TWICE UPON A TIME (with Janet Ellis)

Recorded live at the Chiswick Festival, Phyllis Logan (Secrets and Lies, Lovejoy, Downton Abbey) joins Janet to discuss her favourite childhood book Alison's Spy Adventure - a rollicking tale of espionage set in Scotland with Alison and her childhood friend solving the great mystery before the adults do.

Sheila Stuart wrote 15 books in the Alison series in all, as well - wholly unconnectedly - a few guides to antiques. Little exists to be found about her private life but only that Sheila Stuart was her pen name (her real name was Gladys May Baker). Daughter of a minister and born in Scotland, she trained as a journalist in Dundee before going on to write the Alison books.

Twice Upon A Time is presented by Janet Ellis

The Producer is Caroline Raphael

Recording and Editing by John Wakefield.

Follow us on instagram @twiceuponpod for pictures of the guests and their books.

Thanks to the Chiswick Book Festival and organisers Jo James and Torin Douglas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, recorded LIVE at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, Janet is delighted to welcome actor, writer and magician Andy Nyman to discuss his choice of spooky of book (so spooky he never could bring himself to read it, but was fascinated by the pictures within...).

Andy's choice; 'Monsters of the Movies' by Denis Gifford (perhaps the greatest British comics collector in history) whose passion for monsters inspired a generation.

To see pictures of the books and our guests - and in this instance images from the recording itself - visit @twiceuponpod on Instagram.

Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick podcast.

Producer is Claire Broughton

Recordist and Editor is John Wakefield

With thanks to Nathalie Bristow and the team at The Lyric Hammersmith

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former Children's Laureate, creator of the beloved 'Tracy Beaker' and one of the countries 3 most borrowed authors, Dame Jaqueline Wilson joins Janet to discuss P. L. Travers enduring classic 'Mary Poppins' - having loved the book and and yet never seen the Disney adaptation.

For pictures from the book please visit our instagram @twiceuponpod

A Hat Trick Podcast

Twice Upon A Time is presented by Janet Ellis

Recording and editing by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite

Produced by Caroline Raphael

Executive Producer Claire Broughton

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Janet is joined by fellow Blue Peter Alumnus, author and presenter Konnie Huq who brings along her choice, 'Superfudge' by Judy Blume.

For pictures from the book please visit our instagram @twiceuponpod

A Hat Trick Podcast

Twice Upon A Time is presented by Janet Ellis

Recording and editing by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite

Produced by Caroline Raphael

Executive Producer Claire Broughton

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In conjunction with Primadonna Festival, Andi Osho writer and actress, most recently from the brilliant 'Blue Lights' joins Janet to discuss her book choice 'Willie The Squowse' by Ted Allan. Andi will shortly be a judge at the Primadonna Festival, awarding the prize of a book contract for an unsigned, un-agented author. For more about the festival and to buy tickets head to www.primadonnafestival.com

For more about the podcast head to our instagram @twiceuponpod

Produced by Caroline Raphael

Recorded and edited by Diggory Waite and John Wakefield.

Twice Upon A Time with Janet Ellis is a Hat Trick Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lorraine Kelly OBE; presenter, broadcaster and host of her own eponymous and beloved show on ITV since 2010, joins Janet with her choice of 'Claudine at St.Clare's' by Enid Blyton.

Warm reflections on growing up, school days and the escapism of Enid Blyton.

For pictures of our guests and their books please visit our instagram @twiceuponpod

A Hat Trick Podcast

Twice Upon A Time is presented by Janet Ellis

Recording and editing by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite

Produced by Caroline Raphael

Executive Producer Claire Broughton

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Diane Morgan, actress, writer and known to many as the brilliant Philomena Cunk, chooses The Iron Man by Ted Hughes as her book in this episode.

As you'd expect, a hilarious chat this week, partly due to Diane's reaction to re reading the book for the pod!

