Saturday Live

Saturday Live

Join Adrian Chiles for a Saturday morning full of remarkable people with extraordinary stories.

Episodes

June 20, 2026 56 mins

Joining Adrian Chiles on this week's programme is Professor of social history, a writer with a first class degree from Cambridge and a TV legend with a masters from Oxford.

Ruby Wax is as well known now for her work in mental health, but she’s been looking back at some of her biggest interviews to see what she can learn about herself as well as her subjects.

Professor Carl Chinn is a social historian, proud son of Birmingham an...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Three great guests on the show, as per normal. One of them’s all about the paranormal, one is a legendary entrepreneur, and a lifelong journalist whose greatest story turned up in her own family.

Danny Robins is a man with an uncanny ability to explore the supernatural in a way which delights sceptics and believers alike.

Sharon Ring worked on Fleet Street in newspapers and magazines for more than three decades before finding ...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Adrian Chiles is joined by three hugely successful guests - all shining stars in their fields.

Victoria Pendleton won it all as a track cyclist, a quite astounding athlete who dug so deep, physically and mentally, in her career, and also in navigating her life after cycling.

Cressida Cowell is the writer and illustrator behind - amongst other things - the incredibly successful How to Train your Dragon series.

So we have a sports star,...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Adrian Chiles with a pop star, a comedian and a writer, but there’s a lot more to each of them than that.

Tom Fletcher was starring on the West End stage at the age of 10. 30 years later he’s been back there writing the music for Paddington - The Musical. In between he’s squeezed in popstardom with the hugely successful band McFly.

Bethany Handley grew up loving life in the great outdoors of Monmouthshire and she h...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Martha Kearney is a titan of news and political broadcasting who these days takes a more relaxed approach to her work, swapping the campaign trail for a nature trail.

Matt Haig can do it all, fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books - and we’re all aboard for his latest novel the Midnight Train - but it's Winnie the Pooh that

Ian Fletcher, Earl Grantham, Mr Brown…are but some of the much loved characters of Hugh...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Adrian Chiles presents Radio 4's Saturday morning show.

Our wonderful guests today include JJ Chalmers, who has been a design-technology teacher, Royal Marine and Invictus games medallist. He is now a regular presenter on Television and Radio.

We also have with us a legend of the food and restaurant world, Ruth Rogers.

And a couple of podcasting Dads - Matthew Carter and Lawrence Price - who’ve got fellow fathers to come ...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

On today's programme, Adrian Chiles is with Steve Backshall. The adventurer and naturalist has captivated all of us with his work, but especially children - millions of them - who he’s led wide-eyed into the natural world.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce is blessed with a similar gift for capturing the imagination of children, as well as grownups. The esteemed screenwriter is presently the Children’s Laureate. Frank will be appear...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall found his calling in the countryside of Gloucestershire and Devon to become a cook on the wild side championing seasonal and sustainable ingredients.

Lucy Shepherd is our explorer who has navigated her way from the safety of the Suffolk countryside to the amazon and arctic, including the Cardiff studio.

And Jonathan Shalit, who began writing music reviews at school and ended up managing the talents of som...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

On today's programme, Adrian is joined with a poet, an actor and a woman who has been through a military coup in the 1960s.

Joseph Coelho the poet was raised in a tower block in Roehampton. He wrote his way into the role of children’s laureate and fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Lesley Nicol, the actress, grew up in Irlam, Greater Manchester and ended up in Downtown Abbey. Some journey that for Mrs Patmore, the coo...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

John Robins is a critically-acclaimed comic with awards a-plenty, and now a blistering memoir "Thirst; worked around Twelve Drinks That Changed My Life.

Arit Anderson of Gardeners’ World is on her way to the centre of the gardening world, the Chelsea Flower Show, where she’s creating a special space for those with Parkinson's.

