Armando Iannucci

[Lawrence Jones]

I was listening to an interesting - and very funny - discussion on ‘Weekend Woman’s Hour’ several months ago about Scottish people who affect upper-class (as in southern posh) accents. Sir Malcolm Rifkind’s name was mentioned and everyone started to giggle (hee-hee-hee-hee)! The conclusion of the interview was that Scottishness and poshness are mutually exclusive. Hear, hear, one should be proud to be Scottish and not attempt to imitate the bland and characterless accents of R4 personnel! James Cox, Edward Mair and Susan Rae have always maintained their Scottish accent, so why has Mr.. Iannucci worked so hard to eradicate his Glaswegian timbre and attempted to be posh?

During the intro., Miss Lawley spoke about how he’d spent three years writing a thesis centred on religious language, with reference to Milton. I decoded that statement as follows: Mr. Iannucci was admitted to a course of research that was supposed to lead to the degree of Ph.D, but either failed his viva or never bothered actually writing the thesis up. In other words, Mr Iannucci consumed precious financial resources and academic time that could have been utilised by a far more deserving candidate. Miss Lawley didn’t bother exploring any of these issues - or indeed question how he now appears to be a visiting Professor when he couldn’t even complete a Ph.D.

I found the affected accent most distracting, but aural attention did become more acute when he mentioned that he’d always been a very keen radio listener. Historical radio listening habits are always interesting when assessing someone’s character, yet there were only references to comedy shows such as Week Ending. No references, whatsoever, to any of the classic R4 or R1 programmes that weren’t comedy orientated. Did anyone notice his comment when he was comparing his own interests with those of his brothers? He started to speak about most people listening to pop music and placing poster of Lou Ree on their bedroom walls, whereas he listened to classical music and read books. Does this mean that people who love listening to pop music never read books? Well I’d like to hear Crusoe’s views on those comments.

I expected the subject of his lapsed Catholicism to generate an interesting discussion. The majority of Catholics lapse for the following reasons: 1) couldn’t be bothered to get out of their pit and go to mass on Sunday 2) Insatiable sexual appetite 3) Philosophical difficulties relating to Transubstantiation 4) creation/evolution contradictions. Given that he was educated by Jesuits, I would have expected the latter two – no such luck.

Finally, I’d like to know why technical illiteracy and being impractical is always celebrated within R4? I think it’s shameful and get sick and tired of hearing guests making references to their ‘hopeless impracticalness’. Mr. Iannucci is described in the very badly composed R4 biog web page as: ‘a highly academic child’. If this was the case - and given his alleged love of reading - then why didn’t he read Car Mechanics, Practical Motorist, Practical Wireless, Wireless World……+ all the other DIY mags that were part of most intelligent adolescents reading material?

P.S. I forgot to mention the fraction of air play that Cloudbursting received compared with all his other choices. Typical snooty R4!!!! I can’t wait for the day when I hear that R4 has appointed a Liverpudlian as a either an R4 producer or commissioning editor. How about a Liverpudlian commissioning editor for comedy? I’ve only ever heard Miss Raphael laugh once (during that joint interview she did with Miss Carol Smith on Feedback) in all the years I’ve been listening to her.

[Crusoe]

Lawrence said:

I was listening to an interesting - and very funny - discussion on ‘Weekend Woman’s Hour’ several months ago about Scottish people who affect upper-class (as in southern posh) accents. Sir Malcolm Rifkind’s name was mentioned and everyone started to giggle (hee-hee-hee-hee)! The conclusion of the interview was that Scottishness and poshness are mutually exclusive. Hear, hear, one should be proud to be Scottish and not attempt to imitate the bland and characterless accents of R4 personnel!

Goodness, you don’t often come across a funny discussion on “Woman’s Hour”. I perfectly understand the point, though: it does seem daft that anyone should affect a plummy accent but there is something about a plummy Scot that sounds particularly funny (well, the very thought of Malcolm Rifkind made me laugh). And I’d certainly agree that Ms Rae and Mr Mair have particularly euphonious voices (Mr Cox is perfectly agreeable but I’ve never noticed much of a Scottish character to his voice). Armando Ianucci’s voice is so affected that he sounds positively camp, to me.

Lawrence said:

During the intro., Miss Lawley spoke about how he’d spent three years writing a thesis centred on religious language, with reference to Milton. I decoded that statement as follows: Mr. Iannucci was admitted to a course of research that was supposed to lead to the degree of Ph.D, but either failed his viva or never bothered actually writing the thesis up. In other words, Mr Iannucci consumed precious financial resources and academic time that could have been utilised by a far more deserving candidate. Miss Lawley didn’t bother exploring any of these issues - or indeed question how he now appears to be a visiting Professor when he couldn’t even complete a Ph.D.

