Saturday Live

Presented by Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir. Chris Tarrant has been a household staple since the mid 70s when he shook up Saturday mornings with children's TV series Tiswas. He went on to do Capital Radio breakfast show and was the presenter of ground breaking quiz show Who wants to be a Millionaire, which ran for 15 years, presenting many other programmes along the way. His latest project has been...

Presented by Richard Coles and Suzy Klein. DJ and veteran festival-goer Edith Bowman on her love for the sonic boom of Green Man and Glastonbury. For the past twenty years Edith's taken in two or three festivals a year - and after attending more than 80 of them, seeing 1,500 bands and having two children she explains why her passion is as great as ever. Grammy award winning jazz singer Gregory Por...

Clinical psychologist and broadcaster Professor Tanya Byron joins Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir to talk tales of the clinic, how a family tragedy sparked her interest in psychology and destigmatising vulnerable people. Becoming unexpectedly jobless in 2012 prompted Michelle Thomas to start paying people to tell her their stories. The response was so amazing she's now crowd-funding a book which will...

In the studio with Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles this week is Conchita Wurst winner of Eurovision 2014. Conchita hails from Columbia and is the alter ego of Tom Neuwirth who was born in Austria. When she won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014 with her song "Rise Like A Phoenix" she gained international fame - and also became a gay icon to the LGBT community all over the world. Conchita is a Drag Q...

The comedian, writer and presenter Paul Merton joins Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles. A regular fixture on our radios and TVs - from Just a Minute to Have I Got News For You? But it's pure improvisation that he loves - starting with the Comedy Store Players back in 1985, a gig that he still does every Sunday. And he's about to start a UK tour improvising with a group of friends. Vanessa Mann on delti...

Dame Zandra Rhodes is one of Britain's best-known fashion designers, putting London at the forefront of the international fashion scene in the 1970s. Her extensive list of clients has included Princess Diana and Freddie Mercury. Rhodes now lives with her partner, the 94 year old film producer Salah Hassanein and former head of Warner Bros. In 2003 Zandra founded The Fashion and Textile Museum, the...

On the biggest gardening weekend of the year garden designer and tv presenter Diarmuid Gavin joins Aasmah Mir and Suzy Klein to spill the beans on the highs and lows of taking part in the Chelsea Flower Show, the inspiration behind some of his wackier gardens and the excesses of his overnight propulsion to tv heart throb. Also, York based chocolatier Sophie Jewett will be teaching us how to #bbcge...

The actor and singer, Jason Donovan, joins Richard Coles and Suzy Klein. He talks about his life and a career that has seen him move from Neighbours' soapstar to chart pop idol, jungle survivor to Strictly finalist. In musical theatre he's starred as Joseph and Frank N Furter, and now plays Lionel Logue, the speech therapist to a stammering George VI, in a touring production of The King's Speech....

Presenter and health expert, Dr Christian Jessen, joins Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles. Well known for programmes such as ''Embarrassing Bodies' and 'Supersize Vs Superskinny', Dr Christian also works closely with health charities to educate people in health matters. Most important to him is to raise medical awareness amongst hard to reach groups. Actor Hugh Maynard, currently playing the role of Jo...

The wildlife cameraman and presenter, Gordon Buchanan, joins Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles. He's spent his life getting close to wild animals - following black bears in Minnesota, travelling to the remote Canadian Arctic to film wolves and coming face to face with a 1000 lb polar bear! Saturday Live listener, Chrissi Kelly, talks about Anosmia: the impact losing her smell has had on her life, the s...

With Red Nose day fast approaching Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir are joined by tv presenter and property expert Kirstie Allsopp to talk taking part in the Comic Relief Danceathon, our enduring affection for tv property programmes and her problem dog Dandy. Just as well canine behaviourist Rob Alleyne is on hand. As well as being a dog trainer, Rob worked as an animal welfare officer for a local aut...

Radio DJ Scott Mills joins Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles to talk about being a DJ and how he was the uncoolest kid in the playground. Recently Scott took part in Strictly Come Dancing where he was famously not very good. Mike Farley tried his hand at acting and stand-up comedy before a friend spotted that he looked a bit like Henry VIII and got him involved in re-enactments - and the rest is histor...

Ruby Wax joins Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir to talk about how she brings her knowledge of neuroscience, spiked with comedy, to her one woman show. David Reynolds explains how his grandfather's letters, and enthralling childhood stories of the Wild West, inspired him to embark on a road trip along Highway 83 from Canada to the Mexican border. He describes some of the local characters he met, the th...

TV presenter Rachel Khoo and bestselling author of The Little Paris Kitchen joins Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles to talk about her new personal cookbook. Kitchen Notebook sees Rachel move on from French cooking to give us a collection of recipes from her around the world travels. Alan Radbourne was about to graduate from University when he found a pound coin on the floor. He had a thought- could he...

The actress, script-writer and producer Ruth Jones joins Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles. Known for her role as 'Nessa Jenkins' in the BBC's award-winning sitcom Gavin and Stacey, she's now back on our screens in the comedy drama series Stella. Trend forecaster James Wallman describes why we have more stuff than we could ever need. It's cluttering up our homes and making us feel 'stuffocated'. He exp...

Omid Djalili, the British-Iranian stand-up comedian and actor, joins Richard Coles and Suzy Klein to talk his relationship with Iran, comic sensitivities and that dive off the 10m board in Splash!. Also on the programme, a former international hostage and police negotiator Richard Mullender who now works advising business in 'engagement'. He tells us what makes him the Lewis Hamilton of expert lis...

"Restoration Man" and Amazing Spaces presenter George Clarke joins Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles to talk about leaving school at sixteen without any qualifications and his passion for bringing buildings back to life. Find out how a present from his Granddad set him on the road to becoming an architect. Sherika Sherard quit University to get a job. But it took her almost a year to get work and in th...

Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles are joined by Olympic Gold medallist Sally Gunnell. Now an ambassador for Sport England, she discusses how she keeps fit, her role in her local community in Sussex and how her sons now outrun her! Saturday Live listener Alice Munro contacted the programme to tell us about the community in Wirksworth, Derbyshire and why it's a special place to live. Matt Barlow accepted...

Artistic Director and acclaimed comedian, Viv Groskop joins Aasmah Mir and Suzy Klein to talk about the 'caw' of stand-up comedy and what it's like making tea for famous authors at the Bath Literature Festival. Ten years ago Paul Sinton-Hewitt was fired and then had a bad fall when training for a half marathon which ruptured his stomach. Not knowing what to do with himself and determined not to gi...

Chef, restaurateur and Masterchef judge Marcus Wareing joins Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles. Actor, presenter and reality TV star Alison Hammond talks celebrity, 'Strictly' and allotments. We hear the extraordinary story of the woman who fell in love with her sperm donor. Aminah Hart's daughter was born two years ago following IVF using an anonymous donor, but she tracked down the donor and is now e...

Anton du Beke of Strictly Come Dancing joins Aasmah Mir and Suzy Klein. Anton has been with Strictly from the beginning, having famously partnered Ann Widdecombe, Nancy Dell'Olio, and most recently Judy Murray. As he is about to go on tour with his dance partner, Erin Boag, he explains how he became involved in ballroom dancing and why his favourite dance is the Foxtrot. The poet Mr. Gee shares se...

Journalist Jon Snow joins Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles to discuss 25 years of being the face of Channel 4 News. Also on the programme, Luke Simon was living in Thailand when the 2004 Tsunami struck. He lost his brother when the low lying island of Ko Phi Phi was subsumed by sea water. He tells us how life has moved on, about the power of sibling relationships and the charity he set up in his broth...

The BBC's Formula 1 presenter, Suzi Perry, joins Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir to discuss life on the road, her passion for speed, her rock and roll childhood and time spent working backstage at her local theatre. Ben Collins, ex-"The Stig" from the BBC's Top Gear, takes Richard on a circuit of Rockingham Racetrack. With more than 30 years' experience Mark Thompson shares his passion for "amateur a...

The choreographer Matthew Bourne and X Factor 2013 winner Sam Bailey join Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles. We meet the friends of Malala Yousafzai who were shot by the Taliban in Pakistan two years ago and are now studying in rural Wales. They will be reunited with Malala this week as she receives the Nobel Peace Prize. Tim Wootton was told he wouldn't live long enough to finish school because of a g...

In a special programme for Saturday Live's Listener Week, wildlife presenter Steve Backshall joins Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles to talk intricate animal communities, how he earned his nickname 'manure boy' and whether his sequined onesie is to be retired forever. Also with us are listener Simon Digby who got in touch about a series of stories about things he got up to when he was young that he nev...