Penguin Books UK – 8th December, 2015

Neil Gaiman discusses his friendship with the late Terry Pratchett and how they worked together to create Good Omens, a story of the impending apocalypse. Neil reveals how they relied on an answerphone to write the book and how Terry helped him with writers block.

Richard E Grant invites authors, comedians, musicians, historians, actors, business leaders, philosophers and fellow actors to join him at the Penguin studios with five objects that inspired and shaped the writing of their latest book. The objects they bring to the conversation act as a diving board for Richard to delve deep into the author’s world to fully understand the origins of their story, the experiences that influenced its development and the vision for translating the story into an audiobook, excerpts of which are heard throughout the episode. Every podcast is unique as our authors shape the conversation through the objects they select to illustrate the creative process. The themes of the book provide the inspiration for wider cultural discussions.

To subscribe to the podcast, go to http://po.st/penguinpodsubscribe.

Penguin Books UK – 17th November, 2015

Elvis Costello brings his first guitar, musical mementoes from his Dad and a referee’s whistle to the Penguin Studio as he talks about his memoir ‘Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink’. Some of the topics of conversation include his many and varied musical collaborations; the importance of being able to perform live; the art of the lyricist and how his mother had an argument about a record player with Orson Welles.

Richard E Grant invites authors, comedians, musicians, historians, actors, business leaders, philosophers and fellow actors to join him at the Penguin studios with five objects that inspired and shaped the writing of their latest book. The objects they bring to the conversation act as a diving board for Richard to delve deep into the author’s world to fully understand the origins of their story, the experiences that influenced its development and the vision for translating the story into an audiobook, excerpts of which are heard throughout the episode. Every podcast is unique as our authors shape the conversation through the objects they select to illustrate the creative process. The themes of the book provide the inspiration for wider cultural discussions.

To subscribe to the podcast, go to http://po.st/penguinpodsubscribe.

Wired.co.uk – 2nd November, 2015

Treat mental health like physical health, campaign urges

by Cara McGoogan

Eleven former health secretaries and ministers have joined 222 public figures — including Kelly Holmes, Richard E. Grant and Alain De Botton — in a call for mental health to be treated equally with physical health in the UK.

The open letter to the government, entitled “Equality for Mental Health”, comes ahead of the spending review, and calls for an increase in funding for mental health care.

“As ministers make final decisions on the spending review, we urge them to treat mental health equally with physical health. We ask for the same right to timely access to evidence based treatment as those with physical health problems,” the letter argued.

According to the campaign, the average lifespan of those who have suffered from mental illnesses is 20 years less than the general population. It also claims that 75 percent of children and young people who suffer from mental health problems don’t have access to treatment, with only only 15 percent of all people who would benefit from treatment receiving it.

The signatories of the open letter identified funding as one of the key reasons behind the disparity between the number of people suffering and the number of people receiving treatment.

Mental illnesses account for 23 percent of all ill health in the UK, and are the largest single cause of disability, according to a 2008 report by World Health Organisation.

But only 5 percent of research funding is spent on mental health, according to the open letter. And less than 11 percent of the UK’s annual secondary care health budget goes to mental health, according to the government report “Achieving better access to mental health services by 2020”, which was issued earlier this year.

The same report estimated that the cost of treating mental health in the UK could double by 2025.

“We are strongly persuaded that sustained investment in mental health services will lead to significant returns for the exchequer, by reducing the burden on the NHS through the improved wellbeing of our citizens, and by helping people to stay in, or get back into work, and by helping people succeed in education,” the open letter read.

It estimated the current cost of mental illness could be as high as £100bn a year — when you total A&E visits, unemployment benefits, lost jobs, homelessness support and costs in the criminal justice system.

Better funding was one of ten areas of “concern” highlighted in the open letter, which was launched by Norman Lamb, former Liberal Democrat mental health minister and Alastair Campbell, former Labour government communications director.

Timely treatment through an introduction of maximum wait times, more hospital beds for mentally ill people, and better processes for gaining and retaining jobs for sufferers were also on the list.

The Sunday Express – 1st November, 2015

The Jekyll And Hyde star is quite composed about his role in the “show that killed the watershed”…

By David Stephenson

Richard E Grant plays Sir Roger Bulstrode, the head of the secret service department MIO

Who do you play?

Sir Roger Bulstrode, the head of the secret service department MIO (Military Intelligence Other) which, itself, is a secret. It deals with supernatural threats. While people are sleeping their nightmares are, in fact, a real threat. Bulstrode ensures when they wake up their dreams remain nightmares, not reality. He is also a megalomaniac and power crazy.

Some say the stories are too scary. What do you think?

It’s in the British DNA. In spite of the darkness there’s this filigree of humour running through that makes Jekyll And Hyde buoyant and implausibly plausible.

Everyone seems to have two sides in the series. Is this true in life?

We all have a thin veneer of civilisation. There’s a list of people I don’t like but equally there are people I absolutely love and adore but that’s just the nature of being a human.

You have to learn to be unselfish, compassionate and kind. As for Bulstrode, he’s just a real odd cove. He dresses fairly extravagantly and is a collector of all sorts of peculiar things in bowls. Monstrous curiosities.

The MIO It deals with supernatural threats

Bulstrode himself has got quite a look going on…

All the men have one costume so I am in a three-piece tweed suit. Then I have this cashmere camel coat with leather gloves, tan hat and a fake fur collar and that’s the costume he wears throughout.

He also has a very big desk to sit behind. Bulstrode doesn’t stand up for many people. There’s a large Art Deco brass sun motif behind his desk so he looks like he’s sitting on his own self-appointed throne.

This man has a very large ego.

What about the 1930s setting?

You can shamelessly crib anything Orson Welles did in Citizen Kane. Low angles, high angles and with a nod to the classic movie “The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari” and those expressionist films of the 1920s. Going in at odd angles is justified.

And because Art Deco was so curvy and angular by turn, it fits that style. People smoked as well so you can pump smoke into every scene. That immediately gives it a period atmosphere.

And the monsters?

There are giants, vampires and a man whose face is made of wax that you can physically mould.

A treasure trove of monsters, cyclops from Greek mythology. And the premise is that all of them have always been with us. The magic happens inside the heads of the writer, Charlie Higson, computer graphic artists and animators.

Have you ever had an experience you cannot explain?

No. I am a Darwinian rationalist. I believe in the here and the now. You have one go in life and that’s it.

Jekyll & Hyde, ITV, tonight, 6.30pm

Source unknown – 1995

Here is an interview with REG (in a rather noisy pub) from way back in 1995. In it REG talks about ‘Withnail And I’, as well as his latest ventures ‘Jack And Sarah’ and his book ‘With Nails’. I’m unsure of the original source, but this was found on YouTube. Click on the video below to view.