Wasn't he involved in some early 90s atrocity called 'A Word In Your Era', which I never saw but I gather it was a R3 quiz inadvertently materialised in the weekend TV schedules...
Which one of them was on 'Brain Drain'?
Mulville is a thief. Everyone in the industry knows this. Everyone hates himk. He is a nasty piece of work. A bully and a crook.
Oh yeah, and 'chelmsford 13' was crap.
>Wasn't he involved in some early 90s atrocity called 'A Word In Your Era', which I never saw but I gather it was a R3 quiz inadvertently materialised in the weekend TV schedules...
I saw half an episode - it wasn't very funny, but it did occur about '93 in the McGrath wilderness years.
>
>Which one of them was on 'Brain Drain'?
Mulville I think. But then again, I don't think McGrath's been on any prog made by Hat Trick since a couple of Whose LInes in about 1989-90.
Incidentally, Les Dawson was on the Brain Drain once, and he was brilliant.
Now I remember... there was a quite funny line on "Weekending" at the time:
"After Jimmy Mulville admits that drink and drugs nearly destroyed his career, he says that appearing on 'Brain Drain' finally did it."
Willie Rushton was ace on BD. Tony Hawks was useless.
>Now I remember... there was a quite funny line on "Weekending" at the time:
>
>"After Jimmy Mulville admits that drink and drugs nearly destroyed his career, he says that appearing on 'Brain Drain' finally did it."
It was around this time that I began to wonder if so-called alternative comedy had all been useless all along. Willie Rushton was superb on it, so was Dawson, but all the Cambridge Footlights people on it stank the room out.
>Willie Rushton was ace on BD. Tony Hawks was useless.
Imagine basing your career on waiting for someone to blow out Have I Got News? so that you're brought in at the last minute. (See also Fred Macaulay.)
What exactly did mulville do?
>What exactly did mulville do?
On The Brain Drain, or just generally? If you mean the former, he was the chairman on the show. If you mean the cv, here goes (as far as I know)...
Cambridge Footlights (same time as Rory McGrath and Griff Rhys Jones), radio producer at Radio 4 (did first two series of Radio Active), wrote for Alas Smith & Jones, and appeared in Channel 4's not-as-good-as-you-remember-it Who Dares Wins ('84-88) with Julia "2.4 Children" Hills, Tony Robinson, Phil "Music by" Pope and Rory McGrath. Married WDW producer Denise O'Donoghue and with McGrath and Geoffrey Perkins, they formed Hat Trick Productions in about 1988.
Oh, and he was in crap ITV sitcom That's Love, in which he had an affair with Liza Goddard.
Since Brain Drain, he's hardly done any telly, but he's executive producer of loads of Hat Trick things - last thing I noticed his name on was Whatever You Want with Gaby Roslin. What a career, huh?
"Oh, and he was in crap ITV sitcom That's Love, in which he had an affair with Liza Goddard."
What, in the story, or real life?
I saw the first episode with my mum. Thought it was OK. Saw a later episode, when it was getting slagged off, realised it was rubbish. Also realised the 1st one was good because Miriam Margoyles did a brilliant cameo appearance.
Why don't we hear more about her in SOTCAA? She's got more comic talent than most of the younger ones.
>"Oh, and he was in crap ITV sitcom That's Love, in which he had an affair with Liza Goddard."
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>What, in the story, or real life?
In the story, I think. But who knows...
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>I saw the first episode with my mum. Thought it was OK. Saw a later episode, when it was getting slagged off, realised it was rubbish.
Was this TVS's only foray into sitcom?
Also realised the 1st one was good because Miriam Margoyles did a brilliant cameo appearance.
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>Why don't we hear more about her in SOTCAA? She's got more comic talent than most of the younger ones.
She's one of the few people prepared to say that the Pythons are overrated, which I'm quite impressed by (and I like Python, but it's a refreshing view all the same - they tried to exclude her from being involved in anything at Cambridge). Why did no-one write her a sitcom though? She'd have been absolutely brilliant.
She was in the John Inman/Rula Lenska sitcom Take A Letter, Mr. Jones (Southern, 1980ish) as an Italian maid, though. Terrible show.
Still, she was much funnier in A Kick Up The Eighties (as far as I can remember) and her couple of appearances in Blackadder are top.
I meant why is he a thief etc.
He and one of his producers stole my show. Simple as that, Simon. I'd love to tell you more but I signed a clause preventing me from doing so. If I didn't I was warned that I'd never work again.
>I meant why is he a thief etc.
Ah! Sorry - missed the point by a mile there. His career isn't particularly interesting, is it? (Interesting enough for me to have remembered most of it, though.)
"If I didn't [accede to Mulville's demands]I was warned that I'd never work again."
What, you mean if you'd tried to become a supply teacher, he could have blocked you?
What frightening power.
Ha bloody ha.
It's really nice to spend 12 months working on a show, offer it to Mulville and co, only for them to submit it to a broadcaster having removed your name from the proposal.