Pottering with Tom Allen

Here’s something a little different for Pottering this week! ☀️ I thought I would hop on to share a few thoughts from the garden, ‘sans guest’, if you will. And while the podcast takes a little summer holiday, I have gathered together some of my favourite moments from the second series to share with you all too. 🌱 I love welcoming you wonderful listeners, and viewers of course, into my garden eac...

An absolute joy this week to be joined among the hydrangeas by gardening guru Henry Agg! 🌸Garden designer and social media sensation, I love Henry’s accessible approach to gardening and was thrilled when he agreed to pop by for some Pottering. Listen in as we discuss Henry’s rather dramatic career change from the glamour of IT recruitment to the garden shed, the mental health benefits of spending...

Joining me in the garden this week is the glorious Ginger Johnson! 🌿😍Champion of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, MasterChef maestro and all round delight, it was such a joy to chat with Ginger. I cannot wait to see her brand new show, Show Pony, hit the road later this year! Tickets are available at gingerjohnson.co.uk. 🎭 We chat about theatrical beginnings, depressing queer cinema, the noughties drag s...

Joining me this week in the gentle summer rain is the fabulous Philippa Perry! ☔ Author, psychotherapist, artist and agony aunt, Philippa is perhaps best known for the captivating The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read, and now her brand new cosy crime novel, Shrink Solves Murder, is out too! 📖Join us for a fascinating conversation, and an occasional visualised therapy session, where we chat wr...

Oh, what fun was had this week when the delightful AJ Odudu popped into the garden for a potter and a chat! Brilliant presenter and joyful human being, AJ has graced our screens presenting hit shows such as Big Brother, The Big Breakfast, M&S: Dress The Nation (ah, lovely M&S), and of course, cha cha cha’d her way to the Strictly final in 2021! 🌼💃 This week we chat the thoughts and feelings of p...

This week I was joined in my Pottering patch by the glorious Kiri Pritchard-McLean! Stand up comedian, podcaster and all round delight, I’ve known Kiri for a long time so it was such a joy to catch up. 🌸 🐓🌾 Straight from the countryside in her transit van, Kiri arrived with tales of dead rats, learning from the past in her own farming adventures, and her wonderful fostering work. There is also...

The superb Sara Cox joins me this week for another day of sun in the garden! ☀️🌻Presenter, author and radio extraordinaire, Sara is such a joyful and calming presence, and we had a glorious time chatting about everything from the Radio 1 fax machine to the backside of a bird, and, the sometimes rather arousing, writing process. 👀Sara’s new book The Truth of Us is available to preorder now, and w...

This week we welcomed the wonderful Laura Checkley in to the garden! A glorious actor and brilliantly funny, you’ll know Laura from King Gary, Action Team, Screw, Detectorists and, well, so many things besides! 🎬 🪴 We chat firing guns in Bulgaria, neighbourhood Facebook groups and what growing up gay did to our wardrobes. My bathroom birdsong also gets another mention, what a successful purchase...

Oh, what a joy it was to welcome my dear friend Alan Carr into the garden for a spot of Pottering! 🌻 Comedian, presenter and turret-loving TV sensation, Alan is always a delight! You’ll know him from the brilliant Changing Ends on ITV, his Mediterranean makeovers with Amanda Holden on BBC One, BAFTA-award winning The Traitors, and of course so much more besides. We shoot the breeze (or should tha...

Joining me this week in our little Pottering oasis is the delightful Cariad Lloyd! Comedian, author and podcast sensation, Cariad is co-host of the brilliant Sara & Cariad’s Weirdos Book Club with Sara Pascoe, and part of the all-star improv show Austentatious, which is in the West End and on tour throughout 2026, so do check that out! 🌷🎭We chat nineties nostalgia, the wonderful world of improv,...

Oh what a treat it was to chat with true gardening icon Carol Klein! Presenter, author and gardener extraordinaire, Carol is so gloriously entertaining and a true horticultural hero of mine and so many others. It was an absolute pleasure to chat with her, even if the spring sunshine soon swapped out for sleet! ☂️❄️🌸 We discuss the promiscuity of the primrose, the dangers of the Chelsea Flower Sho...

Joining me this week in the garden is the delightful Ashley James! Broadcaster, campaigner and Sunday Times Bestselling author, Ashley's debut book Bimbo is out right now! 🌸 We chat about turning our hands to gardening, sometimes at the expense of Dad’s daffodils, the surprisingly fascinating origins of the ‘Crazy Cat Lady’, and the highs and lows of being a woman online. 🐈 🌻 So, switch off Thi...

This week joining me for some Pottering is Horticultural Hercules, social media sensation and author of Garden Yourself Happy, Jonny Hincks! 🪴 It was a real delight to have a true green-fingered great in the garden, and we had a lovely chat about the intoxicating smells of nature, the power of planting for our health and wellbeing, and Jonny’s lessons for lawns: don’t go too short! ✂️ It's rather...

