The year is 1979. Yes, it's another fun episode of Gyles's diaries, including a truly brilllant listener email from Darran Lingley, discussion of Winston Churchill's love of languishing at the dinner table, tales of Gyles and Michele's new boxing sessions and speculation about squirrel blood transfusions. Enjoy this.

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We have a really wonderful Rosebud for you today, with the great actress, Patricia Hodge. In this conversation, Patricia talks to Gyles about her childhood, spent in the biggest hotel in Grimsby, observing the comings and goings of the guests, the local dockers and fishermen, and the occasional glimpses of glamour and celebrity that passed through the town. She talks about the bold and inventive move which led to her being noticed as a performer at school, and got her started in school plays. She talks about training as an actor at LAMDA, about what she looks for in a co-star, and about her love of Julie Andrews. She talks about friendship, and her long marriage. Patricia is one of the best, most talented, and most stylish actors working in Britain today and we think you'll agree that this conversation encapsulates some of her real class, intelligence and wisdom.

Our huge thanks to Patricia Hodge for her company, energy and time.

Enjoy this.

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1 September 2026 is Rosebud's THIRD birthday! And to celebrate, we are giving you the chance to listen again to one of our best ever episodes: with the late Queen Elizabeth II's groom, Terry Pendry. Terry worked with Queen Elizabeth II for over 28 years, as her Stud Groom and Manager at Windsor Castle. Terry's relationship with the Queen was unique, because he rode with her every morning when she was at Windsor. This is when the Queen was able to relax, and talk about her passions - for horses, dogs, animals and the countryside. And so, this interview with Terry - which we recorded in the Royal Mews at Windsor - gives an unusual level of insight into what it was like to spend time with the Queen, and tells us all about her love and knowledge of horses. And we meet her favourite pony, Emma, who she rode for the last few years of her life. Our thanks to Terry for this wonderful conversation, for introducing us to Noble and Emma, and to Sue Pendry for her hospitality and cake.

We won't need to remind you that we're also coming up to the fourth anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, on 8th September 2026. Which gives us another very fitting reason to replay this episode today.

Thank you so much to all of you - our listeners. Whether you've been here since the start, or have only discovered us recently - we love having you here. We couldn't do this without you. So happy birthday to Rosebud, happy birthday to us, and happy birthday to all of you. Sit down with a slice of cake, a cup of tea, or maybe just snuggle up under the duvet and enjoy this.

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Geoffrey Rush: the only Australian actor to win a Tony, a Primetime Emmy and an Oscar, is our Rosebud guest today. Geoffrey tells Gyles about his childhood growing up in Toowoomba, Queensland, the son of a broken marriage, brought up by his mum and grandparents. He talks about his early memories of rural Australia - of gardens, flower festivals and fireworks - and then he tells Gyles about moving to Brisbane, and discovering his talent for performance. He talks about his work with the Queensland Theatre Company, about meeting his wife, Jane, about Shakespeare and training with Lecoq in Paris. He then tells Gyles about his big break in the Oscar-winning Shine, about winning the Oscar, and about Shakespeare in Love. He discusses his case against the Sydney Daily Telegraph, from whom he won damages in 2020.

Our heartfelt thanks to Geoffrey Rush for this fascinating conversation.

Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube here. Join The Rosebud Family here. And visit our website here.

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It's another cracking episode of Gyles's diaries for you today, and Gyles is reading choice extracts from the year 1979. In which he: lets go of the family's live-in nanny and puts their pony, Tonka, out to grass; is mortified by a critical article in the Daily Mirror; and finally takes his driving test.

Enjoy this, diary-lovers!

Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube here. Join The Rosebud Family here. And visit our website here.

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Our guest today is the Director of one of the world's major arts festivals: The Edinburgh International Festival. She is also a world-class virtuoso violinist. It's Nicola Benedetti. In this conversation, Nicola talks to Gyles about her remarkable parents, who migrated from Italy to Scotland and through hard work and willpower created a new life and two highly talented daughters. She talks about learning to play at the Yehudi Menhuin school, and about playing at Menhuin's funeral. She talks about practice and posture. She talks about winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year, and about meeting and marrying her husband, the American trumpeter and composter Wynton Marsalis.

This is a fascinating and inspirational conversation. Our heartfelt thanks to Nicola Benedetti for her time and brilliance.

The Edinburgh International Festival is on until the end of August 2026.

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If you're a regular Rosebud listener, you'll know that we have a private members' club, called The Rosebud Family. The Rosebud Family gives anyone who loves Rosebud a range of benefits: ad-free listening to all the main Rosebud episodes, and a different, brilliant bonus episode every Sunday. We'd love you to join - it's a chance for you to enjoy even more Rosebud, and to hear some really hilarious and unguarded Gyles and Harriet chat every week. It costs £4.99 per month plus VAT to join the Rosebud Family - and we hope today's episode will showcase some of the brilliant things you'd get if you joined!

And that's because, today on More Rosebud, we're giving regular listeners chance to hear the most recent special episode we released to the Rosebud Family last Sunday... The episode you're going to hear today is part of our monthly "Down Memory Lane" strand, in which we chat about a different subject each week and discuss how it has manifested itself in our pasts. The episode we're giving you today is all about dreams and nightmares, and it's a lot of fun: it takes in Gyles's most recent anxiety dreams, Harriet's erstwhile obsession with Jeremy Vine, and a romantic dream she once had about the ex-Radio 2 DJ Simon Mayo.

If you'd like to join the Rosebud family, you can do so by visiting www.patreon.com/rosebud, or clicking here.

Enjoy this.

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We have a treat for you today: an exclusive one-off edition of Rosebud recorded at RHS Wisley, brought to you in association with the Royal Horticultural Society, and starring special guests RHS Ambassadors Dame Mary Berry and James Wong. In this episode, Gyles, Mary and James enjoy walking round the beautiful gardens at Wisley, and discuss the joys and benefits of getting out into gardens of all shapes and sizes. You'll find out about Dame Mary's first memory of gardening, about her love of roses, and about her long relationship with Wisley. You'll find out about James Wong's tips for making your garden more nature-friendly, and about his current pet project: growing a giant waterlily. But most of all we hope this episode will inspire you to get out into your own outside space, and - better still - to visit on the RHS's five flagship gardens somewhere in the UK.

Thank you to Dame Mary Berry and James Wong for sharing what gardening and visiting gardens means to them, and of course the important role they can play in bringing people together and creating a sense of community. 

The RHS is the UK’s gardening charity helping people and plants to grow, so go visit your nearest garden today: there are five to choose from, RHS Wisley, RHS Hyde Hall, RHS Rosemoor, RHS Harlow Carr and RHS Bridgewater.

You can visit the RHS website here.

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Our guest today is the scientist, broadcaster and presenter of The Sky At Night, Dame Maggie Aderin. In this moving conversation, Dame Maggie tells Gyles about her childhood - and her parents' long custody battle, which often led to upheaval for Maggie and her sisters. She talks about her early interest in space, and joining a telescope-making club as a teenager. She talks about thinking big and not taking no for an answer. She talks about "Maggie-isms" and being unusual.

This is a fabulous edition of Rosebud with one of our foremost science communicators and educators. Dame Maggie's book, Starchild, My LIfe Under the NIght Sky, is out now and available here.

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