Rob Brydon

Presenter0:00

Hello, I'm Kirsty Young. Thank you for downloading this podcast of Desert Island Discs from BBC Radio 4. For rights reasons the music choices are shorter than in the radio broadcast.

Presenter0:10

For more information about the programme, please visit bbc.co.uk/slash radio four.

Presenter0:34

My castaway this week is the comedian and actor Rob Bryden.

Presenter0:39

A decade ago he was enjoying a lucrative but unfulfilling career as a voiceover artist, his ringing tones espousing the charms of pot noodle, toilet duck, and tango, among many, many other products.

Presenter0:51

But after what he admits was a rather wiggly road, it was first Marion and Jeff, and then Gavin and Stacy, that made him a household name. It seems his speciality in a cynical age, bringing to life characters without guile or cunning, eternal optimists, who think the best of every one around them.

Presenter1:09

It may just be an act, of course, and I don't know how near the truth we'll get to day. I usually don't give a whole lot away in interviews, he says. I could go into all sorts of things, but

Presenter1:18

I don't want the drama. I avoid it. Um for someone who wants to avoid drama then, uh Rob Bryden, I am astonished to learn that the birth of your last child started with you playing golf with Ronnie Corbett. In the end of the at the end of the day you were catching Tom in your arms in the sitting room.

Rob Brydon1:33

Yes, that's uh true. So he came nine days early. It was my wife's first child, my fourth. And I assumed the first child he'd be late. So I was very, very relaxed, you know, thinking, Well, is there no way he's gonna be early So I'd arranged this day and and off I went and uh Ronny and I were on the golf course and Claire phoned up and she said she was very sweet, she said, Have you finished?

Rob Brydon2:03

And I said, Well, more or less, yeah and uh she said, I I think it's happening. Ronnie said uh he said, All right, we better better get you home So this is all true got into the golf buggy and he sped across the fairways and I ran into my car wearing my golf shoes and um drove home through the rush hour, took ages to get home and every time I'd phone

Rob Brydon2:31

You know Claire will be going.

Rob Brydon2:34

Out on the phone, it was pretty hairy and uh

Rob Brydon2:37

got back to the house when the uh midwife came to the house, examined her, and she was too far gone. So it was decided that we'd have a home birth, and within about three or four hours he was he was born.

Rob Brydon2:56

And that was when he decided, I think, that he wouldn't sleep for for the next eighteen months.

Presenter3:00

The whole Ronnie Corbett golf buggy traffic jam thing, I mean, it sounds like a 1970s sitcom waiting to happen. Thank you very much.

Rob Brydon3:06

Thank you very much.

Presenter3:07

It's it's a g I mean, you you've said there that you do talk about it on on stage and indeed you use it for uh as part of this routine that is much appreciated by the audience. What what about Claire? How does she feel about you?

Rob Brydon3:19

She doesn't mind, she's cool about it, you know. I mean, she used to work in T V, so she knows the sacrifices that have to be made, you know.

Presenter3:27

Uh you weren't tempted to call him Ronnie.

Rob Brydon3:28

Uh no, no, no, no.

Presenter3:30

And is Tom after Tom Jones? No.

Rob Brydon3:32

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. See I'm a big fan of of Tom Jones and and got to work with him with the Comet Relief single and I think he's very aware that I'm a big fan, you know. And I remember when I sorta told him that we'd called Tom Tom, I may have detected a slight flicker of oh God.

Rob Brydon3:50

That much of a fan. Yeah, it's a bit worrying.

Presenter3:53

Now tell us about the track we're starting with today.

Rob Brydon3:56

Uh well, this is a song by Jack Johnson, and this reminds me of a time I spent in Australia uh shooting a show called Supernova. So this brings back so many happy memories of Sydney. It's a lovely, warm song. Uh we had it at our wedding and it makes me smile.

Speaker 44:14

With only two, just me and you, not so many things we got to do.

Speaker 44:19

But places we got to be will sit beneath the mango tree now

Speaker 44:25

Yeah, it's always better when we're together

Speaker 44:30

We're somewhere in between together

Speaker 44:33

Well, it's always better when we're together

Speaker 44:38

Yeah, it's always better when we're together

Presenter4:44

Jack Johnson and Better Together. I didn't really even acknowledge that astonishing Ronnie Corbett impersonation that you just slipped in there. You are very, very good at Ronnie Corbett. Of course, you I mean, voices is that's part of what you do as a comedian when you're up on stage. Yes. Find it easy?

