Saturday Live

Anita Dobson's acting career spans more than forty years. She found fame in the 1980s playing pub landlady Angie Watts in EastEnders. She has starred in television, film and theatre productions as diverse as Hamlet, Follies and London Road. She talks about her career and growing up in the East End. Alastair Humphreys is an adventurer who has cycled around the world and walked a lap of the M25. He...

Aasmah Mir and the Reverend Richard Coles are joined by Bafta award winning actor Rebecca Front to talk about being funny, playing dislikeable characters and claustrophobia. Chef and writer Allegra McEvedy has been cooking professionally for over 20 years, in London and the USA. She set up food chain LEON, is a Patron of the Fairtrade foundation, writes food columns and cookery books and last year...

Marian Keyes joins the Rev. Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir. A columnist, blogger and bestselling author of a dozen novels, she has sold more than 33 million copies worldwide. She shares her passion for "the twitters", collecting drawer knobs, browsing in chemists and "beachouse banjo" - chalk painting old furniture. Gilding the recycled lily, mosaic maker Ed Chapman talks about his portraits which h...

The actor Laurence Fox is best known for playing DI James Hathaway in the ITV crime drama Lewis. He's now on the London stage playing a giant of history Charles de Gaulle in 'The Patriotic Traitor'. He is part of Britain's most famous acting dynasty that includes his father James, uncle Edward and cousin Emilia. He is now carving out a career in music and has just released his debut album. He join...

After playing tough guys in Layer Cake, Oliver Twist and Nil by Mouth, the part of thug Derek Branning in Eastenders seemed a natural choice for actor Jamie Foreman. But with comedy parts in Birds of a Feather and Pantomime under his belt he's now pushing his boundaries with an all singing all dancing role in Mrs Henderson Presents in the West End in London. Given his background as an East End gan...

The singer-songwriter and actor Ronan Keating joins Aasmah Mir and the Rev. Richard Coles. Ronan has sold more than 45 million records worldwide as a solo artist, and alongside Boyzone. After a break to star to critical acclaim in the west end musical Once, and appear as a judge on Australian X-Factor, he has returned with a very personal album. He describes how he was inspired from newfound happi...

Nicky Clarke, hairdresser to the stars, shares his style tips and tales of celebrity clients from Elizabeth Taylor to Princess Diana. In 1966 George Cohen helped England to victory in the World Cup. Now he's back with stories of glory and to highlight how sporting memories can help people with dementia. You will almost certainly have heard the voice of Tessa Niles, but you will probably not know h...

The stand-up comedian, broadcaster and newspaper columnist grew up in Kent with his adopted parents. He's currently touring the country with his new stand up show. 'Who do I think I am?, which deals with his efforts to trace his birth mother. He discusses his experience of tracing his roots, and his endless fascination with British towns. Paula Zuccotti is an ethnographer, industrial designer and...

Reverend Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir are joined by Katy Brand. Comedian Katy Brand graced our screen in her Big Ass Show where we saw her parody pop culture. She danced like Beyonce for Sport Relief, has written her first novel Brenda Monk is Funny and her acting credits include Peep show and Nanny McPhee. Now she's a judge on the Costa book awards. Almost four years ago Clare Owen found a gold w...

The hypnotist and self-help author, Paul McKenna, has sold more than 10 million books worldwide. He describes his career, working with celebrity clients, and reveals his latest work on how to gain influence and charisma. Dr. Irving Finkel began collecting diaries as a hobby, before co-founding The Great Diary Project - a collection of more than 6,000 unpublished diaries. He explains the fascinatio...

Actress and author Pauline McLynn talks about her varied career which includes Mrs Doyle in Father Ted and Nasty Nick Cotton's ex-wife in EastEnders. She also discusses being attracted to playing baddies and explains why she's knitting for chickens. Hollywood trainer Dalton Wong has worked with Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence and got Kit Harington into shape for Game of Thrones. Dalton talks about...

Join Aasmah Mir and Suzy Klein for a live Boxing Day Saturday Live. Russell Grant has been synonymous with astrology ever since he interpreted the stars on breakfast TV in the 1980s. But if you remember his flamboyant outfits and presenting style, it wasn't hard to see where his real love lay. In 2011 he joined the cast of Strictly and it catapulted him back into the world of theatre, a passion wh...

