Pottering with Tom Allen

Laura Checkley

This week we welcomed the wonderful Laura Checkley in to the garden! A glorious actor and brilliantly funny, you’ll know Laura from King Gary, Action Team, Screw, Detectorists and, well, so many things besides! 🎬 🪴 We chat firing guns in Bulgaria, neighbourhood Facebook groups and what growing up gay did to our wardrobes. My bathroom birdsong also gets another mention, what a successful purchase that has turned out to be! 🐦‍⬛ So, stick on that little beanie hat, grab yourself some chicken wings and let’s go Pottering. 🎧 Watch on YouTube and Spotify, or listen wherever you get your podcasts. 🌷 Please do like and subscribe as they say! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Alan Carr

Oh, what a joy it was to welcome my dear friend Alan Carr into the garden for a spot of Pottering! 🌻 Comedian, presenter and turret-loving TV sensation, Alan is always a delight! You’ll know him from the brilliant Changing Ends on ITV, his Mediterranean makeovers with Amanda Holden on BBC One, BAFTA-award winning The Traitors, and of course so much more besides.  We shoot the breeze (or should that be the trout?) about Alan’s brand new castle, our favourite National Trust spots, and being shamed by national treasure Dame Mary Berry. Much to enjoy! 🏰🍷🦜 🍾 So pop open the bubbles, grab those birdwatching binoculars, and perhaps change out of that Poirot outfit, just in case, as you come Pottering with us. 🎧 Watch on YouTube and Spotify, or listen wherever you get your podcasts. And please do like and subscribe, perhaps leave us a review, it's very much appreciated, @tomallen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Cariad Lloyd

Joining me this week in our little Pottering oasis is the delightful Cariad Lloyd! Comedian, author and podcast sensation, Cariad is co-host of the brilliant Sara & Cariad’s Weirdos Book Club with Sara Pascoe, and part of the all-star improv show Austentatious, which is in the West End and on tour throughout 2026, so do check that out! 🌷🎭 We chat nineties nostalgia, the wonderful world of improv, yes and hear all about Cariad’s amazing children’s book Where Did She Go? Both proud members of the Dead Dad Club, Cariad has such a wonderfully honest way of chatting about death and grief. If the conversation intrigues you, please do seek out her books, and take a listen to Griefcast, (once you’re all up to date and subscribed to Pottering, of course!) 😉💕 🌹 Now, put a bookmark in that copy of Sense and Sensibility, dust off your old DMs, and let’s go Pottering. 🎧 Watch on YouTube and Spotify, or listen wherever you get your podcasts. And please do like and subscribe, @tomallen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Carol Klein

Oh what a treat it was to chat with true gardening icon Carol Klein! Presenter, author and gardener extraordinaire, Carol is so gloriously entertaining and a true horticultural hero of mine and so many others. It was an absolute pleasure to chat with her, even if the spring sunshine soon swapped out for sleet! ☂️❄️ 🌸 We discuss the promiscuity of the primrose, the dangers of the Chelsea Flower Show bar and even, briefly, bathing with John Lennon. 🍷🍇 If you’ve enjoyed the conversation, I’d highly suggest seeking out Carol’s books, in particular her perfectly named Hortobiography and, brilliant news, the new series of Greatest Gardens with Diarmuid Gavin and Carol Klein is available on BBC iPlayer right now, please do take a look! Now, pour yourself a glass of crisp rosé, pop open those umbrellas and come pottering with us. Quick! Before the sap rises! 🎧 Watch on YouTube and Spotify, or listen wherever you get your podcasts. And please do like and subscribe, @tomallen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Ashley James

Joining me this week in the garden is the delightful Ashley James! Broadcaster, campaigner and Sunday Times Bestselling author, Ashley's debut book Bimbo is out right now! 🌸 We chat about turning our hands to gardening, sometimes at the expense of Dad’s daffodils, the surprisingly fascinating origins of the ‘Crazy Cat Lady’, and the highs and lows of being a woman online. 🐈 🌻 So, switch off This Morning, grab a little sachet of wildflowers, and come pottering with me. 🎧 Watch on YouTube and Spotify, or listen wherever you get your podcasts. And please do like and subscribe, @tomallen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]