Rob Brydon4:57

Yeah

Rob Brydon4:59

Yes.

Rob Brydon5:00

Thank God. I only do ones that sort of come naturally or or who I like. And and Ronnie Corbett, you know, is uh is just it's a wonderful voice. When I was in the West End doing my live show last year,

Presenter5:01

Fine.

Rob Brydon5:14

He and Anne, his wife, came, and I do a little bit where I'm where I'm impersonating him.

Rob Brydon5:21

And as I was doing it, he got up from his seat.

Rob Brydon5:24

and walked down the aisle to the stage, and I thought, you know, dear, what what's he going to do now? And he took off his glasses and gave them to me.

Rob Brydon5:32

And the audience went bananas, and I carried on doing it wearing bronze glasses.

Presenter5:38

Fabulous. And and does he give you I mean, do people give you tips? You know, Tom Jones also you've mentioned, you did the single, went to number one in fact, the single with Tom Jones. Do do do they ever say to you, I don't think you've quite got it right?

Rob Brydon5:44

Yeah.

Rob Brydon5:48

No, no. Tom is very gracious about it. I mean, I don't know what he says when I'm not there. Oh, he's bloody doing it again, wasn't he? Um but to my face he's very nice about it. I remember him saying when we were in Las Vegas doing the video, he's going, Oh, well he's you know, he he's got the cough, he's got knockdown, you know. And I like discovering those. I do like finding a little key into someone's voice, you know.

Presenter6:12

What about the key to characters then? It's Uncle Bryn from Barry Island that you are best known for. Gavin and Stacy, three series of that. Hugely well received. What was the key to Uncle Bryn? Because he is this sort of.

Rob Brydon6:18

Yeah.

Presenter6:23

Innocent, who in spite of All indications to the contrary retains a great enthusiasm for life.

Rob Brydon6:30

I'd love to, you know, siphon off as much of the credit as I can, but really.

Presenter6:34

Now's your chance.

Rob Brydon6:35

Alright, uh here we go.

Rob Brydon6:37

Which and it was written

Presenter6:39

For you.

Rob Brydon6:41

But yeah.

Presenter6:41

The part was written.

Rob Brydon6:42

Well, with me in mind, yes. So Ruth Jones.

Presenter6:42

Yeah.

Rob Brydon6:45

He's one of my oldest friends. We were at school together, did school musicals together. I've known her since I was about fifteen. I don't have a sister, you know, but she's I suppose the closest I have in terms of familiarity and stuff, you know. James Corden I've known for about eight or nine years. What I like about Bryn and what I tried to bring out of him in the in the second and third series was this kind of irritable side to him and how he reacts under stress, which is something I've always been interested in. When we did Human Remains, there was a character in that, his name is Les. He said, I do react badly to stress, you know, when when the walls are closing in, you know, and it seems there's no answer, that is when I will crack.

Rob Brydon7:22

Which I thought dare I say I thought was hilarious because uh I love people saying, you know, when the walls are closing in and that is when I'll be up my best. He said, No, that is when I will crack And I like that. Now, with Bryn, he uh he gets he can get very anxious. I find that very enjoyable to play.

Presenter7:40

One of the surprises of of Gavin and Stacey, and it was a bit of a back door hit really, wasn't it? Yes. And it was its Welshness that was part of its surprise because I mean, I do I can't think of another comedy series that really has has shown you

Rob Brydon7:44

But yeah.

Rob Brydon7:47

Yeah.

Rob Brydon7:52

Has shown you that.

Presenter7:53

Hills is funny.

Rob Brydon7:54

It's a very strange thing. The

Rob Brydon7:57

Sort of under-representation of Wales in the media, if we put Hugh Edwards to one side, and I think we should. There's something about Wales where like a bit of a mystery. And I used to jokingly say that Gavin and Stacey had presented a palatable version of Wales, which is not to say that it isn't accurate. I think it's strikingly accurate, inasmuch as Bryn is a hugely recognisable character to me. Nessa is so much a type of Welsh girl that I can identify with, as is Stacey, as is Gwen, as is Dave Coaches. So many of those characters ring true. But they've not been seen before.

Presenter8:40

We're gonna have some more music for now. Disc number two is.

Rob Brydon8:43

Well, Elvis. Now, see I like Elvis.

Presenter8:46

Can you do, Elvis?

