Adrian Chiles has graced our television screens for over two decades. On this episode of Full Disclosure he discusses the pressures of being in the public eye, his Brummie background and his difficulties with alcohol. His latest book, The Good Drinker is out now.
Noel Fitzpatrick is the face of Channel 4's hugely popular factual series, The Supervet. As well as a being a vet Noel has worked as an actor, appearing in Heartbeat and The Bill in the early 2000s. He speaks to James about his life and love for animals. He also speaks bravely to James about his experience of being sexually abused as a child.
Since she was 14 years old Sara Pascoe knew she wanted to be famous. Her passion for performing was realised after being sent to drama classes as punishment for a chaotic house party Sara hosted. The multi award-winning comedian's brand new and biggest live tour to date, Success Story runs from November 2022 - April 2023.
At one of the highest and most remote locations in England sits Swaledale hill farm where Amanda Owen tends to her thousand sheep and nine children. Despite having no agricultural blood, she has become the most famous farmer in the country, starring in Channel 5’s highest rated factual series, Our Yorkshire Farm. She is now the author of five Sunday Times Bestselling books, that latest of which, Celebrating the Seasons is out now in paperback.
Moments of high drama in Britain's recent history are punctuated by the voice of one man. For nearly half a century, broadcaster David Dimbleby has led us through the shifting sands of general elections, referendums and royal deaths. He speaks to James about the magic of those moments as well as BBC impartiality and bedtime reading. His autobiography, Keep Talking: A Broadcasting Life is out now.
Dubbed 'King of the North' at the height of the pandemic, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham speaks to James about why he sees the country of his birth as containing 'two Englands'. After growing up in a catholic Labour family in Aintree, Burnham went on to study at Cambridge but did not fit in. He tells James why.
When he graduated with a master's degree from the University of East Anglia, Ian McEwan did his level best not to have a job. He is now recognised as one of the finest British writers of his generation. Born in Aldershot, McEwan spent his childhood crossing continents wherever his father, an army officer. was posted. His latest novel, Lessons is his most autobiographical yet.
When Emily Maitlis started reporting from Hong Kong as a young journalist, by her own admission, she wasn't very good. Since then she has interviewed some of the most powerful people in the world and her 2019 interview with Prince Andrew dropped a bombshell which led to the Duke of York having to give up his royal duties. She now presents The News Agents, a Global Player Original podcast.
John Cleese is one of Britain's most celebrated cultural icons. The actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer is best known for Monty Python and for playing Basil in Fawlty Towers, co-written with his first wife, Connie Booth. With a career spanning over half a century, Cleese realised he could make people laugh before he'd reached his teenage years.
Some of us manage to embody a youthful playfulness throughout our lives and the writer, broadcaster and academic, Michael Rosen is probably one of the best examples. He is one of Britain's best-known and most-loved authors, continuing to write books and poems which capture the imagination of children and adults alike. His latest book, Goldilocks and the Three Crocodiles is out on 15th September.
For 23 years Figen Murray worked as a counsellor helping people to get back on track so that they could lead happier, healthier lives. But on the 22nd of May 2017 her life as she new it changed forever. Figen's son, Martyn Hett was one of the 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena bombing. Remarkably Figen decided to forgive his killer. She now campaigns for better security in public places, has graduated with a Masters in counter-terrorism and speaks to thousands of children about radicalisat...
In what would turn out to be the first of many media interviews, Brian Cox hopped off the plane from Geneva and found himself on Jeremy Paxman’s sofa arguing the case for the Large Hadron Collider against the UK’s most senior scientist. It was the beginning of a broadcasting career which has led to him being described as the natural successor to David Attenborough. He speaks to James about what society, and in particular the politicians who run our nations can learn from physics. Tickets for his...
Mick Lynch has been hitting the headlines from the picket throughout the summer and makes batting off stereotypical lines of questioning from the right-wing media commentariat look like a blood sport. One interviewer accused him of seeing himself as an evil criminal terrorist mastermind. But ultimately the RMT's General Secretary describes himself as a working class, good natured, second generation Irish immigrant leading an industrial dispute. James speaks to the man wielding the rhetorical sca...
Miriam has worked with some of the best in the business and in some great films such as the 1990s film Romeo and Juliet. Many of you of course will know her as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films. Her autobiography, This Much is True is now out in paperback. I sat down for a lovely chat this week with Miriam about her life, career and being outspoken at times.
He’s best known for his forensic select committee cross examination of cabinet ministers but the Labour MP for Rhondda lived multiple lives before reaching parliament in 2001. Originally a member of the Conservative Association at Oxford, Chris Bryant went on to become a priest before quitting and becoming a Hackney Labour councillor. In this remarkable and warm episode of Full Disclosure he speaks to James about his sexuality, religious beliefs and the state of politics under Prime Minister Joh...
In 1997 Chris Patten walked away as the final British governor of Hong Kong in a symbol of Britain's continual imperial decline. Having taken the blame for Margaret Thatcher's hated poll tax, he was ousted as the Conservative MP for Bath in the 1992 general election and has been described by The Observer as 'the best Tory Prime Minister we never had'. His book, The Hong Kong Diaries has been published by Penguin to mark the 25th anniversary of the handover.
