Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth

This is a fun episode of diaries, as we hear about the gap year travels not only of Gyles, but also of Harriet too. Because she has finally dug out an old diary, and shares a few entries with Gyles at the beginning of today's show - and they're from her gap year, which was partly spent travelling in India. Then we get stuck into Gyles's travels, which were in the U.S. We hear about his job, teachi...

This week, Gyles is joined by very special guest Sir David Jason, who talks about memories of his career: how he started out in his local theatre group in north London, and progressed through amateur dramatics, to rep, and finally to the West End and television. There are, of course, a few cameos and helping hands along the way: Brian Epstein, Humphrey Barclay, Ronnie Barker and John Sullivan, to...

We've got something quite unique for you this week: an episode of More Rosebud, in which Gyles meets one of the greatest composers who ever lived : Ludwig Van Beethoven. In this fascinating conversation, Gyles will find out about Beethoven's first memory, his challenging childhood in which he was forced to play the piano by his drunken father, and his ascent to genius, both aided and hampered by h...

It's Chelsea Flower Show in London this week, and at Rosebud we're celebrating - with this special episode recorded at one of the most beautiful gardens in the world: Sissinghurst Castle in Kent. At Sissinghurst Gyles meets the writer Adam Nicolson, grandson of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson (who famously conceived and designed the garden there) and his wife Sarah Raven, the plantswoman a...

The second half of 1966 - Marlene Dietrich, university interviews, and the final goodbyes. This is a roller-coaster episode of Gyles's diaries, which is full of incident. Encouraged by his mother, Gyles goes on a charitable summer camp to Kent and doesn't enjoy it; there is a scandal at school while he is preparing for his Oxford entrance exam; he and Simon Cadell see Marlene Dietrich live in Gold...

If you love British comedy, you'll know and admire our guest this week: Dame Penelope Keith. The characters she played - Margo Leadbetter and Audrey Fforbes-Hamilton - are two of the best-known and most distinctive characters in sit-com. And this is a rare chance to hear an interview with Dame Penelope. Gyles talks to her about her childhood, growing up without a father, the daughter of a hard-wor...

If you're an avid Rosebud listener, you may remember a listener email we read out back in episode 5 of Gyles's diaries, from Harry Scoble. Harry wrote in to say that he'd left a coat in a taxi with Gyles back in 2002 and that he'd wished he had come to collect it from Gyles's house all those years ago, but had never got round to it. Gyles had then told Harriet that he thought he might still have t...

The great actor Sir David Suchet is Gyles's guest today: and this conversation gets behind Hercule Poirot - Sir David's most famous role - and delves into David's childhood, his schooldays and his early acting career at the National Youth Theatre and the RSC. Gyles finds out about David's difficult relationship with his father, the great doctor, Jack Suchet. He finds out about his close relationsh...

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...