Episodes
Last Sunday, 18th January, was Winnie-the-Pooh Day. It was the birthday of its creator, the author A A Milne. And Winnie-the-Pooh, his most famous book, was first published 100 years ago, in January 1926. Pooh became one of the most beloved children's book of all time, selling millions of copies around the world, and making the Milne family extremely wealthy - but not entirely happy. In this episode, Gyles tells the story of Pooh, A.A. Milne, Christopher Robin, and of the complex and sometimes sad reality behind the stories. As you may know, Gyles published a brilliant book all about A. A. ...
David Baddiel joins Gyles this week to tell his unconventional family story. David paints a vivid picture of his childhood home in Dollis Hill, north-west London, and of the unusual people in it: his parents, and two brothers. His father, a frustrated scientist who ended up selling Dinky cars in an antiques market, was angry, disappointed, and hilarious. His mother was aspirational, cultured, with an extremely high sex drive. (This episode contains discussions of sex and relationships, and swear words, and is for 18+ listeners only). Their story is remarkable, sometimes funny, sometimes sho...
Another entertaining edition of Gyles's diaries for you, from 1972, in which: Gyles is upstaged by a man playing the spoons in Dorset, complains about some poor service in a restaurant, and has an upsetting encounter with Sir Michael Redgrave. We're joined by Michèle, Gyles's wife. Enjoy this! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dominic West, one of the talented British actors who has had success both at home and in Hollywood, is our guest today. His breakout role was in the cult U.S. gritty crime drama The Wire, in which he played the detective, Jimmy McNulty, so convincingly that many American viewers were shocked to find out he was a Brit. In this conversation, Dominic tells Gyles about his Yorkshire childhood: he is one of seven children and grew up on the moors just outside Sheffield. He reminisces about his parents, the brilliant way they coped with the logistics of having such a big family, and their talents...
It's More Rosebud, and this episode is a conversation that took place at the Henley Literary Festival in 2025 between Gyles and Dame Joanna Lumley, about her Book of Treasures, which had then just been published. This conversation is about poetry, books and quotations that inspire Joanna. It's also about her childhood, and how moving about a lot made her curious, and optimistic. It's about Leonardo Di Caprio, Dame Patricia Routledge, Frank Sinatra and Sir John Betjeman. It's about the lowest point in Joanna's life, and about a moment of joy. Enjoy this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...
We're starting 2026 with a remarkable person: an actress who is 100 years old, and still a bundle of enthusiasm, vibrancy and joy. It's Thelma Ruby, born in March 1925, and acting since the 1940s. In this episode she tells Gyles about her long and fascinating life: about her childhood in Leeds, in a religious Jewish family, where they couldn't poke the fire on the sabbath. About her formative years in New York City, where she was sent with her mother and brother to escape the bombing in WW2. About her return to England and work for ENSA, and her first love affair. About performing with Orso...
It's time for the very last Rosebud of 2025, and we're leaving you with another warm, wonderful and witty edition of Gyles's diaries. In this episode, Gyles starts off by tellling us about his recent encounter with Sir Mick Jagger, who was a special guest for Gyles at the show he put on with Dame Judi Dench in the West End at the end of 2025. Gyles's diaries, which in this episode are from 1972, tell of the publication of his first book, "Created in Captivity", and his fated attempt to stage a son et lumière in Leeds. Gyles, Michele and Harriet also talk about disappointments, cats, and the...
If you're British, the chances are that last Christmas you watched the Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special. And Gyles's guest this Boxing Day is one of its stars: Mathew Horne, also known as the kind-hearted, loyal everyman, Gavin. In this episode, Mathew tells Gyles about his country childhood, about his loving and hard-working parents and their devotion to caring for him and his older brother. He talks about his schooldays, and the intense relationship he had with his girlfriend there. He talks about getting into stand-up at Manchester University and the phenomenon of Gavin and Stacey.We w...
We have another Christmas treat for you today - an interview with the prodigious musical talent that is Anna Lapwood. Anna is the official organist of the Royal Albert Hall in London, a successful recording artiste and a social media star with millions of followers. A multi-instrumentalist, she was the youngest ever person to be appointed Director of Music at a Cambridge college (and we will hear a bit of Pembroke College chapel choir singing in this episode). In this conversation with Gyles, she tells him about her childhood growing up in a close family in which her parents inspired her wi...
We have an atmospheric Christmas treat for you this Sunday afternoon: it's Gyles reading 'Murder at the Palace', an original murder mystery story, set in Victorian England, with Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle in the role of detectives. Pour yourself a cup of tea and settle down by the fire and be transported back to a time of pea-soupers, lavish dinner parties, and people who are not what they seem. This is a taste of what we will be offering members of the Rosebud Family every two weeks - when Gyles will read instalments of his murder mysteries exclusively for subscribers. Also availab...
