Saturday Live

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

Sara Cox has been entertaining the nation for 25 years, first through Channel 4 and MTV, then as host of Breakfast on BBC Radio 1 and now drive time on Radio 2. She joins Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles to discuss her latest project, TV book club Under the Covers.Ben Dunne’s teenage son River died in a tragic road traffic accident in Sweden alongside his fellow bandmates from Viola Beach and their manager. They were on the cusp of stardom, scheduled to play a series of festivals in the UK and beyond. In the years following the tragedy, Ben has dedicated his life to providing opportunities for young people in River’s name. Anoushe Husain is a paraclimber who was born missing her right arm below the elbow. A civil-servant by day, Anoushe has experience multiple health conditions including cancer, and now supports girls from deprived backgrounds to improve their lives through climbing.Listener Dr Stephen Gillam is a GP who wonders if he was predestined to take up the stethoscope after discovering his family have been doctors for the best part of 250 years. And we have the Inheritance Tracks of ballet dancer Darcey Bussell.Producer: Laura Northedge Editor: Richard Hooper

Award winning comedian and actor Omid Djalili joins us to talk about his route to fame, taking part in Splash, quiz show catchphrases, performing in Persian for the first time recently and getting back on stage after lockdown.In 1974, aged 17, Debbie Gayle travelled to the Soviet Union to train at the Kirov school of ballet. It was the height of the Cold war, and she found the experience thoroughly unwelcoming with the exception of a woman called Natasha who became her friend. When Debbie became ill and was isolated in hospital, Natasha proved to be a life line, helping her return to the UK where she left ballet and started a family. Almost 50 years later she told the story to her son and tracked Natasha down, creating a podcast about her experience called "Finding Natasha".Former Chelsea and Everton winger turned 5live pundit Pat Nevin on becoming a footballer by accident. Emma Gray is a world-renowned sheepdog trainer who recently relocated from a remote farm in Northumberland to the even more remote Isle of Bute in Scotland. Not only did she take along her husband and baby, as one would expect, but she packed up her 500 sheep, 40 cows and 20 dogs and transported them by ferry. She talks to us about uprooting, new love and new pastures.Mary Beard chooses her inheritance tracks: Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel and Sisters are Doin' it for Themselves by Eurythmics with Aretha Franklin. And your thank you!Producer: Corinna Jones

Russell Tovey joins Nikki Bedi and Shaun Keaveny. The actor shares how his childhood passion for cartoons and collecting developed into a life changing love of art. Monica Korpal talks about why she retrained to become a nurse. Having been a hospital patient since childhood, due to a rare blood condition, she now works for the Haematology Unit where she was a patient. Alex George entertained millions on Love Island in 2018 but he's also an A&E doctor and personal experiences now make him focused on improving mental health and well-being. Jonathan Dimbleby shares his Inheritance Tracks: Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, the final movement. Celebrity auctioneer and antiques dealer Raj Bisram has appeared on television programmes including Channel 4’s Four Rooms and the BBC’s Antiques Road Trip, Flog It! and Bargain Hunt. But before he followed that path, he served in the army, as a ski racer and instructor and loves performing magic.Talk Art by Russell Tovey and Robert Diament is out now. And you can listen to the Talk Art podcast. Russell is also appearing in Constellations with Omari Douglas (30 July - 11 September) at the Vaudeville Theatre in London. Russell is curating Breakfast Under The Tree at the Carl Freedman Gallery in Margate in June, Prismatic Minds at The Flowers Gallery in London in July and a Hugh Steers exhibition in August. Finally, Russell is a 2021 Turner Prize Judge.Live Well Every Day by Dr Alex George is out now.Barbarossa: How Hitler Lost The War by Jonathan Dimbleby is out now.Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Richard Hooper

Chef Raymond Blanc began to write a recipe book at the beginning of 2020 inspired by the fast and simple cooking of French scientist Edouard de Pomaine and by his mother. He had no idea the world was about to change. A few months later, Raymond was self-isolating when he found that his mother had died in France and then he was hospitalised with Covid for a month over Christmas and into January. He joins Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles to explain how Simply Raymond: Recipes from Home reflects how the past year has changed his approach to food and life.Kathryn Heyman experienced a horrific assault in her early 20s on her way home from a party. In a bid to escape the trauma, Kathryn joined four trawlermen on the Timor Sea where she was unexpectedly able to heal from the wounds of the past. She joins us to talk about her new memoir Fury. Actor Joseph Marcell has been well-known to British theatre audiences for 50 years, beginning his stint at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1972 and now sitting on the board of The Globe Theatre. He is globally famous for a different reason, having played the role of British butler Geoffrey in hit 90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which launched the career of Will Smith and is still in syndication on television networks around the world.Asian Network presenter Yasser got his first break in TV when he was 12. He talks about discovering a different side to Pakistan when he went there as a DJ, being a 2012 Olympic Torch Bearer and shares stories from his Ramadan tracker, which is discovering out how Muslims are celebrating Ramadan around the world. And we have the Inheritance Tracks of designer Anya Hindmarch.Producer: Laura Northedge Editor: Eleanor Garland