Tony Slattery's Rambling Club

This week's guest President is the wonderful Jenny Seagrove, acclaimed stage and screen actor, passionate animal welfare advocate!
So pull on your walking boots and join us for another ramble as President Seagrove guides us through three destinations selected entirely at random by Tony's enchanted bingo machine, a device that continues to demonstrate a remarkable ability to connect the seemingly unconnectable. Above it all hovers the omniscient voice of Sir Stephen Fry, keeping watch over proceedings as we set off into the unknown.

Our first stop is 367: Clubs. Now there's a challenge, because Jenny has never been especially fond of rules. Clubs, committees and organised membership schemes all seem suspiciously restrictive to a woman who prefers to make her own path through life. Nevertheless, what begins as a discussion about astronomy and stargazing soon takes an unexpected turn toward Everton Football Club and the extraordinary legacy of the late Bill Kenwright, Jenny's beloved partner. Along the way we ponder what clubs really mean: communities, shared passions, and the people whose influence can be felt long after they've left the room. It's all dangerously close to anarchy, which naturally suits the Rambling Club perfectly.

Next, we're off to 599.7: Wolverines. Fortunately, this turns out to be rather less niche than it first appears. Born in Kuala Lumpur and raised amidst the landscapes and wildlife of Malaysia, Jenny brings a lifelong love of animals to the conversation. Before long we're wandering through jungles, discussing remarkable encounters with creatures great and small, and hearing tales from a life spent championing animal welfare. There's also the small matter of Jenny once playing a nanny who turns into a tree, because this is the Rambling Club and such things must be accepted without question. Founder of the remarkable Mane Chance Sanctuary for rescued horses, Jenny speaks movingly about the animals she has cared for over the years, while somehow also finding time to extol the underrated pleasures of keeping chickens.

Our third and final destination is 819: Literature and Rhetoric (Not Used). Here we find ourselves deep in the world of theatre. Jenny recalls playing Gertrude opposite a Hamlet portrayed by Sir Ian McKellen, requiring audiences to exercise a healthy degree of theatrical imagination. From Shakespeare we move to Chekhov, discussing the challenge of bringing great texts to vibrant life, and whether questions of age, gender and convention really matter when it comes to casting. Which naturally leads to Jenny's long-held dream role: Malvolio. The Rambling Club can think of few people better suited to torment yellow stockings into theatrical immortality, and sincerely hopes somebody is taking notes.

And then it's back to the Presidential shed, where the chickens are roaming freely, the bingo machine is pretending innocence, and the rules, if there ever were any, have once again been quietly ignored.

Tony Slattery’s Rambling Club is a free-associating conversation, involving very special guests. It drops every Friday on every podcasting outlet known to man. We’d love it if you came along for the walk. If nothing else, it’ll help you get your steps in!

Presented by Paul Carmichael & Allan Lear

Music composed and performed by Michael Livesley & Andy Frizell

The voice of Pwfthhh- Michael Livesley
www.michaellivesley.com

Series Researcher- Soula Carmichael

Series Producers- Erica Lear and Mark Hutchinson

Producers- Alan Dyebing & Stuart Morris

Series Executive Producer- Mark Strickson

Join the rambling club and receive your club membership card, badges, exclusive content and access to early release episodes, an exclusive extra podcast you won't hear anywhere else and exclusive club-only perks!

www.patreon.com/SlatteryLive

Official Website- www.tonyslattery.com
Twitter/X: @SlatteryLive
Instagram: tony_slattery_official
BlueSky: @ramblingclub

Jenny's Instagram: jseagrove2
Jenny's X: @springmeister
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Welcome, one and all, to Series 2, Episode 1 of Tony Slattery's Rambling Club!

The shed has survived another winter, the kettle is cautiously optimistic, and Tony's enchanted bingo machine has spent the break quietly plotting new ways to confuse everybody. With Sir Stephen Fry once again watching over proceedings from his omniscient vantage point, a brand-new series of rambling adventures begins.
And what a way to start.

Our first guest President of the new series is Pete Bennett — musician, actor, Tourette's campaigner, and, of course, winner of Big Brother. Pete arrives at the shed with a lifetime of stories, an infectious enthusiasm for life, and a willingness to follow the ramble wherever it may lead.

Our first destination is 211: Concepts of God. Nothing too challenging for the opening episode, then. What exactly do we mean when we talk about "God"? Before long we're discussing the Gaia Hypothesis, the curious relationship between belief and manifestation, and whether the universe is perhaps a little stranger than we often give it credit for. Along the way, magic mushrooms make an appearance, philosophical certainty departs the building entirely, and a compelling case emerges that Pete was somehow pre-determined to win Big Brother long before he ever entered the house.

Next, the bingo machine deposits us at 591: Zoology. This proves considerably more chaotic than expected. Pete's love of dogs leads to a heartfelt discussion about what our canine companions can teach us about loyalty, trust and living in the moment. From there, the conversation takes flight with the proposition that pigeons may actually be superior to human beings in several important respects. Matters deteriorate further when the ramblers attempt to establish how a doorknob, a mouse and a spider can become hopelessly confused with one another, often with alarming consequences.