Rob Brydon8:47

Uh

Presenter8:49

I'm sorry, it's annoying I know, but you have a particular

Rob Brydon8:50

But you have a particular skill. Well, I like to do a very old Elvis. I like to do a very medicated Elvis. So I kind of go.

Rob Brydon8:59

I learn I just like to every every dream I ever dreamed has come true a hundred times. I I learned very early in life, without a song the road would never end. Wi without a song a m um my man ain't got a friend without a song. So I keep singing a song.

Presenter9:15

I'm so glad I asked. Anyway, why have you chosen this Alvis track in particular?

Rob Brydon9:18

Well, normally I'd choose a 70s Elvis song.

Rob Brydon9:22

because that's really the period I like the most. But I was worried that my choices had a slight air of oral Moggadon to them. So I thought instead I'd choose something with a bit more spirit to it, which I think on a desert island would be welcome.

Speaker 49:39

Well in this glory.

Speaker 49:43

Girl, you sure look good to me.

Speaker 49:49

Why please don't excite me, baby.

Speaker 49:52

I know it can't be me

Speaker 49:57

I also give you all of my money Yeah, but you just want to read me right

Speaker 410:06

You like to bowl ever more?

Presenter10:09

Elvis Presley and Lordy Miss Claudie, you you sing.

Presenter10:13

Yes. You sing on stage, you seem to enjoy it.

Rob Brydon10:15

I love it. Any opportunity to do it?

Presenter10:16

Top of a hat.

Rob Brydon10:18

Any weddings, my own included, I will sing.

Presenter10:21

What did you sing at your wedding?

Rob Brydon10:23

Oh, um great balls of fire.

Rob Brydon10:27

And um

Presenter10:28

It's not the most roma romantic song to sweep her off her feet with.

Rob Brydon10:31

Well, no, but technically accurate, as she was soon to discover. Um yeah, I sang that oh, I can't remember, but but but that, certainly, yeah.

Presenter10:39

And so your early days were in Port Talbot, which is a highly was a highly industrial part of Wales. What are your strongest memories from being a very little boy?

Rob Brydon10:41

Which is a

Rob Brydon10:44

Yeah.

Rob Brydon10:49

Well, we lived in Baglan, which is very green in its own way, although it had

Rob Brydon10:57

BP, which at that time is not there now, was Europe's biggest petrochemical plant and it had the steelworks. But if you go inland, you've got these fantastic mountains, and if you just go a little bit further along the coast, you're at the Gower, which is, you know, absolutely breathtaking.

Presenter11:17

And the performing started very early. I've got a list here: Guys and Dolls, Carousel, Westside Story, big musical numbers at school. You play did you play the lead in all of them?

Rob Brydon11:25

I think you'll find a dit, Christy, yes.

Presenter11:27

To great critical acclaim?

Rob Brydon11:28

a universal acclaim, not like it is now, you know, where you can't please everyone. In those days you could please everyone. Uh certainly the uh Porthcall Gazette.

Presenter11:37

And and at school then you weren't I mean I I would gather from your lack of paper certificates that you weren't necessarily applying yourself in other areas.

Rob Brydon11:46

a dearth of of paper certificates.

Presenter11:49

What did you get?

Rob Brydon11:49

I was curiously detached. What did I get? Told off. I I got two O levels on my first go, right, which is which is appalling, you know. And then I I managed to ratch that up to five uh'cause I had to have five to get a grant to go to drama school.

Presenter11:49

Yeah.

Presenter12:05

And your mum, who subsequently became the school teacher, how was she with that?

Rob Brydon12:09

Great wealth. Here's the thing

Rob Brydon12:11

They were always great. They were I mean, they must have been concerned. No, I've I've seen I've spoken to mum and dad about this, and they they always say, which is so sweet.

Rob Brydon12:21

I'm filling up now, Guersty.

Rob Brydon12:23

that they always thought I had, you know, I had a talent.

Presenter12:26

And when you went on on stage as a as a

Presenter12:29

Teenager and it's particularly interesting, I think, for a teenage boy.

Presenter12:33

to do that because you know teenage boys are not known for wanting to I was gonna say expose themselves. You know what I'm saying? They're sort of public declarations of their intent. There there you are, the young teenage boy. What how did it feel when you were in the middle of the morning?

