Saturday Live

Michael Ball joins Aasmah Mir and the Rev. Richard Coles to discuss his musical collaboration with the Tenor Alfie Boe; his family's association with the Mini car, and how he deals with his superstitions. The inventor and designer, Max McMurdo, shares his passion for upcycling and explains how he made 25 items from an old Beetle, and converted a shipping container into his home. Adele Jackson describes her five months working at the post office in Port Lockroy, Antarctica, sending out 70,000 postcards, and monitoring 2,000 Gentoo penguins. David Bramwell provides quirky stories celebrating curiosity and adventure. JP Devlin visits the memorial garden in Aberfan, to hear a moving account from David Davies, a survivor of the Aberfan disaster. And Ben Fogle shares his Inheritance Tracks: Flash Bang Wallop sung by Tommy Steele, and It's Tricky, Run DMC.Michael Ball and Alfie Boe 'Together' - with a new album and nationwide tour. Upcycling by Max McMurdo. The Odditorium by David Bramwell and Jo Keeling is published by Brewer's. Cantata Memoria, For the Children by Karl Jackson is on the Decca label. Land Rover: The Story of the Car that Conquered the World, By Ben Fogle.Producer: Louise CorleyEditor: Karen Dalziel.

Tom Fletcher of McFly, Silent Film pianist Neil Brand, Bookshop frequenter Erica Jones and extreme engineer Jimmy de Ville join Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir.Tom Fletcher is best known as singer and songwriter of McFly, he's also written for Busted and One Direction, clocking up ten UK number one singles. He's also a children's author, having written The Dinosaur that Pooped series with his band mate Dougie Poynter, he's now written The Christmasaurus, his first solo kids' novel. Saturday Live listener Erica Jones is a bookshop champion - she likes them so much that she has devoted her weekends for the last 3 years travelling all over the country visiting bookshops, reviewing them for her blog.Neil Brand is a silent film pianist, which means he is both player and composer, improviser and emotional interpreter. He sees his role as raising the dead, bringing silent films back to life, the latest being Robin Hood from 1922. Engineer and Adventurer Jimmy de Ville went from designing toys to creating special effects to serving in Afghanistan in the British Army. More recently he's been exploiting his love of engines: advising on and acting out dangerous stunts on camera for TV programmes.JP meets Star Trek actor George Takei, we have your thank yous, and we'll have the inheritance tracks of DJ Trevor Nelson who chooses I Want You Back performed by the Jackson 5 and As by Stevie Wonder.The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher is out now. The Star Trek 50th Anniversary TV and movie collection box set is available now. Neil Brand's new score for Douglas Fairbanks' 1922 Robin Hood premieres at the Barbican on 14th October.Produced by Corinna Jones Edited by Karen Dalziel.

Ian Wright joins Aasmah Mir and the Rev. Richard Coles to discuss his football career, proudest achievements and life after retiring from the game aged 36.Reporter JP Devlin talks to Saturday Live listener Maria Prowse who talks about the special relationship with her dog- which nearly ended when Maria gave her dog away after her husband died.Writer India Knight shares her love of dogs and reveals why she decided to choose her own name as a teenager.Nicola White talks about collecting messages in a bottle: the types of things she's found and meeting up with some of the people whose messages she's discovered.Enya shares her Inheritance Tracks. She has chosen Claude Debussy, Nocturnes: Nuages and Orinoco Flow.Award winning comedian David O'Doherty will perform a song and explain why he's written a children's book about avoiding danger.Ian Wright A Life In Football is out now. The Goodness of Dogs by India Knight is out now Nicola White is exhibiting her work at the Royal Naval College in London on the 21st December. Enya's new album Dark Sky Island is out now. Danger Really is Everywhere by David O'Doherty and Chris Judge is out now.Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Karen Dalziel.

