Kate Humble has presented the majestic Animal Park from Longleat for more than two decades. As a champion of the environment and rural affairs, she’s been the president of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and founded Humble by Nature, a rural skills centre based at her farm here in Wales. But when she’s not frolicking in the fields or mucking out meerkats Kate unwinds at home, often in the kitchen, creating recipes for her latest book. I don’t know about you, but a bit of Beethoven always beats...
Nov 09, 2024•6 min
There’s so much more to the actor Peter Capaldi than his brilliant, edgy and original Twelfth Doctor in Doctor Who…his career stretches far beyond the Tardis. He won a BAFTA, for playing the ferocious, foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It, another BAFTA for the film spin off ‘In the Loop', and whilst we’re on awards…He’s also won an Oscar! A punk in his younger days…he’s now writing and recording his own rock music…his debut solo album was released in 2021…so we’re fascinat...
Nov 02, 2024•7 min
In his regular column Adrian Chiles has written candidly about everything from wearing compression socks to struggling to bend down - even his favourite coat hanger. These musings are now collected in a single book. He admits that his "orgy of oversharing" isn't for everyone, yet insists even life's most mundane details can hold deeper meaning. So, what meaning will we uncover in his musical tastes? Inherited Track: Reuben's Blues by Stan Kenton Pass On: Stop This World by Mose Allison Producer:...
Oct 26, 2024•7 min
This week’s Inheritance Tracks come from the funny and startlingly honest double act and married couple Chris and Rosie Ramsey. They struck gold when they turned their bickering and banter into the wildly successful podcast… Sh*gged, Married, Annoyed… They take the quotidian absurdities of marriage, parenthood…life in general …and transform it all into comedy gold…nothing seems to be off limits! They’ve hosted their own BBC 2 chat show…Chris is a touring stand-up comedian…and they’ve both indivi...
Oct 19, 2024•8 min
The best-selling crime-writer Sir Ian Rankin began his life surrounded by food. His dad ran a grocery store in Fife, his mum worked in a school canteen, and Ian's early writing saw him reviewing wine. He says he never intended to turn to crime, so to speak, but it was his creation of the hard-drinking and stubborn Edinburgh detective Inspector John Rebus which changed his writing style – and his life. Beginning with Knots and Crosses in 1987, there have now been 25 Rebus novels - as well as the ...
Oct 12, 2024•7 min
Comedian, actor, Pointless presenter and debut author Alexander Armstrong, grew up in rural Northumberland where his musical ability and joy at being able to entertain began at a young age. He went to both school and Trinity College Cambridge on music scholarships and after a Footlights’ writing stint, he went on to become one half of the BAFTA-winning comedy duo Armstrong & Miller If you’re wondering where his passion for classical music began...his Inheritance Tracks will provide the answe...
Oct 05, 2024•7 min
Celia Imrie has worked in television, theatre and films over the past five decades. She’s taken roles at the Royal Shakespeare Company and in big budget films such as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Calendar Girls and Mamma Mia! to name but a few. Celia will be starring in the film adaptation of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club. The story follows a group of friends in a retirement home who gather to solve murders but find themselves caught in a real case. So with that in mind, we wanted ...
Sep 28, 2024•7 min
The two-time Sunday Times bestselling author and journalist Candice Brathwaite grew up in Brixton, south London. Candice first became known for her conversations about the often over-looked experience of Black mothers in the UK which became the subject of her raw, searing and witty 2020 book, 'I am Not Your Mother'. She followed that with 'Sista Sista' essays which were equally forceful on the issues of diversity, identity and representation. Her latest book 'Manifesto' is out now. We asked Cand...
Sep 21, 2024•8 min
Leigh Francis’ creation Keith Lemon came to our attention with Bo Selecta in the early noughties, and he hasn’t been off our screens much since, with various sketch and panel shows becoming hits, most notably Celebrity Juice and the revamped Through the Keyhole. Surreal and silly, his is a brand of comedy that has mass appeal, and his new book 'Leigh, Myself and I' charts how "a little boy called Leigh became a naughty bear". What then will his Inheritance Tracks be? Inherited: Stand and Deliver...
Sep 14, 2024•5 min
Tim Minchin is the multi-talented Australian musician, comedian, actor, writer, director, who helped bring Matilda from book to stage with his hit musical lyrics. In his new book "You Don't Have To Have A Dream" he shares his thoughts and advice on life, art, success, kindness, love - but it was his dream to be a musician that drove young Tim from an early age. It was his tongue-in-cheek songs and poetry that helped find him fame here in the UK and off the back of his success rebranding Dhal he ...
