Brenda Blethyn

[Billy Morris]

Bahhhhhh – typical upper-class Oxbridge snooty southern R4 to cut off ‘Lay Me Low’ so quickly. Hasn’t anyone at R4 ever fallen in love and just played and played this beautiful song? Goodness me, they’re strange folk at R4!!!

Wowwee, one of the best editions of DID that I’ve heard in years. Can’t speak too highly of this lady and her musical choices (hee- hee, ‘Cherry Ripe’!) and loved listening to the story of Miss. Blethyn’s life. I know quite a few women who get goose pimples (and look very sad) when Carole King’s ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ starts to play on the radio!

I sat next to the radio with my soup bowl and spoon whilst listening to ‘The Archive Hour’ last night – just waiting for ‘Hob Shoe Hob’!!!! Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo, they never played it. Poor old George Dixon – surely one of the most important and influential BBC people of all time?

I’m sure Miss Blethyn would sing ‘Hob Shoe Hob’ on her island – what a fab. lady!

[Captain Nudnick]

I read that she plays Mrs Bennett in the new film version of "Pride and Prejudice"... sounds like good casting to me. Bring back 'Chance in a Million!', I say.

[Crusoe]

Billy said:

Wowwee, one of the best editions of DID that I’ve heard in years. … what a fab. lady!

I quite agree, Billy. I thought that this was a very good start to the new series. It was enjoyable to hear an excellent actor who was not a plumy ac-tor and who seemed not to be full of neuroses.

Whilst the music was not all exactly my cup of tea (I could quite happily live on a Desert Island without hearing “The Deadwood Stage”), it did all seem to be sincerely chosen and to have particular resonances for her. I don’t think that DID is a bad concept because the music people like can give some insight into them and I felt that we did get to know more about Brenda Blethyn through her choices. And I did particularly enjoy “Lay Me Low”.

I found her life story interesting – particularly the circumstances surrounding the end of her marriage, which was touching and funny (a bit like some of the films she has been in). It was also wonderful to hear the passion she has for acting. Possibly the best careers are those chosen slightly later in life when we are more fully formed characters. So many careers are simply a natural progression from what you’re good at, at school, rather than being conscious choices of what you want[/] and specifically choose to do. I was also touched by her welling up, when talking about her father’s funeral – I thought that this showed a humanity that you don’ always hear in radio interviews.

Billy said:

Bahhhhhh – typical upper-class Oxbridge snooty southern R4 to cut off ‘Lay Me Low’ so quickly. Hasn’t anyone at R4 ever fallen in love and just played and played this beautiful song? Goodness me, they’re strange folk at R4!!!

Hee hee: too true, Billy.

I hope the others in the series are this enjoyable.

[Lux Interior]

Fancy that! A new series of Desert Island Discs!

I genuinely hadn't noticed.

[Billy Morris]

webb said:

Whilst the music was not all exactly my cup of tea (I could quite happily live on a Desert Island without hearing “The Deadwood Stage”)

It wasn’t mine either Crusoe - in fact ‘The Deadwood Stage’ always reminds me of Ms. Martha Kearney, because she stated on WEW/hr once how she is known as ‘Calamity Jane’ within the WH office, because she always wears a wrecked old leather jacket to work. I’m always wondering what my old R4 DID MB friends are doing whilst listening to DID – had a picture in my mind of Lux singing along top ‘Lay Me Low’. Do you recall Suzi 11’s posting, describing how she was singing along to Handel’s ‘For Unto Us A Child Is Born’? I loved that posting! Hee-hee, whenever I hear Russell Davies speaking, I think of the Captain!!!!!!!

Yes, the ending of her marriage was both touching and funny, but I liked the way the listener could almost grow up with her as she narrated her journey through life. I could certainly identify with some of the comments that she made.

Possibly the best careers are those chosen slightly later in life when we are more fully formed characters. So many careers are simply a natural progression from what you’re good at, at school, rather than being conscious choices of what you want[/] and specifically choose to do.

This is such an accurate comment Crusoe and I think it’s a fundamental mistake to assume that one’s education terminates at 16, 18 or 21/22. One of my own most depressing radio experiences this year was listening to Prof. Kathy Sykes’s on 'Devout Sceptics' when she spoke about completing her Ph.D as though all her learning was now complete. I’m sure most of us could write lengthy lists in respect of the different subject areas that have caught out attention at different stages of our lives.

I was also touched by her welling up, when talking about her father’s funeral – I thought that this showed a humanity that you don’ always hear in radio interviews.

I was too and it was so genuine – one could detect the deep sense of loss behind those tears.

Above all, though, it was the positive manner that she spoke about her partner that made the greatest impression on me. It isn’t often that one hears a woman describe how a man has had such a profound effect on their life. She mentioned his enthusiasm for music and I could tell how that had rubbed off on her.

Ms. Lawley is a different person when interviewing someone that she’s at ease with (no ‘mean granny in the wood’ laugh yesterday) and yesterday’s interview reminded me of the happiness I could detect when she interviewed Suggs.