For pictures of our guests and their books please visit our instagram @twiceuponpod

A Hat Trick Podcast

Twice Upon A Time is presented by Janet Ellis

Recording and editing by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite

Produced by Caroline Raphael

Executive Producer Claire Broughton

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's our pleasure to welcome Nick Mohammed to the pod this week, star of Ted Lasso and creator of the brilliant Mr Swallow. Nick introduces Janet to his favourite childhood book 'Pocket Magic' by Peter Eldin, a veritable cornucopia of tricks and tips for the budding magician. In this episode Nick talks about the beginning of his fascination with magic in childhood and how a love of magic has been a constant throughout his career.

For pictures from the book please visit our instagram @twiceuponpod

A Hat Trick Podcast

Twice Upon A Time is presented by Janet Ellis

Recording and editing by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite

Produced by Caroline Raphael

Executive Producer Claire Broughton

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, recorded LIVE at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, Janet is delighted to welcome musician and all round superstar Sophie Ellis-Bextor to discuss her choice of book and find out if parental reading during her childhood was really up to scratch!

Sophie chose Just Awful by Alma Marshak Whitney (of whom, not a huge amount is known) but the images in the book are brilliantly drawn by Lilian Hoban, a celebrated illustrator, who brings this simple but heartwarming story to life.

To see pictures of the books and our guests - and in this instance images from the recording itself - visit @twiceuponpod on instagram.

Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick podcast.

Producer is Caroline Raphael

Recordist and Editor is John Wakefield

With thanks to Nathalie Bristow and the team at The Lyric Hammersmith

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quintessential English actress Hayley Mills, star of numerous films including the original Parent Trap, That Darn Cat and the BAFTA winning Whistle Down The Wind joins Janet this week with her choice 'My Friend Flicka' by Mary O'Hara. This book which enthralled the young Hayley still holds the adult reader now with its examination of adult perspectives within the book as well as the bond between horses and their humans. Reminiscences about Hayley's early life include where she used to read as a child and how her home life was kept resolutely normal after her filming commitments had pause.

Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick Podcast

Produced by Caroline Raphael

Post Production by Diggory Waite and Andy Goddard

Exec Producer Claire Broughton

Follow the pod @twiceuponpod for pictures of the guests and their vintage books.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Best-selling author Anthony Horowitz is known not only for his original works such as the Magpie Murders and the Hawthorne Series but also for managing to inhabit existing characters such as Sherlock Holmes and James Bond in his hugely successful continuation novels of these series. For generations of younger readers however it is his Alex Rider novels that have proved hugely popular and also a gateway for many to properly addictive reading. His choice is The Seven Crystal Balls, a Tintin mystery (and the first half of a two part mystery).

Anthony's latest novel 'A Twist of A Knife' is the latest Hawthorne Mystery available now.

Twice Upon A Time with Janet Ellis is a Hat Trick Podcast.

The Producers are Claire Broughton and Caroline Raphael

Recording and Editing by Andy Goddard and Diggory Waite

Follow us on @twiceuponpod on instagram for pictures of the books and the interviewees

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Celebrated novelist Victoria Hislop joins Janet this week to talk about 'I Am David' by Anne Holm. Victoria describes wonderfully how she remembers the book being to her class by their teacher and also how it inspired her in her own writing.

Victoria's latest book Maria's Island is a brilliant children's adaptation of her bestseller The Island.

Twice Upon A Time with Janet Ellis is a Hat Trick Production

Producers are Caroline Raphael and Diggory Waite

Executive Producer for Hat Trick is Claire Broughton

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Champion Quizzer Paul Sinha joins Janet this week with his choice of - of course - The Guinness Book of Records (1982 edition, year specifically chosen by Paul). Expect facts galore, an examination of 1982 as a whole and how Paul and Janet would best each qualify for entry into this distinguished tome.

Twice Upon A Time with Janet Ellis is a Hat Trick Podcast

Follow us @twiceuponpod for pictures of our guests and their books

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The brilliant novelist and podcaster Elizabeth Day joins Janet today with her choice of book 'The Ordinary Princess' by M.M.Kaye.

Kaye is probably best known for her novel 'The Far Pavilions' which drew from her time growing up in India, which has also been made into a television series and a musical, but this tale of the princess who strives to be ordinary feels ahead of its time in terms of a female protagonist who is resolute in choosing to lead the life she wishes to lead and not that perhaps expected of her.

