Great in Britain Radio

Great in Britain Radio: a podcast is supported by the comedy film Great in Britain: The Movie.   If you want to support us and live in the UK and USA you can do so by renting the film on Amazon’s Prime Video.  Every rental counts.



Alternatively you can visit www.greatinbritainmovie.com where you see the movie’s trailer and watch scenes for free from the comedy film.

The official site for Great in Britain Radio is www.greatinbritainradio.com and if you want to get in touch drop us a line at [email protected]

In this week's show we first look at Britain's decades long war against the slave trade in the 19th Century and how it changed what it meant to be human.  In its war against the slave trade Britain stood alone and used every weapon at its disposal; economic, diplomatic, spending what would be billions of dollars today buying the freedom of all slaves in its orbit as well as military force.  This war to bring the slave trade to an end was a pivotal moment in human society.  Prior to this moment slavery had been endemic to nearly all people and civilisations yet after the Slave Trade Act 1807 (and the acts that followed like the Slavery Abolition Act 1833) slavery was no longer the default position of all humankind.  1807 marks an important date in the evolution of what it meant to be human.

We also cover topics like presentism and the contributions of British luminaries like Sir Isaac Newton and Ada Lovelace to science. We also discuss what Jesus would have had to say about virtue signalling and whether or not Twitter is a good place to discuss differences of opinion.

NB. Special note.  It is Ada Lovelace not Ida Lovelace as mispronounced in the reading of the episode.

In the second part of the show we introduce you to David Nicholas Wilkinson to talk to him about his critically acclaimed holocaust documentary, Getting Away With Murder(s).

#antislavery

#theholocaust

#britain

#twitter

Great in Britain Radio is brought to you by the writer/director of the comedy movie Great in Britain: The Movie. 

If you are in the UK or USA you can support truly independent British comedy by renting Great in Britain: The Movie on Amazon’s Prime Video.  

Great in Britain: The Movie is a comedy about three old school friends and a dog called Audrey.  It stars Jason Flemyng (Lock Stock) and Ben Starr, with Hannah Waddingham

 (Ted Lasso), Larry Lamb (Gavin & Stacey), Colin Salmon (Bond) with West End star, Robert Portal and the late, great legendary British actor Peter Bowles.   All supported by a cast of brilliant British comedy talent

https://greatinbritainmovie.com/

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Britain-Movie-Jason-Flemyng/dp/B07WFXDYF3

 

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Britain-Movie-Jason-Flemyng/dp/B07WGWSJ5Y

This week’s episode is a bit of an unusual one and a slight pivot from our usual mix of comedy and interviews.  On the show we are introducing our listeners to Dr Ken Jones.  Dr Jones, now in his 80s, has got letters and academic qualifications after his name as long as your arm.  He is a past recipient of the Queens Award for Technology and back in the day he was head of R&D at Burmah Oil.  In recent years Dr Jones has been writing reviews of scientific books and it was through this work he first became interested in the potential of Thorium energy as a safer alternative to uranium based nuclear technology.  He’s just written a paper on the topic and that’s what we are talking to him about on this week's podcast.

Dr Jones is keen to see Thorium, an old technology that was apparently developed during the Manhattan project, revisited.  As a scientist Jones believes that Thorium could not only become a critical part of Britain’s energy future but could also be a solution to carbon emissions and climate change. Disclaimer: We are not energy experts at Great in Britain Radio and do not offer any professional opinion on the topic discussed in the podcast or Dr Jones's paper.  We just thought it was an interesting area to learn a little more about.  As we stated during the podcast if you are interested in the subject discussed on the show, do not listen to us about anything, we urge you to do your own research, review all available data, talk to experts in the field and come to your own conclusions.

Great in Britain Radio is brought to you by the writer/director of the comedy movie Great in Britain: The Movie. 

If you are in the UK or USA you can support truly independent British comedy by renting Great in Britain: The Movie on Amazon’s Prime Video.  

Great in Britain: The Movie is a comedy about three old school friends and a dog called Audrey.  It stars Jason Flemyng (Lock Stock) and Ben Starr, with Hannah Waddingham

 (Ted Lasso), Larry Lamb (Gavin & Stacey), Colin Salmon (Bond) with West End star, Robert Portal and the late, great legendary British actor Peter Bowles.   All supported by a cast of brilliant British comedy talent

https://greatinbritainmovie.com/

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Britain-Movie-Jason-Flemyng/dp/B07WFXDYF3

 

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Britain-Movie-Jason-Flemyng/dp/B07WGWSJ5Y

On this week's show we have a humorous and satirical Letter to America. 

In the second half of the show we have an interview with America's Got Talent finalist and brilliant American comedian Vicki Barbolak and talk to her about her podcast Trailer Park Diaries.

Great in Britain Radio is brought to you by the writer/director of the comedy movie Great in Britain: The Movie. 

If you are in the UK or USA you can support truly independent British comedy by renting Great in Britain: The Movie on Amazon’s Prime Video.  

