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Knights of the Realm & Strawberry Mallow Mousse

Knights of the Realm & Strawberry Mallow Mousse

Released Sunday, 10th March 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
Knights of the Realm & Strawberry Mallow Mousse

Knights of the Realm & Strawberry Mallow Mousse

Knights of the Realm & Strawberry Mallow Mousse

Knights of the Realm & Strawberry Mallow Mousse

Sunday, 10th March 2024
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Episode Transcript

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0:00

Hello! Is it me you're looking for? I

0:02

bet it is. It's Angela Scanlan here on

0:04

the Graham Norton Radio Show with Waitrose. Today,

0:06

Show Chef Martha is bringing the sweet stuff

0:08

with the strawberry mallow mousse which looks divine

0:11

and apparently tastes divine too, which is important

0:13

for food. And we'll be revisiting some of

0:15

Graham's interviews over the years with the Knights

0:17

of the Realm today. Keep

0:19

your ear out for Sir Brian May

0:21

and Sir David Suchet. Yes, let's

0:23

get that moose on the move, shall we? I think

0:25

I need a sugar high. Show Chef

0:28

Martha, we're over to you. This looks

0:31

delicious. And I know

0:33

you're on the home stretch and I

0:35

don't know whether there's marshmallow in this,

0:38

but it's called a strawberry mallow mousse.

0:40

Oh yes. My pregnancy craving was marshmallows.

0:42

Oh really? Anything gelatin based. Obviously there

0:44

was some, you know, cow

0:48

need. I

0:50

don't drink milk very much, so maybe

0:53

I needed that side. In the gelatin.

0:55

The Harrybose. The marshmallows. I love that.

0:57

I know that. Interesting. Anything

1:01

that was gelatin based. Yum.

1:04

Have you had any weird cravings? Nothing

1:06

super weird. I just had a lot of things

1:08

that I went off a bit, which was a

1:10

bit annoying to be honest. Like things I normally

1:12

love like croissants and pastries. I was like,

1:14

no, I don't want to. But

1:17

I feel like it's kind of coming in slightly now.

1:19

Now I'm reaching the end, they're coming back a bit.

1:21

I'm like, no, I love tea. Don't make

1:24

me not like tea. I love tea.

1:27

Don't ruin it. Okay, what's not to

1:29

love? Right, so talk us through this.

1:31

It's beautiful looking. It's very pink. It

1:34

got a lot of comments of, oh,

1:36

is that Angel Delight? When

1:39

I was wheeling it through the studio. So

1:42

it's a strawberry mallow mousse and then it's

1:45

got these milk chocolate. They're described as mendians,

1:47

which isn't actually a word I've heard before.

1:49

It's not actually a word at all, but

1:51

it's fine. I might be pronouncing it completely

1:53

incorrect. I'm gonna go with a medall. Or

1:55

like a medallion is a better word. Little

1:57

circles of chocolate. Little chocolate butter. So

2:01

it's a strawberry mousse

2:03

and the reason that it's mallow is that instead

2:05

of having to use gelatin leaves or powdered gelatin

2:07

we're using marshmallows as the base of the mousse

2:09

to get it to set which means it would

2:11

actually be a really lovely thing to make with

2:13

kids or if people listening are thinking

2:15

I haven't got a Mother's Day dessert for this evening

2:17

and I want one you can

2:19

do quickly. Easily. Quickly, easily. Stick

2:21

it in the fridge three hours later you could

2:23

be diving in to a bouncy mousse. That

2:27

sounds glorious. Well Marta

2:29

you've exceeded yourself. I

2:31

did think it might be a bit sickly sweet because it is

2:33

a little sickly looking. Anything

2:36

pale pink I think does evoke that feeling

2:38

of oh my goodness it's going to be

2:40

so sweet isn't it? It's on the edge.

