Saturday Live

Sir Tim Rice talks to Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles about bringing the musical Chess back to the West End. He also reflects on his career, love of cricket and performing himself.Listener Talitha MacKenzie got in touch and is appearing on the programme to talk about her love of historical costumes and dance.Robyn Hollingworth left her life in London and returned home to rural South Wales when her dad was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. She's just published the frank diary she kept from this time.Spinal Tap's Derek Smalls (the alter ego of Harry Shearer) talks to JP Devlin.Gail Porter shares her Inheritance Tracks. She has chosen Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd and When Doves Cry by Prince.Cook and food writer Diana Henry talks about how her recipes and menus have been influenced by her childhood, travels and experiences. Chess is at the London Coliseum until Saturday 2nd June.My Mad Dad: The Diary of an Unravelling Mind by Robyn Hollingworth is out nowDerek Smalls' album Smalls Change is out now.How To Eat a Peach by Diana Henry is out now.

Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles are joined by history obsessive Dr Lucy Worsley, whose mission is to make history accessible: she writes books for adults and children, she presents TV documentaries, often dressing up as historical characters to further tell their tales, and she is also Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces. Her latest book is about Jane Austen, who, Lucy says, was one of the most important Georgians.Brian Conley might be best known as the host of his eponymous show, but he's played lead roles in musicals such as Me and My Girl, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hairspray, Oliver!, The Music Man, Barnum and Jolson for which he was nominated for a prestigious Laurence Olivier Award. He's presented the Royal Variety Performance on eight occasions and appeared on TV shows such as The Grimleys and Time after Time and recorded three albums. He joins us in the middle of his latest tour: 'Still the Greatest Entertainer in His Price Range'.Elizabeth Noble is a writer of fiction who mourns the demise of the letter. She has kept letters from parents, lovers, and children and finds them not only treasures in themselves but also with content even more revealing years later. Listener Neil Rushton contacted us about a hobby of his - ice water swimming, which he does in a club run by Pauline Barker, who is the UK Country Ambassador for the International Ice Swimming Association. She joins us to talk about swimming in zero temperatures.JP Devlin goes to Sheffield in search of the Record collector store for Record Store Day. Samuel West chooses his Inheritance Tracks - Dory Previn's Play it again Sam and Matt Bianco's Get out of your lazy bed.'Jane Austen at Home' and 'Lady Mary', are both by Lucy Worsley Brian Conley's show 'Still the Greatest Entertainer in his Price Range' is touring the UK until June Brian Conley's new TV series starts 16th April on Channel 4 'Buy it now' Elizabeth Noble's latest novel is 'Letters to Iris'.

Presented by Aasmah Mir and the Rev. Richard Coles.Andy Hamilton earned his comedy stripes at Cambridge, in the university's Light Entertainment Society, and has written and performed for a number of radio and television programmes from I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue and Drop the Dead Donkey, to QI, to Old Harry's Game, and the award winning Outnumbered. He discusses how he manages change. Delia El-Hosayny recalls her 30 years as a bouncer, during which time such was stabbed, shot at and delivered a baby in a nightclub toilet.Saturday Live listener John Simmons shares his family story. His parents temporarily 'adopted', Jesus, a child refugee from the Spanish Civil War. John later researched the story of the 4,000 children who came to the UK from Spain and found out what happened to Jesus and his sister when they returned home.JP Devlin meets Ricky Valance - the 1960s star from a Welsh mining community who had a No.1 hit with the song Tell Laura I Love Her.Historian Dr. Laura King describes her latest work around objects and testimony from families and various communities in Leeds, which has culminated in the exhibition Remembrance. And Robert Peston chooses his Inheritance Tracks: Beethoven's Opus 131, and Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon.Andy Hamilton's tour Change Management runs from 21 May - 10 June. Spanish Crossings by John Simmons, is out now in paperback. Remembrance runs at the Abbey House museum in Leeds until December 2018. Robert Peston's book WTF is published by Hodder.

