Loose Ends

Loose Ends this week is all about finding the light. Poet, performer and broadcaster Michael Rosen is touring a one man show making sense of some of the darker moments of his life. Dylan Jones was the editor of era-defining magazines like i-D, Arena and British GQ in the 1990s and noughties. Now his memoir, These Foolish Things - tells how he left behind a difficult childhood to embrace a career that encompasses hobnobbing with celebrities from Elton John to Tracey Emin, taking phone calls from David Bowie and recommending a tailor to Gordon Brown. There's dark themes too to the Texan comedian Kemah Bob's new show Miss Fortunate which tells the story of a disastrous solo trip to Thailand. It was hailed as "chest-achingly funny" and "charismatic" by the critics and won her a Best Newcomer nomination at Edinburgh Festival Last year. The actress Barbara Flynn knows how to pick her projects, appearing in Cracker, Cranford and now the BBC's hit drama Beyond Paradise where cosy crime meets health concerns, heated r

Clive Anderson's guests in Salford include Bridget Christie who returns with series two of The Change. Gardener's World expert Adam Frost who is on the road with his 'Lessons from the Garden' tour and up and coming stand up Louise Young. Music is from Richard Dawson who has just released a new album 'End of the Middle' and cellist and singer Abel Selaocoe performs from his new album 'Hymns of Bantu'Presenter: Clive Anderson Producer: Jessica Treen

Stuart Maconie and guests come together with mighty laughs, big stories, and altogether good craic from Lisburn, Northern Ireland. Declan Lawn is a screenwriter of multiple TV series alongside his creative partner Adam Patterson, including the successful Blue Lights as well as the BBC miniseries The Salisbury Poisonings. Series three of Blue Lights is currently being filmed in Belfast, and he is currently writing series four. Comedian John Meagher is currently touring his stand-up show Big Year across the UK and Ireland. He chats about his big years in mixed martial arts prior to kicking off a career on the comedy circuit, as well as his Radio 4 documentary The Divil's Own. Writer Naoise Dolan has travelled the world after success with her bestsellers Exciting Times and The Happy Couple, but is returning back to Dublin as she spends this year as the inaugural IPUT Writer-In-Residence. County Tyrone comedian Emer Maguire is bringing her biggest gig yet - Notions - to the Grand Opera House later this y

Clive hosts Loose Ends with an audience in London this week with a set of guests with a serious work ethic and willingness to try new things in the name of entertainment. The chart topping superstar and award winning actor Michael Ball is now also a best selling novelist. Can life backstage really be as chaotic as this page-turner set in theatreland suggests? Hollie McNish is that rare thing, a best-selling poet who also likes to make people laugh. Fresh from entertaining Swiss school children with her work, she'll be discussing her latest collection Lobster (and other things I'm learning to Love), the follow up to Slug (and other things I've been told to hate). And Dr Who and Ballet Shoes actress Pearl Mackie on her new venture - a true crime podcast called Theatre of Crime, investigating famous murder mysteries with a touch of audio drama. Comedian Pierre Novellie also co-hosts podcasts, alongside names like Frank Skinner and Phil Wang. But he's going it alone in a new show - Must We? - a sell out Edinburg

Stuart Maconie is looking on the bright side this week with Dave Gorman who thinks that 'Modern Life is Goodish'. In the latest installment of his TV series, Dave Gorman is back with his trusty powerpoint as he falls down rabbit holes but always with a smile on his face -ish. And just to balance out all that positivity we've got natural worrier Angela Barnes whose new stand up tour is called 'Angst', a very funny catalogue of her failures.And if you are anxiously watching the green shoots emerge awaiting the end of winter, nature writer Simon Barnes is the ideal guide with his new book 'Spring is the Only Season'And there's music from the Hastings band HotWax who are just about to release their debut album Hot Shock and neo-soul vocalist Ni MaxinePresenter: Stuart Maconie Prodcuer: Jessica Treen

