Episode 8: Hugh Bonneville ON Where’s Paddington?

0:01 Hello, I'm Edith Bowman.

0:03 And I'm Michelle Collins.

0:05 That was quite abrupt, wasn't it?

0:06 But anyway, welcome to On the Box,

0:08 the podcast where we [music] celebrate the latest

0:10 releases and most loved shows on BritBox and beyond.

0:15 And I am over the moon.

0:16 I know Edith also is because this week we

0:19 are going to be joined by a true A-list star,

0:22 the fantastic Hugh Bonneville, and I cannot wait to have him here.

0:25 I'm such a huge [music] fan.

0:27 He's been in so many things that I mean,

0:30 comedy is something that he does so brilliantly,

0:32 but a specific type of comedy which I want to talk to you about.

0:35 W1A is just fantastic hilarious sitcom all about the bureaucracy inside the BBC,

0:41 which, hey, I can give you the inside scoop on.

0:44 Um but so many other things as well.

0:45 He's got this new one actually, 20126, which is a kind of W1A spin-off.

0:50 I'm very excited about that.

0:52 I also watched a show Douglas Is Cancelled, which I binged every single one.

0:57 I could not get enough of it.

0:59 It's fantastic, but let's save the Hugh chat for when Hugh is here.

1:04 I'm a little sick.

1:04 I don't know if you can hear it in my voice.

1:05 I hope that I sound mostly okay.

1:08 But how was your week, Edith?

1:09 What's new in your life?

1:10 Oh, do you know what's new in my life?

1:12 A new app.

1:14 I love a new app, Michelle,

1:15 but my new app is to try and make me a bit healthier.

1:18 So, I mean, it's probably going to last maybe a week,

1:22 but you know that thing where you go, "Yeah,

1:24 I'm going to do a 7-minute exercise every morning and I'm

1:27 going to log all my meals." You said 7 whole minutes?

1:31 It's not too much for me.

1:32 Seven I'm like, "Seven?

1:33 No, I'm not happening." Yeah,

1:35 and also I'm I've got much better things

1:37 to be doing with my time than logging my food.

1:40 It's like, come on.

1:42 Yeah.

1:42 I was just in Wisconsin, by the way,

1:45 which is the home of the cheese curd, and by the way, the friendliest people.

1:50 It is a stereotype, and I'm curious in England where that stereotype counts,

1:54 cuz here it's like Midwesterners are famously friendly.

1:57 And I have to say they absolutely lived up to their reputation.

2:01 Every Uber drive I took there needs to be a show called backseat therapist,

2:05 where it's me in the back of an Uber and I get in this one car,

2:08 and this girl was very quiet.

2:10 I also like having a female Uber driver cuz

2:12 I know I know I'm not going to get trafficked, which is a big risk for me.

2:16 Yeah.

2:16 Yeah.

2:16 I'm 6'1, no trunk

2:19 [laughter]

2:18 could handle It would have to be like roof rack.

2:21 Straight on the roof rack with Michelle.

2:26 [laughter]

2:26 Like an old Cadillac.

2:28 In the meantime, so she was so quiet,

2:30 and then I think I just asked her a question and she went, "I'm sorry,

2:33 I've got a lot on my mind." And that's like

2:35 the last thing you want to hear an Uber driver say,

2:37 cuz we're on the highway, Edith.

2:38 Yeah.

2:40 [laughter] I was driving to my destination.

2:42 Yeah, not my final one.

2:43 Anyway, and then she told me all about her family, and at the end I'm like,

2:46 you know, I should be getting the fee here because I did all the work.

2:49 But it's a wonderful state, lovely people.

2:52 Where in England would you say the Midwesterners are?

2:55 It is definitely the Scots.

2:57 They've kind of they've got that friendly thing where, you know,

3:00 everybody's welcome and um but I've started doing this thing

3:04 on the tube where I just cuz nobody talks to anybody or like

3:08 shows any kind of emotion or recognition or whatever where and I'm

3:14 I'm probably going to get in trouble for it at some point,

3:16 but just trying to like eyeball people and sort of just

3:18 connect in some sort of way and just even just a smile.

3:21 It's not I'm not getting anywhere with it yet, but I'm going to persevere.

3:25 Um so I might be with you next week.

3:26 I might not.

3:29 [laughter] I We're I really hope you're eyeballing all the right people.

3:32 You're like, "I just I stare people down." Did you talk

3:34 to people on the New York subway when you were here?

3:36 Because I am like you, I do do that.

3:38 I'm a chatter.

3:40 Yeah.

3:39 And sometimes people love it here.

3:41 Like, especially I'm going to say like middle-aged to older

3:45 women who are just going to work or whatever, if you like their bag or whatever,

3:49 you can start a conversation and genuinely meet

3:51 the loveliest people on the New York City subway.

3:53 No, I did, and there was a couple of times where I knew where I was going,

3:56 but I I kind of like I like the cut of people's jib.

3:59 So I went up and I was like, "Am I Is this the right line for?" And then

4:04 they just then they just start the conversation, and it was really nice.

4:07 And then there was one awkward situation where it

4:09 was a couple and they got off at the same

4:11 bit I was getting off at, and I wasn't sure

4:13 whether that was actually where they were getting off at.

4:15 So I just stopped and looked at my map

4:17 for a bit before I ended up in their trunk.

4:20 Um but yeah.

4:22 I'm there, too.

4:22 I'm like, "Edith, what are you doing in this trunk?

4:25 This is crazy." Both kidnapped in the same damn trunk.

4:29 Meant to be together, folks.

4:30 We can't help it.

4:32 So next podcast, Michelle.

4:34 Before we speak to Hugh, though,

4:35 I wanted to ask you about comedy and him and comedy,

4:39 cuz I said at the start that, you know,

4:40 something like W1A and this new show 20126, it's a specific type of comedy.

4:45 It's not a kind of like canned laughter audience laughter.

4:49 There's satire in there as well.

4:51 Um how would you describe that kind of comedy?

4:54 It's a great question, and I would say that when I was watching it,

4:57 it reminded me so much of the original UK Office.

5:00 Here it was simmering English tension, which for me is quite a turn-on.

5:05 So I found it less funny than hypersexual, the show.

5:12 [laughter]

5:12 The quiet Englishness of it all.

5:14 But yeah, it's one of those things where you

5:16 kind of laugh cuz you're so uncomfortable by it all.

5:19 And yet we've all been in these situations for the most part where we've

5:22 worked in an office with incompetent people or no one knows what they're doing.

5:27 Everyone's running around with their heads cut off and kind

5:29 of pretending and sort of acting even in an office setting.

5:33 Everyone's sort of acting a part anyway.

5:35 So I found it almost uncomfortable at times, but it was very very funny.

5:38 He's wonderful.

5:39 What did you think?

5:40 Yes, same.

5:41 It's the It's the timing things as well.

5:44 And um what I love about the show is is the amount of people

5:47 that have come through that show that are now kind of like mega stars.