2:42

But it's delicious, it's so light and it's

2:44

quite like playful. I feel like kids particularly

2:46

would absolutely love this. I feel

2:48

exactly the same and it's actually got quite

2:50

a lot of strawberries in so the way

2:53

you taste it. It's healthy guys. It's practically

2:55

kale. It's basically so healthy. Look

2:57

there's no sugar there's no, no not that

2:59

there's plenty of sugar. But you start

3:01

with strawberries you want a whole 230 gram pack, chop them

3:03

up and put them into a saucepan with a little bit

3:05

of water and then just a little bit of sugar and

3:08

some vanilla extract. Simmer that for about

3:10

five minutes until they become a bit pulpy and they start

3:12

to mush down a little bit. Then

3:14

we are blending that with a hand blender until

3:16

it's really nice and smooth. Take it off the heat

3:18

and in goes all of your pink and white marshmallows. So

3:20

you can use the pink ones as well for this kind

3:22

of mousse because you want that lovely pink

3:25

rosy colour. Stir that

3:27

until the marshmallows have all melted then set that

3:29

to one side and let it cool down to

3:31

room temperature and then all you need to do

3:33

is whip up a pot of double cream and

3:35

then fold those two mixtures together. Put it into

3:37

little individual glasses and then into the fridge for

3:39

about three hours just to set and firm up

3:41

and you get this kind of marshmallow fluff kind of

3:44

texture from it. Then whilst that's setting

3:46

you can make these little chocolate, posh chocolate

3:48

buttons by melting

3:50

some milk chocolate or you could use dark chocolate if you

3:52

prefer that kind of slightly more grown up taste.

3:54

And then we are going to top those

3:57

with little bits of pistachio and little bits

3:59

of marshmallow. and I've gone with some

4:01

freeze dried raspberry pieces as well. Oh,

4:03

I see. Just adds a bit of sparkle.

4:05

And a bit of tartness to cut through

4:07

as well. Exactly. That's amazing. That's

4:10

amazing. Yeah. Fabulous.

4:12

It's absolutely gorgeous. And

4:15

kind of feel proof, I say. Yeah. I

4:17

mean, apart from the blending, I feel like that's the

4:19

only part that's a bit like, okay, I need to

4:22

get my blender out. But everything else is nice and

4:24

simple. And yeah, people worry about moose.

4:26

They think, oh, it's not gonna set properly. But

4:28

the good thing about marshmallows is it will

4:30

just go back to that marshmallowy texture once it gets back

4:32

down to the right temperature. Fantastic.

4:35

And if you wanna see those, if

4:37

you wanna see that recipe and all of

4:39

the rest, waitrose.com/show chef is where you'll get

4:41

them all. And at Virgin Radio UK, you'll

4:43

see them come to life. Because I mean,

4:45

to be fair, that is a work of

4:47

art. Before I let you go, Martha,

4:50

how was the baby shower yesterday? Oh, it was

4:52

lovely, thank you. Yeah, it was really special, really

4:54

nice. Nice to have my mum down, my sister

4:56

and everyone. Lovely. Well,

4:59

enjoy it all. Lots of moose, yeah? Bouncy

5:01

into that moose. Or dive into that

5:03

bouncy moose, more like. Get

5:11

in the moose. And also in my

5:13

head, I'm like, I don't know whether, am I

5:15

like saying goodbye to you? No, I'm back

5:17

next week. Fine, okay, great. Oh,

5:19

I thought you were gonna say, okay, that's

5:22

what you said. Okay, TBC, so yeah, okay,

5:24

cool. Right. You

5:26

can do that. Yeah,

5:28

okay. Perfect.

5:32

Okay, well, we'll see you next week. Hopefully,

5:35

yeah. Okay, good cross. So about next week,

5:37

yeah? You will be, you'll be here with bells on.

5:39

Or dragon bells behind you. Angela

5:42

Scanlon on the Graham Norton radio show.

5:44

Virgin Radio. Yes, Gump, we'll be hearing

5:47

from Graham Norton and the wonderful Sir

5:49

David Suchet. But first, let's hear from

5:51

another legend, this time, a rock, Sir

5:54

Brian May. Queen guitarist, astronomer and knight

5:56

of the realm, Sir Brian May. Good

5:58

afternoon, Brian. Hello, good. I am. How

6:01

are you doing? I'm really well. How's

6:03

the sur fitting? Does it feel odd

6:05

or is it kind of sitting nicely?

