Category Archives: Worlds Shortest Radio Show

Make that “former Brummie scumbag” for my old friend Frazer Jelleyman is a reformed character. After years abroad pursuing a successful career as a creative director, he is now a picture of urbane civility. He arrived in an elegant hand-tailored jacket which I’d have nicked if he’d left it unattended on his chair. All a […]

So I want to wish her many happy returns. My 17th was my favourite birthday, the day I could drive a car and she’s exactly the same. Part of me will be sad when she passes her test. Much of the last seventeen years has been spent driving all over London, dropping her off and […]

The First Division title decided with the last kick in the last second of the last game of the season. Yet 26 years ago tonight, that’s exactly what happened. Arsenal needed to beat the mighty Liverpool at Anfield by two clear goals. It was 1-0 with just seconds to go when Michael Thomas scored Arsenal’s […]

Without question, the BBC’s best and most successful new sitcom in years. Peter Kay is a phenomenal talent – as a comedian, actor and writer. And now in Car Share – sorry, Peter Kay’s Car Share (for that’s its official title), director too. And that’s what I’ve always found slightly odd. Why does someone so […]

Denis Moran turned up in our kitchen one day. My sister Caroline had brought him home from school. He was about fourteen and had just arrived from Ireland. Denis was very camp, very charming and he practically lived at our house. As he got older, he developed that winning combination of campness and apparent heterosexuality […]

…. a few years ago on holiday. I recognised “Pat” immediately. Patsy Adams, one of the Adams Family – the most fearsome criminal fraternity Britain has ever known. My wife had no idea. So when I said I was taking our kids to the waterslides, she kindly volunteered me to take their little girl too. […]

Imagine you’d been going out with a girl (or boy) for years. And in all that time, this person had treated you with either casual indifference or outright contempt. You’d given everything – love, passion and unswerving loyalty in the hope that things would improve. But if anything, they got worse until the inevitable happened […]

Good opposition is almost as important as good government and one reason that Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair got away with so much was the lack of effective opposition. So it’s vital that Labour appoints a credible new leader. And soon. But so far, that quest isn’t going terribly well. Chuka Umanna, one of the […]

I’m the wrong generation. Too young for Woodstock, too old for Glastonbury but even if I weren’t, I’m not a fan of huge concerts in the open air. I was lucky enough to see some big names in small venues. The Who at the State in Kilburn and U2 at the Hammersmith Palais to name […]

Marked by a big party in Horse Guards Parade last night with Status Quo topping the bill. The band and this track seem appropriate on so many levels. Rossi and Parfitt are a great British institution. Also victory in the Second World War meant that this country could maintain its status quo. And with the […]