Rob Brydon12:45

But you have to remember where I come from. I come from Portalbott, and our heroes are Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins. We had a wonderful this is at Porthcall Comprehensive now, where I went when I was about 14. The drama teacher there, Roger Burnell, is still a friend of mine now, and he just inspired you. He was so inspirational.

Presenter13:06

When you walked on stage then, can you recall the feeling?

Rob Brydon13:10

Just felt like I was at home, you know, this is what I do, this feels right. It's because, you know, when I was in classes, I didn't really have a clue. I didn't I was detached, just felt like this is where I should be.

Presenter13:23

Let's have some music then. We're on disc three now, Rob.

Rob Brydon13:26

Well, Bruce Springsteen, who I adore, is such a great artist. It's an obvious choice, but it would be very galvanizing on a desert island born to run.

Speaker 413:36

Sprung from cages on highway nine, throne-wheel human checking and stepping out over the line.

Speaker 413:45

Oh maybe this town rips the bones from your back. It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap. We gotta get up while we're young.

Speaker 413:55

Cause dreads like us, baby, we were forced to run.

Presenter14:07

That was Bruce Springsteen and Born to Run. And you were saying, Rob Bryden, that there's something about that music, indeed in y in your sort of what it be your late teenage years, that connected with you.

Rob Brydon14:16

There was something about blue collar America. You know, I was living in Portalbott, you know, it's it's a steel town, it's industrialized. But then when you go inland as well, away from the industry, there was something oddly

Rob Brydon14:29

kind of almost like the Deep South in a way. It always used to remind me of the Dukes of Hazard, you know, when when when we would drive down to West Wales and you'd be going through lanes and things. So I always gravitated towards American cultural influences.

Presenter14:43

Were you always very, very confident?

Rob Brydon14:46

I got very, very bad acne as a teenager. I mean, you know, really bad. So that does affect your confidence. But in a sort of way, when it came to girls, I could always talk to them and be funny with them and make them laugh, but I never have the confidence to kind of move in for the kiss. Also, I didn't drink. You see, I didn't drink as a teenager. So. Why not? Do you know? Again, I get asked this and I don't know the answer. I didn't like the taste. I suppose it's got to be the first thing. So when boys would pass around, I'd go, oh, have some of that. I'd go, ugh.

Rob Brydon15:21

as I think most kids do, but they get beyond that.

Presenter15:24

They especially get beyond it if they're lacking in a bit of confidence in the opposite sex.

Rob Brydon15:27

Yeah, opposite sexuality. I didn't equate the leap that it would make, that if I did have that social relaxant, it would help.

Presenter15:35

Yeah.

Rob Brydon15:35

in my campaign towards meeting the opposite sex.

Presenter15:38

Right, so first girlfriend was when?

Rob Brydon15:40

Well, not until I got to drama college.

Presenter15:41

But

Rob Brydon15:42

Yeah.

Rob Brydon15:43

Her family are very proud.

Presenter15:46

So is it true, Rob Bryden, that uh one of your relatives was a trapeze artist?

Rob Brydon15:51

Well, see, my dad was a s a salesman. Yes, I was wondering. So that's, you see, that is this performance in that.

Presenter15:54

Yeah, so that you see that

Rob Brydon15:59

Dad has always been funny, you know, but apparently there was a um trapeze artist.

Rob Brydon16:07

Almost makes you want to do that programme, doesn't it? And actually find out for real that uh

Presenter16:10

Well, you did do a programme that was similar. You did Rob Bryden's, was it Identity Crisis? where you went back to Wales.

Rob Brydon16:14

And

Rob Brydon16:16

Yeah.

Presenter16:16

And you had, by all accounts, a sort of resistance to your Welshness, a a slight aggression towards Welshness.

Rob Brydon16:21

Yeah.

Rob Brydon16:23

Yes Welsh. It was strange. It was odd. I'd lived out of Wales for about twenty odd years. I could only see the very oh, the sort of oh the negatives, oh, dear, dear, that sort of side.

Rob Brydon16:37

And

Rob Brydon16:39

I'd become very disenchanted.

Presenter16:41

I'm wondering if it was anything to do with the beginning of I mean, there you were, this very promising teenager who got all the lead parts and, as you say, very well received by the local press. Your parents laid off you in terms of any academic achievement because they knew that here they had a very talented boy who was going to make his his life and maybe his fortune in entertainment.

Presenter16:58

And then you got stuck in a little sort of cul-de-sac.

Rob Brydon17:01

PS

Presenter17:02

Tell me what happened.