5:50 Um Hugh's obviously done so much, you know,

5:53 mega star in himself, but like Olivia Colman and Jonathan Bailey,

5:58 but just kind of lovely that it's a show that people want to be part of as well,

6:02 because it's There aren't many of those kind of things around.

6:05 They come around really sort of sporadically and irregularly,

6:08 like The Office, like you say.

6:10 Now, I'm very excited for Hugh to be

6:12 here because my introduction to him was in one

6:15 of my favorite movies that I hate to tell

6:18 you I've seen probably 300 times, Notting Hill.

6:22 No way.

6:22 Where he plays, I think Bernie his name is his name,

6:26 and he's like the friend who meets Julia Roberts

6:29 in the initial kind of house party and says to her, "Well,

6:34 you it's really hard making money as an actress.

6:36 How much are you making?

6:37 Couple thousand a year?" It's like $15 million.

6:40 He was so great in that, and it's so

6:42 funny cuz he really there's something about his face,

6:45 and I'm I'm excited to talk to him about this.

6:47 Where you just kind of almost have to be on his side a little bit.

6:50 He's got like a sweetness to his personality and like kind of a dopiness.

6:55 I say that with love.

6:56 But um that was I think a lot of Americans, that was their introduction to him.

7:01 Yeah, I um I'd forgotten about that one.

7:03 I I think my I love him in Paddington.

7:06 I think he's just so great.

7:08 He's so great as as Mr.

7:09 Brown, cuz he's so grumpy,

7:11 and he's so uh but then it's that softness in Paddington, too, that's so great.

7:17 And that scene where he does the yoga pose between the two trains.

7:21 But I I love those films and I love him in that.

7:24 But also when you think about Downton Abbey,

7:26 how long he played that character for, it's quite bonkers.

7:31 It's really crazy like how how many episodes they did.

7:35 I can't remember how many it was, but how many episodes there were,

7:37 and then obviously the films on top of that.

7:39 It's just And do you remember when Downton started?

7:41 I mean, even still, obviously I think any TV show that goes to film,

7:45 I actually can't think of very many examples off the top

7:47 of my head where you had a hit television show and they're like,

7:50 "Actually, we're going to put this on the big screen." With the same cast.

7:53 Yeah.

7:53 And and filling the theaters up.

7:56 But just the cultural moment that Downton Abbey

8:00 the the cultural impact that that show had.

8:03 I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it,

8:05 but there are certain characters who are killed off,

8:08 and that They're well, the hottest one dies the soonest.

8:12 Theo James.

8:13 Remember that?

8:14 They killed the hottest one off first.

8:15 I'm like, "Can't we have anything?" Yes, he they wrapped him up in the rug.

8:20 Remember?

8:20 It was like episode two.

8:22 I'll ask him about that.

8:26 [music]

8:26 Well, now we are just absolutely thrilled to welcome our guest for this week,

8:30 and I'm going to pay him a huge compliment.

8:32 I would venture to say he has the best Wi-Fi connection

8:35 of any celebrity that has been on our podcast so far,

8:39 which is really saying something.

8:40 Guys, please give a very special

8:42 On the Box welcome to the wonderful Hugh Bonneville.

8:45 Hi, Hugh.

8:46 Hello, Michelle.

8:46 Very nice to see you.

8:47 You're Yes, actually you're very pixelated.

8:50 So I'm marvelous.

8:51 That's just the work I've had done, Hugh.

8:53 Spent a lot of money to look this pixelated.

8:58 [laughter] Thank you for being here.

8:58 Um how First of all, how are you doing?

9:00 You have so many projects in the works at the moment.

9:04 Are you getting any rest is what I want to know.

9:06 Um well, this you actually catch me on my day off.

9:08 So I am quite I'm quite horizontal at the moment.

9:11 I'm doing a play in the West End in London, um which I'm thoroughly enjoying,

9:14 but we one of the perks is we do an extra matinee,

9:17 but it does mean we have a Monday night off, so that's very civilized.

9:21 Wow.

9:21 just talking about theater, weren't we, Michelle,

9:23 in terms of like just how vibrant it is, and there's just a real I don't know,

9:27 there just seems to be a a kind of beautiful celebration

9:31 of what the West End has to offer at the minute.

9:33 What's the appeal for you, Hugh, to get back on on stage in that way?

9:37 Uh really that it's live, you know,

9:39 that frankly everything including this [clears

9:42 throat] experience I'm having right now,

9:43 I'm I'm wondering if it's real or not.

9:45 And uh you know, and we look at the news and we wonder how much of that is real.

9:49 So the great thing about theater is you know it's real, you know it's live.

9:52 There's no chicanery [snorts] pokery,

9:54 apart from unless you're watching Stranger Things.

9:56 but um or Harry Potter, but um it's that immediate thing that that you are you

10:02 are telling a story with a group of people and sharing it,

10:04 and that's a that's a wonderful feeling.

10:07 I want to ask a question about live theater because I just wrote an article,

10:09 I think this weekend, uh where people are so used to being on their phones now

10:14 and so kind of disconnected from each other that there's been this trend,

10:17 I guess, of audience members talking back to the actors from the audience.

10:22 Now, this could be an American thing again

10:24 cuz we are melting down mentally, I would say.

10:27 Have you found that this has happened

10:29 in the West End or have people gotten ruder?

10:31 No, no, I wouldn't say I I I don't find that.

10:34 I mean, people do still not switch their phones off.

10:37 So, I mean, at the the end of this particular play I'm doing

10:40 at the old which is is very poignant and very quiet and very still.

10:44 And, you know, we did have the sort of comedy

10:46 diddle-ah-diddle-ah-diddle-ah-da da da da da da da the other night.

10:49 [laughter] And um and there was one and I

10:53 I open the show with a monologue to the audience

10:55 and and there was one night where I

10:58 heard turn right onto Drury Lane and, you know,

11:02 um [laughter] But, I think the main thing that the main thing

11:06 that is quite I still grapple with, and I know it's a human condition,

11:09 is is people who sound like they smoke 60 a day

11:12 or have got tuberculosis come decide to come to the theater.

11:15 Yes.

11:16 And what's weird is that they cough their flipping guts out most of the show.

11:20 So, you have to sometimes restart lines cuz as you know,

11:23 if you miss one person coughing in a theater can kill

11:26 a line cuz you can't quite hear what what was said.

11:29 Just so even if it even even if it was vocalized,

11:31 it can be you know, your your sort of brain doesn't quite compute it.

11:35 So, sometimes, you know, one one restarts a line.

11:38 And yet, when it gets to this, you know, poignant quiet bit,

11:41 suddenly everybody knows that they don't they they don't cough.

11:45 So, for they can shut up for those 5 minutes,

11:47 why can't they shut up for the rest?

11:48 So, I'm I'm intrigued,

11:49 but I don't find the the actual sort of answering the phone and saying,

11:53 "No, I'm in the theater.

11:53 I can't talk now." Or actually, "No,

11:55 it's quite good." and all that sort of stuff.

11:57 We don't seem [laughter] We don't seem to have

11:59 or we haven't personally experienced in our experience experienced that.

