Tony Slattery's Rambling Club

This week’s guest President is the wonderfully entertaining Guy Siner. A ctor, raconteur, accidental international man of mystery and, of course, the man who brought Lieutenant Gruber magnificently to life in ’Allo ’Allo!Once safely installed, Tony’s enchanted bingo machine does its usual work, conjuring three numbers from the Dewey Decimal System and sending us off into the great outdoors. And our first destination is…213 — CreationWhat do you believe happens when all of this begins? Guy was brought up as a Christian, confirmed at eleven so that he could become a godfather, but eventually arrived at a rather more humanist philosophy: we are here, we have been created somehow, and while we are here we might as well enjoy ourselves.That leads us into faith, atheism, the emotional nature of belief, and whether you can ever actually argue somebody into or out of faith. It also leads, inevitably, to Guy’s considerable love of the natural world. Animals, trees, meadows, landscapes and the simple pleasure of being alive all feature prominently although, as Guy cheerfully admits, he loves animals rather more than he loves people.There is also the small matter of cats.379 — Educational PolicyOur second number gives us an excuse to go back to the beginning. Guy is Anglo-American, born in New York to an American father and English mother, before being brought back to England at the age of five and educated here. That experience of belonging simultaneously to two countries and, in a sense, to neither of them completely. is one of the fascinating threads running through his story.From there we arrive at the extraordinary training ground that was the old repertory system. After drama school, Guy was sent away to learn his trade and, in just thirteen months, appeared in twenty-two plays. Drama, comedy, musicals, old men, young men, singing, dancing- the lot.It was an apprenticeship in the fullest sense, and Guy is passionate about what that kind of training taught him: that everybody in a theatre or studio matters. The actor cannot do their job if the person operating the cable cannot do theirs.940 — History of EuropeAnd now, surely, we must talk about Europe.There is Doctor Who, where a young Guy Siner terrified a generation as General Raven. There is his extraordinary work in television and film. There is That’s My Bush!, where he discovered that the supposedly German dialogue had been translated into complete gibberish and decided, brilliantly, that the best thing to do was simply perform the nonsense exactly as written.And then, of course, there is ’Allo ’Allo!Guy takes us behind the scenes of one of Britain’s most beloved sitcoms, explaining why the writing of David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd was so extraordinarily precise, why the cast worked so well together, and why the programme could make virtually everyone the butt of the joke without giving anybody the moral high ground.Presented by Paul Carmichael & Allan LearWith their special guest President Guy Siner and Sir Stephen Fry as the voice of the Bingo Machine.Music composed and performed by Michael Livesley & Andy FrizellThe voice of Pwfthhh- Michael Livesleywww.michaellivesley.comSeries Researcher- Soula CarmichaelSeries Producers- Erica Lear and Mark HutchinsonProducers- Alan Dyebing & Stuart MorrisExecutive Producer- Mark StricksonJoin the rambling club and receive your club membership card, badges, exclusive content and access to early release episodes, an exclusive extra podcast you won't hear anywhere else and exclusive club-only perks!www.patreon.com/SlatteryLiveOfficial Website- www.tonyslattery.comTwitter/X: @SlatteryLiveInstagram: tony_slattery_officialBlueSky: @ramblingclubPaul's Threads: @paul.carmichael.1213Paul's Bluesky: @paulcarmichaeluk© Fanfaronade Productions 2026 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Would you believe it? This week’s guest President is the magnificent David Schofield and after a brief encounter with darts, Yorkshire tea and a suspicious-looking path through the shed, the enchanted bingo machine sends us off into the great outdoors once again.Our first destination is 324 — Political Processes, which turns out to be a surprisingly good place to begin. Does an actor have to be political? David thinks not. His job, he tells us, is to interpret the writer and director, even when the character’s views are entirely opposed to his own. We wander through Valkyrie, Our Friends in the North, corrupt policemen, the responsibilities of an actor and the dangers of being told, particularly on social media, what you ought to think. But politics also takes us back to David’s childhood in Wythenshawe, and to his father, a committed socialist who worked on the railways and found his political convictions in a very simple realisation: being ordered to stand on a mat so that his working boots didn’t mark the boss’s carpet was, quite simply, wrong.Then the machine gives us 470 — Latin and Classical Languages, which provides our rather tenuous but entirely legitimate route from