Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth

This edition of Gyles's diary takes us up to the end of Gyles's final year at Bedales in the summer of 1966; so this really is the end of an era. And Gyles finds it very moving to look back at these closing moments of his schooldays. He says farewell to the 101 year-old founder of the school, Mr Badley, and makes plans for his university years and the future with his headmaster, Mr Slack. There is...

Our guest today is Rachael Stirling: the brilliant theatrical actress and one of the stars of BBC comedy Detectorists, who is currently on stage in London in Giant, about the writer Roald Dahl. Gyles and Rachael begin by talking about a memorable conversation Gyles had with Rachael's mother, the great actress Dame Diana Rigg, when he interviewed her 25 years ago. And this interview with Rachael is...

Lynda La Plante - the writer, producer and creator of landmark dramas Widows and Prime Suspect - is Gyles's guest today. Lynda is the powerhouse behind some of the UK's most watched television, and she's also the powerhouse behind this episode of Rosebud - which is full of brilliant stories to make you gasp, laugh and cry. From her childhood growing up on the outskirts of Merseyside in a family ta...

It's the week of William Shakespeare's birthday, so Gyles has poetry on his mind... and we thought we'd celebrate with a special conversation recorded with Simon Armitage, who has been Poet Laureate since 2019. Gyles finds out about Simon's childhood and early days, when he played out on the moors with his friends, watched TV and read comics... long before he became turned on to poetry by reading...

We begin this episode of Gyles's diary in Switzerland, where he's spending the summer as an au pair to the family of the Head of the Swiss Army. He beats the President of Switzerland at cards and attends an underwhelming 'son et lumiere'. Back in England, Gyles returns to another busy term at Bedales, in which he carries on his relationship with Sally and tries to reconcile that with his endless s...

Sir Tim Rice, lyricist extraordinaire, is Gyles's guest today. Tim is one of the few people in the entertainment world to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award, and his songs for shows like Joseph, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Chess and the Lion King are known and loved all around the world. And yet Sir Tim remains modest and charming, as you'll hear in this conversation - perhap...

Wayne Sleep was once called "the finest virtuoso ballet dancer the Royal Ballet has ever produced" by the founder of the company, Ninette de Valois. In this episode, Wayne tells Gyles his remarkable story - raised by his single mother in Plymouth and Hartlepool, Wayne overcame poverty and his short stature to become one of the most well known and successful British ballet dancers of all time. It's...

Brian Cox is one of the finest classical actors of his generation. Fans of Succession will of course know him for his portrayal of the ruthless media mogul, Logan Roy, but in this interview we go back to the beginning of Cox's long career, which has its roots deeply in theatre. We also go back to his childhood in Dundee, which was unusual and somewhat solitary. Brian talks to Gyles about his early...

After a three-week wait, we're back with another episode of the young Gyles Brandreth's diary. In these extracts, which take us up to the start of the summer holidays, 1965, Gyles turns 17, is given a three-foot long bar of chocolate, and continues with his impressively busy school life. He's got himself an office and a few new jobs: running the school bookshop and organising the cycling proficien...

In a complete one-off, Rosebud is releasing an episode on a Saturday, because our guest is the 2022 Grand National winner, and two-times winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Sam Waley-Cohen. Sam is an amateur jockey, but is one of the most successful Grand National riders of all time, and finally won the race in his last ever race with the 50 to one shot horse Noble Yeats in 2022. Sam talks to Gyles...

We're really delighted that Sue Perkins is our guest on Rosebud this week, and this is a special conversation. Gyles and Sue have known and worked with each other for years on shows like Radio 4's Just a Minute, which Sue now hosts, so this conversation about Sue's first memories, family history, childhood and student days is intimate, honest, and at times very moving. Sue tells Gyles about her ch...

Today's More Rosebud is an unexpected April treat from the great comedian Harry Hill. You'll know Harry from his brilliant TV shows like TV Burp and Alien Fun Capsule or his podcast Are We There Yet? but you won't know about his incredible life. In this episode Harry tells Gyles his scarcely believable story - and what a story. Growing up in his dad's circus in North Kent, Harry tells a tale of do...

Today Gyles speaks to a remarkable person: Sir Grayson Perry. Artist, presenter, thinker and fashion icon, Perry is a unique figure who has led an unusual life. Grayson was born and brought up in Chelmsford, but his father left the family when Grayson was only four years old, and his mother married the local milkman - a Tom Jones lookalike with an unpredictable temper. Grayson talks to Gyles about...