6:08

It's bedding in quite well, thank you. I

6:10

like the sound of it. It's really surprising.

6:12

You call me sub-prior. Yeah, it's nice. It's

6:14

like getting a star at school. You get

6:17

the gold star and say, you've done quite

6:19

well. But

6:21

I kind of feel like it's a

6:23

responsibility to behave even more decently than

6:25

I have been trying to up to

6:27

now. You know what I'm saying? Oh,

6:30

you've led a faultless life, Brian. Well,

6:33

not exactly. But

6:36

you try to be an example and

6:38

try to use what power that you've

6:40

got for good, right? You're not resting

6:42

on your laurels. You are very busy

6:44

man. Let's start with the Starfleet project.

6:47

So a lot of people won't know

6:50

about this. It's 40 years since you

6:52

went off to LA and recorded this

6:54

music. Tell

6:57

us kind of how that happened and what you were up to. Well,

6:59

we were taking a little bit of a break

7:02

from Queen because although we're very grateful for

7:04

what has happened, we've established ourselves around the

7:06

world. But we're slightly getting on each other's

7:08

nerves, I guess. And you

7:10

get a time when you just know you've got to take a break

7:12

and breathe some air. And I

7:15

woke up one morning in LA, which is one of my favorite

7:17

places in the world. And I feel kind of more alive in

7:19

LA. I don't know how you feel. But

7:21

I just got on the phone and talked to a few

7:23

mates and said, how about going in the studio and just

7:25

doing something for the fun of it? Not because we want

7:27

to make a record, just because we want to play together.

7:30

Because all of us in our separate

7:32

groups, and I'm talking about Ed Van

7:34

Halen from the Van Halen group, who's

7:36

amazing, incredible, beautiful player, sadly gone now

7:38

from us. Alan

7:41

Grazer from Ario Speedwagon, also an amazing drummer

7:43

from an amazing group. And

7:45

Fred Mandel, keyboard player who worked with Queen,

7:47

a little bit on radio Gaga and stuff.

7:51

And delightful Phil Chen, Caribbean

7:53

Cockney, who played

7:55

a lot of Rod Stewart records. So we're all different

7:57

people in different groups, and we very seldom get out

7:59

of it. The of our place where we

8:01

play in as a sudden as it'll is

8:03

just going so we did that's that's the

8:06

long story cut. So we went for two

8:08

days with a little bit of a plan

8:10

for me. a little bit of a template.

8:12

I had this song which was the scene

8:14

tune of them have a science fiction tv

8:16

series for kids on Saturday mornings. Good Starfleet

8:19

My little five year old boy to me

8:21

at the time say you know dad is

8:23

really nice in on us In I could

8:25

do that. I could play that song as

8:27

opposed to like was full grown Fh for.

8:30

So we go in there. We do it

8:32

this nineteen eighty three and in the end

8:34

we did put it out and it did

8:36

quite well but it's kind of. It's a

8:38

long time ago so good people haven't heard

8:40

it these days. I wanted to put it

8:42

out there and take you to New Generation.

8:44

It's a box set of all the stuff

8:46

we did or that's the crucial thing. What

8:48

I did at the time was put out

8:50

the a kind of the results but this

8:52

time on putting out every take of every

8:54

so he does so it's like a glimpse

8:56

backstage into the studios at the time you

8:58

can years locking about. Making. Mistakes and just

9:01

just a general vibe of people

9:03

discovering each other. It was a

9:05

great a great moment in my

9:07

life and how did the rest

9:09

of and react when this music

9:11

came As I don't care less

9:13

money as a society. We're

9:17

we're doing our own thing, you know, and so

9:19

we do. We generally do can have disappeared to

9:21

the four corners of the As and just get

9:23

on with stuff. and it was great because we

9:25

were all refresh when we came back to be

9:27

in Queen again. And in Are you coming back

9:29

sometime? Nothing. It's us have one vision

9:31

time and down. And. And

9:34

lies I know as a starting oh say it

9:36

was. It was a good time for me to

9:38

get out land and just get refreshed. Two sons

9:40

in a different place with different air to breathe.

