Thank you for the unexpected mention in Sam Wollaston’s piece on the 40th anniversary of The South Bank Show (Melvyn has brought his trumpet and he’s going to jolly well blow it, 15 January).
I am indeed still around, just about, though I retired from regular TV reviewing for the Daily Telegraph more than 20 years ago. I clearly remember interviewing Melvyn Bragg about his ambitious plan to bring culture in its broadest form to the attention of ITV viewers. I must have been about 50 at the time and Melvyn was remarkably young to undertake such a mission.
Over the ensuing years I reviewed The South Bank Show dozens of times, sometimes with approval and admiration, sometimes not. I also remember Tony Palmer declaring that John Lennon was the greatest songwriter since Schubert which, given the competition in the 19th and 20th centuries, left me somewhat gobsmacked.
There’s another 60 years to go before Melvyn’s view and mine about the durability of the Fab Four can be evaluated, so it’s still anyone’s guess. Of the durability of Lord Bragg himself, as a broadcaster and untiring pursuer of intellectual quests, there can be no question.
Richard Last
Woking, Surrey
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