Saturday Live

The journalist and novelist, Tony Parsons, joins Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir. Tony was working on the night shift at Gordon's Gin Distillery when he was offered his first job as a journalist on the New Musical Express. When he wasn't hanging out with rock stars he was embedded with the Vice Squad at 27 Savile Row, West End Central, where the roots of his crime character, DC Max Wolfe, first began.Saturday Live listener, Hilary Nicoll, talks about The Museum of Dad. Featuring a music case, a trombone, old jazz 78s, and a chair made of steel tube and leather, it's a blog in remembrance of her architect father, who is now living in a nursing home with Alzheimer's.Ex-Blue Peter presenter, Janet Ellis, has long been fascinated by the lives of people who were here before us, so much so that she has developed a life-long passion for looking around graveyards. She visits the cemetery at St Nicholas' Church in Chiswick, with Dan Parker. Janet describes Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas, as a possible epitaph.Sarah Woods describes her travels to Central and South America in an eight year quest to see the Harpy Eagle in the wild. She explains why helping a teenage girl in labour, and seeing the Harpy Eagle up close, were life-changing experiences.Jonathan Moore is an ex-punk who became an opera director. Art and spirituality are his vocation - as shown in his current play about Ignatius of Loyola.And the Inheritance Tracks of Dom Joly. He chooses America by Simon and Garfunkel and In a Room by The House of Love.The Slaughter Man by Tony Parsons is published by Century. On a Wing and a Prayer, by Sarah Woods, is published by Bloomsbury. Janet Ellis' first novel, The Butcher's Hook, is scheduled for publication in February 2016. Inigo, written and directed by Jonathan Moore, runs at the Pleasance in north London until 13 June, 2015. The exhibition Peter Wilkins - Great British Music from the 1960s - 2010s, is at Dray Walk Gallery, London E1 6QL until 1 June, 2015.

With Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir.Jon Culshaw talks about making a career out of impressions, with a repertoire of over 350 voices including John Major, Simon Cowell, Ed Miliband and Patrick Moore. Jon also talks about wanting to take on more serious roles, his fascination with astronomy and love of old cars.Jack Andraka is a pioneering teenage scientist who discovered a way to detect some forms of cancer in their early stages. Now eighteen, he talks about his work, which was initially inspired by the death of a close family friend, and dealing with depression and homophobic bullying.Polish personal trainer Jonas Zimnickas shares his 'My Saturday'.Ninety-three year old listener Heather Beagley remembers the excitement of being on the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary liner in 1936, which travelled from Southampton to New York when she was fourteen.Writer, Director and Choreographer Rajeev Goswami talks about bringing his musical Beyond Bollywood from Mumbai to London's West End.Hotelier and presenter Alex Polizzi shares her Inheritance Tracks: Brindisi from La Traviata and Nina Simone's I Put a Spell on You.Jon Culshaw voices celebrity puppets in Newzoids, available to watch on the ITV Player.Jack Andraka's memoir Breakthrough is out now.Beyond Bollywood is at the Palladium in London until the 27th June.Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Karen Dalziel.

Presented by Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir.Chris Tarrant has been a household staple since the mid 70s when he shook up Saturday mornings with children's TV series Tiswas. He went on to do Capital Radio breakfast show and was the presenter of ground breaking quiz show Who wants to be a Millionaire, which ran for 15 years, presenting many other programmes along the way. His latest project has been a labour of love - a book about his father's experience in the second world war. But it's a story he only uncovered after his father's death. He'll be talking about writing his father's story, his links with those Millionaire winners and slowing down after a stroke.Listener Glenys Newton won a story telling competition with a story from her childhood, in which her Uncle Meirion's car - with her family inside - was attacked by lions at a Safari Park. She's passionate about family stories, and people's lives. She relives what happened at the Safari park, and how it has inspired her love of storytelling.Dino Martins is an entomologist whose mission is to highlight the key role of pollination in the world. Growing up in rural Kenya his passion was insects from a young age. This enthusiasm, combined with hard work and some luck meant he got an education which culminated with a PhD at Harvard University in America. Over in the UK to receive the 2015 Whitley Gold Award from Princess Anne, he talks about his extraordinary journey which begins and ends in Kenya.Iain Lauchlan has spent 40 years in the TV industry, specialising in pre school television programmes. He presented Playschool, Fingermouse, 'invented' the Tweenies, has numerous producing and writing credits to his name, and for 25 years has played the the pantomime Dame in Coventry, where he also writes the pantomime. He's loaned pieces to a new exhibition about Children's Television in Coventry and joins us to talk about his life in Children's TV.Songwriter Guy Chambers is probably best known for his work with Robbie Williams, with whom he co-wrote hits such as "Rock DJ", "Feel", "Millennium", "Let Me Entertain You", and "Angels". Guy has previously won 3 Ivor Novello awards, and is a member of the committee judging the awards this year. For his inheritance tracks, he chooses The Beatles, Tomorrow Never Knows and Ravel's Concerto for piano and orchestra in G major, second movement.Daniel Parker is a film make up artist, following in the footsteps of his father. His credits include Troy, Apocalypto and Frankenstein, for which he received an Oscar and British Film Award nominations. Among his recent projects are Cloud Atlas, Zero Dark 30, Everly, The Coup and Unlocked. He shares his experiences.Dad's War by Chris Tarrant is published by Virgin books.The Story of Children's Television is at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry from 22 May to 13 September 2015.Producer: Corinna Jones Editor: Karen Dalziel.

