Try free for 30 days
-
Backing into the Spotlight
- A Memoir
- Narrated by: Michael Whitehall, Jack Whitehall, Hilary Whitehall
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $21.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
How to Survive Family Holidays
- By: Jack Whitehall, Michael Whitehall, Hilary Whitehall
- Narrated by: Hilary Whitehall, Jack Whitehall, Michael Whitehall
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one family has more experience of travelling together than the Whitehalls. Indeed they've been allowing us a window to their escapades for the past five years in the hit Netflix show Travels with My Father, and in this hilarious book, they have now decided to pool their advice for fellow travellers. To lay out the pitfalls of family holidays. The dos and don'ts, the highs and lows. In doing so, they are sharing some of their best anecdotes.
-
-
Witty
- By Sally on 10-02-2024
-
Alanatomy
- The Inside Story
- By: Alan Carr
- Narrated by: Alan Carr
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first novel, Look Who It Is!, Alan told his story ('oh and what a life') with his unique twist of natural, observational and tongue-in-cheek humour that made him famous. Alan Carr described his life story in his own words, from growing up in a football-mad family in Northampton to his rise as one of Britain's best-loved comedians. And now he is ready to divulge the next chapter in bursts of hilarious Technicolor.
-
-
A truly funny honest update
- By jackie b on 13-05-2019
-
Oh Miriam!
- Stories from an Extraordinary Life
- By: Miriam Margolyes
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From being escorted off the Today programme (for saying what we were all thinking) to declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave; from Tales of the Unexpected to Graham Norton's sofa, she is our most loved and most outspoken national treasure. Oh Miriam! takes you inside both her head and her heart. Buckle up for the most irrepressible, hilarious and moving listen of 2023.
-
-
Grandmother to the neglected
- By evan w on 24-09-2023
-
Mack the Life
- By: Lee Mack
- Narrated by: Lee Mack
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Where do comedians come from? Why is it that one person is a funny bloke down the pub while another actually makes a living by standing up in front of an audience telling jokes? And where does all that material come from? Well, young Lee McKillop used to wonder that too. Growing up in his parents’ pub, small and wiry in a world of bigger and chunkier specimens, Lee quickly learned that cracking jokes was a way to get attention.
-
-
SLIGHTLY OUT OF DATE, BUT AN ENTERTAINING LISTEN
- By Rob in Nelson NZ on 04-01-2023
-
May I Have Your Attention Please?
- By: James Corden
- Narrated by: James Corden
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As far back as he can remember James Corden has only ever wanted to be in one place: in front of you, doing something to make you laugh, cry, shout, or giggle uncontrollably. At the age of 4, he grandstanded throughout his baby sister’s christening, standing on a chair in front of the whole congregation, pulling faces and cracking everyone up. Despite himself, the vicar was impressed. And from then on he couldn’t get enough of the spotlight, even when it always seemed to avoid him. Throughout his teens, he and his Dad trudged up and down towards London....
-
-
Great story telling with heartfelt insight.
- By Anonymous User on 23-08-2017
-
Between the Stops
- The View of My Life from the Top of the Number 12 Bus
- By: Sandi Toksvig
- Narrated by: Sandi Toksvig
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
'Between the Stops is a sort of a memoir, my sort. It's about a bus trip really, because it's my view from the Number 12 bus (mostly top deck, the seat at the front on the right), a double-decker that plies its way from Dulwich, in South East London, where I was living, to where I sometimes work - at the BBC, in the heart of the capital. It's not a sensible way to write a memoir at all, probably, but it's the way things pop into your head as you travel, so it's my way'.
-
-
Best book in years
- By Anonymous User on 26-10-2020
-
How to Survive Family Holidays
- By: Jack Whitehall, Michael Whitehall, Hilary Whitehall
- Narrated by: Hilary Whitehall, Jack Whitehall, Michael Whitehall
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one family has more experience of travelling together than the Whitehalls. Indeed they've been allowing us a window to their escapades for the past five years in the hit Netflix show Travels with My Father, and in this hilarious book, they have now decided to pool their advice for fellow travellers. To lay out the pitfalls of family holidays. The dos and don'ts, the highs and lows. In doing so, they are sharing some of their best anecdotes.
-
-
Witty
- By Sally on 10-02-2024
-
Alanatomy
- The Inside Story
- By: Alan Carr
- Narrated by: Alan Carr
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first novel, Look Who It Is!, Alan told his story ('oh and what a life') with his unique twist of natural, observational and tongue-in-cheek humour that made him famous. Alan Carr described his life story in his own words, from growing up in a football-mad family in Northampton to his rise as one of Britain's best-loved comedians. And now he is ready to divulge the next chapter in bursts of hilarious Technicolor.
-
-
A truly funny honest update
- By jackie b on 13-05-2019
-
Oh Miriam!
- Stories from an Extraordinary Life
- By: Miriam Margolyes
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From being escorted off the Today programme (for saying what we were all thinking) to declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave; from Tales of the Unexpected to Graham Norton's sofa, she is our most loved and most outspoken national treasure. Oh Miriam! takes you inside both her head and her heart. Buckle up for the most irrepressible, hilarious and moving listen of 2023.