12:02 Thank Thank goodness.

12:03 We have to get you on Broadway.

12:05 They must think cuz yeah.

12:07 Yeah.

12:07 You must have had an experience with those phones going off

12:10 of someone having the Downton Abbey theme tune on there though, surely.

12:13 Thanks thankfully not.

12:14 Thankfully [laughter] not.

12:17 That's just I mean, that we were just talking about it earlier

12:20 just in terms of the luxury is a is a as an actor,

12:23 you know, you've done so much in between those seasons and the films, you know,

12:27 it's been it's it's wonderful the breadth of of what you've done as an actor,

12:31 but to have the opportunity to go back to a character over such

12:35 a long space of time and so much happen for those characters, for that world.

12:40 But, it's it's done now.

12:42 When you Have you had a I guess you've had enough space

12:44 between that last film coming out to kind of just reflect at all,

12:48 have you, on that experience of Downton Abbey and that character?

12:51 Well, actually, to be really, really honest,

12:53 I we all felt it was finished in 2015 when we did the last TV show.

12:58 We never thought it would return.

13:00 I can remember saying to my boss, Gareth Neame, that you know,

13:03 when he said we're going to make a a movie, I said, "Well,

13:05 good luck because you'll never herd all these cats together." Um and then,

13:10 I think with the combination of um uh you know,

13:13 goodwill and a paycheck, we all did it three times again.

13:16 So, it was it was quite something.

13:19 So, no, we I mean, not that one was Yeah,

13:21 we were all ready to say goodbye, but we all felt we already had.

13:24 But, I think the final film was a was a genuine farewell.

13:27 I knew it was absolutely the last time this time.

13:30 And so, I think I took I took much more pride, not pride, what's the word?

13:34 Much more care, I suppose, each time for instance,

13:37 that we filmed in the in the drawing room for the last

13:39 time or in the dining room for the last time.

13:41 I sort of clocked it and really locked it in into my memory

13:44 because I knew it would be the last time that we'd be in there.

13:47 So, there was a sort of poignancy in that sense, but but you know,

13:51 it's that's the thing about TV and film, obviously, it it it lasts.

13:54 It's It's still there.

13:55 And you know, it's still if I'm rifling through

13:59 the TV for something to watch, I I sort of think,

14:01 "God, it's you know, it's still there to be watched." So,

14:04 that's a you know, it's always around.

14:06 And we're you know, we're in touch on and off in various ways.

14:10 There's a little theater crowd from the from the gang coming

14:13 to see me in Shadowlands next week, I think it is.

14:17 So, there'll be a little reunion there.

14:18 We all look out for each other, you know, we really do.

14:21 I want to ask while we're speaking about Downton Abbey because as an American,

14:24 and we were discussing this before you came

14:26 on, that show was such a cultural explosion in this country.

14:30 I mean, it was like the water cooler chat.

14:32 What do you think it was about

14:33 this show because it's about the British aristocracy?

14:36 Like, why did Americans love the show so much?

14:38 I don't know.

14:39 Goodness me, if we all knew that, we'd be,

14:41 you know, we'd be churning it out churning out the formula.

14:45 But, I think I think because there isn't a formula.

14:48 [snorts] I think it hit because it was true to its own little universe,

14:50 and people used to get quite snippy in England about,

14:52 you know, how disgusting it was to celebrate the aristocracy.

14:56 But, it was no more a real slice It was no

14:58 more a documentary than than than Star Wars or Star Trek.

15:02 And no one has a go at Star Trek for being inaccurate.

15:04 You just really enjoy the characters and the stories they go through.

15:07 This is just a a sort of slightly um uh less um stellar version of that.

15:12 Um It's a fictional world, and the fact is Julian Fellowes created

15:16 a world in which these characters lived and breathed,

15:19 and you cared about them somehow.

15:21 Um I remember reading the very first episode before we it was cast even,

15:26 and just thinking, "I'm interested in these people.

15:28 They all sound different.

15:29 You can tell [snorts] who's who it just by you know,

15:32 sometimes characters are interchangeable in a script or the you know,

15:35 their names are interchangeable." But, this wasn't they Mrs.

15:38 Patmore had a very distinctive voice from Lady Edith.

15:40 And and so, it was you could tell that the whoever was writing it,

15:44 I happen to know it was Julian Fellowes, you know, had a good ear for dialogue.

15:48 And he as he often said, he he wrote from a position that people try to be good.

15:53 So, there's a there's a undercurrent of benevolence

15:56 and and and and and hope for humanity underneath it,

15:59 which is why I think so many people of so

16:01 many generations enjoyed watching it um you know, together.

16:05 I used to say rather glibly the one

16:08 of the reasons it works is because it's about tension,

16:10 not not fighting, not violence.

16:14 It's about romance, not sex.

16:15 It's about you know, aspiration, not sort of brashness.

16:21 But, actually, sometimes Julian would up subvert that.

16:23 You know, there was the attack on Anna Bates that became a very sort of painful

16:28 but part of that was that sort of tore that story that idea up, really.

16:31 So, it wasn't as you couldn't be as simplistic about it.

16:34 But, I think, you know,

16:36 it was just one of those sort of lightning

16:38 in the bottle things that it was it was,

16:40 though I may say so myself, you know, it was really well cast.

16:43 That particular that first season, you really believed all those people existed.

16:47 The stories were engaging.

16:48 It we had a soap element so that you were you know,

16:50 it was an if you got bored of one story, there was another one on in 20 seconds.

16:54 Um and you know, bear in mind that Julian again,

16:57 his you know, he was passionate about Coronation Street,

16:59 the great British soap, and passionate about The West Wing's fast pace,

17:04 and and he and good stories.

17:06 So, and add to that, each department working at the top of their game,

17:12 really aspiring to do the very best they could,

17:15 it it somehow hit the right spot at the right time.

17:18 And Edith, you've been you know, you were so sort of supportive of us

17:21 over the years at the various premieres and events.

17:24 And have you got an answer?

17:27 [laughter] It It is that It's great storytelling.

17:30 It's great characters.

17:31 It's kind of, you know, and there the kind of the the believability of of how

17:35 it's written and how it's shot and how it's performed, really.

17:37 That was the thing is you you cared about these characters

17:40 and you wanted to know what happened and you wanted to know

17:43 if they were all right or they were coming back or how

17:45 they were going to cope with the grief or whatever it was.

17:48 It was you were you were you were invested in them.

17:51 That was kind of And that was immediate, I think, with the show, for sure.

17:54 I think what's really interesting though, you know,

17:55 what's brilliant about what you've been part of is that, you know,

17:58 that kind of a a telling of British aristocracy,

18:01 but then with W1A and 2012 and now 2026,

18:06 that's a beautiful and brilliant celebration of how

18:09 unique British comedy can be, I think, as well.

18:12 There's nothing like it and you can't really describe it, really.

18:16 That's very true, actually.

18:17 And I can remember I this So, 2012,

18:21 which was the first iteration of my character,

18:24 Ian Fletcher, engaging in this sort

18:25 of workplace um fly-on-the-wall documentary and mockumentary.

