. As a beatboxer, he’s performed at Glastonbury Festival and has collaborated with musicians including Bjork. But behind the music Shlomo has struggled with mental health issues.My Child and Other Mistakes: How to Ruin Your Life in the Best Way Possible by Ellie Taylor is out now. Longhand by Andy Hamilton is out now. Shlomo's Beatbox Adventure For Kids is touring now until November throughout the UK.Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Richard Hooper

Nikki Bedi and Shaun Keaveny are joined by Christian O’Connell, presenter of the Breakfast Show on Gold FM in Melbourne, Australia. He tells us why he left his number one show on Absolute Radio, with three million listeners, to move to the other side of the world and take on the toughest radio market there is.Listener Lisa Jones on the World War Two dog tag she found in her garden and what she discovered when she went in search of the owner. Paula Craig was a detective in the Metropolitan Police, a marathon runner and triathlete when she was knocked off her bike and paralysed. She tells us how she was determined to live life to the full, pushing marathons and how she is about to swim in a Channel Relay. Novelist and screenwriter Deborah Moggach shares her Inheritance Tracks. She's chosen Ella Fitzgerald, Thanks for the Memory and Dory Previn, The Lady with the Braid.Comedian Daliso Chaponda shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent where he reached final by getting the Golden Buzzer. Since then, he’s performed at the Royal Variety Performance, has his own series on Radio 4, Citizen of Nowhere and is about to embark on a UK tour with Apocalypse Not Now. Producer: Annette Wells

Jack Savoretti joins Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles to talk about his heritage, how his mum inspired him to get into music, and why for his seventh studio album, Europiana, Jack has reached back into his memories of childhood holidays spent on the beaches of north west Italy.Listener and musician Elaine Bryant contacted us to tell us about a very lucky escape she had back in 1984.  She was 17, a harpist from Dublin, on a tour of North America and Canada, when they got caught in a snowstorm in the wilds of North Dakota.On active duty during the first Gulf War in 1991, John Nichol's Tornado bomber was shot down. He was held as a prisoner-of-war and under threat of execution appeared on TV around the world reciting Iraqi propaganda. John explains how a reunion 25 years after the conflict inspired him to tell the stories of the people involved. Journalist and author Caitlin Moran shares her Inheritance Tracks: Sister Suffragette from Mary Poppins and Something Good by Utah Saints.Fifth generation circus performer Emily England was a semi-finalist with her roller-skating brother on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’. The duo became Las Vegas headliners but Emily suffered a terrible knee injury that threatened her career. Emily talks about her life as a performer and making her West End solo debut as a magician.Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Eleanor GarlandJack Savoretti's album Europiana is out now, he is performing over the summer and has a 12 date UK tour next spring. Tornado: In the Eye of the Storm by John Nichol is out now. More Than A Woman by Caitlin Moran is out now in paperback. Photo Credit: Alex Lake. Emily England is a guest star Wonderville: Magic & Illusion at the Palace Theatre in London from 28th July - 2nd August.

Matt Haig is an award-winning author of fiction for both adults and children and his memoir of depression and anxiety Reasons to Stay Alive became a runaway bestseller. He joins Richard Coles and Nikki Bedi to discuss the inspiration for his latest non-fiction work The Comfort Book.Bexy Cameron was born into the Children of God cult and moved around the world with the notorious group. She escaped at fifteen but later felt compelled to document religious sects in order to better understand her childhood and her parents’ motivation for remaining in one. Her book Cult Following explores her childhood and her extraordinary journey through US religious cults.Debbie Money recently discovered her mum’s recipe book spanning five decades. From conch fritters to cheese and pineapple hedgehogs, Debbie is recreating her parents’ dinner parties to honour her mum, who died earlier this year, and to time travel through food. Charlie Gilmour was photographed hanging off the Cenotaph in Whitehall in 2010, an act that would see him imprisoned for violent disorder. Charlie was going through emotional turmoil at the time, having been abandoned by his biological father. Years later, Charlie would take an abandoned magpie chick under his wing and the bird flourished under his care, opening his own path to fatherhood. He joins us to talk about what it means to be a father and his book, Featherhood.And we hear the Inheritance Tracks of broadcaster Anita Rani.Producer: Laura Northedge Editor: Richard Hooper

Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by Craig Revel Horwood, He is the one to impress on the Strictly Judging panel, a critical eye honed by his long history in performance and choreography including West Side Story, Cats, Chess, Sister Act, Annie, Son of A Preacher man and all the Strictly Tours. Jessie Cave played Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter films, is a comedian, doodler, podcaster and now a novelist, she joins us. Will Buckingham has always opened his house to strangers. When his partner died of breast cancer in 2016 he found continuing to do so helped him with his grief.Saturday Live Listener Rita Oakes tells us about her mum, the long distance lorry driver.The Inheritance Tracks of writer Michael Rosen who chooses Tom Lerher’s song Wernher von Braun and Young Hearts Run Free, Candi Staton.And your Thank You.Producer: Corinna Jones

