Dara Ó Briain review — the retelling of the search for his father is worth the wait
What a story Dara Ó Briain has to tell. What a shame it takes him well over an hour into his new touring show to get to it. Still, let's leave the pleasantly garbled filler for now and get to the good stuff.
It's been a couple of years since the Irish comic did perhaps his best show, which ended up addressing his belated hunt for his birth mother. You may have seen a trimmed version on the BBC — although nobody pipes up when he asks the audience at the cavernous Reading Hexagon if they saw it.
This show, Re:Creation, is the sequel. Or the final third is anyway. It took a long while for his birth mother to want to tell him
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
14 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Joe Swash in 'bizarre' confession about family life with Stacey Solomon
Former EastEnders star Joe Swash has lifted the lid on family life with wife Stacey Solomon and their six children. Joe Swash has opened up about his busy family life in his and Stacey Solomon's home, 'Pickle Cottage' in Essex and their six children Rex, six, Rose, three, and Belle, two. They also have Joe's son Harry, 17, and Stacey's sons Zachary, 17, and Leighton, 13. In an exclusive chat with OK!, the former I'm A Celeb winner spoke candidly about how losing his own dad at the age of 12 influenced the type of parent he's become. With their BBC show Stacey and Joe, which gives insight into their lives at Pickle Cottage, it's safe to say that the whole family are stars. But Joe admits that Stacey and himself don't dabble too much into the world of celebs when they're off the clock. In fact, he deemed this element of their family life 'bizarre'. He told OK: "To be honest, I think me and Stacey find it quite bizarre. We don't really flirt with the showbiz world – we very rarely go to openings and stuff. When me and Stacey are at work, we're at work – then when we're at home we just shut the door like any other family. "My dad was a London taxi driver and he'd come home for the evening and he'd shut the door and he wasn't a London taxi driver any more, he was just my dad. It's the same for me and Stacey and, although we both love what we do and feel so privileged to do it, when we come home our jobs are irrelevant." Although both parents work long and hard at their jobs in showbiz, they value an extended period of family time during the summer holidays. Joe explained: "We get so excited because we spend so much of the year with the kids going to school, the clubs, me and Stacey working, so we always take a chunk of time off for the summer holidays. It's our way of reconnecting as a family. Those holidays are really important to us." When asked if it was difficult to coordinate their calendars amid both of their busy schedules, the former EastEnders star said: "We do because what's the point in working all year if you can't get a chunk of time off together? We know once the summer's gone they're back to school, another school year older, so we want to make the most of it." He also spoke of happy childhood memories with his own dad, saying: "We didn't know how short our time was going to be with our dad, so those are really happy memories. We would get a caravan, hook it up to the car and drive it to a campsite in the South of France for four weeks. "It's the sort of thing that Stacey and I are trying to provide for our kids. It's what I hunger for and look back on with really fond memories." With so many kids in the house of different ages and personalities, Joe says it's important for them to make everybody in the family feel valued. He said: "The most important thing is making time for them, and their own hobbies and interests. We're at a point now where Rex loves his tennis, and Rose and Belle are into their dancing, and Zachary loves his cars – so they're all very different. We try to make sure they know that me and their mum know about their interests and no one is ever overlooked. "Then when they get time together – the older ones and the younger ones – they love it. It's amazing to see them all having fun, playing in the pool or whatever. We have moments where we're just like, 'Wow, look at this!' It's amazing." When asked if he was proud of the dad he had become, Joe confessed that he didn't think he was there quite yet. He admitted: I'm very much still in the midst of the kids growing up and they've all got different needs and are at different stages. I'm maybe too much in the moment to step back and think, 'Oh, that was good.' "I think in a couple of years' time, once the kids have all sort of found themselves, found their feet a bit more and established themselves a bit more, I'll be able to look back and think, 'Yeah, that was good.' "I'm learning all the time as a parent too and I don't think there's a real right or wrong way to do it. So maybe that's one for the future because I would love to look back at this time and feel proud." Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Lost Goon Show sketch to be performed for first time in 70 years