18:31 Um [clears throat]

18:32 um it it I can remember the moment the very moment that the producer rang me.

18:35 I For some reason, I can remember I

18:37 was in Parliament Square in London shooting something, and he rang and he said,

18:41 "John Morton." And I'd done a show called People Like Us on the radio,

18:45 which was a sort of again a faux documentary about a guy,

18:49 a roving reporter, just getting into daily lives of people.

18:52 And And of course, it took you a while while you were listening to it

18:55 to realize on the radio version to realize

18:58 that it was actually a complete send-up,

19:00 and it was actually you you may have been

19:02 about a hotel manager going about his daily life,

19:05 but you took you just half a beat

19:07 to realize it was utterly absurd and hilarious, but taken very, very seriously.

19:12 And so, when the producer rang and said, "John Morton, who wrote that show,

19:16 is going to do something about the Olympics," I just said, "Yes, straight away.

19:19 I said, I'm in.

19:20 I don't I don't, you know,

19:21 I don't need to know anything else." Because his writing

19:23 is so his style of writing is so particular,

19:26 and his direction is the is that great thing about comedy is

19:29 that no nobody in the comedy should know they're in a comedy.

19:33 If they do, you blow it.

19:34 And so, these characters take their roles very, very seriously.

19:37 And Ian Fletcher, who is placed in the in the in the first

19:40 iteration in in in the against the backdrop of the Olympic Games,

19:44 organizing the Olympic Games,

19:45 and he is in the level just below the senior management.

19:48 And in Britain, it was led by uh uh Coe, Sebastian Coe.

19:53 Um and so my character is just the level

19:55 just below him uh who basically has to absorb

19:58 all the flak and when things go wrong and has to put the public spin on things.

20:02 And the great coup was that Sebastian Coe himself agreed to be in the show so

20:07 that the joke was never about we are having

20:09 a go at the Olympics um and um you know, it's all going to be a disaster.

20:14 Uh if it was, Seb was in on the joke and uh so that really um sugared the pill,

20:19 if you like, or or or or allowed comedy to be of its own nature.

20:23 And as he just said, it's a it's it's a unique style

20:27 of writing and it's not quite like anything else.

20:30 There's another British show called The Thick of It,

20:32 which was a political satire, which is brilliant.

20:35 Armando Iannucci who then went on to co-create Veep and and uh so on.

20:40 Um which um and I understand that that show

20:43 there was the script and these wonderful

20:45 actors this ensemble again of of of great

20:47 actors satirizing the British political system.

20:50 So they'd shoot the script but then they'd improvise.

20:52 They'd do versions in which they improvised.

20:53 So the end result was a sort of hybrid of the scripted and the improvised.

20:57 So it had this very rough and ready feel.

20:59 Ours was not dissimilar in terms of its delivery style,

21:02 but every single word, every um and uh is scripted.

21:05 So it's an absolute bastard to learn and um

21:09 um mainly because most of it doesn't make sense.

21:12 Uh you know, that the if you scrutinize the office scenes when these when

21:15 my character is trying to sort of herd these sheep into into a pen just say,

21:20 "Look, we need to do this by Friday,

21:21 whatever the task is." And you've got certain characters either

21:25 with their own agenda or a clueless um speaking jargon or nonsense,

21:30 which all have sound bites of things

21:32 they've heard or derived from other sources,

21:35 with very few of which make actual sense.

21:37 Um it was really really hard to execute,

21:39 but it's all it's all utterly choreographed and scripted by by John Morton.

21:44 So it is it is, you're right, it's a unique form of its own comedy,

21:47 even though it looks like others and may sound like others.

21:50 It's like Shakespeare in a way cuz I feel like much of Shakespeare you're like,

21:53 "I don't really know what's being said." Maybe that's my lack of education.

21:57 [laughter]

21:58 But you're like, "I think I get the gist more than the actual sentences." Um

22:04 [laughter] You know, it's funny cuz W1A,

22:05 as someone who has worked in the corporate world, maybe not at that level,

22:08 but I have been in meetings like that where you sit there and you're going,

22:11 "I don't think anything is actually happening." I

22:13 think 80% of those jobs are are fake.

22:16 I assume you've never had a job like that because

22:18 you've just been on stage since birth, it seems, Hugh.

22:21 So how do you even kind of Like have you ever been in a situation?

22:26 Yeah, go on.

22:27 I think I think you've been in enough ones

22:28 been in enough or heard about enough in my case,

22:31 production meetings and and I'm sure,

22:33 you know, you guys have where you're planning the day and you think,

22:36 "Has that guy over there actually listened to what's just been said?

22:39 And is that thing going to be executed on time?" [laughter]

22:42 And you sort of know it's not and that uh

22:45 or that they're going to actually come up

22:47 with quotes a better idea um and and deliver

22:50 it without any sort of uh you know, proper oversight.

22:54 So I think I always say it's a bit like anyone who's worked in a you know,

22:57 in a in a in a multinational company at boardroom

23:01 level or indeed try to organize the church hall village fete,

23:04 you know, will recognize the dynamics in these in this in these shows.

23:08 So we started with 2012 [snorts] and and there was a sense I I think

23:12 you probably agreed is that we were

23:14 cruising towards a precipice in England in Britain.

23:18 Could we actually organize the biggest sporting event in the world successfully?

23:22 And there was a lot of people going,

23:24 "This is going to be a disaster." As it happened,

23:27 I think it was an absolute triumph.

23:28 It was certainly certainly the last time

23:31 I felt that I genuinely feel that Britain felt like a united country cuz after

23:36 that the cracks began to appear that you know,

23:38 that the for whatever you think about it,

23:40 the votes in Scotland about independence and indeed then Brexit and so on.

23:45 Um you know, let alone what happened internationally thereafter.

23:48 It felt like those two weeks in August

23:50 of 2012 were remarkable um and a properly unifying experience.

23:55 And Britain did really well relatively to its

23:58 previous uh uh experience in the in the Olympics.

24:02 I know obviously America usually wins bloody everything, but um [laughter]

24:06 but um so good at stuff, aren't they?

24:07 They're so annoyingly good at stuff, but um we you know, we did England.

24:14 Plucky little England did well, Britain rather.

24:16 Plucky little Britain did rather well for for a change.

24:18 So we there was this enormous pride and so that actually uh wonderfully gave

24:23 John Morton's character or gave John Morton

24:25 the springboard into W1A cuz he's having,

24:28 you know, having fire fought, if you like,

24:30 the um fire fight if fire fought it, is that a word?

24:33 Having been the firefighter of the Olympic Games,

24:35 he was then the go-to man to go and help out any other corporate uh

24:39 structure and so hence was called in as head of values for uh the BBC,

24:44 it's Zip Co being W1A.

24:47 Could do with him right now, to be honest, going in there.

24:49 Um anyway, uh it's the it's the director of integrity is his new role,

24:53 which I love the title of.

24:55 It's so [laughter] good.

