Saturday Live

Paul Merton, Professor Lady Sue Black, David James and the Inheritance Tracks of Mark Billingham 27.06.2026 57min

Adrian Chiles presents Radio 4's Saturday morning programme. On today's programme:Paul Merton’s been at the top of his game for BBC One's Have I Got News for You and a familiar voice here on BBC Radio 4’s Just A Minute. He is about to take his Improv show with his wife Suki Webster to the Edinburgh Fringe this August. They’ll also be taking the show back to The Comedy Store in London from November through to December. Professor Lady Sue Black - Baroness of Black Strome – is a world‑renowned forensic anthropologist, celebrated for her pioneering work in forensics and human identification. David James is a football pundit and a former England international. His career as a goalkeeper has taken him from grassroots sport in Welwyn Garden City to the international stage and World Cup tournaments.Plus we'll have the Inheritance Tracks of the best selling crime author Mark Billingham. Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producer: Imy Harper Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea Kennedy

Ruby Wax, Social History, Memoirs & Music, plus the Inheritance Tracks of Lorraine Kelly 20.06.2026 56min

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 and great grandson of a Peaky Blinder.Sathnam Sanghera’s written novels, an acclaimed memoir, acclaimed histories of the British Empire. Now he’s exploring the meaning of one of his heroes - George Michael. Plus the Inheritance Tracks of the broadcaster Lorraine Kelly. Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producers: Catherine Powell and Imy Harper Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea KennedyIf you have been affected by any of the details discussed in today’s programme you can find information for help and support in the UK at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Danny Robins, Sushi, Family Secrets, and the Inheritance Tracks of Nat Sciver-Brunt 13.06.2026 56min

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 the full story of her mother and uncle’s childhood in Nazi Germany.And Simon Woodroofe had a great career in music and television behind him before he got round to keeping the promise he made to himself to make his million - Yo Sushi being the business which made his name. He's just released his memoir: Yo! Man: Rock n’Roll, Robots and Reinventing British Dining.Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant producer: Catherine Powell & Ribika Moktan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea Kennedy

Victoria Pendleton, Training Dragons and the Science of Stars, plus the Inheritance Tracks of Russell T Davies 06.06.2026 56min

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, and a star author, and in Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell we have someone whose work enabled the discovery of a new kind of star, a discovery which changed astronomy forever. Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producer: Imy Harper & Ribika Moktan Productions co-ordinator: Josie Hardy Editor: Andrea Kennedy

Tom Fletcher, Russell Kane, Poetry in Nature, and the Inheritance Tracks of Katie Razzall 30.05.2026 56min

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 has written a memoir, My Body is a Meadow: Finding Freedom in the Outdoors.And with Russell Kane there’s an awful lot going on. Terrifyingly clever, award-winning comedian, writer, children's book author and now Shakespearean actor. Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producers: Ribika Moktan and Sofia Popova Production co-ordinator: Josie Hardy Editor: Andrea Kennedy

LIVE at the Hay Festival - Hugh Bonneville, Martha Kearney, Matt Haig, and the Inheritance Tracks of Prue Leith 23.05.2026 56min

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 Bonneville - he’s now turned his hand to a children’s book where, as we’ll hear, the most unbelievable stories within it are true!All that, plus the Inheritance Tracks of Prue Leith.Presenter: Adrian Chiles Producer: Ben Mitchell Assistant Producer: Lowri Morgan Researcher: Jesse Edwards and Josie Hardy Editor: Andrea Kennedy

JJ Chalmers, Ruth Rogers, Matthew Carter & Lawrence Price plus the Inheritance Tracks of Jason Watkins 16.05.2026 56min

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 together and share their feelings by offering classes in braiding girls’ hair.Plus the Inheritance Tracks of the actor Jason Watkins. Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan and Lowri Morgan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea Kennedy

Steve Backshall, Natalie Queiroz, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and the Inheritance Tracks of Nick Robinson 09.05.2026 56min

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 appearing on the programme ahead of his appearance at the Children's Laureate Lecture called The Kids Are Not Alright, which is being held on Thursday 14 May at the Royal Institution in London. And amazing storytellers though Frank and Steve are, even they might struggle to do justice to the tale of what Natalie Queiroz has been through. Her work campaigning for the victims of crime has earned her a well-deserved MBE.Also, we'll hear the Inheritance Tracks of broadcaster and journalist Nick Robinson. Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea KennedyAnd if you have been affected by any of the details discussed in today’s programme, you can find information for help and support in the UK at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Lucy Shepherd, Jonathan Shalit and the Inheritance Tracks of Liz Earle 02.05.2026 56min

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 some of the biggest names in music and show business. Plus the Inheritance Tracks of the beauty entrepreneur and author Liz Earle.Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producers: Ribika Moktan and Lowri Morgan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea Kennedy

Lesley Nicol, Joseph Coelho, Tari Lang and the Inheritance Tracks of Laura Mvula 25.04.2026 56min