Sep 07, 2024•7 min
Nicola Adams was one of the stand-out stars of the London Games in 2012 when she became the first woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal. And then she won gold again in Rio four years later. Born into a tough life in Leeds in the early 1980s, Nicola immediately loved enjoyed the discipline she found in boxing at the age of 12. If her punches have unnerved her opponents in the ring, her charm and winning smile have perhaps been even more disarming. Her Inheritance Tracks will have you heading ...
Jul 27, 2024•6 min
Carrie and David Grant are the BAFTA award-winning power couple, broadcasters and vocal coaches to the stars. If, like me, you remember the early noughties reality song contest Fame Academy, they were the expert vocal coaches that helped the likes of Lemar find their voice. Their TV and music career has spanned over 35 years winning them a MOBO award and has seen them write a revealing memoir 'A Very Modern Family' which charts their parenting experiences in a neuro diverse family. What then wil...
Jul 20, 2024•9 min
Since graduating from Durham University, Ed Gamble has become one of the UK’s most successful stand-up comedians. He’s been a Taskmaster champion, a Pointless host and one of the Hunted on Channel 4. And his “Off Menu” series with James Acaster is one of the most listened-to podcasts in the UK – where guests choose their ideal meal. But Ed's own love of food hasn’t always been easy. He has Type One Diabetes...and has spoken, and written, movingly about his complicated relationship with eating an...
Jul 13, 2024•7 min
Adam Kay was born in Brighton to Jewish parents, his father was a doctor and he too went into medicine gynaecology and obstetrics. After a traumatic experience in the operating theatre, Adam left medicine and wrote his first memoir…This is Going to Hurt. It covered his time as a trainee doctor and became not only a bestseller, but was adapted by him, into the TV series of the same name, starring Ben Whishaw as Adam. He won a BAFTA for his writing. His most recent memoir, Undoctored, was much, mu...
Jul 06, 2024•8 min
Rachel Stevens shot to fame as part of the iconic group S Club 7 aged just 19, catapulting her to fame, bringing with it all the glamour, glitz and BRIT Awards. But it was in 1993 when she first caught the attention of talent agents by winning a modelling contest sponsored by UK teen magazine Just 17, beating 5,000 other competitors. After a stint studying a business diploma at the London College of Fashion and briefly working in PR – she finally decided to pursue her musical dream. In her memoi...
Jun 29, 2024•7 min
The comedian and professional quizzer Paul Sinha, grew up with a surgeon father and a midwife mother. He also became a doctor. His calling however was comedy and although for a while he was a full-time doctor and a part time comedian making people laugh proved irresistible. He became a household name in 2011, when he joined ITV’s show The Chase as one of the Chasers. Knowing his encyclopaedic knowledge about so many things, we asked him to share with us the tracks that matter most to him. Inheri...
Jun 22, 2024•7 min
Danny Robins has created all kinds of shows for TV and radio – often embracing the spookier side of life and death. From the BAFTA-nominated Young Dracula on BBC One to The Cold Swedish Winter on BBC Radio 4. For Danny’s new series of the hit podcast – Uncanny – he’s criss-crossing America with a team of paranormal believers and sceptics as they investigate matters that seem to defy logical explanation. With all that in mind, we were fascinated to know Danny would choose as his Inheritance Track...
Jun 15, 2024•7 min
10 years ago Marlon James published 'A Brief History of Seven Killings' his bestselling novel which would go onto be awarded the Booker Prize. Born in Jamaica in 1970 his parents shared with him their passion for poetry and Shakespeare – but Marlon preferred to be in his room reading comics like X-Men...the mutant group who went onto inspire him to write his 'Black Leopard, Red Wolf' trilogy. For those who haven’t already read it, A Brief History of Seven Killings' is broken up into 5 sections, ...
Jun 01, 2024•7 min
Actor Kiell Smith-Bynoe is perhaps best known for playing the non-clairvoyant husband Mike in the BBC One series, Ghosts. Kiell grew up in East London and his future as a thespian was set in stone when at the age of five he began acting in nativity plays. He studied acting at East 15 Acting School, and he honed his skills by making musical skits in the early years of YouTube, and can now be seen on stage in 'The Government Inspector' and on our screens as the new host of The Great British Sewing...
May 25, 2024•6 min
Reece Shearsmith rose to fame with the darkly comic League of Gentleman. Since then his fascination with the macabre has led to starring roles on TV and stage, as well as to an enduring writing and acting partnership with Steve Pemberton. He is currently on our screens with his latest and last series of the genius Inside No9 - and these are his Inheritance tracks. Inherited: White Christmas by Darlene Love Passing on: Tonight we Fly by The Divine Comedy Producers: Catherine Powell and Ben Mitche...
