Harriet Walter, Richard Curtis, Suzi Quatro, Declan Murphy

Midweek

Actor Dame Harriet Walter; writer and director Richard Curtis; singer and songwriter Suzi Quatro and former jockey Declan Murphy join Libby Purves for the final edition of Midweek.

Richard Curtis CBE is a writer, director and campaigner. His films include Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary, Mr Bean, Love Actually and The Boat That Rocked. His television comedies include Blackadder and the Vicar of Dibley. He is vice-chair of Comic Relief which he co-founded after visiting Ethiopia during the 1985 famine. He has co-produced the Red Nose Day Live night for the BBC since 1988 and the charity has made over £1 billion for projects in Africa and the UK. Red Nose Day USA is broadcast in May.

Declan Murphy is a former jockey who survived a catastrophic fall at Haydock Park in May 1994. His injuries were so severe that the Racing Post published his obituary. In his memoir, Centaur, he recounts his upbringing in rural Limerick, his life as a leading amateur jockey and riding winners in the Champion Chase and Gold Cup. Eighteen months after falling from Arcot and following his painstaking recovery, he got back in the saddle to ride his final winner Jibereen at Chepstow. Centaur by Declan Murphy with Ami Rao is published by Doubleday.

Dame Harriet Walter is an actor, acclaimed for her work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. She recently played Julius Caesar, Henry IV and Prospero in The Tempest in Phyllida Lloyd's celebrated all-female Donmar Shakespeare Trilogy. She stars in the new film The Sense of an Ending alongside Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling which is based on the Julian Barnes novel. Other roles include the Duchess of Malfi, Hedda Gabler, Cleopatra and Lady Macbeth. Her book, Brutus and Other Heroines - Playing Shakespeare's Roles for Women, is published by Nick Hern Books.

Suzi Quatro is a singer and songwriter. Born in Detroit, she made her debut on stage playing bongos in her father's jazz band, The Art Quatro Trio. Her first hit Can the Can reached number one in May 1973 and she went on to become a regular fixture in the British charts with tracks including 48 Crash, Too Big and Devil Gate Drive. In the late Seventies she turned to acting, appearing in Happy Days and starred in the West End in Annie Get Your Gun in 1986. She is a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 2. Suzi is appearing in the Legends Live tour alongside David Essex; the Osmonds and Hot Chocolate.