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Midweek: Maddy Prior, Andy Watts, Simon Callow, Eddie Johnson, John Lang

19/12/2012

Maddy Prior, Andy Watts, Simon Callow, Eddie Johnson, John Lang

BBC Radio 4 - Midweek, Maddy Prior, Andy Watts, Simon Callow, Eddie Johnson, John Lang

Libby Purves meets actor Simon Callow and folk singer Maddy Prior.

Libby Purves meets actor Simon Callow, Maddy Prior and Andy Watts of the Carnival Band, former East End publican Eddie Johnson and former marine investigator John Lang.

Maddy Prior MBE is one of the founding members of Steelye Span - the band credited with bringing folk music into the electronic age and making it commercially successful. Andy Watts is musical director of the Carnival Band which has been performing Christmas carols with Maddy every year for 25 years. Their repertoire features obscure and ancient versions of traditional carols and a different take on more familiar material. 'The Best of Maddy Prior and The Carnival Band - A Christmas Caper'' is released on Park Records

Simon Callow CBE is an actor, director and writer who is currently appearing in his one-man show, Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. A new edition of his biography of Charles Laughton is published this month to mark 50 years since Laughton's death. Simon has a strong association with the work of Charles Dickens and has played the writer on stage, film and television. A Christmas Carol is at the Arts Theatre, London.

Eddie Johnson is a former publican and the author of Tales From The Two Puddings, a memoir about his life and career. In 1962 he became licensee of the notorious Two Puddings pub in Stratford, East London. Known as one of London's busiest and most fashionable pubs, it attracted a cast of disparate characters including actors, writers, singers, musicians and infamous gangsters. 'Tales From The Two Puddings' is published by Fifty First State Press. An exhibition of photographs from the book will be on display at the Bishopsgate Institute, London from January.

John Lang is a British seafarer who has served both the merchant service and the Royal Navy. In a naval career spanning 33 years he commanded two submarines and a frigate. He retired from the Navy with the rank of Rear Admiral in 1995 and was appointed head of the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) two years later. His book 'Titanic - a fresh look at the evidence by a former Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents' is published by Seafarer books. 

Producer: Paula McGinley.

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