Presented by Richard Coles and Suzy Klein.DJ and veteran festival-goer Edith Bowman on her love for the sonic boom of Green Man and Glastonbury. For the past twenty years Edith's taken in two or three festivals a year - and after attending more than 80 of them, seeing 1,500 bands and having two children she explains why her passion is as great as ever.Grammy award winning jazz singer Gregory Porter describes how his mother inspired his move of careers, and the music that stirs his soul.Camping fan Phoebe Smith reveals what defines a truly wild night out - and why she decided to set herself the Extreme Sleeps Challenge - from Ben Nevis to the "Middle of Nowhere." And travelling to The National Quiet Zone - photographer Emile Holba on what a world without mobile phones really sounds like.JP Devlin meets Dr. Sandy Saunders one of the last survivors of Archibald McIndoe's Guinea Pig Club.And 'Queen of Shops', Mary Portas shares her Inheritance Tracks: Into the Mystic by Van Morrison and Crazy on the Weekend by Sunhouse.Great British Musical Festivals by Edith Bowman is published by Blink.Wild Nights - Camping Britain's Extremes by Phoebe Smith, published by Summersdale.Sandy Saunders and the survivors of the Guinea Pig Club were given a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Soldiering on Through Life Trust.Welcome to the Quiet Zone - a five part series starting on Radio 4 on Monday 18 May.A deluxe edition of Liquid Spirit includes an additional 4 tracks of collaborations and covers and a brand new remix, featuring Jamie Cullum, Ben L'Oncle Soul and Laura Mvula.Shop Girl A Memoir by Mary Portas, is published by Doubleday.Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Karen Dalziel.

Clinical psychologist and broadcaster Professor Tanya Byron joins Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir to talk tales of the clinic, how a family tragedy sparked her interest in psychology and destigmatising vulnerable people.Becoming unexpectedly jobless in 2012 prompted Michelle Thomas to start paying people to tell her their stories. The response was so amazing she's now crowd-funding a book which will feature some of stories.This week marks 70 years since the end of the second world war in Europe. Listener Liesbeth Langford got in touch to share her family's story of growing up in occupied Netherlands and sheltering a young Jewish woman.Professor Greg Whyte is the man behind David Walliams successful channel swim attempt, Davina McCall's challenge to run, swim and cycle from Edinburgh to London in seven days and the person that inspired Dermot O'Leary to dance for 24 hours non-stop all for Comic Relief. As a former Olympic Modern Pentathlete he tells us his secret to motivating others.Violinist Nigel Kennedy shares his inheritance tracks and we speak to some of the very patient died-hard fans who've been waiting and waiting for the second royal baby to make an appearance.Inheritance Track choices: 'Hymn to Him' from Apocalypse by the Mahavishnu Orchestra and 'Limehouse Blues' performed by Stephane Grappelli.'The Skeleton Cupboard' by Professor Tanya Byron is published by Pan.'Salt Beef Jack and Other Londoners' by Michelle Thomas is currently being crowdfunded by Unbound.'Written by Candlelight' by Liesbeth Langford is the story of her family's experience of the war.'Achieve the impossible' by Professor Greg Whyte is published by Bantam Press.Produced by: Alex Lewis Edited by: Karen Dalziel.

