Libby Purves meets writer and comedian Dawn French; Egyptologist Professor Joann Fletcher; Wilfred Frost, son of Sir David Frost and wing walker Nikita Salmon.
Professor Joann Fletcher is based in the Department of Archaeology at the University of York where she teaches world mummification and funerary archaeology. Her book, The Story of Egypt, tells Egypt's ancient story by looking into the lives of its working people, as well as the pharaohs, to investigate this ancient society through its people's own words and personal belongings. The Story of Egypt is published by Hodder and Stoughton.
Wilfred Frost is the son of the late broadcaster Sir David Frost. A new biography, That Was The Life That Was, by Neil Hegarty recounts the story of how the son of a Methodist minister became the most successful TV host in the world. He was the only person to have met and interviewed every British prime minister since Harold Wilson as well as seven US presidents including the disgraced post-Watergate Richard Nixon. That Was The Life That Was, Frost - The Authorised Biography by Neil Hegarty is published by WH Allen.
Dawn French is a writer, comedian and actor who has appeared in shows including French and Saunders, The Comic Strip Presents ..., Murder Most Horrid, Vicar of Dibley, Jam and Jerusalem and Lark Rise to Candleford. Her new novel, According to Yes, is about an English nanny who shakes up a dysfunctional family in Manhattan. According To Yes is published by Michael Joseph. Dawn's show 30 Million Minutes is at the Vaudeville Theatre, London.
Nikita Salmon is a wing walker with the Breitling AeroSuperBatics team. She is also a primary schoolteacher. She joined the seven-strong squad after replying to an advert in her local paper and now travels the world performing hair-raising aerial acrobatics. Strapped to the wings of a restored 1940s Boeing Stearman biplane, she performs aerobatic moves including formation loops, rolls, and the mirror - when one aircraft flies upside down and the other aircraft joins underneath.
Producer: Paula McGinley. Show less