Sport is how poor kids from poor countries pass through the eye of the needle to riches and recognition.
A. A. Gill
A. A. Gill
Television gives us the
Television gives us the gift to see ourselves as we’d like to be seen.
A. A. Gill
There were moments when
There were moments when I wondered at the gossamer veil that stops licence from being libel. I suspect that taking on the job of England manager puts you outside the protection of the courts. It must be part of the job description that you will be held hostage by media speculation and can have your character tortured, molested and finally executed at the public whim, in exchange for a lifetime’s supply of money.
A. A. Gill
Is it a particularly
Is it a particularly British trait to so utterly adore truly appalling men, from Tony Hancock through to Steptoe and Alf Garnett, Captain Mainwaring, Rigsby, Del Boy, Victor Meldrew and on to David Brent from The Office. The most deeply adored characters are all simply vile.
A. A. Gill
Celebrity is a national
Celebrity is a national drama whose characters’ parts and plots are written by the tabloids, gossip columnists, websites and interactive buttons. The famous don’t actually have to turn up to their own lives at all.
A. A. Gill
Americans think the only
Americans think the only funny Brits are John Cleese, Benny Hill and whoever makes our toothpaste. They’re not laughing with us, they are laughing at us.
A. A. Gill
He (Jeremy Clarkson) is
He (Jeremy Clarkson) is the last man standing on the beach commanding the glaciers’ melt waters to go back
A. A. Gill
Television in the 1960s
Television in the 1960s & 70s had just as much dross and the programmes were a lot more tediously patronising than they are now. Memory truncates occasional gems into a glittering skein of brilliance. More television, more channels means more good television and, of course, more bad. The same equation applies to publishing, film and, I expect, sumo wrestling.
A. A. Gill
A broadsheet obituarist once
A broadsheet obituarist once pointed out to me that veteran soldiers die by rank. First to go are the generals, admirals and air marshals, then the brigadiers, then a bit of a gap and the colonels and wing commanders and passed-over majors, then a steady trickle of captains and lieutenants. As they get older and rarer, so the soldiers are mythologised and grow ever more heroic, until finally drummer boys and under-age privates are venerated and laurelled with honours like ancient field marshals. There is something touching about that.
A. A. Gill
Nobody ever forgets their
Nobody ever forgets their first night in the bush. It’s among the precious, meagre handful of life firsts that remain indelible.
A. A. Gill