Saturday Live

Aasmah Mir and Konnie Huq are joined by Dame Kelly Holmes, double gold winner at the Athens Olympics in 2004. She talks about her life in the army, pursuing her dream of becoming an Olympian and adjusting to life after retiring from athletics. Jacquie Davis is one of the world's top female bodyguards. During her career she has protected royals and celebrities, rescued hostages and carried out undercover surveillance. She talks about the qualities required for the job and the power of being a chameleon.The Reverend Ravi Holy was ordained in 2005 after turning his back on his previous life as a dissolute youth. He is also a stand-up comedian and explains how the comedy gets them laughing in the aisles.Jasper Winn is writer in residence for the Canal and River Trust who advocates slow travel - taking time to appreciate the world around us as an antidote to our busy, high tech lives.Marion Grave, owner of the Laurel and Hardy Museum in Ulverston, talks about the magic of their partnership and her favourite objects among the exhibits.With Inheritance Tracks from musician Rick Wakeman. He chooses Woodman, Spare That Tree by Phil Harris and Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.Producer: Paula McGinley Editor: Eleanor Garland

Aasmah Mir and Mobeen Azhar are joined by the actor and TV presenter Bradley Walsh. Currently starring in Doctor Who, he talks about going on a father and son road trip in the US, where he was pushed to his limits with cowboy training and sky diving! Former professional footballer and teacher, Len Johnrose, describes his small victories, silver linings and making the most of living with motor-neurone disease. Gary Budd is a chimney sweep and also the founder, head coach and chief coxswain of The Pilot Gig Club in Lewes, East Sussex. He explains why he started the club and how it’s brought the community together. Julia Georgallis gives advice on how to eat your Christmas Tree. She turns hers into everything from fir jam, spruce ice-cream, pine smoked cauliflower and juniper gin! And supermodel and petrolhead turned pub landlady, Jodie Kidd, describes turning 40 and how she’s now living a healthier, more anchored life. With Inheritance Tracks from Simon Williams. He chooses: I Whistle a Happy Tune from The King and I and Lullabye, sung by Billy Joel.Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Eleanor Garland

Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles are joined by Gabrielle, THE pop star of the 90s – inspiring lyrics, cool image, intriguing eye patch, hit after hit, and then she went quiet. After time out as a mum of two she has just released her first album for 11 years, and she is back. Will Farmer’s life seems only to exist on a summer’s day surrounded by beautiful objects in the garden of an English stately home, for he is an expert on Antiques Roadshow. He’s joining us in the midst of winter to talk about auctioneering and his passion for the past. Emma Rosen spent a year trying 25 careers before turning 25 including: archaeology in Transylvania; being an extra in a major movie; alpaca farming in Cornwall and assisting a crisis team during the terror attack on Parliament in March 2017. Emma now works as a writer and speaker, focusing on millennials in the workforce. Saturday Live listener Gary Horrocks joins us to talk about being a fan of Judy Garland – he heads the international fan club. JP meets Philip Pittack and Martin White who run the last surviving Spitalfields cloth merchants. and Brian Conley tells us his inheritance tracks. He chooses Elvis Presley performing Jailhouse Rock and Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons performing Who Loves You.Producer: Corinna Jones Editor: Eleanor Garland

David Gower talks about his life in cricket and how spending his early years in Africa inspired his passion for wildlife. Anne Atkins has been inspired to write about her son Alex, who has Asperger's. They discuss their relationship and how Alex has learnt how to read people. Clive Collins explains why Christmas trees are so important to him. Singer Lily Allen shares her Inheritance Tracks - she has chosen I’m Always on a Mountain When I Fall, performed by Merle Haggard and Fix You by Coldplay. And from the courtroom to the kitchen- Nisha Katona tells her story.Presented by Aasmah Mir and Rev. Richard Coles. Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Eleanor Garland

The comedian and actor Hugh Dennis talks about being the son of a Bishop and his latest role in The Messiah. Former nurse, Christie Watson, recalls lessons of kindness and hospital Christmasses. Listener Stephanie Bouckley shares her Thank You story pegged to the 30th anniversary of the Lockerbie disaster. JP Devlin meets Arthur Spencer, a former teacher and WWII navigator, who has been recognised with the award of a Legion d’honneur from the French government. Jan Blake describes the timeless appeal of storytelling and her first visit to her grandmother in Jamaica. Firefighter Gary Bankhead explains how he became an amateur underwater archaeologist, finding gold and silver from Durham Cathedral in the Wear. He is now an expert on lead cloth seals. And Eric Idle chooses his Inheritance Tracks: Here Comes the Sun by George Harrison; and Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Eleanor Garland

