Will Carling OBE, England's youngest ever former English rugby union captain, and most successful and longest-serving captain aged 22. He won 72 caps from 1988 to 1996, captaining England 59 times. Under his captaincy, England won Five Nations Grand Slam in 1991, 1992 and 1995, and reached the 1991 World Cup final.

Carling began his British representative career for the England Schoolboys team in 1982, having played at Sedbergh, the same school that produced 1920s English great William Wakefield.   His captaincy coincided with England’s most successful run since the 1920s.

Despite his success as captain, he was briefly and famously stripped of his title after he described the Rugby Football Union executives as “57 old farts” in 1995.

Away from rugby football, Will has built a successful business founding businesses as well as writing several books about his life and playing career, including Will Carling: My Autobiography (1998). He also published The Way to Win: Strategies for Success in Business and Sport (1996; written with Robert Heller). In 1991 Carling was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and won the ITV Sports Personality of the Year in Britain.

Will Carling OBE, England's youngest ever former English rugby union captain, and most successful and longest-serving captain aged 22. He won 72 caps from 1988 to 1996, captaining England 59 times. Under his captaincy, England won Five Nations Grand Slam in 1991, 1992 and 1995, and reached the 1991 World Cup final.

Carling began his British representative career for the England Schoolboys team in 1982, having played at Sedbergh, the same school that produced 1920s English great William Wakefield.   His captaincy coincided with England’s most successful run since the 1920s.

Despite his success as captain, he was briefly and famously stripped of his title after he described the Rugby Football Union executives as “57 old farts” in 1995.

Away from rugby football, Will has built a successful business founding businesses as well as writing several books about his life and playing career, including Will Carling: My Autobiography (1998). He also published The Way to Win: Strategies for Success in Business and Sport (1996; written with Robert Heller). In 1991 Carling was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and won the ITV Sports Personality of the Year in Britain.

Legendary cricket broadcaster, Henry Blofeld, takes readers on a charming journey through modern cricket, while looking back at the great games of yesteryear.

Henry has been close to the heart of cricket for over fifty years.  He has seen the game grow into a hugely international sport, where franchises continue to have massive influence and more and more games are added to the world calendar.  It wasn't always this way and Blowers reflects on how cricket used to be and where it is headed.

In this new book he explores the big shifts, innovations and challenges facing the game today, while looking back at his life and career, recounting his cherished memories of his beloved sport.  With his signature wit and insight, he compared the cricketing landscape of today with the cherished memories of yesteryear.

Henry began writing about cricket, for The Times, in May 1962 and in 1972 he started his long career as a commentator with the BBC's Test Match Special. During his career he has written for numerous papers and broadcast for both radio and television for many networks around the world especially in Australia and New Zealand. Henry now tours the country with his one man show.

Production Company: Clive Conway Productions Ltd.

Widely respected as the voice of Test Match Special ‘Blowers’, Henry Blofeld brings his wit and wisdom to the stage once again.

Henry’s keen to stress though that it’s not all cricket, in fact, most of it isn’t and that every show is different. So, even if you’ve been before you can be sure that it’ll never be the same twice. “If you think you’re going to learn how to play a forward defensive, you’ll be sadly disappointed.”

Instead, the talk is based, in the loosest sense, on Henry’s life story, although there’s time for as many after-dinner anecdotes and meandering digressions as there is in a Test Match Special rain break.

The show itself is very tongue-in-cheek and Henry spends a lot of time poking fun at himself and subjects veer from intergalactic travel to horticulture to mountaineering. Audiences are always sure of an evening of great tales from this quintessential Englishman.

Production Company: Clive Conway Productions Ltd.

She rose to fame with BBC-2’s pioneering Late Night Line Up and was widely acclaimed for her excellent arts coverage as well as her campaigning stance on subjects like censorship, abortion, divorce, race and equality.

She is an English journalist, television presenter, an author and playwright and has received a Humanist of the Year award. awarded a Life peerage, by the Labour Party in 2011, is also president of Birkbeck, University of London.  It goes on….