Stuart Maconie is joined by the 41st best stand up ever to talk about his new tour 'Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf', and by Philippa Dunne who plays Anne in the school gates sitcom 'Motherland'. Anne is back in the spinoff series 'Amandaland', focusing on Anne's glamorous best friend Amanda. Aysha Kala tells us how she nailed the accent to play Saima in the new Bradford set crime thriller Virdee.Music from song intrepeter Barb Jungr whose new album 'Hallelujah on Desolation Row' sees her back in the company of two songwriters whose music she has spent a lifetime alongside, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen as well as Irish singer and rapper Biig Piig who has just released her debut album '11:11'.Presenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Jessica Treen

Jack Docherty has entertained audiences in eight series of BBC Scotland’s mockumentary police show Scot Squad, as Chief Commissioner Cameron Miekelson. He returns to our screens in new spin-off The Chief. Writer Kirsty Logan has written on witches, mermaids, and motherhood. Her latest collection of dark tales of love and desire is No & Other Love Stories.Comedian Larry Dean is bringing his acclaimed stand up show Dodger on tour. It explores identity, his grandmother's dementia diagnosis, and a love of Elvis Presley.After big 40th anniversary celebrations last year, Pat and Greg Kane - AKA pop duo Hue and Cry - are set for a year of touring. They share a song fit for Valentine's Day weekend. Cellist Su-a Lee performs a track from her solo album Dialogues which celebrates decades of folk music friendships. She's joined by composer and pianist James Ross.

Kevin Clifton entertained the nation for years on Strictly, now he can often be found treading the boards instead – and is currently starring in Chicago as it tours the country. Poet and former Scots Makar Liz Lochhead talks about her collection of poems A Handsel ahead of her appearance at the Winter Words Festival in Pitlochry. Coinneach MacLeod, best known as The Hebridean Baker, has found a global audience for his Scottish recipes. His latest release is The Hebridean Baker: The Scottish Cookbook. Olivier Award-nominated Dawn Sievewright’s next project is Wild Rose, a stage musical adaptation of the 2018 film. She shares a track from the show ahead of it’s premiere in March. Jazz/soul ensemble Mama Terra perform from their new album Chameleons: Live Interpretations of Herbie Hancock.

Natural history presenter and cameraman Gordon Buchanan’s new book In The Hide is a look back at some of his greatest adventures across the world, from Mumbai to Mongolia. In 2015 Mhairi Black became the youngest MP elected to the House of Commons since the 1800s. After stepping down at the 2024 General Election, she turned her mind to her tell-all comedy show Politics Isn’t For Me which took last year’s Fringe by storm. She's now taking it on tour. Cal MacAninch is well known for roles in Downton Abbey, Mr Selfridge, Vigil and Wild At Heart amongst much else. He plays Banquo in a production of Macbeth that has wowed audiences at the Donmar Warehouse and the West End and can be seen in cinemas in February. Edinburgh’s Makar Michael Pedersen writes about friendship, grief and pretending to be a cat. The newest addition to his expanding body of works is his debut novel, Muckle Flugga.Tunisian singer-songwriter EMEL has performed across the world, and rose to fame with her protest song Kelmti Horra which became

Clive Anderson celebrates Scotland’s Bard with a special Loose Ends Burns Supper.Comedian Susie McCabe is back with her new show Best Behaviour. The Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow award-winner and host of the smash-hit podcast Here Comes The Guillotine is headed for Glasgow Comedy Festival.Meredith Brook stars in new BBC ALBA drama An t-Eilean (The Island), the UK’s first high-end Gaelic drama series which is set on the Isle of Harris. Franco-Scot poet Paul Malgrati’s book Robert Burns and Scottish Cultural Politics – The Bard of Contention (1914-2014) explores Rabbie’s influences around the world. He shares why the poet still means so much to modern audiences across the world, and what it was like learning Scots as a French-speaker.Carina Contini discusses cooking up the perfect Burns Supper and her showcase of the rich variety of Italian recipes The Contini Cookbook.Plus Isle of Lewis trio Peat and Diesel bring a bit of island spirit to Glasgow.

