It’s back for an eleventh series - who keeps commissioning this - and Richard’s new emergency questions are coming true as he’s fresh from irking a postman. His guest is someone who used to only be able to speak to in drunken awe at early 1990s BBC Radio Light Entertainment parties, Paul Merton. They discuss their similarly comedy-nerdy teenage years, the early days of the alternative comedy circuit where Alexei Sayle’s stream of swearing might be followed by flying fish or slowly melting ice. Can Paul remember the very first routine that helped him on the road to stardom (and partially define his persona) - you bet a fortnight’s holiday in Benidorm he can and it’s magical! Find out how close he came to death 30 years ago after breaking his leg and how anti-malarial drugs almost broke his brain.

Richard is excited about becoming a father for the second time, but not to witnessing the birth. His guest is, like him, a son of teachers and has a 2:1 degree in history and grew up in a town that begins with the letters Che, it’s Joe Thomas. Thomas shows Herring what his life might have been if only he’d been in a hit show, whereas Herring serves as a dire warning for where Thomas could end up if things go wrong for him. They chat about how Joe nearly didn’t accept the Inbetweeners Job, a radical possible change of direction for the third Inbetweeners movie, whether Jess the cat has an official role in Postman Pat, the buildings and dead businesses of Chelmsford, why you should watch narrative drama in the correct order, the optimum number of Inbetweeners to appear in a non-Inbetweener project and get through a fair few questions from the new Emergency Questions book.

Richard is worried that he smells of cat wee, but he can’t let that slow him down, he is chatting to the star of his as unyet commissioned sitcom (but it will be commissioned in some Universe somewhere), Jessica Knappett. Under discussion are the horrors of birth and death, the unfortunate associations that belong to the town of Bingley, what one is supposed to be getting out of a massage, the sweet, sweet taste of very long-term showbiz based revenge, sandwich or tampons, how Jessica fell in love with a man who can play a guitar without even having a guitar and the perils of promotional work and when it is acceptable to steal from work.

Richard has been gifted an almost free Twirl by the Universe. But has he been moral, immoral or amoral? To help us find out, the first ever three times returning guest on the podcast and multi-award winning podcaster, Adam Buxton. The pair discuss middle-aged confrontations and why the staff at WH Smiths in Cambridge station are maybe overzealous, how Adam appeared like a guardian angel when Richard was in trouble and telepathically summoned him, terror of mortality, what to name a dog, the frustrations of being considered small in stature, what it’s like to play a head in a box, how to keep your family alive when everyone expects podcasts to be free, plus a musical finale,which has maybe come a couple of decades too late.

Richard attempts to work out how a waitress in a pizza restaurant with a limited menu might be surprised by every order, before introducing former competent waitress and fudge packer, Zoe Lyons. The chat encompasses Alan Titchmarsh based humiliation, Cherie Blair, the bluntness of the Dutch, almost being the first person to die on reality TV and performing to Australian miners. Plus travelogues to Alaska and Indiana, Voyager and anally inserted chocolate bars. I mean what more could you possibly wish for.

Richard is over excited to find people 2/5ths of his age in the front row and tries to forget he is on the verge of his sixth decade. He’s gone against the advice of last week’s podcast and had a drink and so has his guest, it’s Classic FM’s Andrew Collin(g)s. It’s the first time the pair have spoken in over 60 months and it would be foolish to deny that there might be come tensions bubbling beneath (and all over) the surface, but there’s still time for some banter that will take you back to the glory days of 2008-2011. Armed with emergency questions and an emergency folder of cherished tabloid memories the pair attempt to discuss the country’s worst serial killers, the Mitfords, the evil of Cecil Parkinson, the debt they owe each other, the unresolved sexual tension (at least at the start of the evening), the disappointment of Northampton, decent and indecent proposals, whether it’s OK to add cartoons to the Human Centipede and what the best kind of tape is. You will laugh, you will wince, you will remember the 1980s, but not possibly as fondly as Collings does.

Richard is pondering what it must be like to buy a flat in BBC TV Centre and appreciating his daughter’s grasp of money. It’s a reunion this week with a man he once shared a bed and a tiramisu in a Presidential Suite, David Baddiel. They talk about double act reunions, the ethics of writing about your family secrets for comedy, the perils of getting older and needing comfort breaks, cat bum coffee, why all comedians are writing children’s books and orgies involving the stars of 1970s television. Plus a brilliant story about Norris Macwhirter.

Richard contemplates the now trickier commute to work that he has thanks to being forced to move to the country because he is 50, before introducing veteran comedian Brendon Burns and a man with only one credit Craig Quartermaine. It’s a more contemplative RHLSTP than usual, as the two Australians discuss the racial issues that many of their countrymen refuse to confront and how comedy can deal with questions of race (especially if a loud and mouthy bloke is teamed up with a quieter and indigenous one). Find out how this unlikely pair got together, how they reluctantly formed a double act, what makes a double act work and the awkwardness that both comedians revel in and have to cope with in their daily life and from people who have seen their show. It’s a fascinating insight into guilt, embarrassment and the horrors of imperialism and how difficult it is to confront these harsh truths. Luckily it’s funny too. Though sometimes uncomfortably so.