Today we get to meet and know an author who is synonymous with Christmas - Charles Dickens - brought to life in this episode by his great-great grandson, Gerald Dickens. Yes, that's right - you're going to hear an interview with one of our greatest ever writers, who has been dead for over 150 years. Only on Rosebud.In this fascinating conversation, Dickens tells Gyles about his childhood, growing up in the towns and villages of the Thames estuary in Kent, and how his father's debts led him to be imprisoned in the Marshalsea. The young Charles suddenly found himself put to work, a formative ...
It's time for another entertaining chapter of Gyles's diaries, this time from the end of 1971 and beginning of 1972, with Gyles's wife Michele as our special guest. We hear about liquid lunches, see-through blouses, and humane ways to catch mouses. We find out who's won the Magic Faraway Tree Tea competition and hear more about the Rosebud Family - our new subscribers' club. We hear about Gyles's diary-writing regimen and his bedtime routine. Enjoy this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A man who needs no introduction: comedian, writer and TV host Jimmy Carr. In this conversation we find out what makes Jimmy tick and hear about his origin story: he tells Gyles about his childhood in Slough, and his close relationship with his charismatic mother. We hear about his dyslexia, and how teachers at school encouraged him to apply to Cambridge. We hear about what, if anything, is off-limits in comedy, and the importance of being present for your children. Gyles and Jimmy also discuss the distinction between charm and charisma. Plus we hear about Jimmy's new movie, Fackham Hall, ou...
On this episode of More Rosebud we meet the celebrated biographer and journalist Roger Lewis, "a bundle of nerves and rage and disappointment". Roger is the author of several acclaimed biographies, including Erotic Vagrancy, about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, and The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. In this extremely funny and fascinating episode, Roger tells Gyles about his childhood in South Wales: he was the precocious eldest son of an affluent family of butchers and farmers. He talks about his university days, how he studied under John Bayley, and how he became a writer. Woven t...
If you're a fan of pop music, radio, or the legendary "Sounds of the 60s" show, then you'll know and love our guest today: Tony Blackburn. And Tony is part of broadcasting - and music - history: he was the first ever disc jockey on air on BBC Radio One in September 1967. We hear about this, and about how Tony and others - including Kenny Everett - helped to create the new figure of the DJ in the UK and to completely change the cultural landscape. Suddenly young people could hear the music they loved, all day long, on the radio. Tony talks about all this, and also tells Gyles about his child...
In this episode, we join Gyles on a research trip to the sex shops and shows of Copenhagen with Lord Longford, other members of the Pornography Commission, and assorted members of the press. Because of that, this episode of Rosebud does contain some sexual content. We also hear about a dinner party at Fanny Craddock's, one of Michael Redgrave's final performances, and Michele's fears about her vichyssoise soup. Plus we read a poem from a Rosebud listener. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Matthew Syed - table tennis Olympian, writer, broadcaster, thinker and Rosebud fan - is our guest today. And this is a genuinely fascinating, and inspiring, conversation. Matthew tells Gyles about his unconventional and wonderful family: his charismatic father, his hardworking and loving mum, his brother and sister and his best friend, Mark. He talks about his Pakistani father's experience of racism at work, he talks about how he and his brother got into table tennis, and how the unique ecosystem in their part of Reading - guided by the teacher, mentor and coach, Peter Charters - created a ...
Our guest today is the broadcaster Angela Rippon, who looks back at her childhood and her career of over 60 years in newspapers, television and radio. From her close-knit family in Plymouth, with a doting father and a hardworking mother, Angela was instilled with the values that have led her to have a career of impressive longevity. She tells Gyles about her father's interesting war, about his present to her of a Box Brownie camera which would later inspire her to become a photo-journalist, and about her close friends from school. She talks about her first job on the local papers in Plymout...
Gyles talks to the writer, psychotherapist and agony aunt Philippa Perry. And this is a fascinating conversation about family dynamics, the salience of childhood experience, and how small adjustments in the way we speak to children can make a big difference to their self-esteem. It's also about how Philippa's own emotionally cold childhood - via Swiss finishing school and private detective work - led her to become one of the UK's best selling writers on psychotherapy. Her books "The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read" and "The Book You Want Everyone You Love to Read" have sold millions of ...
It's diary time, diary fans - yippee! In this episode, Gyles gets invited onto Lord Longford's famous committee to investigate pornography, and sex, on film and television. Gyles is there to represent the voice of youth, along with Cliff Richard. Plus Gyles carries on with his "son et lumière" production company, hangs out with Cyril Fletcher, and his parents move into a hotel. Plus an email and a fun case of mistaken identity. Enjoy this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Lee Mack is one of the funniest and most successful British comedians working today; and if you're a fan of Would I Lie To You? then you'll no doubt know, and love, his work. In this fascinating and in-depth conversation we find out the roots of Lee's talent for making people laugh. He tells Gyles about his childhood, growing up above pubs in the North West, in a family atmosphere that was full of parties, jokes and fun, and never touched on anything serious. That changed when his parents suddenly separated, and Lee started a new school and found that the best way to fit in was to be the cl...
