Celebrity Conversation on Hospital Radio Bedford
Ian Brown reflects on his interviews with the stars.
It's hard to believe that I have been a member of Hospital Radio Bedford since 1983! I can remember coming down to the old studios, housed in a portakabin where the Maternity Wing now stands, and being shown around by members of the Thursday night team, including Frank Palmer (who is still a member).
My broadcasting career with HRB began by helping to present the Sunday Night request programme. I soon became used to playing The Old Rugged Cross, I Love You Because and We'll Meet Again on a weekly basis. I then moved on to present the Sunday Morning Breakfast Show for a few years, then to Sunday Lunchtime and, for the last ten years, I have been part of the Monday Night Team firstly with Two's Company and now Entertainment Tonight.
It's at times like this when you can't help but get nostalgic as you look back at what you have done during your time with the station. I think I have been extremely lucky to be able to present the type of programmes I have. As an eighteen year old I was given the chance to produce and present my own programmes and have not looked back since.
Over the years I have concentrated on interviewing celebrities and have met a vast number on behalf of HRB. It still amazes me that people will spare the time to record an interview with me to share with the listener for no fee. Petula Clark, Gary Lineker, Maureen Lipman, Frank Bruno, Bob Monkhouse, Gloria Hunniford, Joe Pasquale, Lorraine Kelly, Brian Conley and Hugh Jackman have all happily chatted with me in the past. Quite often I get asked who has been my favourite interviewee; this is a difficult question because I can never really answer it. Almost all, with the odd exception, have been memorable in some way shape or form and I have enjoyed chatting to them. There are a couple that stick in my mind; both radio presenters interestingly. Ray Moore was my hero whilst growing up and I used to adore listening to him on Radio 2's Early Show in the 80's. I was lucky enough to interview him twice and he was such a kind and down to earth man who had a wonderful sense of humour. I also managed after an eight-year struggle to record an interview with Terry Wogan whilst he was resident at The Shepherds Bush Theatre presenting his thrice weekly chat show on BBC TV. I was so nervous before meeting him in his dressing room but he was so easy to talk to, and made the time to chat, after we had finished recording the interview, about HRB and my own programme.
In recent years I have tended to concentrate on interviewing actors whilst they are appearing in London's West End or at some of the nearby theatres; Derngate and Royal in Northampton, Milton Keynes Theatre, Cambridge Arts or Gordon Craig in Stevenage. I am thankful to the Theatre Press and Marketing Offices who have helped me over the last few years to arrange interviews with visiting artistes. Also my grateful thanks are due to Jenny at Guy Chapman Associates, Neil Eckersley at LDA Communications and Simon at Peter Thompson Associates.
It was the revival production of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at the London Palladium that began my love with the theatrical world. I must have seen the show about a dozen times and from there I have seen countless musicals, dramas, comedies and the odd ballet or two. In fact it was during the run of Joseph that I first met the actor Mark Adams who, at the time, was playing Ruben. Our paths have crossed many times since then and most recently Mark joined me in February 2005 to talk about his portrayal of Dean Martin in The Rat Pack Live From Las Vegas as well as a special charity show he was arranging at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage.
Graham Bickley is another regular guest of mine; we first met at the Dominion Theatre where I interviewed him in the bathroom of his luxurious dressing room. I think Graham and Mark have appeared about five times on the programme over the years and I hope that they will continue to do so in the coming years!
I am very lucky to have been treated with respect by all of the people I have interviewed over the years and some, in turn, have become personal friends. This however makes interviews with them more difficult for me because I normally know the answer before asking the question. It has also given me the opportunity to travel all over the world to see them perform in various shows. Recently I have been to Stockholm, Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin and even Melbourne, Australia.
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