In the studio with Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles this week is Conchita Wurst winner of Eurovision 2014. Conchita hails from Columbia and is the alter ego of Tom Neuwirth who was born in Austria. When she won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014 with her song "Rise Like A Phoenix" she gained international fame - and also became a gay icon to the LGBT community all over the world. Conchita is a Drag Queen - not transgender.Jo Pavey has proved it's never too late to realise your dreams. The veteran mother of two shocked everyone, herself included, to become the oldest female European champion in history aged 40 years and 325 days. Jo has competed in four Olympics and won bronze in the 10,000m at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, and then gold in the European Championships. She is currently focusing on getting to Rio for her fifth Olympics.Jon Frost is an experienced customs officer. In his time as a uniformed officer Jon seized many weird and wonderful things: presidential aircraft, a working tank, cars, lorries, boats and coffins; and uncovered wild animals, killer snakes, bush meat, poisonous vodka, dodgy medicine, bootleg prescriptions, pirated pills, toxic alcohol, firearms, side-arms, swords, explosives, stolen gold, dirty money. Jon's book Anything to Declare is out nowCarrie Hope Fletcher is currently playing the role of Eponine in Les Misérables at the Queen's Theatre in the West End and received the 2014 WhatsOnStage Award for Best Takeover in a Role in recognition of her performance.Through her phenomenally popular YouTube channel, ItsWayPastMyBedtime, Carrie has created a safe and positive space for young people to discuss their hopes and concerns online and now she will share her most personal thoughts and experiences in her first book. Part memoir, part advice guide, All I Know Now includes Carrie's thoughts on some of the topics she's asked about regularly: bullying, body image, relationships and perhaps the scariest question of all: what does the future hold for me? This week the Inheritance Tracks comes from the creator of the The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith. He has chosen to inherit We'll Meet Again sung by Vera Lynn and handing on Terzettino 'Soave sia il vento' from Cosi Fan Tutte'Producer: Maire Devine Editor: Karen Dalziel.

The comedian, writer and presenter Paul Merton joins Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles.A regular fixture on our radios and TVs - from Just a Minute to Have I Got News For You? But it's pure improvisation that he loves - starting with the Comedy Store Players back in 1985, a gig that he still does every Sunday. And he's about to start a UK tour improvising with a group of friends.Vanessa Mann on deltiology with a difference - why she buys sets of postcards, with the aim to trace living relatives of the people who wrote and received them.JP Devlin meets Pete Waterman to talk model railways.The sailor and broadcaster Paul Heiney on his voyage from Falmouth to Cape Horn and back, to rediscover his son's voice through the medium of sailing and the poem -'The Silence at the Song's End'.The i-magician Jamie Allan on how he who fuses sleight of hand with modern technology by bringing i-pads to his performance.And Anita Dobson shares her "Inheritance Tracks". She chooses: No One But You, by Billy Eckstine and Young at Heart by Frank Sinatra.Paul Merton's Impro Chums on a UK Tour from 24 April to 17 June 2015. One Wild Song: A Voyage in a lost son's wake' by Paul Heiney, published by Bloomsbury. Jamie Allan is currently on a UK tour until 31st May. On 28 April Anita Dobson will be appearing in a special production of Follies, at the Royal Albert Hall, to mark Stephen Sondheim's 85th birthday.