[Billy Morris]

Lux said:

Fancy that! A new series of Desert Island Discs!

I genuinely hadn't noticed.

The return of the dreaded Quote Unquote was a useful reminder! Glad to report that it was as bad as ever.

[sea horse]

I turned the radio off when Cherry Ripe came on (I quite like the simple lyrics but I can't stand that style of song/singing), so it seems I then, unfortunately, missed an interesting rest-of-programme.

One thing about Brenda Blethyn which I don't understand: she was born Brenda Bootle,
... and how anyone can give that wonderful name up, totally mystifies me.

[Captain Nudnick]

Quote Unquote always used to be very entertaining... has something happened to it? I know the excellent Patricia Hughes no longer reads the quotations, which is a pity, but apart from that?

[Billy Morris]

urchin said:

I turned the radio off when Cherry Ripe came on (I quite like the simple lyrics but I can't stand that style of song/singing)

Well it always makes me laugh and smile when 10 year old girls - often from posh backgrounds - sing it totally out of tune.

One thing about Brenda Blethyn which I don't understand: she was born Brenda Bootle,
... and how anyone can give that wonderful name up, totally mystifies me.

Oh yes, Bootle is a lovely name. One of my favourite cats was called Bootle (she came from Bootle and produced seven little Bootles after a night out with a cat that worked at the old TR7 plant in Speke).

[Captain Nudnick]

Billy said:

urchin said:

I turned the radio off when Cherry Ripe came on (I quite like the simple lyrics but I can't stand that style of song/singing)

Well it always makes me laugh and smile when 10 year old girls - often from posh backgrounds - sing it totally out of tune.

What's the 'background' got to do with anything?

[Billy Morris]

captainnudnick said:

What's the 'background' got to do with anything?

Oh background has everything to do with music. For example, only medics could have formed a group as unmusical as ‘Instant Sunshine’. I don’t know what it is about the world of medicine, but medics (who usually come from wealthy backgrounds) always make dreadful musicians and tend to be quite boring when they discuss music. ‘Fascinating Aida’ was another weird upper-class R4-type group who always struck me as rather unmusical.

The Magic Numbers were on Loose Ends recently and gave a stunning performance. Ned Sherrin couldn’t have sounded less interested or impressed. He’d have been cheering his head off if it had been some out of tune singer struggling through a Sondheim piece.

[Crusoe]

Billy said:

Oh background has everything to do with music.

So: “Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?” ;D

[Crusoe]

Hello Billy, apologies for taking so long to come back to your interesting comments.

Billy said:

‘The Deadwood Stage’ always reminds me of Ms. Martha Kearney, because she stated on WEW/hr once how she is known as ‘Calamity Jane’ within the WH office, because she always wears a wrecked old leather jacket to work

I find it hard to imagine WH presenters wearing leather jackets but I associate a lot of R4 presenters with musicals.

Billy said:

I’m always wondering what my old R4 DID MB friends are doing whilst listening to DID – had a picture in my mind of Lux singing along top ‘Lay Me Low’. Do you recall Suzi 11’s posting, describing how she was singing along to Handel’s ‘For Unto Us A Child Is Born’? I loved that posting! Hee-hee, whenever I hear Russell Davies speaking, I think of the Captain!!!!!!!

How wonderful, Billy. I could actually imagine Lux dancing to “Lay Me Low” if she wasn’t singing to it. Yes, I do remember SuziII’s posting about singing “For Unto Us A Child Is Born”: I always thought she sounded like an excellent mum. I am also convinced that she must keep a card index of DID guests to have such an encyclopaedic knowledge.

Billy said:

Yes, the ending of her marriage was both touching and funny, but I liked the way the listener could almost grow up with her as she narrated her journey through life. I could certainly identify with some of the comments that she made.

An excellent point. I guess that was one of the reasons that the programme was so enjoyable.

Billy said:

I think it’s a fundamental mistake to assume that one’s education terminates at 16, 18 or 21/22. One of my own most depressing radio experiences this year was listening to Prof. Kathy Sykes’s on 'Devout Sceptics' when she spoke about completing her Ph.D as though all her learning was now complete. I’m sure most of us could write lengthy lists in respect of the different subject areas that have caught out attention at different stages of our lives.

How true, Billy. Even in terms of professional or academic learning, formal qualifications are only the beginning. I remember at university being told that what we were learning was not actually how to do a job – which is best learnt by doing it – but the principles behind aspects of the job. It is also true that our characters are developing all the time and that we will develop new interests all the time, some of which may turn out to be very important to us.

Billy said:

Above all, though, it was the positive manner that she spoke about her partner that made the greatest impression on me. It isn’t often that one hears a woman describe how a man has had such a profound effect on their life. She mentioned his enthusiasm for music and I could tell how that had rubbed off on her.

Yes, it all added to the impression of someone who is very happy with their life and their current situation.

Billy said:

Ms. Lawley is a different person when interviewing someone that she’s at ease with (no ‘mean granny in the wood’ laugh yesterday)

Yes, it’s a pity she doesn’t behave in a more natural manner more often.