Radio

The Old Grey Whistle Test: presenter Bob Harris looks back on the highs and lows

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The radio DJ looks back at the glory days of the BBC music show ahead of a three-hour tribute programme on BBC4

Bob Harris is checking Twitter. It’s a cold Thursday afternoon and in a meeting room at the BBC’s Wogan House the 71-year-old radio presenter is reading social media responses to the news that he’s hosting a three-hour programme on BBC4 marking 30 years since The Old Grey Whistle Test was last broadcast (which airs on BBC4 on Friday 23 February at 9.00pm).

 “The response has been fabulous!” enthuses Harris, who helmed the landmark BBC2 music series during its imperial period, from 1972 to 1978, and whose hushed tones conferred churchly reverence on a remarkable run of live performers that included David Bowie, Bob Marley, John Martyn and Joni Mitchell. But Harris, who can also currently be heard on Radio 2 [ . . . ]

Fully story at Radio Times: The Old Grey Whistle Test: presenter Bob Harris looks back on the highs and lows 

John Oliver: ‘I’m used to audiences not liking me’

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THE GUARDIAN 2/24/18

How did a foul-mouthed Brit with ‘a fifth-grade understanding of American politics’ become a hit US TV comedian? John Oliver talks about the secret to satire – and that clash with Dustin Hoffman

here is a huge billboard of John Oliver in the middle of Times Square, announcing the fifth season of his show Last Week Tonight and causing the comedian to take an alternative route to work. Since he arrived in the US nearly 11 years ago, part of Oliver’s schtick has been the British person not just at sea in another country, but somewhat at sea in his own skin, a comic trope that aligns with the 40-year-old’s fundamental discomfort with the trappings of fame.
“It’s all happened so quickly,” says Oliver [ . . . ] More: John Oliver: ‘I’m used to audiences not liking me’

“I think one of the problems in America is that it has this gigantic military that a large amount of the population has no connection to. You can functionally be at war, as they’ve been in Afghanistan, for over a decade, and not really have any emotional sense that that is happening, because the disconnect is so big.”

First look at Sarah Lancashire in new Jack Thorne drama Kiri

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Channel 4 thriller sees the Happy Valley star join forces with the writer behind National Treasure and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Here is the first look at Kiri – the latest drama from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child writer Jack Thorne and starring Sarah Lancashire.

The Happy Valley star plays Miriam, an experienced social worker who is caught up in a police investigation when a young girl named Kiri goes missing on a supervised visit.

Kiri will also star Luther’s Lucian Msamati as Kiri’s grandfather, who will find his race and dysfunctional family relationships put under the microscope during the show. Lia Williams (The Crown) plays Kiri’s foster mum [ . . . ]

Source: First look at Sarah Lancashire in new Jack Thorne drama Kiri

That Netflix Show You Made Fun Of Is Actually The Loveliest Rom-Com On TV

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Antonia Thomas always forgets that the show she stars in is about chlamydia. But now that it’s been a full season since Netflix christened the unfortunately named Scrotal Recall with the more apt title, Lovesick — Season 3 is out now — it’s hard to b…

More: That Netflix Show You Made Fun Of Is Actually The Loveliest Rom-Com On TV