Rob Brydon17:03

Well, I was at drama college and in the second year of drama college the BBC, uh Radio Wales, they got to know me and I would do voices for them and then out of the blue they offered me a radio show.

Presenter17:15

And this is whilst you're still at the age, right?

Rob Brydon17:16

But yeah, so I left early.

Rob Brydon17:19

and ended up doing about six years of radio and television in Wales, uh being a DJ. Then I was working on the shopping channel for Sky, so I was driving up and down to London. And when you're doing that, understandably casting directors don't want to know, you know.

Rob Brydon17:38

I mean, I distinctly remember watching the British Comedy Awards.

Rob Brydon17:42

in Cardiff, and it appearing to be another planet.

Rob Brydon17:46

And I didn't see how I could ever possibly be a part of that.

Presenter17:51

Let's have some more well, it's not music now. Let me tell me about disc number four.

Rob Brydon17:53

I mean

Rob Brydon17:55

This is just one of my favourite sketches. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, who I grew up loving.

Rob Brydon17:59

And this is a sketch that I'd have because it reminds me of my childhood. It was a big hit in our house. And my dad and I still use these phrases. I can't talk now, he's here. I love you too.

Speaker 118:12

The links go through to you direct via admin, not via us. Read the Orange Handbook, love.

Speaker 118:20

Uh

Speaker 418:20

Alan, I appreciate your position, of course, but it's not really our pigeon. No, well I'll get onto it for you and get back to you on blue, okay? No, I can't really talk'cause he's he's here.

Speaker 118:34

Yes, I I love you too.

Presenter18:38

That was Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and Lent. And you say you and your dad still use phrases from that. Does your dad come and watch you do w when you're doing stand-up and steering? Yeah.

Rob Brydon18:42

Yeah, yeah.

Rob Brydon18:45

Yes, yeah, he's my biggest fan. Yeah, yeah. To the point where other members of the family

Presenter18:48

Yeah.

Rob Brydon18:52

You know, say don't laugh quite so loudly, please. I can hear him, I can always hear him in the crowd.

Presenter18:58

So, the drive that got you out of this little cul-de-sac that your career was in, did you have an agent and you had a lot of money?

Rob Brydon19:04

Yeah, but tiddly ones, I hope they don't mind me saying, you know, they didn't have any influence or anything, you know.

Presenter19:10

And at this period in your life you would also be responsible for a family, would you? Did you have kids by that point?

Rob Brydon19:13

Did you have kids by that point? Yes. First child. Yeah, I was doing the odd little acting thing. I'm very bad in a Richard Gere film called First Night. I'm in the first ten minutes of that playing First Villager. It's First Everything. You were also in... Was it Lockstock and Two Smoking Barrels? I was, yeah. And when it came out, I got mentioned in Empire Magazine, which again, a bit like the Comedy Awards, it was another world. And I didn't think I'd ever be mentioned in there. And I can remember reading it and almost doing a little dance and saying, oh, wow. And thinking, well, I must be able to use this.

Rob Brydon19:49

for some, you know, to to further things. So what I did was I wrote about four characters, I made a video cassette, using the money I was earning through voiceovers, of these characters to send out, and the last character was Keith Barrett.

Rob Brydon20:03

And that changed everything.

Presenter20:05

So that was Marion and Jeff, and Keith Barrett. For anybody who saw us at the time.

Rob Brydon20:06

And yes.

Presenter20:10

It was a sparkling moment in television. It was the kind of show, it was just a little ten minutes, of this man who was driving a mini-cab, who was going through a very apparently painful divorce. We never saw any of the other cast of characters involved, and he was speaking to a fixed camera on the dashboard about his life. And it did the thing that brilliant comedy does, which is at one moment you were laughing with tears rolling down your face, and at the next moment you just had tears rolling down your face, because all human life was there in that cab.

Presenter20:42

Had you written it?

Rob Brydon20:43

Well, yeah, I wrote it with Hugo Blick. Now, Hugo had been at college with me. I used to carry it around with me in this VHS, a copy of it, in case I were to bump into someone of influence, you know. And I was at the BBC one day because for a while I was the man who did and with Match of the Day at ten that Saturday night on BBC One. I used to do that. And I'd just been in there doing that and I was walking through the corridors of of T V Center, which is a huge building, and I remember thinking to myself, ooh. If I bumped into Hugo now, that'll be good and literally as I thought that, he walked round the corner.