Richard has his least successful attempt to meet his audience of all time, but no matter, he has a great guest on hand in the form of Angelos Epithemiou creator, Dan Skinner. They chat about how the character came to life, the audacious way in which he inadvertently auditioned for Shooting Stars, how he failed to get a part in Richard’s sitcom, the story of why Jim Broadbent appeared in Around The World In Eighty Days, working with Ken Campbell and Ben Wheatley and not really working with Alan Partridge. Plus a novel use of a lot of Twixes and what it’s like to appear on Sunday Brunch drunk and the Edinburgh Fringe sober.

Richard hasn’t eaten enough in a last ditch attempt to lose weight before he turns 50, but no time for stomach rumbles because his guest is professional Margaret Thatcher impersonator and teenage evangelical Christian, Katy Brand. Questions, emergency and non-emergency are asked like how does Brian Blessed feel about hobgoblins? Where do demons go when they have been dispossessed? Are Medusa and Emily Bronte the only women in history? When is International Men’s Day? What kind of a sad case would use crowd funding? Have any of Richard’s 1990s fans gone on to be less successful than him? And you’ll witness the power of the new embers of a bonfire.

Richard is still bugging last week’s audience about Lego Batman - it’s amazing they keep coming back. His guest is Gillian Pieface, or as she is sometimes known Julian Clary. They chat about how the Universe lets you know it’s time for a break, psychic teeth, burning pianos, perverted monks, the inability to escape innuendo, living next door to hyenas, having a head full of skin, the Tracey family and Aquamarina, Piers Morgan, cocaines, Brian Blessed, Jimmy Greaves, Mike Smith, acting, panto, the continent of the incontinent and disappointing ways to celebrate big birthdays.

Rich is on the cusp of a couple of massive life changes, but he won’t let ageing and moving get in the way of asking comedians strange questions in an attempt to make them reveal intimate truths. Today he talks to a man with inventive ideas for revenge and murder, Limmy. They discuss being concreted into the pavement, manspreading, swearing xylophones, fake whatsapps, undescended testicles, sea lion genitals, how to save money when touring, the joy of travelling the world and seeing nothing but Columbo and dedicate a lot of time to the best tactics required to win at Monopoly.

Rich tries to find someone older than him in the audience as he tries to squeeze some joy out of the last few hours of his forties. HIs guest is older and sager than he and has been doing the Edinburgh Fringe for a full decade longer, it’s the self-proclaimed Mayor of Balham, Arthur Smith. They discuss smashing bottles over people’s heads, worst and most uriny heckles, the honours system, near death experiences, brushes with the law, Are You Being Served?, Fringe spectaculars, Alexander the Great’s socks, poetry, Hamlet featuring Dick Kipper and what was being said in the backwards episode of Red Dwarf.Plus the benefits of mild fame and what you do when you’ve just been released from Colditz.

Richard is still prickling with mortification after an encounter with Michael Portillo, as if turning 50 and moving house wasn’t enough, but he has still found time to read his guest’s fantastic new book “How Not To Grow Up”, I mean “How Not To Be a Boy”, Robert Webb. They chat about their mutual inability to draw 8s and hours (and relationships) lost to Civilisation II, the way tragedy (or not) can shape a comedian, where you would seek release if you were the only person left in the world, the tricky balancing act of making sure the right people are at your funeral, how we will view ourselves in 10 years time and what our wives might think of us now. Plus imaginary friends, falling down stairs and going to school with Bros. It’s literally got everything.

Rich is getting used to living in the countryside and the action movie that is attempting to get the train home. His guest has painful memories of the show he is best known for, it’s Sudoku king, Ed Byrne. Richard is happy because there’s lots of chances to discuss Celebrity Quiz shows, but luckily he’s not going to dwell on his own successes or failures (whichever they might have been). They also discuss prestigious acting awards, the decline in the standards of Metro columnists, not feeding gondolas, how you might end up 3% Neanderthal, lost New Zealand dreams, rubbing pork, Alanis Morissette, why lawyers are great best men, the effect of gravity on a scrotum and how to get on the right side of an audience from Iceland.

Rich details how he considered stealing a man’s identity to become a chartered accountant. Perhaps it would have been for the best. But instead he’s back for the 150th official episode of the show that the Cool Kids call RHLSTP with one of his all-time favourite guests, Sara Pascoe. She has written a phenomenal book called Animal which you really should buy https://www.amazon.co.uk/Animal-Autob... for all teenage girls, all teenage boys and everyone else too. There’s some pretty serious chat about the chemistry of love, biology, abortion, the future of the world, whether things are getting better or worse and terrible human nature. But it’s contemplative and positive and proves that Richard isn’t actually the worst man on the planet, plus there’s fun stuff about Just a Minute in a brain scanning machine and Sunday Brunch (with surprise guest) and a brilliant new game show where there’s guaranteed to be one woman on every week. Plus all the Emergency Questions lead us to serious answers. It’s an amazing end to what has surely been the best series of RHLSTP so far.