Prue Leith has been in our cooking consciousness for years but her appointment as a judge on TV's bake off has exposed her culinary expertise to a whole new audience and inspired a new cook book. She joins Richard and Aasmah along with: Marianne Power who was such a fan of self-help she decided to follow a book a month for a year. She joins us to reflect on her journey of self discovery. Former professional footballer Cherno Samba was tipped to be a superstar in UK football but whilst his career stalled he became a legend on computer game Championship Manager. Now training to be a coach, he tell us what happened. Clare Norburn sings medieval carols with her group The Telling – she’s going to tell us how the first carols were not to do with Christmas… JP meets Rob in Bridgend who has been helped out of homelessness by The Radio 4 Christmas Appeal with St Martin in the Field’s and Inheritance Tracks from Tim Rice who chooses You Did It, from My Fair Lady, with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and with God On Our Side, written by Bob Dylan and performed by Manfred Mann.Producer: Corinna Jones Editor: Eleanor Garland

Slade guitarist Dave Hill; Young People’s Laureate for London Momtaza Mehri; Listener Mary Diggory takes JP Devlin back to the woods that gave her sanctuary; Shona Davies on finding love as she sailed around the world. Joanne Froggatt shares her Inheritance Tracks: Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush and Proud Mary performed by Ike and Tina Turner. Dr Xand van Tulleken talks about combining medicine and presenting, with his twin brother.Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Eleanor Garland

Comedian and writer Sandi Toksvig, former armed robber turned triathlete John McAvoy and bubble enthusiast, Dr. Helen Czerski and harmonica fan Ben Hewlett. With the Inheritance Tracks of Richard Blackwood.Sandi Toksvig joins Aasmah Mir and the Rev.Richard Coles, to talk about being a national “Trevor”, adapting Treasure Island, why baking makes her emotional, and honeymooning in the Arctic. Helen Czerski, expert in the physics of bubbles, has just returned from a trip to the High Arctic. She explains how learning to ice a cake is just as much about physics as arc welding. John McAvoy describes how he turned himself from an armed robber into a triathlete thanks to the sports faculties of HMP Belmarsh and an epiphany. JP Devlin hears from the members of Sands United, a football team made up of bereaved fathers. Ben Hewett, Chairman of Harmonica UK, demonstrates how the Blues Brothers changed his life. With Inheritance Tracks from the actor and comedian Richard Blackwood. He chooses Mama Used to Say by Junior and Don’t you Worry ‘bout a Thing, Stevie Wonder.Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Eleanor Garland

Stephen Fry joins Richard and Aasmah to talk about Greek Heroes and finding wedded bliss. We also have JoJo Wood who extolls the virtue of wood carving for mental health, and Dr Catherine Walker, a septuagenarian weightlifter and academic at Oxford university, and Bisi Alimi who is a LGBTQ rights campaigner and the first person to come out as gay on national TV in Nigeria. We have your thank you and broadcaster and writer Jenni Murray chooses her inheritance tracks: The Blue Danube by Strauss and Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez.Producer: Corinna Jones Editor: Eleanor Garland

Michael Palin talks with Rev. Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir about travelling in the footsteps of a ship, Erebus, that went missing in the late 1840s and was only re-discovered in 2014. He also discusses the special relationship with his fellow Monty Pythons. Dani Crilly tells the story of the horse who she says saved her life. Vee Walker talks to us from Bavay in France, which was liberated by Vee’s grandfather Major Tom Westmacott in 1918. Beatboxer and composer Jason Singh explains how he works and why he appreciates sound. Matt Baker will take a short break from the CIN Rickshaw Challenge to speak to us. Nana Mouskouri shares her Inheritance Tracks - she has chosen Suzanne by Leonard Cohen and Love is a Losing Game by Amy Winehouse. And Martin Impey whose life and career changed when he completed a promise made to his grandmother, to find his great uncle who never returned from WW1.Erebus by Michael Palin is out now. Vee Walker – Major Tom’s War is out now. Nana Moukouri’s latest Album ‘Forever Young’ is out now. Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum est – Illustrated by Martin Impey is out now.Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Eleanor Garland