Midweek

Midweek: Levi Roots and Edwin Apps

Libby Purves meets cook and entrepreneur Levi Roots, writer and artist Edwin Apps, Lydia Corbett - a muse of Picasso and co-founder of the Comedy Store, Don Ward.

Midweek: Brian Cox and June Tabor

Libby Purves is joined by actor Brian Cox, adventurer Jason Lewis, artist Adela Jusic and singer June Tabor.

Midweek: Bill Stott and Matt Rutherford

Libby Purves meets sailor Matt Rutherford; Matthew Du Aime, son of the late author William Wharton; Charlie & Louise Mortimer, on letters from their father Roger; and cartoonist Bill Stott.

Midweek: Nicky Haslam and Nitin Sawhney

Libby Purves meets amateur scientist and snail expert Ruth Brooks; interior designer Nicky Haslam; tax adviser Kieran Holmes; and composer and producer Nitin Sawhney.

Midweek: Curtis Stigers and Christine Walkden

Libby Purves meets escapologist Jonathan Goodwin, artist Simone Sandelson, singer/songwriter Curtis Stigers and gardener Christine Walkden.

Midweek: Michael Ball and Stephen Grady

Libby Purves meets poet Owen Sheers; Stephen Grady who spent his boyhood in the French Resistance and Michael Wright who helped him write his memoir Gardens of Stone. Also on the programme was singer Michael Ball who has a new cd out called Both Sides now and Ffion Jones who has just been appointed the first female brewer at SA Brain brewery in Cardiff.

Midweek: Trader Faulkner and Dr Bertolt Meyer

Libby Purves meets psychologist Dr Bertolt Meyer who is presenter of Channel 4 documentary How to Build a Bionic Man; actor Trader Faulkner who worked with Sir John Gielgud and was mentored by Peter Finch and has just pubished his memoir Inside Trader; Scott Albrecht who along with his wife has taken into his house the homeless and asylum seekers and film maker Jessica Fox who has written a book called Three Things You Need to know About Rockets about moving from California to Scotland and...

Midweek: Sir Trevor Nunn and Peter Snow

Ten years on, Libby Purves meets writer and broadcaster Peter Snow, theatre director Sir Trevor Nunn, adventurer Debra Searle and paralympian Mike Brace.

Midweek: John Lithgow and Nick Bullock

Libby Purves meets 'showman' turned Oxford undergraduate Shelby Holmes, actor John Lithgow, climber Nick Bullock and businessman David Green.

Midweek: Bill Kenwright and Joe Brown

Libby Purves is joined by singer Joe Brown, theatre producer Bill Kenwright, artist and taxidermist Katrina van Grouw and writer Liam Carson.

Midweek: Ian Thorpe and Pablo Borboroglu

Libby Purves meets penguin expert Pablo Borboroglu; Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe; former ballerina Clair Symonds; and human orchestra, Hyperpotamus.

Midweek: Gina Campbell and Rod Davis

This week Libby Purves meets writer Roger Clarke talking about the history of ghosts; Gina Campbell, daughter of Donald, on the Campbell speed dynasty; playwright Jonathan Lewis on his play 'Our Boys'; and Rod Davis of The Quarrymen.

Midweek: Michael Palin and Kathy Reichs

Libby Purves meets surfer Easkey Britton, Michael Palin, author and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs and singer/songwriter Barb Jungr.

Midweek: With Richard Ingrams and Jane Asher

Libby meets legendary golfer Sam Torrance who has just published his book Out of Bounds – Legendary tales from the 19th Hole; Richard Ingrams who is editor of the Oldie and former editor of Private Eye. His book, Quips & Quotes - A Journalist’s Commonplace Book is a collection of memories and inspirations from a lifetime in journalism; Bernard Cornwell author of the historical tales of Sharpe who has a new book about the Battle of Poitiers and actor, cake-maker, author and campaigner Jane...

Midweek: Pamela Stephenson & Alan Root

Hardeep Singh Kholi talks to Nadine Mortimer-Smith who is an opera singer and founder of Opera in Colour;acclaimed wildlife film-maker Alan Root; psychologist Dr Pamela Stephenson who is a former actress and comedian plus the fashion designer and founder of Biba Barbara Hulanicki.

