Unmissable show?
The Thick Of It. I thought it was brilliant. I’ve got all the box sets. The political intrigue is one element that is interesting; I’ve never been particularly close to that sort of thing, but I’ve brushed against it. I think it’s brilliantly written too. Rebecca Front, who plays the hapless minister, is marvellous, and of course all the aides and spads… and then Peter Capaldi comes roaring in, with blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. I just think it’s fantastic.
Earliest TV memory?
Muffin The Mule. Or Bill and Ben, The Flower Pot Men – I thought it was stupid, I didn’t like it. And I didn’t like that Muffin, either. I wasn’t amused, I didn’t think it was funny. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In was more my style, but that was much later.
TV turn-off?
I think EastEnders’ relentless, subdued violence in language has seeped and leached its way into the British consciousness, so that nowadays everybody says, “You looking at me?” or “What did you say?” I don’t think it’s done us any good. I’m not saying the acting isn’t great, I’m not saying the storylines aren’t. But I just think the general tenor of the programme is unpleasant.
Guilty pleasure?
I will sometimes spend 10 minutes watching Big Brother. I switch it on to reassure myself that it’s such rubbish, and then find myself watching it for 10 minutes. One is so mesmerised by the sheer horror.
Pitch us a TV show…
We’ve lost Alan Whicker, but we’ve found Michael Whitehall, Jack Whitehall’s dad. Have you seen Backchat? Well, Michael Whitehall is the new Whicker, so it’s Whitehall’s World. I think he’s great: very funny, terribly dry. So that’s my show – him doing what Whicker did, which was travelling around the world, sticking his nose in on people’s lives, and taking the mickey out of them ever so slightly.
Series 10 of The Apprentice starts Tue, 9pm, BBC1