24:56 Yes.

24:57 So after various learning ex- So now

24:59 in this new iteration in 2026, as it's called,

25:02 after various learning experiences and learning opportunities in the Qatar

25:07 um environment of the last uh World Cup,

25:10 um I hasten to add that we are in a parallel universe.

25:12 We're not actually um the um international

25:16 footballing association um or indeed anything like it.

25:19 But we happen to be in a parallel universe in the parallel football tournament,

25:23 which also happens to be being organized in Miami um

25:26 a a and set against the backdrop of um Mexico,

25:29 Canada, and America hosting these games.

25:32 I mean, it's almost writing itself, isn't it?

25:36 [laughter] Well, I was going to say,

25:37 like do you think that the US can pull off what London did back

25:41 in 2012 given everything kind of happening at the moment or we in for a lot

25:45 if if they allow if they allow the players

25:47 in, there's every chance they might actually play a game.

25:49 [laughter] Yeah.

25:50 God willing, Hugh.

25:51 By the way, did you actually go to Miami for the shoot?

25:54 I'd love to say yes, but in the same way that Paddington in Peru

25:57 was never really shot left the M25 in London.

26:01 Um I've never been to Peru, but Paddington has.

26:04 Um in the same way uh we uh no, we we never left a place called Mill Hill.

26:08 The irony being that we were in one

26:09 of the hottest places last summer when we were filming.

26:13 We were in a studio that had originally been the printing press

26:17 or the printing house for for the Jehovah's Witness magazine, The Watchtower.

26:22 Wow.

26:22 And uh yeah, some years ago I was a subscriber.

26:24 Uh yeah, well, there we are.

26:25 And now it's been completely redesignated as a film studio,

26:29 unfortunately without any air conditioning whatsoever.

26:32 So the irony was had we been in Miami, we would have been cool as cucumbers

26:36 cuz everything would have been air conditioned.

26:38 So we sweated like pigs in Mill Hill for several weeks,

26:41 but it was a nevertheless an amazing cast.

26:44 John Morton never breaks a sweat Wow.

26:47 very much like members of the royal family, I suppose.

26:49 And um and um and [laughter] is incredibly cool

26:52 under pressure and so we had to be too,

26:54 even though we were all, you know, rinsing our shirts every 5 minutes.

26:58 Michelle, um I've got to say as well, she was we were talking about Douglas is

27:01 Cancelled um and Michelle absolutely devoured that show.

27:06 Uh what a show.

27:08 I binged it.

27:09 I have to say they said, "Watch the first episode." and I said, "No,

27:11 I'm watching all four episodes." and I loved it and you were you were so I mean,

27:16 again, speaking of things based off of real life,

27:19 I think every woman has had like kind of a creepy boss where you wonder,

27:22 "Are they walking the line?

27:23 Is this actually harassment?

27:25 Something you can report or what?" And the moral questions

27:28 that this show brought up and your character in particular,

27:31 who you never knew are you on his side or not?

27:34 And I just thought it was brilliant in a number of ways.

27:38 I think Steven Moffat is a is a genius writer and lots of your viewers will

27:41 know and listeners will know him obviously from Doctor

27:44 Who and um comedies from from way back.

27:47 And he I think this had been brewing

27:49 this this this story had been on his desk for a while.

27:52 He wrote it originally as a play and I know he was very keen for Karen Gillan,

27:56 with whom he'd worked on Doctor Who a lot and who's

27:58 a very close friend of his to to explore that role.

28:02 And um anyway, they kindly came when they when it became a four-part TV show,

28:06 they came came to me and um I think like like like the audience,

28:09 you sort of start off reading, "Oh,

28:11 this is a good farce and a good send-up of again

28:14 TV world and all that." and then gradually the tone darkens.

28:18 And by episode 3 or throughout episode 3,

28:21 you are squirming in embarrassment and you're sort of almost

28:26 angry cuz you've been taking sides between these two characters.

28:29 It's I mean, for without spoiling it for those who

28:31 haven't seen it and it's it is a good watch.

28:33 It's about a basically a news or TV presenter

28:38 and his protege um who have a great rapport,

28:41 you know, he's he's almost like an avuncular he's an avuncular figure to her.

28:45 And gradually it darkens when it's it becomes

28:48 apparent that a joke that my character made

28:51 at a wedding um was inappropriate and went viral and and all the rest of it.

28:56 And and she, the protege, starts stoking the fires.

28:59 And so I mean, you may start thinking, "Well,

29:01 she's being unfair to this old guy who doesn't

29:04 quite know the social media ropes." and then you

29:07 start learning new new stuff about was he

29:09 or was he not complicit in a um workplace incident.

29:14 And um and even by not being complicit,

29:17 was he being complicit by by ignoring what happened?

29:20 And you know, you start questioning all

29:22 of us have been in situations where we've

29:24 been have we acknowledged that the balance

29:26 of power is being abused in a situation?

29:29 How do we stop it?

29:30 Are we vocal enough?

29:31 Are we big enough humans, be it male or female,

29:34 to step up and say, "That's wrong, actually.

29:36 That should not happen." Um so it sparks a lot of debate within

29:39 the within the show by by and and brilliantly by Steven writing it,

29:43 you know, broad farce almost at the beginning

29:45 and then and then twisting the knife.

29:47 So, you come away feeling a bit grubby and thinking, "Now,

29:50 where do I stand in this?" What I also find amazing about it,

29:53 having myself, you know,

29:55 been on a very controversial television show where social media did

29:58 play a big part in certain people getting in hot water,

30:01 and just also the role that Twitter has where you think something so innocent

30:06 and even something as simple as a retweet

30:09 will have such crazy ramifications on someone's career

30:12 and image and just the most throwaway thing that I think most people would never

30:16 consider think twice about when you're someone

30:19 in the public eye has incredible impact on you.

30:22 I found that also brilliant how that was kind of covered

30:24 cuz I don't think it's something most normal people would ever consider.

30:27 No, absolutely.

30:28 That's very true.

30:29 And yeah, um well, you know, we can we can talk about the the effect

30:34 of of Twitter and social media till the cows come home.

30:36 I mean, you know, we're we're watching wars unfold because of it in real time.

30:41 It's a very strange environment to be in and um [snorts]

30:44 he said she said is is now, you know, apparently provable within seconds.

30:50 Um and or not or or twisted.

30:53 I mean, or you know, like we said at the very beginning,

30:55 are we watching something that's real or not?

30:56 Is it fake news?

30:57 Is it Is it deep faked?

30:59 Is it whatever?

31:00 Um so, yeah, it's a very The best thing is I think I think is

31:03 it the Is it the Swedish secret service who just now use pencils and paper?

31:09 [laughter] I love that.

31:09 that's IKEA you're thinking of when you want

31:11 to remember which furniture you want to buy.

31:14 And meatballs.

31:14 [laughter] Um I think with with with the show as well,

31:18 it's so well observed with so many of the characters,

31:21 not just the kind of main characters,

31:22 like the the daughter and the father daughter

31:25 and that whole dynamic and relationship is so interesting in terms

31:28 of of someone of that age being kind of involved

31:32 in in that whole sort of dynamic and storyline,

31:35 and it's that I I found that part of it really interesting as well.