When he was elected as the MP for Ilford North in 2015, Wes Streeting achieved the biggest swing towards Labour from the Conservatives in the general election. Despite growing up in relative poverty and having family members in prison, Streeting attended Cambridge University and went on to become President of the National Union of Students. He credits his varied upbringing with being able to bring people over to his side and believes in engaging the world where he finds it rather than how he wis...
Known best for playing Gareth in Four Weddings and a Funeral, Simon Callow is a critically acclaimed actor, writer and director. Raised by a host of eccentric and strong-minded women, he eventually found his feet at the National Theatre at the Old Vic under the tenure of Sir Laurence Olivier - much to his mother's displeasure. Tickets for his latest show, the award-winning musical, Anything Goes, are available at anythinggoesmusical.co.uk (June 2022 - September 2022).
He’s known mostly to his younger fans for playing Ben Harper in the decade-long running sitcom, My Family and to an older audience as the eponymous Marxist in Citizen Smith. In this episode of Full Disclosure James is joined by the BAFTA and Olivier award-winning actor Robert Lindsay who discusses moving from humble beginnings in the Derbyshire industrial town of Ilkeston to being accepted at the highly selective and prestigious drama school, RADA, where his dramatic career began.
An unusual episode of Full Disclosure: one in which the identity of our guest is not revealed. No name, no gender, no details about where they grew up or went to school. The Secret Barrister is a criminal lawyer, best-selling author and Twitter stalwart. Their latest book, Nothing but the Truth attempts to establish why the public at large thinks what it does about justice and explores why a young Secret Barrister was so ready to believe the prevailing stereotypes about lefty lawyers and liberal...
Irish comedian Ed Byrne was born in County Dublin and attended a school run by the Christian Brothers Catholic order. It was so badly managed that he had to leave. After one year away, he was back again, finding the local alternative even worse. Whilst not admitting it at the time, Byrne felt that comedy was always his calling. Tickets for his latest show, If I’m Honest… are available at edbyrne.com
Hoards of men would troop past Andy Hamilton's window every Saturday on the street he grew up on in Fulham. Minutes away from Stamford Bridge, and despite being by his own admission a 'sickly child', he was eventually allowed to attend a Chelsea game at the age of 5. Best known as a comedian and game show panelist, Hamilton also co-wrote the much-loved and award-winning sitcom, Outnumbered. His novel, Longhand was published last year and tickets for his 2022 tour are available now.
For as long as he can remember, James Wong has been obsessed with botany. He shares his small central London flat with 500 houseplants and has incorporated them into coffee tables and TV stands. Having trained at the prestigious Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, his media career began with the hit series Grow Your Own Drugs and he’s written 6 best-selling books. Follow James on Instagram and Twitter @Botanygeek
Simple lies over complex truths have always troubled the actor, Eddie Marsan. Growing up in London’s East End, Marsan rejected the racists who blamed their problems on other people, questioning everyone but themselves. As a performer, Marsan frequently plays the type of toxic characters he encountered in his youth. He stars in The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe, a true story about a man who fakes his own death to claim life insurance, and whose abuse makes us reassess our own behaviour. It’s avai...
In Central London in the 1970s, a household catering to sick Iranians housed Omid Djalili. Balancing school with his home life proved to be a challenge, and the effects of the noise and the chaos filtered into Djalil’s adulthood. In spite of it all, the actor and comedian made it onto the silver screen in Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters. Tickets for his latest show, The Good Times Tour are available now.
Jonathan Pie is a fictional broadcast reporter created and performed by comedian Tom Walker who is this week’s guest. Walker brought Pie to life in the aftermath of Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Labour leader and the character went viral, racking up millions of views almost overnight. His critically acclaimed sell out show, Jonathan Pie: FAKE NEWS is now available at jonathanpie.com
In this episode of Full Disclosure, James speaks to Mark Drakeford. Born and brought up in West Wales he started off his career as probation officer and youth Justice worker. A professor at both Swansea and Cardiff Universities before moving into politics full time he rose from councillor to First Minister of his beloved Wales In this episode of Full Disclosure, James speaks to Mark about his background, the challenges he has faced as First Minister and his hopes for the people of Wales and beyo...
When he was forced to move 800 miles away from the outskirts of Hollywood to Idaho as a boy, Curtis Stigers was furious. After school he gravitated back towards the centre of things - to New York City, where his career as a musician began in earnest. He’s worked with the likes of Elton John, Eric Clapton, Prince, and Rod Stewart and achieved commercial success in the 1990s, most notably with the international hit, “I Wonder Why”. His latest album, This Life is out now and dates for his 2022 tour...
When she was a teenager, Caroline Criado Perez found feminism embarrassing. But then she read a book which changed her life. It documented how our language is used to make women invisible, and set her on a mission to make the specifics of the female experience as self-evident as men's. Her book, Invisible Women is a #1 Sunday Times best-seller and you can sign up for the Invisible Women newsletter at carolinecriadoperez.com
He was nearly shot on one of his first jobs as a 25 year old, and throughout his illustrious career, John Simpson has continued to dice with death, reporting from thirty war zones and most recently during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. In the context of his early years it looks like fate; whilst Simpson was still in the womb, a V-1 bomb fell on his neighbour’s house but within a week of his life he had returned to the site. His latest novel, Our Friends in Beijing is the second in his Jon S...
