Off Cuts
robin.parker@broadcastnow.co.uk
ALL A TWITTER
while an ITV team revealed that it was really an acronym for Illiterate Tramp Virgins. But there could be only one winner: Twofour’s lovingly crafted tribute to the late HR Giger’s iconic Alien design.
“TV Producer” on my train is impressing passenger with his new sitcom plans. Both seem unaware two of the actors are no longer with us.
Winner: Jonny Coller in Alien T-shirt
Twofour has it all sewn up The creative juices were flying at the Edinburgh International Television Festival’s We Love TV Quiz, where a Great British Sewing Bee challenge resulted in a spectacularly tasteless range of T-shirt designs. Off Cuts counted no less than five featuring Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst,
Apparently #PREY is proving hugely popular in the Kuala Lumpur illegal download market. Flattered. Never fuelled a crime racket before.
Pointless co-host and walking encyclopedia Richard Osman (below right) was there to aid Endemol in its quest to repeat last year’s victory, but no dice. Outgoing Edinburgh TV Festival chair Elaine Bedell helped steer ITV Entertainment’s team to the top prize, leaving rival BBC Entertainment for dust in last place. Did the hosts – comedian Mark Watson and Countdown’s Rachel Riley (left) – mark the latter down for BBC Entertainment controller Katie Taylor’s particularly vocal heckling?
@nickmurftweets (Nick Murphy) Director, Prey
Next week, they are sending #bbcqt to Coventry. How ironic. How appropriate, some might say. @alstewitn (Alastair Stewart) Presenter, ITV News
On Monday, Roger Graef played to a packed house at Bafta for a celebration of 50 years of film-making and more than 160 documentaries – “like your own memorial service, without actually dying”, he said. BBC1 controller Charlotte Moore reeled off Graef ’s list of pioneering ‘firsts’, but struggled for any of his ‘lasts’… except, that is, for his garrulous reputation as the last to bed each night at Sheffield Doc/Fest.
Apparently the last 40 years of BBC2 comedy are an iPad copy that shows only ten seconds of great lost comedy shows. What a craptrunk. @quantick (David Quantick) Writer/broadcaster
David Sonnenthal Dealer, Four Rooms (Channel 4)
What’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told? I used to smoke as a teenager and would constantly tell my parents that it was someone on the bus next to me. What is your biggest regret in life? I wish I hadn’t cared so much about what people thought of me in the past. What TV channel would you most like to launch? A late-night radio station featuring all original blues music from the 1940s through to the 1980s. What do you do to relax? I like to keep fit – usually boxing. It keeps me cool. What is your greatest extravagance? Fine red wine. What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Always listen to other people carefully and think about what they’re saying or showing you – then make your decision. Never before. What TV shows would be in your fantasy schedule? Sopranos, Game Of Thrones, Breaking Bad [below], Mad Men. What are the best and worst things about working in TV or radio? Best: the challenge of putting yourself out there. Worst: watching yourself back on TV.
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AND FINALLY ...
ITV scores Pointless victory
@H_A_Robinson (Hilary Robinson) Radio producer
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£1m severance deal for former BBC director general Mark Byford was a particular flash point, with ex-Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons admitting that he discussed the payment, but did not approve it. Trust director Nicholas Kroll told MPs repeatedly that the governing body is only allowed to intervene on remuneration matters relating to the director general, meaning it could not prevent other payoffs. Neither did the Trust secretariat brief Lord Patten on the issue when
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