Rome to Julius Caesar, Shakespeare and the Royal Shakespeare Company. David talks about iambic pentameter, the extraordinary musicality of Shakespeare’s language and the way the rhythm itself can carry an actor through a speech. We hear about his love of Henry V, Michael Bryant’s extraordinary ability to make pentameter sound like ordinary speech, and the strange magic of knowing that Shakespearean text can remain lodged in the memory for decades.Finally, the machine produces 024 — General Reference Works, Libraries and Books, and we find ourselves talking about acting itself. David remembers the extraordinary Michael Bryant, the dangers of trying to “show” the audience how much acting you are doing, and the importance of remembering that the audience is paying to feel something, rather than simply watch an actor feeling it. There is room for Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard, Pirates of the Caribbean, the difference between theatre and enormous Hollywood productions, and David’s feeling that the industry has perhaps become rather too serious about itself.And then, back in the shed, comes perhaps the most revealing moment of all. Asked whether his extraordinary career turned out as he expected, David remembers the advice of his first proper agent, who asked what he wanted from acting. He could have said fame, money or stardom. Instead, he said he wanted to make a living out of it for the rest of his working life.Presented by Paul Carmichael & Allan LearWith their special guest President David Schofield and Sir Stephen Fry as the voice of the Bingo Machine.Music composed and performed by Michael Livesley & Andy FrizellThe voice of Pwfthhh- Michael Livesleywww.michaellivesley.comSeries Researcher- Soula CarmichaelSeries Producers- Erica Lear and Mark HutchinsonProducers- Alan Dyebing & Stuart MorrisExecutive Producer- Mark StricksonJoin the rambling club and receive your club membership card, badges, exclusive content and access to early release episodes, an exclusive extra podcast you won't hear anywhere else and exclusive club-only perks!www.patreon.com/SlatteryLiveOfficial Website- www.tonyslattery.comTwitter/X: @SlatteryLiveInstagram: tony_slattery_officialBlueSky: @ramblingclubPaul's Threads: @paul.carmichael.1213Paul's Bluesky: @paulcarmichaeluk© Fanfaronade Productions 2026 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Would you believe it? This week’s guest President is the wonderful actor, director and writer Paul Clayton, and the enchanted bingo machine has once again decided that our ramble should take us somewhere we really weren’t expecting.Paul joins us in the great outdoors, where our first destination is 396 — formerly used classifications relating to women’s position and treatment, now part of the great Dewey wilderness of customs and etiquette. And this turns out to be rather a good place to begin, because Paul has some very definite thoughts about manners, politeness and the little customs that help us navigate the world. From the wonderfully theatrical tradition of hearing “Mr Clayton, standby” over the tannoy, to the lost art of saying thank you without immediately being asked to complete twenty-seven boxes about your customer experience, we find ourselves considering whether modern life has given us rather too much access to one another.And then Paul reveals that his own childhood was rather extraordinary. He was adopted as a baby, and grew up in a family-run village shop in Thrybergh, South Yorkshire. His memories of life behind the counter are wonderfully vivid: miners arriving after the night shift, customers sitting down for a chat, his father becoming mortified when women asked for sanitary products, and Paul himself hiding in the shop window to be admired by passing customers. It seems that a lifelong fascination with people, characters and human behaviour may have begun right there.Next, the bingo machine transports us to 355 — Military Science, specifically siege warfare. Cue battering rams, trebuchets, petards and exploding livestock, before we discover that Paul’s remarkably detailed knowledge of siege engines comes largely from playing Worms on the PlayStation. Which is as good a reason as any to discuss one of the most important theatrical connections in Paul’s life: Tony Slattery.Paul directed Tony in Privates on Parade, having first encountered the play as an actor himself. He tells us about Tony becoming Carmen Miranda for the publicity photographs, the chaos and joy of rehearsals, Tony’s return to the stage after the Olivier Awards controversy, touring with the production — and the extraordinary generosity he showed towards the young actors around him. It is a particularly lovely recollection of Tony: mischievous, funny, occasionally difficult, but fundamentally generous.Finally, the machine produces 024 — general reference works, libraries and books. This leads us into Paul’s life as a writer, his dislike of suspense, his love of Pinter and Orton, the importance of simply allowing great writing to do its work, and his belief that “the art is in