Dame Zandra Rhodes is one of Britain's best-known fashion designers, putting London at the forefront of the international fashion scene in the 1970s. Her extensive list of clients has included Princess Diana and Freddie Mercury. Rhodes now lives with her partner, the 94 year old film producer Salah Hassanein and former head of Warner Bros. In 2003 Zandra founded The Fashion and Textile Museum, the only museum in the UK solely dedicated to showcasing developments in contemporary fashion, as well as providing inspiration, support and training for those working in the industry. Since 2000 Zandra's career has diversified into designing sets and costumes for the opera. She first worked for San Diego Opera, who invited her to do costumes for The Magic Flute. After The Magic Flute, she was asked to design both sets and costumes for Pittsburgh Bizet's Pearl Fishers in 2004. Still the woman with the pink hair, Zandra joins Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles in the studio.Also in the studio is Chilly Gonzales, a classically trained pianist from Montreal, Canada. He's a composer, and self-proclaimed musical genius who has co-authored musicals; pursued an alternative rock career; set a Guinness records for longest-ever solo piano performance; tried his hand at rapping, soft rock, and electronic music as a solo artist; and collaborated with Daft Punk, Bjork and rapper Drake. He has made a career out of bridging the gap between classical and pop music. He lives in Cologne, Germany and has just released his new album, Chambers. From music to mullets. Hairdresser extraordinaire Jon-Paul Holt gave Kevin Keegan his curly perm, helped launch what became Europe's biggest chain of hairdressing salons and even sang in a band that played at The Cavern in the '60s. After leaving Liverpool for Canada where he set up two salons, he was awarded North American Hairdresser of the year in 1996. He set up his Avant Garde Hair Studio, where he has looked after the hair of film stars such as Meg Ryan and rock star friends like Vancouver's own Bryan Adams.Mark Cockram is a book binder and has bound books for seven Man-Booker prize award ceremonies. He was elected Fellow of Designer Bookbinders in 2001 and Brother of the Art Workers Guild in 2008. Member of the Society of Bookbinders and the Tokyo Bookbinding Club. After studying art and design at Lincolnshire College of Art, Mark worked as a free lance artist and designer. He discovered his passion for bookbinding and book arts whilst working in Paris restoring Art Deco loos. Sharing his Inheritance Tracks this week is Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee, Tom Conti. He inherits the Scarlatti Sonata in G major played by Yuja Wang and is passing on Piangerò la sorte mia sung by coloratura soprano Simone Kermes (from Handel's Giulio Cesare) Tom Conti is currently reprising his role in acclaimed courtroom play Twelve Angry Men and is on tour from Monday 13th April beginning in York. Producer: Maire Devine Editor: Karen Dalziel.

On the biggest gardening weekend of the year garden designer and tv presenter Diarmuid Gavin joins Aasmah Mir and Suzy Klein to spill the beans on the highs and lows of taking part in the Chelsea Flower Show, the inspiration behind some of his wackier gardens and the excesses of his overnight propulsion to tv heart throb.Also, York based chocolatier Sophie Jewett will be teaching us how to #bbcgetcreative with chocolate and helping the studio guests decorate their very own Easter Eggs. Writer John-Paul Flintoff will be talking about The Family Project - a manual for people who want to discover their family story but don't know where to start. And then the extreme ornithologists who broke the world record for the number of species identified in a single calendar year. Ruth Miller and Alan Davies talk bush fires, a rescue from a sinking dinghy and an elephant charge. We ask was it worth it?All that with the Inheritance Tracks of Helena Bonham Carter and listener Dale Gibson on how he spends his Saturday's tending to his swarm of urban bees.Helena chooses 'Look Mummy, No Hands' by Fascinating Aida and 'Not While I'm Around' from the movie version of Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.The Family Project: A Creative Handbook for Anyone Who Wants to Discover Their Family Story - but Doesn't Know Where To Start by Harriet Green and John-Paul Flintoff is published by Guardian Faber Publishing and available now.Producer: Alex Lewis Editor: Karen Dalziel.

The actor and singer, Jason Donovan, joins Richard Coles and Suzy Klein. He talks about his life and a career that has seen him move from Neighbours' soapstar to chart pop idol, jungle survivor to Strictly finalist. In musical theatre he's starred as Joseph and Frank N Furter, and now plays Lionel Logue, the speech therapist to a stammering George VI, in a touring production of The King's Speech.The Pulitzer Prize winning photo-journalist Lynsey Addario on her life behind the camera.Saturday Live listener Penny Tomlinson describes how she coped with bereavement by joining the I Can't Sing Choir.The former royal harpist Claire Jones describes her struggle with ME Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the role music played in her recovery.Lloyd Buck is accompanied by his Starling, Arnie. For more than 20 years Lloyd and his wife Rose have been world experts of in-flight and tracking filming with birds. He explains his affinity with birds and why he imprints, rather than trains them.Lulu shares her Inheritance Tracks. She chooses Nighttime is the Right Time by Ray Charles and Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars.The King's Speech is currently touring the UK, still to visit venues in Manchester, Woking, Sheffield, Belfast, Malvern, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Edinburgh, Leeds and Truro.It's What I Do - A Photographer's Life of Love and War by Lynsey Addario, published by Corsair.The album, Journey: Harp to Soothe the Soul by Claire Jones, is out now.Lulu is celebrating her 50th year as a recording artist with a new album - Making Life Rhyme - to be released next month, followed by a UK tour in May.Produced by: Louise Corley Edited by Alex Lewis.