Full Disclosure with James O'Brien
Global
Award-winning LBC presenter and best-selling author James O’Brien hosts a series of compelling conversations with fascinating people from the worlds of politics, news and entertainment. These are thoughtful conversations with a curious and interested interviewer. For advertising opportunities on this podcast email: dax@global.com
Categories: Society & Culture
Listen to the last episode:
Jan Ravens, the acclaimed impressionist at the heart of Dead Ringers, grew up learning to change the mood of a room long before she ever changed her voice on stage. In this conversation with James O Brien, she reflects on a childhood shaped by humour, instability and her father’s illness, and how those early pressures sharpened the instincts that later defined her career.
She traces the journey from school impressions to Cambridge Footlights, becoming the first woman to direct its revue, and the leap from Carrott’s Lib to Spitting Image and beyond. Jan talks candidly about ambition, class, resilience and the unexpected power of comedy to steady you when life feels uncertain. It is an honest, warm and often very funny look at how she found her place in British satire.
Find out more about Dead Ringers 25th Anniversary tour here
Previous episodes
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316 - Jan Ravens: “I lived with a nameless dread” Fri, 05 Dec 2025
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315 - Hal Cruttenden: Divorce blew my mind- it hits harder than losing parents Fri, 28 Nov 2025
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314 - Stephen Mangan: When Mum died, I knew I couldn’t waste life being a lawyer- I had to act Fri, 21 Nov 2025
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313 - Toby Jones: I never wanted to feel desperate about acting Fri, 14 Nov 2025
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312 - John Lloyd: Blackadder, Spitting Image, QI and a life in search of meaning Fri, 07 Nov 2025
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311 - Jimmy Wales: The man who built Wikipedia Fri, 31 Oct 2025
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310 - Charles Dance: From builder’s labourer with a stammer to Tywin Lannister Fri, 24 Oct 2025 - 0h
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309 - Alexander Armstrong: My default setting is fear- I expect the worst of people Fri, 17 Oct 2025 - 0h
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308 - Jack Thorne: “I was allergic to moving - the doctor said, ‘This might be forever.’” Fri, 10 Oct 2025
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307 - Cor Hutton: The Quadruple Amputee Who Found Her Feet Mon, 06 Oct 2025 - 0h
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306 - Jamie Oliver: “I’d gone from being skint to having a lot of money, I felt like a fake.” Fri, 03 Oct 2025
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305 - Leo Varadkar: Former Prime Minister of Ireland on Power and Letting Go Fri, 26 Sep 2025
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304 - Dr Richard Shepherd: Lessons from 23,000 Postmortems- including Hungerford, Hillsborough and Princess Diana Fri, 19 Sep 2025
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303 - Arabella Weir: At nine my mum said, “I can’t bear the sight of you” Fri, 12 Sep 2025
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302 - Natalie Haynes: Greek Myths, Medea and the Comedy of Classics Fri, 05 Sep 2025
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301 - From The Vault: Brian Cox Fri, 29 Aug 2025
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300 - From The Vault: Miriam Margolyes Fri, 22 Aug 2025
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299 - Cariad Lloyd: Talking About Grief Changed My Life Fri, 15 Aug 2025
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298 - Kevin Rowland: Beyond Come On Eileen Fri, 08 Aug 2025 - 0h
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297 - Irvine Welsh: We’re More Addicted Now Than in Trainspotting Fri, 01 Aug 2025
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296 - David Lammy: I’ve had imposter syndrome my whole life- until now Fri, 25 Jul 2025 - 0h
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295 - Grace Dent: Almost Everything I’ve Done, I’ve Been Told No First Fri, 18 Jul 2025
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294 - Graham Fellows: Playing John Shuttleworth Came at a Cost Fri, 11 Jul 2025 - 0h
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293 - Jon Culshaw: The Impressionist Who Fooled the Prime Minister Fri, 04 Jul 2025
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292 - Michael Lewis: America Is Run by Bullies Fri, 27 Jun 2025
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291 - Amber Rudd: I resigned because I couldn’t defend the indefensible Fri, 20 Jun 2025 - 0h
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290 - Jameela Jamil: Getting hit by that car changed everything Fri, 13 Jun 2025
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289 - Larry Lamb: Damaged people are dangerous because they know they can survive Fri, 06 Jun 2025
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288 - Jimmy Anderson: Behind the Bowler Fri, 30 May 2025 - 0h
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287 - Christiane Amanpour: From Global Crises to Personal Truths Fri, 23 May 2025 - 0h
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286 - Laura Bates: Misogyny, Machine Learning and The Manosphere Fri, 16 May 2025
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284 - Christian O’Connell: I had everything I ever wanted, and I was falling apart Fri, 09 May 2025
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283 - Brian Conley: “I made everyone laugh, that was my defence mechanism.” Fri, 02 May 2025
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282 - Kenneth Roth: Tyrants Trust Sycophants, I Challenge Them with the Truth Fri, 25 Apr 2025
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281 - Ash Atalla: The Office, The IT Crowd, and the Unlikely Road to Comedy Success Fri, 18 Apr 2025
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280 - Steven Frayne: I Had To Kill Dynamo To Be Steven Fri, 11 Apr 2025
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279 - Carol Vorderman LIVE! Numbers, Politics, and Finding Her Voice Fri, 04 Apr 2025
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278 - Jon Ronson: “It's good training for a journalist, being bullied at school.” Fri, 28 Mar 2025 - 0h
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277 - David Harewood: "I was not 'black' enough, I didn't know where I fit in" Fri, 21 Mar 2025
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276 - Alistair McGowan: My friends laughed when I said I was doing comedy Fri, 14 Mar 2025
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275 - KT Tunstall: “I lost my hearing, it didn’t come back.” Fri, 07 Mar 2025 - 0h
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274 - Matt Forde: Doctors said I would never walk again Fri, 28 Feb 2025
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273 - Zoe Lyons: My mum screamed about me..."I can't cope anymore" Fri, 21 Feb 2025
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272 - Dr. Rangan Chatterjee: This breathing exercise will save your life! Fri, 14 Feb 2025 - 0h
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271 - Full Disclosure is taking a short break, but we will be back! Fri, 03 Jan 2025 - 0h
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270 - Best of... Full Disclosure 2024 Fri, 27 Dec 2024 - 0h
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269 - Rob Brydon: Rejection, manifesting success & meeting Steve Coogan Fri, 20 Dec 2024
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268 - Shaun Keaveny: "I have self-doubt and massive amounts of imposter syndrome" Fri, 13 Dec 2024
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267 - Alex James: 'Modern Life is Rubbish' was our last chance at success Fri, 06 Dec 2024 - 0h
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266 - Baroness Lola Young: From foster care to the House of Lords Fri, 29 Nov 2024 - 0h