9:42

And was there ever a sense but you wouldn't

9:45

come back? You know did did. Did you need

9:47

to leave each other in order to miss each

9:49

other? like when you when you said on the

9:51

brake were some of you thinking me a break

9:53

Ahmed? I'm back. Allow anything. Have moments sitting in

9:55

a god. I can't deal with this anymore. That

9:58

must be better on the grass is green. But

10:00

I think we added a good consciousness

10:02

of the site that together as a

10:05

band we had a lot more power

10:07

then separately and we had something amazing

10:09

going on. I think we were conscious

10:11

of that even though it was painful

10:13

and pretty. Pretty. Gruesome

10:15

at times. You know we really got under

10:17

each other's skins. At times it was hard,

10:19

but that's it's. like a marriage. You know

10:21

you, You know you can. I love each

10:24

other, but you actually. As

10:26

comes as well, I kill each other

10:28

at w as we're going to play

10:30

a batista feats of what you gonna

10:32

use Eerie mastered some tracks is that

10:35

right? Well. As he did a lot

10:37

more than that. This on my remixed everything because

10:39

I didn't like the sound of the original makes

10:41

it was done in a hurry so I've done

10:43

it very much state of the art and we

10:46

transmittal the original analog types of course they were

10:48

in those days there's no digital is no mobile

10:50

phones, there was no internet as hard to imagine

10:52

this and and game but what haven't done is

10:54

choosing to haven't gotten mean a don't in there

10:56

and put things on a grid or whatever is

10:59

or still live in. Dangerous because I wanted people

11:01

to hear the chemistry, the process, that the the

11:03

business of light trying this and it doesn't work

11:05

then try. Something else that days all on

11:07

that you can hear is all in

11:09

the book says he is sitting in

11:12

this beautiful studio. the record flawed as

11:14

it was in those days in Los

11:16

Angeles. nineteen Eighty Three with me at

11:18

Van Halen, Aggressor and the guys and

11:20

this is what happens. I there is

11:22

such energy and attentive. just young man

11:24

reveling in their own concept happened to

11:26

brilliant. A must bring out by back

11:29

such happy memories. A really does bring

11:31

us down. Seats on A is amazing

11:33

it was. It was so full of

11:35

joy and. Adrenalin. We just enjoy doing

11:37

his company each other's company and yet brief.

11:39

Is it all by a going to cause

11:42

that that magnificent salaries? Not me That said

11:44

sign Island doing is incredibly lucky did for

11:46

Michael Jackson. Beat it. He just came in

11:48

and I've wanted to give him that platform

11:51

to just let rip very seldom that he

11:53

stepped outside the group to do that south

11:55

feel. Very honored that this this happened at

11:57

all or that whole that gets a big.

12:00

That all of a material add

12:02

that is out now. We should

12:04

also say you have a a

12:06

exhorted acted exhibition. Am a proud

12:08

gallery in London. It's running till

12:10

the twenty third of September and

12:13

it's we will rock you in

12:15

three d So what do people

12:17

see when they get to The

12:19

Brow Gallery? Will. Is a lot of

12:21

they see some history of three the as well

12:23

I'm going back to the eighteen sixties and they

12:25

say queen They see queen in three the because

12:27

I took my sweetie camera with me on tour

12:29

all the time that we would have emerged glory days.

12:32

one of the and I still do. As

12:35

a three day is something magnificent. I'm an Evangelist,

12:37

I just think everything should be in three. D

12:39

is why would you not do that? She's in

12:41

make a beautiful three dimensional image as opposed to

12:44

a flat image that you put on the will.

12:46

Why wouldn't you do it all the time? So

12:48

go there and get immersed in three days stuff.

12:51

And you will see Yes you'll also see

12:53

we were out few in the current. the

12:55

we were of you looking like live in

12:57

Three D like you could touch him on

12:59

stage. Oh luckily you can go see the

13:01

real thing You can dance is just up

13:03

the road as we were sitting in a

13:05

trellis of the have you been Grammys not

13:07

You Gotta come in I'd have of course

13:09

I I've gotta beat it's a love it

13:11

sounds like the perfect day as but tell

13:13

me this will be burning Are they seeing

13:15

Three D Treaty photographs? That's right,

13:17

Three photographs. Yeah. Stunning. The Victorian Way which

13:19

hasn't actually been better to you know it's

13:21

it's up like Avatar, but you know better.