I didn’t actually hear this bit of the programme (I didn’t hear much of the programme at all, although it doesn’t sound like I missed much) but I’d have thought that it’s possible that he did get a Ph.D. but doesn’t generally refer to himself as “Dr.” – this would fit in with the dim view of learning which seems to be held by meeja types. If he was, indeed, funded for a Ph.D. which he didn’t complete then it certainly represents a waste of money. As for the visiting Professor’s post, I suspect that this is not really an academic position and does not require an academic pedigree.

Lawrence said:

I found the affected accent most distracting, but aural attention did become more acute when he mentioned that he’d always been a very keen radio listener. Historical radio listening habits are always interesting when assessing someone’s character, yet there were only references to comedy shows such as Week Ending. No references, whatsoever, to any of the classic R4 or R1 programmes that weren’t comedy orientated.

Many people talk about comedy on the radio. I think that this is to do with the fact that some of the longest-running programmes have tended to be comedies and they have often started the careers of renowned entertainers. Although there are some fascinating programmes on Radio 4, they are very often one-offs or very short series and so do not stay in the memory of many for long. And I would guess from his description of his childhood that he would have considered listening to Radio 1 beneath him.

Lawrence said:

I expected the subject of his lapsed Catholicism to generate an interesting discussion. The majority of Catholics lapse for the following reasons: 1) couldn’t be bothered to get out of their pit and go to mass on Sunday 2) Insatiable sexual appetite 3) Philosophical difficulties relating to Transubstantiation 4) creation/evolution contradictions. Given that he was educated by Jesuits, I would have expected the latter two – no such luck.

Well, given the stories one hears, I wouldn’t have thought a rampant sexual appetite and Roman Catholicism were entirely incompatible but I’m probably being a bit glib. With respect to people’s moral/ religious standards, I’m not sure you can really expect them to hold fast just because of a particular education. Indeed a particularly strict upbringing may encourage people to rebel against these teachings, later on. Perhaps because of the exploits of Marianne Faithful, Convent girls have definitely acquired a certain reputation.

Lawrence said:

Finally, I’d like to know why technical illiteracy and being impractical is always celebrated within R4? I think it’s shameful and get sick and tired of hearing guests making references to their ‘hopeless impracticalness’. Mr. Iannucci is described in the very badly composed R4 biog web page as: ‘a highly academic child’. If this was the case - and given his alleged love of reading - then why didn’t he read Car Mechanics, Practical Motorist, Practical Wireless, Wireless World……+ all the other DIY mags that were part of most intelligent adolescents reading material?

I think that many people (especially within R4) still believe that there is an art/ science divide. Thus saying that you are technically illiterate is seen as a badge of honour and proof of your artistic bona fides. It’s very sad, because the divide between arts and sciences is an artificial one. I have read two very interesting books by Francis Spufford. One, “The Child that Books Built” is about his voracious reading as a child and the impact it has had on him; the other is “Backroom Boys”, a book about various British scientific, technological and engineering breakthroughs. What a pity that, in Mr Iannuci’s case, books seemed to build a rather one-dimensional child.

Lawrence said:

I can’t wait for the day when I hear that R4 has appointed a Liverpudlian as a either an R4 producer or commissioning editor. How about a Liverpudlian commissioning editor for comedy?

Hee hee. Well, I’m afraid that, like it or not you may have to wait a very long time for this. I can’t imagine the beeb changing that quickly.

[Lawrence Jones]

Crusoe

Sorry, I know I owe you replies and wasn’t ignoring your postings (been away and thought it better to post about these issues before forgetting!)

This article (1) states that Mr. Iannucci didn’t complete his doctorate, which is why Miss Lawley shouldn’t have stated that he spent three years writing a thesis. It was up to Mr. Iannucci’s supervisor to decide when – and whether - he was ready to write up his Ph.D.

I think that DID should be axed, but in the event that Mr. Paxman had been appointed as its presenter, then I could just imagine him saying (with his usual belligerent facial expression): ‘I see you failed your Ph.D'. 'Why was that then'? Now that would be interesting radio.

Reference

(1)

A I Article

[Crusoe]

Don’t worry about the delay in replies, Lawrence – I know you are often busy with other things and it’s always interesting to read what you write when you can.

I see that the article does say that Mr Ianucci abandoned his studies: perhaps it would have been better if Ms Lawley had said he spent three years not writing a thesis on religious language in Milton.

I do like the idea of Mr Paxman quizzing Mr Ianucci: that would have been entertaining to listen to.