I wrote for Radio Times – the UK’s most prestigious weekly TV and radio listings magazine – from 2008 to 2011, on E4 drama Skins (“The assertion that it’s our job simply to reflect life is always a cop-out,” co-creator Bryan Elsley told me, “but people who think it’s our duty to educate young people on the correct way to live are just as bonkers”), ITV talent show The X Factor (“We weren’t always fighting,” Dannii Minogue said of ex-judge Sharon Osbourne, “but Sharon made it clear that she didn’t like me, so she won’t be missed. Not by me”), the BBC’s The Omid Djalili Show (“The first series was OK, but we all agreed it was there to be bettered,” revealed Djalili. “It was a bit slapdash, to be honest”), ITV fantasy drama Demons (“I didn’t entirely understand Demons,” Richard Wilson told me. “I just had to say I did and hope no-one caught on”), Comedy Central sword-and-sorcery series Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, the BBC’s Dan Cruickshank’s Adventures in Architecture, Wild China, and dramas including Doctor Who (most recently, in April 2011, co-writing his ‘US Diary’ with Matt Smith), The Sarah Jane Adventures, Merlin, Little Dorrit and Spooks.
In 2009, I interviewed US boy band The Jonas Brothers for Radio Times (see photo above), in which they spoke out about the controversy surrounding comedian Russell Brand’s ridicule of their chastity rings at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards (“You know what? We were happy to see he recognised their value,” said Joe). The following year, I conducted the ‘first Twitter interview’ with Stephen Fry, and asked him how he accounted for fellow 2010 National Television Award nominee Piers Morgan’s career: “It’s pretty hard to imagine, isn’t it?” replied Fry. “Biodiversity is the answer. Just as nature needs a few snakes and bugs, TV needs Piers Morgan and me.”
Here’s a selection of my interviews and features for Radio Times (click on the images):