31:39 Absolutely.

31:40 And yeah, I think Steven Steven allowed himself

31:43 to be the curmudgeonly old man who doesn't understand 20-year-olds [laughter]

31:47 in that in that dynamic.

31:49 But I think I think Ben Ben Miles as as as as as our boss,

31:53 as it were, is utterly superb.

31:55 He's one of the I think he's

31:56 a he's a genius actor playing this utterly convincing,

32:00 credible, you know, decent bloke who you know, clearly is overstepping the line.

32:06 And I think my one of my favorite actor,

32:08 Simon Russell Beale, who plays my agent again,

32:11 I think Steven Moffat is having a lot of fun poking fun at the the world

32:16 of the the agents who will absolutely stand by you

32:19 until something goes wrong and then you're out the window.

32:23 [laughter] Um I wanted [clears throat] to just bring up,

32:26 if you don't mind, cuz Glasgow Film Festival was not too long ago,

32:29 and I know that a film that you were kind of involved

32:32 with behind the scenes was part of that, Everybody to Kenmure Street,

32:35 which you executive produced along with Dame Emma Thompson.

32:40 And it's a film that might not have hit across the in the states yet,

32:44 but you just in terms of what we were talking about

32:47 about current affairs and about throwing your weight behind things as well.

32:51 Talk to me a little bit about this project you and how

32:53 you got involved in it and and why it was important for you.

32:55 Yeah, it's a remarkable true story, which I have to be really honest about.

32:59 I didn't know about that in 20 In just to put it in a nutshell, in 2021,

33:06 I think it was during the pandemic,

33:07 you know, the latter that part of the pandemic.

33:10 Um the equivalent of ICE turned up in in a street in Glasgow,

33:16 and in order to spirit away two guys who they,

33:21 you know, needed, wanted to process or to you know,

33:25 take out of the system or said they weren't in the system.

33:28 And immediately, someone basically got underneath the van,

33:32 physically got under the van that they were going to be taken away

33:35 in, and the word went out in Kenmure

33:38 Street in Glasgow on the WhatsApp group saying,

33:41 "Everybody to Kenmure Street." And they stopped these guys

33:45 taking The guys were by now in the van,

33:49 but they prevented the van from moving, the locals.

33:52 And then gradually, it grew and grew and grew,

33:54 and the police obviously came along,

33:56 and by lunchtime, there were literally hundreds

33:58 if not thousands of people in that street.

34:01 And there was a standoff.

34:03 Um and by mid-afternoon, community leaders who, you know, were were involved,

34:08 and there was a sort of summit meeting really between one

34:11 of the community leaders and the head of the local police saying,

34:16 "You're either going to have a riot on your hand,

34:18 in which blood will be spilled,

34:20 or you walk away." And the key thing to remember was that the Scottish

34:24 police were not under the authority of the what we call the Home Office,

34:30 I which is a London British albeit British, but actually an English authority.

34:38 And and the Scottish police are not under that authority.

34:42 So, it was a choice by Police Scotland as to what to do.

34:45 And in the end, the two guys were escorted out of the van,

34:48 and everyone walked away.

34:50 So, it was a remarkable experience, true story of civil resistance and passive

34:58 civil resistance and peaceful civil resistance.

35:01 But it was done in that uniquely, I suppose,

35:04 also Scottish way with this incredible multicultured

35:07 multicultural community just coming together and just saying,

35:12 "This isn't This isn't right." And, you know,

35:14 the captions go up at the end that the both

35:17 both people were in the end, you know, shown to be not in breach of any

35:22 overstay orders or whatever you want to call them.

35:24 I don't know what the legal jargon is, but but life went on.

35:27 And that's In a funny way, that's almost not the point.

35:29 The point was it was the way it was done, and it was done with with wit,

35:33 dignity, humility, and and collective responsibility.

35:37 Um so, that's why I got involved with that, and and it's, you know,

35:41 it's doing the rounds of of of festivals,

35:43 and and it's now on public release in selected theaters,

35:46 and it's been a joy to see the reaction to it because it is

35:50 and it was actually shown in um in in America in um uh Sundance, wasn't it?

35:56 It was It was one of the audience award at Sundance,

35:58 but but last week it was shown in in Minnesota.

36:02 Um and as a sort of part of a sort of healing process, I suppose.

36:08 Because let's face it, there are very Well,

36:10 just to show that there is another way of approaching things.

36:12 Yeah.

36:13 Yeah, for sure.

36:14 Hugh, we've talked so much about your illustrious career.

36:18 I want to know about Hugh Bonneville, the man.

36:20 You work constantly on stage now.

36:23 You have a day off.

36:24 What's the dream day for you?

36:25 What are you doing?

36:28 [laughter] The dream day actually, I've Chatting to us, Michelle.

36:31 Chatting to us, of [laughter] And calling us, saying hi, then what?

36:35 Then I'm actually I'm putting the finishing touches

36:38 to my second children's book at the moment.

36:40 Oh.

36:41 Rory Sparks, yeah, so Rory Sparks is a sort of I

36:44 suppose my alter ego from when I was a kid.

36:47 And and I'm doing three books for Bloomsbury Press,

36:51 and the second one I'm a little bit behind with, and I

36:55 have to finish the second draft of it in a couple of weeks.

36:58 So, my my my days off or my mornings off are rather sort of taken up with that.

37:02 But I have to say it's a complete pleasure.

37:04 I mean, my first one, which was called Rory Sparks and the Elephant in the Room,

37:10 I I sort of, you know, published it last October and went on a little book tour,

37:13 and and the greatest fun was going into schools and talking to kids.

37:18 Um and you could talk to them for 20 minutes

37:20 about Rory Sparks and his adventures and the ideas I had,

37:23 and then you throw the throw it open to questions from the floor,

37:26 and the first question always always always is, "Where's Paddington?" And

37:32 [laughter]

37:34 Um and but then but then but then engaging with the children about storytelling.

37:38 I mean, there was one There's one thing that In the second book,

37:40 there's a tunnel where Rory gets go

37:42 and his sister get involved in going down a tunnel.

37:45 And tunnels are always mysterious and exciting, and you don't you know,

37:47 cuz where do they go and why are they there?

37:49 And are there are there good forces 11-year-olds,

37:57 "Where do you think the tunnel comes out?" And all these hands go up, you know,

38:01 "I've got an answer." And and just listening to the variety of answers

38:05 and and and the imagination that's been sparked has been really inspiring.

38:09 And in the UK, and I I suspect it's similar in the in in the US,

38:13 there's been a huge dip in in reading for pleasure in in all age groups,

38:18 but particularly in children in the last 10 years, something like 30% down.

38:22 And and so, this year in Britain,

38:25 it's the national year of reading is the initiative,

38:28 and really encouraging people to get back into into into reading for pleasure.

