Sep 2011
Sunday Express review
26/09/11 15:00 Filed in: Masters of Sitcom
Simon Brett reviews Masters Of Sitcom in the Sunday Express, 25 September 2011.
Spectator review
15/09/11 13:53 Filed in: Masters of Sitcom
Marcus Berkmann in the Spectator reviews Galton and Simpson, The Masters of Sitcom: “A lovingly compiled and annotated selection of some of their best scripts … He has chosen well.”
Kenneth Williams: hero or villain?
12/09/11 19:37 Filed in: kenneth williams
Kenneth Williams, 1949
Podcast
The challenge at the Hampstead and Highgate literary festival was to define how I saw Kenneth Williams – was he a hero or a villain? In the chair was Melissa Katsoulis; around the table were Daisy Waugh (talking about Rudolph Valentino), Anna Sebba (Wallis Simpson) and Justine Picardie (Coco Chanel).
As I don’t have the permission of the other writers to broadcast their talks, this excerpt features only me, cramming as many anecdotes as possible into my quarter of an hour.
Interview
07/09/11 14:15 Filed in: Masters of Sitcom
Podcast
Listen to my Interview with Steve Gilmour on Talk Radio Europe, about Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and Kenneth Williams too, broadcast on 6 September 2011.
National Theatre podcast
05/09/11 11:03 Filed in: Masters of Sitcom
This is my recording of the book launch event at the Lyttelton Theatre, in the National Theatre on London’s South Bank, on Thursday 1 September 2011. It’s about 45 minutes long, and concludes with a deafening standing ovation.
The voice closer to the mike is Ray Galton’s. The slightly echoey voice, further away, is Alan Simpson’s.
Book launch at the National Theatre
03/09/11 20:52 Filed in: Masters of Sitcom
Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in their office at Associated London Scripts in the early sixties
A packed auditorium at the National’s Lyttelton Theatre gave Ray Galton and Alan Simpson a standing ovation on a memorable evening to launch their book Galton and Simpson: Masters of Sitcom, from Hancock to Steptoe.
During 45 minutes of conversation on stage, Ray and Alan reminisced about working with great comedians including Tony Hancock, Harry H Corbett, Sid James and Spike Milligan. “Spike used to do things like sticking his head round the bottom of the door and announcing, ‘Dere’s a midget here to see you!” Ray said.
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