Pottering with Tom Allen

Welcome back to the garden, where we are kicking off 2026 properly with the gloriously funny Gabby Best. A brilliantly talented actor and a very good friend of mine, you may know Gabby as Alan Carr’s neighbour in the wonderfully funny Changing Ends. Series 2 is available now on ITV and ITVX so do please take a look.

We chat holiday tomatoes, norovirus with Noel Edmonds, and the audience crossover between air fryers and mindfulness. Gabby even treats us to a cheeky bounce on the trampoline and kindly helps me pull up some potatoes!

Don't forget, yo...

Hello, and a very happy New Year to you. It is New Year’s Day, which feels like the perfect moment for a little post Christmas pottering, a calming walk, a satisfying sort of the recycling, or a nice cup of tea in the garden. Perhaps, like Kerry Godliman, you are lucky enough to have a potting shed, the perfect place to unwind, away from the chaos of Christmas, and maybe settle in with an episode of your favourite podcast.

I cannot wait to bring you lots more fantastic guests over the coming weeks and months. We have th...

Oh well, a very merry Christmas to you, my dear friends. Thank you so much for listening to Pottering this year. It has been an absolute delight to spend time in the garden with such a glorious parade of guests, and I am simply thrilled that you have been enjoying it too.

By now, Fay Ripley will almost certainly be elbow deep in the preparation of a truly spectacular feast, Lee Peart has very likely treated himself to a martini, possibly two, and James Acaster’s cats, one imagines, will have been indulged in a festive turkey nibble of...

It was my absolute pleasure to welcome the ever so charming Harry Hadden Paton into the garden this week for another episode of Pottering. A superb actor, Harry is perhaps best known for his turn as Bertie in Downton Abbey and as Martin Charteris in The Crown, both of which would make wonderfully classy Christmas viewing. Harry also appears in the brand new film Downton Abbey The Grand Finale, available to watch now and perfect for popping on straight after the King’s Speech.

We chatted about working with the incomparable Dame Maggie Smith, the sheer joy of Br...

The utterly fabulous national treasure that is Natalie Cassidy popped into my garden for a spot of Pottering this week. EastEnders legend, cultural icon, podcaster and noted trumpet aficionado, she was, as you would expect, an absolute delight from start to finish! Her joyous new book Happy Days is out now which, may I say, would make a marvellous Christmas present.

We chat Ronnie Corbett on Strictly Come Dancing, the incomparable taste of homegrown tomatoes and the many joys of hun culture. Things also took a decidedly festive turn which I did not mind one bit!

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The lovely Lee Peart joined me in the garden this week for a spot of Pottering! A splendid stand up, actor and presenter, Lee is the ever charming warm up for Loose Women on ITV and has just popped the cork as co-host of brand new podcast, Bottoms Up, where he shares his wine wisdom with Alan Carr.

We chatted LGBTQ+ in comedy, classic soap actress scenarios and seeing Adele in concert. Lee also shares his love for cocktails as we rustle up a couple of refreshing mojitos to enjoy in the afternoon sun feeling terribly pleased with...

Oh, I had such a lovely time pottering with my dear friend Amy Annette, a marvellous comedian, writer and broadcaster and an all round delight. Amy joined me fresh from the triumph of her Edinburgh show Busy Body, and if you have not yet seen it, do catch it on tour early next year!

It's always a delight to see Amy! We discuss Mr Blobby, the rise of misinformation and why the future of streaming may just belong to Angela Lansbury. We also have a go at our very own Tavern Fantasy Play, yes that's right, and enjoy...

What a joy it was to be back in the garden for another episode of Pottering, this time with none other than James Acaster. A splendid stand up, author and of course everyone’s favourite genie waiter!

It was an absolute delight to spend an afternoon in the sunshine with James. We discuss mindfulness apps, the trials and tribulations of home decorating, and the fascinating world of anime. I also encounter the term 'Catio' and well, what a charmed existence those cats must have!

Did you know you can also watch the podcast on Youtube? Just se...

It was my absolute pleasure to welcome the radiant Jess Wright into my garden for a spot of Pottering. You may know her best from her hugely successful tenure on The Only Way Is Essex or perhaps from her many glamorous ventures in fashion, beauty and the world of television!

On a delightfully sunny day amongst the hydrangeas, we discussed being a part of the dawn of reality television, dream podcast guests and the lads and their lawnmowers! Jess was charmingly generous, and insisted on saying some very lovely things about me, she even brought me chrysanthemums, so...

