Unmissable show?
Bloodline. I know the current phrase is “TV is the new novel” but this really is like watching a novel unfold. It’s got a fantastic cast and it’s so well written. There’s tension in every scene, in every episode.
Earliest TV memory?
I grew up watching things like Porridge and Steptoe And Son. I enjoyed adult comedy – I’m not just saying that! I remember being out in the garden one time and my mum calling me in and saying, “You have to watch this”, and it was Monty Python’s Flying Circus. I was lucky in that respect. I had pretty cool parents with pretty good taste.
Mastermind specialist subject?
The Stone Roses. When I got into this business my only two goals were to work with Vic and Bob and to meet the Stone Roses. And I did both of them. Mani came on to Shooting Stars and he invited me to Barcelona to see their comeback gigs. Mani is a force of nature, he’s wonderful. I reckon they’re secretly making a new album.
Bring back…
ITV wrestling. I’d like to see all the old wrestlers come back: Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks. I know a lot of them aren’t with us any more, but I’d like to capture that spirit. Lots of people have tried to make shows about the wrestling, but they all come up against the same problem, which is that whatever they write will never be as fantastic and as weird as the actual wrestling itself.
Pitch us a TV show…
I’d like to do a TV show about bicycle couriers, because I used to be one! It was a very intriguing, strange life. There were some really curious characters who were doing the job because it was cash-in-hand. If I could have anyone in the show, I’d have Daniel Day-Lewis as the controller; I would have Om Puri as one of the customers and Ben Mendelsohn as a sinister courier. Mark Rylance would also be in it as the owner of a cafe where all the staff get their tea. And Bob Odenkirk would be in it as someone who works in the post room for a big company.
The Kennedys is on Friday 9 October, 9.30pm, BBC1