A lost Goon Show sketch written by revered comedy duo Ray Galton and Alan Simpson will be performed later for the first time in 70 years after being unearthed in a university skit was found among a trove of work by the pair, who created hit shows including Steptoe and Son and Hancock's Half Hour and are often credited with inventing the British on the BBC from 1951 to 1960, the Goon Show featured Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Usher, chair of the Goon Show Preservation Society, said the discovery of the sketch - found amongst a portion of the Galton and Simpson collection owned by the University of York - was "insanely exciting". Gary Brannan, keeper of archives and research collections at the University's Borthwick Institute for Archives, said: "Galton and Simpson invented modern British comedy as we know it, with their wit and humour leaving a profound and lasting imprint on the shows we watch today."Real-world or situation comedy simply didn't exist before them."He described The Case of the Missing Two Fingers sketch, which will be performed later at the York Festival of Ideas, as a Shakespearean parody, believed to have been first written by Galton and Simpson just before Hancock's Half Hour started and the pair became household names."They're just on the edge of their big career moment when here they are writing these Goon Shows, which to me I think are brilliant and are really very funny," Mr Brannan said. Milligan collaborated with other writers during the Goon Show's lifespan, but it was previously unknown that Galton and Simpson had written for the programme."It did feel exciting. [As an archivist] I often find it can be a life of disappointment," Mr Brannan said."I have a record of getting excited and then someone going 'no, we know all about this'."There was a knowledge that Peter [Sellers] had performed these sketches, but no-one knew who had written them and the assumption was naturally that they were Spike Milligan's."Mr Usher, from the Goon Show Preservation Society, will be performing the sketch after a talk by Mr Brannan."I was insanely excited by the idea that these hadn't been seen or performed since 1954," he said."On lots of levels it's ticking lots of boxes for me as a Goon fan, a Peter Sellers fan and somebody who just loves British comedy." In the spirit of the original programme, Mr Usher has created his own sound effects, and will be utilising his impression skills to bring the sketch to life."It features a good spread of Goon Show characters - I'm really looking forward to seeing how it visually translates to an audience, because that's going to be a nice challenge to get my teeth into," he University of York currently owns part of the full collection of Galton and Simpson's life's work, which includes rare early drafts, unseen scripts and institution is now looking to raise £30,000 to buy the rest of the loaned items, to avoid it being split up and sold Brannan's talk 'Innit Marvellous? The world of Hancock and Steptoe' will take place at the Ron Cooke Hub, Campus East, University of York, from 16:00 BST. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
EastEnders star suspended by BBC after disabled slur
Borthwick is said to have made the offensive remark on a phone video while the Strictly cast were at Blackpool Tower Ballroom last November. A spokesperson for the BBC said: 'This language is entirely unacceptable and in no way reflects the values or standards we hold and expect at the BBC. 'We have robust processes in place for this.' Warren Kirwan, media manager at disability equality charity Scope, said: 'Attitudes and language like this are never acceptable. 'It's not just ignorant and hurtful to disabled people, it has wider consequences. 'Negative attitudes hold disabled people back in all areas of life, from getting a job to shopping on the high street. 'Mr Borthwick needs to reflect on what he said, educate himself and do better. 'We hope he takes the opportunity to get to know the reality of disabled people's lives.' Borthwick won the Strictly 2023 Christmas special with Nancy Xu, and won the best actor gong at the Inside Soap Awards in September that year, with the show recognised with the best storyline for Loving And Losing Lola, about character Lola Pearce-Brown's brain tumour diagnosis. As part of the storyline, Borthwick, as Lola's husband Jay, and Emma Barton, as Honey Mitchell, ran the London Marathon in character in honour of Lola after her death. His suspension comes after Wynne Evans last week said he had been dropped by the BBC, following an apology saying that he used 'inappropriate language' during the launch of the Strictly Come Dancing tour. The Welsh opera singer, 53, known for the insurance advertisements, will no longer be a BBC Radio Wales presenter, he announced on May 30. Earlier this year, he apologised for language that he called 'inappropriate and unacceptable' after The Mail On Sunday reported that Evans was heard making a remark to a woman in a video filmed during the Strictly launch event. It is understood he was given a warning over the remark by tour producers. In January, he said: 'I've agreed with the BBC that I'll take some time out from my radio show and the Strictly Live tour, as well as my other public commitments, to prioritise my wellbeing. 'I am deeply sorry for the pain my inappropriate actions have caused, and plan to take this time for self-reflection. 'Apologies to those I won't get to see at the remaining performances and I'm grateful to my fellow tour gang for all the amazing support they have given me.' The singer, who performed in the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Of The Opera and also won 2023's Celebrity MasterChef, told The Sun on Sunday earlier this month that the Strictly comment was not sexual or directed at one of the female cast but was a nickname for fellow contestant Borthwick. He told the paper: 'I didn't see the statement, Old Spit-roast Boy was a nickname for Jamie Borthwick. I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a misogynist, I'm not any of these things.' Evans added: 'And so I went, 'I'm so sorry'. And that was taken as a formal apology, so the press team issued a statement. I didn't see it. 'When I read the apology within the context of the story as it had been written, I was absolutely horrified.' The Strictly tour saw contestants of the most recent series return to the dancefloor, including Love Island star Tasha Ghouri, actress Sarah Hadland, JLS singer JB Gill, The X Factor winner Shayne Ward and Gladiators star Montell Douglas. They toured the country alongside Strictly judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse, performing in cities including Birmingham, Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester and London.