Another week, another brilliant guest joining me in the garden, the fabulous Phil Wang! Brilliant comedian, author and old friend of mine, Phil's stand-up specials on Netflix are not to be missed, including his most recent Wang In There Baby, which is an absolute joy.

On a very blustery day in the garden, we chat guttering, goose stepping, and of course, as all good podcasts do, serial killers. Phil also takes a tour of my vegetable patch and leaves with a handful of beans, which I think makes him the real winner of the podcast so far.
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On Pottering this week, things take a splendidly spooky turn as we celebrate Halloween in the garden with broadcaster, author and bewitching presence Angela Scanlon! There are pumpkins among the perennials, spirits stirring in the shrubbery, and nachos in a Le Creuset – a terrifying treat indeed!

As darkness falls, our hauntingly horticultural conversation covers crystals, carveries and Angela's bumper crop. It's amazing what sipping negronis beneath a full moon can bring to the surface! We also attempt a spot of sage smudging – which I am fairly certain I still do not understand – and discuss Angela's wonderful podcast 'Get A Grip...

Ah, what a lovely time we had pottering in the garden with the brilliant Fay Ripley! A wonderful actor, brilliantly talented cookery book writer, and all-round lovely person! The umbrellas were out once more; however, as we filmed earlier in the autumn, it was pleasantly warm, so even in my Crocs I didn’t get 'cold feet'.

We chat about the joys of a British garden, the pitfalls of the pizza oven, and of course I show her my Jane Asher dressing-up book, just in time for some Halloween inspiration! Fay also very kindly explores my garden produce an...

This week on Pottering, I had the pleasure of being joined for some 'Alfresco Therapy' by the gloriously funny Nish Kumar! Superbly satirical stand up, you may also know him from Radio 4, his hit podcast Pod Save The UK, or from television (The Mash Report, Taskmaster, Joel and Nish vs The World).

On a rather changeable day in the garden, we chat “oh dear thoughts,” men’s culture, and podcasting during the Rapture. We even get harvesting! Remember those carrots Suzi planted last week? Well, time flies in Tom Allen’s veg patch... 🥕🥕🍆

You can also watch each episod...

It was a delight to welcome my dear friend, the hilarious Suzi Ruffell into the garden for a chat and some light manual labour. You’ll perhaps know her from the brilliant Big Kick Energy podcast, her gloriously funny stand-up, and of course as my co-host on the Like Minded Friends podcast. She’s also written a beautiful and thoughtful book, Are We Having Fun Now?, which we discuss in this episode, it's now a best seller and I highly recommend!

We had a wonderful chat about the joy of garden gnomes, community gardening, and our relationship with anxi...

What a joy to be back in the garden for another episode of Pottering, this time with the wonderful Jo Brand. I know her very well from our time together on Bake Off: An Extra Slice, but you may perhaps know her as a stand-up legend, the mind behind Getting On, and the author of numerous best-sellers.

 In our chat we cover growing up in the countryside, the spookiest of sleepovers, and the toxicity of travel vloggers. We also try our hand at window boxes; very different approaches and very different results.

You can also watch e...

On this episode of Pottering I’m joined by my dear friend, the brilliant Kerry Godliman. You’ll know her from After Life, Whitstable Pearl and, oh yes, the brand new Spinal Tap movie OUT NOW!

We chat about all sorts of glorious things: our obsession with Gardeners’ World, the splendour of the National Trust Gift Shop, and, of course, Handkerchief Trees. Kerry even shows me how to do a bit of tomato pinching (no, I didn’t know what that meant either, but now we do).

You can also watch each episode of Pottering on my YouTu...

Well, here we are, the very first episode of my brand-new podcast Pottering!

Who better to kick things off than my brilliant friend, the hilarious Rob Beckett. You’ll know him from Rob & Romesh Vs, Last One Laughing, the hugely popular Parenting Hell podcast, and plenty more besides. He’s also currently out on tour with his stand-up show Giraffe, so catch him when he’s near you!

 Filmed earlier this year, we chat about the soothing sounds of wee, the role refrigerators can play in the bedroom, and he takes umbrage with my lighting! Rob also te...

Join Tom Allen as he invites you into his garden for a chat and a potter with some very special guests. Launching Thursday 25th September.