Follow us @twiceuponpod for pictures from the interviews, the vintage books sourced and our celebration of all things to do with discovering the joy of reading.

Twice Upon A Time (with Janet Ellis) is a Hat Trick Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just before we take a brief break to record some more episodes, here is Janet's own choice - The Swish Of The Curtain by Pamela Brown

Written when the author was 13 in 1938 it was finished a couple of years later and followed by several sequels. Pamela would later use the money she earned from the book to pay her way through drama school, eventually becoming an actress and producer for television.

Twice Upon A Time is presented by Janet Ellis

Recorded by Caroline Raphael

Edited by John Wakefield

Exec Producer is Claire Broughton

Follow us @twiceuponpod for pictures of the vintage books and our guests (their owners!)

Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Janet's guest this week is producer, novelist and children's author Lissa Evans. Her choice is the delightful 'Five Children and It' by E. Nesbit about a group of children who discover a magical being who can grant them wishes. Listen to hear how the book influenced Lissa's own writing and also some further insight into the life of E.Nesbit herself.

Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick Production.

Follow the show on instagram @twiceuponpod

The show is recorded and edited by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite

Executive Producers are Claire Broughton and Caroline Raphael

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Podcast royalty this week as the wonderful Helen Zaltzman; podcaster, broadcaster and writer, joins Janet to talk about Judith Kerr's book 'When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit' based on Judith's own childhood as her jewish family fled Nazi Germany to seek refuge. A fantastic chat about Helen's own childhood as an avid reader and her own families flight.

If you're keen to hear more from Helen and don't already know her podcasts, do go and listen to The Allusionist, Answer Me This!, and the Veronica Mars recap podcast Veronica Mars Investigations as they're all brilliant!

@twiceuponpod is also on instagram for pictures of our guests and their vintage books.

Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick Podcast

Producers are John Wakefield and Diggory Waite

Exec Producers are Claire Broughton and Caroline Raphael

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Susie Dent, wordsmith extraordinaire, joins Janet this week to talk about her favourite book Thursday's Child by Noel Streatfeild.

Follow us on @twiceuponpod for pictures from the pod and cover pictures of the vintage books chosen.

Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick Podcast

The Producers are John Wakefield and Diggory Waite

Exec Producers are Claire Broughton and Caroline Raphael

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emmanuel Dzotsi, originally hailing from Streatham and now co-host of hit US podcasts Reply-All and Serial, joins Janet this week with his choice 'Danny Champion of the World' by Roald Dahl.

Join us @twiceuponpod for images of the books chosen and pictures from the recordings.

Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick Podcast

Executive Producers Caroline Raphael and Claire Broughton

Edit Producers John Wakefield and Diggory Waite

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Posy Simmonds chooses The Tale of Mr Tod by Beatrix Potter.

Potter, born in 1866, didn’t publish her first book, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” until her mid-30s. Having grown up isolated from other children, she had numerous pets and spent holidays in Scotland and the Lake District. She would go on to write 23 tales for children, but as early as 1913, at the height of her fame, she began to wind down her career to devote herself to sheep farming in England’s Lake District. 

Previous to her career writing children's books, Potter's study and watercolours of fungi led to her being widely respected in the field of mycology. Due to purchasing farms and parcels of land over her decades living in the Lake District and subsequently leaving them to the National Trust after her death, she is credited with preserving much of the land that now constitutes the Lake District National Park.

Twice Upon A Time is hosted by Janet Ellis

Produced by Caroline Raphael

Recording and editing by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite.

It is a Hat Trick Podcast. Follow us on instagram @twiceuponpod

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Samira Ahmed chooses Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

More about this book:

“If other girls had to be one of us, which of us they’d choose to be?” For the past nearly ninety years young readers have been dreaming of being Pauline, Petrova or Posy Fossil. Noel Streatfeild (1895 – 1986) had no intention of writing for children until she was cajoled into it by her publisher. In 1936 Ballet Shoes was published with its delicate line drawings by her sister, Ruth Jervis, and it has never been out of print. In it Streatfeild drew on her own experience of the triumphs and disappointments of life on the stage.  

