Pottering with Tom Allen

Welcome back to the garden, where we are kicking off 2026 properly with the gloriously funny Gabby Best. A brilliantly talented actor and a very good friend of mine, you may know Gabby as Alan Carr’s neighbour in the wonderfully funny Changing Ends. Series 2 is available now on ITV and ITVX so do please take a look. We chat holiday tomatoes, norovirus with Noel Edmonds, and the audience crossover between air fryers and mindfulness. Gabby even treats us to a cheeky bounce on the trampoline and kindly helps me pull up some potatoes! Don't forget, you can also watch the podcast on Youtube - just search for @tomallen. So, pop on that tanning oil, grab the gardening gloves and please join us for another episode of Pottering. Now, if you will excuse me, I am off for a small lie down in the wardrobe.

Hello, and a very happy New Year to you. It is New Year’s Day, which feels like the perfect moment for a little post Christmas pottering, a calming walk, a satisfying sort of the recycling, or a nice cup of tea in the garden. Perhaps, like Kerry Godliman, you are lucky enough to have a potting shed, the perfect place to unwind, away from the chaos of Christmas, and maybe settle in with an episode of your favourite podcast. I cannot wait to bring you lots more fantastic guests over the coming weeks and months. We have the super Giovanna Fletcher, who is by all rights a rather brilliant gardener herself, the magnificent Gabby Best, who was an absolute joy to chat to, the hilarious Amy Gledhill, and plenty more that I am very much looking forward to welcoming into the garden. I do hope you can join us. Don't forget you can watch Pottering on Youtube. Just search @tomallen.  

Oh well, a very merry Christmas to you, my dear friends. Thank you so much for listening to Pottering this year. It has been an absolute delight to spend time in the garden with such a glorious parade of guests, and I am simply thrilled that you have been enjoying it too. By now, Fay Ripley will almost certainly be elbow deep in the preparation of a truly spectacular feast, Lee Peart has very likely treated himself to a martini, possibly two, and James Acaster’s cats, one imagines, will have been indulged in a festive turkey nibble of some description. Frankly, as it should be. Whatever you are up to today, I hope it brings you joy and comfort, and that amongst all of the goings on, you are able to carve out a little time for some Pottering of your own. Thank you for being such lovely company this year, and have a very happy Christmas. Don't forget you can watch Pottering on Youtube! Why not revisit some favourites with a box of Quality Street and a glass of something. Just search @tomallen.  

It was my absolute pleasure to welcome the ever so charming Harry Hadden Paton into the garden this week for another episode of Pottering. A superb actor, Harry is perhaps best known for his turn as Bertie in Downton Abbey and as Martin Charteris in The Crown, both of which would make wonderfully classy Christmas viewing. Harry also appears in the brand new film Downton Abbey The Grand Finale, available to watch now and perfect for popping on straight after the King’s Speech. We chatted about working with the incomparable Dame Maggie Smith, the sheer joy of Broadway and Harry’s proper countryside credentials, which include pigs and a nuclear bunker! Did you know you can also watch the podcast on Youtube? Just search for @tomallen.   So pour yourself a vintage port, grab a handful of Doc Martin's fudge and tune the wireless to another episode of Pottering.

The utterly fabulous national treasure that is Natalie Cassidy popped into my garden for a spot of Pottering this week. EastEnders legend, cultural icon, podcaster and noted trumpet aficionado, she was, as you would expect, an absolute delight from start to finish! Her joyous new book Happy Days is out now which, may I say, would make a marvellous Christmas present. We chat Ronnie Corbett on Strictly Come Dancing, the incomparable taste of homegrown tomatoes and the many joys of hun culture. Things also took a decidedly festive turn which I did not mind one bit! Did you know you can also watch the podcast on Youtube? Just search for @tomallen.   So pop on those wellies, pour yourself an eggnog and join us for another episode of Pottering.