Dominic West, one of the talented British actors who has had success both at home and in Hollywood, is our guest today. His breakout role was in the cult U.S. gritty crime drama The Wire, in which he played the detective, Jimmy McNulty, so convincingly that many American viewers were shocked to find out he was a Brit.

In this conversation, Dominic tells Gyles about his Yorkshire childhood: he is one of seven children and grew up on the moors just outside Sheffield. He reminisces about his parents, the brilliant way they coped with the logistics of having such a big family, and their talents outside the home. He talks about his schooldays; the intense homesickness he felt when he went to Eton, and his feelings of alienation and "grief" at finding himself down south and far from home. He talks about finding his feet at that school, through drama. He talks about going to Italy, Edinburgh and Paris. He tells Gyles about going to university in Dublin and about what he learnt at clown school. He talks about playing Fred West and how he approaches his work.

Thank you Dominic for this warm and wise conversation.

If you love Rosebud, you can join the Rosebud Family by visiting www.patreon.com/rosebud. It's £4.99 + VAT a month and you'll get ad-free episodes and bonus shows with Gyles and Harriet.

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We're starting 2026 with a remarkable person: an actress who is 100 years old, and still a bundle of enthusiasm, vibrancy and joy. It's Thelma Ruby, born in March 1925, and acting since the 1940s. In this episode she tells Gyles about her long and fascinating life: about her childhood in Leeds, in a religious Jewish family, where they couldn't poke the fire on the sabbath. About her formative years in New York City, where she was sent with her mother and brother to escape the bombing in WW2. About her return to England and work for ENSA, and her first love affair. About performing with Orson Wells, her famous portrayal of the first female prime minister of Israel, Golda Meir, and about her friendship with Dame Judi Dench.

Thelma also tells Gyles her secrets for a long life, and talks about her one hundredth birthday party.

If you love Rosebud and want more, why don't you join the Rosebud Family, our new subscription service? It's £4.99 a month and you'll get bonus episodes, murder mysteries, and you can join here.

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If you're British, the chances are that last Christmas you watched the Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special. And Gyles's guest this Boxing Day is one of its stars: Mathew Horne, also known as the kind-hearted, loyal everyman, Gavin. In this episode, Mathew tells Gyles about his country childhood, about his loving and hard-working parents and their devotion to caring for him and his older brother. He talks about his schooldays, and the intense relationship he had with his girlfriend there. He talks about getting into stand-up at Manchester University and the phenomenon of Gavin and Stacey.

We wish all our Rosebud listeners a very merry Christmas!

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We have another Christmas treat for you today - an interview with the prodigious musical talent that is Anna Lapwood. Anna is the official organist of the Royal Albert Hall in London, a successful recording artiste and a social media star with millions of followers. A multi-instrumentalist, she was the youngest ever person to be appointed Director of Music at a Cambridge college (and we will hear a bit of Pembroke College chapel choir singing in this episode). In this conversation with Gyles, she tells him about her childhood growing up in a close family in which her parents inspired her with their work ethic. She talks about learning 20 instruments as a child and teenager, and finally taking up the organ when she was 15. She talks about the breakthrough moment in which she accompanied the band Bonobo at the Royal Albert Hall - creating a viral video which has been shared millions of times on social media. She talks about the importance of following your own path, her love of therapy, and the place journalling plays in her performance preparation.

This episode features the chapel choir of Pembroke College singing 'Away in a Manger' by Lucy Walker and an excerpt of Anna Lapwood's performance of 'This Shining Night' by Christopher Churcher on the organ. It also features Harriet's choir, Voxetera, singing 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'.

Anna's latest album 'Firedove' is available to buy here

Thank you to Anna for this fascinating and inspiring interview.

Merry Christmas to all our wonderful listeners from Gyles, Harriet, Michele and Bella the cat!

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We have an atmospheric Christmas treat for you this Sunday afternoon: it's Gyles reading 'Murder at the Palace', an original murder mystery story, set in Victorian England, with Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle in the role of detectives. Pour yourself a cup of tea and settle down by the fire and be transported back to a time of pea-soupers, lavish dinner parties, and people who are not what they seem.

This is a taste of what we will be offering members of the Rosebud Family every two weeks - when Gyles will read instalments of his murder mysteries exclusively for subscribers. Also available to Rosebud Family members will be one bonus episode a month of Gyles and Harriet going 'down memory lane', and ad-free listening to all Rosebud releases.

You can subscribe to the Rosebud Family by visiting www.patreon.com/rosebud, and it's only £4.99 per month.

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Today we get to meet and know an author who is synonymous with Christmas - Charles Dickens - brought to life in this episode by his great-great grandson, Gerald Dickens. Yes, that's right - you're going to hear an interview with one of our greatest ever writers, who has been dead for over 150 years. Only on Rosebud.

In this fascinating conversation, Dickens tells Gyles about his childhood, growing up in the towns and villages of the Thames estuary in Kent, and how his father's debts led him to be imprisoned in the Marshalsea. The young Charles suddenly found himself put to work, a formative experience which influenced much of his later writing. We hear about his marriage to Catherine Hogarth, and about his mistress, Ellen Ternan. We hear about the terrible Staplehurst train crash, about Charles Dickens's travels in the USA, and about his latter-day success as a performer.

This is a fabulous way to immerse yourself in the story of our greatest novelist, at this most Dickensian time of the year.

With thanks to Gerald Dickens.

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