Latest news with #CharlesCollingwood
Telegraph
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Britain's diplomats have a new challenge: hiding their globes from Trump
Cartography news. The Government has ruled on what to call the Gulf of Mexico. And Donald Trump – who has renamed it the Gulf of America – won't be happy. Foreign Office minister Martin Wrigley told MPs that the Government 'will continue to follow the guidance of the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names who advise His Majesty's Government on the policies and procedures for the representation of geographical names for places and features outside of the UK'. And the committee has ruled that ' this body of water is Gulf of Mexico '. Better hide the globes when the President comes over for his state visit. Down on the farm Life on The Archers can be cut-throat, says Charles Collingwood, who is marking 50 years playing the ageing lothario Brian Aldridge on the Radio 4 soap. He recalls getting into a BBC lift with Jack Holloway, who played Ralph Bellamy moments after Holloway was told that his character was being written out of the programme in 1980. 'When we got to the third floor where the bar was, he [Holloway] shot off to drown his sorrows,' Collingwood says. 'I went to join The Archers cast and said, 'I've just got in the lift with Jack Holloway – he says he's been written out of the programme?' They said, 'Yes, you've bought his farm!'' Bremner dismounts The pressures of financing an equestrian career has become unsustainable for Rory Bremner and his daughter Lila, 21, an accomplished showjumper. 'It's the sheer cost of it all,' the TV impressionist told me at the Chelsea Flower Show. 'There is sponsorship but it is a very competitive world. To sustain it, I compare it to highwayman Dick Turpin – he had a phrase: 'your money or your life?' The horses get more and more expensive. You need hundreds of thousands. So she's gone to London to do a personal assistant's course and have some fun London days, like I did as a young man.' And why not? Trump's present Gordon Brown told how British prime ministers traditionally give presents to incoming US presidents at the John Smith Memorial Lecture this week. 'David Cameron gave Barack Obama a table tennis table. Rishi Sunak gave Joe Biden a Barbour jacket. Theresa May gave Donald Trump a hamper from Chequers. Boris Johnson gave some poetry,' Brown said. 'Keir Starmer has had to give gifts to the two presidents. He gave a gift to Joe Biden of an Arsenal jersey with 46 on it to denote the 46th president of the United States. I don't know if Joe Biden knew too much about Arsenal. And of course, he has already given a gift and sent it to Washington, to Donald Trump: It's Peter Mandelson.' Perhaps Gordon misses Peter? Rodney's Brexit reset The European Commission helpfully distributed photos of Sir Keir Starmer unveiling the Brexit Reset deal on Monday alongside European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Council of Europe president Antonio Costa. The only problem was that while the other leaders were correctly captioned, the PM was described as 'Rodney Starmer'. Rodney is of course the PM's middle name. But could there be an Only Fools and Horses fan working for the Eurocrats? As Delboy said: 'This time next year, we'll be millionaires!' Beaverbrook's bashes are back Jonathan Aitken, 82, ex-Conservative minister and now a prison chaplain, has started a new political supper club called the Beaverbrook Forum to re-create the parties thrown by his uncle, Lord Beaverbrook, who owned the Daily Express and served in Churchill's wartime government. Political veterans Lord Gummer and Diane Abbott, as well as Robert Jenrick's wife Michal, dined on champagne and shepherd's pie as Aitken recalled how 'Bollinger Bolsheviks' such as Nye Bevan used to love Beaverbrook's parties. The future Labour leader Michael Foot was apparently so spoiled by Beaverbrook that he was allowed to stay for free in a house in Beaverbrook's garden. Sir Keir's Starmer's freebies from Lord Alli look like small beer. O'Flynn's fiscal legacy RIP the much-missed Patrick O'Flynn, 59, the former Ukip MEP, as well as Daily Telegraph and GB News commentator, who died this week. One of his most memorable policies as Ukip's economic spokesman was for a tax on luxury goods like designer shoes, and handbags to win over former Labour voters. O'Flynn's so-called 'WAG tax' was unveiled at Ukip's conference in September 2014 and axed by leader Nigel Farage two days later, after an outcry. Farage declared: 'It was a discussion point yesterday, it isn't going to happen.' Perhaps with Farage's Reform leading the polls, the WAG tax's time will come again?
The Guardian
08-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Archers star Charles Collingwood: ‘The last lie I told? Darling, marvellous isn't the word'
Born in Canada, Charles Collingwood, 81, studied at Rada. He began his career in repertory theatre and moved into children's television. He later worked on the 90s quizshow Telly Addicts and in Inspector Morse and Midsomer Murders. He is best known for playing Brian Aldridge in BBC Radio 4 drama The Archers, and this year celebrates 50 years in the role. His wife, Judy Bennett, played Shula Hebden Lloyd in The Archers. They live in Hampshire. When were you happiest? My childhood. I was an only child, happy and secure, and there was always plenty of time to play cricket. What is your greatest fear? Heights. What is your earliest memory? Being told off at my nursery school for writing 'bosom' in the condensation on the bus window. To my horror, the bus company had reported me. Which living person do you most admire and why? Freddie Flintoff. He played cricket in the best spirit and in his series Field of Dreams, you could see the boys hanging on his every word. He's a special guy. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? I talk too much. What is the trait you most deplore in others? Not listening to me. Aside from property, what's the most expensive thing you've ever bought? My beautiful silver Jaguar XKR soft-top. What is your most treasured possession? A clock won by a family member in 1865 in a shooting competition. Describe yourself in three words Glass half full. What would your superpower be? Breaking all batting records for England. What do you most dislike about your appearance? Not having matinee idol hair. Who would play you in the film of your life? Hugh Grant. Who is your celebrity crush? Joan Collins. What is the worst thing anyone's ever said to you? In an audition at the Royal Court, this man called out, 'Were you trained?' Would you choose fame or anonymity? Fame. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion What was the last lie that you told? 'Darling, marvellous isn't the word' – in someone's dressing room when I've not thought much of their performance. What is your guiltiest pleasure? Alcohol. To whom would you most like to say sorry and why? My first wife – we were too young. What is the worst job you've done? Standing outside a pub in Acton on a freezing February day in a threadbare overcoat doing market research. If not yourself, who would you most like to be? The king. When did you last cry, and why? Watching the Festival of Remembrance last autumn. What single thing would improve the quality of your life? If you'd asked me last year, I would have said a knee replacement. Would you rather have more sex, money or fame? Yes to all. How would you like to be remembered? As a man who tried his best to entertain. What happens when we die? When my mother died in my arms, I feel I witnessed her spirit leaving her body, so let's just wait and see.
