Jan Ravens: “I lived with a nameless dread”
Jan Ravens, the acclaimed impressionist at the heart of Dead Ringers, grew up learning to change the mood of a room long before she ever changed her voice on stage. In this conversation with James O B...
5 Dec 20251h 2min
Hal Cruttenden: Divorce blew my mind- it hits harder than losing parents
Before he became one of the most recognisable storytellers on the comedy circuit, Hal Cruttenden was a shy kid from West London who spent years trying to be what he thought others wanted him to be. He...
28 Nov 20251h 4min
Stephen Mangan: When Mum died, I knew I couldn’t waste life being a lawyer- I had to act
Before he became one of Britain’s most familiar faces, Stephen Mangan was a bookish North London boy from an Irish working-class family- the son of a builder and a barmaid- who won a scholarship to a ...
21 Nov 20251h
Toby Jones: I never wanted to feel desperate about acting
From Truman Capote to Mr Bates, Toby Jones has built a career on disappearing- an actor whose transformations are so complete they can seem alchemical. But behind that versatility lies a story of inhe...
14 Nov 20251h 4min
Jimmy Wales: The man who built Wikipedia
Long before it became one of the most visited websites on Earth, Wikipedia began as a radical idea from a curious boy in Huntsville, Alabama. Raised by a father who managed a grocery store and a mothe...
31 Okt 20251h 5min
Charles Dance: From builder’s labourer with a stammer to Tywin Lannister
Before he was Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones or the commanding presence of The Jewel in the Crown, Charles Dance was a boy from Worcestershire whose father died when he was three and whose mother ...
24 Okt 202558min
Alexander Armstrong: My default setting is fear- I expect the worst of people
Before Pointless, Classic FM and comedy stardom, Alexander Armstrong was a restless kid growing up in rural Northumberland- lonely at boarding school, obsessed with music, and quietly desperate to per...
17 Okt 202553min
