Saturday Live

Richard Coles and Sian Williams with performer Jackie Clune, Rob Manuel who turned carnivore after 15 years of vegetarianism, Courtney Stewart who is turning the New Testament into Jamaican, and Sylvia Hillier and Jenni Evennett who as teenagers hopped on board the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour bus. JP goes stargazing with comedian and impressionist Jon Culshaw, and plays conkers with poet Luke Wright, John McCarthy explores Thorpeness and Ralph McTell shares his Inheritance Tracks.Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Richard Coles and Sian Williams meet author and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz, talk to Dolores O'Reilly who grew up signing for her deaf and mute parents, rack their brains with Italian memory man Gianni Golfera, and get rhyming with National Poetry Day founder William Sieghart. There's a Thing About Me feature about the UK's oldest working computer and an appreciation of spiders from Lawrence Bee of the British Arachnological Society. John McCarthy explores Martello Towers on the East coast of England and actress Frances de la Tour shares her Inheritance Tracks.Producer: Chris Wilson.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles with cook and food historian Clarissa Dickson Wright, Daniel Bond and Stacey Drinkwater who can't afford a house so they live on a double-decker bus, Linda Cruse who experienced a bout of blindness which changed her life, and former Captain of the QE2, Nick Bates, who describes life on the ocean wave. There's a Sound Sculpture of a rugby ball from Andy Challis, a paean to the Cornish pasty from Murray Lachlan Young, and John McCarthy on location in Lyme Regis. Plus the Inheritance Tracks of the King of Calypso, Harry Belafonte.Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles with studio guest Charlie Higson and the extraordinary transgender love story of Victoria and Emma Cantons. Conservative Michael Ashcroft shows off his medal collection, we debate rites of passage for one mum and her son, the inheritance tracks of former politician Tony Benn and John McCarthy visits Kent! Producer Lisa Jenkinson.

Sian Williams and John McCarthy with studio guest Edwina Currie reflecting on her public and personal life, two very different attitudes to burial from Mark Elliott and Wendii Miller, Spanish author Javier Marias who is the literary and literal king of the micronation Redonda, the pros and cons of procrastination from Steve Swift, Talitha MacKenzie on why her song caught on in Serbia, the musings of Mancunians and the Inheritance Tracks of Big Issue founder John Bird. Producer: Harry Parker.

Suzy Klein and Richard Coles with studio guest Lynda Bellingham. This weekend in 1939 more than 400,000 pets were killed at the outbreak of World Ward Two. We talk to Dr Hilda Kean who's researched this forgotten piece of history. Fifteen years ago Philippe Kahn invented the camera phone which has revolutionised the way we view the world and communicate. Nicholas McCarthy, who has only one hand, talks about his life as a concert pianist, Sally Pearson shares her experience of waking up on the operating table, Singer Clare Grogan takes a daytrip around North London with JP Devlin, and the Inheritance Tracks of blues guitarist Robert Cray. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson.

Sian Williams & John McCarthy with archaeologist and broadcaster Neil Oliver; Anthony Weir tells the story of his failed attempt to live with a pygmy tribe; open-water swimmer Anne Marie Ward reveals her plans to swim the Bering Straits; Alison describes her experience of living with face-blindness; Jackie Palmer explains why she loves the sound of a telephone exchange; a group of former Spitfire pilots share their wartime memories, and actress Emma Thompson shares her Inheritance Tracks.Producer: Harry Parker.