On Armistice Day, we bring you an episode of Rosebud which opens at the Garden of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey, where Gyles meets veteran and double amputee turned skydiver Al Hodgson. We then take you to Salisbury, and an interview with Sir Nicholas Soames, himself a former soldier who later became a longstanding Conservative member of parliament, recorded live at Godolphin School in aid of the Edward Heath Charitable Foundation. Sir Nicholas talks to Gyles about his remarkable family: his grandfather was Sir Winston Churchill. We hear what Churchill was like as a grandfather and famil...
Petula Clark has been famous since she was a child, when she was discovered on a wartime BBC radio show, and she has been on the radio, film and television ever since. In this episode she talks to Gyles about her remarkable and long career, about what it was like to grow up as a child star and about her complex relationship with her father. She talks about finding fame in France, and about Downtown, Don't Sleep in the Subway and working with Fred Astaire. She talks about her mother's early death from tuberculosis, and the death last year of her husband, Claude Wolff. This is a fascinating, ...
Another great episode of diaries for you, featuring another special appearance from Michèle, Gyles's wife. In this episode we discuss whether you can have too much of a good thing, we find out what one word we'd each use to describe one another, and we read a listener email from Claire Gammon in Sydney. Gyles's diaries are from the second half of 1970, in which he and Michèle rent their first flat, in Muswell Hill, north London. Gyles meets lots of people from the BBC and, at the end of the year, Gyles and Michèle go on a memorable trip to Israel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...
The actor Samuel West is our guest today, and we recorded this episode earlier this month, not long before his mother, Prunella Scales's death on 27 October, and not long after his father, Timothy West's memorial service in London (Timothy West died in November 2024). In this conversation, Sam talks about his parents, Timothy West and Prunella Scales, and what it was like to grow up immersed in the theatrical world. Timothy was often away on tour, and Sam talks about missing him - but being inspired by his work ethic and by the life of the classical touring actor. He talks about his mother'...
Gyles speaks to the novelist and writer Sebastian Faulks, who tells him about his childhood growing up in Berkshire and his clear memories of being left at boarding school when he was seven. He talks about his rebellious streak, drawn out by rock and pop music, which manifested itself in periods of instability at school and university. He talks about the close friends he made at Cambridge, and going on University Challenge. He talks about writing his first novel and how he had his breakout moment. Sebastian's new book, a collection of autobiographical essays called 'Fires Which Burned Brigh...
This week's guest is Charles Spencer: the writer, broadcaster, and heir to the Spencer family title and estate at Althorp, where his sister, Diana, is buried. In this unmissable conversation, Charles talks to Gyles about his childhood, the breakdown of his parents' marriage, and his mother's sudden and shocking departure from the family home. He talks about his three sisters, and his close relationship with Diana. He talks about his schooldays, and in particular his harrowing experience at Maidwell Hall prep school - this episode does include Charles's account of the corporal punishment tha...
A momentous time for the young GDB in this week's diaries, as he prepares to take his finals and to leave Oxford. The three years have flown by, as they do for all undergraduates - but Gyles has packed more in than most. And, despite the fact he's in the middle of his exams, he continues to do so this term. No sooner has the ink dried on his last history exam paper, he's off up to London to get his hair cut and appear as a talking head in a BBC election broadcast. All this, plus some vintage, and slightly hysterical, Gyles and Harriet chat. Enjoy this. You can find Rosebud on Instagram @the...
Sir David Hare is one of the UK's most prolific and successful playwrights, and in this episode he talks to Gyles first about theatre, about great actors, and about the sensitivity necessary to writing drama; he also talks about his unusual childhood - his father was in the merchant navy and was rarely at home, his mother was resourceful and talented but also fearful and anxious. He talks about the teachers who helped inspire him to read and broaden his horizons. He talks about his relationship with the fashion designer Nicole Farhi, and about his new play Grace Pervades, which is about the...
In this long-awaited episode, Gyles (and Harriet) talk to the psychotherapist, writer and broadcaster Julia Samuel about bereavement. As regular Rosebud listeners will know, bereavement - whether in childhood or adulthood - is a recurring theme on the podcast, and we have received and shared many heartfelt and deeply moving emails from listeners who lost parents and family members when they were very young, and in difficult circumstances. We also know that we're listened to by lots of recent widows, and others who are grieving. This special episode is for you, and for anyone else who knows ...