Inheritance Tracks

Derren Brown amazes audiences with his extraordinary illusions and showmanship, as a mentalist and magic creator.

He captivates with his charm and is also disarmingly forthright and emotionally eloquent which is evident in his writing, podcast Bootcamp and painting.

Born in London and brought up in Purley, which he describes as the epitome of middle-class suburbia, Derren studied law and German at Bristol University which is where his Inheritance Tracks begin...

Inherited: The Prelude to the 1st Cello Suite by J S Bach

Producer: Ben Mitchell and Ribika Moktan

From the moment he became a cub scout in Sussex in the 1970s, Tim Peake wanted to have adventures.

He joined the army...became an Apache helicopter pilot...and then set his sights even higher...A LOT higher.

As an astronaut, he became the first Brit to walk in space during a voyage to the International Space Station.

But what kind of music did he listen to while he was up there?

Inherited: It Must be Love by Labi Siffre

Producer: Ben Mitchell

The Reverend Kate Bottley is a not your run of the mill vicar...

...since rising to fame on Channel 4’s Gogglebox she’s gone on to become a writer and broadcaster on the likes of Songs of Praise, and you can hear her every Sunday with Jason Mohammad (formerly of this parish) on Radio 2’s Good Morning Sunday.

Kate’s latest book, Have a Little Faith, isn’t out to convert, quite the opposite, it’s a guidebook on how to navigate life’s ups and downs, be kind, and face your own challenges armed with hope...and plenty of lasagne.

So, with all that in mind, I’m praying for a miraculous set of Inheritance Tracks.

Inherited: Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley

Simon Farnaby is famed for his parts in Ghosts, Horrible Histories and Detectorists, but it's his starring role in that iconic sketch from the Diamond Jubilee, seen over 30 million times on YouTube, in which he served the late Queen tea with Paddington Bear.

Indeed, he was one of the writers of Paddington 2 – and his latest screenplay, Wonka, is actually a musical origin story of Roald Dahl’s eccentric chocolatier.

But Simon's Inheritance Tracks are not necessarily the golden ticket he'd have hoped for.

Inherited: Little Town by Cliff Richard

Producers: Ben Mitchell and Ribika Moktan

She’s cycled to the South Pole, ran the Namibia ultra-marathon, kayaked the entire length of the River Amazon, solo, yet competing on Strictly made TV presenter and adventurer, Helen Skelton feel most vulnerable.

Helen began her presenting career at Newsround and has been a household name since 2008, when she became a Blue Peter presenter and graduated to Countryfile.

Her new memoir In My Stride charts her life from being raised on a dairy farm outside Cumbria to becoming a household name on Blue Peter and Countryfile.

What then, will she choose for her Inheritance Tracks?

Inherited: One Way or Another by Blondie

Producers: Ben Mitchell and Ribika Moktan

Chef Tom Kerridge is more than just a Michelin-starred foodie – he's a TV presenter, author and entrepreneur.

Inherited: English Rose by The Jam

As featured on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live on 07/10/2023. Presented by Olly Mann and Nikki Bedi.

Producer: Ben Mitchell/Gareth Nelson-Davies

Casual, fun, yet competent and assuring Alan Fletcher's character, Dr Karl Kennedy, along with his on-screen wife Susan, was a genuine tea-time idol to a generation.

What you might not know is that the actor is a country music aficionado, part of a burgeoning Australian Americana scene, and at the age of 65, he's just released his first solo album.

As Neighbours returns to our screens we asked him to share his inheritance tracks.

Inherited: Going up the Country by Canned Heat

Producer: Ben Mitchell

The actor, comedian and writer Mawaan Rizwan, recently told the NME, “In every job I do, I want to smash the box that people put me in”.

Born in Pakistan, Mawaan’s family moved to the UK when he was three, he grew up in East London, with a mother who’d been a child star in Pakistan so if the performance gene were a thing, he very much has it it.

As an actor he’s played roles in Simon Amstell’s Benjamin and Carnage, he wrote for the hit Netflix series Sex Education, and you can see his new surreal BBC Three series Juice on iPlayer.

What then, will his Inheritance Tracks be?

Inherited: Mera Laung Gawacha by Musarrat Nazir

Producer: Ben Mitchell

If you type ‘right wing comedian’ into a search engine the top answer will be Geoff Norcott.

Amazingly...the second, third and fourth results would also be the comedian and podcaster.

He's certainly cornered his niche making us laugh on Live At The Apollo, Have I Got News For You, and his own stand-up special for Radio 4 Geoff-erendum.

But, ironically, it seems Geoff doesn't necessarily skew right, when it comes to at least one of his musical heroes – as we discovered, when we asked him to share his Inheritance Tracks.

Inherited: Itchycoo Park by Small Faces

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Born in Billericay, Richard Osman got his first taste for broadcasting on BBC Radio Sussex, when he was still at school. He read Politics and Sociology at Cambridge and then worked behind the scenes in TV before creating and co-presenting the BBC quiz show, Pointless.

His own show, Richard Osman’s House of Games followed, another huge success, and along the way he’s managed to become an international best-selling crime fiction author!

It all began with The Thursday Murder Club in 2020 and with the fourth book in the wildly popular series on the horizon we asked him to put down that feather quill and share his Inheritance Tracks with us.

Inherited: Life on Mars by David Bowie

Producer: Ben Mitchell