38:34 You know, obviously, the the the sources for this decline are obvious,

38:38 the rise of the screens and the and the pandemic being two major factors.

38:43 And so, to engage with young um you know, has been really fun.

38:49 And you know, that the age of innocence, I suppose,

38:51 just seeing their their innocent imaginations at work,

38:54 and there is so much imagination out there.

38:57 So, I've I've really That's been So, that's been my most of my day off today has

39:01 been playing playing around with the story for Rory Sparks.

39:06 Do you drink energy drinks?

39:07 Like, let's promote cuz how do you get the energy for all this?

39:10 I'm just worried [laughter] about you now.

39:11 I'm like, this man never has a minute of rest.

39:14 Do you know, it's quite funny.

39:15 I went out for a a pint with with a couple of old

39:18 schoolmates of mine about just just before we started doing the play.

39:22 And they So, I'm whatever I am, 62, 3, I can't remember.

39:27 Anyway, I'm I'm I'm in my 60s.

39:29 And and these guys had been to these both

39:32 these guys have been retired for 5 years.

39:34 They'd had very successful careers in the city or whatever.

39:37 And they I said, "What do you do?

39:38 What's your average week?" And they went,

39:40 "Well." And they were very relaxed and happy, and you know, a bit of golf,

39:44 went and saw the, you know, go off and see their kid at university,

39:46 or go a bit of traveling with their spouse,

39:49 and and they said, "Well, what what's your average day?" And I realized,

39:52 A, I don't have an average day, and B,

39:55 I'm literally trying to find an hour here, an hour there,

39:57 when I can do, you know, have a meeting about this or something.

40:00 I thought, "What the heck am I doing it for?" And I

40:02 realized I have I have been a bit driven and a bit,

40:05 you know, a workaholic, but I do enjoy it, and I can no longer I can no I can

40:10 no more imagine stopping acting than a painter can stop painting,

40:13 you know, it's just something I do, and I enjoy it.

40:16 But I will come down a bit, it's getting a bit silly now.

40:19 What was so lovely just when you when you mentioned Rory there,

40:21 just how your your face just beamed,

40:24 and you can really just see the joy that you're getting out of of, you know,

40:29 another string to your bow, and and and kind of, you know,

40:32 and and exploring something new and and slightly different.

40:35 Yeah.

40:36 Well, it it came it it had the most bizarre genesis,

40:38 cuz I wrote a memoir a couple of years ago called Playing Under the Piano,

40:42 which was meant to be a series of sort of showbiz anecdotes,

40:44 really, that's what they'd asked for, and I ended up writing Well,

40:48 A, they'd commissioned 100,000 words,

40:50 and I ended up writing 165,000, cuz I got a bit carried away.

40:54 And in my again, my stupidity and naivety,

40:56 I thought the publisher would be thrilled,

40:58 you know, getting two for the price of one nearly,

41:00 and but they he was sort of rolled his eyes and said, "Yes,

41:03 I'm quite enjoying it, but I'm on page 100, and you're still only eight." And I

41:09 [laughter] And I'd realized A, I'd not I wasn't just doing showbiz stories,

41:13 I was actually writing about things that had made me do what I do.

41:17 And also, it was a sort of became a love letter to my parents,

41:20 cuz I realized as I was writing,

41:22 cuz as anyone who writes knows, the writing takes over,

41:25 some suddenly it starts coming from somewhere you hadn't planned.

41:29 And and my father was was passing away with dementia,

41:32 and so it was really a tribute to him,

41:34 and he was a he was a surgeon, but a very cultured man, and a very, you know,

41:39 loved the arts, and I realized that my love of the arts

41:42 and and storytelling really came from him and my mom,

41:45 and so it became a sort of story about them,

41:48 but also, as I say, about my childhood.

41:50 So I had to cut a huge amount out of my childhood,

41:53 cuz it was getting tedious for everybody apart from me.

41:55 And and and then a couple of about

41:59 a year later after it was published, you know,

42:01 my my agent's colleague who deals with children's literature asked

42:05 me if I'd ever thought about writing a children's book,

42:07 and I said, "Absolutely not.

42:08 I haven't got a chocolate factory in me, or or a, you know,

42:12 or a or a wizard's castle." And and then I said,

42:15 "Why do you think I should write something

42:17 like that?" And she and she said, "Well,

42:19 that bit in this your in your memoir when the circus came

42:23 to town and parked on the on the common land on, you know,

42:26 near where you grew up,

42:27 and then the kids came to school, you know, joined your school for a month,

42:31 sometimes on an elephant, was that true?" And I said, "Yeah, completely true.

42:34 They used to come into the playground,

42:35 and we'd think it was so cool that these exotic

42:38 kids had this amazing mode of transport." And she said,

42:42 "Well, was it also true that you dug a grave

42:43 for your sister when you were about eight?" And I said,

42:46 "Yes, completely, cuz anyone with a sister knows that they need

42:49 to be got rid of at some point, cuz they're just,

42:51 you know, annoying." And so she said, "Well,

42:53 maybe that's a start for your you know, element of your story." And I thought,

42:56 "Well, maybe life in Southeast London in my, you know,

42:59 cozy little life wasn't as boring as I thought." And I

43:02 guess when you think about Paddington in a way as well,

43:04 it was kind of a revival of that character,

43:06 sort of, because he'd existed in book form and in cartoon form, you know,

43:11 and but these films kind of gave it a completely different, you know,

43:15 identity and reintroduction to so many people, and, you know, in my mind,

43:21 up there with the best films ever released sort of thing as well.

43:24 You can go back to them again and again and again and just feel joy,

43:28 and yeah, amazing thing to be part of.

43:30 It was it was, and and I, you know, like so many people again,

43:33 I was you know, very nervous about it when

43:36 when I heard about it first, I thought, "Oh,

43:38 it's going to get, you know, it's going to get turned into a Hollywood whatever,

43:41 and it's not it's not going to work."

43:43 And my cuz my I was very possessive of of Paddington,

43:46 like so many people have been, because he was part of my childhood,

43:50 and and also, I think crucially, he was those stories,

43:53 Michael Bond stories, were the first that I could read for myself,

43:57 and I took great pride in not having them read to me anymore.

44:00 I could once, you know, there was a obviously a handover period,

44:02 and I remember vividly reading for myself and want

44:06 and looking forward to the next iteration coming out,

44:09 and the next book coming out.

44:11 And quite apart from the from the from the character

44:14 and the nature of the character, which we can probably talk about in a moment,

44:16 but but but but having something that was as precious

44:19 to me then and I and I'd seen I'd seen a version,

44:22 I think, on TV in in when I was young,

44:25 but I by then I'd sort of progressed, I guess, a bit out out of that that era.

44:30 And so when I heard that this, you know, was being done as a movie,

44:33 and then they wanted to talk to me about playing Mr.

44:35 Brown, I was very dubious, because, you know,

44:37 it was a childhood hero going to be mucked about with.

44:40 And then when I I remember reading the first page and starting to laugh,

44:44 it was all to do with the description of the famous

44:47 explorer going through the jungle carrying a modest timepiece,

44:51 and and the and the visuals were of him some bear carrying a grandfather clock.