Rob Brydon21:19

And we went and had a drink and I said, Have a look at this and he phoned and he said, I've watched it, I love the last character, come in and let's talk.

Rob Brydon21:27

And that began what became Marion and Jeff.

Presenter21:31

Next piece of music.

Rob Brydon21:33

Well, this is Bryn Teravo. I'm sort of killing two birds with one stone here because it's from Sweeney Todd and I love Sondheim.

Rob Brydon21:41

If I ever did a musical that's really what I'd like to do.

Presenter21:44

Would you like to do a music climb? Yeah, I mean

Rob Brydon21:45

Yeah, I mean not the child catcher and chitty bang bang, but you know, I I'd like to do a a decent one. And I went to see Bryn doing this in a a concert performance at the Royal Festival Hall, and I took my eldest daughter

Rob Brydon21:59

and I was on the edge of my seat. The man i is just blessed with the number one, his voice, and charisma and I was clapping so loudly my daughter had to go, Dad, Dad, please, come on, please attracting attention.

Speaker 422:14

Hark pretty wind.

Speaker 422:17

Let them be raised.

Speaker 422:20

How they make a man sing proof of heaven as you're living pretty women, yes, pretty women, here's to pretty women.

Presenter22:39

Grim Tervil singing Pretty Women from Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. So 2000 then, let's bring it a little more up to date was when it all happened for you. Because you stopped being the man with his nose pressed against the window of the British entertainment establishment and you actually went inside and started to enjoy it. Marion and Jeff, as we've said, was the thing that really got you noticed. And you developed a professional relationship with Steve Coogan because it was his company that produced Marion and Jeff.

Speaker 122:56

Yeah.

Speaker 122:59

Yeah.

Rob Brydon23:00

And

Rob Brydon23:06

And I was, you know, uh I I I can't overstate how much of a fan of Steve's I was and am.

Presenter23:15

Wars was the yeah, I was gonna pick you up.

Rob Brydon23:16

Oh no, no, and still am. I've just been working with him now. He's you know, I I love him.

Presenter23:20

It must have come, apart from th the idea that you were going to fulfil yourself professionally and creatively, at a very personal level, just to be surrounded by people like you.

Rob Brydon23:30

Very comfortable.

Presenter23:31

Very comfortable.

Presenter23:33

And a huge one Lee?

Rob Brydon23:34

Yes, all those things. I really can't overstate it was a very, very tumultuous period. Uh I started winning awards for two shows, for for uh Marion and Jeff, but also for Human Remains.

Presenter23:46

Which was well, to characterise it as dysfunctional couples wouldn't really even give people a glimpse. So it was about um well, a very dark series of I can't remember how many

Rob Brydon23:49

Yeah.

Rob Brydon23:56

I can't remember how many of you. I did it with Julia Davis, and it's just as important in my story as Marion and Jeff was. It was happening at the same time.

Presenter24:05

To give people a glimpse of the sort of material it was, I mean, there are particularly a couple, a couple of swingers. Now, you might think, well, that's you know, there we are, we've sort of seen that in comedy before. But the sting in the tail, and it is scorpion-like when it hits you, is that there's

Presenter24:20

Uh a sister living with them who's in a coma in the next room.

Rob Brydon24:23

Yeah.

Rob Brydon24:24

These are two characters called Gordon and Sheila. How we created that, and I'm quite proud of it, it was all through improvisation, and we sat there and I think I said

Rob Brydon24:35

I said, um I said, Go, I mean your sister now, she's been with us a long time, isn't she? And I think Julius said seven years, yeah, seven years, yeah. And then I said, But she doesn't judge she doesn't judge, does she? And then Julius said, No, that's the beauty of a coma.

Rob Brydon24:50

And we didn't know what it was going to be. So, you imagine how exciting working like that is with someone who's on the same wavelength as you, you know?

Presenter24:57

Noxious. You said

Rob Brydon24:58

Yeah.

Presenter24:58

It was a tumultuous time.

Rob Brydon24:59

Hmm.

Presenter25:01

What can you tell me about the tumult?

Rob Brydon25:03

Well, uh my first marriage, you know, uh ended. So it was a very, very to refer you back to the word I used earlier, and to lighten the moment with a humorous voice, Kirsty uh a tumultuous time.

Presenter25:20

And thrown into such relief because, at the same time, you're fulfilling what you're doing.