Midweek: Billy Bragg 5 Sept 12

Libby Purves is joined by Felicity Aston, Billy Bragg, Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi and Wayne Phillips.

Midweek: guests include Stella Rimington 25 Jul 12

Libby Purves is joined by creator of immersive theatre company 'You Me Bum Bum Train' Kate Bond; author and former head of MI5 Stella Rimington; big cat expert Dr Alan Rabinovitz; and foodwriter Claudia Roden.

Midweek: guests include Dave Fishwick 11 Jul 12

Libby Purves is joined by Linda Hope, daughter of comedian Bob, parfumeur Jean-Claude Ellena, entrepreneur Dave Fishwick, who set up his own bank, and Ken Rijock, a former money launderer who now helps banks and governments to find money launderers.

Midweek: 27 June 2012

Libby Purves meets artist Derek Boshier; writer/curator Rachel Lichtenstein; film maker Rebecca Thomas and garden designer Matthew Childs who survived the 7/7 London bombings.

Midweek: guests include Lynda La Plante 13 Jun 12

This week Libby Purves is joined by seahorse expert Amanda Vincent, Carmen Bugan, who grew up under the Ceausescu regime in Romania, theatre director Lucien Bourjeily and author Lynda La Plante.

Midweek: guest include Bobby Teale 30 May 12

This week Libby Purves is joined by actor Jack Lowden; Bernard Lynch, a former Catholic Priest; Bobby Teale, a former associate of The Krays; and sculptor Sophie Dickens.

Midweek: guests include Angela Rippon 16 May 12

Libby Purves is joined by journalist Angela Rippon; fashion photographer Jim Lee; Marian Partington whose sister Lucy was found to one of the victims of Rosemary and Fred West and In her book, ‘If You Sit Very Still’, she explores the territory of traumatic loss, and the restoration of the human spirit and musician & song writer Vusi Mahlasela.

Midweek: guests include Maria Friedman 2 May 12

This week Libby Purves is joined by food writer Ruth Joseph; musical theatre star Maria Friedman; BBC documentary maker Michael Cockerell; and grandson of Agatha Christie Mathew Prichard.

Midweek: guests include Barry Briggs 18 Apr 12

This week Libby Purves is joined by Dacre Stoker, great great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker; Barry Briggs, former 4 time World Speedway champion; actors Roberta Taylor and Peter Guinness; and bridge maker Richard La Trobe-Bateman.

Midweek: guests include Gavin Turk 4 Apr 12

This week Libby Purves is joined by composer and arranger Barbara Moore; Falklands veteran Tony Banks; writer and journalist Donald McRae; and artists Gavin Turk and Deborah Curtis.

Midweek: guests include Timothy Spall 21 Mar 12

This week Libby Purves is joined by Shane and Timothy Spall, who sailed their barge Matilda around Britain; Barrie Rutter, founder and Artistic Director of Northern Broadsides theatre company; biologist Juliane Koepcke who was the only survivor of a plane crash in Peru in 1971; and musician and producer Grant Gordon who tells of how he and his father's relationship was cemented by their shared love of golf.

Midweek: guests include David Essex 7 Mar 12

This week Libby Purves is joined by singer David Essex; fashion designer Ozwald Boateng; conservationist Dame Daphne Sheldrick and actor and wildlife artist James Burke-Dunsmore.

Midweek: Libby Purves is joined by Hans Klok

Libby Purves is joined by illusionist Hans Klok, reputedly 'the fastest magician in the world'; Adrian Jackson who is a writer and director.His latest play ‘A Few Man Fridays’ tells the story of how the British government evicted 2000 islanders from the Chagos islands in the Indian Ocean during the cold war to make way for a US military base. Sabrina Jean's family were part of that community & she joins in with her story. Scholar Mary M Talbot's latest book 'Dotter of her Father's Eyes' is...