With her enthusiasm for the Arts… she is Chairman of the theatre company Shared Experience, Patron for the Plaza Cinema Stockport and more recently Joan has been presenting the wonderful Portrait and Landscape of the Year on TV.  She is a true inspiration with a positive influence.

Joan is a long-time champion of women’s rights and was appointed ‘Voice of Older People’. She regularly appears on TV and radio (despite her 90 years), has made many documentaries, still writes for the national press and is an accomplished novelist.

Presented in association with Clive Conway Productions.

Legendary cricket broadcaster, Henry Blofeld, takes readers on a charming journey through modern cricket, while looking back at the great games of yesteryear.

Henry has been close to the heart of cricket for over fifty years.  He has seen the game grow into a hugely international sport, where franchises continue to have massive influence and more and more games are added to the world calendar.  It wasn't always this way and Blowers reflects on how cricket used to be and where it is headed.

In this new book he explores the big shifts, innovations and challenges facing the game today, while looking back at his life and career, recounting his cherished memories of his beloved sport.  With his signature wit and insight, he compared the cricketing landscape of today with the cherished memories of yesteryear.

Henry began writing about cricket, for The Times, in May 1962 and in 1972 he started his long career as a commentator with the BBC's Test Match Special. During his career he has written for numerous papers and broadcast for both radio and television for many networks around the world especially in Australia and New Zealand. Henry now tours the country with his one man show.

Production Company: Clive Conway Productions Ltd.

Prue Leith’s career has included her own restaurants, catering and cookery school businesses; she’s been a board director of companies such as British Rail, Halifax, Safeway, Whitbread, Woolworths, and Belmond (ex-Orient Express) Hotels.

She has published eight novels, a memoir, I’ll Do Anything Once (formerly, Relish) and 14 cookbooks. Her latest cookbook, Bliss on Toast, was published by Bloomsbury in 2022.

Prue is probably best known as a judge on the Great British Bake Off, but last year she also presented a gardening programme, Prue’s Great Garden Plot with her husband, and this year will judge the American equivalent of Bake Off. She has also been a judge on The Great British Menu and My Kitchen Rules.

Prue has had a deep involvement with education and the arts: she chaired the first of the companies charged with turning round failing state schools, and was Chair of the School Food Trust, responsible for the improvement of school food and food education. She started and led the campaign for contemporary sculpture to be exhibited on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. She has been active in many charities and is the Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She was an advisor for the Government’s Hospital Food Review.

Among her awards she has a DBE, 12 honorary degrees or fellowships from UK universities, the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the year, and her restaurant, Leith’s, won a Michelin star.

She is married with two children and five grandchildren.

Not bad for an octogenarian!

Prue Leith’s career has included her own restaurants, catering and cookery school businesses; she’s been a board director of companies such as British Rail, Halifax, Safeway, Whitbread, Woolworths, and Belmond (ex-Orient Express) Hotels.

She has published eight novels, a memoir, I’ll Do Anything Once (formerly, Relish) and 14 cookbooks. Her latest cookbook, Bliss on Toast, was published by Bloomsbury in 2022.

Prue is probably best known as a judge on the Great British Bake Off, but last year she also presented a gardening programme, Prue’s Great Garden Plot with her husband, and this year will judge the American equivalent of Bake Off. She has also been a judge on The Great British Menu and My Kitchen Rules.

Prue has had a deep involvement with education and the arts: she chaired the first of the companies charged with turning round failing state schools, and was Chair of the School Food Trust, responsible for the improvement of school food and food education. She started and led the campaign for contemporary sculpture to be exhibited on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. She has been active in many charities and is the Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She was an advisor for the Government’s Hospital Food Review.

Among her awards she has a DBE, 12 honorary degrees or fellowships from UK universities, the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the year, and her restaurant, Leith’s, won a Michelin star.

She is married with two children and five grandchildren.

Not bad for an octogenarian!

Prue Leith’s career has included her own restaurants, catering and cookery school businesses; she’s been a board director of companies such as British Rail, Halifax, Safeway, Whitbread, Woolworths, and Belmond (ex-Orient Express) Hotels.