Richard Coles & John McCarthy with actress Tamsin Greig; listener Lalage Cambell who sealed a friendship thanks to a washed-up wallet; Sally Becker, aka the Angel of Mostar, who carried the Olympic flag at the Opening Ceremony; Sophie and Louis Staley who organised their parents' wedding; and Dan Fox who sprang his friend from a Kabul gaol with the aid of a kipper tie. We meet the 90 year old Tottenham barber whose shop was trashed during last year's riots, JP Devlin gets a tour of The Kinks recording studio with frontman Ray Davies; and piano prodigy Benjamin Grosvenor shares his Inheritance Tracks. Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Richard Coles & John McCarthy with broadcaster Joan Bakewell; listener Kirsteen Steel who turned detective to recover her father's stolen submarine bell; Jeremy Marks who in the 1980s ran a course to help gay people suppress their sexuality; moon rock investigator Joe Gutheinz; Olympic cycling pace setter Peter Deary; JP Devlin talks to the last surviving crew member of the Enola Gay which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima; there's a poem from the Edinburgh Festival; and agony aunt and author Virginia Ironside shares her Inheritance Tracks. Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Sian Williams & Richard Coles live from the Olympics with newsman turned novelist Gerald Seymour, and James Partridge who founded of the disfigurement charity Changing Faces; JP Devlin mingles with the Olympic crowds; archer Tony George sets us aquiver with his Sound Sculpture; listener Arnold Gordon tells the tale of singing along to Over The Rainbow with Judy Garland in a bar during the Tokyo Olympics; John McCarthy gets out his bucket and spade in Weymouth; and Olympic athlete turned politician Ming Campbell shares his Inheritance Tracks. Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Suzy Klein and Richard Coles with boxer Barry McGuigan. Radio 4's Zeb Soanes on his path to recovery after suffering a paralysed vocal chord. Inheritance Tracks from Leo Sayer, update from Hazel Parry on her trip to the Congo where her parents were murdered in the sixties. Foundling Andrew Rowan on finding out about his roots and making contact with his half brother Ronnie Finlayson, a guerrilla report on the tattoo industry, John McCarthy takes a barge on the Trent and Mersey canal, World Open Water Swimming Woman of the year Anne Marie Ward. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles with paralympian Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson; former beautician Georgina Blackwell who took on a local legal battle and has just graduated with a First in Law; Azzy B who is now friends with the boy he used to bully; Peggy Chadwick who secretly took the place of her twin sister in the choir at the closing ceremony of the 1948 Olympics; John McCarthy goes punting in Cambridge; Anne Jones explains why a snuff box is the thing about her; Michael Turner describes how he's travelled the world in the footsteps of Sir Francis Drake; and pop star Gary Kemp shares his Inheritance Tracks. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles with artist Grayson Perry; John McCarthy in revolutionary France; Ruth Ellis' nephew Mick Shepherd; JP Devlin meets naturist Emma James; Chris Tribe's Sound Sculpture of a hand-plane; Sylvie Dare's story of being rescued from a plane crash as a baby; Olympic Black Power athlete John Carlos' Inheritance Tracks. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson.

Sian Williams & Richard Coles with commentator and classicist Mary Beard; Namira Salim who's set to be one of the world's first space tourists; Phillippa Yaa De Villiers who was born mixed-race but brought up as white in apartheid South Africa; listener Owen Ephraim who worked with Alan Turing at Bletchley Park; John McCarthy goes biking with travel writer Ted Simon; JP Devlin meets cave collector Jim Gardner; listener Sally Townsend explains why a red fox fur coat is the thing about her; and actress and singer Olivia Newton John shares her Inheritance Tracks. Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Sian Williams & Richard Coles with author and arts champion Sir Christopher Frayling, Steve Marsling and Sean Hosey tell the story of their lives as undercover ANC recruits; listener Rupert Horrox describes how he chanced on a film set and ended up on the red carpet; listener Gail Simmons delivers a Soundsculpture about an iron; John McCarthy reveals more of Gran Canaria; JP Devlin goes on a Daytrip with broadcaster and food critic Giles Coren; and actress, model and lion-keeper Tippi Hedren shares her Inheritance Tracks. Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Sian Williams & Richard Coles with the BBC's Business Editor Robert Peston, artist and designer David Gentleman, Claire Guest who trains dogs to sniff out a range of diseases including cancer and Bomber Command pilot Frank Dell who was shot down behind enemy lines in WW2; John McCarthy watches cricket with comedian Miles Jupp, Uri Geller reveals his secret life, and writer and actress Meera Syal shares her Inheritance Tracks.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson.

Sian Williams & Richard Coles with classicist and comedian Natalie Haynes; Mark Lawson and JP Devlin breakfast in Dublin for Bloomsday; Julie Wassmer who discovered the daughter she'd given up for adoption by quite extraordinary coincidence; Dominic Walker, The Bishop of Monmouth, who conducts exorcisms; Susan Richards who was inspired by a damp June village fete to send a million books to Russia; there's a Dublin Crowdscape and former Chancellor Norman Lamont's Inheritance Tracks. Plus the first three parts of the landmark Radio 4 dramatization of James Joyce's Ulysses.Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles with actor and comic Stephen Mangan; Jackie Malton, the retired Detective Chief Inspector who was the inspiration for Prime Suspect's Jane Tennison; ex-cricketer David Gower reveals his secret life, a love of bats; John McCarthy discovers the deserted beaches and overlooked attractions of Gran Canaria; Beryl Ritchie, one of the few female record cutters of the 1970s, remembers creating the first 12'' single in the UK; Tyeisha Litambola, whose brother was killed in a street attack, talks about being part of the campaign CitySafe; and Inheritance Tracks from actress Felicity Kendal. Producer: Rachel Simpson.

