Author Archives: paulkirkley

Talking Heads

BBC ONE / iPLAYER While the impetus for remaking Alan Bennett’s classic TV monologues may have been a practical one (they’re easy to film with minimal cast and crew), (re)watching these stories of loneliness and isolation, it’s striking how thematically in tune with the times they are. Which I suppose might be slightly depressing, ifContinue reading “Talking Heads”

The Salisbury Poisonings

The Salisbury Poisonings plays like one of those high-octane crime thrillers where you turn to your other half and say, “Well that would never happen”. Except, of course, it did happen, in March 2018, when Sergei Skripal – a former Russian intelligence officer who had worked as a double agent for the British – and hisContinue reading “The Salisbury Poisonings”

My Brilliant Friend (S2)

SKY ATLANTIC My Brilliant Friend might just be the best TV series you’ve never heard of. Though critically lauded when it launched in 2018, HBO’s adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s 10-million-selling ‘Neaopolitan’ novels didn’t quite have the cut-through of a Chernobyl or Succession. That’s possibly because it’s in a foreign language, but might equally be because, unusually for a TV blockbuster,Continue reading “My Brilliant Friend (S2)”

Norah Jones: “There could be a million nice things that people say, but the one negative is the one you remember.”

Promoting her last album in the summer of 2016, Norah Jones voiced her worry that “the world’s kind of falling apart right now”. And now here she is, four years on, releasing its follow-up against the backdrop of a global pandemic, race riots and an America more bitterly divided than ever. “Boy, if I couldContinue reading “Norah Jones: “There could be a million nice things that people say, but the one negative is the one you remember.””

Joe Wicks: “My childhood was chaotic. Doors getting slammed, shouting, food thrown about… It was manic, so I’m the opposite.”

“It’s all been a bit unexpected, really,” says Joe Wicks, reflecting on his recent elevation from successful fitness guru to – let’s not be coy – fully-fledged national hero.  “I was really excited about sharing my workouts online, and doing what I could,” adds the man whose daily P.E. With Joe exercise classes have become a centralContinue reading “Joe Wicks: “My childhood was chaotic. Doors getting slammed, shouting, food thrown about… It was manic, so I’m the opposite.””

Rob Delaney: “I don’t fight to win. I fight because there’s a fire inside of me.”

As a comedian, Rob Delaney has a favourite punchline. He’s called Rob Delaney. ‘There are some comedians who want to be cool,’ the 43-year-old tells Weekend over breakfast in London. ‘I’m not among them. I’ve got no interest in seeing a stand-up who’s like, “Hey, let’s celebrate how organised I am, or how well IContinue reading “Rob Delaney: “I don’t fight to win. I fight because there’s a fire inside of me.””

David Soul: “I got so tired of hearing myself described as a hunk. I never traded on that.”

At the kitchen table of his London flat, David Soul is re-enacting the 1974 auditions for Starksy & Hutch. Except he’s not playing Hutch – the blonde, blue-eyed California detective who made him one of the biggest TV stars in the world. He’s playing Starsky – or, technically, Starsky actor Paul Michael Glaser. ‘This guyContinue reading “David Soul: “I got so tired of hearing myself described as a hunk. I never traded on that.””

Lenny Henry: “Work is easy, life is hard. There are rungs in work. In life, you’re free-falling.”

Who is Lenny Henry? To a modern audience, he’s Sir Lenworth Henry CBE, BA (Hons), MA, PhD – comedian, actor, writer, campaigner, academic, knight of the realm and national treasure. Much of which might have come as a surprise to TV viewers in the 1970s, who first encountered him as a cheeky 16-year-old, trussed upContinue reading “Lenny Henry: “Work is easy, life is hard. There are rungs in work. In life, you’re free-falling.””