Saturday Live

Jo Whiley joins Aasmah Mir and the Rev Richard Coles. Jo presents on Radio 2 and from Glastonbury, as well as pursing her passion for gardening. A competitive swimmer in her youth, she is about to take on the triathlon for Sport Relief. Saturday Live listener Deborah Rowland, who trained as an archaeologist and an anthropologist, describes how she uncovered her own human heritage when she tracked down her birth parents. When Ryan Riley’s mum Krista was diagnosed with terminal small cell lung cancer, he cared for her for two years. In that time chemotherapy and radiotherapy dulled her sense of taste and she couldn’t enjoy food. After she died, Ryan had a life changing moment and decided to set up a cookery school for people like his mum.Adapted from his memoir, Greetings From Bury Park, the feature film Blinded by the Light tells the story of Javed (Sarfraz Manzoor), a British Muslim teenager growing up in Luton and how he finds inspiration and hope in the unlikely form of Bruce Springsteen. Sarfraz explains how this has inspired his new show at the Leicester Square Theatre, Blinded by the Light – The True Story.Dame Kristin Scott Thomas shares her Inheritance Tracks – These Boots Are Made for Walkin’, by Nancy Sinatra; and The Planets - Mars, The Bringer Of War, by Holst.Producer: Louise Corley Editor: John Goudie

Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles are joined by Joanna Trollope CBE, who has 22 novels to her name. A keen observer of our life and times, she is also the fifth-generation niece of Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope, has chaired awards, judged literature prizes and updated Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. We also have Jason Watkins, the BAFTA winning actor who played Harold Wilson in The Crown, also starred in Nativity!, W1A, Line of Duty, Being Human and now McDonald & Dodds, two feature length detective police dramas. He is also a patron for Child Bereavement UK, following the death of his 2 year old daughter from Sepsis. At the age of 35, Saturday Live listener Raphaël Kopel wanted to play football, but never having played before he found he was shunned on the pitch and struggled to improve. So, he decided to learn how to play, and then trained as a coach for other people, like him, who never learned as a child. He joins us.Claire Nelson never imagined one of those terrifying stranded-in-the-desert ordeals could happen to her. Then, hiking in Joshua Tree national park, she fell from a boulder and shattered her hip, finding herself immobile and alone in a sun-baked wilderness. She's in the studio.We have the inheritance tracks of Radio 1 presenter Clara Amfo who chooses Run to the Sun by NERD and Everything is Everything by Lauren Hill, and your thank yous. Producer: Corinna Jones Editor: Eleanor Garland

Actor, writer and director Zawe Ashton’s career began at the age of six and, having appeared on stage and in films ever since, it was the TV role of Vod in Fresh Meat that made her famous. She has since appeared in Hollywood films, had her play For All the Women Who Thought They were Mad performed in New York and London and has published Character Breakdown, an account of her life as a young actor.Amit Patel was a busy 33 year-old A&E doctor when he completely lost his sight over a 36-hour period, just 18 months after getting married. He hit rock bottom, and didn’t leave his home for three months. That’s when Kika came into his life – a guide dog who had been labelled as ‘difficult’.Jewellery maker and metalworker Bob Rowberry spent the 1960s and 70s importing Afghan coats which appeared in Vogue and holding Eric Capton’s hat as he busked. He now lives off-grid in an old school bus, growing his own produce and teaching his craft.Eleanor Wood is a writer from Brighton who, aged 32, felt like her life was falling apart. Her stepmum had died, her stepdad left her mum, and she broke up with her boyfriend of 12 years. So she started leaning on her best girlfriend, who taught her to be resilient, and staunch – and who also happened to be her nan. This led to a girls holiday to Goa with her nan and her two great-aunts.Producer: Laura Northedge Editor: Eleanor Garland

Aasmah Mir and Rev. Richard Coles are joined by the film director, DJ and musician Don Letts. He talks about being the son of Windrush, scion of dub and midwife of punk-reggae. Molly Case is a nurse specialist in cardiac care and a slam poet, who wowed the Royal College of Nursing conference with a spoken word performance that made headlines. She explains what inspired her to make the switch from English to medicine. Barry Dring lived a double life: oil trader by day, skateboarder by night. He describes how, since becoming a father, he’s discovered a new passion – for crochet.Bridget Anderson grew up in Newport in South Wales, with mixed Welsh Burmese heritage. She recalls her grandmother’s wonderful stories of Burma, and fantastic cooking from Balachaung to Dahl and Wonton Pick-me-up-Soup.Robert Carlyle shares his Inheritance Tracks: Watching the Wheels, by John Lennon and Waiting on a Friend by The Rolling Stones.Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Eleanor Garland

Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir are joined by Tracey Thorn, who escaped from suburbia, went to Hull University and emerged as one half of pop group Everything but the Girl. Her latest book details the influence of her background on her journey – not least how boredom was for her a catalyst for creativity. She joins us on Saturday Live. Jenny Tong went from rebellious childhood and repeated school exclusions to trying weightlifting at University where she was doing an International Relations and Politics degree. Today she holds three British Under-23 records and finished fifth at the European Youth Championships in Romania. She joins us.We also have Monty Halls, who left the Royal marines when he realised his passion was the marine part – he retrained as a marine biologist and has done expeditions and documentaries about marine life ever since. His latest one sees him take his whole family with him, to the Galapagos islands.Stephen Saunders learnt to fly after he lost a leg in an accident – then he flew a hot air balloon under Clifton Suspension bridge. He’s also a Saturday Live listener – he joins us. Ainsley Harriot chooses his Inheritance Tracks - Be My Life’s Companion performed by The Mills Brothers and I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl performed by Nina Simone. And we have your thank you.Producer: Corinna Jones Editor: Eleanor Garland

