Libby Purves meets artist Arabella Dorman; presenter and parish priest the Reverend Richard Coles; former baker Ted the Bread Davies and director Joan Littlewood's former assistant, Peter Rankin.

Arabella Dorman is a war artist and portrait painter. Her exhibition, Before the Dawn, features work reflecting her time in Afghanistan over the last five years. The exhibition shows the reality of life for Afghan families and British soldiers at a time of transition with the withdrawal of British and US troops. Before the Dawn is at La Galleria Pall Mall, London.

The Reverend Richard Coles is a parish priest in Northamptonshire and presenter of BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live. He was also half of the eighties pop duo the Communards with Jimmy Somerville. In his memoir he reveals his journey from a rock-and-roll life of sex and drugs to a life devoted to God and Christianity. Fathomless Riches - or How I went from Pop to Pulpit is published by Weidenfeld And Nicolson.

Ted Davies is a former chef and baker with the RAF. He has written a children's book, Ted the Bread and the Harvest Festival, based on the character Ted, a teddy bear who is a baker in a small Welsh village. The character of Ted the Bread is inspired by Ted's own story when he was stationed in Tobruk in North Africa, baking bread for 2000 service staff a day. Ted the Bread and the Harvest Festival by Ted Davies and Lynn Dulson is published by Wilton 65.

Peter Rankin worked as Joan Littlewood's assistant, becoming a close friend of the innovative theatre director. His biography Joan Littlewood: Dreams and Realities draws on their conversations, letters and Littlewood's personal archives to tell the story of how she rose from lowly beginnings to become a dominant figure in British theatre. Joan Littlewood: Dreams and Realities is published by Oberon Books.

Producer: Paula McGinley. Show less