Well that’s what I thought it said when I first read the ad in yesterday’s Media Guardian. To be perfectly honest if I knew how to do that I wouldn’t be sitting here typing this.
A few weeks a go I was asked by a friend at Tiger Aspect (production company of ‘Benidorm’) if I would be a panelist on a Royal Television Society ‘Futures’ evening. When I asked what it would entail doing I was told a clip of my choice from a tv show I have been involved in would be shown and then I’d be expected to answer questions from the floor (from the floor? Were they all going to be drunk? I certainly hope so). For some reason I agreed, I’m not really sure why. I suppose it’s the first time I’ve been asked to do one of these things when I have actually known the person who requested my input. In the last 2 or 3 years I’ve been asked to go everywhere from Berlin to Rome (and a few places inbetween) but always thought it was a bit of a palaver to travel there and of course the thorny problem of “what on earth would I say?”.
I’m not doing that very English thing of playing down my achievements, I think I’ve acheived incredible things in my career, I just don’t know how I’ve done it. I suppose John Plowman is there to give the practical advice and I’m just there is to throw in the odd nob joke. I guess it’s useful in a way to have someone with a successful tv comedy airing on a major channel to confess he doesn’t really know what it’s all about. I worked for John Sullivan writing an episode (and co-writing another) of his Only Fools & Horses spin off ‘Green Green Grass’ and he said pretty much the same. Actually he didn’t, I said that everytime I finish writing a sketch (I was writing The Catherine Tate Show at the time) I convinced myself I couldn’t do it again, that I’d ran out of funny things to say and funny situations to which (to my astonishment) he agreed and felt the same way after every episode of Only Fools!
So if you are coming to the RTS event please feel free to ask me any questions, make them as probing as you like, just don’t be disappointed when you get reply, “ooh I haven’t got a clue, is it time for the sandwiches yet?”.
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| Advert in yesterday's Media Guardian. |
