His Tonyship, Lord Director General (© W1A) has become something of a fixture at BBC programme launches of late – goodness knows, he’s nothing better to do. Tony Hall could be found dodging between the canapés again on Wednesday night at the corporation’s 2015 drama bash at The Clubhouse in London’s fashionable Mayfair (calm down Daily Mail, the rooms apparently only cost around £125 an hour to hire). Among those in attendence: Peter Capaldi, Michael Palin, Victoria Wood, Julia McKenzie, Mark Rylance and Keeley Hawes. Star-studded? Not ‘alf. In his speech Hall revealed he has been down to see how Wolf Hall is getting on. Not a modishly-named son of the director general’s, but the Beeb’s forthcoming adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s novel about a pragmatic man who tries to serve a British institution amid political manoeuvrings. Monkey wonders if he picked up any tips for charter renewal.
Benny from the jet channels Trainspotting
BBC drama commissioner Ben Stephenson also made a speech defending the licence fee (natch), after admitting suffering jet lag (“I’ve had a coffee and very excitingly a puff of an electronic cigarette so I’m not sure what I’m going to say”). Perhaps that’s why you sounded like you’re channelling Trainspotting’s Renton, Stevo? “We shouldn’t worry about having famous people on posters. We shouldn’t worry about what the press say. We shouldn’t worry about following trends. We shouldn’t worry about making hits. We shouldn’t worry about making shows for the international audience or trying to compete with the US. We should just worry about making brilliant shows … ” Choose life … choose BBC drama – not mind-numbing spirit-crushing gameshows.