Sian Williams & Richard Coles with founder of the Eden Project Tim Smit, a brother and sister returning for the first time to the Congo where the rest of their family was massacred in 1964, a couple who spent 12 years and £35,000 trying to have a baby, a caricaturist turned amateur scientist who's trying to prove that people who look the same also sound the same, John McCarthy as a tourist in Beirut, a gathering of Victoria Cross recipients, Coronation memories and a Jubilee Crowdscape from Bedlington in Northumberland, and singing legend Sir Tom Jones's Inheritance Tracks.Producer: JP Devlin.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles with writer and broadcaster Bamber Gascoigne, a woman dubbed 'The Angel of Mostar' who was reunited via Facebook with the baby she saved 20 years before, the funeral director decorated for his service to fallen soldiers, a real life Billy Elliot from Warrington who's off to the Bolshoi ballet school, John McCarthy returns to Beirut, a Thing About Me feature about a chopper bike, and boxer Sugar Ray Leonard's Inheritance Tracks. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles with historian Peter Hennessy, John McCarthy on Canvey Island with Dr Feelgood's Wilko Johnson, Sheri Pitman a young woman who went through school refusing to speak, Tony Walker a 56 year old man whose life has been documented on TV since he was seven, Kevin Allmond the Yorkshire businessman who has become the Baron of a small European principality, a Crowdscape from Reading, The UK representative for the Pacific Island of Nauru Martin Weston makes a plea for Naurans in Britain to contact him, a "Thing About Me" feature from Sinead Withers about a beloved leather jacket, and Folk legend Joan Baez's Inheritance Tracks. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles with 1970's pop mega-star David Cassidy; writer Jane Johnson who got lost in the Atlas mountains in Morocco and ended up marrying the Berber tribesman who rescued her; actor Patrick Duffy (aka Dallas' Bobby Ewing) who describes his love of caravanning; translator Mary Hobson who took a degree in Russian in her sixties and, now in her 80s, is winning awards for her version of Pushkin; John McCarthy reveals some secrets of the Paris metro; Chris Purkiss who lost her husband in a crowd; Steve Blacknell who wrote to his heroes, the Incredible String Band, and ended up living with them; Andrew Buckingham who struck up an unlikely pen-friendship with the iconic British wit and actor Kenneth Williams; a Bank Holiday poem from Luke Wright and the Inheritance Tracks of evergreen chanteuse and entertainer Cilla Black.Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Anita Anand with "The Idler" editor Tom Hodgkinson, gay dads Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow talk about their decision to have a sixth child by a surrogate mother, Emma Gray on her life as a shepherdess, poetry from Matt Harvey, Caroline Cornish tells the story of her daughter's red dress, Jacquie Meredith explains how she was adopted by a stray cat, and former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway's Inheritance TracksProducer: JP Devlin.

Richard Coles with musician and activist Billy Bragg, poet Murray Lachlan Young, Prof Harry Rothman, son of Benny Rothman, the leader of the Mass Trespass on Kinder Scout to mark the 80th anniversary of the climb that won our generations' right to roam, Simon Wheatcroft an blind ultra-marathon runner, a feature about a homeless man from London, James Bowen, who was adopted by a cat and now they're constant companions, and Adrian Mole author Sue Townsend's Inheritance Tracks.Producer: Rachel Simpson.

Richard Coles with food writer Tamasin Day-Lewis, David Gollancz, who discovered he's one of the 600 children fathered by a British scientist's sperm donations and Moss Hills, who's been on board two different ships as they've sunk. There's poetry from Aoife Mannix, a sound sculpture featuring the unforgettable sound of the iconic 2CV engine, Inheritance Tracks from Nicholas Parsons and news of what's thought to be the furthest flung highland games in the world.

Anita Anand with author Jeanette Winterson, poet Mr Gee, young taxidermist Polly Morgan and urban birder David Lindo. Plus a crowdscape from the Welsh town of Carmarthen, Inheritance Tracks from 80s pop star Howard Jones and listener Sir George Pollock remembers taking part in a ski jump on Hampstead Heath in London in the 1950s.

Richard Coles with Jarvis Cocker, poet Elvis McGonagall, Zuhal Sultan who taught herself to play the piano and set up the Iraqi Youth Orchestra, Garret Smyth who's planning to cryogenically preserve his brain at the point of death in the hope of the being brought back to life, Anne Pattullo who hitched a ride with Salvador Dali, Piers Plowright's I Was There from a ski jumping competition in the middle of London in the 1950s, and the Inheritance Tracks of actor Roger Lloyd Pack. Producer: JP Devlin.

