First shows of 2023 coming to London, Ipswich, Guildford, Norwich, Winchester, Brighton & beyond!

Thank you to everyone who has been to shows around the country in 2022. We found lots of new towns and venues and audiences for our events and hope to bring new guests back to most/all of them in 2023. Do feel free to make known any congenial venues near you that would suit In Conversation nights, film screenings and all That Kind of Thing – and indeed any guests who you would like to see, across sport, entertainment and beyond.

Our first confirmed shows of 2023…

LONDON

Christian Plowman: Undercover – Tales of the Real-life Line of Duty. Former Met Police undercover detective (now working against wildlife trafficking in Africa) shares hair-raising tales of a life lived on the edge. Barnes OSO Arts Centre, Thursday January 19th. Click through for tickets. This is the first show I have done with Christian. I have interviewed him for another project and if you are a fan of Line of Duty, 24 Hours in Police Custody etc, I think you will find his stories compelling. Hopefully, we will be coming to more venues later in the year.

WINCHESTER, IPSWICH

Michael Hutchinson’s How to be a Cycling Champion comes to Winchester, The Nutshell on Wednesday January 25 and Ipswich, King Street Cinema, on Tuesday January 31. Michael Hutchinson did not ride a bike race until he was 22. By the time he was 35, he had won more British titles than any man in history. Michael tells us how he did it – and to share stories from his many-sided life, as stand-up comedian, human rights lawyer, Cycling Weekly columnist and acclaimed author. We had some great shows with Michael last year and I’m looking forward to bringing him to two venues that saw very enthusiastic crowds in 2022.

BRIGHTON, BATH, BRISTOL

Jeremy Whittle’s Untold Stories of the Peloton. Brighton, Grand Central Thursday January 26. Tickets on sale soon for shows in Bath (Wednesday March 1) and Bristol (Thursday March 2) I am delighted that Jeremy is joining me for some shows in 2023. As cycling correspondent to, first, The Times and now The Guardian, Jeremy has reported on all the major stories in world cycling over the last 25 years and had close-to dealings with everyone from Greg LeMond to Tadej Pogacar, Bradley Wiggins to Lance Armstrong, Nicole Cooke to Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig.  In these shows, Jeremy will be telling the stories behind the stories and passing on some of his front-row observations that did not make it to print.

NORWICH

After my sell-out True Tales of the Tour de France night at the lovely Maddermarket theatre in Norwich with Carlton Kirby in November, I have been invited back (!) to do some more. We have two shows inked in: on Thursday February 9, we have John Altman’s True Tales of Hollywood and the Hit Parade. Anyone who has been to one of these nights will know that John has worked with (and has backstage stories about) a who’s who of music, film and entertainment from the last 50 years, from Michael Caine to Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse to George Michael, James Bond to Bjork. Which makes for a very revealing and congenial evening for all music and film fans. On Thursday March 23, we will have a Tour de France True Tales night with ITV Tour commentator Matt Rendell, whose brilliant, unique mix of insights, bizarre stories, poetic reflections and stories about giants of cycling from Eddy Merckx to Mark Cavendish delighted audiences on our two short tours in 2022. Tickets for that will be on sale soon.

READING, GUILDFORD, NOTTINGHAM

After my sell-out show with Matt Rendell in Reading in November, I will be bringing a run of cycling guests to a larger venue there in 2023 – the lovely South Side Arts Centre. The first night with be a screening of the Paris-Roubaix documentary A Sunday in Hell, introduced by William Fotheringham on Thursday February 23. Then, cycling adventurer Emily Chappell (fresh from our November tour of Yorkshire) will be my guest in Reading for a night on Wednesday May 3. Tickets for both of these will be on sale soon.

William will also be introducing A Sunday in Hell and having a post-film Q&A at the Electric Theatre in Guildford on Friday February 24, and at the Broadway Arts Centre, Nottingham on Monday March 6. Tickets for both of these on sale soon.

More news of guests and dates and tickets going on sale soon.

Happy Christmas!