For several years, Matthew Stadlen has had the good fortune of being able to sit down with many notables worldwide including many British television and comedy favorites. Think of it as Robert Llewellyn’s Carpool without the car and the tenseness of having to navigate London traffic while conducting an interview. Five Minutes With… is a great mini-program housed on the BBC news website. His most recent program, Five Minutes With…Dawn French, featured the British television great, who talked about the immense pressure “to be funny” along with her philosophy on life and her comedy partnership with close friend, Jennifer Saunders — all in, you guessed it, five minutes.

December of last year, Stadlen “grilled” the brilliant mind of Michael Palin. Over the course of the past couple of years, we’ve been treated to some pretty cool “sit-downs” with the likes of Professor Brian Cox, British particle physicist and host of a number of science programs for the BBC, Jonathan Miller and Sir Ian McKellen. To give you a sense as to how cool and intimate these really are….check ’em out if you have a spare 300 seconds.

Brian Cox, particle physicist and keyboardist with the rock band, Dare, alongside Thin Lizzy member, Darren Wharton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiPsU13M6ek

Jonathan Miller, director, author & broadcaster

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WveZ_GT7rs