Richard Coles with materials scientist Professor Mark Miodownik, poet Luke Wright, Sue Chapman who learned to read and write in her sixties, Maurice Holder whose life was saved by his dog, JP Devlin takes a Daytrip with Chas Hodges from Rockney duo Chas 'n' Dave, and the Inheritance Tracks of comedian Sarah Millican. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson.

Richard Coles with The Selecter's Pauline Black, poet Kate Fox, Natasha Owen Jones who traced her long-lost brother only to find he was a convicted killer and who has just returned from meeting him for the first time, one of the original inhabitants of Milton Keynes, the story of a beloved breadboard, and the Inheritance Tracks of comedian Ben Miller. Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Richard Coles with Joan Collins, poet Aoife Mannix, Hammer House of Horror actor Shane Briant, the mother of three who took adopted her friend's 5 children when tragedy struck, a voice artist makes us go 'aaaaah', a Sound Sculpture about Morse Code and the Inheritance Tracks of Duke Fakir from The Four Tops.Producer: Sukey Firth.

Richard Coles with comedienne Andi Osho, poet Murray Lachlan Young, Dr Bill Ritchie who helped create Dolly the Sheep, Philip Morrell, the Barnado's boy turned millionaire who's lending his boat to the Queen for the Jubilee, Patrick Newman who's trying to change the date of British Summer Time, a Soundscape of a guitar, and the Inheritance Tracks of arts guru Sir Christopher Frayling. Producer: JP Devlin.

Richard Coles with astronomer Dr Lucie Green, poet Salena Godden, Diane Blood who made legal history 15 years ago by fighting for the right to bear her dead husband's children, and super athlete Chrissy Wellington who's 4 times winner of the female Iron Man triathlon, a Daytrip to Sheffield with The Human League/Heaven 17's Martyn Ware, a man who has a theory about height and school uniform and the Inheritance Tracks of Speaker of The House of Commons John Bercow.

On this week's Saturday Live, Richard Coles' guest is a television presenter and media personality whose private life has intrigued the tabloids - Anthea Turner. The sometime 'perfect housewife', Anthea will be fronting the 'Get Britain Crafting' campaign later in the year. This week's poet is Mr Gee, from humble beginnings as a Hip-Hop DJ, Mr Gee has honed his spoken word skills to become one of the stars of the UK poetry scene. We meet Jesse Ruiz, who, as a 27-year-old law student looking for intern work in Chicago, was mentored by a young lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School - Barack Obama. Richard also talks to Thomas Keeper, an estate agent, who recently spent £35,000 on a surgical procedure to extend his legs pushing his height from 5ft 6in to 5ft 10in. As an homage to Valentines day earlier this week, JP Devlin travels to Henley on Thames for a stroll with Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee to learn about the joys of romance. And we experience James Naughtie's Inheritance Tracks. Producer: Sukey Firth.

Anita Anand with singer/songwriter Christy Moore, poet Matt Harvey, a couple whose house burned down so they built a boat and set sail, a woman who treasures a blanket from the Isle of Wight Festival, a professional matchmaker, and the Inheritance Tracks of actor/comedian Rob Brydon.Producer: JP Devlin.

Richard Coles in Leicester with journalist, broadcaster and political aide Alastair Campbell, songwriter and comedian Mitch Benn, 1970's popsters Showaddywaddy, Ugandan Asian exile Nisha Popat who came to Leicester in 1972, International Rescue fireman Ian Holden who helped out after the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand a year ago & fitness guru and Dancing on Ice star Rosemary Conley's Inheritance Tracks.Producer: Dixi Stewart & Justin Bones.

Richard Coles with philosopher Alain de Botton, poet Aoife Mannix, the 70's pop star who was summoned to play at the Kremlin, the woman who tracked down her long lost brother only to find him serving 99 years for murder in an American jail, one of the UK's oldest diabetics who was treated by the man who invented insulin, the vicar's son who got a windfall from the local undertaker and the Inheritance Tracks of singer Ani DiFranco. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson.

Richard Coles with TV personality Ulrika Jonsson, poet Elvis McGonagall, a sword swallower who tore his own oesophagus, a woman who became best friends with her husband's mistress, a man who hitched a ride with a coffin, and a Crowdscape from Sleaford. Plus the Inheritance Tracks of comedian Ruby Wax. Producer: Sukey Firth.

