Best Medicine

3 - Horses, Breaking Bad News, Reels

Joining Kiri Pritchard-McLean this week is CEO and Founder of Devon Healing Horsemanship Louise Broadway, who champions how horses can help people for whom talking therapies haven’t worked. Intensive Care Doctor Matt Morgan argues there's more to Breaking Bad News than simply delivering it, and comedian Mel Owen shares how Instagram Reels helped lead her to not one but two life-changing diagnoses.Best Medicine is your weekly dose of laughter, hope and incredible medicine. Award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by a funny and fascinating panel of comedians, doctors, scientists, experts and historians to celebrate medicine's inspiring past, present and future.Each week Kiri challenges a panel of experts and a comedian to make a case for what they think is 'the best medicine', and each guest champions anything from world-changing science or an obscure invention to an everyday treatment, an uplifting worldview, an unsung hero or a futuristic cure.Whether it’s groundbreaking surgery, seaweed underwear, AI glasses to help people with dementia, horse therapy, sports, revolutionary gene therapy for Huntington’s disease or yesterday’s rubbish becoming tomorrow’s medicines - it’s always something worth celebrating.Hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLeanFeaturing: Louise Broadway, Dr Matt Morgan and Mel Owen Written by  Edward Easton, Frances Keyton, Jordan Gray, Mel Owen, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Ben RowseProducer: Tashi RadhaExecutive Producer: Ben WorsfieldTheme tune composed by Andrew JonesA Large Time production for BBC Radio 4

2 - Reformer Pilates, Persistence, Free Flaps

Joining Kiri Pritchard-McLean this week is comedian Jamie MacDonald who stretches the limits with Reformer Pilates, married couple Dr Lindsey Fitzharris and Adrian Teal who pitch the power of Persistence, and Wing Commander Poonam Valand who has Kiri in stitches with surgical Free Flaps.Best Medicine is your weekly dose of laughter, hope and incredible medicine. Award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by a funny and fascinating panel of comedians, doctors, scientists, experts and historians to celebrate medicine's inspiring past, present and future.Each week Kiri challenges a panel of experts and a comedian to make a case for what they think is 'the best medicine'. Each guest champions anything from world-changing science or an obscure invention to an every-day treatment, an uplifting worldview, an unsung hero or a futuristic cure.Whether it’s groundbreaking surgery, seaweed underwear, AI glasses to help people with dementia, horse therapy, sports, revolutionary gene therapy for Huntington’s disease or yesterday’s rubbish becoming tomorrow’s medicines - it’s always something worth celebrating.Hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLeanFeaturing: Dr Lindsey Fitzharris, Jamie MacDonald, Adrian Teal and Wing Commander Poonam ValandWritten by Mel Owen, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Ben RowseProducer: Tashi RadhaExecutive Producer: Ben WorsfieldTheme tune composed by Andrew JonesA Large Time Production for BBC Radio 4

1 - Rubbish, Home Births, Collaboration

Joining Kiri Pritchard-McLean this week is comedian Michelle Wolf who reflects on home births, Professor Stephen Wallace explains how old plastic bottles can be transformed into a form of Dopamine that can be used to treat Parkinson’s disease, and Dr Matt Clarke demonstrates the power of medical collaboration in helping to identify and treat brain tumours.Best Medicine is your weekly dose of laughter, hope and incredible medicine. Award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by a funny and fascinating panel of comedians, doctors, scientists, experts and historians to celebrate medicine's inspiring past, present and future.Each week Kiri challenges a panel of experts and a comedian to make a case for what they think is 'the best medicine'. Each guest champions anything from world-changing science or an obscure invention to an everyday treatment, an uplifting worldview, an unsung hero or a futuristic cure.Whether it’s groundbreaking surgery, seaweed underwear, AI glasses to help people with dementia, horse therapy, sports, revolutionary gene therapy for Huntington’s disease or yesterday’s rubbish becoming tomorrow’s medicines - it’s always something worth celebrating.Hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLeanFeaturing: Dr Matt Clarke, Professor Stephen Wallace and Michelle Wolf Written by Edward Easton, Jordan Gray, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Ben RowseProducer: Tashi RadhaExecutive Producer: Ben WorsfieldTheme tune composed by Andrew JonesA Large Time production for BBC Radio 4

7. Bonus Episode - Extra Dose

Right, roll up your sleeve, it’s time for an extra dose of Best Medicine!This is a special episode of unheard bits that couldn’t be squeezed into Series 2, featuring more fascinating medical insights, extended bits and a whole Petri dish of jokes – some more cultured than others. Laura Smyth shares more on sleep, Zoe Lyons delves into transplants and Dr Lindsey Fitzharris takes Kiri through more weird ritualistic historical medical practices. Dr Matt Morgan talks about the time he stripped naked and covered himself in honey in the name of science, Daliso Chaponda is still in denial about denial, Dr Mark Williams blows Kiri's mind with his unexpected swimming career, and Reverend Benjamin Perry opens up again about the benefits of crying.Best Medicine is your weekly dose of laughter, hope and incredible medicine. Award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by a funny and fascinating panel of comedians, doctors, scientists, and historians to celebrate medicine’s inspiring past, present and future.Each week, Kiri challenges her panel to make a case for what they think is 'the best medicine', and each guest champions anything from world-changing science or an obscure invention, to an every-day treatment, an uplifting worldview, an unsung hero or a futuristic cure.Whether it’s futuristic origami surgical robots, life-changing pineapple UTI vaccines, Victorian scandal mags, denial, sleep, tiny beating organoid hearts, lifesaving stem cell transplants, gold poo donors or even crying - it’s always something worth celebrating.Hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLeanFeaturing: Daliso Chaponda, Fatiha El-Ghorri, Professor Nicholas Embleton, Dr Lindsey Fitzharris, Zoe Lyons, Dr Matt Morgan, Reverend Benjamin Perry, Dr Fotios Sampaziotis, Laura Smyth and Dr Mark WilliamsWritten by Laura Claxton, Edward Easton, Mel Owen, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, and Ben RowseProducers: Tashi Radha and Ben WorsfieldTheme tune composed by Andrew JonesA Large Time production for BBC Radio 4

6. Pain Management, Organoids, Prosthetic Leg Covers

Joining Kiri this week is comedian Desiree Burch who explains the best ways to cope with pain following surgery. Dr Abdullah Khan engineers mini versions of human organs in a dish to enable more effective testing of new medical treatments, and Mark Williams shows off personalised prosthetic legs clad in anything from gold and flames to beer and the Welsh Flag.Best Medicine is your weekly dose of laughter, hope and incredible medicine. Award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by a funny and fascinating panel of comedians, doctors, scientists, and historians to celebrate medicine’s inspiring past, present and future. Each week, Kiri challenges a panel of medical experts and a comedian to make a case for what they think is 'the best medicine', and each guest champions anything from world-changing science or an obscure invention, to an every-day treatment, an uplifting worldview, an unsung hero or a futuristic cure. Whether it’s origami surgical robots, life-changing pineapple UTI vaccines, Victorian scandal mags, denial, sleep, tiny beating organoid hearts, lifesaving stem cell transplants, gold poo donors or even crying - it’s always something worth celebrating. Hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLeanFeaturing: Desiree Burch, Dr Abdullah Khan and Dr Mark WilliamsWritten by Laura Claxton, Mel Owen, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Nicky Roberts and Ben RowseProducers: Tashi Radha and Ben WorsfieldTheme tune composed by Andrew JonesA Large Time production for BBC Radio 4