Loose Ends

BBC Radio 4
  • 0.0 (0)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • EVERY TWO WEEKS
Loose Ends

Clive Anderson and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy

  1. John Bishop; Lucy Shepherd; Adrian Chiles; Grace Campbell; Stuart Maconie; Ron Sexsmith; Seckou Keita

    4 DAYS AGO

    John Bishop; Lucy Shepherd; Adrian Chiles; Grace Campbell; Stuart Maconie; Ron Sexsmith; Seckou Keita

    The comedian and actor John Bishop is about to head off on a tour celebrating 25 years in stand up - a quarter century since he took to the stage on a whim and ended up one of the UK's favourite stars. The explorer Lucy Shepherd is more likely to be found fighting off venomous spiders than hecklers. For her latest TV series she's embarked on a never before completed journey across Guyana. How did she cope with the threat of trench foot, zero daylight and the ominous warnings from the locals - "don't go, you might not get back"? The Comic and podcaster Grace Campbell is also one for exploration but hers involve the world of dating and parties in her tour - On Heat. She'll be competing on tall tales and ominous warnings, no doubt. And broadcaster and columnist Adrian Chiles will cast a cool eye on proceedings as he does in his much-shared newspaper articles on chewy topics such as home urinals, favourite spoons and the biggie - we can go to the moon, so why can’t we stop my glasses sliding down my nose? With music by "the songwriter's songwriter" Ron Sexsmith and "Hendrix of the kora" Seckou Keita. Presented by Stuart Maconie Produced by Olive Clancy

    38 min

  2. 2 NOV

    Michael Palin, Jessica Raine, Susan Wokoma, The WAEVE, Ashley Henry

    Monty Python star and king of the travel documentary Michael Palin has just published the fourth volume of his best-selling diaries. In 'There and Back' he covers the years 1999-2009. He joins Clive to talk about how the 21st Century has treated him. The actor and Call The Midwife star Jessica Raine is soon to return to our screens in the second series of 'The Devil's Hour' where she plays Lucy Chambers, the insomniac social worker who wakes every night at 3.33am. Susan Wokoma has just finished playing Charlotte in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing at the Old Vic and she will soon be back as Fola in the BBC drama Cheaters, which starts its second series later this month. The WAEVE are a collaboration between Blur guitarist Graham Coxon and singer-songwriter Rose Elinor Dougall. They perform a track from their new album City Lights. And there's more music from the London based Jazz musican Ashley Henry who has just released his sophmore album 'Who We Are' Presenter: Clive Anderson Producer: Jessica Treen

    35 min
  3. Harriet Walter, John Douglas Thompson, Robert Popper, Jessica Hepburn, Emily Burns, Wes Finch

    26 OCT

    Harriet Walter, John Douglas Thompson, Robert Popper, Jessica Hepburn, Emily Burns, Wes Finch

    Loose Ends is at the Stratford-upon-Avon Literary Festival and Stuart Maconie is joined by Harriet Walter, who has played many roles at the RSC in Stratford and has just published 'She Speaks!', a book imagining what Shakespeare's women might have said if they'd been given half a chance. John Douglas Thompson is one of America's finest classical actors, now playing his first role on the main stage at the RSC. He is returning to the role of Othello, 16 years after first taking it on. Comedian and writer Robert Popper created the beloved sitcom Friday Night Dinner and has been the scourge of many with his 'Time Waster Letters'. He's back writing letters again, this time as Elsie Drake (104 years old). Jessica Hepburn is an 'arts adventurer', and the only woman to have swum the English Channel, run the London marathon and summitted Everest. She might also be the only person in the world to have listened to every available episode of Desert Island Discs... And there's music from Emily Burns and Wes Finch Presenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Jessica Treen

    35 min
  4. Bill Bailey, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Amanda Owen, Katherine Priddy & Richard Walters, Maya Sondhi, Stuart Maconie

    19 OCT

    Bill Bailey, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Amanda Owen, Katherine Priddy & Richard Walters, Maya Sondhi, Stuart Maconie