Great in Britain: The Movie is a comedy about three old school friends and a dog called Audrey.  It stars Jason Flemyng (Lock Stock) and Ben Starr, with Hannah Waddingham

 (Ted Lasso), Larry Lamb (Gavin & Stacey), Colin Salmon (Bond) with West End star, Robert Portal and the late, great legendary British actor Peter Bowles.   All supported by a cast of brilliant British comedy talent

https://greatinbritainmovie.com/

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Britain-Movie-Jason-Flemyng/dp/B07WFXDYF3

 

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Britain-Movie-Jason-Flemyng/dp/B07WGWSJ5Y

#50thEpisode

To mark our 50th Episode of Great in Britain Radio I wanted to do something different.

I was going through my attic and came upon a box from 20 years ago when I first started doing journalism.  In it were old cassette tapes.  Amongst them were two tapes featuring interviews with  two extraordinary British names from the past who are sadly no longer with us.  One was the late film director #SirAlanParker whose films garnered nineteen #BAFTA awards, ten #GoldenGlobes and six #AcademyAwards.  The other tape that caught my eye was an interview with the legendary, late British cinematographer #FreddieFrancis. Francis was a remarkable cinematographer and he won two academy awards for Sons and Lovers and Glory. He graced movies like The Elephant Man with David Lynch and The French Lieutenant’s Woman starring Meryl Streep as well as Cape Fear with Martin Scorsese.  Both men were truly greats in Britain during their time and rather than let these interviews sit in a box collecting dust for another 20 years I spent some time digitising the old tapes and trying to clean up the audio as best I could.  After all we have been through in the last two years with the world being, in some respects, irrevocably changed, it seemed timely to look back at two great Brits.  

The recordings were done on old audio cassettes and the quality isn't perfect despite all the filters I ran them through. In some places you will have to listen quite carefully but I think it will be worth it.

British history is a complex one, full of both good and bad, but by any reckoning this is a great country, a people that stood alone, and defiant, against the greatest evil the world has ever seen, the Nazis.  And for that reason, and that unique act of defiance in the face of ultimate evil, I believe Britain’s legacy, traditions, values and heritage are worthy of respect and acknowledgement.  Because it is that legacy, its contradictory history, its rich heritage and moral imperative that raised a generation of men and women that refused to capitulate and stand defiant in the cause of light when Europe had fallen into darkness in 1940.  These facts are, of course, an inconvenience to those who would wish to force us all to see Britain’s past through a warped mono-variant lens of whatever ism or ist is popular that day.  You know the ones I mean.  The world is complex and requires illuminating by those who understand its light and dark, its good, bad and great, its compassion and indifference, its resentments and gratitudes.

That’s why, I thought, even in a small way, it would be good to hear some of the highlights from interviews I did two decades ago with two great Britons who did remarkable work in their lifetimes and through the stories they told added to the sum of all that is great about Britain. They both, working with light as a principle story-telling means, illuminated this mortal coil and the brief time we all have here together.  Both men were truly great in Britain, by any metric you can apply, and I am grateful to have met them both briefly, recorded these interviews and got a chance to listen once again to what they had to say.

Great in Britain Radio is brought to you by the writer/director of the comedy movie Great in Britain: The Movie. 

If you are in the UK or USA you can support truly independent British comedy by renting Great in Britain: The Movie on Amazon’s Prime Video.  

Great in Britain: The Movie is a comedy about three old school friends and a dog called Audrey.  It stars Jason Flemyng (Lock Stock) and Ben Starr, with Hannah Waddingham

 (Ted Lasso), Larry Lamb (Gavin & Stacey), Colin Salmon (Bond) with West End star, Robert Portal and the late, great legendary British actor Peter Bowles.   All supported by a cast of brilliant British comedy talent

https://greatinbritainmovie.com/

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Britain-Movie-Jason-Flemyng/dp/B07WFXDYF3

 

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Britain-Movie-Jason-Flemyng/dp/B07WGW

On this week's show we have one of Liverpool's most stylish exports, photographer to the stars, John Stoddart.   Stoddart's career began by shooting the iconic Liverpool bands of the time like Frankie Goes to Hollywood.  His reputation as a photographer of note was cemented following a move to London and a career that has seen him shoot signature portraits of icons and stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Martin Scorsese, Pierce Brosnan, John Lydon, Daniel Craig, Catherine Zeta Jones and Lauren Bacall.   It's almost easier to ask Stoddart who he hasn't photographed.  He's also shot fashion for Vivienne Westwood and captured rock legends like Iggy Pop and The Rolling Stones. Stoddart is currently living in Greece where we caught up with him over zoom to find out about his incredible life and work.

http://www.johnstoddartphotography.com/

 

Great in Britain Radio is brought to you by the writer/director of the comedy movie Great in Britain: The Movie. 

If you are in the UK or USA you can support truly independent British comedy by renting Great in Britain: The Movie on Amazon’s Prime Video.  

