Listen "Ben Elton "
Episode Synopsis
Ben Elton was instrumental in the transformation of British comedy that took place in the 1980s. His scripts for The Young Ones and Blackadder were fresh, anarchic, rude, clever and hilarious. The people that worked alongside Ben - Richard Curtis, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders - to name but a few - are legendary. In this episode of Rosebud, Ben talks to Gyles about his parents, his father's family story - they had escaped persecution in Germany at the start of the war - and how he became interested in comedy as a young boy. He talks about the process of writing Blackadder, which was sometimes tortuous, and what it felt like to be slated by the critics when We Will Rock You first opened in the West End.Ben's autobiography, "What Have I Done?" is out now and available here. Rosebud has a new website www.rosebudpodcast.co.uk and a new Facebook group - just search "Rosebud Reflections". Enjoy this! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More episodes of the podcast Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth
Petula Clark
07/11/2025
Gyles's diary, episode 28
04/11/2025
Samuel West
31/10/2025
Sebastian Faulks
28/10/2025
Charles Spencer
24/10/2025
Gyles's diary, episode 27
21/10/2025
Sir David Hare
17/10/2025
Gyles's diary, episode 26
07/10/2025
Lee Child
03/10/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.