Midweek: Clare Balding 8 Feb 12

This week Libby Purves is joined by actor Katherine Kelly; Dr Steve Peters, psychiatrist with the British Cycling Team; former US army chief Rhonda Cornum; and BBC presenter Clare Balding.

Midweek: guests include Peter Tatchell 25 Jan 12

This week Libby Purves is joined by micro-graver Graham Short whose latest work was to engrave The Word of God, the first chapter of the Qur'an, onto the head of a pin; Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell on his 45 years of campaigning; former banker Gary Mulgrew, one of the 'NatWest Three' who spent time in prison in the US for fraud; and Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace, stars of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, who bring their creation, Midnight Tango to London's Aldwych Theatre.

Midweek: guests include Tasmin Little 11 Jan 12

This week Libby Purves is joined by violinist Tasmin Little talking about a new BBC Four documentary about Vaughan Williams' Lark Ascending; filmmaker John Akomfrah on his new film 'The Nine Muses' which looks at the history of mass migration to post-war Britain using Homer's poem The Odyssey as a starting point; retired vet Dr Andrew Higgins who was posted to Oman in 1974 during the Dhofar War as one of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps to help win the hearts and minds of the local...

Midweek: guests include Martha Fiennes 21 Dec 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by Alistair Sutcliffe, a GP who became the first man to summit the highest mountain on each of the seven continents at the first attempt, but subsequently suffered a near fatal brain haemorrhage; filmmaker Martha Fiennes who has created her first digital installation, Nativity, based on the Christmas Nativity scene, on display in a specially constructed chalet in Covent Garden piazza; Celia Imrie who is currently in Michael Frayn's 'Noises Off' at the Old...

Midweek: guests include Matthew Bourne 7 Dec 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by Runa Khan Marre is winner of a Rolex Award for Enterprise, for preserving the unique cultural heritage of Bangladeshi boat-building; conductor Charles Hazlewood has created an orchestra from scrap for a BBC Four documentary, 'Scrapheap Orchestra'; chroeographer Matthew Bourne's ballet company New Adventures' returns to Sadler's Wells this Christmas with their much loved production of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker!; and Gebisa Ejeta is one of the world's leading...

Midweek: guests include Sir Willard White 23 Nov 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by actor Warwick Davis who is currently starring in the new BBC observational comedy 'Life's Too Short'; Sheena Byrom has written 'Catching Babies' which tells of her 35 years working as a midwife; Bass-baritone Sir Willard White is performing Bach's St Matthew Passion at Ambika P3, a disused concrete factory under London's Madame Tussauds for the charity Vocal Futures; and Sierra James is founder of Ba Futuru, a grassroots charity in Timor Leste which works...

Midweek: guests include Antonio Carluccio 9 Nov 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by Simon Clothier, the ukelele playing builder; Max Zachs who is appearing in the Channel 4 series 'My Transsexual Summer'; Antonio Carluccio who is championing beetroot in the 'The Great British Food Revival' on BBC Two; and Arlene Phillips on her book 'Dance to the Musicals'.

Midweek: guests include Sir Terry Wogan 26 Oct 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by actor Richard Rycroft who is appearing in The Office Party at the Pleasance Theatre; Sir Terry Wogan on his book, 'Wogan's Ireland'; Matt Croucher, a recipient of the George Cross on his book 'The Royal British Legion - 90 Years of Heroes'; and Kora virtuoso Sona Jobarteh who is performing at the Nour Festival of Arts.

Midweek: guests include Buddy Greco 12 Oct 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by Dr David M Wilson on his book 'The Lost Photographs of Captain Scott'; Fred Baier, the British maverick furniture maker who has an exhibition at the Craft Centre in Farnham, Surrey; Buddy Greco, the legendary singer and pianist who has just released the album Live At The Sands (recorded in Las Vegas in 1967); and Kathryn Tickell, a folk musician who is touring with her new show "Northumbrian Voices".

Midweek: guests include gospel singer Muyiwa 28 Sept 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by Angie Beasley, Director of the Miss England beauty pageant and a former Miss Cleethorpes; Neil Powell works with dogs - in mountain rescue, drowned victim recovery and drug detection; Muyiwa is a gospel singer and radio presenter of Premier Gospel radio station; and professional storyteller Hugh Lupton.