44:55 And you think, "Oh, this is funny, you know, this is I mean,

44:58 we're we're in good hands here." And and then meeting Paul King,

45:02 I remember we sat outside, he's the director writer of the first two,

45:06 co-writer of of them,

45:07 and sitting in in outside David Heyman's office, the the executive producer,

45:12 and chatting, and I realized within about

45:13 30 seconds that I was talking to Paddington.

45:16 I mean, he has the same spirit of inquiry and wide-eyed,

45:21 you know, questioning about the world, and you sort of know that he'd be

45:25 up for any scrape and adventure that was going, and that things might go wrong,

45:29 but they'd reset to positive, and that's exactly like Paddington.

45:32 And then, of course, you know, you go and meet David Heyman,

45:35 who did happen to do Harry Potter and every other blooming film going.

45:39 You know you're in pretty good hands.

45:41 But the thing that really blew me away was once

45:43 we'd once we'd actually been filming we've done the filming,

45:46 was seeing the animation for the first time,

45:48 which was I went into the cutting room,

45:50 and Paul showed me the the bear sticking his head down the loo,

45:54 and I was completely blown away by how brilliant it was

45:57 and what Framestore and all the other team all the teams had done.

46:01 The animation was extraordinary.

46:03 Have you seen the musical yet?

46:05 I have.

46:05 I went to a preview early on, and it was it was absolutely glorious,

46:09 and at time of that we're speaking, it's just swept the not swept the boards,

46:13 but it's been won seven Olivier Awards, um Did it?

46:16 Yeah, last night, and so it's it's it's in for the long haul.

46:21 It's a it's a gorgeous Again, you think, "Oh, is it going to work on stage?"

46:25 But A, the way they've created the bear is so smart

46:28 and beautiful and inclusive and and just sort of makes

46:32 you feel part of the process as an audience member,

46:34 you know, obviously in any theatrical situation,

46:38 you have to suspend your disbelief,

46:40 but you're being asked to suspend it to a new

46:42 level when you're watching a bear that who isn't a bear.

46:45 But the way they do it is so clever,

46:47 and they don't make the audience feel stupid or or smug, either.

46:51 You're taken along the with the journey,

46:54 and the music's beautiful, and the performances are wonderful.

46:57 So I'm just so thrilled that it's got this new new life,

47:00 and Sonia Friedman and her team have have taken this big,

47:04 you know, gamble, any musical in a is a gamble, and and it's really paid off.

47:08 So my hat's off to all of creative elements

47:11 and from the cast to to the dresses backstage, it's a fantastic show, really is.

47:17 Michelle, do you want to get you involved in our in our farewell game then,

47:20 off the back of talking about revival?

47:23 But we have a game we like to play called revival.

47:25 So here's what we'd like to know, Hugh,

47:27 if you could revive any one of your favorite British shows, what would it be?

47:32 Now, this could be a one-off, it could be a mini-series,

47:35 it could be let your heart run wild and tell us I know exactly I know exactly,

47:40 cuz it's a show I I I was fixated on as a as a as a kid.

47:45 It's called The Persuaders.

47:47 And it starred Tony Curtis and Roger Moore,

47:51 and it was made by Lew Grade for IT what what is now ITV.

47:55 I don't know whether it was Thames Television or whatever.

47:57 Anyway, it was a it was a British show, and it was,

47:58 you know, hugely for then expensive show for a British company to make,

48:02 but it was the idea was Roger Moore was this sort of, you know,

48:06 posh English guy, and Tony Curtis was this, you know,

48:11 bruiser from the Bronx, and they and grown up on the wrong side of the tracks,

48:14 and I can't remember quite remember what brought them together,

48:16 but they went on these, you know, escapades,

48:19 largely staring at girls in bikinis on the on the Riviera.

48:24 I think if it was to be made now,

48:26 it would probably have to be restyled quite [laughter] heavily.

48:29 Douglas is canceled, too.

48:30 I'm sensing a sequel.

48:32 I think it's great.

48:33 But I think it was it was a proper escapist,

48:36 and probably I haven't I haven't watched it, I have to say,

48:39 for a quite a long time, so I don't know whether it holds up or whether

48:42 it would offend everybody and get get us everybody canceled.

48:45 But there was an I think, you know,

48:47 the the code des your caper adventure, the the Pink Panther-esque fun and games,

48:54 you know, I think we could all do with a slice of that sort of escapism.

48:58 So John Barry did the music as well.

49:00 The music of the opening John Barry did Yeah, John Barry did the music.

49:04 He, of course, did the James Bond theme, so it's got that kind of like

49:08 titles are fantastic, and they're so vivid.

49:11 So yes, so that that would be a great thing to revive.

49:14 And yes, I'd love to play the Roger Moore part,

49:16 I'll be a bit older [laughter] and less suave.

49:19 This is great.

49:20 Even casting yourself in it.

49:21 I'm telling you, he never [laughter] stops, people.

49:24 The man is always thinking.

49:28 Well, you've been just a pleasure, Hugh, honestly.

49:30 Like I we were so thrilled to hear that you were coming on the show,

49:34 and I know we're both huge fans of yours, and I even love your library.

49:38 I like your hat.

49:39 I'm just happy that you're here, and it's been a pleasure to talk to you about

49:43 all these amazing shows that you have on BritBox and beyond.

49:46 Thank you, Michelle.

49:47 Thank you, Edith.

49:47 Yeah, and and good luck with the rest of the run

49:49 as well on the on in the West End as well.

49:52 Thank you.

49:53 We run to I don't know when your show's going out,

49:55 but we're we run till May the 9th.

49:56 So, if you're in London, come and see us at the Old Vic, Shadowlands.

49:59 It's a beautiful play.

50:01 Thanks so much, you.

50:02 We really appreciate it.

50:03 It's lovely to chat to you.

50:04 Bye.

50:05 You, nice to meet you.

50:06 Thank you.

50:06 Thank you.

50:07 Bye-bye.

50:09 Well, listen, if you haven't seen them,

50:10 W1A and 2012 are available to stream now on BritBox.

50:15 And here's some good news.

50:16 2026 is [music] launching on May 1st.

50:19 We're going to be back next week with more

50:21 insider info from more of your favorite British [music] shows.

50:25 We love it.

50:25 We adore you, and we will see you there.

50:27 Bye, guys.

50:29 You've been listening to On the Box,

50:30 hosted by Edith Bowman and Michelle Collins.

50:34 The music was by Dario Fo and Canio Claudio Tristano, courtesy of 411 Music.

50:40 The production coordinator was Caroline Barlow.

50:43 Production manager was Mabel Finnegan Wright.

50:45 The production executive was Ian Hayden.

50:47 The executive producers for BritBox are

50:50 Alana McGaughey [music] and Diana Rubina.

50:53 The executive producer for BBC Studios is Pete Straus.

50:56 The producer was Rajiv Karia.

50:58 On the Box is a BBC Studios production for BritBox.