Great in Britain: The Movie is a comedy about three old school friends and a dog called Audrey.  It stars Jason Flemyng (Lock Stock) and Ben Starr, with Hannah Waddingham

 (Ted Lasso), Larry Lamb (Gavin & Stacey), Colin Salmon (Bond) with West End star, Robert Portal and the late, great legendary British actor Peter Bowles.   All supported by a cast of brilliant British comedy talent

https://greatinbritainmovie.com/

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Britain-Movie-Jason-Flemyng/dp/B07WFXDYF3

 

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Britain-Movie-Jason-Flemyng/dp/B07WGWSJ5Y

On this week's show we have friend of the show, fashion and club icon Philip Sallon with Living Anachronism's Kramer Kwalick.

Philip and Kramer talk celebrity culture, idol worship, clothes, the Pre-Raphaelites and contemporary politics.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Sallon

 

https://www.kramerkwalick.com/

 

https://www.youtube.com/c/LivingAnachronism

 

Great in Britain Radio is brought to you by the writer/director of the comedy movie Great in Britain: The Movie. 

If you are in the UK or USA you can support truly independent British comedy by renting Great in Britain: The Movie on Amazon’s Prime Video.  

Great in Britain: The Movie is a comedy about three old school friends and a dog called Audrey.  It stars Jason Flemyng (Lock Stock) and Ben Starr, with Hannah Waddingham

 (Ted Lasso), Larry Lamb (Gavin & Stacey), Colin Salmon (Bond) with West End star, Robert Portal and the late, great legendary British actor Peter Bowles.   All supported by a cast of brilliant British comedy talent

https://greatinbritainmovie.com/

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Britain-Movie-Jason-Flemyng/dp/B07WFXDYF3

 

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Britain-Movie-Jason-Flemyng/dp/B07WGWSJ5Y

#AnyaLahiri #Barrysbootcamp #barrys

On this week’s show we have one of Britain’s top fitness instructors Anya Lahiri.  You only have to open a glossy magazine to find Lahiri listed as one of most sort after, elite fitness instructors in the UK today and during lockdown thousands of people tuned in worldwide to take her instagram live classes.  Lahiri was also instrumental in bringing high-intensity, fitness studio phenomenon Barry’s Bootcamp to the UK.  With its latest studio about to open in Liverpool it is difficult to imagine the leap of faith it took on Lahiri’s part to bring Barry’s to the UK after taking a class in LA and even harder to imagine that there was ever time when a landlord might have been hesitant to rent them a space to create studio.  We caught up with Lahiri to talk about life in general, Barry’s, her acting  career and the time she represented Britain at Eurovision as part of the girl group Precious.   As a little side note for her wikipedia page, not many people know that Lahiri also turned in a very funny performance as a senior centre’s fitness instructor in the second half of the comedy film Great in Britain: The Movie.  She gives a great comedic performance in movie that also stars the late, great Peter Bowles, Jason Flemyng,  Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham, Colin Salmon, Ben Starr and a cast of great British talent. 

https://greatinbritainmovie.com/

#MichaelJibson #OlivierAwardWinner

 

Award winning actor, writer and director Michael Jibson talks to Great in Britain Radio.  Jibson won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as King George III in the London production of Hamilton.  He was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for his role in Our House, the musical featuring the music of British ska/pop legends Madness and the song 'It Must Be Love' written by Labbi Siffre.  Jibson is known to British TV audiences for his role in BBC's Four Lives and most recently in ITV's drama, No Return.  He also starred in the BAFTA Cymru winning film The Lighthouse which he also co-wrote and produced.  Jibson talks about his life, musicals, his latest TV show, working with stars like Hannah Waddingham and Hugh Jackman, what keeps him up at night and the musical Hamilton.Michael Jibson IMDB

The link on YouTube to the song Strange Shapes performed by Hannah Waddingham from Great in Britain: The Movie mentioned in the podcast.

Great in Britain Radio is a podcast from the creator of the comedy Great in Britain: The Movie starring Peter Bowles, Jason Flemyng, Larry Lamb, Hannah Waddingham, Colin Salmon, Right Said Fred & Ben Starr.

#Scottish #Hollywood #FilmDirector

In the first episode of Season 2 Scottish writer/director Mick Davis talks to us about his late father sending him books from prison that changed his life as a child, living in California and how Hollywood is turning from a utopia to a dystopia, coaching Rod Stewart's soccer team, working with stars like John Cleese, Kelsey Grammer, Andy Garcia, Jeremy Piven and Mickey Rourke, his upcoming book on music legend Jack Douglas and his views on the SNP and Scotland today. 

Mick Davis - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0205169/

Great in Britain Radio is a podcast from the creator of the comedy Great in Britain: The Movie starring Peter Bowles, Jason Flemyng, Larry Lamb, Hannah Waddingham, Colin Salmon, Right Said Fred & Ben Starr.