Dr Xand Van Tulleken

Xand van Tulleken has a diploma in Tropical Medicine, a Diploma in International Humanitarian Assistance and a Master’s in Public Health from Harvard, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He is a registered Doctor with the General Medical Council of the UK (without a licence to practice). Xand is a contributing editor to the first edition of the Oxford Handbook of Humanitarian Medicine and has worked for Doctors of the World, Merlin and the World Health Organization in humanitarian crises around the world.

Xand has presented numerous shows for the BBC and Channel 4 including: Operation Ouch, Blow Your Mind, Horizon, Secret Life of Twins, and Medicine Men Gone Wild. 

He has also contributed medical analysis on CNN, BBC 1 and 2, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera America, Channel 4, MSNBC, and Fox 5 New York among others.

He moved in with the White family for a weekend in Doctor in Your House, which was on Channel 4 UK on 17 November 2015.

He is currently looking into the range of weight-loss diets out there on Channel 4 in How to Lose Weight Well which is possibly even less dignified than anything he did on Operation Ouch involving, as it does, one green coffee enema and one bout of incontinence.

Also, one time Jon Stewart referred to him as Dr. Affleck on The Daily Show. And then he said catching Ebola off him would be “worth it.”

He is a superb corporate host and after dinner speaker, providing a tailored personalised speech to suit the client.

Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton

Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton has been a firefighter for eighteen years. She decides which of her colleagues rush into a burning building and how they confront the blaze. She makes the call to evacuate if she believes the options have been exhausted or that the situation has escalated beyond hope.

Taking us to the very heart of firefighting, she immerses us in this extraordinary world; from scenes of devastation and crisis, through triumphs of bravery, to the quieter moments when she questions herself. Revealing her own story for the very first time, she recounts her years spent sleeping rough and her passion for a career that allows her to rescue others as she was never rescued herself.

Eamonn Holmes

 

Simon Callow

Simon’s first role in the theatre was working for Sir Laurence Olivier ” in the box office of the National Theatre. This offer of work came by return of post following a fan letter to Olivier. It was while watching actors rehearse that Simon realised that acting was something he wanted to do.

His films include the Merchant Ivory production A Room with a View (1985) playing the part of the Reverend Beebe.  He memorably played Gareth in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and the dour Master of the Revels in Shakespeare in Love (1998).

On television he starred in several series of the Channel 4 sitcom Chance in a Million, as the eccentric Tom Chance, and appeared with Saeed Jaffrey in 1994 British television series Little Napoleons.  In 2004, Simon appeared in a Comic Relief episode of Little Britain.
An acclaimed author, he has written biographies of Charles Laughton, Orson Welles and agent Peggy Ramsay.
In 1988, Simon directed the West End premiere of Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine, starring Pauline Collins. In 1992, he directed the play Shades by Sharman MacDonald and the musical My Fair Lady. These were followed by a stage version of the classic French film Les Enfants du Paradis for the RSC in 1995.
His prolific stage career has included many other memorable performances (e.g., the solo play, The Mystery of Charles Dickens, 2000), in both actor and director roles.
He has become renowned for a series of one-man shows, which have toured the UK and internationally. These include The Importance of Being Oscar, The Mystery of Charles Dickens, There Reigns Love, a performance of Shakespeare’s sonnets, Dr Marigold & Mr Chops by Charles Dickens, Being Shakespeare by Jonathan Bate, The Man Jesus by Matthew Hurt, and Inside Wagner’s Head.
He was made a CBE in 1999.
Simon is a most entertaining after dinner speaker.

Nigel Havers

Nigel Allan Havers is an English actor. He played Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film Chariots of Fire, earning a BAFTA nomination for the role and Tom Latimer in the British TV comedy series Don’t Wait Up. He portrayed the role of Lewis Archer in Coronation Street intermittently between 2009 and 2019.

Havers is most known for playing the quintessential old school Englishman with his dashing good looks, cut-glass accent and thoroughly charming manner.

Anton Du Beke

Witty, charismatic and a natural entertainer, Anton’s skills in front of an audience extend far beyond his dancing: he is now widely known for his quick wit, repartee and inimitable sartorial style. Coined ‘the ultimate gentleman’, Anton defines modern-day dapper: classically stylish and always impeccably turned-out – much like his hero Fred Astaire whom Anton upholds as his style icon.