She has published eight novels, a memoir, I’ll Do Anything Once (formerly, Relish) and 14 cookbooks. Her latest cookbook, Bliss on Toast, was published by Bloomsbury in 2022.

Prue is probably best known as a judge on the Great British Bake Off, but last year she also presented a gardening programme, Prue’s Great Garden Plot with her husband, and this year will judge the American equivalent of Bake Off. She has also been a judge on The Great British Menu and My Kitchen Rules.

Prue has had a deep involvement with education and the arts: she chaired the first of the companies charged with turning round failing state schools, and was Chair of the School Food Trust, responsible for the improvement of school food and food education. She started and led the campaign for contemporary sculpture to be exhibited on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. She has been active in many charities and is the Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She was an advisor for the Government’s Hospital Food Review.

Among her awards she has a DBE, 12 honorary degrees or fellowships from UK universities, the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the year, and her restaurant, Leith’s, won a Michelin star.

She is married with two children and five grandchildren.

Not bad for an octogenarian!

Legendary cricket broadcaster, Henry Blofeld, takes readers on a charming journey through modern cricket, while looking back at the great games of yesteryear.

Henry has been close to the heart of cricket for over fifty years.  He has seen the game grow into a hugely international sport, where franchises continue to have massive influence and more and more games are added to the world calendar.  It wasn't always this way and Blowers reflects on how cricket used to be and where it is headed.

In this new book he explores the big shifts, innovations and challenges facing the game today, while looking back at his life and career, recounting his cherished memories of his beloved sport.  With his signature wit and insight, he compared the cricketing landscape of today with the cherished memories of yesteryear.

Henry began writing about cricket, for The Times, in May 1962 and in 1972 he started his long career as a commentator with the BBC's Test Match Special. During his career he has written for numerous papers and broadcast for both radio and television for many networks around the world especially in Australia and New Zealand. Henry now tours the country with his one man show.

Production Company: Clive Conway Productions Ltd.

Prue Leith’s career has included her own restaurants, catering and cookery school businesses; she’s been a board director of companies such as British Rail, Halifax, Safeway, Whitbread, Woolworths, and Belmond (ex-Orient Express) Hotels.

She has published eight novels, a memoir, I’ll Do Anything Once (formerly, Relish) and 14 cookbooks. Her latest cookbook, Bliss on Toast, was published by Bloomsbury in 2022.

Prue is probably best known as a judge on the Great British Bake Off, but last year she also presented a gardening programme, Prue’s Great Garden Plot with her husband, and this year will judge the American equivalent of Bake Off. She has also been a judge on The Great British Menu and My Kitchen Rules.

Prue has had a deep involvement with education and the arts: she chaired the first of the companies charged with turning round failing state schools, and was Chair of the School Food Trust, responsible for the improvement of school food and food education. She started and led the campaign for contemporary sculpture to be exhibited on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. She has been active in many charities and is the Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She was an advisor for the Government’s Hospital Food Review.

Among her awards she has a DBE, 12 honorary degrees or fellowships from UK universities, the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the year, and her restaurant, Leith’s, won a Michelin star.

She is married with two children and five grandchildren.

Not bad for an octogenarian!

Prue Leith’s career has included her own restaurants, catering and cookery school businesses; she’s been a board director of companies such as British Rail, Halifax, Safeway, Whitbread, Woolworths, and Belmond (ex-Orient Express) Hotels.

She has published eight novels, a memoir, I’ll Do Anything Once (formerly, Relish) and 14 cookbooks. Her latest cookbook, Bliss on Toast, was published by Bloomsbury in 2022.

Prue is probably best known as a judge on the Great British Bake Off, but last year she also presented a gardening programme, Prue’s Great Garden Plot with her husband, and this year will judge the American equivalent of Bake Off. She has also been a judge on The Great British Menu and My Kitchen Rules.

Prue has had a deep involvement with education and the arts: she chaired the first of the companies charged with turning round failing state schools, and was Chair of the School Food Trust, responsible for the improvement of school food and food education. She started and led the campaign for contemporary sculpture to be exhibited on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. She has been active in many charities and is the Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She was an advisor for the Government’s Hospital Food Review.