Game show regular and former MP Gyles Brandreth discusses the wonders and curiosities of the English language. Great British Bake Off presenter Sue Perkins reveals how she overcame childhood shyness, how conducting music turned her adult life around, and where she hides smelly cheese. Veteran entertainer Bruce Forsyth shares his Inheritance Tracks and why he feels that Frank Sinatra followed his l...

Michael Morpurgo joins Aasmah Mir and the Reverend Richard Coles. He describes how stories from his mother, and a decorated soldier from WWI, have inspired his latest novel; the importance of daydreaming and his reimagining of the Nativity. Helen Sharman became the first Briton in space in 1991. She recalls how that experience affected the rest of her life as we countdown the days to Tim Peake's l...

It's listener week on Saturday Live with Reverend Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir. We've accepted Philip Farmer's invitation to come to his house in Wolverhampton. Philip, his wife Sarah and daughter Hannah discuss their city. BBC Formula 1 presenter Suzi Perry, recently nominated as one of the Wolverhampton's Famous Daughters, will be talking about her connection to the city, Wolverhampton Wanderers...

Richard Coles and Aasmar Mir are joined by Caroline Quentin. She became a national treasure as the long suffering Dorothy on Men Behaving Badly, followed by lead roles in Jonathan Creek, Blue Murder and Life of Riley. She has presented documentary series on Cornwall and India, and Restoration Home. More recently she's performed at Bristol Old Vic and in the West End. She joins us ahead of a new BB...

Griff Rhys Jones joins the Reverend Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir, to share tales about his long association with historic buildings, hosting quizzes in museums, his great Welsh adventures and dressing as a Dame. JP Devlin meets Paul Hendy and his family to find out about their passion for making bespoke pantomimes. Saturday Live listener Polly Wright describes finding a stash of letters between he...

Anne Reid joins Aasmah Mir and the Reverend Richard Coles. After becoming a household name as Coronation Street's Valerie Barlow, Anne's varied career has seen her seducing Daniel Craig in The Mother, and playing Celia in Last Tango in Halifax. Now Anne talks about fulfilling another ambition, by singing in her one women show. JP Devlin meets listener Jayne Moore who set up Greensted Hedgehog Resc...

Crime writer Ian Rankin joined Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir. Saturday Live hosted a special auction, offering listeners the chance to bid for some amazing prize packages to raise money for BBC Children in Need. LINES ARE NOW CLOSED - PLEASE DO NOT CALL OR TRY TO BID. There was a Just a Minute VIP Experience, a Today Programme VIP Experience, a Saturday Live VIP Experience and The Infinite Monkey C...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor first topped the charts with Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) and successes continued with hits including Murder On The Dancefloor and Take Me Home. Sophie joins Aasmah and Richard to talk about her career, taxidermy and reaching the final on Strictly Come Dancing. Ashley Walters found fame as rapper Asher D in So Solid Crew. He's subsequently carved out a successful acting caree...

Joining Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles is the actor, writer and comedian Steve Coogan. He has won seven comedy awards, six BAFTAs for his work including The Trip and Philomena, and had a box office number one with Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. He discusses his childhood, comedy career and love of cars, including his mum's Morris Minor Traveller. Deborah Alma, emergency poet, turns up in a 1970s ambula...

He rose to fame playing windmill dwelling magician sleuth Jonathan Creek, but it was quite a departure from his roots in the comedy circuit. Alan Davies has since garnered our sympathy as the fall guy to Stephen Fry's genius in TV quiz QI. But all the while he's never stopped the stand up and he joins us mid tour. When she was only 13 years old, Yeonmi Park fled North Korea for a better life. She...

Inspired by Blue Peter at the age of three Gaby Roslin's career has taken her from The Big Breakfast to Chicago and the National Lottery Draw. She joins Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir to talk about her life and career on stage and TV. George Dowell dreamed of playing professional football before a car crash left him paralysed from the chest down. The former defender used to play for Worthing FC but...

Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles are joined by Sophie Thompson. The award winning actor has appeared in Harry Potter, EastEnders and won celebrity MasterChef in 2014. Sophie talks about how her family, which includes sister Emma and father Eric, narrator of the Magic Roundabout, inspired her to create a cookbook. Peter Bleksley is one of the experts on Channel 4's TV series Hunted, where the police ar...

He's sold over three million records, has over 2 million twitter followers and has notched up 66 million YouTube views of his work. Rapper Professor Green aka Stephen Manderson has now written his autobiography which details his troubled past, successful present and hopes for the future. He joins us on Saturday Live. Charlie le Mindu is a hair artist. He cuts hair, makes wigs and what he calls 'ha...