the hiding of the art.” We discover how voice-activated software rescued him from his hatred of typing and illegible directing notes, and how he has gone on to write books, thrillers and his forthcoming autobiography.And then, having wandered through village shops, social etiquette, siege warfare, Tony Slattery, theatre, writing and exploding cows, it is time to find our way back to the shed.Presented by Paul Carmichael & Allan LearWith their special guest President Paul Clayton and Sir Stephen Fry as the voice of the Bingo Machine.Music composed and performed by Michael Livesley & Andy FrizellThe voice of Pwfthhh- Michael Livesleywww.michaellivesley.comSeries Producers- Erica Lear and Mark HutchinsonProducers- Alan Dyebing & Stuart MorrisExecutive Producer- Mark StricksonJoin the rambling club and receive your club membership card, badges, exclusive content and access to early release episodes, an exclusive extra podcast you won't hear anywhere else and exclusive club-only perks!www.patreon.com/SlatteryLiveOfficial Website- www.tonyslattery.comTwitter/X: @SlatteryLiveInstagram: tony_slattery_officialBlueSky: @ramblingclubPaul's Threads: @paul.carmichael.1213Paul's Bluesky: @paulcarmichaeluk© Fanfaronade Productions 2026 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Rambling Shed has gone on holiday this week before the last of the good weather departs. In the meantime, please enjoy this classic episode starring Nigel Planer and our late President, Tony Slattery. Tony Slattery’s Rambling Club is a free-associating conversation, involving very special guests. It drops every Friday on every podcasting outlet known to man. We’d love it if you came along for the walk. If nothing else, it’ll help you get your steps in!Presented by Paul Carmichael & Allan LearMusic composed and performed by Michael Livesley & Andy FrizellThe voice of Pwfthhh- Michael Livesley www.michaellivesley.comSeries Executive Producer- Mark StricksonJoin the rambling club and receive your club membership card, badges, exclusive content and access to early release episodes, an exclusive extra podcast you won't hear anywhere else and exclusive club-only perks!www.patreon.com/SlatteryLiveOfficial Website- www.tonyslattery.comTwitter/X: @SlatteryLiveInstagram: tony_slattery_officialBlueSky: @ramblingclubPaul's Bluesky: @paulcarmichaelukMark's Instagram: @HuskyFuskyWhy not check out our sister podcast Nice Things, the antidote to modern living. Available now, wherever you found The Rambling Club!© Fanfaronade Productions 2025 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With a thump and a grinding of gears, Tony's magic bingo machine has kicked back into action.Yes, normal service has finally been resumed at the Presidential Shed, and, as if to make up for lost weeks, it's a double guest episode today. Alternative comedy icon Rowland Rivron and actor Jess Mann have both vaulted the outer keep and made their way inside the shed, just in time to go a-rambling.And it's just as well we have four heads as the bingo machine is in a particularly brain-stretching mode today. The first number is the distinctly cerebral221.32: Specific Subdivisions for Historical or Geographical Narratives Within the Old Testament. Straight into the good stuff! We delve into the religious upbringing of our guests, mull the higher matters, and ponder the question of why Paul keeps finding himself in a wicker statue full of candles.But there's no time to castigate Paul for his pagan idolatory! The bingo machine moves us on to 843: French Fiction. Our idiots four can barely read, let alone master the belles lettres of la belle France. We swerve onto safer intellectual ground immediately, wavering through musicals to Adrian Mole and finding time to share stories of the much-missed Rik Mayall. Both our special guests worked with that comedy legend and one of them even lived with him, but maybe not the one you think.Then we stagger on to 334: Cooperatives. Does the bingo machine mean the economic model or the supermarket? We know which one we're more comfortable chatting about - and it's neither of them, it's funerals, graves, death and other hilarious matters.Come and join us for a conversation that covers a lot of ground, in such a wafer-thin layer than you might finish it thinking you've learned nothing at all...Presented by Paul Carmichael & Allan Lear Music composed and performed by Michael Livesley & Andy Frizell The voice of Pwfthhh- Michael Livesleywww.michaellivesley.com Series Producers- Erica Lear and Mark Hutchinson Executive Producer- Mark StricksonJoin the rambling club and receive your club membership card, badges, exclusive content and access to early release episodes, an exclusive extra podcast you won't hear anywhere else and exclusive club-only perks!www.patreon.com/SlatteryLive Official Website- www.tonyslattery.comTwitter/X: @SlatteryLiveInstagram: tony_slattery_officialBlueSky: @ramblingclubPaul's Threads: @paul.carmichael.1213Paul's Bluesky: @paulcarmichaeluk © Fanfaronade Productions 2026 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.