-
-
Grandmother to the neglected
- By evan w on 24-09-2023
-
Mack the Life
- By: Lee Mack
- Narrated by: Lee Mack
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Where do comedians come from? Why is it that one person is a funny bloke down the pub while another actually makes a living by standing up in front of an audience telling jokes? And where does all that material come from? Well, young Lee McKillop used to wonder that too. Growing up in his parents’ pub, small and wiry in a world of bigger and chunkier specimens, Lee quickly learned that cracking jokes was a way to get attention.
-
-
SLIGHTLY OUT OF DATE, BUT AN ENTERTAINING LISTEN
- By Rob in Nelson NZ on 04-01-2023
-
May I Have Your Attention Please?
- By: James Corden
- Narrated by: James Corden
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As far back as he can remember James Corden has only ever wanted to be in one place: in front of you, doing something to make you laugh, cry, shout, or giggle uncontrollably. At the age of 4, he grandstanded throughout his baby sister’s christening, standing on a chair in front of the whole congregation, pulling faces and cracking everyone up. Despite himself, the vicar was impressed. And from then on he couldn’t get enough of the spotlight, even when it always seemed to avoid him. Throughout his teens, he and his Dad trudged up and down towards London....
-
-
Great story telling with heartfelt insight.
- By Anonymous User on 23-08-2017
-
Between the Stops
- The View of My Life from the Top of the Number 12 Bus
- By: Sandi Toksvig
- Narrated by: Sandi Toksvig
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
'Between the Stops is a sort of a memoir, my sort. It's about a bus trip really, because it's my view from the Number 12 bus (mostly top deck, the seat at the front on the right), a double-decker that plies its way from Dulwich, in South East London, where I was living, to where I sometimes work - at the BBC, in the heart of the capital. It's not a sensible way to write a memoir at all, probably, but it's the way things pop into your head as you travel, so it's my way'.
-
-
Best book in years
- By Anonymous User on 26-10-2020
-
Diddly Squat
- A Year on the Farm
- By: Jeremy Clarkson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Clarkson
- Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to Jeremy's farm. It's an idyllic spot, offering picturesque views across the Cotswolds, bustling hedgerows, woodlands and natural springs. Jeremy always liked the idea being a farmer. But, while he was barrelling around the world having more fun with cars than was entirely reasonable, it seemed obvious that the actual, you know, farming was much better left to someone else. Then one day he decided he would do the farming himself. After all, how hard could it be?
-
-
Needs more content.
- By Amazon Customer on 19-12-2021
-
Toksvig's Almanac 2021
- An Eclectic Meander Through the Historical Year by Sandi Toksvig
- By: Sandi Toksvig
- Narrated by: Sandi Toksvig
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Let Sandi Toksvig guide you on an eclectic meander through the calendar, illuminating neglected corners of history to tell tales of the fascinating figures you didn't learn about at school. From popes who gave birth during papal processions, to the inventor of Scrabble, to pioneering civil rights activist Ida B. Wells, who refused to give up her seat on a train decades before Rosa Parks was born. As witty and entertaining as it is instructive, this is an essential companion to each day of the year.
-
-
An excellent listen.
- By Peter acton on 29-05-2022
-
How to be Champion
- An Autobiography
- By: Sarah Millican
- Narrated by: Sarah Millican
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Part autobiography, part self-help, part confession, part celebration of being a common-or-garden woman, part collection of synonyms for nunny, Sarah Millican's debut audiobook delves into her super normal life with daft stories, funny tales and proper advice on how to get past life's blips - like being good at school but not good at friends, the excitement of IBS and how to blossom postdivorce.
-
-
Brilliantly Millican
- By Harriet on 09-10-2017
-
Brutally Honest
- Mel B’s tell-all memoir
- By: Melanie Brown, Louise Gannon
- Narrated by: Melanie Brown, Phoenix Chi Gulzar Brown, Andrea Brown, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As one-fifth of the iconic Spice Girls and judge on X Factor and America's Got Talent, Melanie Brown, aka Scary Spice, has been an international star since the age of 19. And yet there are sides of Mel that no one has ever seen, or really known. Brutally Honest is an exposé of the struggles and acute pain that lay behind the glamour and success. With deep personal insight, remarkable frankness and Melanie’s trademark Yorkshire humour, this audiobook removes the mask of fame and reveals the mother, wife and daughter behind the Spice Girl everyone thinks they know.
-
-
Profound.
- By Anonymous User on 26-02-2022
-
Dear Fatty
- By: Dawn French
- Narrated by: Liza Tarbuck
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With a sharp eye for comic detail and a wicked ear for the absurdities of life, Dawn French shows just how an RAF girl from the west country with dreams of becoming a ballerina/bridesmaid/thief rose to become one of the best-loved comedy actresses of our time.
-
-
Dawn's love
- By Gracious on 06-02-2015
-
Yeah, Nah!
