Showing results by author "Sandi Toksvig" in All Categories

After much searching, Amber and Stevie find the perfect house - a bit shabby but with potential - in Grimaldi Square. Just the two of them; a place where they can start their lives together. Recently married, they want to begin a family (with the help of their gay best friend, Jack). Despite the rundown pub across the way, the overgrown garden and a decidedly nosy neighbour, it's the house of their dreams. But they are not alone in this dream.

'Between the Stops is a sort of a memoir, my sort. It's about a bus trip really, because it's my view from the Number 12 bus (mostly top deck, the seat at the front on the right), a double-decker that plies its way from Dulwich, in South East London, where I was living, to where I sometimes work - at the BBC, in the heart of the capital. It's not a sensible way to write a memoir at all, probably, but it's the way things pop into your head as you travel, so it's my way'.

Join Sandi Toksvig for a daily perusal through her room of books, as she provides some succour for the soul whilst celebrating some forgotten (and unforgotten) characters in history; some heroic, others comedic and a few who are just downright idiotic. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let Sandi Toksvig guide you on an eclectic meander through the calendar, illuminating neglected corners of history to tell tales of the fascinating figures you didn't learn about at school. From popes who gave birth during papal processions, to the inventor of Scrabble, to pioneering civil rights activist Ida B. Wells, who refused to give up her seat on a train decades before Rosa Parks was born. As witty and entertaining as it is instructive, this is an essential companion to each day of the year.

How do you get rid of unwanted guests? What do you do if there's a racket in the quiet carriage? How should you eat peas, and behave in queues? How to behave, like how to punctuate, is an aspect of life that many are no longer taught. Thankfully, Sandi Toksvig has come to the rescue with her entertaining guide to modern manners, with characteristic wit and perceptiveness.

London, 1897. A young girl, Valentine Grey, arrives in England. She's been brought up in the remote and sunny climes of India and finds being forced into corsets and skirts in damp and cold country insufferable. The only bright spot: her exciting cousin, Reggie. Reggie and his lover, Frank, seek out the adventure the clandestine bars and streets of London offer and are happy to include Valentine in their secret. And then comes the Boer War, and Reggie's father volunteers him; the empire must be defended. But it won't be Reggie who dons the volunteer regiment's garb.

As we look forward to gradually emerging from lockdown over the summer, we're reuniting some famous, brilliant, funny women for a remote catch-up, where they mull over the highs and lows of the past year. They’ll celebrate International Women's Day by sharing their experiences and their hopes for a better future, as life starts to opens up again.

Frances Angel, drunk and disgruntled, arrives in Italy to attend the I Zingari Art School, leaving behind her dazzling career as a successful theatrical impresario and returning to a distant and painful past. She falls into an eclectic group of performance artists, ex-soldiers and a housewife who really just wants to paint something to match her settee.

Because of the potato me and my family left our home and travelled 6,000 miles to find a new life.... Slim Hannigan and her family are poor but happy. Theirs is a life filled with love and laughter - and a pet pig called Hamlet. But things change overnight, and suddenly they find themselves facing hunger and danger like they have never known.... So they leave their village in Ireland to journey to America, where, they hope, family and fortune await them.

It's April 1940 and German troops are pouring onto the streets of Denmark. 12-year-old Bamse is ordered by his father to keep his head down and stay out of trouble. But Bamse and his daring friend Anton can't resist playing the occasional practical joke on the invading soldiers. When it becomes clear that the trouble isn't just going to pass them by, the people of Denmark decide to take action and Bamse and his eccentric family are about to take part in one of history's most dramatic rescues - smuggling Denmark's Jewish population, across the water to Sweden and safety.

Humphrey Lyttelton was a role model, influence and inspiration for several generations of musicians and comedians. Performing at this special tribute concert, organised and introduced by his son Stephen, are an all-star cast of friends and admirers from the world of music, including Elkie Brooks, Stacey Kent, Jools Holland, Charlie Watts, Acker Bilk’s band and of course the Humphrey Lyttelton Band. Joining forces with them are a host of comedians from the Clue team, including Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, Barry Cryer, Tony Hawks, and more!

One of the few Danish words that British people have become familiar with, 'hygge' is a specifically Scandinavian notion of snugness, comfort and contentment. It's all about enjoying the simple pleasures, like curling up with a book on a rainy afternoon or cradling a cup of hot cocoa while wearing a chunky sweater. In this convivial chat show, Danish comedian and author Sandi Toksvig takes a deep dive into both the concept and the Danish way of life.

Our dashing heroine, a famous revue artist, takes to the slopes with her coterie of admirers. Champagne flows and wherever Miriam goes she leaves a trail of gossip in her wake. Fellow ski-resort guests include the celebrated Russian ex-ballerina Natasha Nevkorina, whose beauty is matched only by her languor, Natasha's burly husband, nightclub owner Johnny DuVivien, and the wealthy Flahertés, a family that has made its money importing scents: handsome playboy Barney, his wife, Regan, their two obnoxious children and the governess Rosalie.

The oyster party had the kiss of death upon it—even though there were two 'R's in the month. Miriam Birdseye—famed revue star and sleuth—could have told you that from the start. She isn't a bit surprised to learn that her fiancé's mother died in the night. But who at the seedy Sussex hotel would have poisoned the bivalves? Could it be the hotel proprietor—a handsome, drunken bankrupt? His put-upon wife? Miriam's impressively moustachioed fiancé? Or the menacing, unsavoury chef?

Eleven-year-old Slim Hannigan and her family left their home in Ireland to travel to America - in search of a better life. It has been so long and such a journey that Slim Hannigan and the rest of her family can't even imagine what home looks like anymore. And there are many, many miles across America for them to travel before they reach their destination. Between them and the home of their uncle lie thousands of miles of dangerous land, wild animals and strangers who do not wish them well.

It may not be as grim up north as they say, but it wasn't where amateur private investigators Natasha DuVivien and Miriam Birdseye intended to spend their Christmas. When the principal boy in a production of Cinderella is murdered, and a ballerina hits the bottle a little too hard, they do the only logical thing they can do and join the cast, stranding themselves in a small industrial town for the sake of art and sleuthing. The show must go on, after all, and the detective duo must get to the bottom of things - before the final curtain falls.

The path to parenthood is never easy, but for LGBTQ+ people, it can be even less straightforward. There are more options than ever before for queer people to start families, but a lack of specific information and resources can leave would-be parents floundering. From IVF to surrogacy to adoption, there is so much to learn and consider. How do you work out the best option for you?

Miriam Birdseye, ex-revue star and now professional sleuth, is intrigued when the headmistress of Radcliff Hall arrives at her Baker Street detective agency. A series of bizarre stunts that at first seemed like pranks have taken a sinister turn, and since Mis Lipscoomb found her gym rope half sawn through, she's begun to fear not only for her school, but for her life.