Felicity Kendal made her stage debut as a baby. Over 70 years later she’s preparing to appear in her first musical, Anything Goes. She talks to Nikki Bedi and Suzy Klein about her career, including the impact of playing Barbara in The Good Life. Sarah Bickers grew up in a welcoming but messy home, and, living with ADHD, has learnt how to to create order out of chaos. She shares her experiences to help others as a professional declutterer. Jamie Hull was involved in a plane crash which saw most of his body burnt and he was given a 5% chance of survival. It took years for him to recover mentally and physically. He talks about how he’s found the strength to seize life and inspire others.George The Poet shares his Inheritance Tracks: And the Beat Goes On by The Whispers and Collateral Damage by Burna Boy.Ore Oduba triumphed in the 14th series of Strictly Come Dancing. He’s now about to tour the country in the Rocky Horror show.Felicity Kendal is appearing in Anything Goes at the Barbican Theatre in London from Friday 23 July 2021, until Sunday 17th October. Life on a Thread by Jamie Hull is out now.George The Poet: Live From The Barbican takes place on Thursday 1st July.Ore Oduba stars as Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Show - which is touring at venues across the UK from the 16th July.Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Richard Hooper

Johnny Flynn is in the rare position and being both an acclaimed musician and a successful actor who is breaking into the A-list both here and in America. He recently starred as David Bowie in the biopic Stardust and Mr Knightly in a big-screen adaptation of Emma and has just released an album he made during lockdown with writer Robert MacFarlane; Lost in the Cedarwood. He joins Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles to talk about combining music, acting and family life.James O’Brien grew up knowing he wanted to follow in the footsteps his journalist father by having his own career in the media. However, after experiencing a crisis in his personal life a few years ago, James realised that neither is job as a broadcaster on LBC or his expensive public school education had prepared him to cope with his emotional trauma. He talks about his book How Not to be Wrong: The Art of Changing Your Mind.When most people take pictures of their friends, the photos are briefly admired but usually quickly forgotten. But when Carinthia West took photos of her friends in the 70s, they included icons such as The Rolling Stones and Helen Mirren. Carinthia’s candid photos which offer a glimpse into the private lives of the rich and talented were left unprinted for decades and have only recently been revealed to the public for the first time. Steve Brown was captain of Great Britain’s wheelchair rugby team at the London Paralympics in 2012. Since then, he has become a regular fixture on our TV screens as a presenter on Countryfile and Escape to the Country. He talks to us about his love of nature and the moments which changed the course of his life.And we hear the Inheritance Tracks of Sugababe Keisha Buchanan.Producer: Laura Northedge Editor: Richard Hooper

Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by iconic Beninese singer songwriter Angelique Kidjo. Whilst known for her energetic world music style she has also collaborated with Philip Glass, covered Talking Heads, played to a jubilant crowd at the BBC Proms and worked as an advocate for the rights and education of women.Growing up in Afghanistan in the 80s, Waheed Arian had to flee the war aged 5. He contracted TB in a refugee camp and his childhood and education were completely disrupted by war. He sought asylum in the UK, gaining enough qualifications to go to Cambridge University to study medicine. He joins us.Esme Young ran an avant garde fashion shop, has made costumes for Leonardo Di Caprio and Renée Zellweger, lectures at Central St Martins and is a judge on the Great British Sewing Bee on BBC One. Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith is also a passionate angler – he joins us.We have the inheritance Tracks of the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell who chooses Chopin Nocturne No. 1 in b-flat minor and Tippett A Child of our Time, and your thank you.Producer: Corinna Jones

Big Zuu joins Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles. The rapper started teaching himself to cook when he was 9 and is now combining a career in music with his passion for food. Listener Shobha Edgell is a former barrister who, after retirement, took up walking football, as well as being an extra in television and film. Hamish de Bretton Gordon is a chemical weapons expert who also has a heart condition called Sudden Death Syndrome. Victoria Hislop shares her Inheritance Tracks: Take Five by Dave Brubeck and Pio Poli by Michalis Hatzigiannis. Rick Stanton is a cave diver who, in the summer of 2018, was one of the lead divers involved in the rescue of a trapped football team from a flooded cave in Thailand. The second series of Big Zuu’s Big Eats starts on Monday 7th June at 10pm on Dave, and all episodes available as a boxset on UKTV Play from then. Chemical Warrior by Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is out now. Maria’s Island by Victoria Hislop is out now. Aquanaut: A Life Beneath the Surface by Rick Stanton is out on the 10th June.Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Richard Hooper