13:23

And so the camera you were on tour

13:26

with Alex have that technology hasn't changed that,

13:28

that that technology still the same? Well, it

13:30

hasn't changed that much since the eighteen fifty

13:32

just been refined a little bit. But basically

13:34

it's about getting a list I to see

13:37

something different from. You're right I so you

13:39

use some kind of device to make that

13:41

happen and they and you get this incredible

13:43

reconstruction which happens in your brain. Will you

13:45

see the universe. In a real way

13:48

when real. That's so. I love it. I've

13:50

always been kind of their an advocate of

13:52

it. Ever since I've got a card in

13:54

a Weetabix package We showed me his radio,

13:56

couple hippopotamus. An epic

13:59

abyss. I'm sure Brian a lot of

14:01

people have asked you about this Then have you

14:03

been to see the Aba voyeurs? the the kind

14:05

of of whatever that is unknown whether normal you

14:08

holograms. No I haven't yet

14:10

but I definitely would like to yeah on it

14:12

and I still have. I been a good sign

14:14

or that that as tunes me is there and

14:16

he could really in this in their century and

14:18

I had that yeah I'd love to see and

14:20

I will see it. Disney guns it. We've messed

14:22

with stuff like that for Queen we've talked about

14:24

and looked at very seriously holograms to Freddie and

14:26

stuff but somehow it so far we haven't done

14:28

it because I think the emphasis with us is

14:30

always been live so we have a little bit

14:32

of stuff of for the you know I I

14:34

don't if you. Will. But I do

14:36

love of my life generally and Freddie comes in

14:38

and joins me at the end when we do

14:41

our live shows. But it's not a hologram, is

14:43

just kind of old school technology which we kind

14:45

of like. Nevertheless, I can't wait to see the

14:47

everything and I'm sure they've done a brilliant job.

14:51

I think it might give you ideas

14:53

brian because it it does feel like

14:55

it's a very seriously would you say

14:57

is a great scaling like think we

14:59

might ice It'll be interesting to see

15:01

who does it next because clearly you

15:03

know who's gonna be a big legacy

15:05

band like Queen or like Bowery. somebody

15:07

else is gonna have to to do

15:09

it next I don't I don't know

15:11

who's a Queen would seem prime candidate

15:13

sports with with your back catalogue when

15:15

when we were in recent bombing and

15:17

says with the thing is I guess

15:19

we we are still alive band. And

15:21

I think that's the emphasis on us in

15:23

a ever don't want to go and play

15:25

live anymore. But and and actually they never

15:28

did that. Most playing live lawyer wonderful, banned

15:30

in the studio. but for us to lie

15:32

thing is it. and I think if we

15:34

had too much holograms a certain people would

15:36

stop realizing that with us it's live and

15:38

dangerous. Know back in July snowflakes nothing we'd

15:41

love to be long as incisors disease. I

15:43

think that's our emphasis with a time Be

15:45

not A when we're old or gone. Yes,

15:47

you're making. Everything about us isn't as a

15:49

on here. I want to play. Live Right!

15:51

I want to be a hologram be me

15:53

at but of people can see Black Guy

15:55

they can hear all the music in. We

15:57

Will Rock You! There's a new production of.

16:00

The Coliseum that's paying all the trace

16:02

of the August. And so Ben Elton

16:04

is in this production. He is the

16:06

writer and producer and creator is in

16:08

each year for a limited period. Own

16:10

company be done this. Doing eight shows

16:12

a week when he's put his whole

16:14

life on hoses. Go in there and.