Alesha Dixon tells us about her career as singer, songwriter, author and Britain's Got Talent judge.Christian Donlan describes living with multiple sclerosis.Rev Andrew Rawding served as a British soldier in Coalisland, County Tyrone and has since returned there as rector.Hannah Wright recalls her childhood behind prison walls.Inheritance Tracks - John Gordon Sinclair chooses I Love You Because by Jim Reeves and the title track from Aladdin Sane by David Bowie.Lightning Girl by Alesha Dixon is published by Scholastic. The Unmapped Mind by Christian Donlan is published by Viking. Outside Time: A Personal History of Prison Farming by Dr Hannah Wright is published by Placewise.

Aasmah Mir and Suzy Klein talk to stand-up comedian Arthur Smith about his new act examining his father Syd's experiences in World War Two and as a police constable. Syd fought in north Africa, was in an Italian POW camp, was forced to work in mines in Germany and ended up in Colditz, where he was liberated by the US army.Nell Gifford rejected an academic career to run away to the circus. She loved it so much she founded her own. As Giffords Circus gears up for the summer season, Nell takes us behind the scenes and into the ring.Opera star Brindley Sherratt was born into a Salvation Army family in Lancashire. He originally wanted to be a trumpet player, but his bass voice was too good to ignore. He wants the rest of the world to appreciate how good singing can be for your physical and mental health.Shepherds Holly & Hannah Jackson don't come from an agricultural family, but their love of nature led them to start a sheep farm in Cumbria. They had to strap on their skies to rescue sheep stranded in the recent heavy snow. We join the sisters as lambing season gets underway - their most exciting time of the year.Presenters: Aasmah Mir & Suzy Klein Producer: Paul Waters.

Alexandra Burke reveals the life events that have inspired the songs on her new album. Raynor Winn was made bankrupt and lost her home, just as her husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness. They embarked on the journey of their lifetime - to walk the South West Coast Path, the 630-mile. sea-swept trail from Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall. She discusses the impact of this on their outlook on life and ideas of home.The archaeologist and historian, Jules Hudson, describes his fascination with walled gardens. Saturday Live listener Darren Townsend-Handscomb grew up as the child of a Deaf parent. He went on to become a sign language interpreter, which has taken him to some rather unusual situations, including signing at an exorcism for a Deaf poltergeist. He's about to travel to the Gambia to train sign language interpreters.David Morrissey shares his Inheritance Tracks: She's Leaving Home by The Beatles and Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann.The Truth Is by Alexandra Burke is out now. And she starts a UK tour on 1 September. The Salt Path by Raynor Winn is out now. Walled Gardens by Jules Hudson is out now. David Morrissey is appearing in Julius Caesar at The Bridge Theatre in London until 15 April, 2018.Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Eleanor Garland.

Kim Wilde joins presenters Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles. She sold ten million albums, and after retiring, having a family and then a successful gardening career, has returned to the stage. She has a new album out and is about to embark on her first UK tour for 30 years. We also have Helen Tse who is a lawyer, writer and restaurateur whose book about her family story, Sweet Mandarin - also the name of her restaurant - has been turned into a play about to open at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. Lutalo Muhammad is a British taekwondo athlete who represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal, and the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal. He won the Gold medal in the -87 kg class at the 2012 European Taekwondo Championships.John Connell is a writer and a farmer. Farming has been in his family for generations but he never intended to follow in his father's footsteps. He followed the academic route, going to study in Australia, becoming a documentary maker and then to Canada, but he ended up finding his way back to the family farm in County Longford, Ireland and began to learn the ways of the farmer and the way of the cow.We have the inheritance tracks of cricket commentator Henry Blofeld who chooses Tit Willow from the Mikado and Bring in the Clowns by Barbra Streisand.And we'll speak to Dr Nic Rowley, one of four sports doctors are taking part in a Sport Relief challenge. They are attempting to cycle the height of Everest (29,400 feet).Kim Wilde's album Here Come the Aliens is out now, and her tour of the same name starts 30 March.Mountains: The Dreams Of Lily Kwok is on at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. The first night is 22nd March in Manchester and then it goes on tour from 18th April to 2nd June. The Cow Book by John Connell is out now.Over and Out by Henry Blofeld is out now and he is touring theatres with a brand new show, 78 Retired.

