Mark Watson Addresses the Nation
Mark Watson as... Mark Watson
So naturally we cornered听Mark听by the lifts and asked him to write a blog about it!听听
At last I鈥檝e got five minutes to reflect on Wednesday night鈥檚 antics. When some people say 鈥�take five minutes to think鈥� they actually mean take a nice hour with a cup of tea. But unhappily thanks to my remarkable current schedule, it really is five minutes. Still, that鈥檚 just about long enough to conclude that it went reasonably well.
There were a couple of unforeseen setbacks, like听the bit where a microphone made the world鈥檚 worst noise for a while; and a not-quite-foreseen听moment when the public voted for the ending to the show which we had not predicted.
But that of course is precisely the fun of doing it live. As you鈥檒l be able to verify if you were there, I squawked and flailed in my usual manner and kept yelping 'THIS IS LIVE!!!!!' as my brain continually registered that thought. I was slightly less madcap than in the pilot though,听which I think went equally well overall.
Tim Key and Tom Basden... hard at work (ish)
The usual (but heartfelt) thanks go to everyone who made the trip to Broadcasting House. It would be a grim experience to do it live with anything less than a very enthusiastic audience. Plus those laughs fill the time. Although once again, it was a case of speeding up rather than trying to pad things out. (Actually, within the space of ten minutes we went from being worryingly behind schedule to worryingly ahead of it, but I鈥檒l spare you the details because my heart is starting to accelerate all over again just remembering it.)
I guess if we听had gone short I could always have听filled the silence with, say, some jokes. That is what my job鈥檚 meant to be. But it doesn鈥檛 always feel like听that when the nation鈥檚 Radio 4 listeners are poised by their radios and听you hear those听bleeps and it all begins. Still, it鈥檚 for precisely that sort of 鈥榓aargh!' moment that you take on a live show.
If you didn鈥檛 listen 鈥� I can only assume it's because you were kidnapped etc 鈥� you can still catch听the first episode on iPlayer. I won鈥檛 give away any spoilers but WATCH OUT FOR THE GLADIATOR.
SPOILER ALERT!
Tune in for more Mark Watson's Live Address to the Nation on Wednesdays at 11pm on Radio 4.
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