    Stuart is joined in the Loose Ends Salford Studio by comedian, musican, actor and Strictly winner Bill Bailey. His new book is 'My Animals, and Other Animals: A memoir of sorts'. It's the story of his life through the creatures who have meant something to him, and a celebration of how animals bring us joy. The Yorkshire Shepherdess, Amanda Owen, talks about her latest Channel 4 series - Our Farm Next Door - where she and her large family adapt a ruined farm for a show described as Grand Designs meets Our Yorkshire Farm. In 2022 the comedian and podcast host Kiri Pritchard-McLean hosted a Radio 4 programme Egg-sistential Crisis, exploring her decision not to have children. In her new stand up tour, Peacock, she continues her story now that she and her partner have become foster carers. Maya Sondhi played the hapless PC Maneet Bandra in Line of Duty and Shazia Khan in Citizen Khan. But she is also the writer and creator of ITV’s police thriller DI Ray starring Parminder Nagra who describes her role as “a female Columbo in a green coat”. And there's music from the acclaimed folk singer Katherine Priddy, who released her second album 'The Pendulum Swing' earlier this year. She also performs a duet with Grammy nominated songwriter Richard Walters Presenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Olive Clancy

    35 min

  5. 12 OCT

    Pam Ayres, Dawn O'Porter, Dee C Lee, Poppy O'Toole, Ahir Shah, Clive Anderson

    The poet Pam Ayres, author of Oh, I wish I'd looked after Me Teeth - which was voted one of the UK's top ten comic verses - joins Clive to discuss almost half a century of writing and a new volume of her collected works - Doggedly Onwards. Dawn O'Porter was once the journalist behind documentaries on topics from extreme dieting to poligamy and even the movie Dirty Dancing. Now she's a bestselling novelist and her latest work Honeybee is the taboo-tackling tale of twentysomething friends Renee and Flo who grew up, like Dawn herself, on Guernsey and seem to be failing at life. The comedian Ahir Shah went to Edinburgh festival last year with a work-in-progress show about family, immigration, Rishi Sunak and baked beans. He came home with the 2023 Edinburgh Comedy Award. Now that show is on Netflix and he's taking off on a UK tour. And Poppy O'Toole, a Michelin-trained chef who's become a TikTok sensation with the moniker "The Potato Queen" on gadgets and keeping eating interesting. Plus music from soul singer Dee C Lee, who worked with Wham! and The Style Council but is now back with a new album and touring for the first time in 25 years. Presented by Clive Anderson Produced by Olive Clancy

    36 min
  6. Tim Smit, Patrick Gale, Tom Allan, Anna Keirle, Angeline Morrison

    5 OCT

    Tim Smit, Patrick Gale, Tom Allan, Anna Keirle, Angeline Morrison

    Stuart Maconie presents Loose Ends from the North Cornwall Book Festival in St Endellion. He is joined by Patrick Gale, Tom Allan, Anna Keirle and Tim Smit, and there's music from the multi-instrumentalist Angeline Morrison. Patrick Gale is the author of the Emmy award-winning BBC drama Man in an Orange Shirt and novels including A Place Called Winter, A Perfectly Good Man and Notes From An Exhibition. He’s been the Artistic Director of the North Cornwall Book Festival since it began in 2012. He joins Loose Ends to tell us all about his final year in the role. Born in Scotland and armed only with an English degree, Tom Allan turned his back on his desk-based city job and headed west, where a life out in the open air beckoned. Now a full-time thatcher and writer, Tom’s book On The Roof tells tales of craftmanship from around the world and he joins Stuart to talk nitches, yealms and exactly what to do with a biddle. Anna Keirle is stand-up, writer and actor who has been working the comedy circuit for over 20 years performing from Cornwall to Edinburgh and beyond. She co-wrote and starred in Radio 4’s Wosson Cornwall alongside Dawn French, and faced Anne Robinson when she took on - and won - The Weakest Link. Former archaeologist-come-songwriter-come-producer-come-entrepreneur Sir Tim Smit KBE once sheltered from the Cornish rain in an estate agents while on holiday - and ended up buying a house. After relocating to Cornwall, he came across someone who needed a little archaeology expertise for some overgrown and neglected land... and the Lost Gardens of Heligan were reborn. Spotting a disused pit a little further up the road, and - one night in the local pub later - plans for the Eden Project were formed. Opening in 2001, the Project has contributed over £1.9 billion to the Cornish economy. And there's music from Angeline Morrison, who joins us to play Fair Maid In Bedlam and the haunting Unknown African Boy. Angeline has been unearthing the voices of black ancestors whose footprint has been missing from the collected British folk history. Affectionately referred to as 're-storying', the result of her work - 2022’s The Sorrow Songs - drew acclaim across the board, praising her “courage in reconstructing folk repertoire” as “truly revolutionary”. Presenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Elizabeth Foster Production Co-ordinator: Lydia Depledge-Miller Photo: Drew Shearwood