Midweek: guests include Lucy Bailey 14 Sept 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by Carol Mellin, a sheep dog trainer who is competing in the World Sheep Dog Trials; Steve Walker, a former addict and dealer who now works as Programme Director of the Ley Community, a successful drug rehabilitation centre; Lucy Bailey is joint Artistic Director of the Print Room, a converted warehouse - turned theatre; and aspiring chef Molly Birnbaum tells how she lost her sense of smell in a road accident.

Midweek: guests include Prof Gordon Turnbull 20 Jul 11

This week Anita Anand is joined by structural engineer Jane Wernick, who is involved in 'Living Architecture', a not-for-profit organisation which designs and builds houses of outstanding architectural merit around Britain; Douglas Edwards, Google's first director of consumer marketing and brand management on his book, 'I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59'; Professor Gordon Turnbull, recognised as one of the UK's leading practitioners in the treatment of Post...

Midweek: guests include William Rees-Mogg 6 Jul 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by Rev Nicholas Holtam, of St Martin in the Fields, talking about his new book 'The Art of Worship'; former US Marine Rye Barcott on his book 'It Happened on the Way to War'; William Rees-Mogg, former Editor of The Times who has written his memoirs; and Sue Tilly, muse to artist Lucian Freud on her 80s catwalk show at the Southbank's Vintage festival.

Midweek: guests include Henry Winkler 22 June 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by nursing sister Princess Campbell was one of a pioneering group of African-Caribbean workers who began to challenge barriers of prejudice in the UK; Simon Day is the stand-up comedian from 'The Fast Show' who publishes his memoirs, 'Comedy and Error'; Claire Peake, daughter of Mervyn Peake, who has written about her life with her father in 'Under a Canvas Sky'; and Henry Winkler, aka 'The Fonz' who is in the UK to promote a new newspaper for children,...

Midweek: guests include Kate Allatt 8 June 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by opera singer Meeta Raval who is one of the contestants in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition; Kate Allatt's life was torn apart when she suffered a massive stroke leading to locked-in syndrome in which she was totally paralysed; Gene David Kirk is Artistic Director of London's Jermyn Street Theatre; and Nell Gifford is the founder of Gifford's Circus.

Midweek: guests include Bill Roedy 25 May 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by Nicky Clayton, Professor of Comparative Cognition at Cambridge University and is an expert in bird behaviour; Bill Roedy, the former Chairman and Chief Executive of MTV; actor Edward Petherbridge; and Steve Greenhaugh, who worked as an RSPCA inspector for twenty-eight years.

Midweek: guests include Suggs 11 May 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by Jon Cousins, who set up the website 'Moodscope' to help people manage their moods; Paul Broda, whose memoir 'Scientist Spies', centres on the lives of his mother, father and stepfather, the latter two spies who passed nuclear secrets to the Russians in the 1940s; Suggs, the Madness frontman who is performing his first solo show 'LIVE SUGGS! The Rambunctious Recollections of the Madness Front Man' on a UK tour; Patsy Rodenburg, Head of Voice at the...

Midweek: 27 April 2011

Libby Purves is joined by Wayne Bartholomew who is taking part in a Channel 4 series called The Hotel; singing coach Mary King; poet Roger Garfitt and landscape architect Randle Siddeley.

Midweek: guests include Linda Nolan 13 April 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by Indian musician Raghu Dixit who founded the Raghu Dixit Project, an open house for musicians and artistes from different genres to come together and collaborate; Beata Zatorska who returned to the village in Poland where she was brought up and rediscovered her grandmother's family recipes for her book 'Rose Petal Jam'; Linda Nolan, one of the Nolan sisters, on their memoir 'Survivors'; and Brian Deighton is Head Gardener at Castle Howard in Yorkshire,...