- A Celebration of Life and the Words That Make Us Who We Are
- By: William McInnes
- Narrated by: William McInnes
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you ever bunged it on? Behaved like a drongo? Added mayo to a story? Lost your Reg Grundies? Join bestselling storyteller William McInnes as he offers his own take on our colourful and colloquial way with words. From the simpler times of childhood to today's testing (and unprecedented!) times, or when we're wasting time, enjoying sporting times or hitting the big time, Australians have a turn of phrase for every situation. Our love of plain speaking communicates the essence of the thing to our mates, to those in the know - and to those who should know better.
-
-
Love Hill, William narrated this himself
- By Ms. C. Bates on 03-02-2024
-
Small Man in a Book
- By: Rob Brydon
- Narrated by: Rob Brydon
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who is the man behind the many voices of Rob Brydon? Read by the man himself, this audiobook memoir will reveal the warm heart behind one of Britain's favourite impressionists. A multi-award-winning actor, writer, comedian and presenter known for his warmth, humour and inspired impressions, Rob Brydon has quickly become one of our very favourite entertainers.
-
-
Funny Man
- By Ross on 02-01-2017
-
The Life and Loves of a He Devil
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Graham Norton has been entertaining audiences and having fun with some of the world's biggest stars for nearly 20 years. He is loved across the nation for his delight in the peculiar and for his ability to find humour and a common ground in all that life brings.
-
-
Truely entertaining and memorable
- By HarperSeed on 02-04-2015
-
No Cunning Plan
- By: Sir Tony Robinson
- Narrated by: Tony Robinson
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sir Tony Robinson is a much-loved actor, presenter and author with a stellar career lasting over 50 years. Now, in his long-awaited autobiography, he reveals how the boy from South Woodford went from child stardom in the first stage production of Oliver!, a pint-size pickpocket desperately bleaching his incipient moustache, to comedy icon Baldrick, the loyal servant and turnip aficionado in Blackadder.
-
-
Tony's life story no cunning plan!
- By Robin P Pereira on 03-04-2017
-
And Away...
- By: Bob Mortimer
- Narrated by: Bob Mortimer
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bob Mortimer’s life was trundling along happily until suddenly in 2015 he was diagnosed with a heart condition that required immediate surgery and forced him to cancel an upcoming tour. The episode unnerved him but forced him to reflect on his life so far. This is the framework for his hilarious and moving memoir, And Away....
-
-
Just Smiling
- By Anonymous User on 13-03-2022
-
Rolling with the Punchlines
- A Memoir
- By: Urzila Carlson
- Narrated by: Urzila Carlson
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written with her trademark deadpan humour, Urzila's memoir is full of great stories about both the big things in life and the little things. Urzila's accidental beginning in stand-up has led to an incredibly successful career in comedy, with regular gigs on television as well as sell-out shows in comedy festivals across New Zealand and Australia. But life hasn't always been a bundle of laughs. Urzila talks candidly about her childhood with a great family, apart from her abusive dad, and about growing up in South Africa.
-
-
surprisingly inspiring
- By farmer_liz on 19-10-2019
-
The Early Cases of Hercule Poirot
- By: Agatha Christie
- Narrated by: Charles Armstrong
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This collection of 25 Hercule Poirot adventures is compiled from short stories written by Agatha Christie for The Sketch magazine in 1923 from March to December. In these stories, including "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim", "The Veiled Lady", and "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb", the eccentric private detective slowly and surely solves mysteries involving jealousy, revenge, and greed. These stories were well-received at the time and cemented Christie's reputation as the worthy successor to Arthur Conan Doyle.
Publisher's Summary
Read by Michael Whitehall, featuring Jack Whitehall and Hilary Whitehall.
Standing in front of a full-length mirror in my dressing room at ITV studios, waiting to go on to the set of Backchat, I had a brief conversation with my reflection.
'Michael, what the f*** do you think you're doing?'
Theatrical agent Michael Whitehall spent a career pushing others into the spotlight. He had been involved behind the scenes with the careers of many prominent actors, including Colin Firth, Richard Griffiths, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Courtenay, Ian Ogilvy, Judi Dench, Edward Fox, Michael Fassbender, Angela Thorne and Nigel Havers.
But then, much to his surprise, his son Jack becomes a successful comedian and actor and decides that his new comedy partner should be his father. Whitehall Snr. finds himself reluctantly appearing on stage and then television, cast as the archetypal grumpy old man and thrust, in his early 70s, into a whole new career in front of the camera. Minor fame comes at a sedate pace: one of the highlights being a record £300,000 win for charity with Jack on Channel 4's The Million Pound Drop.
In this enchanting memoir, Whitehall looks back on his life, from growing up in suburban London in the 1940s and '50s with his saintly father and social climbing mother, who coined the phrase 'à la carte' to describe people who were posher than she was and whose company she craved, to falling into a career as a successful theatrical agent and producer. As he says, 'Actors can be egotistical, greedy and vain, but they're not half as bad as agents and producers'.
Charming, gossipy and above all very funny, Backing into the Spotlight is no ordinary show business memoir.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our desktop site.