Among her awards she has a DBE, 12 honorary degrees or fellowships from UK universities, the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the year, and her restaurant, Leith’s, won a Michelin star.

She is married with two children and five grandchildren.

Not bad for an octogenarian!

Prue Leith’s career has included her own restaurants, catering and cookery school businesses; she’s been a board director of companies such as British Rail, Halifax, Safeway, Whitbread, Woolworths, and Belmond (ex-Orient Express) Hotels.

She has published eight novels, a memoir, I’ll Do Anything Once (formerly, Relish) and 14 cookbooks. Her latest cookbook, Bliss on Toast, was published by Bloomsbury in 2022.

Prue is probably best known as a judge on the Great British Bake Off, but last year she also presented a gardening programme, Prue’s Great Garden Plot with her husband, and this year will judge the American equivalent of Bake Off. She has also been a judge on The Great British Menu and My Kitchen Rules.

Prue has had a deep involvement with education and the arts: she chaired the first of the companies charged with turning round failing state schools, and was Chair of the School Food Trust, responsible for the improvement of school food and food education. She started and led the campaign for contemporary sculpture to be exhibited on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. She has been active in many charities and is the Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She was an advisor for the Government’s Hospital Food Review.

Among her awards she has a DBE, 12 honorary degrees or fellowships from UK universities, the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the year, and her restaurant, Leith’s, won a Michelin star.

She is married with two children and five grandchildren.

Not bad for an octogenarian!

John Sergeant the former Chief Political Correspondent for the BBC and ITN Political Editor.

Many people will remember John as one of Britain's most popular and respected broadcasters and authors. His award-winning career as a political journalist has been as lengthy as it has been successful and seen him interview big political hitters like Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair.

In recent years though John has returned to his first love of light entertainment and can be seen regularly on programmes like The One Show, Have I Got News For You, QI, Room 101 and the News Quiz, and of course there were those appearances on Strictly……Indeed Sergeant’s two left feet approach to the arts of the ballroom consistently found him at the  bottom of the judges score board but the public loved him an d he retrained week after week. He finally left the show in Week 10 saying: "The trouble is that there is now a real danger that I might win the competition. Even for me that would be a joke too far.”

More recently there have been well received documentaries as well including John Sergeant's Tourist Trail, Tracks of Empire - about the Indian Railways, and Britain's First Photo Album about the pioneering photography of Francis Frith.

Presented in association with Clive Conway Productions.

Sian Phillips will be discussing her life and astonishingly wide ranging career with her friend director Richard Digby-Day in a series of public conversations. These cover everything from a childhood in deepest Wales to a triumph on Broadway, from her marriage to Peter O’Toole, its ending and her subsequent career as a leading light of stage and television. This is an evening both moving and amusing, a frank looking back at an amazing life.

One of the best-loved and most versatile opera stars of the last 40 years, Sir Willard White's illustrious career has taken him to the most prestigious opera houses and concert halls throughout the world.

Now audiences have the opportunity to share an evening with Sir Willard as he reminisces about his life on stage & screen and sings some of the songs that have been important to him from the Nat King Cole of his youth in Jamaica, through the first truly complete recording of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in 1976 to the songs that made the Bass-Baritone singer Paul Robeson famous in the 1920s and ‘30s.

Sir Willard will be accompanied by the Kymaera guitar duo comprising Shane Hill and Simon James who have been performing together for over twenty years. Highlights of the partnership which features guitarists Shane Hill and Simon James have included appearing with the classical vocal legend Maria Ewing as well as the late UK jazz vocal legend Frank Holder.

Bob Flowerdew is one of Britain's leading organic gardeners, and a television and radio presenter. He is a regular panel member of BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time.

The son of a farmer, his family have been working the land in East Anglia since Elizabethan times. Flowerdew runs a consultancy landscape service, is President of the Norfolk group of the Soil Association, and also teaches at agricultural college. He has written books on gardening including "Going Organic: The Good Gardener's Guide to Getting It Right".

Presented in association with Clive Conway Productions