Midweek: guests include Prof Lewis Wolpert 30 Mar 11

This week Libby Purves meets Travis Meinolf, an 'action weaver' who travels the world engaging communities in interactive weaving; Vernon Rapley, Director of Security at the V&A who formerly led the Metropolitan Police's Art and Antiques Unit; Professor Lewis Wolpert is a developmental biologist and octagenarian whose new book, 'You're Looking Very Well' explores the scientific and social implications of getting old.

Midweek: guests include Sir Cameron Mackintosh 16 Mar 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by Jean-Marie Akkerman, founder of Cirque Nova, the only circus in the world working specifically with people with disabilities; theatre producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh talking about his new musical 'Betty Blue Eyes'; Katie Piper, badly scared after a horrific acid attack destroyed her face, on a new four-part documentary for Channel 4, 'Katie: My Beautiful Friends' in which she meets others coping with disfigurement; and Laura Lee is the CEO of Maggie's...

Midweek: guests include Mary Wilson 2 Mar 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by Mary Wilson, one of the founding members of the Supremes who is on 20 date UK tour; actor Larry Lamb of Eastenders and Gavin and Stacey fame on his memoir 'Mummy's Boy'; born in Zimbabwe, Siza Mtimbiri's family was devastated by HIV/AIDS. He has founded a charity called 'Hope Academy and Medical Center' that will bring education and health care to communities in rural Zimbabwe; and Arthur Jeffes, whose father Simon founded the Penguin Cafe Orchestra in the...

Midweek: guests included David Morrissey 16 Feb 11

This week Sian Williams is joined by Shaun Foggett, the UK's answer to 'Crocodile Dundee'; Andrew Barrow is author of the book 'Animal Magic' much of which is based around his brother Jonathan, who died in a car crash aged 22, leaving a manuscript of a novel in which he prophesised his own death; Magsie Hamilton-Little, author of 'Dancing with Darkness' which tells of how her life changed after witnessing the carnage of the 7/7 London bus bomb; and actor David Morrissey who is about to star...

Midweek: guests include Sophie Thompson 2 Feb 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by actor Sophie Thompson on her role in the play Clybourne Park; Patrick Cockburn, Iraq correspondent for the Independent who has written a book with his son Henry, who suffers from Schizophrenia, 'Henry's Demons'; Kevin Skelton on his book 'Sent By An Angel' which tells of how, after the death of his wife in the Omagh bombing, he and his family rebuilt their lives; and Fred Sirieix, can currently been seen in BBC Two's Michel Roux's Service, training and...

Midweek: guests include Janet Street-Porter 19 Jan 11

This week Libby Purves is joined by David M Lutken, Lee Mack, David Threlfall and Janet Street-Porter.

Midweek: guests include John Sergeant 29 Dec 10

This week Libby Purves is joined by John Sergeant, Rufus Sewell, Wasfi Kani and Tom Pey.

Midweek: guests include Jamelia 15 Dec 10

This week Libby Purves is joined by Jamelia, Boyd Clack, Elisabeth Parry and Jamelia.

Midweek: guests include Matthew Kelly 1 Dec 10

This week Libby Purves is joined by Capt. Xander Rawlins, Mark Logue, Jane Milligan and Mary Ward OBE, and Matthew Kelly.

Midweek: guests include Brendan Cole 17 Nov 10

This week Libby Purves is joined by Samantha Bond, Seckou Keita, Ryan Bingham and Brendan Cole.

Midweek: guests include Michele Dotrice 3 Nov 10

This week Libby Purves is joined by Jo Wilding, Michele Dotrice, Ronald Blythe and Jane Green.

Midweek: guests include actress Sheila Steafel 20 Oct 10

This week Libby Purves is joined by Simon Fisher Turner, Maggi Hambling, Sheila Steafel and Rumer.

Midweek: guests include Mary Coughlan 6 Oct 10

This week Libby Purves is joined by Segun Lee-French, Ray and Vi Donovan, Mary Coughlan and Simon Winchester.

Midweek: guests include Alexei Sayle 22 Sept 10

This week Libby Purves is joined by Philip Townsend, Alexei Sayle, Tony Fitzjohn and Harriet Mead.

Libby Purves meets Jimmy Connors and Sir Jonathan Miller.