This year the Scottish pop rock band Deacon Blue celebrates 40 years together. Not only is the band going strong – so is the marriage bringing together its lead vocalists Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh. They both join Nihal Arthanayake to reflect on four decades of music-making.Paul McKenna’s career has taken him from radio DJ to stage hypnotist to self-help book author. His latest offering – Power Manifesting – explores how he’s used manifesting to achieve his goals. He looks at how super-achievers praise this technique and explains how he uses the toolkit in day to day life.Julie Wilson Nimmo is a star of Scottish TV classics like Balamory, Chewin’ The Fat and Scot Squad. Her current role is slightly different as she and fellow actor and comedian husband Greg Hemphill set off to the Scottish islands to dip in their beautiful seas. Jules and Greg’s Wild Swim sees the couple enjoy the invigoration of cold water swimming, along with chats about mental health, the menopause and much more.Indie-folk pop singer

Loose Ends is in Hebden Bridge this week, a town made famous by the BBC drama Happy Valley, but you might also recognise the place and its glorious scenery from Last Tango in Halifax, Gentleman Jack or The Gallow's Pole. Clive will talk to local resident and bestselling novelist Joanne Harris, maybe best known for Chocolat which was adapted into an Oscar nominated film of the same name. Her latest book The Moonlight Garden is a fantasy set in a "long ago and far away" version of London and fits right into the wildly popular "romantasy" genre - a good fit for a town renowned for its quirky ways and alternative lifestyles. Also in the show, the acclaimed comedian and actor Richard Blackwood, best known for roles in Hollyoaks and EastEnders as well as on stage, is out on the road and passing through town on a stand up tour promising heavyweight laughs and no messing. TV presenter, GP and host of Europe's most popular wellness podcast Dr Ranjan Chatterjee will be easing us all into the New Year, just about the t

Loose Ends is kicking off the year with a special recording at the Salford Lad's Club. If your New Year's resolution is to listen to music we've got you covered as Stuart Maconie will be joined by Stockport's finest, Blossoms, performing songs from their fourth UK number one album 'Gary'. We also have the powerhouse vocals of Rowetta, who will also talk about her time with the Happy Mondays and we have Graham Fellows, who celebrates 40 years as John Shuttleworth. Journalist Miranda Sawyer is the author of 'Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in Twenty songs'. She tells us about her 90's, and perhaps finally get to the the bottom of who came up with the term 'britpop'.Presenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Jessica Treen

Wayne Sleep, Ben Miller, Rosalind Eleazar and Lou Conran join Stuart Maconie for this week's Loose Ends, with music from The Lottery Winners.Dance icon Wayne Sleep waltzes in to tell us stories of his life - all detailed in his new autobiography, Just Different. Tales of his friendships with Princess Diana, Freddie Mercury, David Hockney and fellow ballet legend Rudolph Nureyev intermingle with insights into his working-class upbringing and the difficulties of trying to make it as the shortest principal dancer ever to get into the Royal Ballet. Told he would always have to spin twice as fast and jump twice as high to succeed, Stuart hears all about the trials, tribulations and backstage gossip that make up Wayne’s world. With notable appearances in Slow Horses, Howards End, Rellik and the Personal History Of David Copperfield, as well as striding such prestigious stages as the Royal Court and the National Theatre, Rosalind Eleazar is set to return to the small screen this New Year. Starring in the Netflix

It's a glorious fusion of nostalgia, tinsel and song this week in a show recorded with an audience at the BBC Radio Theatre. Clive talks to punk princess Toyah Willcox about her Xmas Party tour with King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and a blistering year that's seen her perform at Glastonbury, take part in Strictly Come Dancing and join the cast of Now That's What I Call a Musical. To celebrate 30 years since boyband East 17 scaled the charts with Stay Another Day - songwriter Tony Mortimer performs the song with Edele Lynch of B*Witched for a boy and girl band treat. Find out the true origin of the song and why it almost wasn't released. There's bromance, baubles and banter with a pair of Edinburgh Comedy Award winners - Adam Riches and John Kearns - who this year are collaborating on a "once in a lifetime, yuletide extravaganza" show at the Soho Theatre.And the columnist, broadcaster and newly-announced MasterChef host Grace Dent - who knows a thing or two about comfort eating having written a book about

