White Wine Question Time

Steve Backshall is a BAFTA winning nature presenter famous for bringing wildlife and adventure to life for audiences of all ages. His infectious enthusiasm and a fearless approach to exploration, has inspired millions to take an interest in the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it.

Born in 1973 in Bagshot, Surrey, he grew up exploring the world outside his front door, developing a fascination with ponds, woodlands, and local habitats which would eventually lead to a Masters degree in bioscience and some much bigger adventures.

His route into television wasn’t straightforward – in the late 90s – after a period backpacking around the world he bought a video camera and decided to film himself trekking the jungles of Columbia – he sold the tapes to the National Geographic Channel who made him their ‘Adventurer in Residence’

A move to the BBC followed with spells on the Really Wild Show and Springwatch – but in 2008 we got our first glimpse of Deadly 60 – the show which saw Steve swim with great white sharks, catch king cobra, black mamba and lancehead snakes, have a redback spider crawl across his hand and was get bitten on the leg by a caiman while searching for anaconda in an Argentine swamp. The show was a huge success – and at its peak was broadcast in 157 countries and now tours arenas as a live show.

Beyond television, Steve is an accomplished adventurer, author, and conservationist. He has led and taken part in numerous extreme expeditions, including pioneering kayak journeys and jungle crossings, often using these challenges to raise awareness of environmental issues, inspiring curiosity, courage, and care for the natural world.

Enjoy
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As we celebrated International Women's Day earlier in the month we've been looking back at inspirational woman who've appeared on the podcast over the past seven years.

Today it's the triple threat of Hannah Waddingham.

It's a fabulous conversation from 2024 as she started filming for series 3 of Ted Lasso, on the eve of Emmy recognition.

Listen, be inspired, and enjoy.

Cheers.
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Richard Herring became half of a decade-defining comedy act with Stewart Lee – thanks to a chance meeting in an Oxford cricket pavilion which was the genesis of a 13-year creative partnership which included the cult classic Fist of Fun and the legendary Edinburgh Fringe show ‘This Morning with Richard not Judy’

Another important pairing came along in 2008 when he teamed up with the NME journalist and then 6Music presenter Andrew Collins for a new show – but not on the radio or the television – to the dismay of many of their peers they would chat for an hour or so giving away material for free on a ‘podcast’.

It’s a genre that Richard had helped define. From his decision to host his shows in front of paying audiences (long before podcasts were profitable!) Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast – of RHLSTP to those in the know recently put out its 600th episode, that’s in addition to the multiple spin-offs which help contribute to over a million downloads per month.

As a comedian he’s been described as “One of the leading hidden masters of modern British comedy” – that’s despite deciding in the early 90s that he wasn’t very good at solo stand-up. In fact he describes his first attempts as “largely humiliating and unsatisfying.” A decade on from his early set-backs he toured shows like Talking Cock, Hitler Moustache, Someone Likes Yoghurt and Talking Cock: The Second Coming. In his show The Headmaster’s Son he focussed on life as the son of the Headmaster – dedicated to his Dad – very much his origin story as a comedian.

Like many in comedy lockdown forced all of his content online – but Richard suffered a second setback when in 2021 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

He wrote about it in his typically dark-humoured book ‘Can I Have My Ball Back?’, where he explored how his diagnosis and subsequent treatment forced him to reflect on his own mortality and masculinity.

With almost 500 episodes of White Wine Question Time, and 600 episode of Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast I wonder if this might be the most ‘capped’ interview on the internet?

Cheers!
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To celebrate International Women's Day we've dug deep in our archive to find some truly inspirational women.

Bonnie Langford has been treading the boards and entertaining us since before she was a teenager. Her career is as extraordinary as it is long and she has the anecdotes and stories worthy of someone who's been in as many legendary shows as she has.

In this chat we chart the ups and downs, the successes and the 'lessons' from 50 years in show-business.

We'll be back with a new episode on Thursday and for the first time a BONUS episode on Saturday. We'll tell you more about that on the next podcast.

Until then, cheers!
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On this week's episode we're chatting to one of the most instantly recognisable voices in British comedy. Lucy Beaumont was raised by her mother – the playwright Gill Adams in Hull, she went to school and University in the city and got her first acting jobs at the Hull Truck Theatre. Her comedy breakthrough was almost accidental – her first stand-up gigs were an attempt to conquer her stage fright – she entered the ‘So You Think You’re Funny’ Competition and went on to reach the final.

Even after she left Hull – the city features heavily in her work – she made three series of the radio sitcom To Hull & Back, and co-wrote the Channel 4 comedy ‘Hullraisers’

She’s become a regular on our screens on comedy shows like Live at the Apollo, Would I Lie to You? QI, Taskmaster, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and the Bafta-nominated mockumentary ‘Meet the Richardson’s’ - an exaggerated version of her marriage to Jon Richardson.

Last year millions watched Lucy get murdered in a Scottish Castle on Celebrity Traitors and she’s currently appearing alongside Johnny Vegas, Lesley Joseph, Shobna Gulati and a cameo from Sir Tom Courtenay in a sell-out 40th Anniversary revival of Jim Cartwright’s play ‘Road’ about 80s life in a Northern Town which has received rave reviews.

Her next stand-up tour ‘Bad at Quiz Shows, Good with Weirdos’ will be her biggest yet – and it’s fair to say that right now she’s at the top of her game. Her material has always been autobiographical – she’s shared her stories of Hull, motherhood, and marriage – so I’m looking forward to finding out what this next chapter holds…
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