16:17

Of. The so beloved it's be an artist

16:19

on stage and he's is incredible. He's a

16:22

major cause nobody can interpret his group to

16:24

eat and and I'm the shows twice as

16:26

long been in I. Assessed

16:29

as a bombshell team gets incentive

16:31

a scammer on the Graham Norton

16:33

radio show that enraged yeah Audrey

16:35

My second guess of the day

16:37

he is Sir David Sucess at

16:40

Freshly Nice. It's fairly freshly yes

16:42

one it was announced to and

16:44

two years ago but I was

16:46

only recently own. About two weeks

16:48

ago actually dubbed of of congratulate sent

16:50

you very much of a summary of

16:53

what a thrill Yeah I'm I'm I'm

16:55

am so thrilled and a it all

16:57

the cliches of their i'm Honored and

16:59

Humbled and that it's it's great to

17:02

be and you know what I'm thrilled

17:04

about It's a Night bachelor which goose

17:06

right to the Middle Ages and and

17:08

to the medieval knights. Or

17:12

thing it's not, it's not an

17:14

odor of the British, and like

17:16

the Edwardian or Victorian, This goes

17:18

right away. Cannot I think that's wonderful?

17:20

Exhibit appeals to a romantic. it's you

17:22

worked your way through the ranks because

17:24

you were what you you are an

17:26

M B first for know before his

17:28

which I was and I was an

17:30

Ob. Then I got the C B

17:32

and now I got the can. Be

17:34

said. Oh lovely. I'm very

17:37

lucky fact that. Oh

17:39

congratulations I got a very famous Add as

17:41

much right now is a is is a

17:44

departure for yourself. Have you ever been in

17:46

a musical before know this is an absolute

17:48

says. I'm not going to say my actual

17:51

age on are over the yeah but at

17:53

at a certain age to have a first

17:55

is a great treat. The police at what

17:57

is the great though he's going to. The

18:00

good old are you counting on? You know

18:02

everything's happened but know there were still you

18:04

said Yes I'm still new things and I'm

18:06

gonna be in this Carla night that the

18:08

kids can hold Sebrae the twenty eighth of

18:11

a musical meme. I was actually a few

18:13

years ago in to to run a that

18:15

it never move cause I'm cove it came

18:17

up and all the rest of it on

18:19

Wicked A put this on like can it's

18:21

not going to be a full see at

18:24

a performance. We're going to have scripts but

18:26

a lot of it never got the most

18:28

fantastic thing as we got Johnno in Jones.

18:30

We go cylinder Schoenmaker Louise Dim

18:32

and some so with I mean

18:35

absolute of Hunt Unit the great

18:37

leading singers from Phantom of the

18:39

Oppressed, Les Miz of Wicked at

18:41

It. We got top line singers.

18:45

Who again to. Really? Tell

18:47

us the story about the Italian

18:49

Civil War and Sashes Im south

18:52

renewed. Les Miz was the French

18:54

Revolution. Know now we've got this.

18:56

Fantastic musicals a great effect, eclectic

18:59

music itself, talking about the Spanish

19:01

Civil War and to Minnesotans and

19:04

meme as central character. And see

19:06

leaves is when she comes to

19:08

the ice sheet. As a fictional

19:11

character, she leaves Italy children to

19:13

come to the Reds as nightclub

19:15

in London. And Charing Cross

19:17

Road at said assembly relation.

19:20

I'm deb. At that

19:22

time it's announced that war it

19:24

were with with Mister Miscellany. Has

19:27

joined the Nazis and suddenly all

19:29

the Italians in London get arrested

19:31

and put in internment camps. I

19:34

think this is a bit of

19:36

history that we know very well

19:38

about. We know about this with

19:40

forgetting way that we know about

19:42

the Nazis we know about as

19:44

the at what happened and the

19:46

Russian Revolution. We know about the

19:48

French revolution. Who knows about the

19:50

Italian revolution? It's been a

19:52

great privilege to me to actually read

19:54

up and learn about it's and to

19:57

actually play and the at the only

19:59

character that. The existed Alfredo for

20:01

Saute who was a who owned

20:03

this great newspaper la Stampa and

20:05

was forced to sell it off

20:07

way back before the war in

20:09

the in the mid twenties because

20:11

it was antifascist and you are

20:13

you know rate the stories or

20:15

I do. yes I'm I'd know

20:17

rate. I only come into the

20:19

story as character at the very

20:21

beginning and the very end thought

20:23

throughout the evening because it is

20:25

a dollar tight performance. I'm new

20:27

rating little bits that that you

20:29

don't. See or explaining bits that

20:31

you do. See if it was

20:33

fully say he has he was.