Twice Upon A Time is hosted by Janet Ellis

The Producer is Caroline Raphael

Recording and Editing by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite

Exec Producer is Claire Broughton

Instagram @twiceuponapod

This is a Hat Trick Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Food writer and author Rachel Roddy chooses 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea' by Judith Kerr, first published in 1968.

More about the author:

Having eventually arrived in England as refugees from Germany during the Second World War, both Kerr and her brother made their homes in Britain and all her family took British citizenship after the end of the war. Her London settings can seem quintessentially British, offering an intimate portrait of 1960s London. But her own childhood was marked by constant movement and upheaval, as well as a need to learn new languages, fleeing Germany for Switzerland, France and finally England, where her family lived in impoverished conditions for a number of years in cheap London hotels, often relying on the kindness of friends and connections to survive from week to week.

Twice Upon A Time is presented by Janet Ellis

The producer is Caroline Raphael

Recording and editing by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite

The Executive Producer is Claire Broughton

Find us at @twiceuponpodstagram for pictures of the books chosen and more from our guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Morpurgo chooses Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

More about this book:

It started with a map. In the summer of 1894 Robert Louis Stevenson, often chronically unwell, passed the time drawing: “I made the map of an island; it was elaborately and (I thought) beautifully coloured; the shape of it took my fancy beyond expression; it contained harbours that pleased me like sonnets; and with the unconsciousness of the predestined, I ticketed my performance "Treasure Island. …. as I pored upon my map of "Treasure Island," the future characters of the book began to appear there visibly among imaginary woods; and their brown faces and bright weapons peeped out upon me from unexpected quarters, as they passed to and fro, fighting, and hunting treasure, on these few square inches of a flat projection. The next thing I knew, I had some paper before me and was writing out a list of chapters. How often have I done so, and the thing gone no farther! But there seemed elements of success about this enterprise.” And success indeed followed this adventure of the high seas, of treacherous pirates and buried treasure. 

Other books mentioned during the episode:

When Fishes Flew by Michael Morpurgo

Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

The Kites are Flying by Michael Morpurgo

Twice Upon A Time is presented by Janet Ellis

Producer is Caroline Raphael

Recording and editing by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite

Exec Producer is Claire Broughton

Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick Podcast

Follow us @twiceuponpod for pictures of the books and the guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tuppence Middleton chooses Stig of the Dump by Clive Kingpublished by Puffin Books 1963

More about this book:

Stig Of The Dump was rejected by a great many publishers until it was picked up by the legendary children's editor Kay Webb, of Puffin Books who said it was one of the books she was proudest of publishing. Since 1963 it has sold millions of copies. And it's the one that's probably closest to it’s author Clive King (1924 – 2018) himself; long before recycling was fashionable he loved to pick up bits and pieces that other people had discarded and turn them into something else. As a child of the 1930s he would roam around the North Kent countryside playing, yes, in a chalk pit. Years later his own children did the same and there it was, the inspiration for the story of Barney and his friend Stig.  Never out of print, for generations of children the magical chalk pit lives on in their imagination – in real life, it is now covered by a golf course. 

Twice Upon A Time is hosted by Janet Ellis and Produced by Caroline Raphael.

Recording and Editing by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite.

The Executive Producer is Claire Broughton.

It is a Hat Trick Podcast.

Follow us on @twiceuponpod for pictures of our interviewees choices and updates about the show.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maisie Peters chooses 'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott. First published in 1868.

More about this book:

"We do not care just now for volumes of collected stories…write us a new book consisting of a single story for girls'' 

Louisa May Alcott (1832 – 1888) later said she wrote Little Womento prove that she could not write a girl’s' book having always preferred to play with boys, and therefore knowing very little about any girls except her sisters and herself. She singularly failed however, as her books about the March sisters, Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth, starting with Little Women, have enchanted and inspired girls since 1868. Alcott herself said some years later: “I am more than half-persuaded that I am a man's soul, put by some freak of nature into a woman's body….because I have fallen in love in my life with so many pretty girls, and never once the least little bit with any man."

