Saturday Live

Stand-up comedian and actor John Bishop joins Aasmah Mir and the Rev. Richard Coles. John Bishop found fame after discovering his talent for stand-up comedy in his thirties. He talks about his willingness to try new things, which includes a new TV interview series, his Liverpudlian identity and creating comedy. Listener Rachel Gadsden is an artist who is involved in creating artworks and an animat...

Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles are joined by Ralf Little. He first came to our attention as Antony in The Royle Family and has now produced the 'mockumentary' series Borderline. He reveals why he swapped medical school for acting and what it was like to play football with Zinedine Zidane. JP Devlin meets Fergus Anckorn, a former British soldier, he was the youngest member of the Magic Circle and now...

Miles Jupp joins the Rev Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir and shares his love of cricket, rollercoasters and why he is possibly the poshest stand-up comedian on the circuit. Lance Corporal Richard Jones from the Household Cavalry reveals how he combines being a magician alongside his military career. Plus a trio of extreme sports enthusiasts: Blake Aldridge on why he left the world of Olympic diving t...

Craig Charles and David Emanuel join Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir. For a while Craig Charles was best known for playing Dave Lister in sci fi comedy Red Dwarf, but he has probably usurped that with his love for Funk and Soul, dj-ing on BBC 6 music and gigging around the country. With acting, poetry, performance, dj-ing and writing under his belt, now he's championing BBC Get Playing. Fashion Desig...

Martin Fry is a singer/songwriter who came to prominence in the early 1980s as lead singer of the band ABC. Their debut album, the Lexicon of Love, was a UK number one. Thirty four years on, he has released a sequel to reflect how his perspective on life and love has changed; and he explains why he now chooses to perform with an orchestra. The conductor Paul MacAlindin recalls how a newspaper adve...

Dancer and choreographer Wayne Sleep talks about life as a dancer, his love of the stars and shares his unusual new hobby. Gary Fildes is a bricklayer turned astronomer, and founder of the Kielder Observatory in Northumberland. Listener Andrew Townsend talks about how his life changed after taking up running when he was 55. Reporter JP Devlin will be hearing all about how to train cats with Sarah...

Saturday Live's summer road trip begins in South Shields, at the Westovian Theatre, with Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles. As preparations for the maritime themed summer parade get underway, actor and presenter Denise Welch talks about why the North East will always be home, the return of TV series Boy Meets Girl and keeping her Geordie accent. Olympian Brendan Foster talks about his athletic career a...

The Saturday Live Summer Road Trip pulls into its final stop in Cromer, Norfolk where Reverend Richard Coles and Kate Silverton broadcast live from the Pavilion Theatre at the end of Cromer Pier. They are joined by Lesley Garrett, one of Britain's most popular sopranos, actor and writer Charlie Higson who found fame with the Fast Show, the double bass playing beatboxer Bellatrix and Steve Ignorant...

This week the Saturday Live road trip continues to Morecambe in Lancashire, where the Catch The Wind Kite Festival is taking place this weekend, with beautiful views across Morecambe Bay and plenty of fresh sea air. The programme comes live from The Platform, where Aasmah Mir and the Reverend Richard Coles celebrate the great day out, nostalgia, kites and space. Morecambe-born designer Wayne Hemin...

The next stop on the Saturday Live summer road trip is the beautiful seaside town of Tenby in Pembrokeshire. It's the Long Course Weekend and Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles will be celebrating extreme sports, adrenaline and music, live from Wales. Wrexham lad Tim Vincent first hit our screens as the youngest ever male Blue Peter presenter, which saw him flying a fighter jet, running the New York Mar...

Richard Madeley is one of the most recognizable faces on British TV, part of a successful husband and wife presenting team that lasted over 20 years. He has written four books - one about his relationship with his father, the latest called 'The Night Book' which is published this month. Living statues. You see them now in Trafalgar Sq. and at the seaside, wherever tourists gather, standing dead st...

Rick Astley rolls into the studio to talk to Aasmah Mir and Rev Richard Coles about his comeback album, what it's like to be at the top of the charts the second time round and why he drives to as many different concerts as possible even if they are abroad. Police Sergeant Colin Taylor reveals the trials of policing one of Britain's most remote communities on the Scilly Isles. Professional clown Da...

Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir are joined by Actor Freddie Fox starred in TV drama Cucumber, has played Romeo, and is currently performing the parts of both Demetrius and Bottom in a madcap production of A Midsummer Night's dream. Rescued from Kolkata riverside by Mother Theresa, Gautam Lewis went on to carve a career in the music industry working with bands like The Libertines. He joins us on Satur...

This week on Saturday Live - Aasmah Mir and Kate Silverton speak to wildlife presenter Michaela Strachan about her long and varied career, train enthusiast David Brewer, the man who has photographed every railway station in the UK, Rachel Mariner on swapping the courtroom to write for the stage and Mark Simpson, Young Musician of the Year in 2006 and is a nominee in the South Bank Sky Arts Awards...

The comedy writer and performer, Barry Cryer, joins Aasmah Mir and Kate Silverton. James Young has always been a keen gamer. When, in 2012, he lost two limbs after he was hit by a train, James thought he'd never pick up a games controller again. He explains how he is now at the centre of one of the biggest projects in the gaming world - the creation of a high tech prosthetic arm. JP Devlin meets C...

Former political correspondent, pasa doble specialist and now narrow boat enthusiast John Sergeant celebrates 50 years of broadcasting and reveal show he got his break into the industry Garden designer Juliet Sargeant tells us about her preparations for the pinnacle of the horticultural year - the Chelsea Flower Show. Saturday Live listener Freya Rodger reveals why she is attempting to do all 41 O...

With Aasmah Mir and the Rev Richard Coles Actor and writer David Mitchell talks about playing William Shakespeare in new series Upstart Crow, his comedy partnership with Robert Webb, and being unable to read people, despite getting a lot of practice as team Captain on Would I Lie to You. As the football season comes to an end, listener Angela Hallam talks about the craft of making football mascots...

Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir are joined by Mark Haddon. Best known for writing multi prize winning novel The Curious Incident of the dog in the Nighttime, author and illustrator Mark Haddon will discuss his first book of short stories and getting writers block. Since 2009 a third of our public libraries have closed. Poet and model Greta Bellamacina joins us to talk about a film she's made in suppo...

With Aasmah Mir and the Rev Richard Coles Lenny Henry talks about his new album of Blues music and his hugely successful career in show business. Following the news that he will receive a special BAFTA award at this year's ceremony, Lenny discusses how his career has moved from TV comedian to Shakespearean actor and scriptwriter. Lenny is also one of the founders of the charity Comic Relief which...

With Aasmah Mir and the Rev Richard Coles James Nesbitt talks about going back to his childhood home to play Colin Howell in real life drama The Secret, the return of Cold Feet and his Shakespearean roles. Edward Wilson-Lee has just published the book Shakespeare in Swahililand, he talks about growing up in Kenya and the bard's legacy in parts of Africa. Composer and musician William Lyons will be...

Aasmah Mir and the Rev. Richard Coles talk to the actress Michelle Collins about her love of markets and clothes, her singing and acting career from EastEnders to Coronation Street, and her latest role in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Wayne Hemingway shares his passion for classic cars, boot sales and his vast collection of vintage vinyl. The 'natural navigator' Tristan Gooley, explains how to read wat...

Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir are joined by DJ and writer Stuart Maconie. Stuart's new paperback 'The Pie at Night', is an exploration of "what the North does for fun" and a defence of northerners who make the effort to get dressed up for a glam night out. Stuart reveals the little-known corners of northern towns and countryside where old or quirky customs still live on. Saba Douglas-Hamilton met h...

Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir are joined by Paul Young. His music was the sound of the 80's, with a multitude of chart topping hits, he won Best British Male at the Brit awards, toured Europe and America, and sang the opening lines of 'Do they know it's Christmas' for Band Aid in 1984. Paul Young talks about his passion for music, performing, 'Tex Mex' and Soul, the theme of the first solo album he...

Presented by Aasmah Mir and Suzy Klein. Dexter Fletcher's big break came as a child actor when he was cast a BabyFace in Bugsby Malone. He talks about his acting career, move into directing and the technical challenges of making his latest film Eddie the Eagle. Shazia Mirza is an award winning stand-up comedian, a writer and columnist. Brought up in a strict Muslim household, she trained as a scie...

With the Rev. Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir Mel Giedroyc is taking on her most serious acting role, playing an American mother dealing with the potentially troubling actions of her son, in the play Luce. Mel also discusses the importance of her name, her relationship with Sue Perkins and The Great British Bake Off. Chinese sportswoman Lijia Xu left her parents to become a full time sailor aged ten...