Good News Wednesday!

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Vernon hears about what's making you smile on Good News Wednesday, plus actor and musician Peter Capaldi joins Vernon on this week's Tracks Of My Years. Also, Vernon delves into the BBC Archive in Vernon's Vault. Born in Glasgow in 1958, Peter first discovered drama and music whilst in school, performing with youth theatre groups and fronting a punk rock band called the Dreamboys. His professional career took off in the 80s with numerous roles on stage, television and film. His first starring role in television came in 1992 with the BBC series Mr Wakefield's Crusade and during the 90s he also began to occasionally write and direct. He created the short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, released in 1993, which won a BAFTA and Oscar for Best Short Film. One of his best-known roles began in 2005 when he starred as political spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in the acclaimed comedy The Thick Of It - for which he won a BAFTA in 2010. Having been a fan of Doctor Who since childhood, and having played a small role in the show before, he joined it as the Doctor in 2013, He played the role in forty episodes across the next four years, before leaving in 2017. In that time he also appeared in Paddington and Paddington 2. Since leaving Doctor Who, he has starred in films such as The Personal History of David Copperfield and The Suicide Squad, as well as the TV series The Devil's Hour. A keen musician, Peter released his debut solo studio album St Christopher in 2021, followed by a second, Sweet Illusions, in 2025. He also was a surprise guest at last year's Glastonbury festival, when he joined Franz Ferdinand on stage to play Take Me Out. Peter is currently starring in the second series of Criminal Record, on Apple TV. A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 2