My Time Capsule

Mike Batt is probably best known as the singer/songwriter/producer of The Wombles music, having written the theme tune plus eight hit singles and four gold albums. Mike moved on to work with various artists as a songwriter and producer, most successfully with Steeleye Span and their most successful single and album All Around My Hat in 1975. He wrote the song "Bright Eyes" for the film Watership Down, sung by Art Garfunkel, which reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart and five other countries. Mike wrote and produced three more UK Top Ten hits, "Please Don't Fall in Love" (for Cliff Richard), "A Winter's Tale" (for David Essex, with lyrics co-written by Tim Rice) and "I Feel Like Buddy Holly" (for Alvin Stardust). Mike composed and produced the four million-selling album, The Violin Player, which launched classical violinist Vanessa-Mae, and he discovered Katie Melua in 2002. Her album Call Off The Search (containing six of Mike’s songs including "The Closest Thing to Crazy") was released in November 2003. It spent six weeks at number one in the UK Albums Chart, sold over 1.8 million copies, in the UK and three million copies in total, making Melua the biggest selling UK female artist of 2004. Mike now has an autobiography called The Closest Thing to Crazy, My Life of Musical Adventures, available in all bookshops or from here! .Mike Batt is our guest in episode 453 of My Time Capsule and chats to Michael Fenton Stevens about the five things he'd like to put in a time capsule; four he’d like to preserve and one he’d like to bury and never have to think about again .Buy Mike Batt’s autobiography, The Closest Thing to Crazy is available here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Closest-Thing-Crazy-Musical-Adventures/dp/1785120840 .For everything else Mike Batt, visit - https://www.mikebatt.com .Follow Mike Batt on Twitter @Mike_Batt .Follow My Time Capsule on Instagram: @mytimecapsulepodcast & Twitter & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people .

An early Christmas present from us! Our very own Michael Fenton Stevens reading A Christmas Tree by Charles Dickens. Merry Christmas!Credit - Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/brock-hewitt-stories-in-sound/joy-to-the-worldLicense code: HCAE9GFVEVQJ5HSM

Richard Vranch is maybe best known for improvising the music in the Channel 4 series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, famously introduced as “Richard Vranch at the piano”. He’s also a member of The Comedy Store Players and improvises comedy live on stage every Sunday at The Comedy Store in London, which he has done regularly for the past 39 years. He’s also part of the Improv All-Stars and Paul Merton and Suki Webster’s Improv Show. The Comedy Store Players have played the Olivier stage at the National Theatre and performed annually at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. They toured India in 2004 and in 2010 they achieved the Guinness World Record for the longest running comedy show with the same cast. They’ve also appeared at the Globe Theatre annually since the millennium and will be performing there again on the 17th of December 2024. He formed a comedy double-act with Tony Slattery in 1981. The duo hosted the Channel 4 quiz The Music Game and over 100 episodes of Cue The Music on ITV. Richard won the 2004 Sony Radio Award for Comedy for the BBC Radio 2 series Jammin .Richard Vranch is our guest in episode 452 of My Time Capsule and chats to Michael Fenton Stevens about the five things he'd like to put in a time capsule; four he’d like to preserve and one he’d like to bury and never have to think about again .Tickets for The Comedy Store Players at The Globe are available here - https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/the-comedy-store-players .Tickets for The Comedy Store Players at The Comedy Store are available here - https://comedystoreplayers.com .Follow Richard Vranch on Instagram .Follow My Time Capsule on Instagram: @mytimecapsulepodcast & Twitter & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people .

John is back at Mike's house but still on the mend. They chat about the latest guests and answer some fun emails including a quiz from Fred!Email your questions for us to - mytimecapsulepodcast@gmail.com .Follow My Time Capsule on Instagram: @mytimecapsulepodcast & Twitter & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people.

Angela Barnes returns with a brand new time capsule! Angela Barnes is a comedian best known for her appearances on Mock The Week and hosting The News Quiz and Newsjack on BBC Radio 4. She’s had her own Radio 4 stand-up series called You Can’t Take It With You which was based on her 2014 début show at the Edinburgh Festival and she co-hosts the "less-than-serious history podcast" We Are History with writer (and previous MTC guest) John O'Farrell .Angela Barnes is our guest in episode 451 of My Time Capsule and chats to Michael Fenton Stevens about the five things she'd like to put in a time capsule; four she’d like to preserve and one she’d like to bury and never have to think about again .For Angela’s tour dates and tickets, visit - https://www.angelabarnescomedy.co.uk .Follow Angela Barnes on Instagram: @angela_barnesy .Follow My Time Capsule on Instagram: @mytimecapsulepodcast & Twitter & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people .

Eliot Stein is a writer and editor who is currently a journalist at the BBC and deputy editor of BBC Travel. Eliot's forthcoming book, Custodians of Wonder, is inspired by a column he created for BBC Travel called Custom Made, and is about the last people alive maintaining some of the world's most astonishing cultural rites. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Wired, The Guardian, The Washington Post, National Geographic, The Independent, and The Best Travel Writing book anthology. He has won Writer's Digest, Lowell Thomas, and Solas Awards and regularly speaks about his work at universities, on podcasts and in print .Eliot Stein is our guest in episode 450 of My Time Capsule and chats to Michael Fenton Stevens about the five things he'd like to put in a time capsule; four he’d like to preserve and one he’d like to bury and never have to think about again .Buy Elliot’s book Custodians of Wonder, here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Custodians-Wonder-Ancient-Profound-Traditions/dp/1250281091 .For Elliot’s articles, books, photos and everything else, visit his website - https://www.eliotstein.meFollow Eliot Stein on Instagram: @eliot.stein .Follow My Time Capsule on Instagram: @mytimecapsulepodcast & Twitter & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people .

Eliot Stein is a writer and editor who is currently a journalist at the BBC and deputy editor of BBC Travel. Eliot's forthcoming book, Custodians of Wonder, is inspired by a column he created for BBC Travel called Custom Made, and is about the last people alive maintaining some of the world's most astonishing cultural rites. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Wired, The Guardian, The Washington Post, National Geographic, The Independent, and The Best Travel Writing book anthology. He has won Writer's Digest, Lowell Thomas, and Solas Awards and regularly speaks about his work at universities, on podcasts and in print .Eliot Stein is our guest in episode 450 of My Time Capsule and chats to Michael Fenton Stevens about the five things he'd like to put in a time capsule; four he’d like to preserve and one he’d like to bury and never have to think about again .Buy Elliot’s book Custodians of Wonder, here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Custodians-Wonder-Ancient-Profound-Traditions/dp/1250281091 .For Elliot’s articles, books, photos and everything else, visit his website - https://www.eliotstein.meFollow Eliot Stein on Instagram: @eliot.stein .Follow My Time Capsule on Instagram: @mytimecapsulepodcast & Twitter & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people .

John is back this week but still recovering. They answer last week's missed emails and debrief a bit.Email your questions for us to - mytimecapsulepodcast@gmail.com .Follow My Time Capsule on Instagram: @mytimecapsulepodcast & Twitter & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people.