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 cook who, disappointingly, can’t cook in real life. And Tari Lang who grew up in Jakarta and has written a coming of age memoir in the middle of the military coup which saw at least half-a-million people lose their lives in Indonesia. Plus the Inheritance Tracks from the singer-songwriter Laura Mvula. Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producers: Ribika Moktan and Lowri Morgan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea Kennedy

John Robins, Chelsea Flower Show, Exotic Animals, and the Inheritance Tracks of James McAvoy 18.04.2026 56min

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 spent the last 15 years saving two hundred exotic animals.We'll be thanking six burly men who, 27 years ago, lifted up and carried a car containing a heavily pregnant listener of ours, off the hard shoulder of the M25. Two brothers are pleased as punch to be reunited, after forty years, with their late father’s Austin 35 racing green, racing car.And we’ll get the Inheritance Tracks of the actor turned director James McAvoy. Presenter: Adrian Chiles Producer: Ben Mitchell Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Colin Patterson

Dom Joly, Walter Presents, Worm Whispering, and the Inheritance Tracks of Noah Wyle 11.04.2026 56min

“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 worms.And we hear the Inheritance Tracks of the actor and star of The Pitt; Noah Wyle.Presenter: Adrian Chiles Producer: Ben Mitchell Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Glyn Tansley

Bear Grylls, Music Composition, Flaming Feasts, and the Inheritance Tracks of Lesley Joseph 04.04.2026 56min

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 down to the ground.All that, plus the rescue dog from Kampala who needed rescuing a second time by a man in a white van on a roundabout in Saffron Walden - and the Inheritance Tracks of Lesley Joseph. Presenter: Adrian Chiles Producer: Ben Mitchell Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Glyn Powell

Dilly Carter, Football, Swearing and the Inheritance Tracks Lisa Kudrow 28.03.2026 56min

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

John Lloyd, Sailing, Punk Rock, and the Inheritance Tracks of Dr Sian Williams 21.03.2026 56min

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 Inheritance Tracks of former presenter of BBC Breakfast and Saturday Live, now a consulting psychologist, and still broadcasting, most notably with the Radio 4 series Life Changing, Dr Sian Williams. Presenter: Adrian Chiles Producer: Lowri Morgan Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell & Alice McKee Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Glyn Tansley

Nigel Kennedy, Grief, Red Nose Day and the Inheritance Tracks of Adam Fleming 14.03.2026 55min

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 treated to a special performance by Nigel and his band - Alec Dankworth on double bass and Peter Adams on the cello. This week's Inheritance Tracks comes from Adam Fleming. Presenter: Adrian Chiles Producer: Lowri Morgan Assistant Producer: Alice McKee Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Glyn Tansley (The live performance in this programme has been shortened for music rights reasons).

Steve Rosenberg, Cut Flowers, Cancer Care, and the Inheritance Tracks of Mike Wozniak 07.03.2026 56min

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 Laura Lee for all her work leading the cancer support charity Maggies.All that, plus the Inheritance Tracks of the comedian Mike Wozniak.Presenter: Adrian Chiles Producer: Ben Mitchell Assistant Producers: Lowri Morgan and Alice McKee Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Ed Prendeville

Maggie Aderin, Shipwreck Hunting, Sea Shanties, and the Inheritance Tracks of Andy Zaltzman 28.02.2026 55min

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 depths to the surface for some sea shantying from The Longest Johns - and we’ll be getting the Inheritance Tracks of Andy Zaltzman. Presenter: Adrian Chiles Producer: Ben Mitchell Assistant Producers: Lowri Morgan and Alice McKee Researcher: Angharad Butler Editor: Glyn Tansley(The live music performed in this programme has been shortened for music rights reasons)

Jack Thorne, Hostage Negotiation, Family History, and the Inheritance Tracks of Marian Keyes 21.02.2026 56min

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 from the techniques police negotiators use.And we’ll certainly be paying close attention to what Welsh born billionaire Michael Moritz has to say to us, about his own story, and his telling of the story of his family which is fascinating, harrowing and inspiring in equal measure. Also today the firefighter who spends his spare time being a Viking - and the Inheritance Tracks of Marian Keyes. Presenter: Adrian Chiles Producer: Ben Mitchell Assistant Producers: Catherine Powell, Ribika Moktan, Imy Harper Researchers: Angharad Butler, Jesse Edwards Editor: Glyn Tansley

Mark Steel, Nun at NASA, Funeral Cosmetics, and the Inheritance Tracks of Matt Edmonsdon 14.02.2026 56min

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 brought her expertise as a high-street beautician into the family funeral business. Also today the annual pancake race still being run more than 550 years after it started - and the Inheritance Tracks of Radio 1 DJ and boardgame designer Matt Edmondson. Presenter: Adrian Chiles Producer: Ben Mitchell Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Gareth Nelson-Davies