Episodes

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David Morrissey, Omid Djalili And Bob Harris20140809David Morrissey, one of our most accomplished actors and star of Holding On, State Of Play, Red Riding, The Walking Dead, The Deal and The 7.39 joins John to talk about his forthcoming projects (including The Driver, which also stars Ian Hart, acting with David for the first time since their breakthrough performance in One Summer in 1983).

Acclaimed actor, writer and stand up Omid Djalili is about to publish his autobiography and appear at the Edinburgh Literary Festival.

Radio 2's very own Bob Harris will also be telling us about his perfect weekend.

David Morrissey talks about The Driver and Omid Djalili discusses his autobiography.

Liverpudlian comic John Bishop hosts guests and chat.

Des Bishop On China And Katie Derham On The Proms20140726In February 2013, American-born, Irish-bred Des Bishop went to China to try and learn enough Chinese to do stand-up comedy in Mandarin, to a Chinese audience. If that wasn't challenge enough, now he wants to make the world laugh about his experiences. Des will be telling John all about the Edinburgh show Made In China and his TV career in Ireland.

John's other guest Katie Derham will be guiding him through the Proms.

Katie is a presenter on BBC Radio 3's Afternoon on 3 and Breakfast programmes.

She also fronts the coverage of the Proms for BBC Two and Radio 3 following her move from ITN.

After reading Economics at Magdalene College, Cambridge, Katie started at the BBC as a researcher on Radio 4's Moneybox and Financial World Tonight. After stints on business programmes like Moneycheck on Five Live, Business Breakfast and Working Lunch, she became a reporter on Barry Norman's Film 96 and 97.

In 1998 she joined ITN as the Media and Arts Editor for ITV News and, at the age of 27, became the youngest newscaster on British national television since ITN's creation in 1955. For five years she covered showbiz events around the world and hosted the Classical Brit Awards four times. She then presented ITV Lunchtime News for six years before taking a leading role as an anchor in the coverage of elections, royal weddings and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

John will also be talking to musician David Gray about his Perfect Weekend and unveiling another Greatest Song Never Played.

Katie Derham offers a guide to the Proms and Des Bishop attempts stand-up in Mandarin.

Liverpudlian comic John Bishop hosts guests and chat.

Jason Byrne From Edinburgh And Kay Mellor In London20140802This week John welcomes Paul Young to talk us through his perfect weekend.

Kay Mellor, who's previous credits include Band Of Gold, Fat Friends, The Syndicate, A Passionate Woman and Playing The Field, will be talking about her new drama on pregnancy, imminent birth, love and the changing nature of relationships that a new baby brings to a modern family.

In The Club follows six very different couples who've bonded at the local Parent Craft class. The cast includes Hermione Norris, Tara Fitzgerald, Jill Halfpenny, Katherine Parkinson and Will Mellor.

To mark his nineteenth consecutive year at the Edinburgh Fringe, anarchic Stand-up Jason Byrne, returns to the city with You Name The Show.

Every January Jason is asked for the name of his Edinburgh show. So every January, half a year early, he has to think up a title. This year Jason is handing the power back to the people and is asking his audience to name his show for him.

Jason joins John down the line from our Edinburgh studios to tell him all about this concept and the You Name The Show Wheel, where the audience can also choose the order of sketches.

As part of the Guitar Season Radio 2 also wants to give everyone a chance to have a go at playing the guitar themselves. So Radio 2 have created 6 weekly lessons on the Radio 2 website - The Radio 2 Guitar Pick-Up. Comedian John Bishop will be learning to play along with the listeners and you can hear his third lesson on the show today.

Jason Byrne is breaking the rules in You Name The Show and Paul Young's perfect weekend.

Liverpudlian comic John Bishop hosts guests and chat.

Live From London - Nicholas Parsons And Mark Billingham20140719Live from London - the great Nicholas Parsons and number one bestselling author and former stand-up comedian Mark Billingham, who may just admit to basing some characters on John himself.

Ninety year old Nicholas is celebrating 14 years on Edinburgh's Pleasance Theatre stage, with his Happy Hour.

The host of Radio 4's Just a Minute is asking the pick of the Edinburgh festival to join him for fun, laughter and conversation. His sell-out comedy chat show always attracts a host of celebrity guests as well as new and exciting acts. Past guests have included Jason Byrne, Michael McIntyre, Sue Perkins, Shappi Khorsandi, Micky Flanagan, Russell Kane and John Bishop.

Live from London, with Nicholas Parsons and author and former stand-up Mark Billingham.

Liverpudlian comic John Bishop hosts guests and chat.

Ruby Wax And Jonathan Harvey Join John20140712For the next five weeks John Bishop will be hosting Saturday mornings.

Each week John will introduce the Greatest Record Never Played - a fantastic song, from a favourite band or artist, but rarely heard on the radio. For his first show he has chosen his own hidden gem from Don McLean.

In My Perfect Weekend a well known name will be telling us how they would spend their ideal, money's no object, Saturday and Sunday - where they would go, who they would take with them, what they would eat and what they might listen to and watch.

John's first guests are:

Ruby Wax, who tells John about her new one-woman show, which is heading for Edinburgh. It's based on her number 1 bestselling book Sane New World: Taming the Mind. Described as a manual on how to survive the 21st century, using the knowledge from her recent Masters Degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy at Oxford University, spiked with comedy.

Ruby will also be talking about highlights from her long and varied career to date.

Also this week, fellow Liverpudlian Jonathan Harvey, the multi-award-winning writer of the play and film Beautiful Thing, the creator and writer of the Bafta-nominated sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme, and Beautiful People. He is one of the main writers of Coronation Street, and his other TV work includes Rev, Shameless, At Home With The Braithwaites, Lilies, The Catherine Tate Show, Panto (starring one John Bishop) and Murder Most Horrid. He also wrote the 2001 stage musical Closer To Heaven with the Pet Shop Boys. Perhaps most significantly of all, he also won the Spacehopper Championships at Butlins Pwhelli in 1976.

He will be talking to John about his third novel The Girl Who Just Appeared and his plans for the summer.

~John Bishop talks to Ruby Wax and Jonathan Harvey and features a star's Perfect Weekend.

Liverpudlian comic John Bishop hosts guests and chat.