app_store_button

google_play_button

Details page - Device banner - 894x1036

Step into an infinite world of stories

Listen and read

BBC Radio 4


Celebrating the music that special guests cherish and would like to bestow to future generations.


Inheritance Tracks

The screenwriter and television producer Russell T Davies.

From being best known to being the show-runner for the reboot of Dr Who, he’s looked at life in London during the 1980s with the series It’s A Sin and his latest TV drama is set in contemporary Manchester.

His Inheritance Tracks are inspired by his family and a lost loved one.

Inherited: Oh What A Beautiful Morning by Howard Keel
Pass On: Americano by Lady GaGa

Producer: Anna Bailey

Russell T Davies

The journalist and broadcaster Katie Razzall is the BBC’s culture and media editor - and co-host of The Media Show.

She was formerly Newsnight’s UK editor and correspondent for Channel 4 News - but has long harboured a dream of being a WWII French resistance member.

Her Inheritance Tracks are incredibly moving…

Inherited: Petite Fleur by Sidney Bechet
Passing on: Long Time Coming by Delays

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Katie Razzall

Dame Prue Leith has written more than a dozen cookery books, seven novels, and her new memoir - "Being Old...and learning to love it!" - she explores the trials and taboos of growing older.

She's no stranger to a kitchen disco with her roles on the Great British Menu and Bake Off - but has always been too afraid to sing.

That is until an appearance on ITV's hit show, The Masked Singer.

Let's see if her Inheritance Tracks can cook up a storm.

Inherited: The Ugly Duckling by Danny Kaye
Passing on: Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin' by Gordon MacRae
(The Masked Singer, Bandicoot Productions, ITV)

Producer: Ben Mitchell

Prue Leith

This week’s Inheritance Tracks come from stage and screen actor, Jason Watkins. 

Jason has been in brilliant in TV productions as various as the Crown, W1A and the The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries for which he won a BAFTA. 

Inherited: Al Bowlly - Love is the Sweetest Thing
Pass on: Human League – Together in Electric Dreams

Producer: Ribika Moktan

Jason Watkins

This week’s Inheritance Tracks come from Presenter and Journalist, Nick Robinson. 

Nick is the BBC’s and ITV former political editor and he started as a presenter on Today (Radio 4) in November 2015.

Here are the two tracks most dear to him:

Inherited: The Carpet Crawlers by Genesis taken from the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
Pass On: Beethoven's Fidelio quartet - Mir ist so wunderbar
Producers: Lowri Morgan and Jesse Edwards.

Nick Robinson

The Inheritance Tracks featured on this week's Saturday Live with Adrian Chiles, come from the skincare entrepreneur Liz Earle whose eponymous beauty brand has been going strong for more than thirty years. Liz has no fewer than 35 books to her name and her latest, How to Age, is out now. 

Inherited: These Boots Are Made for Walking by Nancy Sinatra
Passing on: One Love by David Guetta featuring Estelle

Producer: Anna Bailey

Liz Earle

Our Inheritance Tracks this week come from the singer-songwriter Laura Mvula.

From hits such as Green Garden, to Sing To The Moon, and to live stage performances at the BBC Promos, Laura’s music is a mix of jazz, classical and Rhythm and Blues. 

Growing up in Birmingham, Laura went on to study composition at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, before releasing her Mercury Prize-nominated debut album 'Sing to the Moon' in 2013. She has been nominated for the prestigious award three times

Inherited: Golden Brown by Omar 
Passing on: The World Is Yours by Nas 
Producer: Anna Bailey

Laura Mvula

From Shameless to X-Men, Atonement and His Dark Materials…James McAvoy seems to have mastered his craft in-front of the camera - so has decided to try his hand at calling the shots.

His directorial debut, California Schemin', sees two chaps from Dundee in Scotland pretend to be American rappers to land a record deal.

A story that sounds stranger than fiction - but is true.

So now seemed like the perfect time to hear about the music that inspires him.

Inherited: Maggie May by Rod Stewart
Passing on: Ally Bally Bee sung by Mary Anne Paterson

Producers: Anna Bailey and Ben Mitchell

James McAvoy

Our Inheritance Tracks this week come from the actor Noah Wyle.

From ER to The Pitt, Noah’s career on screen echoes that of his mother who worked as a nurse.

But music was always a familial pastime. 

Inherited: We Belong Together by Rickie Lee Jones 
Passing on: Peter and the Wolf composed by Sergei Prokofiev and performed by the New York Philharmonic

Producers: Anna Bailey and Ben Mitchell

Noah Wyle

This edition of Inheritance Tracks come from an actress with a strong claim for national treasure status – Lesley Joseph.

With a career spanning over sixty years, she has entertained us as on the small screen in the likes of Birds of a Feather and on stage as Mother Superior in the Sister Act musical.

Inherited: Marche Militaire composed by Franz Schubert and performed by the Philharmonic Wind Orchestra 
Passing on: What About Us by P!nk

Producers: Lowri Morgan and Ben Mitchell

Lesley Joseph

Singer Pixie Lott chooses 'Love Come Down' performed by Evelyn Champagne King and 'Something Inside So Strong' by Labi Siffre.

Pixie Lott

Listen and read

Other podcasts you might like ...