View From My Sofa

Joining me, Kelly-Anne Taylor, in the studio is the actress Suranne Jones. Born and raised in Greater Manchester, she first rose to prominence playing Karen McDonald in ITV’s Coronation Street. After leaving the soap, she has cemented herself as one of Britain’s finest actresses – winning a BAFTA for her performance as Gemma Foster in Doctor Foster, and critical acclaim for her role as Anne Lister in Gentleman Jack and Amy Silva in Vigil. In this episode we discuss the early days of her career – and how press intrusion and the era of lad mags, impacted her relationship with her body. And, she talks bravely about her mental health breakdown in 2018 – and the coping mechanisms and boundaries she has put in place since then. Plus, we also discuss her brand new documentary Suranne Jones: Investigating Witch Trials.

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To launch this new series, we welcome the presenter and author, Katie Piper onto the Radio Times sofa. In 2008, Katie was the victim of an acid attack, which left her with life-changing injuries – her experience was documented in the BAFTA-nominated film, Katie: My Beautiful Face. Following its success, she signed an exclusivity deal with C4 that saw her go on to establish herself as one of our leading television presenters. In this episode, we discuss diversity within the media and how she has dealt with adversity. Plus, we talk about Katie Piper’s Jailhouse Mums, her powerful and poignant new documentary which sees Katie travel the USA meeting women who are pregnant or who have given birth behind bars. Stream for free all episodes of Katie Piper’s Jailhouse Mums on UKTV Play.

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This week’s guest is the comedian, Rose Matafeo. Having made a name for herself on the UK comedy scene, she has successfully turned her hand to television. She writes and stars in the BBC rom-com series Starstruck which follows a young woman named Jessie who has a one-night stand with a celebrity. In this episode she talks to Kelly-Anne Taylor about gender parity in comedy, how she managed to break into the industry at the age of 12 and why she has a more mature outlook on love in her thirties.

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In this week’s episode Kelly-Anne Taylor is joined by the journalist, best-selling author and mental-health advocate, Bryony Gordon. Gordon grew up in London in a family of journalists. Her mother is the former gossip-columnist Jane Gordon, and it was thanks to her address book that Gordon landed her first journalism gig. Since then, she has carved a successful career – known for her trademark honesty. In this episode she talks about the ups and downs of life, sobriety and being mates with Prince Harry. Plus, they discuss Gordon’s eighth book, Mad Woman, in which she writes about her experiences with binge-eating disorder, the menopause and OCD. Please note that this episode includes conversations surrounding eating disorders that some listeners might find triggering.

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This week’s guest is Hollywood A-Lister, Nicole Kidman. With a career that spans over four decades, Kidman has starred in almost 100 TV and film projects and picked up all of the most prestigious awards including, an Oscar, Bafta and six Golden Globes. She was born in Hawaii to Australian parents: her father was a biochemist and later a psychologist, and her mother was a nurse educator. Aged 3, she moved to Australia, and it was there, that she found her love of acting. She headed to Hollywood at 20 for a starring role opposite Sam Neill in the psychological thriller Dead Calm – and she quickly made her mark. She has since forged a very successful career – in an industry renowned for its fickleness.

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This week Kelly-Anne Taylor is joined by the Scottish actor, Martin Compston. Born and raised in Greenock, Scotland – he first made his name starring in the Ken Roach film, Sweet Sixteen (which won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival). It was his role as Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott in Jed Mercurio's Line of Duty that made him a household name. In this episode, he talks about how that role changed his life, what it’s like living in Vegas – and why he’s doing less on-screen nudity. Plus, he chats about his latest travelogue Martin Compston’s Norwegian Fling and what it was like running with wolves.

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On this week’s episode host Kelly-Anne Taylor is joined by Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley! From Broadchurch to The Crown to The Favourite, Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman has become a staple of British film and television. And Irish co-star Jessie Buckley boasts an impressive CV herself, starring across the big and small screen in projects like War & Peace, Chernobyl and Wild Rose. As a pair, Colman and Buckley previously worked together on Netflix movie The Lost Daughter – they played the same character at different ages and were both nominated for Oscars – and now share the screen again as warring neighbours in Wicked Little Letters, a comedy about a real-life poison pen scandal that shocked 1920s England. In this episode, we talk about sexism in the film industry, the importance of equal pay, the female-led films dominating the box-office and they share what they’ve learnt from their worst auditions.

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This week Kelly-Anne Taylor is joined by Sky’s special correspondent, Alex Crawford. They discuss Alex’s 30-year broadcast career – over the course of which, she has reported from Myanmar’s Rakhine State and was the first journalist in Tripoli after rebel forces took over the Libyan Capital. In this episode, we discuss how growing up in Zimbabwe primed her for a career in foreign correspondence, why certain stories aren’t covered by our news cycle and the future of news as we know it.

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This week’s guest on the Radio Times Podcast is Romesh Ranganathan. Born and raised in Crawley, in West Sussex – Romesh’s childhood was a tale of two halves. Life started in a two-up, two-down house and he attended private school – but after his father was imprisoned, life as he knew it was upended. Years later, he left his job as a Maths Teacher to pursue comedy full-time – and although, he doesn’t shy away from how tough it was at first to make ends meet – what has ensued is a glittering career which has established him as one of Britain’s leading comics. In this episode, he talks to Kelly-Anne Taylor about diversity in comedy and what he thinks of people who brand women ‘un-funny’. Plus, they talk about why he wouldn’t send his kids to private school, how his three young boys keep him humble and why, if his career ended tomorrow, you’d still find him with a mic hooked up to a lamppost in the park. Tickets to his live tour can be purchased here: https://www.romeshranganathan.co.uk/tour/

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To launch series five of the Radio Times Podcast, host Kelly-Anne Taylor is joined by the double-Bafta winning TV chef Big Zuu. Born Zuhair Hassan to a mother from Sierra Leone and a dad from Lebanon, he grew up on the Mozart Estate in West London. He started cooking aged nine to, as he says, ‘help around the house’ when his mother fell pregnant with his younger brother. It was whilst he was studying to become a social worker at University, that he decided to drop out in pursuit of a full-time music career. After making a name for himself as a Grime MC/Rapper, he turned the heads of TV commissioners when he started posting videos of himself on social media cooking. That landed him his Dave show Big Zuu, Big Eats. In this episode, Big Zuu talks about his love of Strictly, why his mum thought he was possessed by the devil and learning Latin with Boris Johnson.

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