May 18, 2024•6 min
Hilary and Michael are an entertainment power-couple. Having worked as a leading theatrical agent and producer for many years, with clients including Nigel Havers, Judi Dench and Colin Firth – it was at a glitzy party that Michael first set his eyes on the then actress Hilary Gish Hilary says of that night...“I was looking for an agent, he was looking for a wife.” They’ve gone on to have three children together, including the actor and comedian Jack Whitehall, and in recent years they’ve turned ...
May 11, 2024•8 min
Jamie Laing found fame in the second series of Made in Chelsea in 2011, and has gone on to rebrand himself several times. First as a veritable Willy Wonka, as the great great grandson of biscuit mogul Sir Alexander Grant, it is perhaps no surprise that he has created his own line of incredibly successful sweets. These days he is just as at home in the audio studio as he is on the factory floor, having just been named the new co-host of BBC Radio 1’s Going Home programme, and has been a mainstay ...
May 04, 2024•5 min
Star of TV and radio, Vernon Kay comes from a Northern working-class family. His first job, at 14, was putting stickers on boxes of bananas at a ripening factory…and he also worked as caretaker, deep cleaning schools before his break came as a model. TV came next with stints on T4 and All-Star Family Fortunes and has recently taken over the mid-morning show on Radio 2. Last November Vernon ran an Ultra Marathon for Radio 2’s BBC Children in Need fundraiser, 115 miles in just four days, and he ra...
Apr 27, 2024•7 min
Marcus Brigstocke and Rachel Parris are a funny couple. Quite literally! The comedians have been regulars on comedy quiz panels, with Parris one of the hosts on the Mash Report, and Brigstocke appearing on many programmes here on Radio 4, including the popular I’ve Never Seen Star Wars amongst countless other shows. They're new podcast ‘How was it for you?’, offers a peek into the joyful mess that ensues when two comedians live together. So we were fascinated to see what there joint inheritance ...
Apr 20, 2024•8 min
The Michelin starred chef and restaurateur Angela Hartnett likes crisps, prefers cheese to dessert, and her favourite pasta is spaghetti in a tomato sauce. Simple tastes for someone who’s famous for giving people fine dining experiences. A protegee of Gordon Ramsay, Angela cheffed in some of the best restaurants in the world before opening her own Murano in Mayfair. She’s famous and in demand for her TV appearances and hosts the excellent and entertaining podcast Dish along with Nick Grimshaw. W...
Apr 13, 2024•6 min
The comedian, podcaster and self described Vibe-Magnet John Robins is an Edinburgh Comedy Award winner whose dry stand up has taken him on several sold out tours, a BBC 5 Live programme with Elis James, and the latest series of Taskmaster. He openly talks about all aspects of his life, from the ridiculous to the sublime, and has been praised for the way he has discussed the way he has dealt with mental health and his sobriety. A lover of games and music - what then will he chose for his Inherita...
Apr 06, 2024•7 min
Born in Paris, Liz Bonnin grew up in Ireland where she studied biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin. She joined an all-girl pop band rather than doing a PhD at Oxford and then came TV, initially on entertainment shows before her real calling pulled her back for a Masters in wild animal biology. When Liz returned to our tv screens it was as a science presenter; Tomorrow’s World, Bang Goes the Theory, Blue Planet Live.... She’s taken viewers from the Galapagos...to the Jurassic Coast and even Ar...
Mar 30, 2024•7 min
Broadcaster Lauren Laverne has, arguably, two of the best jobs in radio - 6 Music’s Breakfast Show and Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. Her career in entertainment began though as the lead singer and a guitarist in the band Kenickie and her love of performing and sharing music see's her takes Desert Island Discs to the London Palladium for a series of special live shows. As someone who encourages people to share the music that shaped their lives we were fascinated to hear her Inheritance Tracks. I...
Mar 23, 2024•7 min
Natalie Cassidy has grown up in front of the nation. She was only ten years old when she joined the cast of Eastenders. Over the last 30 years, her character - Sonia - has become one of the most popular residents of Albert Square, as she’s dealt with a teenage pregnancy, a cancer scare and bereavements. Natalie had to have music lessons when her character famously took up the trumpet on Eastenders, so let’s see if that has influenced her choices as she selects her Inheritance Tracks. Natalie is ...
Mar 16, 2024•7 min
Strictly Come Dancing's longest serving professional dancer Karen Hauer was born in Valencia, Venezula where she lived until the age of eight before moving with her family to the Bronx in New York. Dance allowed Karen to express herself and at the age of nine she won a scholarship to the Martha Graham School of Contempoary Dance. On the show she has danced with the likes of Will Young and Eddie Kadi. Music gives Karen inspiration for her dance routines and will be touring the UK with the 'Strict...
Mar 09, 2024•7 min