Rob Brydon25:23

Yeah, because on the one hand you're being told you're wonderful, but you don't feel wonderful'cause you feel like you're failing. So, yeah, it was uh yeah.

Presenter25:26

Yeah.

Presenter25:29

Yeah.

Presenter25:31

Let's have some more music then, what have we got?

Rob Brydon25:33

Well, this is the theme music from Human Remains because it's so evocative of that time in my life. It's John Martin.

Speaker 425:42

I don't wanna know.

Speaker 425:47

Only wanna know about love I don't wanna know

Speaker 425:53

Oh bye.

Speaker 425:55

No.

Speaker 425:56

Only wanna know about Sometimes it gets so hard to lose

Speaker 426:05

I permit to use my hands

Presenter26:08

And all around

Speaker 426:09

Uh

Presenter26:09

Yeah.

Presenter26:11

That was John Martin and don't want to know. I I don't want to talk too much about Steve Coogan. You should never talk too much about Steve Coogan. But but you have you have formed a very close uh bond. You were in A Cock and Bull Story, which was a Tristan Shandy uh movie, and you've just been filming again together.

Rob Brydon26:27

I've just spent about a month with him filming again with Michael Winterbottom. It's for a T V series called The Trip where we go around the Lake District reviewing restaurants, again playing versions of ourselves. And it's been possibly the most enjoyable thing I've ever done, you know, because we're improvising, firing off each other, hopefully raising each other's game, you know, and

Presenter26:47

Yes, how much of it is competitive? I mean, I've heard you interviewed together where you get into this kind of competitive impersonations. He judges your Al Puccino and you judge his.

Rob Brydon26:51

Blue.

Rob Brydon26:54

He judges your Al Puccino and you judge his. Well, you know, you you turn that on a bit. I mean, our real relationship i is warmer. You what you do is you take away the warmth. And we just I think we both kind of delight in that

Presenter27:07

But you know when I mean, the programmes that we've uh spoken about in the early days of your television career, they did have you know a depth and a darkness and an edginess to them. Now, of course, when you move over to BBC One, there's every chance that the stairs light up as you walk down them. Are you quite comfortable with that?

Rob Brydon27:21

I mean you quite are you

Rob Brydon27:23

As long as I can do the other stuff as well. I'm not I'm not as fussed about the work as some people are. I'm really not. I'm I'm far more fussed about my family life than I am about the work. Maybe because of being divorced and remarrying. That's far more important to me.

Presenter27:40

Does it sit heavily with you being I mean, you've mentioned it twice now, you say being divorced, it's it's present, is it?

Rob Brydon27:48

Yeah, it's it's a yeah, it's it's it's to some degree it's defining, you know. I'm very lucky, you know, we all get on very well, but still it's uh it's part of who you are, it has a big effect in your life, you know, just logistically as much as anything else. Wh when you got kids at school age, and m mine go from s fifteen to two, you know, you've got plenty to keep you occupied.

Rob Brydon28:15

And it's far more rewarding than anything you will ever do in your work, ever.

Presenter28:23

Fuck.

Rob Brydon28:23

Amoru

Presenter28:25

Let's have some music, what are we going to hear now?

Rob Brydon28:26

Well, Paul Simon, who I just love. I love his humour. I saw a documentary about him once where he was driving round the district of New York that he grew up in, and he pointed to the house he grew up in, and he said, my brother and I had rooms, that's my brother's room there, next to my room, his room slightly smaller than mine, which is as it should be. And I love that kind of humour.

Speaker 428:50

Slip sliding away

Speaker 428:54

Slip slide and away

Speaker 428:59

You know the nearer your destination, the more you slip sliding away

Speaker 429:06

And I know more

Speaker 429:11

Became a wine.

Speaker 429:15

These are the l Very words she

Presenter29:17

Paul Simon and Slip Sliden away. I'm I'm hoping, Rob Bryden, that your teenage children at least are suitably embarrassed by your public profile, are they?

Rob Brydon29:29

Yeah, they get they get more so. It's quite funny, isn't it? They go through a certain age and then not at all and then all of a sudden

Presenter29:35

Oh.

Rob Brydon29:35

Okay. They're embarrassed in a kind of knowing way, which I like.

Presenter29:40

So life on the island I mean at least you know you you've mentioned Tom who's who's just two at least on the island you will get a lie-in. Yes. You get a proper night's sleep.

