Midweek - 25/11/2009

Tom Conti is a stage, television and film actor. He won an Olivier and Broadway Tony award for his role in Whose Life Is It Anyway?, was Oscar nominated for Reuben, Reuben and has starred in numerous West End productions. To mark the Pleasance Theatre's 25th anniversary he reprises his one-man show Jesus, My Boy - the familiar story told by his bewildered Jewish dad. Jesus, My Boy is at the Pleasance Theatre, Islington.

Mavis Batey was a top code breaker at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, and one of a very select group of young, female code breakers. Now aged 88, she has written the biography of her boss, Alfred Dillwyn Knox, the man who did more than anyone else in this country to break the Germans' Enigma code and precipitate the successful D-Day invasion of France. Dilly: The Man Who Broke Enigmas is published by Dialogue Books.

Milton Jones is an award-winning comedian who has performed for many years on the British and international comedy circuit. He is probably best known for his BBC Radio 4 series, The Very World of Milton Jones and Another Case of Milton Jones. His first novel, Where Do Comedians Go When They Die? Journeys of a Stand-Up is published by JR Books.

Steve Reid is a jazz drummer who came of age in one of the most exciting, innovative and politically-charged periods in jazz history. Playing with James Brown, John Coltrane and Sun Ra, to name but a few, he was a Black Panther and was imprisoned as a conscientious objector for not going to Vietnam. The newly published book Freedom Rhythm and Sound: Revolutionary Jazz Cover Art 1965-83, which features some of Steve's album covers, is published by SJR Pubishing. His album Odyessy of the Oblong Square has been re-released.