20:36

If it ever gets fucked up

20:38

that in the west end does

20:40

your character disappear? I think I

20:42

think he probably might assessed at

20:44

as I said she probably might

20:46

split tab. It's it's just wonderful.

20:48

You know what you get to

20:50

stays you going to rehearsal room

20:53

and certainly instead of my normal

20:55

peers I'm listening to the most

20:57

think Red Bulls singers I ate

20:59

it takes. My breath away. And

21:01

the ensembles that dancing. And they've

21:03

learned dances in three or four

21:05

days that I would take months

21:07

to learn. It really is. It's

21:10

wonderful. They are like. Different.

21:12

Creatures Musical theater people aren't there yet.

21:14

It's just that what they can do

21:16

and make it look so easy. Oh

21:18

absolutely. I mean it as I think

21:20

one dancers learned in about three hours

21:22

while and this so disciplined and so

21:25

committed it's one smell. It says in

21:27

a middle brief here that as it

21:29

did them the club's she goes to

21:31

the Renders nightclubs is A is a

21:33

jazz clubs with them I think a

21:35

maybe was a different A taunt me

21:37

different Meme is a musical spice all

21:39

bit on Facebook and it sounded quite.

21:42

operatic desk while the great

21:44

thing about the show and

21:46

i must say that the

21:48

the numbers since we've got

21:50

to the like operetta we

21:52

have jazz we have of

21:54

but it's not modern modern

21:56

music but it's that they're

21:58

all mix and match It's

22:00

not just one style. I think that's one of

22:02

the great great pluses for the

22:05

for this particular musical and on When

22:07

we do it on February the 28th got the whole BBC

22:10

Orchestra and you're

22:12

raising money for charity. Yes for the

22:14

Prince's Trust, which is fantastic So

22:17

that is me with a musical at the Cadogan Hall

22:19

28th of February And

22:21

as you say, I mean the amazing cast be

22:24

the full BBC Orchestra that will I mean

22:26

you're not gonna hear Even if it gets

22:28

transferred to the West End, you're never gonna hear it like

22:30

this again No, and I gotta be very careful because not

22:32

being in it, but narrating I might lose my place because

22:35

I'm Very

22:39

good So

22:41

what's the idea so he played in Perth as

22:43

a Did a role

22:45

as a full show and it was very

22:47

very successful and I think you know if

22:50

this gets picked up And

22:52

there's no reason why it shouldn't and it and I'm in

22:54

the rehearsal So I'm not saying this just as I mean

22:57

it really deserves to be picked up this

22:59

could have a run like lame is because

23:01

it's that sort of passion and and

23:05

In an area of revolution and resistance

23:08

in a period of history. It's great

23:10

It's really great and how are you

23:12

feeling about work because what happened to

23:14

you in lockdown? Were you were you

23:16

doing any filming or no? I I

23:18

like most of my profession Was

23:21

appearing on shows remotely? But

23:24

not doing much work. I did the odd

23:27

voice, you know very remote Yeah,

23:29

yeah. No, it's a tough two years for

23:31

everybody in my business and Recently,

23:33

I've had the privilege of traveling

23:35

around doing my one-man show David

23:37

Suchet Poirot and more and a

23:40

retrospective about my career Which we

23:42

took to 24 different regions in

23:44

the UK to try and encourage

23:46

people back to the theater And

23:49

we've been doing that was nearly four

23:51

months that I did from September to

23:53

just recently now And was it was

23:55

that your decision to sort of say

23:58

bye-bye Poirot or had it could

24:00

have run its course or how did it happen?

