Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Matt Lucas, Sir Christopher Evans and Hawaii

Matt Lucas needs your help as he hosts Christmas Day on Radio 2. Professor Sir Christopher Evans talks about the science behind healthy living. Plus we speak to an expert on Hawaii

Matt Lucas stops by the tinsel-tastic studio to ask for your help as he’s hosting Christmas with the Stars (And Matt Lucas) on Radio 2. Matt confirms whether your desperate claims to his fame are true or false in the Top Tenuous. Biotechnology entrepreneur Professor Sir Christopher Evans gives us the science behind healthy living and why he loves broccoli! Plus our Not-So-Mystery Guest is Linda Mahony, an expert on Hawaii and it's 137 islands. Vassos is joined in the Sports Locker by Formula E Driver Alexander Sims, and we Pause For Thought with writer and vicar Dave Tomlinson.

2 hours, 59 minutes

Music Played

  • Wizzard

    I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

    • That's Christmas (Various Artists).
    • EMI.
  • Mark Ronson

    Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (feat. Miley Cyrus)

    • (CD Single).
    • Columbia.
  • The Drifters

    White Christmas

  • Meghan Trainor

    Lips Are Movin

    • (CD Single).
    • Epic.
    • 001.
  • Lily Allen

    Smile

    • (CD Single).
    • Regal.
  • The Banana Splits

    The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)

    • Television's Greatest Hits Vol. 5: In Living Color (Various Artists).
    • TVT Records.
  • Mariah Carey

    All I Want For Christmas Is You

    • Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas.
    • Columbia.
  • Lukas Graham

    Love Someone

    • (CD Single).
    • Warner Bros.
  • Vanilla Ice

    Ice Ice Baby

    • Vanilla Ice - To The Extreme.
    • Sbk.
  • Engelbert Humperdinck

    The Last Waltz

    • Engelbert Humperdinck - Greatest Hits.
    • Deram.
  • Barbra Streisand

    The Rain Will Fall

    • Walls.
    • Sony Music CMG.
  • Stevie Wonder

    What Christmas Means To Me

    • 20 Motown Christmas Classics (Variou.
    • Hitsville.
  • Erasure

    Blue Savannah

    • (CD Single).
    • Mute Records.
  • Michael Bublé

    Jingle Bells (Radio 1 Live Lounge, 8 Dec 2011) (feat. The Puppini Sisters)

    • Christmas: Deluxe Special Edition.
    • Reprise.
  • Gayla Peevey

    I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas

    • Dr. Demento Presents The Greatest Christmas Novelty CD Of All Time (Various Art.
    • Rhino.
    • 5.
  • Cher

    SOS

    • Dancing Queen.
    • Warner Bros.
  • Simple Minds

    Don't You (Forget About Me)

    • Glittering Prize - Best Of Simple Min.
    • Virgin.
  • Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

    Locomotion

    • Now 1984 - The Millennium Series.
    • Now.
    • 9.
  • Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters

    Mele Kalikimaka

    • Christmas Memories (Various Artists).
    • Emporio.
    • 1.
  • Josh Groban

    Bigger Than Us

    • Bridges.
    • Warner Bros.
  • Snap!

    The Power

    • Holiday Hits: Non Stop Euro Pop (Var).
    • Virgin.
  • Faithless

    Insomnia

    • Now 35 (Various Artists).
    • Now.
  • The Chainsmokers

    This Feeling (feat. Kelsea Ballerini)

    • (CD Single).
    • Disruptor Records.
  • Rocky Horror Show Picture Cast

    The Timne Warp

Pause For Thought

Pause For Thought

From Dave Tomlinson,Ìýwriter and vicar:

Ìý

Driving back to London on Sunday morning I heard Raffa Benitez interviewed on 5-Live ahead of Newcastle’s match with Wolves. Once again, the Spaniard was asked about the ownership situation at Newcastle United (whether Mike Ashley will sell the club and who might purchase it). Raffa patiently replied that in situations of uncertainty all we can do is manage effectively the things that depend on us and set aside what doesn’t.

Ìý

Great advice, however from my experience, it’s not so easy. I’m the sort of person who wants to control as many events as possible that affect me and my loved ones – whether that’s the consequences of Brexit negotiations, or stuff much closer to home.

Ìý

Yet sometimes, that simply isn’t possible…..so then I have a choice: whether to sit around moping, to bang my head against a brick wall, or as Raffa says, to focus my attention on the things that depend on me – the stuff I can change.

Ìý

I find that when I focus on the things that depend on me, my mental outlook alters, I become more hopeful, and that in turn enables me to be more effective. The social activist Bryan Stevenson says, ‘Hope is your superpower. Don’t let anyone make you hopeless.’

Ìý

I love the idea of having a superpower. And I reckon it’s true: hope isn’t mere naïve optimism; it’s not an opiate to divert us from reality; hope is a massive energy in each of us that can fuel our efforts at change, and which also enables us to keep dreams alive – to dream new and better dreams.

Ìý

I personally learned hope from my dad who was disabled from childhood. Life for him and my mum was a constant struggle to make ends meet. And in far less enlightened times he also faced continual blatant insults and discrimination. Yet, in all of this, I witnessed virtually daily acts of hopeful defiance in a man who refused to be defined by what he couldn’t do.

Ìý

Hope doesn’t perform miracles, but scientists tell us it changes our psychological landscape, alleviating anxiety and enabling us to approach life more positively. For me, it really is our superpower. And by gum, I reckon our world needs a good dose of it right now.

Broadcast

  • Tue 11 Dec 2018 06:30

Farewell Chris Evans: The best bits from his last shows at Radio 2

After eight years of hosting the Breakfast Show, Chris Evans leaves Radio 2.

500 Words

Â鶹Éç Radio 2's story-writing competition for kids.