Richard Coles with journalist Jon Ronson, poet Kate Fox, a man who extracts alien implants, the teacher who went to Turkey and found herself driving the school bus, a woman who is addicted to the South Pole and a Sound Sculpture of crows. Plus the Inheritance Tracks of actress Jenny Agutter. Producer: JP Devlin.

Richard Coles with fashion icon Twiggy, poet Luke Wright, a woman whose baby was born in the back of a cab, a boy who drives his own school bus, a 70 year old Hollywood body double, and a man who speaks 26 languages. Plus choreographer Arlene Phillips' Inheritance Tracks.Producer: Anna Bailey.

Anita Anand with social entrepreneur Paul Twivy, poet Mr Gee, a girl born mid-flight, a German heralding New Year with British slapstick, the homeless tour guides & singer Cyndi Lauper's Inheritance Tracks.Producer: Sukey Firth.

Sian Williams with adventurer Steve Backshall, poet Murray Lachlan Young, a zookeeper who acted as a surrogate mother to a sick baby gorilla, a man who flew the only relief flight into Ethiopia on Christmas Day 1984 with 'Do They Know It's Christmas' playing over the airplane PA, a group of women who are rowing across the Atlantic, a man who was attacked by his neighbour's macaque monkey and the Inheritance Tracks of musician and Beatle son Julian Lennon.Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Richard Coles with actress Samantha Bond, poet Luke Wright, young ballerina Izzy McGuire who left home to train in Russia when she was just 14, medical scientist Dame Julia Polak who ended up suffering from the rare condition she'd been researching, JP Devlin continues the saga of celebrity panda Chi-chi this week with Chris Madden who was the man she mauled, a Sound Sculpture of a saw from listener Alexander Frew, and the Inheritance Tracks of choirmaster Gareth Malone.Producer: Sukey Firth.

Richard Coles with politician turned panto star Ann Widdecombe, poet Matt Harvey, one man who lives in the house where John Lennon grew up, and another who cared for celebrity panda Chi Chi, a woman who lost two thirds of her body weight and another who reclaimed the park behind her house for the local teens who wrecked her garden, and the Inheritance Tracks of actor Simon Callow.Producer: JP Devlin.

Richard Coles with rising opera star Noah Stewart, poet Aoife Mannix, the fashion photographer turned photojournalist who went to Afghanistan where he stepped on a landmine and lost three limbs, the art teacher who taught Young British Artists Damian Hirst and Marcus Harvey, the Parliament choir, and the Inheritance Tracks of Sporty Spice Girl Mel C.Producer: Anna Bailey.

Richard Coles with crime writer Patricia Cornwell, poet Elvis McGonagall, Michelle Clements who accompanied her terminally ill husband to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, Alisdair Macleod from the Outer Hebrides who's explored the shipwreck which inspired Whisky Galore, the club DJ who found a rare recording of Cassius Clay singing 'Stand By Me', and the Ulrika Jonsson shares her Inheritance Tracks.Producer: JP Devlin.

Richard Coles with the filmmaker Sir Alan Parker, Fergus Anckorn whose life was saved by a magic trick, and Fiona who had to tell her children she was likely to be sent to jail. JP Devlin shuffles through Kirsty Young's mp3 player to reveal her musical choices and textile designer and David Hockney muse Celia Birtwell shares her Inheritance Tracks.Producer: Sukey Firth.

Richard Coles with performer Michael Ball, poet Mr Gee, Mini-Miss Worldwide Bethany Jade and her mum Debbie, Peter Phillips who was Robert Maxwell's official receiver, an I Was There feature from Jim'll Fix It with the man who fixed it for Jim, and the Inheritance Tracks of film and theatre director John Crowley.Producer: JP Devlin.

Richard Coles with chef Allegra McEvedy, poet Murray Lachlan Young, one woman who wants to be a firework when she dies and another who lives on stuff that's been thrown away; comedian Omid Djalili plays bongos and singer-songwriter and all round musical legend Randy Newman shares his Inheritance Tracks. Producer: Dixi Stewart.

Richard Coles with author and illustrator Lauren Child, poet Matt Harvey & Inheritance Tracks from Sue Johnston.Producer: Simon Clancy.

Richard Coles with pop star, writer and play advocate Pat Kane, poet Mr Gee, the referee at the Hillsborough disaster & one of the original Concorde cabin crew. There's a soundsculpture of the San Francisco cable car bell, and the Inheritance Tracks of singer, band leader and actor Harry Connick Jr. Producer: JP Devlin.