Oh what joy to have the marvellous Sarah Hadland joining me in the garden this week. 💃🏼🪩 Strictly sensation, such fun sitcom star and a truly fabulous actress, soon to be lighting up the London stage in The Truth.🦊 We chat fox poo, the perils of Slip 'n' Slide and, of course, getting pissed with Alan Titchmarsh. And stay tuned to hear all about a rather alarming encounter with a bull in East C...

Umbrellas at the ready, dear listeners, as the brilliant Lou Beckett joins me in the garden on a rather dreary spring morning. ☔But fear not, spirits remain undampened. We chat reality television, the delightful side of social media, and, with plenty of thoughts on motherhood along the way, discuss Lou’s wonderful new book, Lessons from a Default Parent. Out right now! 👈So, pause Real Housewives...

Oh hello, and welcome back to the garden, lovely listeners. 🌱 Spring has sprung, the daffodils are doing their thing, and the doctor is in! Yes, joining me this week is the ever-delightful Dr Amir Khan. 🩺 We had a lovely chat about grief and gardening, his work with the RSPB, and what it’s like being the nation’s favourite GP. Plus, listen in to discover why a rather unfortunate rash brought Ami...

Whilst Pottering is taking a little break, we’re bringing you some of my favourite moments from the first series, some Clippings if you will. 🌱 Join us this week to hear from Jo Brand, Gareth Howells, Phil Dunning, Fay Ripley, Angela Scanlon, Amy Annette and Giovanna Fletcher. Expect chats about ghosts and gravy, Edinburgh Fringe adventures and fancy dress, hun culture and hypnosis. Yes, Potterin...

Whilst Pottering is taking a little break, we’re bringing you some of my favourite moments from the first series, some Clippings if you will. 🌱Join us this week to hear from James Acaster, Kerry Godliman, Nish Kumar, Jess Wright, Amy Gledhill, Harry Hadden Paton, Charlie Baker and Sam Battersea. A truly glorious collection of guests. Expect National Trust nostalgia, Catio chat, and plenty more be...

Whilst Pottering is taking a little break, we’re bringing you some of my favourite moments from the first series, The Clippings if you will. 🌱Join us this week to hear from Rob Beckett, Suzi Ruffell, James Gill, Gabby Best, Phil Wang, Lee Peart and Natalie Cassidy. A truly glorious gathering for the garden. We cover everything from Christmas chaos to cocktail creation, with a few horticultural mu...

Hello lovely listeners. Pottering with me, Tom Allen, is taking a short intermission. Yes, I’m stepping away from the garden for a few weeks, swapping my much loved Crocs for something altogether more seaworthy as I step aboard the West End stage in Titanique! But fear not. We shall return, and when we do there are plenty more delightful guests lined up, which I am very much looking forward to. Wi...

What a treat it was to welcome the glorious Sam Battersea and Charlie Baker into the garden for this week’s episode. An entertainment power couple and long time friends of mine, we share our gardening secrets, chat the world of TV acting, and get a glimpse into Charlie's superb showbiz knowledge, covering everything from Pat St Clement to Lionel Bart!  Arriving laden with gifts for the garden, Sam...

This week, founder of Hunsnet and meme extraordinaire Gareth Howells joins me in the garden for a delightfully fun, and occasionally naughty, chat I am very much looking forward to taking Benidorm by storm with our Pitbull / Steve McFadden tribute act. Watch this space. Warning. There is some choice language in this episode, so perhaps best saved for the greenhouse, away from younger listeners. We...

Joining me this week among the perennials is the fabulous Amy Gledhill! An Edinburgh Award winning stand up, actor and writer, Amy recently appeared in Netflix hit Run Away, and is very soon to be the star of Last One Laughing UK and Taskmaster! Yes, she is very busy, which makes me even more grateful she popped by for a chat. Melancholically meandering from Dungeness to dungeons, we chat the terr...

Oh it was truly a delight to have the wonderful Giovanna Fletcher join me in the garden. Actress, author, podcaster and gardening enthusiast, Giovanna is an absolute joy and it was a real pleasure chatting about mulch, motherhood, and most things in between. We discuss the correct way to deal with slugs, late night compost purchases, and the anomaly of audiobook accents. Once again the gazebo made...

The brilliantly talented and very funny Phil Dunning joins me this week for a drink and a chat in the rain. A wonderful friend, superb stand up, and creator and star of BBC hit sitcom Smoggie Queens (series 2 on the way very soon), Phil is a complete delight. It was an absolute joy chatting with him, as always, even if we were both slowly soaking through.  Listen in as Phil gives us the recipe for...