Our third and final destination is 702: Miscellaneous (The Arts). Raised by musicians, Pete grew up surrounded by creativity, making this the perfect opportunity to explore his remarkable and eclectic career. We discuss music, performance, acting, and the joys of men wearing make-up long before it became fashionable to debate such things. The conversation also turns toward the recent controversy at the BAFTAs, before widening into a celebration of artistic expression in all its forms and the many unexpected roads a creative life can travel.

And then, with the first ramble of the new series complete, it's back to the Presidential shed. The machine is still humming, the biscuits remain under threat, and Series 2 is officially underway.

Tony Slattery’s Rambling Club is a free-associating conversation, involving very special guests. It drops every Friday on every podcasting outlet known to man. We’d love it if you came along for the walk. If nothing else, it’ll help you get your steps in!

Presented by Paul Carmichael & Allan Lear

Music composed and performed by Michael Livesley & Andy Frizell

The voice of Pwfthhh- Michael Livesley
www.michaellivesley.com

Series Researcher- Soula Carmichael

Series Producers- Erica Lear and Mark Hutchinson

Producers- Alan Dyebing & Stuart Morris

Series Executive Producer- Mark Strickson

Join the rambling club and receive your club membership card, badges, exclusive content and access to early release episodes, an exclusive extra podcast you won't hear anywhere else and exclusive club-only perks!

www.patreon.com/SlatteryLive

Official Website- www.tonyslattery.com
Twitter/X: @SlatteryLive
Instagram: tony_slattery_official
BlueSky: @ramblingclub

Paul's Twitter: @PaulCarmichaelV
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stand by for a whole host of stars who will be joining us in the Rambling Club shed.
Series 2 begins this Friday at 5 to 5!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a very special meeting of Tony Slattery’s Rambling Club. It’s Christmas Day, and we find ourselves once again in the company of our much-loved and much-missed President, Tony Slattery. His absence is felt, of course — how could it not be? — but so is his presence: in the laughter, the mischief, the curious turns of thought, and the unmistakable warmth that shaped this club from the very beginning. Today’s ramble is offered with affection, gratitude, and a quiet smile, just as Tony would have wanted.

And so, gloves on, collars up, we set off as normal, guided by Tony’s enchanted bingo machine and the familiar rhythms of the club. The shed door swings open, Sir Stephen Fry’s omniscient voice settles in above us, and the ramble begins.

Our first destination is 702: Fine and Decorative Art. Almost immediately we’re into the strange and wonderful world of surreal bingo, followed by recollections of Tony breaking a priceless ornament on television — an act that somehow manages to be both horrifying and completely inevitable. From there, the conversation drifts into the long and symbiotic relationship between art and religion, before taking a diarist’s turn toward Samuel Pepys, proving once again that no subject is ever truly finished, only temporarily paused.

Next, the bingo machine whirs and delivers us to 621: Applied Physics — a category that sounds orderly enough until it isn’t. Before we quite realise what’s happened, we find ourselves stumbling into the Whose Line Is It Anyway? studio, encountering a dentist with an infamous skull structure, and grappling with the very real dangers of misremembering the words to the Lord’s Prayer. Physics, it turns out, is less about equations and more about consequences.

And then, as always, we drift back toward the shed — a little wiser, a little warmer, and grateful for the company. On Christmas Day especially, this feels like exactly where we’re meant to be.

Presented by Tony Slattery, Paul Carmichael & Allan Lear

Music composed and performed by Michael Livesley & Andy Frizell

The voice of Pwfthhh- Michael Livesley
www.michaellivesley.com

Series Researcher- Soula Carmichael

Series Producers- Erica Lear and Mark Hutchinson

Producers- Alan Dyebing & Stuart Morris

Series Executive Producer- Mark Strickson

Join the rambling club and receive your club membership card, badges, exclusive content and access to early release episodes, an exclusive extra podcast you won't hear anywhere else and exclusive club-only perks!

www.patreon.com/SlatteryLive

Official Website- www.tonyslattery.com
Twitter/X: @SlatteryLive
Instagram: tony_slattery_official
BlueSky: @ramblingclub

Paul's Twitter: @PaulCarmichaelV
Paul's Bluesky: @paulcarmichaeluk

© Fanfaronade Productions 2025
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Christmas, we are honoured to share a very special recording: Tony Slattery’s reading of The Tell-Tale Heart.

Recorded in December 2024, this was the final performance Tony ever gave. It stands as a profound testament to his extraordinary gifts as an actor — his musicality with language, his emotional precision, and his instinctive understanding of character and rhythm. In this recording, Tony brings a rare intimacy and control to the piece, guiding the listener deep into its fractured psyche with clarity, menace, and compassion.

The Tell-Tale Heart, written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1843, is one of the most enduring works of Gothic literature. A study of guilt, obsession, and the unreliability of the human mind, it unfolds as a confession from a narrator who insists on their sanity while revealing the very madness they seek to deny. Its power lies not in spectacle, but in voice — making it uniquely suited to a performer of Tony’s calibre.

To hear Tony inhabit this story is to be reminded of his command of language and his fearless emotional intelligence. This is not simply a reading, but a performance of rare stillness and intensity — one that lingers long after the final line.

We present this recording with love, gratitude, and deep respect, in memory of our friend Tony, and in celebration of a remarkable artist at the height of his craft.
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