BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

Hello, Greg Jenner here, host of You're Dead to Me, the comedy podcast that takes history seriously and then laughs at it.

This Christmas, forget about socks. We've got the best present of all.

Dead people!

All that sounds like zombies. Sorry, it's not zombies. Let me start again.

In our new family-friendly podcast series, dead funny history, historical figures come back to life

but just long enough to argue with me, tell their life stories and sometimes get on my nerves.

You're dead to me.

Dead funny history.

Listen on BBC Sounds.

Hello and welcome to the kitchen cabinet. This week it's our Christmas special from the

Pleasance Theatre, a much-loved London landmark that's been championing new writing and bold productions

for more than 50 years. The foyer is glowing with Christmas lights, the bar smells of mulled wine

and the whole building has that cosy, slightly giddy, mad feel it gets at this time of year. Determined to enjoy the festive cheer if it kills them are food writers and chefs Lerato, Andy Oliver and Jockey Petrie and with them a food historian who can tell you exactly when the mince pie stopped being made with actual mince. When was that, Annie? Basically the middle of the 19th century. Thank you. Yes, it's Dr. Annie Gray.

Ladies and gentlemen, your kitchen camera panel.

Now, at this time of year, the country is full of winter markets, Christmas fairs and pop-ups,

serving everything from roasted nuts to spice drinks.

Christmas Day is a time when pots simmer for hours, oven Tetris becomes a preoccupation,

and the kitchen turns into a slow-moving marathon rather than a sprint, a time when patience is essential and timing is everything.

Panel, what's the longest meal you've ever spent preparing?

The one that took over your entire day and maybe made you wonder why you started in the first place, Jockey.

So we decided to cook for our own wedding, thinking about you save money and it would be a

...