Stuart Maconie is joined in the Salford studio by Sheffield's finest, Richard Hawley, playing tracks from his latest album 'In This City They Call You Love', and by comedian and podcaster Cariad Lloyd on her Christmas book for children, The Christmas Wish-tastrophe. Seema Pankhania is on a quest to cook the national dish from every country around the world and she's documenting her journey on her popular Youtube and TikTok channels. She's just pusblished her first cookbook 'Cravable: All I want to eat, big flavours for every mood. Tim Clare takes gaming very seriously in his book 'The Game Changers' - a history of tabletop game playing, and Katy Stephens stars as The White Witch in a new version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at the Leeds Playhouse. Presenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Jessica Treen

Loose Ends this week is a masterclass in the many ways human beings find to laugh: the writer and comic Jenny Eclair started her career as a punk performance poet, who created her stage name to chime with the band she joined - Cathy le Creme and the Rumbabas. But as we learn in her new memoir, she knew as a small child called Jenny Hargreaves that she had the "funny bones" required to make her a comedy star. There is little about Ferdia Lennon's debut novel Glorious Exploits that might suggest comedy - its set in 412 BC Sicily, in the years after Athens’ failed invasion and tells the story of two locals who get Athenian prisoners of war to stage a production of the play Medea. Yet this book's just won an award for comic writing. Nikki Amuka-Bird is a Bafta-winning actor and her new movie Rumours features a constellation of Hollywood stars. But this comedy-horror-satire features her alongside Cate Blanchett and Charles Dance prat-falling as world leaders at a summit. And stand-up Lou Sanders is about to go on

Author and historian Charles Spencer has written many books including The White Ship, To Catch A King and A Very Private School, and now finds himself down a Rabbit Hole – along with his fellow trivia hunters Cat Jarman and Richard Coles - in their podcast The Rabbit Hole Detectives. Digging into the past and uncovering weird and wonderful stories, every week the trio discuss the whos, whats, whens and whys and have now turned all this into a book… aptly titled The Rabbit Hole Book. Charles joins us to dig a little deeper… Romy Gill is a celebrated chef and food writer whose many TV appearances include Ready Steady Cook, Morning Live, Countryfile and Celebrity Masterchef, as well as being a regular voice on Radio 4 on The Food Programme. Her food is inspired by both her West Bengal and Punjab roots, and she tells us all about her new book in which she collects many recipes of home, Romy Gill’s India. Former EastEnder turned X Man Ben Hardy has left both Albert Square and his superhero wings behind to tak

Loose Ends embraces the great outdoors this week at the Kendal Mountain Festival. Stuart talks to festival patron and bestselling writer Robert Macfarlane about his "mountain DNA" and unusual walking snack. Broadcaster and writer Louise Minchin loves a mountain too. Having put aside the extreme working practice of rising at 3am for Breakfast TV she now loves a triathlon, a free-dive at night under ice or the extreme experience that is learning to cook a soufflé from an online video for Celebrity Masterchef. Space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock - who is such a star there is even a Barbie doll in her image - on being inspired by the night sky, be that incredible telescope images or The Clangers as she was as a child. And for a counterpoint approach we have a relative newcomer to the country, the comedian Chris Cantrill who describes himself as a "rural imposter" and hosts a podcast about adapting to the northern wilds by competitive leek growing and donning a cape. Plus music from Lake District singer son

Clive Anderson is joined by actor Shazad Latif, who stars as Nemo in 'Nautilus', a new ten part TV series based on Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. Latif's TV credits include Spooks, The Pursuit of Love and Toast of London, where he played the fan favourite Clem Fandango. And he's also joined by Michael Cumming, who directed Latif in three series of Toast of London. He is currently touring his documentary film 'Oxide Ghosts', a collection of outtakes and behind the scenes footage from the cult series 'Brass Eye' only ever shown at special live screenings.Laurie Anderson is one of the world’s most pioneering creative artists. Her documentary film 'Heart of a Dog' was nominated for an Oscar, and she had a surprise hit in 1981 with her song 'O Superman', which reached number two in the UK singles chart. Her new Multimedia show ARK: United States V has just opened at Manchester's Factory International. Comedian Sooz Kempner's most recent stand up show is 'Class of 2000'. It takes her back to sitting h