Saturday Live

Adrian Chiles presents Radio 4's Saturday morning programme full of remarkable people with extraordinary stories. On today's programme: Alice Roberts, the anatomist and biological anthropologist who is also a broadcaster and author. Alexei Sayle, the comedian and writer. And Kevin Fong, the doctor and broadcaster who is also spends his time as a consultant anaesthetist at University College London Hospital and as a doctor with the Air Ambulance. Plus we have Inheritance Tracks from the actress Sian Brooke. Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producers: Catherine Powell and Lowri Morgan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea Kennedy

Adrian Chiles presents Radio 4's Saturday Morning programme: Alan Cumming has always had a lot going on, in theatre, in Hollywood, as presenter now of one of the biggest shows in television. And yet he stays close to his Perthshire roots as Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s artistic director. In search of Mel Giedroych’s roots, we travel south to Leatherhead in Surrey where her new novel is set. Like Alan, Mel has an enormous range of work on stage and screen to her name. And Eric Ngalle Charles is a poet and writer whose life story is something to which no work of fiction could do justice: trafficked from Cameroon to Russia before somehow finding his way to sanctuary in Wales. Eric gets a chance to speak to Liz Mitchell, the original lead singer with Boney M who he had met on stage at a concert during his time in Russia. We revisit the last programme before we went on our summer break. Back on the programme in July, listener David Cornmell from York was desperately seeking the kind policemen from Greater Manchester Police who came to his rescue when he came a cropper at Manchester Airport last year. And we have the Inheritance Tracks of the professional dancer, Carlos Gu. Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell and Imy Harper Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea Kennedy

The comedian Alan Davies on what he could live life without, Irvine Welsh on the soundtrack to his writing style, and how Clemency Burton-Hill survived a brain haemorrhage.

Joining Adrian this week on Saturday Live, BBC Radio treasure and bestselling author Sara Cox. She just taken over BBC Radio 2's breakfast show but has found the time to write a brand new novel, 'The Truth of Us' that is published on the 16th July. We have the Booker Prize Winning Author and poet Ben Okri, he is a giant amongst writers, a master storyteller with a fascinating life story of his own to tell. And Chris Terill has more than 200 documentaries under his belt, awards galore, and a long career worthy of a documentary in its own right. Plus, the inheritance tracks of the chef and restaurateur behind Mowgli Street Food restaurants, Nisha Katona. Presenter: Adrian Chiles Producer: Lowri Morgan Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea Kennedy

Joining Adrian Chiles on this week's programme is Mark Foster, for a good while the fastest swimmer on the planet. We have author and psychologist Katriona O’Sullivan, a woman raised in poverty in Coventry, who went on to get a PhD from Trinity College, Dublin. And the remarkably gifted Ralf Little, who we know as an actor but might equally have been a doctor or a footballer. Plus the Inheritance Tracks of the singer-songwriter Clare Grogan. Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producers: Catherine Powell and Imy Harper Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea Kennedy

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

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 Kennedy 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

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

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

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

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

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

On today's programme, Adrian Chiles is with Steve Backshall the adventurer and naturalist who’s 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 the 14th May at The Royal Institution, 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 Plus 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 Kennedy

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

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 Coehlo 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 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 joins Adrian for extraordinary stories from remarkable people.

Bear Grylls discusses his relationship with religion, Chris "Flamebaster" Roberts champions Welsh food with fire, Liz Lane explains her love of musical composition.

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

John Lloyd joins Adrian for extraordinary stories from remarkable people.