Kenneth Cranham CBE is a Scottish film, television, radio and stage actor. His most notable screen roles were in Oliver!, Up Pompeii, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Chocolat, Layer Cake, Gangster No. 1, Hot Fuzz, Maleficent and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. 

William Boyd is a British novelist, short story, writer and screenwriter. Between 1980 and 1983, Boyd was a lecturer in English at St. Hilda's College, Oxford and it was while he was there that his first novel, A Good Man in Africa (1981) was published.

He was also a television critic for the New Statesman between 1981 and 1983. Boyd was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for services to literature. William Boyd has written numerous books, screenplays, short stories and plays. 

Charlotte Metcalf is a journalist, editor, award-winning documentary film-maker and was co-presenter of the Break Out Culture podcast. She is Supplements Editor and a frequent contributor at The Oldie.

Sir John Ronald Leon, 4th Baronet (born 16 August 1934), known professionally as John Standing, is an English actor.

Standing is best known for roles in the 1955 production of Titus Andronicus starring Laurence Olivier and his wife Vivien Leigh, and for leading parts in many plays such as The Importance of Being Earnest and Private Lives with Maggie Smith.

John Standing has appeared in major roles on television, including: The First Churchills (1969), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979), The Choir (1995) and King Solomon's Mines (2004). John Standing is married to Sarah Standing.

Charlotte Metcalf is a journalist, editor, award-winning documentary film-maker and was co-presenter of the Break Out Culture podcast. She is Supplements Editor and a frequent contributor at The Oldie.

Stephen Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. Fry first came to prominence as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster. In 1986-1989 Fry starred in Blackadder.

Odyssey completes his Greek Myths series in marvellous fashion. . . Fry, a born storyteller, succeeds again in making the ancient stories accessible, gently modernising the language and dotting his journey with explanatory and often amusing footnotes.

Listen to Sam Leith on The Haunted Wood, A History of Childhood Reading.

Sam was speaking at The Oldie Literary Lunch on 10th December 2024. Sponsored by Noble Caledonia. Photos by Neil Spence.

Gyles Brandreth: Breaking the Code: Westminster Diaries & 7 Secrets of Happiness & Prose & Cons: The English Language in Just a Minute.

Stephen Fry speaking at The Oldie Literary Lunch on Tuesday 10th December on his latest book Odyssey. 

The lunch was sponsored by Noble Caledonia. Photos by Neil Spence.

Thomas Pakenham, 91, tells Harry Mount about his new book, The Tree Hunters. From the 17th century to the 19th century, British daredevils headed across the world to bring back seeds for arboretums back home. Among them was David Douglas, who brought back the Douglas Fir - and was gored to death by a wild bull in Hawaii in 1834. Thomas also recalls his own tree-hunting expeditions to bring back seeds from Tibet to his house, Tullynally, in County Westmeath, Ireland.

John Suchet is an English author, television news journalist and presenter of classical music on Classic FM. He is a huge fan of Beethoven, writing 8 books on the composer. Suchet's journalistic career began when he worked as a graduate trainee at the Reuters news agency in 1967 and later joined the BBC News a sub-editor for the Nine O'Clock News from 1970 to 1971. Suchet worked at ITN as a scriptwriter/sub-editor from 1972 and was a newsreader and reporter until his retirement from ITN in 2004. Suchet has two brothers, one of whom is the actor Sir David Suchet.

Charlotte Metcalf is a journalist, editor, award-winning documentary film-maker and was co-presenter of the Break Out Culture podcast.   She is Supplements Editor and a frequent contributor at The Oldie.