Early last year, Lauren Laverne was standing on stage with Sir Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen – as you do – while the latter gave an acceptance speech at the Ivor Novello Awards. “Bruce had played Sunderland the night before, in a rainstorm, and could barely speak,” she recalls. “He said, ‘I’m so sorry about the voice,Continue reading “Lauren Laverne: “Looking to the future, I feel quite free””
Author Archives: paulkirkley
Harry Enfield: “There’s a new apartheid in comedy, which feels like a backward step. But that’s my age.”
Harry Enfield often tells people he’s retired, even though he hasn’t. “It feels better than saying ‘I’m not working’,” smiles the comedy legend. “I’m not ambitious, that’s the problem. I was when I was young. I look at people like Steve Coogan, who I knew back when we were both starting out, and he’s stillContinue reading “Harry Enfield: “There’s a new apartheid in comedy, which feels like a backward step. But that’s my age.””
A complete history of the history of Doctor Who
On November 1963 – coincidentally, just a day after the assassination of President Kennedy – British viewers sat down to watch a new science fiction programme designed to fill the grandstand at Juke Box Jury. Minutes later, a mysterious figure with a flowing white cloak and a Victorian frock emerged from the fog – andContinue reading “A complete history of the history of Doctor Who”
James Graham: “You can’t just put people on stage you agree with”
“I think we’ve lived through a chapter of our national life where we’ve all slightly lost faith in the country working for normal people,” says James Graham. “Whether that’s the trains, the health service, or the justice system, our institutions just feel overwhelmed. Times are really tough. And yet I’m an optimist. Because when youContinue reading “James Graham: “You can’t just put people on stage you agree with””
Strange Attraction: What Stranger Things gets right (and the other big fantasy franchises are getting wrong)
The past decade has not been kind to the great sci-fi and fantasy properties. Star Wars, Star Trek, DC and Marvel have all tarnished their legacies by prioritising quantity over quality, and even Doctor Who is currently lost in the time vortex. Meanwhile, a young pretender has stepped in and seized the throne with a simple, old-fashioned formulaContinue reading “Strange Attraction: What Stranger Things gets right (and the other big fantasy franchises are getting wrong)”
Mark Bonnar: “I’m not sure being an actor was of any use in The Traitors”
“Just flagging,” says Mark Bonnar’s publicist, a couple of days before Weekend’s scheduled audience with the Bafta-winning actor, “that other than confirming he’s in it, Mark can’t really talk about The Traitors.” Well this is awkward. Because it’s the 56-year-old Scot’s forthcoming appearance in the TV phenomenon’s hotly-anticipated celebrity spin-off that, in theory at least, we haveContinue reading “Mark Bonnar: “I’m not sure being an actor was of any use in The Traitors””
Lost in space and time: the story of Doctor Who’s missing episodes
“I am being diminished. Whittled away, piece by piece… Great chunks of my past, detaching themselves like melting icebergs” – The Doctor, The Five Doctors People have been underestimating Doctor Who for a very long time. In 1963, cautious BBC execs were reluctant to commit to more than 13 episodes of their new teatime adventure serial,Continue reading “Lost in space and time: the story of Doctor Who’s missing episodes”
David Byrne: “It’s hard not to feel like the dark is winning. But I’m not ready throw up my hands yet”
Is David Byrne okay? Over half a century, the musician, artist, writer and filmmaker has established himself as one of modern America’s leading cultural forces – ‘rock’s renaissance man’, as Time magazine once hailed him. But in recent years, the former Talking Heads frontman has started to ask himself: Does any of it really matter? “When youContinue reading “David Byrne: “It’s hard not to feel like the dark is winning. But I’m not ready throw up my hands yet””
Jo Whiley & Zoe Ball: “Life’s been a pretty rocky rollercoaster at times”
Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball are often mistaken for each other. “It happens all the time,” says Jo. “I mean, every single week.” “It’s hilarious,” agrees Zoe. “I was sitting outside a pub near my brother’s in Kent last week, and a woman started talking passionately to me about how much she loves my outfitsContinue reading “Jo Whiley & Zoe Ball: “Life’s been a pretty rocky rollercoaster at times””
Philosophy in the age of the BBC Micro: the strange beauty of Season 18
This is an expanded version of the Season 18 Blu-ray review that first appeared in Doctor Who Magazine issue 536, April 2019 Of all the series in Doctor Who’s long and unexpected history, Season 18 stands as perhaps the most singular and distinctive. Fated to be the end of one thing and the start ofContinue reading “Philosophy in the age of the BBC Micro: the strange beauty of Season 18”
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