Posts Tagged ‘bbc’
Richard Osman’s House of Games | BBC2
8 October, 2020Series four starts on 12 October. Happily (for me), the question-editor bit of production preceded … the Unpleasantness.

See also: my book for Penguin, The Joy of Quiz. And, to a lesser extent, the official spin-off book.
Inside No 9 | BBC2
25 February, 2020You should watch this episode first …

… then listen to the podcast to discover my indirect association.
The book in question is The Joy of Quiz.
See also: The Riddle of the Sphinx
The Shipping Forecast Puzzle Book | BBC Books
8 February, 2020For every Shipping Forecast area, you find the places on the map indicated by various clues. Join the places to form the shapes of letters. Join the letters to form a sea shanty.
Out 5 November from your local bookshop / Penguin / Waterstones / Amazon etc.

It also gives a flavour of what it’s like to be in each of Dogger, Fisher, German Bight…
- BBC Books / Ebury Publishing
- ISBN: 9781785945106
- 240 pages; 216 x 135 mm
- Goodreads · LibraryThing
- Previously: Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword; The Joy of Quiz
The Best of 2010-2015 Wipe | BBC2
28 December, 2019Richard Osman’s House of Games | BBC2
7 October, 2019Richard Osman’s House of Games | BBC Books
2 August, 2019I am proud of this book, which comes out on 17 October.
It has some games from the TV show, and some new ones and, with a couple of exceptions, all new questions. There are some imaginary behind-the-scenes conversations and general nonsense.
- Previously: Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword; The Joy of Quiz
- £14.99 RRP hardback
- 17 October 2019 hardback
- BBC Books
- ISBN: 1785944622 and 978-1785944628
Blurb:
Do you know how many post boxes there are in the UK? Could you guess how many times the word ‘goat’ appeara in the King James Version of the bible? Fancy playing a game of charades where all of the books, films and plays are entirely made up? Now, look around the room. Is anyone there the kind of person who’ll say ‘I just don’t understand this’, when faced with something that’s not just perfectly easy to understand, but is … well, fun? Ask them to leave. Have they gone? Good. Now welcome inside the House of Games.
Hotel California | BBC News
23 August, 2018A Smashed Hits about (the) Eagles’ Hotel California:
“Vaguery is the primary tool of songwriters,” Frey told a journalist during a 2003 pro-am golf tournament in California’s Pebbel Beach, where he was partnered with Huey Lewis. “It works, it means whatever the listener wants it to mean.”
Sources: History of the Eagles; Hit Story: It All Started Because Of Rattlesnakes; Rockin’ ‘Round The Round, SF Gate; Jennifer Parker’s McBusted: The Story of the World’s Biggest Super Band and this lovely data collection from Southern California Public Radio.
Trump, double-negatives and politics | BBC News
23 July, 2018A quick piece for the BBC about double negatives:
It’s hard to understate how often we find ourselves using two negatives when we don’t mean to – in fact, this sentence begins with a common example
See also:
Richard Osman’s House Of Games | BBC2
29 May, 2018Series two begins on BBC2 today.
particularly pleasing… This is trivia, plus; it requires a bit of wit, and imagination, even, certainly silliness — Sam Wollaston, Guardian
…just how much I loved BBC2’s new quiz show Richard Osman’s House of Games… Like all the best TV quizzes, ROHOG scores very highly on the playalongability chart – so the half hour fair flies by — Ian Hyland, Mirror
the BBC’s new infectiously funny prime time show… deserves praise for finding a sweet spot which fits all audiences — Adam Bloodworth, Metro
it shouldn’t be a surprise that [Richard Osman’s House of Games] is terrific… The victor gets to choose between a dartboard, pasta maker, cushion and dressing gown, but really, we’re all winners here — Robert Epstein, Independent
viewers couldn’t stop laughing… The show’s debut was a success by all means as fans loved Richard’s new format — Helen Daly, Express
- BBC Two, 6pm weeknights from Mon 29 May
- See also: my book, The Joy of Quiz
- Also in quiz: Only Connect
Stand By Me | BBC News
21 May, 2018A piece for BBC News about the use of Stand By Me at the royal wedding:
That’s why Harry and Meghan’s choice of song meant more than if they’d gone with, say, Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You. And the performance by the Kingdom Choir takes Stand By Me back further still, re-infusing it with the defiance as well as the devotion of gospel.
Heat Map | BBC Radio 5Live
4 May, 2018I am a panellist on Heat Map this Sunday.
Under discussion: cultural appropriation, Kanye West and The Communist Manifesto.
My choice of intro music:
- See also: 5Live’s Arts Club
- Other episodes
- Image from Kew Bridge series
Arts Club with Will Gompertz | BBC Radio 5 Live
29 January, 2018I am a guest on the first episode of BBC Radio 5 Live’s Arts Club. Tickets for the recording are available from The Bill Murray club in Islington.
Update: More episodes with me —
- 2 Feb 2018: Art for Trump, Dylan v Cohen, What does Banksy look like and is The Bayeaux Tapestry a bit rubbish? (My sacred cow: The Laughing Cavalier)
- 16 Feb 2018: Florence, portraits and the music of our youth (My sacred cow: The Great Bear)
- 18 Mar 2018: Awards Shows, the NME, and TV shows for the Obamas (My sacred cow: Julius Caesar)
