Women Talking About Cars

Discover what Dawn wrote on the back of her first car - and find out which comedian totalled her beloved Cortina.

Plus, what are the advantages of the refrigerated glove compartment?

First of a series in which famous women look at their lives from the perspective of the cars they have known, the journeys they've been on and the things they keep in their boot for emergencies.

Producer: Gareth Edwards

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2016.

Victoria Coren Mitchell interviews Dawn French about her life, and the cars she has known!

Olivia reveals the nickname of her beloved Morris Minor, and answers that crucial question for any award-winning actress: 'What are you driving these days?

Series in which famous women look at their lives from the perspective of the cars they have known, the journeys they've been on and the things they keep in their boot for emergencies.

With car descriptions read by Josette Simon.

Producer: Gareth Edwards

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2016.

Victoria Coren Mitchell interviews Olivia Colman about her life and the cars she's known.

Sarah reminisces about her Dad's long lost Granada and describes a traffic jam that led to some desperate measures...

Series in which famous women look at their lives from the perspective of the cars they have known, the journeys they've been on and the things they keep in their boot for emergencies.

With car descriptions read by Josette Simon.

Producer: Gareth Edwards

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2016.

Germaine talks about the journeys she has been on and the cars she has travelled in, including her first Mini, a series of Triumphs, and Australia's own car, the mighty Holden.

Series in which famous women look at their lives from the perspective of the cars they have known, the journeys they've been on and the things they keep in their boot for emergencies.

With car descriptions read by Josette Simon.

Producer: Gareth Edwards

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2016.

Victoria Coren Mitchell talks to Germaine Greer about her life and the cars she has known.

Sheila reminisces about the cars she has known taking us on a trip through her remarkable life from the first stirrings of her theatrical ambitions through to the day John Thaw fell for her and why the number of seats in a Morgan sports car is important, and thence to the enduring lure of a Jaguar and how the trick of getting older is actually to speed up...

Series in which famous women look at their lives from the perspective of the cars they have known, the journeys they've been on and the things they keep in their boot for emergencies.

With contributions from our studio audience and tongue-in-cheek readings from Morwenna Banks.

Produced by Gareth Edwards.

A BBC Studios Comedy production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2017.

Victoria Coren Mitchell interviews Sheila Hancock about cars.

Discover how Jo's rally-driving past was ended by romance and how her car became an impromptu counselling couch for comedians

Learn the vital importance of the right kind of snacks; and when you shouldn't risk a roadside wee.

Series in which famous women look at their lives from the perspective of the cars they have known, the journeys they've been on and the things they keep in their boot for emergencies.

With contributions from our studio audience and tongue-in-cheek readings from Morwenna Banks

Producer: Gareth Edwards

A BBC Studios Comedy production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2017.

Jo Brand talks to Victoria Coren Mitchell about her life through the cars she has known.

She tells the story of her journey from her first memories of her grandmother's sedate Hawker Siddely limousine through to the intensity of the That's Life years and helming one of the nation's most popular TV programmes through to the joys of becoming a grandmother herself.

And you can find out what no driving test examiner should ever say to a successful candidate.

Series in which famous women look at their lives from the perspective of the cars they have known, the journeys they've been on and the things they keep in their boot for emergencies.

With contributions from our studio audience and tongue in cheek readings from Morwenna Banks

Producer: Gareth Edwards

A BBC Studios Comedy production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2017.

Victoria Coren Mitchell talks to Esther Rantzen about her life and the cars she has known.

Find out everything from friendship and family to the dangers of unfashionable shoes, via the joys of the black cab and the sentimental value of an ageing Volkswagen.

Plus Claudia has some thoughts on how to make horses a lot safer...

Series in which famous women look at their lives from the perspective of the cars they have known, the journeys they've been on and the things they keep in their boot for emergencies.

With contributions from our studio audience and tongue in cheek readings from Morwenna Banks

Producer: Gareth Edwards

A BBC Studios Comedy production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2017.

Victoria Coren Mitchell chats with Claudia Winkleman about her life and her cars.

She's better known to millions of BBC TV's Play School viewers as Floella Benjamin.

Return of the interview series that uses a famous woman's cars as a vehicle to talk about her life.

Floella tells how her supremely happy childhood in Trinidad turned sour when her parents left her with a cruel foster family - and the joy of being reunited with them when she came to England.

She explains how she learnt to overcome racism with a smile. Plus the freedom that came with passing her driving test - driving around looking for parties in the 1960s - and why when she became a peer, she chose Baroness of Beckenham as her title.

Car descriptions read by Sarah Hadland.

Producer: Gareth Edwards.

A BBC Studios Production, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2018.

Victoria Coren Mitchell interviews Floella Benjamin about her life and her cars.

Floella tells how her supremely happy childhood in Trinidad turned sour when her parents left her with a cruel foster family – and the joy of being reunited with them when she came to England.

She explains how she learnt to overcome racism with a smile. Plus the freedom that came with passing her driving test - driving around looking for parties in the 1960s – and why when she became a peer, she chose Baroness of Beckenham as her title.

From the much-polished Ford Zephyr of her childhood that her father let her steer as a special treat - to the day her husband-to-be Adrian Edmondson reversed into her much-loved Alfa Spider, nearly ending their romance before it began.

Car descriptions read by Sarah Hadland.

Producer: Gareth Edwards

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2018

Victoria Coren Mitchell interviews Jennifer Saunders about her life and cars.

She talks to Victoria Coren Mitchell about her life and the cars she has driven along the way.

From her origins in Liverpool to the stage to the USA and becoming a writer, via a Mini Cooper that turned out to be two Mini Coopers stuck together, a magnificent Mercedes and love at first sight with a Rolls Royce Corniche.

Lynda tells her hilarious, uplifting and thought-provoking life story.

Readings by Sarah Hadland

Producer: Gareth Edwards

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2018.

Victoria Coren Mitchell talks to Lynda La Plante about her life and cars.

With memories of childhood and motherhood, movies and needlework, Una discusses the vehicles she's driven along the way and why these days she has chosen to live car-free.

Readings by Sarah Hadland.

Sadly Una passed away in 2021.

Producer: Gareth Edwards

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2018.

Una Stubbs tells Victoria Coren Mitchell about her life and the cars she has known.