24:02

A very interesting question, Graham. I was actually offered

24:05

to continue doing Poirot, but not

24:07

stories by Agatha Christie. And I

24:09

had to think about that for

24:12

a long time. And

24:14

you know what? I was Agatha

24:17

Christie's Poirot. And I thought to myself, 25 years,

24:21

let's quit while you're ahead. Yeah. And

24:23

also that thing is, you could have said yes, and some of

24:25

them could have been great, but you might have got a, you

24:27

know, you could have done guarantee they'd be. There's no guarantee. And

24:31

if it started to go sour, that

24:33

would have been dreadful. And it was a hard

24:36

decision, difficult one, but I know it was the

24:38

right one. And it is weird,

24:40

because I imagine you living in Poirot's

24:42

beautiful Art Deco apartment. Yes, they do.

24:44

I was once, I hadn't said

24:47

this before, but I was once asked to advertise a

24:49

studio in that

24:51

block of flats, dressed as Poirot. I

24:54

was, and I did. He's

24:59

not proud. No, no, no, he'll do anything

25:01

for money. It's good, honest work. And

25:05

do you miss it now? Because, you know, because

25:08

that character is not going anywhere, someone else, I

25:10

mean, I know Kenneth Branagh's doing the films, but

25:12

someone else is going to do the TV. What

25:15

is that going to be like when you see it?

25:17

Well, it's, well, yeah. And I

25:19

haven't seen any of Ken's actually, by the

25:21

way, but it's very different. Let's put it that way.

25:23

Yes. Well, and it should

25:25

be, you know, this character is going to

25:27

go on and on. He's one of the

25:29

most famous literary characters. So, you

25:32

know, we go right back to the 20th, well,

25:34

not the 30s and 40s,

25:36

Charles Lawton, and people played him.

25:38

And Poirot will continue because

25:40

he's just one of those characters, like James

25:42

Bond. He will go on and on and

25:44

on. And I'm

25:47

looking forward to

25:49

seeing new Poirots on television.

25:51

I am. I'm

25:53

looking forward to that character carrying on. You

25:55

know, I was for now, and

25:59

there will be others. in the future and that's

26:01

right, that's good. I

26:04

suppose it is odd, you know, I think

26:06

the BBC just said they're making another Great

26:08

Expectations and you think, really? Yes, I know.

26:10

As you get older you kind

26:12

of think, didn't they just make that? Yeah, but

26:15

you see in the classical theatre, how many times

26:17

have I, I was 13 years with the Royal

26:19

Shakespeare Theatre, how many times have those plays been

26:21

on? And there's always a new take, new director

26:24

and it's good, we need

26:26

to see these. And I read that, that you were in

26:29

the National Theatre, or the Royal Shakespeare Theatre for 13

26:31

years, was that typical back then that people would

26:33

stay for that long? I was

26:35

one of the last of the boys, if

26:37

you like, that started as a spear carrier

26:39

and ended up playing roles like Iago, Shylock,

26:42

Bolingbroke and all the rest of it. And

26:44

it was a 13 years, it

26:46

doesn't happen anymore. And

26:48

I imagine at the time it flew by, you

26:50

weren't conscious of the fact that, oh, I've been

26:53

here forever. No, in fact, when I first courted

26:55

my wife, Sheila, who had the first date, we

26:57

said, what's your ambition? It was to be a

26:59

member of the National, one of the National Theatre

27:01

companies. And there I was, 13 years. Then

27:04

all of a sudden television came up, film

27:06

came up and moved on. But I loved

27:08

it. I had the most wonderful time. And

27:10

now musicals. And now musicals. Finally. Finally.

27:14

He's arrived. In the world of musicals. We've

27:18

been amongst royalty really this weekend and

27:20

I will be back with you next

27:23

weekend here on the Graham Norton Radio

27:25

Show with Waitrose with more highlights from

27:27

Graham and some lovely grub, I hope,

27:29

from show chef Martha. She always delivers,

27:31

doesn't she? And it's free. I'll come

27:33

back again. In the

27:36

meantime, make sure you're up to date with

27:38

us on all of the socials. At Virgin

27:40

Radio UK is where you find us. If

27:42

you're a YouTube bunny, search Virgin Radio for

27:45

all of the full interviews. See you soon.

27:47

Angela Scanlon on the Graham Norton Radio

27:49

Show. Virgin Radio.

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