Saturday Live

Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by Ray Mears - an authority on bushcraft and survival, he's been presenting TV series and teaching on the subject for 3 decades.Jono Lancaster has a rare genetic condition called Treacher Collins Syndrome and was adopted at birth. He has made TV programmes, set up a charity and travelled extensively supporting other young people with facial difference. He discusses his journey to self acceptance.Jenny Packham’s designs have graced countless red carpets and award shows since she launched her eponymous label in her early 20s. She tells us how she was inspired from a young age by her two dressmaker Grandmothers.Jake Tyler got severe depression and felt burnt out as a manager of a busy London pub. He ditched city life and embarked on a 3,000 mile walk around Britain, visiting every national park while meeting dozens of friendly strangers who offered him a bed. And the poet, actor and DJ Craig Charles chooses his inheritance tracks: Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit and Wilson Pickett singing Hey Jude. And your thank you.Producer: Corinna Jones

Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by singer Louise Redknapp who found fame in Eternal after being spotted in a nightclub aged 15. She went on to have a successful career as a solo artist, with 3 top ten albums, on stage in 9 to 5, and was also a Strictly finalist. Louise talks about growing up in the public eye, success, struggles and lessons she’d like to share. Para-powerlifter Ali Jawad became seriously ill at the Beijing Paralympics. He was later diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and was expected to retire; but, 13 years later he is still competing and hopes to make it to the Tokyo Olympics later this year.CBS news correspondent Martha Teichner talks about the unexpected friendship which changed her life, with the arrival of Bull Terrier Harry.Presenter Nicky Campbell shares his Inheritance Tracks: Smile by Nat King Cole and Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O'Sullivan.Celeste Bell's mother was X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene. She talks about her life growing up, how she's recently found out more about her mother's extraordinary life; why she was encouraged to get a good education and inheriting a love of travel.You’ve Got This by Louise Redknapp is out now. Ali Jawad will take part in the Para Powerlifting World Cup, from 25-28 March in Manchester. When Harry Met Minnie by Martha Teichner is out now. Nicky Campbell's book One of the Family is out now. Poly Styrene: I am a Cliché is out now to watch through Modern Films.Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Eleanor Garland

Gareth Thomas was 20 when he made his international rugby union debut for Wales in 1995. He went on to win 100 international caps for Wales, captaining them as well as the British and Irish Lions. Gareth announced publicly he was gay in 2009 and retired from rugby in 2011. In 2019, Gareth spoke openly about living with HIV and his new book Stronger documents the impact of his diagnosis and the ensuing publicity. He talks to Richard Coles and Nikki Bedi about challenging assumptions about HIV and masculinity.Chris McCausland is a stand-up comedian who is now a regular fixture on TV after 18 years on the circuit. Chris had to quit his job in IT because of a hereditary eye condition which means he is now blind. He almost became an MI5 spy at one stage but instead decided to make people laugh with his observational comedy.British Iranian musician and artist Roxana Vilk is collecting lullabies in diverse languages that are sung to children around Bristol and the UK. Singing Lullabies in Farsi to her own children allowed Roxana to connect with her culture and childhood experiences of conflict in the Middle East.Sylvia Wiggins was the drummer of the Liverbirds, emerging out of 1960s Liverpool as one of the world’s first female rock bands. They aimed to rival the Beatles in popularity and they eventually went on to play with Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks and the Rolling Stones. And we hear the Inheritance Tracks of singer Gabrielle.Producer: Laura Northedge Editor: Richard HooperPresenter: Nikki Bedi Presenter: Richard Coles

Niki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by Sophie Ellis Bextor. Having started in the music business aged 16 in indie band theaudience, she went on to have a hugely successful solo dance pop career with hits like Groovejet and Murder on the Dancefloor. Most recently seen singing in her kitchen every fortnight in her online Kitchen Disco.After taking calls from lonely farmers as a volunteer for the Samaritans, listener Heather Heber Percy founded a rural dating agency to connect single people in the countryside. She joins us.Beth French is an endurance swimmer with a history of ME, who became the first person to swim from Cornwall to the Isle of Scilly. She juggles her training with being a single mother to her autistic son Dylan. And Guvna B is an award winning rap artist, who found that his father's sudden death in 2017 challenged his faith, and ideas of masculinity and identity.We have the Inheritance Tracks of crime writer Stuart MacBride who chooses The Bear Necessities performed by Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen and My Chemical Romance: Welcome to the Black Parade.And your thank you.Producer: Corinna Jones

Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by Classic BRIT award winner Jess Gillam. At 22 Jess has released 2 albums, performed at the Last Night of the Proms and became the youngest ever presenter for BBC Radio 3. Jess talks about growing up in Ulverston in Cumbria, realising childhood ambitions and using music to spread joy.Drew Pritchard is the star of TV’s Salvage Hunters. He shares his passion for junk which has led to him discovering the casts that Lord Elgin made of his infamous marbles. He’s also made a million and lost it, and made it again. Listener Hannah Mornement's mother was a volunteer nurse in Ethiopia in 1985. Hannah talks about retracing her footsteps and meeting the people her mother helped.Writer Stella Duffy chooses her Inheritance Tracks: Life on Mars by David Bowie and You Got To Run by Buffy Sainte-Marie & Tanya Tagaq. Andi Osho’s CV includes film, TV, theatre, stand up and she’s just added fiction to the list. She talks about the inspiration for her debut novel, her late 20s life transformation and the importance of friendships.Jess Gillam's performance of Michael Nyman’s ‘Where the Bee Dances’ with the Manchester Camerata will be broadcast as a digital stream at 8pm on Friday 26th February. Jess is part of the ‘Classical Vauxhall’ series – which will be available to view on Sat 20th March. Jess has also recorded a concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra which will be available via the RPO’s website from Thursday 25th March (7:30pm) and then available on demand for two weeks. Man With A Van: My Story by Drew Pritchard is out now.Lullaby Beach by Stella Duffy is out now.Asking for a Friend by Andi Osho is out now.Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Eleanor Garland