Frances Barber first played rock star, screen goddess and drug addict Billie Trix 18 years ago and, along with Jonathan Harvey and the Pet Shop Boys, she is set to reprise the role in cabaret Musik.Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse began as two Instagram posts called “help” and “kind” that were shared a million times. They have been included in a book of life lessons that has become a surprise bestseller here and in the US.Steve Smith is one of America’s most experienced astronauts. He has taken part in four missions and performed seven space walks, including five to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.Rosie Wilby is a comedian and "love researcher" who presents The Break-Up Monologues podcast.And Emeli Sande shares her Inheritance Tracks - Three Little Birds by Bob Marley and Elgar's Cello Concerto performed by Jacqueline Du Pre.Producer: Laura Northedge Editor: Eleanor Garland

Kay Mellor was a married mother at 16, and by her twenties had found her way to Bretton Hall College to study drama. An actor, director and screenwriter, she started on Coronation Street, before writing such TV classics as Fat Friends and Band of Gold, which she has now adapted for the stage. Paul Olima was born in Dublin. He played football professionally, before taking up sports modelling. He explains how he became a body double, standing in for the likes of Mario Balotelli, Usain Bolt and Anthony Joshua. Former bus driver, Justin Finlayson, converted a red London bus into a mobile recording studio for the benefit of young people in caught up in gang culture in north west London. Saturday Live listener, Susan Moore, recalls growing up on a bus, converted by her father, a pioneer of pirate radio. She recalls how the family invited musicians to live in the family home to train as rock and roll stars and then put on dances around the country, Duff McKagan, bass player in Guns N’ Roses, reveals his Inheritance Tracks: Funk 49 by The James Gang and Little Doll, by The Stooges.Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Eleanor Garland

Aasmah Mir and Suzy Klein are joined by former Special Forces sniper, Ant Middleton, now star of Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins, where ex-Special Forces soldiers put civilian recruits through their paces, SAS style. Andrew Garrido was desperate to play the piano. He couldn't afford lessons, but undeterred, he made a keyboard out of paper and taught himself and is now studying at the Guildhall School of Music. Jane Couch took part in unregulated boxing matches for years – sometimes against men - before taking the British Boxing Board of Control to court in 1998 and winning, becoming the first British licensed female boxer. Listener Ellie Somme grew up with stories of her father’s work in the Norwegian resistance during the Second World War, but it wasn’t until he died that she discovered an archive of secret papers and realised the extent of his historical importance to the resistance movement. The inheritance tracks of Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director of the Young Vic, who chooses Sugar Bum Bum by Lord Kitchener and What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye. And a listener thanks someone they were unable to thank at the time.Producer: Annette Wells Editor: Eleanor Garland

Rev Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir are joined by Fay Ripley. Most famous for playing Jenny, her northern counterpart, in TV’s Cold Feet, the series started 24 years ago and continues next week. The actor also cooks - she has written 3 cookbooks, drives fast, has had a chat show and likes to try her hand at anything she fancies. Sam Jalloh, who left Sierra Leone to play tennis, which he learnt playing barefoot and with a plywood raquet. Dr Zoe Williams played Amazon in TV's Gladiators, whilst studying to be a doctor. Now a GP, she is also a TV doctor and health educator.Christabel Carlisle (now Lady Christabel Watson) was a motor-racing pioneer, racing Saloon cars in the sixties (1960-63), competing against men, including some of the big names in the sport - Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Jack Brabham - at tracks from Silverstone to the famous Nurburgring. We have the inheritance tracks of Golden Globe winner Brian Cox, who chooses Sonny boy performed by Al Jolson, and God Only Knows performed by the Beach Boys. And a listener thanks someone they were unable to thank at the time.Producer: Corinna Jones Editor: Eleanor Garland

Crime novelist Kathy Reich’s famous heroine is Temperance Brennan, an academic anthropologist turned forensic anthropologist, much like Kathy herself. Her latest novel, A Conspiracy of Bones, is published this year and Kathy joins Aasmah Mir and Suzy Klein.Mike Bushell has made a career out of his hobbies; he famously holds the world record for participating in the greatest number of different sports on his Saturday morning slot on BBC Breakfast. He can now add ballroom dancing to the list as part of the Strictly 2019 line-up and 2020 tour.After huge roles on TV and at the Royal Shakespeare Company and The National Theatre, this month actor Adjoa Andoh returns to The Archers and takes a leading role in Silent Witness which starts this week. And after three years of training, she has recently become a “reader licensed by the bishop” in the Church of England.Andrew Gregory had a successful career as a hairdresser until a motorbike accident 18 years ago resulted in his lower leg being amputated. He’s now become a parapole athlete, winning a gold medal at the International Pole Sports World Championship and has been named “pole athlete of the year”.And Paul O'Grady shares his Inheritance Tracks - Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum and A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody by Sonny Lester.Producer: Laura Northedge Editor: Eleanor Garland