Other books referenced in the pod:

Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott

What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge

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Keith Brymer Jones chooses Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe with illustrations by F G Moorsom.

More about the book:

Robinson Crusoe was published in 1719. It was not written as a book for children but illustrated editions were published later for younger readers eager to follow the adventures of Crusoe as he sailed the high seas eventually being shipwrecked on a desert island.  Crusoe’s involvement with slavery, trafficking and colonial expansion is now recognised but for the many who read it as a child, or had it read to them, Crusoe’s adventures, running away to sea against the will of his parents, are the stuff of fantasy and freedom. 

Head to our instagram page @twiceuponpod for pictures of the guests and their books.

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Juno Dawson chooses Vampires by Colin & Jacqui Hawkins published by Harper Collins 1985

More about this book

Jacqui and her husband Colin Hawkins (the parents of actress Sally Hawkins) are known for their creative partnership, having illustrated and written over 150 children's books. 'Vampires' provides humorous tips on how to recognize and ward off vampires and looks at the daily life of a vampire family called the Von Bluots .

Other books mentioned during the show

The Gender Games by Juno Dawson

Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl

Dirty Beasts by Roald Dahl

Red Riding Hood by Roald Dahl

The Claude series by Alex T Smith

Bangers & Mash series by Paul Groves

George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl

Gobbolino The Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams

Matilda by Roald Dahl

The Witches by Roald Dahl

Room 13 by Robert Swindells

Across the Barricades by Joan Lingard

Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee

Paradise Lost by John Milton

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Clean by Juno Dawson

Forever by Judy Blume

And Philip Pullman, Alice Osman, the Point Horror series, Dr Who and Nancy Drew Case Files series, Stephen King, Terry Pratchett and James Herbert.

Twice Upon a Time is produced by Caroline Raphael

Edited and recorded by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite 

Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick Podcast

Follow us on instagram @twiceuponpod

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lauren Child chooses The Eighteenth Emergency by Betsy Byars

More about Lauren's choice: Betsy Byars (1928 – 2020) was a prolific and award winning American children’s writer. The Eighteenth Emergency was her 9th out of over 40 books, published in the US in 1973 and a year later in the UK. She started writing to fend off the boredom of being at home with small children and was undeterred by her first book being rejected nine times. The Eighteenth Emergency was inspired by her fear of the tyrants of her own school playground, the Fletcher brothers. In later years she got her pilot’s licence and lived with her pilot husband above an aircraft hangar. 

Books mentioned in this programme:

Clarice Bean series by Lauren Child

Ruby Redfort series by Lauren Child

Twice Upon a Time is produced by Caroline Raphael

Edited and recorded by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite 

Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick Podcast

Follow us on instagram @twiceuponpod

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ben Miller chooses King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green (first published by Puffin Books in 1953)

More about Ben's choice:

Roger Lancelyn Green (1918 – 1987) wrote many books for children and adults but is best known for his retelling of ancient classic myths from tales of the Norse to the Egyptian gods for young readers. King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table was published in 1954 and is still in print.

Lancelyn Green himself had a touch of the long, long ago – he was an established academic and expert on fairy tales and was Lord of the Manors of Poulton-Lancelyn and Lower Bebington; his family had lived in and owned Poulton Hall in Leicestershire since the12th Century.  He was also a close friend of C.S Lewis who credited him with coming up with the title The Chronicles of Narnia and also encouraging his friend to persevere with the books. 

Books mentioned within the programme:

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Simon Armitage

Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory

Twice Upon A Time is produced by Caroline Raphael, Sound Design and Editing by John Wakefield, Assistant Producer Diggory Waite.

Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick Podcast.

Follow us on instagram @twiceuponpod

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twice Upon a Time is coming soon! Subscribe to the podcast to be first to join Jane Ellis and a celebrity guest as they chat about their favourite childhood book.

For all guest news and announcements, follow us on instagram: @TwiceUponPod

Twice Upon a Time is a Hat Trick Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.