Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth

On Hayley Mills's 80th birthday weekend, Gyles speaks to the legendary actress and her sister, Juliet Mills, about their remarkable lives and careers. They talk about their parents, Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell. They talk about their famous godparents, who included Vivien Leigh and Noel Coward. They talk about their first acting jobs - Juliet on stage, and Hayley in Tiger Bay. They talk about taking a Pekingese to a meeting with Walt Disney and about losing Oscars. There are moments of great insight and wisdom - it's worth listening for Juliet's philosophy of a happy marriage, and for Hayley's life lessons. This is a very special, star-studded, and very touching episode of Rosebud, and we're honoured to bring it to you.

Happy birthday Hayley Mills!

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Gyles continues to have success, failure and everything in between with the Oxford Theatre Festival... and even gets to open some plays in the West End. We hear from a listener in a far-flung location, and we chat about the upsides and downsides of going out without your underwear on. All human life is here! It's Gyles's diaries. Enjoy this.

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In this episode, Gyles is charmed and fascinated by Amol Rajan, the podcaster, broadcaster and host of Radical and Radio 4's Today programme. Amol tells Gyles about his family background - his parents moved to the UK from India when he was three years old. He talks about his father's insatiable love of English literature, his mother's brilliant cooking, and his own love of cricket. He talks about decline and opportunity, and why he has chosen to leave Radio 4. And finally, Amol and Gyles discuss bereavement, grief and Hamlet.

Amol Rajan's podcast Radical is available to download here.

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Yes, diary fans, it's a big one, because this episode describes some of the most stressful months of Gyles's life. It's spring 1974, and he's desperately trying to put together a stellar line-up of plays and stars for his Oxford Theatre Festival, but all around him are obstacles. Trying to raise the money is challenging. Trying to find a play Celia Johnson will agree to is a struggle. And trying to get Rita Tushingham to make a firm commitment is almost impossible. Buckle up for an episode which will make you realise your day job is a walk in the park!

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This week's guest is the utterly wonderful Monty Don, and this is one of our warmest, richest, most delightful and most touching episodes yet - full of insight, wisdom, stories, laughter and - of course some tears. This is Rosebud, after all.

Monty tells Gyles about his childhood, which was partly idyllic, but partly overshadowed by the presence of his rather frightening father, a former Army heavyweight boxing champion suffering from PTSD. Monty talks about his unhappy time at boarding school, and his treatment for cancer when he was only ten. He tells Gyles about his university days, about meeting his wife, and about their jewellery business... and he talks about his experience of depression. Plus, of course, he talks about gardens - what gives them charm, and which is his favourite garden in the UK.

Monty's beautiful new book, British Gardens, is available here.

And finally, Happy Easter to all of you from us at Rosebud!

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