BEST OF LONDON

BAFTA winning screenwriter Paul Coleman gives us his insider secrets of the BAFTAS although only after a lot of coaxing by Ben! He also tells us about the talk he gave with Sharon Horgan, Rob Delaney and Nicole Taylor and how much respect he has for them. You can listen to the FULL episode which this HIDDEN GEM is taken from by going to the previous edition of BEST OF LONDON or by clicking here: h...

A world-class musician with deep London roots and a story unlike any other who's recorded with Oscar winning directors and huge music legends. He's also one of the world’s finest accordionists. Romano Viazzani grew up in the heart of Soho, one of the rare few raised within its tight-knit Italian community. As a child, he recorded a song at the iconic Abbey Road Studios, where The Beatles m...

NEW YORK COMEDIAN, ALEX PAYNE tells us about the BEST RESTAURANT in LONDON (and apparently EUROPE) with an UNUSUAL name that you've probably not visited with AMAZING food. Also the best place to go for BREAKFAST in London. You can listen to the FULL episode which this HIDDEN GEM is taken from by going to the previous edition of BEST OF LONDON or by clicking here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1...

Thanks to our guest YOU can choose a FREE book from one of 5 different authors. Our guest is an incredibly intelligent, interesting and insightful individual who’s the owner of Watkins Media and Watkins Books and founded The Mind Sports Olympiad and Mind Body Spirit Magazine. He invented diving chess which involves playing chess at the bottom of a swimming pool and there are annual tournaments wit...

Our guest tells us about the BEST street in LONDON with a VERY unusual name that you've probably not visited with AMAZING places to EAT, DRINK & MORE! As told by award winning film director Mark A C Brown. You can listen to the FULL episode which this HIDDEN GEM is taken from by going to the previous edition of BEST OF LONDON Or by clicking here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1eTRxtCzZmWkLb...

My guest's a bestselling author, millions of people watch his videos and he’s one of London’s finest guides he was recommended by our former guest the academic and historian Elizabeth Ingleson when she was on Best of London and his tours are known for being informative, funny and engaging. In 2020 he launched Living London History with a website and social media and wrote a weekly post about h...

Our guest tells us about 3 AMAZING events that YOU can book on, including one at a historical venue which makes her laugh, cry and love life. She also mentions a person who does her FAVOURITE tours which are SO good that she's been to ALL of them. He's going to be a guest on a future episode of BEST of LONDON so be sure to click FOLLOW on this podcast if you listen on Spotify or SUBSCRIBE on other...

We feature a sneak preview of the amazing new Punchdrunk Immersive play Viola’s Room and our guest is one of the world's funniest comedians, he's a Chinese-American standup and a star of stage and screen. He's played comedy clubs all over the world, including New York, Edinburgh and London. He had a recurring role in a Stephen Colbert show who's one of the huge US late night talk TV presenters and...

HIDDEN GEM our guest started as an obese call center worker in Derby and became a FIT & TONED HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITER & PRODUCER He tells us how to find YOUR AREA and YOUR PEOPLE in London & A GREAT CHEAP EATS PLACE with AMAZING Irish food and BIG portions. BEST OF LONDON with HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITER and PRODUCER CHRIS ANASTASI NEXT WEEK WILL BE A NEW GUEST EPISODE You can follow / subsc...

My guest has acted in stage plays, musicals and feature films. She wrote and released an album which is beautifully sung and has raw, honest, dark and funny lyrics. She has a podcast about her life. She’s an IT guru, a trained lifeguard, and she wrote and performed a chapter in world famous comedian Katherine Ryan’s bestselling audiobook, The Audacity , and she’s voiced a number of other audiobook...

HOW YOUR PROBLEMS CAN EMPOWER YOU - TV presenter & producer on how being homeless made him stronger and how difficult experiences from our past can be harnessed to help us in the present. He also reveals how you can be successful if you're starting out now. This contains some audio previously not available in the original episode. You can follow / subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon M...

Our guest this week is Sweden's funniest comedian. She was born in Canada to Sri Lankan parents and now lives in Sweden. Last year she won Sweden’s biggest comedy competition, and after that she flew to London and won the King Gong Competition at The Comedy Store. She's taken her 3 Wise Women show to festivals and it’s sold out and been a huge success. She’s the thinking person’s comedian...

GRAMMY WINNER DAISY CHUTE tells us about eating naked, great London food markets and which stalls to go to and her favourite cuisine. If you've already heard the episode this will remind you of the great places you need to visit and if you haven't it's a perfect bite sized taster of the full episode. NEXT WEEK WILL BE A NEW GUEST EPISODE For links to Best of London on all platforms go to: ⁠⁠https:...

Our guest acted in the latest Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson, David Copperfield starring Dev Patel and hit Netflix series The Crown. I’m so excited about our guest this week it’d be hard to think of someone better to be on BEST of LONDON. She studied at the prestigious Drama Centre where fellow alumni include Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Michael Fassbender. She has a love of...

Our guest presents a weekly radio show with Ed Gamble, he co-created the TV show Hypothetical, presented by James Acaster, with Josh Widdicombe and Tom Craine, he and he’s head writer on BAFTA winning show The Great British Bake Off, The Last Leg and the hugely popular BBC series The Traitors Uncloaked. He’s performed in Uncle, Ready or Not, Big Age, Animal Antics and the cult BBC sitcom Badults w...

Each season of Best of London is 11 episodes long with 10 wonderful guest episodes , then a your questions episode . BEST OF LONDON is having a one week break and then Season 2 will launch. We've already recorded episodes for the next series it's going to be a great one. Please follow and subscribe to BEST OF LONDON for links on all the platforms and social media, just click here:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠h...

SPECIAL EPISODE with a Q&A including what’s the best FILM that features London, where’s the best VIEW in London, what’s the best way to make new FRIENDS in London, where’s the second best place to live after London and MORE.  Each season of Best of London will be 11 episodes long and that consists of 10 wonderful guest episodes, then a Your Questions episode. If you think of any questions do p...

My guest this week is an award-winning comedian, director, writer, MC and venue co-owner. He's featured on BBC, Channel 4 and Amazon Prime shows. He won the Malcolm Hardee Award and the Spirit of the fringe award at Edinburgh.  He changed his name to Lionel Richie for 7 years, he created the audio tour of the Edinburgh fringe and performed gigs on an ancient volcano which The Scotsman called their...

A special BAFTA winning guest who I’m lucky enough to have known for a long time. He has a hilarious take on things on social media and he shuns the limelight and like my last guest Rachel Jackson he hardly ever gives interviews. He’s one of Britain's best loved writers and he’s created some the UK’s best loved shows. He devised and co-wrote Car Share which is one of  the most watched Box Sets of...

Our guest built successful music TV channels then travelled the world solo, I joined her for carnivals in Rio and Salvador and to watch the Rolling Stones do a free live concert on a beach.  Her travels turned out to be life changing, she came back with no money but with a plan to reinvent herself and become one of the UK’s most coveted jewellery designers. She started with a small market stall an...

Thanks to all of you who've made this show so popular it means so much to me when anyone takes the time to listen. We're moving to a Sunday release day after previously going out on Fridays. The reason is that I've been ill this week so haven' edited the latest episode but I also thought I'd use this as a chance to move it to a day that people often prefer to listen to podcasts. Please follow and...

Our guest is one of the UK and Ireland's funniest comedians. The Irish Times said “it's like watching a young Irish Billy Connolly” he won an award at last year’s Edinburgh Festival and he's been a finalist at the greatest Best Act competitions including ones at The Hackney Empire, The Leicester Mercury's, the BBC AND The Leicester Square Theatre.  He’s also turned his hand to investigative journa...

My Guest is an Award winning film director with so many insights and recommendations from his 20 years living in London. He really does have amazing knowledge and he clearly took the time to really think about things that would genuinely make our lives better and the amazing bonus is that most of his ideas are either cheap or free and he fits in a LOT of great places and lifehacks.  Please follow...

Our guest tells us about an amazing monthly event at a historical venue which makes her laugh, cry and love life, a place that does the best pies in London and getting special treatment on a night with the talented actor and hot priest from fleabag Andrew Scott . Our guest is an author, academic and historian who despite only being in her 30s is one of the most respected people in her field in the...

She's performed at The Royal Albert Hall, Glastonbury and venues across the world. Her albums range from multi platinum selling chart toppers that sold over a million copies from a group she was in with Ghosts and Taskmaster star Charlotte Ritchie called ALL ANGELS who were like the classical Spice Girls, to highly acclaimed award-winning solo releases in genres spanning jazz, folk, Americana and...