Chi-chi Nwanoku is a double bass player and founder of Europe's first professional majority black and minority ethnic orchestra, Chineke!. Chi-chi is the eldest of five children, born to a Nigerian father and an Irish mother. Early on, she discovered two competing passions: playing the piano and 100 metre sprinting. She explains to Nikki to Richard how at 5ft tall, she has managed to find success playing the largest orchestral instrument.  Musician David Gray is best known for his folk inspired songs which have netted him multiple Ivor Novello awards and Brit nominations. He’s also played the Royal Albert Hall and toured around the world. He celebrates nearly 30 years in the charts with his new album ‘Skellig’.Louise Allen was adopted as a baby and suffered abuse throughout her childhood but found solace in art and writing. The artist now fosters her own children and has written the best-selling Thrown Away Children series based on her experiences on both sides of the care system. Burley Smith was Junior Third Mate on the “Ship of Miracles” – a US ship that rescued 14,000 North Korean refugees at the beginning of the Korean War in 1950. It was referred to as “the greatest rescue operation ever by a single ship” by the US Maritime Administration. He joins us discuss his role in this extraordinary rescue.And we hear the Inheritance Tracks of Priyanka Chopra Jonas.Producer: Laura Northedge Editor: Eleanor Garland

Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by award winning comedian, presenter and writer Russell Kane. He's been the host of three series of Live At The Electric, appearanced on Live At Apollo, Unzipped, Celebrity Juice, I Am Celebrity Get Me Out of Here Now and the host of podcast Boys Don't Cry and Radio 4 series Evil Genius, we talk to him about how he got there.Listener Viv Bird accidentally joined an elite club in 1991 when she became one of few people to survive a plane crash - she joins us to tell her tale.Riyadh Khalaf is a broadcaster, celebrity masterchef winner and LGBTQ campaigner of Irish/Iraqi descent - he tells his story.Claire Martin was a foundling from Hong Kong who was adopted by a couple in the UK. She tells about her search for her birth relatives.Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead chooses his Inheritance Tracks: Sweetheart Contract by Magazine and Brotherhood of Man by Oscar Peterson along with Terry Clarke and we have your thank you.Producer: Corinna Jones

Queen of Shops Mary Portas has carved out a role as a retail fixer, style guru and successful broadcaster. She joins Richard and Nikki to discuss her extraordinary career and a new season of On Style, a four-part series on Radio 4 exploring what style means to us and the way we live today. Actor Adrian Dunbar grew up in Northern Ireland and moved to London as a young man to train as an actor in London. His career has included appearances in films My Left Foot and The Crying Game and television programmes such as Cracker and Ashes to Ashes, but most famously, since 2012 Adrian has played Superintendent Ted Hastings in Line of Duty. He tells us about his recent trip around his homeland for Adrian Dunbar’s Coastal Ireland.Ella Risbridger is the author of cookbook and memoir Midnight Chicken which chronicles how cooking helped her through an anxiety disorder, depression and bereavement. She shares her favourite recipes from the book and explains how she feels cooking saved her life.When listener Mark Davies’ uncle died last year, he was shocked to discover that he was a secret hoarder. As Mark cleared his house, he found every nook and cranny filled with both mundane and extraordinary objects from apple pips to World War II medals. And we have the Inheritance Tracks of Andrew Lloyd Webber.Producer: Laura Northedge Editor: Eleanor Garland

Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by Comedian Ed Byrne. He went from youthful horticultural dreams to stand up star and has toured every other year since the late 90s – so what’s he done in lockdown? Some walking, some woodwork and a cookery show... he join us.We also have writer and poet Penny Pepper who is also a wheelchair-user who defied doctors' diagnoses and got inspired by the Sex Pistols and her English teacher to go into writing, leading to her book First in the World Somewhere.Stephen Morris was the drummer for Joy Division and New Order who introduced new technology into the band to create Blue Monday and other era defining music. Saturday Live listener Carol Godsmark contacted us with memories of her childhood growing up in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. As the daughter of a Canadian diplomat, her family were being tracked by the authorities. But a game of hide and seek uncovered a surprise in a hotel’s linen closet.Actor Anna Friel gives her Inheritance Tracks, choosing Weird Fishes/Arpeggi by Radiohead Heart on Ice by Desi Friel (her dad).And your thank you!Producer: Corinna Jones

Labour peer Baroness Joan Bakewell has been a television presenter for over fifty years, most recently fronting Landscape Artist of the Year which returned to our screen this week. She joins Richard and Nikki to explain why she has taken up watercolours in lockdown.Marc Hamer was homeless and worked on the railways before enrolling in art college. After discovering a creative outlet in gardening, Marc spent years creating and maintaining the garden of the mysterious, aristocratic Mrs Cashmere which is the subject of his memoir Seed to Dust.Jonny Oates ran away from home to Ethiopia aged 15 to contribute to famine relief efforts but his trip didn't go as he planned . He subsequently became a teacher in Zimbabwe, parliamentary adviser in the first democratic South African Parliament and Chief of Staff to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in the coalition government.Last June , Annie Birney and her partner Eoin Boyle swapped their lives in Dublin for a summer as caretakers of Great Blasket Island off the coast of Ireland. After beating over 24,000 applicants to the post, they spent three months looking after holiday guests on the remote island without electricity, WiFi or hot water. Annie joins us to discuss their extraordinary adventure. And we hear the Inheritance Tracks of YolanDa Brown.Producer: Laura Northedge Editor: Eleanor Garland