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Alexander Armstrong, Wilbur Smith, Harry Redknapp, Anna Walker

Lively and diverse conversation as Libby Purves meets actor and comedian Alexander Armstrong and novelist Wilbur Smith.

Libby Purves meets pilot Anna Walker; manager of Queens Park Rangers Harry Redknapp; novelist Wilbur Smith and actor and comedian Alexander Armstrong.

Anna Walker is a pilot who performs acrobatics and displays at air shows around the world. Born in Brazil, she was six when her father took her up in his plane on the day he got his pilot's licence. At the age of 13 she started gliding and moved on to power flying as a tug pilot. She is the first woman to fly a Hawker Hurricane since the female ferry pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary who delivered the aircraft to squadrons in WW2. She's flying a North American Harvard and Beech Staggerwing at the Imperial War Museum Duxford's Autumn Air Show.

Former football player and manager, Harry Redknapp is the current manager of Queen's Park Rangers. During his long career he also managed Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth (twice), Southampton, West Ham and Bournemouth. His autobiography, Always Managing - Harry: My Autobiography, is published by Ebury.

Novelist Wilbur Smith was born in northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, in 1933. He trained as a chartered accountant before publishing his first book, When the Lion Feeds, in 1964. He has since written over 30 novels including his latest, Vicious Circle - a thriller set in Africa and the Middle East. He is planning to team up with co-authors on future books to increase his output and boost his American readership. Vicious Circle is published by Pan Macmillan.

Alexander Armstrong is a comic actor and presenter and one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. He presents the quiz show Pointless alongside Richard Osman. Alexander is also performing his Great British Songbook show at the inaugural London Festival of Cabaret with a repertoire ranging from Benjamin Britten to Spandau Ballet's Gold. His new book The 100 Most Pointless Arguments In The World..Solved with Richard Osman is published by Hodder & Stoughton.

Producer: Paula McGinley.

Available now

43 minutes

In the studio

In the studio
L-R: Harry Redknapp, Alexander Armstrong, Anna Walker and Wilbur Smith

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Libby Purves
Interviewed Guest Alexander Armstrong
Interviewed Guest Wilbur Smith
Interviewed Guest Harry Redknapp
Interviewed Guest Anna Walker
Producer Paula McGinley

Broadcasts

  • Wed 9 Oct 2013 09:00
  • Wed 9 Oct 2013 21:30

Podcast