Rob Brydon29:48

Uh

Rob Brydon29:49

Yeah, yeah. Well, see, having having uh children again after after a gap, yeah, it's uh

Rob Brydon29:55

you know, and and he's not been a good sleeper. He's getting better.

Presenter29:58

And how do you feel equipped as it? You're not such an old dad, but you know, you're old you're older. Thank you, Kirsty. I'm forty-four. Right. I have a friend who.

Rob Brydon30:06

Boof.

Presenter30:06

Follow it.

Rob Brydon30:07

Bring it home.

Presenter30:07

Yeah.

Presenter30:08

I have a friend who said having children when you're a little bit older, very young children, is a little like going out to face Roger Federer on the centre court of Wimbledon with an old wooden tennis racket and long shorts. I mean, do you feel equipped for the job?

Rob Brydon30:14

And then we're going to go.

Rob Brydon30:16

THAT

Rob Brydon30:19

Oh, I see what they're saying. Very much so, yeah. But I think my racket isn't quite the old wooden one. I just think it's not a very expensive titanium one, you know. I think you uh appreciate moments more because you're aware of how quickly they pass. When you're first having children, you you don't realize that these times don't stick around.

Presenter30:20

Very much.

Speaker 130:33

Yeah.

Rob Brydon30:39

They're gone in the wink of an eye.

Presenter30:40

I

Rob Brydon30:41

Uh

Presenter30:41

Uh

Rob Brydon30:41

Uh

Presenter30:41

Will any of them be allowed to leave school with sort of just grazing to well, they're not called O-levels now, but the equivalent.

Rob Brydon30:47

That's a very good question. I would hope that they wouldn't, because I think that I'd like to have a bit more knowledge than I have. I went with my oldest daughter, we went to look at some six forms and we're in one and we're in the history room and the history teacher was talking about the curriculum and everything and I loved it. I thought it was fascinating. And I came out and I said, That was good, wasn't it? I said, Well, yeah, it was fine, yeah. And I'm still thinking of just paying him to come and give me history lessons at home, just so I can have a bit more knowledge. Because if Henry VIII comes up, I'll just do Ray Winston being Henry VIII.

Presenter31:25

It's not the full picture of that, I don't think.

Rob Brydon31:26

It's well, it's part of the picture, Christie.

Presenter31:30

Let's have your final disc, what is it?

Rob Brydon31:31

Uh I love James Taylor. I love you see James Taylor, Paul Simon, I love what they do with their lyrics. And this song it just really resonates with me about acting, the business and about life. It's called That's Why I'm Here.

Speaker 431:46

Person to person and man to man.

Speaker 431:50

I'm back in touch with my long lost friend Listen to reason and understand and Think of me from way back when

Speaker 432:02

You Sydney and Melissa Well we fell out of love Ran out of love Seems like the lightning struck I've been thinking of you

Presenter32:13

James Taylor, and that's why I'm here. So, Rob, The Bible and the Complete Works of Shakespeare, and your book to take to this island.

Rob Brydon32:21

Um well, I would take Complete Dylan Thomas because it would remind me of Wales. I I would enjoy that, so that'd be everything he wrote, you know, his poems, plays, you know, uh short.

Presenter32:32

The collected works, it's yours, and a luxury too.

Rob Brydon32:36

Well, I love music, you see, and if I wasn't doing this, I'd love to be a musician. So I would take an eternally tuned guitar.

Rob Brydon32:45

And I would learn to play it. I'd line cocoanuts up on the beach to represent an audience, and play to them.

Presenter32:52

It's a slightly sad image, but it's not a good idea. I'll give you the guitar. And one of the eight. If you had to save one of these eight discs from the waves, which one would it be?

Rob Brydon32:54

Yeah, we know.

Rob Brydon33:05

Maybe oya

Rob Brydon33:10

Born to run because it would be uplifting. It would be loud. And I think that would be important. You'd have plenty of time for quiet introspection. I'd want a good sound system, though. You haven't mentioned the sound system.

Presenter33:21

It'll be of the very best. State of the art. Actually, I think it's an all wind-up gramophone player, but anyway. Rob Bryden, thank you very much for letting us hear your Desert Island discs.

Rob Brydon33:22

State of the art.

Rob Brydon33:25

Any deal?

Rob Brydon33:29

Thank you.

Presenter34:16

You've been listening to a download from the BBC. You'll find more information on the Radio Four website bbc. co dot uk slash radio four.