Maureen Lipman; Paul Whitehouse; Chris Bull; Desmond MacCarthy.

Midweek

Libby Purves meets actor Maureen Lipman; writer and comedian Paul Whitehouse; tightrope walker Chris Bull and farmer Desmond MacCarthy.

Chris Bull - otherwise known as Bullzini - is a funambulist or tightrope walker. He is recreating the tightrope walk of Carlos Trower, The African Blondin, at A Day at the Lake in Staffordshire. Trower walked across the lake 100 feet above the water in 1864 and again in 1878, drawing huge crowds 30 years after the abolition of slavery in the UK. Chris first became interested in circus skills as a teenager and learned to juggle while at school. He trained for 12 years seeking out the best artists and teachers in Brazil, Cuba, France and Belgium. A Day At The Lake is at Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire.

Maureen Lipman CBE, is an actor and comedian, best known for her homage to Joyce Grenfell in Re:Joyce; as Aunt Eller in Oklahoma and for her role in the Oscar-winning film, The Pianist. Her latest part is in Charlotte Keatley's play, My Mother Said I Never Should at the St James' Theatre, about the relationships between mothers and daughters spanning four generations. She is also appearing in the ITV2 comedy PLEBS. My Mother Said I Never Should is at the St James Theatre, London SW1.

Desmond MacCarthy is a gentleman farmer struggling to keep his 17th century manor, Wiveton Hall, afloat while holding on to the country traditions of his childhood. He stars in the television series Normal for Norfolk which follows him as he tries to ensure his café turns a profit, supervises his fruit farm and gets stuck in with the renovation of a dilapidated cottage - which doesn't go at all smoothly. Normal for Norfolk is broadcast on BBC Two.

Paul Whitehouse is an actor, performer and writer who has been involved in many of the best-loved comedy shows over the last 25 years including The Fast Show and Harry And Paul. In the comedy drama Nurse, created by Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings, a community mental health nurse makes her rounds to visit her patients in their homes. Most of these patients are played by Whitehouse himself and range from an agoraphobic ex-con; a manic ex-glam rock star and ageing rake Herbert, who hoards his house with possessions and memories. Nurse is broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Producer: Paula McGinley.