Starting with a distressed raccoon she found in a bloke’s garage, Lindsey McKenna’s ...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

“Prankster” hardly does Dom Joly justice. He’s been a diplomat, a linguist, a traveller, a broadcaster, a writer and lots more besides.

Walter Iuzzolino is the "Walter" behind Channel 4’s Walter Presents series. A man who probably watches more TV from more countries than anyone else on the planet.

Dr Jaqueline Stroud, Professor of Soil Science at Warwick University, likes nothing better than eavesdropping on w...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Today an adventurer, a chef and a composer.

From special forces to chief scout Bear Grylls likes a challenge, his latest being nothing less than a successful re-write of the story of Jesus.

Our chef is Chris Roberts, aka Flamebaster, whose key ingredients are food, fire and frightening levels of enthusiasm.

And our composer is Liz Lane, the sometime child prodigy, who found her gift for composition suited the sound of brass bands do...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Adrian spends the hour in the company of renowned TV producer John Lloyd, the modest genius mind behind such national institutions as Spitting Image, QI and Blackadder.

Also on the porgramme, Kala Subbuswamy who saw no reason why a middle-aged woman couldn't start a punk band, so did just that.

And Jazz Turner didn't let her disability stop her sailing solo around the British Isles, and now she plans to take on the world.

And the I...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

On Saturday Live this week, a virtuoso violinist, a singer with a powerful story of motherhood, love and grief, and the woman who made her fortune working out how we shop.

Adrian spends the hour in great company with Nigel Kennedy, Jess Mills and the hugely influential Edwina Dunn OBE.

Also today, we'll be hearing from a somewhat out of breath Greg James, pedalling his way from Weymouth to Edinburgh for Comic Relief.

And we are tre...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

We’re in the company of an eminent foreign correspondent, a no less eminent expert in the field of flowers, and the woman who’s built the most beautiful spaces for cancer care.

Our journalist is our man in Moscow - our last man in Moscow, really - Steve Rosenberg.

Bringing colour, fragrance and joy to our studio is the queen of cut flowers, Sarah Raven.

And we’ll all be scattering rose petals at the feet of Dame La...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

On Saturday Live this week we’ll be looking up, down and all over the place. Dame Maggie Aderin, space scientist, will have us looking to the skies in wonder before David Mearns, shipwreck hunter, takes us down into the ocean deep as we marvel at his life’s work - and a man never short of a sense of wonder is writer, actor, comedian, sailor and lover of alpacas...Griff Rhys Jones.

Also today, we’ll rise from the ...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Today we’re in the company of a billionaire, a hostage negotiator and the most sought after screenwriter in the business.

The screenwriter in question is Jack Thorne who’s now turned his considerable talent to a brilliant TV adaptation of Lord of the Flies.

Nicky Perfect says hostage negotiation is all about empathy, and less about talking than listening. And we’ll be all ears as she tells us what we can all learn f...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Today we have a comedian, a nun and an undertaker’s beautician.

Mark Steel says that when there’s a crisis afoot, while everyone else is panicking the comedians in the room are busy finding the funny side. This Mark’s done, with a book about what he calls his adventures in cancerland.

The remarkable Sister Libby Osgood, worked for NASA before she became a nun. Quite the career path that.

And Jayne Lownds - who bro...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Alexander Armstrong on life as a writer, Professor Patricia Wiltshire explains the role of a forensic botanist, Mackenzie Crook unveils the secrets behind his latest show.

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    The MeatEater Podcast

    Building on the belief that a deeper understanding of the natural world enriches all of our lives, host Steven Rinella brings an in-depth and relevant look at all outdoor topics including hunting, fishing, nature, conservation, and wild foods. Filled with humor, irreverence, and things that will surprise the hell out of you, each episode welcomes a diverse group of guests who add their own expertise to the vast world of the outdoors. Part of The MeatEater Podcast Network.

    The Joe Rogan Experience

    The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.

  • Help
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • AdChoicesAd Choices