Passion for fashion

 It’s the second day of the Bath & West Show, a sunny hour in between thunderstorms and mud is encroaching onto the walkways. But Jeff Banks eschews wellies for a very trendy pair of sharp shoes, topped – of course – with a smooth suit and open-necked shirt. The hair is a bohemian collar length and proudly grey, and his trim build and healthy tan ample evidence of a strict training regime that regularly sees him doing 100 miles a day on extended cycling tours.

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Tommy is still on song

 It’s 52 years since “Rock with the Caveman” went to number 13 in the charts. Hopes were high that the quiff-haired singer might be Britain’s answer to Elvis - and he’s been delighting audiences on film and on stage ever since. Eileen Caiger Gray chats to Tommy Steele - and hopes to get in that big question ... did he really meet Elvis in London?

Paulo Coelho: writing the pilgrim’s way

 Mature Times editor Tony Watts talks to Paulo Coelho, the world’s most translated living author, whose books - including The Alchemist - have now notched up sales of over 100 million

Dame Julia's manifesto for older age

 Older people in this country, says Baroness Julia Neuberger, are taken for granted, subject to ageism, care and health rationing and cast out from the mainstream of society. It’s time for change, she tells Mature Times editor Tony Watts. A radical change.

Absolutely Joanna

 Her TV role as the dissolute Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous might have led the uninformed viewer to make some very incorrect assumptions about Joanna Lumley. Tony Watts meets the woman behind the role as she launches a new project for homeless people.

Chris Barber: ‘On the slide’ since 1949

 Chris Barber has been filling out concert halls for nearly 60 years. And, along the way, has been responsible for not only making jazz one of the most enduring forms of music in the country, but also introducing black American musicians into this country who inspired bands as diverse as Fleetwood Mac, Cream and the Rolling Stones. He talks to Tony Watts.

Meet the Jungle VIP!

 For anyone 50 and over, he was the voice of Radio 1. For anyone younger, he is probably best known as the very first “King of the Jungle”. But as Tony Blackburn explains, not only has he been responsible for many innovations in radio, but he remains one of the country’s hardest working DJs - and music continues to be one of his passions. Tony Blackburn talks to Tony Watts.

Just a minute - it's Nicholas Parsons

 Actor, director, writer, presenter, tumbler, straight man, panel show host and fully qualified marine mechanical engineer, Nicholas Parsons is one of Britain's best-loved personalities. Now a youthful octogenarian with a career spanning more than sixty years, he shows no sign of slowing down - let alone stopping.

Playing to the Last

 After over 200 gold discs, sales of 100 million albums and success in 150 countries, you’d think James Last might be considering hanging up his baton. But, as he approaches his 80s, there’s still time for one more world tour. Will it be his farewell to Britain? “Never say never,” James tells Tony Watts.

Let’s all salute Pam Ayres

 Perhaps it’s not so surprising that in a poll taken several years ago Pam Ayres was Britain's fifth best-selling poet. She talks - in prose rather than verse - to Mature Times editor Tony Watts.

Satish Kumar: "unity, not uniformity"

 Jayne Warren interviews Satish Kumar, perhaps best described as a modern day Ghandhi inspired by Betrand Russell and the internationally renowned speaker on Ecological issues, author and Editor of Resurgence magazine. A regular contributor to Thought for the Day on Radio 4, he recently appeared on Desert Island Discs with Sue Lawley. His new book "Spiritual Compass" explores themes he has been developing throughout his life on the issue of spirituality in an increasingly materialistic world.



The Bill: walking the beat for over 23 years

 It started life as a one-off drama entitled “Woodentop” in 1984. It has turned out to be one of television’s most enduring programmes, still running after 23 years and regularly reaching the Top Ten in the UK ratings war.

 

“The Bill”, set in the fictitious Sun Hill police station, follows the professional and personal lives of patrol and response officers as well as the work of the CID. Jayne Warren talks to two of the actors that made it so popular: Eric Richard (Sgt Cryer) and Trudie Goodwin (WPC Ackland). We also have a copy of new “The Bill, Series 1-3 Box Set” to give away!

Ride Sally, ride

 Without Sally Boazman’s finger on the pulse and sultry tones on the radio, Britain might be one long traffic jam – all of the time rather than just some of it. Mature Times editor Tony Watts went to meet her and, as he discovers, she intends to age as disgracefully as possible and “go out” on a motorbike going at 80 on the motorway.

Man in a white suit on a mission

 Journalist Martin Bell famously won his seat in Parliament in the 1997 election on an anti-sleaze ticket against the Conservative Government. Ten years down the line, he has turned his sights on the Labour Government, accusing them of betraying the British public in ways that dwarf those of the Major government.

 

Tony Watts talks to him about his new book, “The Truth That Sticks”.

Going, going, gone... with Eric Knowles

 Eric Knowles may have made his name in the exotic (and sometimes erotic!) world of art and antiques, travelling all over the world in pursuit of his profession, but as Tony Watts discovers, he’s still a Lancashire lad at heart - and proud of it.