Stephen Fry.

Stephen Fry is adored and admired for his humour, his charm and his formidable intellect. I can attest that in real life he is exactly how you’d want him to be – funny, kind and generous to a fault. I gave him his first voiceover and years later, he provided a laudatory review for my first book. It was a joy to hear him yesterday on Desert Island Discs. His great gift is making you think “Yes, yes, I’ve always thought that too. I just didn’t realise it”. And he’s proof that not everything on the BBC has been dumbed down. His sixth Desert Island Disc was Hugh Laurie’s version of this. He credited its arrangement to “the great Georgie Fame”. He meant “the great Alan Price”. So even Stephen Fry makes mistakes. And if you read his searingly honest memoirs, that’s something he’s never been afraid to admit.