In this episode you join Gyles and Harriet at the Oldie of the Year lunch, where Harriet asks some of the guests at the event for their first memories. Including memories from Radio 4 legend John Humphrys, children's writer Dame Jacqueline Wilson, choreographer Arlene Philips, actress Nanette Newman and 102 year-old skydiver Manette Baillie. Plus some chat from Gyles and Harriet and one of your em...

Gyles really enjoyed meeting this week's guest, Ed Balls, because he enjoyed bonding over their shared experience of Westminster. And the political gossip and insight in this chat is fascinating - from a very funny behind-the-scenes account of the famous dinner at Granita in Islington at which Tony Blair and Gordon Brown thrashed out their leadership in 1997; to a description of what it's like to...

We're back, diary fans, with another instalment from Gyles's diary. This one starts in the 1964 summer holidays, Gyles is 16, and he's off on a road trip with his Canadian cousin Johnnie. Gyles is not impressed. In the autumn it's time for the General Election and, at Bedales, the school mock election, in which Gyles is running as the Conservative candidate. He's also appearing as Isaac Newton in...

Dame Kristin Scott Thomas is one of our best, most distinctive, and most watchable actresses, and we're delighted that she's our guest on Rosebud today. Dame Kristin tells Gyles about her childhood, which was at times idyllic but was coloured by the tragic deaths of both her father and step-father. She talks about her impressive and highly talented mother, who brought up five children in the midst...

In another special episode dedicated to the how, what and why of memory, Gyles talks to his long-time friend and colleague Professor Brett Kahr. Professor Kahr is a practising psychotherapist and an expert on Sigmund Freud, the father of psychotherapy and the inventor of the "talking cure". In this fascinating conversation, Gyles and Prof. Kahr take a detailed look at the power of childhood memori...

Gyles is talking to one of his favourite comedians in today's Rosebud - Josh Widdicombe. Josh tells Gyles about his early days growing up in Devon; about his charismatic father, his clever mum, and his chain-smoking grandmother who lived next-door and delighted him with tales of her acting days. Gyles hears about Josh's youthful obsessions: pop culture, TV, Plymouth Argyle and marbles, and about h...

We've another action-packed episode of Gyles's teenage diary for you, diary fans. The young Brandreth continues to busy himself on multiple fronts - with drama, journalism and politics. As his form teacher says in his report: "Gyles appears to be a person of boundless energy and enthusiasm..." But all is not entirely plain-sailing in this episode, as Gyles gets involved in a scandal at school and...

Rosebud is thrilled to present to you one of the truly great Hollywood actresses of her generation: Sigourney Weaver. Known for her groundbreaking performances as Ripley in Ridley Scott's Alien movies, Sigourney redefined what women could do in the movies. Sigourney talks to Gyles about her fascinating parents - her father, Pat Weaver, was a leading US television executive who pioneered morning te...

Tariq Ali is one of the most famous and recognisable figures of the revolutionary student movements of the 1960s. In his distinctive red Aquascutum mac he led marches, gave speeches and galvanised opposition to the Vietnam War and other big issues of the time. Born in Lahore just before Partition, he grew up in a prominent family of politicians and became interested in radical politics from a youn...

Sir James Dyson talks to Gyles about his remarkable journey: from academic under-achiever to one of the world's most successful inventors and businessmen. Sir James takes us back to the start, when he was a schoolboy at Gresham's School in Norfolk, the son of a schoolteacher, until he was blindsided by the tragic death of his father when he was only nine. Was it this early bereavement that set him...

After the relationship turbulence of the first six months of the year (you can hear all about that in the last episode - episode 8), our hero, the 15 year-old Gyles, sensibly turns his attention away from romance and onto other things. The most pressing one being his upcoming performance in the school production of Twelfth Night. Can he follow the advice of his drama teacher and learn to act "from...

It's Valentine's Day, and we at Rosebud knew we needed to find someone special, to spread the love to you, our gorgeous listeners: we needed to find our very own Rosebud Romeo. Someone debonair, someone handsome, someone with a talent for being in love... and who better than possibly the most charming actor of them all: Nigel Havers? Nigel talks to Gyles about his enchanted life. The son of an emi...