- Recording: Thu 1 Feb 2018, The Bill Murray, 39 Queen’s Head St, London N1 8NQ [tickets]
- Broadcast: BBC 5 live, Sun 4 Feb 2018 and on podcast
- See also: The Will Gompertz Fringe
- Image from the RWA Exhibition, 2007
Have I Got News for You | BBC1
1 October, 2017Series 54 begins 9pm, Fri 6 October.
Election Lexicon | BBC News
12 May, 2017By me for BBC News: Election Lexicon, the words which “caught the ear” in a week of campaigning.
27 May: [campaigning suspended]
Inside No 9 | BBC2
28 February, 2017I am proud to have performed the minor role of “crossword consultant” for this excellent episode of Inside No 9, The Riddle of the Sphinx:
I’m further proud to have filled the role of some kind of muse:
- BBC Two, 10pm, 28 Feb 2017
- Two Girls, One on Each Knee
- Steve Pemberton set the episode’s crossword as ‘Sphinx’, which is also the Guardian’s cryptic on the day of broadcast
- Interview with Sphinx at the Guardian crossword blog
- More Inside No 9
Charlie Brooker’s 2016 Wipe | BBC2
5 December, 2016I am a proud member of Team 2016 Wipe, which is broadcast after Christmas.
Update 14 May 2017: Bafta winner, Comedy & Comedy Entertainment Programme
Nigel Farage Gets His Life Back | BBC2
25 August, 2016Kevin Bishop is Nigel Farage, in a programme imagining his life after resigning. Blurb:
“On the 23rd June, Britain voted to leave the European Union,” added the BBC. “Then, on the 4th July, Nigel Farage, the man who had made it all possible, resigned saying he wanted his life back. But what sort of life has he gone back to, and how does a man forever in the spotlight fill his days now he has nothing to do?”
Only Connect | BBC2
11 July, 2016Series 12 of Only Connect, with me in the question-editor chair, begins tonight on BBC Two at 8.30pm.
“It’s a safe space, where a very specifically talented group of people get to show off in their own understated way for an audience of their peers. And this is what makes it so brilliant.” – Stuart Heritage, Guardian
“…that will surely be the highlight of the week for all lovers of uncompromisingly smart television” – James Walton, Telegraph
“What is the link between these numbers? 285,000, 684,000, 1.1m, 2.9m. The answer is they are soaring viewers figures for Only Connect, the toughest quiz on television, which began as a BBC4 obscurity and has now overtaken BBC1 in the ratings.” – Adam Sherwin, Independent
“Only Connect: the best quiz on TV?” – Radio Times
The One Show | BBC1
15 March, 2016I’m on The One Show this evening, discussing spying and crosswords with Gyles Brandreth.
The Rack Pack | BBC iPlayer
11 January, 2016Update: Luddites can see The Rack Pack on terrestrial TV during the World Snooker Championships c2130, 30 April at 10pm, 16 July, BBC2.
The first drama feature film for iPlayer is out on Sunday [ trailer | playlist ]. It’s about Alex Higgins and these men:
Just been to the premiere of Rack Pack. It's out on Bbc I player on 17 th January Whatever you do don't miss this it's totally brilliant.
— Barry Hearn (@BarryHearn) December 17, 2015
Oh my! Snooker fans! Just watched The Rack Pack. Funny early but by the end I had tears of sadness. It's brilliant! https://t.co/UM8PAmLlzb
— Steve Davis (@SteveSnooker) January 13, 2016
@jamesdanw IMHO it's an superb portrayal of Alex, Me, Barry and the snooker scene back then. The poetic license afforded it adds 2 the drama
— Steve Davis (@SteveSnooker) January 13, 2016
Detailing the complex relationship between Steve Davis and Alex Higgins, and the part played in it by Hearn, the sport’s ringmaster, the film is by turns hilarious and tear-jerking. Its re-creation of an era of quite magnificent sleaze is so precise you can almost feel your shoes sticking to the snooker hall carpets as you watch — Jim White, Telegraph
Delightful… What this is not is a cartoonish romp through snooker’s glory days. For the most part it is very moving. But despite all this, Shaun Pye, Mark Chappell and Alan Connor’s film is still a wonderful nostalgia fest for all us 1980s kids, hearing names you haven’t heard uttered for 30 years — Ben Dowell, Radio Times
Shifts beautifully between laugh-out-loud moments and characters pressing the self-destruct button — Alyson Rudd, Front Row, Radio 4
For 90 minutes of pure nostalgia, this takes some beating — Hector Nunns, Times
…hilariously recounts the tension between the pair.
Hearn has seen the film and says it is ‘absolutely fantastic‘. He goes on: ‘It captures exactly the spirit of that time, the conflict between Davis and Higgins and the birth of modern-day commercial snooker. I had to rub my eyes sometimes; it was as though I was watching the real thing. It’s sensational.
‘The film is brutally honest.’ — Tom Parry, Boudicca Fox-Leonard, Mirror
Snooker is famed as the perfect TV sport, but it never looks as good as this — Andrew Collins, Guardian
Snooker fans will have tuned in to the final of this year’s Masters on BBC Two, but over on iPlayer a more thrilling portrayal of the sport was playing out — Rachel Ward, Telegraph
…the only puzzle about The Rack Pack is why the corporation [is] uncertain how to categorise what is simply superb drama — Martin Hoyle, Financial Times
- A film by Brian Welsh
- Luke Treadaway, Will Merrick, Kevin Bishop, Nichola Burley, James Bailey
- Created and written by Shaun Pye, Mark Chappell, Alan Connor
- Producer Barney Reisz
- Executive Producer Peter Holmes
- Executive Producers Shane Allen, Victoria Jaye, Gregor Sharp