Mike Fenton Stevens is an actor, comedian and podcaster. He is best known for being a founder member of The Hee Bee Gee Bees and the voice behind the Spitting Image 1986 number 1 hit "The Chicken Song". He was a prominent member in the birth of the alternative comedy scene in England in the 180s and also starred in KYTV, its Radio 4 predecessor, Radio Active and Benidorm as Sir Henry since Series 4 which was first broadcast in 2011, and as an anchor on 3rd & Bird on CBeebies.

Mike chats to Jim and Giles about his established career, how he dealt with blank moments and plenty more in between.

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Stephen Fry is a writer, comedian and actor. A prolific career spanning some over 35 years, Stephen Fry has become an icon of British TV, film and literature and a genuine national treasure.

We caught up with Stephen while he was in LA and began our conversation by talking about America and how it has changed since the time Stephen spent there filming his documentary series 'In America'.

Stephen shares his ideas and thoughts around the role of art and how realism has been somewhat sidelined by fantasy and he tells us about how at the age of 63 whether he still feels able to influence and have open discussions with those who have opposing views.

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Hayley Tamaddon is an multi-talented actor, who is best known for her TV roles as Del Dingle in Emmerdale, Andrea Beckett in Coronation Street and as Calista in Shameless but has performed on stage in many huge productions.

She spoke to Giles and Jim about how she landed her first big roles in theatre and the graft it took to get there.

She also described being thrust into the fame spotlight after landing that role on Emmerdale and the perils of social media, how in particular she strives to keep her social presences so positive. 

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Fred Sirieix is a presenter, TV personality and maître d'hôtel, best known for his work on Channel 4's First Dates, BBC's Remarkable Places to Eat, Snackmasters and ITV's Gordon, Gino and Fred's Road Trip.

We talked to Fred about his early experiences with food and making his way in the industry, going from training to be a chef to working front of house.

Fred tells us about his difficult moments when his career wasn't quite going the way he wanted and the beauty of connecting and talking to all walks of life in the service industry.

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Sian Harries is a writer, comedian and actress. Sian has written for both television and radio. She co-wrote both Greg Davies's Man Down for Channel 4 and 2018 sitcom, The Tourist Trap, starring Sally Phillips, for the BBC.

Known by her closest friends as The Giggler, we spent almost the entire podcast laughing at everything from school plays, live comedy performances and terrible names for super villains.

We also discussed collaboration min comedy and putting your trust in others when it comes to creative decisions.

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Charlotte Hawkins is our special guests for this Christmas eve episode! Charlotte is a television and radio presenter, newsreader and journalist, currently getting up at stupid o'clock to brighten our mornings on Good Morning Britain on ITV. She also hosts a show on Classic FM and talks to Giles and Jim about her love of Classical Music.

She also discusses how she got into news and she and Jim swap stories about the joys of working in local news and Fred Dinenage. She also talks about how she deals with Twitter trolls and the trials and tribulations of working on live news television. 

Merry Christmas everyone, thanks for all your support in 2020, we hope you have a wonderful festive time and well see you again in 2021.

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Naomi Wilkinson is a television presenter, actress and producer, best known for her work in children's televsion on Cbeebies and Channels 5's milkshake.

We started our chat by talking to Naomi about her time working at Butlins as a a Red Coats and how that was in someways a launchpad for her career in presenting.

She admits that being a presenter on children's TV was always the dream job having watched shows like Choc A Block and Play Away as a child. We chatted about the challenges of working freelance and still being able to carve out a traditional television career in the digital age.

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Kevin Day is a national treasure and one of the Uk's most recognised and well known standup comedians and comedy writers. Kevin came to prominence in the British alternative comedy stand up scene of the late eighties and early nineties, and quickly was MCing The Comedy Store. He has gone on to tour extensively, play the Edinburgh Fringe almost every year since the early 90s and write for multiple shows including Have I Got News For You and League Of Their Own.

Kevin talks to Giles and Jim about a range of topics, including how he got over stage fright minutes before the first run of an Edinburgh show after an absence from comedy, the grief of losing his mum and the changes he has witnessed in the UK comedy scene over the past 30 years.

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Ian Rankin is a multi-award winning novelist and writer. Best known for his novels based in Edinburgh starring DI John Rebus and in more recent years DI Malcolm Fox, Ian Rankin has regularly contributed to BBC Arts Review and several documentaries for Channel 4 and BBC Four.

We talked to Ian from his flat in Edinburgh and began by chatting about his first tools for writing, including the jotting pads from the school equipment cupboard. Ian tells us about feeling like a bit of an outsider growing up wanting to be a writer instead of learning a trade.

We talk about the challenges of working in isolation and we talk about Ian's passion for music and being a front man in a band.

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Emma Kennedy is a writer, comedian, actress and Lego guru. Originally trained as a solicitor, Emma moved into acting and live performance and then onto writing. Her books include The Tent, The Bucket and Me, which went on to be adapted in a BBC Series called The Kennedys. In 2012 Emma won Celebrity Masterchef.

We started our conversation with Emma and Giles comparing Lego sets, a passion for them both. Emma tells us about her accidental move into acting and how writing has always been her first passion.

Emma gives us some wonderful tips on becoming a writer and how as creatives we have to consider ourselves as small businesses.

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