    34 min
  7. Nihal Arthanayke, Henry Normal, Donna Ashworth, Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Mike Harding, The Lovely Eggs

    28 SEPT

    Nihal Arthanayke, Henry Normal, Donna Ashworth, Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Mike Harding, The Lovely Eggs

    Nihal Arthanayake presents Loose Ends from the third annual Morecambe Poetry Festival. He's joined by Henry Normal. Henry is a writer, poet, TV and film producer who has been involved with many of our most loved comedies, such as The Mrs Merton Show, The Royal Family, Gavin and Stacey and Alan Partridge. He's a prolific poet, and his latest collection is 'A Moonless Night'. He also presents the occasional 'A Normal...; series for Radio 4 combining stand-up, poetry and stories about his life and family. Henry explains how, prematurely old at 23 he turned his back on a traditional career path and entered the worlrd of comedy and performance. Donna Ashworth's lockdown poetry went viral in 2020 and her popularity has been credited with 2023 being the best year for poetry sales in Britain since records began. Her new collection is 'Growing Brave'. She tells us about her days as a Butlin's red coat, celebrating overlooked kinds of bravery, and her dogs Dave and Brian. Mike Harding is a stand-up comic, musician and poet. He's been performing since the 1970's, and has released over a hundred books and recordings. He presented the Folk show on Radio 2 for 15 years. He's performing alongside Henry Normal at the Morecambe Poetry Festival. His latest poetry collection is 'The Lonely Zoroastrian', and he also tells us about the luck involved in his hit single, 'The Rochdale Cowboy'. Lisa Goodwin-Allen is Morecambe born and bred. She's the executive chef at the nearby Northcote and appears frequently on TV including on The Great British Menu and James Martin's Saturday Kitchen. Lisa's ingredients for success in the kitchen include imagination, being an adreneline junkie and a passion for seasonal and local produce. And we have music from the Lancaster based musical duo The Lovely Eggs, from their seventh album. 'Eggsistentialism'. The album is personal, inspired by their lives, particulary their struggle to save the Lancaster Music Co-op. The Lovely Eggs are Holly Ross and David Blackwell and the show is dedicated to David's mum, Anne Blackwell, who died shortly before this programme was broadcast. A former acress and headteacher, Anne was a was known Morecambe character. A keen member of Morecambe Speaker's Club, she lived and breathed theatre and performing and was much loved within the community. Presenter: Nihal Arthanayake Producer: Jessica Treen

    35 min
  8. Russell Watson, Jackie Kay, Deborah McAndrew and Adam Kay join Nihal with music from The Lemon Twigs

    21 SEPT

    Russell Watson, Jackie Kay, Deborah McAndrew and Adam Kay join Nihal with music from The Lemon Twigs

    The tenor Russell Watson's remarkable career took him from playing from working mens clubs in Salford to performing at the Vatican. But his life hasn't been completely charmed - he discusses the brain tumour that threatened his life as well as his voice and how he found his way back to centre stage. Jackie Kay is one of the UK's most lauded poets who turned to writing as a child as a sanctuary from the difficulties of life as an adopted, if much loved, half-Nigerian child in Scotland. A new BBC One documentary tells her story "In Her Own Words"; we'll be asking why she wanted to do that. Doctor-turned-comedian-turned-author Adam Kay’s first book This Is Going To Hurt sold over 3 million copies and was adapted into a multi award-winning TV series. Now he's taken another career turn into children's fiction with a new character – Dexter Procter, the ten year old doctor. As an actress Deborah McAndrew played Angie Freeman on Coronation Street in the 1990s. She left the Rovers Return behind long ago for a career as a writer and her latest play tells the story of the night an Unidentified Flying Object landed near Stoke-on-Trent's Bentilee housing estate. The show draws on multiple eyewitness accounts from the time to create a warm and funny depiction of an extraordinary event happening to very ordinary people. Plus music from The Lemon Twigs's latest album A Dream Is All We Know. Presented by Nihal Arthanayake Produced by Olive Clancy

    28 sec
See All (405)

About

Clive Anderson and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy

Information

  • Creator
    BBC Radio 4
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2024
  • Episodes
    405
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2024
  • Show Website
    Loose Ends

More From BBC

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada