Pottering with Tom Allen

This week joining me for some Pottering is Horticultural Hercules, social media sensation and author of Garden Yourself Happy, Jonny Hincks! 🪴 It was a real delight to have a true green-fingered great in the garden, and we had a lovely chat about the intoxicating smells of nature, the power of planting for our health and wellbeing, and Jonny’s lessons for lawns: don’t go too short! ✂️ It's rather...

Oh what joy to have the marvellous Sarah Hadland joining me in the garden this week. 💃🏼🪩 Strictly sensation, such fun sitcom star and a truly fabulous actress, soon to be lighting up the London stage in The Truth.🦊 We chat fox poo, the perils of Slip 'n' Slide and, of course, getting pissed with Alan Titchmarsh. And stay tuned to hear all about a rather alarming encounter with a bull in East C...

Umbrellas at the ready, dear listeners, as the brilliant Lou Beckett joins me in the garden on a rather dreary spring morning. ☔But fear not, spirits remain undampened. We chat reality television, the delightful side of social media, and, with plenty of thoughts on motherhood along the way, discuss Lou’s wonderful new book, Lessons from a Default Parent. Out right now! 👈So, pause Real Housewives...

Oh hello, and welcome back to the garden, lovely listeners. 🌱 Spring has sprung, the daffodils are doing their thing, and the doctor is in! Yes, joining me this week is the ever-delightful Dr Amir Khan. 🩺 We had a lovely chat about grief and gardening, his work with the RSPB, and what it’s like being the nation’s favourite GP. Plus, listen in to discover why a rather unfortunate rash brought Ami...

Whilst Pottering is taking a little break, we’re bringing you some of my favourite moments from the first series, some Clippings if you will. 🌱 Join us this week to hear from Jo Brand, Gareth Howells, Phil Dunning, Fay Ripley, Angela Scanlon, Amy Annette and Giovanna Fletcher. Expect chats about ghosts and gravy, Edinburgh Fringe adventures and fancy dress, hun culture and hypnosis. Yes, Potterin...

Whilst Pottering is taking a little break, we’re bringing you some of my favourite moments from the first series, some Clippings if you will. 🌱Join us this week to hear from James Acaster, Kerry Godliman, Nish Kumar, Jess Wright, Amy Gledhill, Harry Hadden Paton, Charlie Baker and Sam Battersea. A truly glorious collection of guests. Expect National Trust nostalgia, Catio chat, and plenty more be...

Whilst Pottering is taking a little break, we’re bringing you some of my favourite moments from the first series, The Clippings if you will. 🌱Join us this week to hear from Rob Beckett, Suzi Ruffell, James Gill, Gabby Best, Phil Wang, Lee Peart and Natalie Cassidy. A truly glorious gathering for the garden. We cover everything from Christmas chaos to cocktail creation, with a few horticultural mu...

Hello lovely listeners. Pottering with me, Tom Allen, is taking a short intermission. Yes, I’m stepping away from the garden for a few weeks, swapping my much loved Crocs for something altogether more seaworthy as I step aboard the West End stage in Titanique! But fear not. We shall return, and when we do there are plenty more delightful guests lined up, which I am very much looking forward to. Wi...

What a treat it was to welcome the glorious Sam Battersea and Charlie Baker into the garden for this week’s episode. An entertainment power couple and long time friends of mine, we share our gardening secrets, chat the world of TV acting, and get a glimpse into Charlie's superb showbiz knowledge, covering everything from Pat St Clement to Lionel Bart!  Arriving laden with gifts for the garden, Sam...

This week, founder of Hunsnet and meme extraordinaire Gareth Howells joins me in the garden for a delightfully fun, and occasionally naughty, chat I am very much looking forward to taking Benidorm by storm with our Pitbull / Steve McFadden tribute act. Watch this space. Warning. There is some choice language in this episode, so perhaps best saved for the greenhouse, away from younger listeners. We...

Joining me this week among the perennials is the fabulous Amy Gledhill! An Edinburgh Award winning stand up, actor and writer, Amy recently appeared in Netflix hit Run Away, and is very soon to be the star of Last One Laughing UK and Taskmaster! Yes, she is very busy, which makes me even more grateful she popped by for a chat. Melancholically meandering from Dungeness to dungeons, we chat the terr...

Oh it was truly a delight to have the wonderful Giovanna Fletcher join me in the garden. Actress, author, podcaster and gardening enthusiast, Giovanna is an absolute joy and it was a real pleasure chatting about mulch, motherhood, and most things in between. We discuss the correct way to deal with slugs, late night compost purchases, and the anomaly of audiobook accents. Once again the gazebo made...

The brilliantly talented and very funny Phil Dunning joins me this week for a drink and a chat in the rain. A wonderful friend, superb stand up, and creator and star of BBC hit sitcom Smoggie Queens (series 2 on the way very soon), Phil is a complete delight. It was an absolute joy chatting with him, as always, even if we were both slowly soaking through.  Listen in as Phil gives us the recipe for...

Another week, another fabulous guest to get us through these winter months! ☃️ This time it was the turn of the ever-so delightful James Gill to join me in the garden. Superb comic, podcast host and founder of the unbelievably brilliant Always Be Comedy, as I say in the episode, they're truly the best comedy nights in London so do check them out! Our conversation takes us down memory lane, via Hol...

Welcome back to the garden, where we are kicking off 2026 properly with the gloriously funny Gabby Best. A brilliantly talented actor and a very good friend of mine, you may know Gabby as Alan Carr’s neighbour in the wonderfully funny Changing Ends. Series 2 is available now on ITV and ITVX so do please take a look. We chat holiday tomatoes, norovirus with Noel Edmonds, and the audience crossover...

Hello, and a very happy New Year to you. It is New Year’s Day, which feels like the perfect moment for a little post Christmas pottering, a calming walk, a satisfying sort of the recycling, or a nice cup of tea in the garden. Perhaps, like Kerry Godliman, you are lucky enough to have a potting shed, the perfect place to unwind, away from the chaos of Christmas, and maybe settle in with an episode...

Oh well, a very merry Christmas to you, my dear friends. Thank you so much for listening to Pottering this year. It has been an absolute delight to spend time in the garden with such a glorious parade of guests, and I am simply thrilled that you have been enjoying it too. By now, Fay Ripley will almost certainly be elbow deep in the preparation of a truly spectacular feast, Lee Peart has very like...

It was my absolute pleasure to welcome the ever so charming Harry Hadden Paton into the garden this week for another episode of Pottering. A superb actor, Harry is perhaps best known for his turn as Bertie in Downton Abbey and as Martin Charteris in The Crown, both of which would make wonderfully classy Christmas viewing. Harry also appears in the brand new film Downton Abbey The Grand Finale, ava...

The utterly fabulous national treasure that is Natalie Cassidy popped into my garden for a spot of Pottering this week. EastEnders legend, cultural icon, podcaster and noted trumpet aficionado, she was, as you would expect, an absolute delight from start to finish! Her joyous new book Happy Days is out now which, may I say, would make a marvellous Christmas present. We chat Ronnie Corbett on Stric...

The lovely Lee Peart joined me in the garden this week for a spot of Pottering! A splendid stand up, actor and presenter, Lee is the ever charming warm up for Loose Women on ITV and has just popped the cork as co-host of brand new podcast, Bottoms Up, where he shares his wine wisdom with Alan Carr. We chatted LGBTQ+ in comedy, classic soap actress scenarios and seeing Adele in concert. Lee also sh...

Oh, I had such a lovely time pottering with my dear friend Amy Annette, a marvellous comedian, writer and broadcaster and an all round delight. Amy joined me fresh from the triumph of her Edinburgh show Busy Body, and if you have not yet seen it, do catch it on tour early next year! It's always a delight to see Amy! We discuss Mr Blobby, the rise of misinformation and why the future of streaming m...

What a joy it was to be back in the garden for another episode of Pottering, this time with none other than James Acaster. A splendid stand up, author and of course everyone’s favourite genie waiter! It was an absolute delight to spend an afternoon in the sunshine with James. We discuss mindfulness apps, the trials and tribulations of home decorating, and the fascinating world of anime. I also enc...

It was my absolute pleasure to welcome the radiant Jess Wright into my garden for a spot of Pottering. You may know her best from her hugely successful tenure on The Only Way Is Essex or perhaps from her many glamorous ventures in fashion, beauty and the world of television! On a delightfully sunny day amongst the hydrangeas, we discussed being a part of the dawn of reality television, dream podca...

Another week, another brilliant guest joining me in the garden, the fabulous Phil Wang! Brilliant comedian, author and old friend of mine, Phil's stand-up specials on Netflix are not to be missed, including his most recent Wang In There Baby, which is an absolute joy. On a very blustery day in the garden, we chat guttering, goose stepping, and of course, as all good podcasts do, serial killers. Ph...

On Pottering this week, things take a splendidly spooky turn as we celebrate Halloween in the garden with broadcaster, author and bewitching presence Angela Scanlon! There are pumpkins among the perennials, spirits stirring in the shrubbery, and nachos in a Le Creuset – a terrifying treat indeed! As darkness falls, our hauntingly horticultural conversation covers crystals, carveries and Angela's b...