Richard Coles and Suzy Klein are joined by presenter and author Katie Piper. In 2008, she survived a horrific acid attack that left her blind in one eye and required more than 200 operations. Putting the attack behind her, she launched the Katie Piper Foundation in 2009 to aid people who'd suffered similar burns and scarring. She is set to travel the country with a new Tour: What's In My Head. British ski champion turned Olympic commentator and Ski Sunday presenter Chemmy Alcott joins us to talk Olympics, injury and motherhood.Listener Clive England always knew he was adopted, but until last October he wasn't sure who his birth family were. After some careful research, he tracked down them down and spent two weeks travelling across America to meet with them. Cross stitch traditionally conjures up images of neat samplers, pretty cottages and cute puppy dogs until you look on social media and see the diverse range of attitudes, taste and subversion going on in the genre. Unofficial cross stitch spokesperson, Mr X stitch aka Jamie Chalmers, joins us to tell us about this online revolution.Cleo Laine and her daughter Jacqui Dankworth talk to reporter Anna Bailey about their singing careers.We have the inheritance tracks of broadcaster Jeremy Vine who chooses Old Comrades, The Band of HM Royal Marines and Elvis Costello's Lipstick Vogue.Katie Piper is touring the UK with What's In My Head. From Mother to Daughter: The Things I'd Tell My Child by Katie Piper with her mum Dianne out now. Jacqui Dankworth is on tour now.Producer: Corinna Jones Editor: Eleanor Garland.

The conductor, Charles Hazlewood, believes in making music inclusive, from projects fusing five Grime MC's with the BBC Concert Orchestra to founding the world's first paraorchestra, inspired by his daughter Eliza. He presents a two-part series on BBC Four - Tones, Drones and Arpeggios: The Magic of Minimalism.Lulah Ellender has written Elisabeth's Lists. Part memoir, part family history, part exploration of a life through lists, inspired by Elisabeth, the grandmother she never knew. Cassidy Little is a former ballet dancer and Royal Marine Commando, who lost his lower right leg in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2011. He has since won 'The People's Strictly' in 2015; and is about to star in the play Soldier On which opens at the Playground Theatre in London on 13 March. Today is the seventh annual World Pasty Championships. Vanessa Farr from Bristol, won the Cornish Pasty Amateur section last year. She explains what makes a winning pasty.The novelist and broadcaster Fern Britton talks about her recent health scare, her latest novel Coming Home and forthcoming acting role in Calendar Girls the Musical. And classical crossover artist, Russell Watson, shares his Inheritance Tracks: Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo and You are So Beautiful, sung by Joe Cocker.Tones, Drones and Arpeggios: The Magic of Minimalism is on BBC Four on Friday 9 March at 9pm. Russell Watson and his Orchestra are currently on tour around the country with the show Canzoni d'Amore.

Debbie McGee tells us about her time on Strictly, how she needs to keep busy and life two years after the death of her husband, Paul Daniels. Joe Cushnan's father walked out on his family, never to return or make any contact. Joe is now trying to find out about the life his father subsequently embarked on. Rosamund Thorpe is sure she has Scottish blood and knows where it came from. Peter Lovatt aka Dr Dance tells us how dance helped him learn to read and go on to have a career as a dance academic. Composer Debbie Wiseman chooses her Inheritance Tracks - I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing by The New Seekers and Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat Major, Opus 9 No 2.Debbie McGee will be appearing on The Pilgrimage on BBC 2 over Easter. Peter Lovatt's Boogie on the Brain Tour takes place in April, June and July. Debbie Wiseman's new album, The Glorious Garden, a collaboration with gardener and writer Alan Titchmarsh, is out on 2 March.