It’s no wonder that Anton’s mischievous charm caught the attention of television producers. His distinct likability and showbiz flair brought him invitations to present non-dance programmes on primetime television including the BBC’s ‘Step up to the Plate’ with Loyd Grossman O.B.E, and cult Saturday night hit show ‘Hole in the Wall’ in which he appeared in over twenty-one episodes, firstly as a team captain in series one, then returning to host the show himself in series two.

A born showman, and relaxed in front of the camera, Anton excels at light entertainment – a genre he suits very well. From an expanding diversity of television credits, his charm, manner, wit… and comic timing are growing his popularity and appealing to generations young to old. And now through social media channels too, he’s attracting an ever-widening fanbase.

Andrew Pierce

Andrew is a former Assistant Editor of both The Daily Telegraph and  The Times newspapers,  and an ex-Political Editor of the latter.

He is a columnist and Consultant Editor for the Daily Mail, which he joined in 2009.

He knows everyone in the Westminster village and his ability to ferret out scandal and gossip means that he has a reputation for breaking stories that the great and the good might prefer kept quiet.

Andrew is also a seasoned broadcaster, appearing on Question Time, The Daily Politics, Sky News and LBC radio, where he has a weekly Sunday morning slot. Andrew has enough  Westminster gossip and can’t wait to divulge as much of it as he can!

Andrew can be seen as a regular guest on Good Morning Britain for the daily political debates.

Alan Johnson

Alan Arthur Johnson is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that, he filled a wide variety of Cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was Shadow Chancellor of thge Exchequer. Johnson was the Member of Parliament for Hull West and Hessle since the 1997 General Election. On 18 April 2017, following the announcement of the 2017 General Election, Johnson said he would not be a candidate.

Alastair Campbell

Alastair Campbell is a writer, communicator and strategist best known for his role as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman, press secretary and director of communications and strategy. Still active in Labour politics, he now splits his time between writing, speaking, charitable fundraising, politics and campaigns.

Alastair is a highly sought after speaker not only in Britain, but worldwide. Drawing on his ten years of experience alongside Tony Blair, and his considerable understanding of the modern media, Alastair specialises in strategy, making change, dealing with the media, and crisis management – often simultaneously.

Dozens of testimonials from a wide variety of businesses, organisations and conference organisers have paid tribute to his skills as an engaging and innovative speaker able to apply his insights and experience to the work of others with wit and passion. He liaises directly with event organisers in advance, so as to tailor his presentations to their specific needs.

Often controversial, and always prepared to speak his mind, Alastair is willing, indeed keen, to make a question and answer session part of his presentations. Alastair is an engaging speaker and is equally at home delivering a major, bespoke conference keynote or an anecdotal after dinner speech.

Sir Christopher Meyer

Sir Christopher Meyer spent 37 years in the British Diplomatic Service. His career culminated as Ambassador to the United States during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush presidencies between 1997 and 2003. His five and a half years in Washington, which made him the longest-serving British Ambassador to the USA since the Second World War, coincided with 9/11, the wars in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan, and the preparation for war in Iraq.

Previously he had been Ambassador to Germany and had postings to the former Soviet Union, Spain and the European Union in Brussels. He was also Press Secretary to Prime Minister Sir John Major, Press Secretary to Foreign Secretary, the late Lord Howe, and speech writer to three Foreign Secretaries, James Callaghan, Anthony Crosland and David Owen.

After his retirement from the Diplomatic Service in 2003, Sir Christopher chaired the Press Complaints Commission for six years until March 2009.

In 2005 he published DC Confidential, a memoir of his time in the Diplomatic Service. A further book, Getting Our Way: 500 Years of Adventure and Intrigue: the Inside Story of British Diplomacy, was published in 2009 and accompanied a three-part TV series for BBC4. In 2012 he presented and co-wrote a six-part TV documentary series for Sky Atlantic, Networks of Power. In early 2016 he appeared in and helped research Inside The War Room: World War 3 for BBC2.

In 2013 he published as an Amazon Kindle Single a personal memoir, Only Child.

Sir Christopher is an Honorary Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge University, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

He is a non-executive director of the Arbuthnot Banking Group and is Chairman of the Advisory Board of Pagefield, a public relations company. He is on the Advisory Board of British-American Business inc and is a Freeman of the City of London and member of the Worshipful Company of Stationers.