The illusionist Derren Brown joins Aasmah Mir and the Rev. Richard Coles to discuss why he's spent three years researching what makes us happy. The ex-footballer and manager of the England Women's Team, Hope Powell, received 66 caps for England and became the first women to obtain the UEFA pro licence. After managing the England Women's team for 15 years she has recently been appointed as the first female coach educator at the Professional Footballer's Association. Heavy metal marine biologist "The Blowfish" explains how he "reads" fish, why he has a passion for sharks, and the thrill of diving under ice in Norway. JP meets Saturday Live listener Rosemary who reminisces about her times spent hop picking in Kent in her youth. The comedian Abi Roberts describes her experience of doing stand up in Russia - in Russian - and why she brings Opera into her act. And the designer, Wayne Hemingway, shares his Inheritance Tracks. He chooses You've Got a Friend by Carole King, and Black Man by Stevie Wonder.Happy: Why More Or Less Everything Is Absolutely Fine, by Derren Brown, is published by Bantam. Hope: My Life in Football, is published by Bloomsbury. Fishing Impossible is currently on ITV on Tuesdays at 7.30pm. Abi Roberts is performing Anglichanka at the Museum of Comedy in London on 14 October. Wayne Hemingway's Classic Car Boot Sale takes place in King's Cross, London on 1-2 October.Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Karen Dalziel.

Comedian and writer David Baddiel on writing for children and whether death and dementia make good subjects for comedy. Olympic diver Chris Mears won gold in Rio in spectacular style. He reveals how a brush with death inspired his success and his sideline as a music producer. On the centenary of Roald Dahl's birth, Dr Tom Solomon discusses how the writer's fascination with medicine inspired many of his characters such as the BFG. As a junior doctor, Tom shared many late night conversations with the writer and gained a unique perspective on the celebrated author. Palaeobiologist Dr Tori Herridge tells us about mysterious asteroid craters in Britain and her search for fossil dwarf elephants. Plus the Inheritance Tracks of former Chelsea manager and Dutch international Rudd Gullit. Producer: Steven Williams Editor: Karen Dalziel.

Cerys Matthews, Damon Hill, Meik Wiking and Benny Lewis join Aasmah and Richard for Saturday Live. He became Formula One World Champion in 1996, following in the footsteps of his father, the legendary F1 champion Graham Hill who tragically died in a plane crash when Damon was 15 years old. Now a SKYF1 racing commentator, Damon will be telling us how he ended up behind the wheel himself. Cerys Mathew came to our attention singing about Road Rage and Mulder and Scully with her band Catatonia, she's sung with legends like Tom Jones, the Pet Shop Boys and the Manic Street Preachers, now she presents a show on BBC 6Music and has started her very own Festival. Benny Lewis spoke only English until the age of 21, now he speaks 11 languages and runs the largest language learning blog in the world. He joins us to tell his story.Denmark is often ranks the happiest country in the world. Could their passion for hygge be behind it? We talk to happiness and hygge expert, Meik Wiking.We have your thank you's and the inheritance tracks of opera star Joseph Calleja who chooses I'll never love you performed by Mario Lanza and his own version of A Vuchella.Watching the Wheels by Damon Hill is out now The Little book of Hygge by Meik Wiking is out 14th September Benny Lewis' Language Hacking series includes French, Spanish, Italian and German Cerys' festival The Good Life experience takes place 16-18 September 2016 in FlintshireProducer: Corinna Jones Editor: Karen Dalziel.

Stand-up comedian and actor John Bishop joins Aasmah Mir and the Rev. Richard Coles. John Bishop found fame after discovering his talent for stand-up comedy in his thirties. He talks about his willingness to try new things, which includes a new TV interview series, his Liverpudlian identity and creating comedy.Listener Rachel Gadsden is an artist who is involved in creating artworks and an animation for the lighting of the Paralympic Heritage Torch Lighting Ceremony.Pianist Antimo Magnotta talks to JP Devlin about his experience on board the Costa Concordia cruise ship on the night the vessel collided into a rock.Comedian and writer Deborah Frances-White was adopted at ten days old in Australia. She has tracked down her birth mother and family, and continues to search for her birth father.American singer PP Arnold shares her Inheritance Tracks: River Deep Mountain High by Ike and Tina Turner and Aretha Franklin's Natural Woman, written by Carole KingSimon Cowell MBE, not the X-Factor music mogul but a former city trader. He now runs his own animal rescue centre, the Wildlife Aid Foundation.John Bishop: In Conversation With... continues on Thursday's at 9pm on W. Deborah Frances-White's 4-part series 'Rolls the Dice' begins on Radio 4 on Friday at 11.30am. PP Arnold is touring around the UK from October as part of Maximum Rhythm N' Blues. Simon has published the book My Wild Life: The story of a Most Unlikely Animal Rescuer, which is out now. Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Karen Dalziel.

Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles are joined by Ralf Little. He first came to our attention as Antony in The Royle Family and has now produced the 'mockumentary' series Borderline. He reveals why he swapped medical school for acting and what it was like to play football with Zinedine Zidane. JP Devlin meets Fergus Anckorn, a former British soldier, he was the youngest member of the Magic Circle and now, at the age of 97, he is its oldest member. Joanna Cannon advises people to 'dare to fail'. Having left school with one O Level, she worked in various jobs from cleaning kennels to pizza delivery, but ended up studying medicine, becoming a psychiatrist and writing her first book 'The Trouble With Goats and Sheep'. Jonathan Scott grew up in Berkshire, but has spent the past 40 years living in Kenya. He started out as a novice safari guide in the Maasai Mara Reserve and went on to become a wildlife artist, photographer and author. He describes his fascination for leopards and filming for the popular BBC series 'Big Cat Diary'. RJ Mitte rose to fame as Walter White Jr in the US hit series Breaking Bad. Like his character, RJ has cerebral palsy. He is now one of the presenters for Channel 4's Paralympics coverage which begins on 7 September. Ade Edmondson shares his Inheritance Tracks - The Song of the Weather performed by Michael Flanders and Donald Swann; and Jazz, Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.Borderline is on Channel 5, Tuesday nights at 10pm. Jonathan Scott's memoir, The Big Cat Man - an Autobiography is published by Bradt travel guides. Ade Edmondson can be seen in the 4 part series One Of Us which continues on BBC 1 at 9pm on Tuesdays.Produced by Louise Corley and Annette Wells. Editor: Karen Dalziel.

Miles Jupp joins the Rev Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir and shares his love of cricket, rollercoasters and why he is possibly the poshest stand-up comedian on the circuit.Lance Corporal Richard Jones from the Household Cavalry reveals how he combines being a magician alongside his military career.Plus a trio of extreme sports enthusiasts: Blake Aldridge on why he left the world of Olympic diving to become a cliff diver, Emily Guilding explains the appeal of wing walking and why she performs headstands strapped to the wings of a plane and Saturday Live listener Romy Shovelton who races camels in her spare time. Plus the Inheritance Tracks of the former head of the army Lord Richard Dannatt, High on a Hill by the Band and Bugles Of The Light Division and Highland Cathedral by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guard.Miles Jupp's stand-up tour Songs Of Freedom starts on September 7th at the Stables in Milton Keynes, and continues around the UK finishing in February 2017. Richard Jones is starring in the Impossible magic show, at the Noel Coward Theatre in London until the 27th August. Romy Shovelton will be camel racing at Chilham Castle, Canterbury on 4th September. Blake Aldridge can next be seen diving in the UK at Blue Lagoon in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the 11th September.Produced by Claire Bartleet and Steven Williams Editor: Beverley Purcell.

Craig Charles and David Emanuel join Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir.For a while Craig Charles was best known for playing Dave Lister in sci fi comedy Red Dwarf, but he has probably usurped that with his love for Funk and Soul, dj-ing on BBC 6 music and gigging around the country. With acting, poetry, performance, dj-ing and writing under his belt, now he's championing BBC Get Playing. Fashion Designer and Royal Couturier David Emanuel has dressed Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna, Joan Collins and Princess Diana, done the Jungle and now he's on Saturday Live!Claire Garabedian contacted Saturday Live about her unusual job - working in the therapeutic arts as a professional cellist. She joins Richard and Aasmah.Earlier this year Lizzie Carr became the first person to paddle board the length of England via its connected waterways, using entirely human powered means. She'll tell us about her adventure, and why she did it.We'll have a thank you from one of our listeners. And we'll have the Inheritance Tracks of geneticist Steve Jones who chooses Rachie by Caradog Roberts and Richard Wagner: Twilight Of The Gods: Siegfried's Funeral March.Producer: Corinna Jones Editor: Beverley Purcell.