Michael Parkinson

Presenter0:00

This download is the only extract the BBC has of this edition of Desert Island Discs. The presenter was Roy Plumley.

Michael Parkinson0:09

Yes I am. It's uh I suppose it's the apart from cinema and sport it's a great passion of my life. Ever since I can remember I've been uh collecting gramophone records. I've got various sort of wide tastes in music, mainly orientated toward uh jazz and uh good pop. Yes. The odd classical stuff, you know, but um I've ever since I was as far back as I can remember it's my great frustration. I always want to be a musician and I can't play a note. I really can't. Now you come from

Presenter0:35

From this mining community in Yorkshire, was there any likelihood of you going down the pit?

Michael Parkinson0:40

No, not at all. I mean, all my contemporaries did, but my father, God bless him, had very rigid ideas about this, which he expressed quite forcibly. He said, If I ever see you walking through the pit gate, I'll kick you up the backside And I never did. I mean, he took me down the pits when I was very young. He didn't take me on the cook's tour that you normally got. He took me down the

Michael Parkinson0:58

the real low workings and show me men working on their bellies and I just didn't want to do it. I wouldn't they want to go me down.

Michael Parkinson1:04

For a hundred pounds a shift they really wouldn't

Michael Parkinson1:06

You went to the grammar school. What did you want to be? Uh I wanted to be a creator. Very much so. I wanted to be a professional sportsman. Um

Michael Parkinson1:13

I went to grammar school and I learnt how to play cricket. The only thing I apart from that that I learned at grammar school was how to smoke. I became a very good smoker at my grammar school. You've given that up? I've given that up, yes. But I realized at an early age I went to the Yorkshire Nets and I realized that although I was a fair cricketer, there were one or two lads there in my year called Brian Close and people like that who were a damn sight better than I was. So I gave in that ambition or gave it up and I went back to my second ambition which was to be Humphrey Bogart in one of those films where he wore a snap-brimm trilby, had a ticket in his cap which said Press.

Speaker 11:42

But

Michael Parkinson1:45

And it was always on the phone to the editor saying hold the front page. And I always wanted to do that.

Presenter1:49

You have the head.

Michael Parkinson1:50

I've got the hat. I bought the hat. No, I did. I bought the hat and

Presenter1:51

And I did.

Michael Parkinson1:53

I used to ride a bicycle round my first district when I was became a junior reporter and the only problem was I couldn't cycle and wear my trilby hat, the snap rim, so I got some knicker elastic and I tied it into the rim and under my chin and I was the only man with a trilby

Michael Parkinson2:09

with that sort of nicrolastic around here. And I ga only gave it up because I was traveling downhill one day into a wind and my hat blew off and nearly took my head with it.

Presenter2:18

So here with a Humphrey Burghardt of the South Yorkshire Tower.

Michael Parkinson2:20

Yeah.

Speaker 12:20

Yes. Yes, so the South Yorkshire Times, yes, mm-hmm.

Speaker 12:24

What sort of life was it on that paper? Uh It was hard work, but very interesting.

Michael Parkinson2:27

Very good grounding for.

Presenter2:29

Either break your heart or make you a change.

Michael Parkinson2:29

Either break your heart or make you a journalist. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it was so awfully, staggeringly boring.

Presenter2:30

Yeah.

Michael Parkinson2:35

But if you could survive it, you you you wanted to be a journalist. You know. How long did you survive it? Oh, I did it for, uh, ooh, three years and then

Michael Parkinson2:43

uh we had this marvelous institution called National Service and that got me out of it and that probably changed my whole career because I suddenly became aware that there was a horizon beyond the one that I'd been circulating in and I went abroad and um

Michael Parkinson2:56

You were in the army? Yes, I was. I I was I was very lucky actually. They they put me into

Michael Parkinson3:01

Press relations. I was a press officer. I had the job of looking after all these awful people, you know, journalists, of which I was one. I had a sort of uh poacher turned gamekeeper.

Presenter3:10

It is. Where did this end to?

Michael Parkinson3:12

Well, I went on the our abortive invasion of Suez in 1956, wasn't it?

Presenter3:18

So this is all rather eventful.

Michael Parkinson3:19

Uh

Presenter3:19

Yes, it was.

Presenter3:21

Well that

Michael Parkinson3:21

Well that's right. Yes, I had the I had the job of looking after, along with some other people, about two hundred uh of of my fellow journalists and it was eventful, it was it was quite hilarious actually. Even War Scooper got nothing on it at all.

Presenter3:32

And when you hung up your uniform, did you go back to the Humphrey Burghard hat?

Michael Parkinson3:36

No, I didn't. I went to work in a bottle factory in Barnsley. I worked on a night shift with three hundred women.

Michael Parkinson3:41

I learnt nothing about bottles and a lot about women. And I...

Michael Parkinson3:45

Yeah.

Michael Parkinson3:47

Well, I did it because I couldn't get a a job on newspapers and then eventually I did. I I went back to a local newspaper, the Barnes Chronicle.

Speaker 13:53

Yes.

Michael Parkinson3:53

And then I lasted there a fortnight and I got the boot from that and I went and worked on the Yorkshire New Post in Doncaster.

Michael Parkinson3:59

And I was there for nine months and uh

Michael Parkinson4:02

Fortunately, and it was possibly the biggest break I had in journalism, I got a job on the Guardian, the Manchester Guardian, as was.

Presenter4:08

Reporting?

Michael Parkinson4:08

Yes, well you're all all reporters on The Guardian. There are no fancy titles on The Guardian. In those days there weren't there no such thing as a feature writer. You were a reporter who was expected to be able to write features. You were a feature writer who was expected to be able to report.

Speaker 14:20

I see.

Michael Parkinson4:21

And that's most marvellous grounding for a young journalist. And of course the people they had in the garden in those days working under this system were remarkable in the in the reporters' room with me. Michael Frey, Norman Shrapnell, Anthony Howard, Roy Perrett, people like that, you know, who you were competing against.

Presenter4:36

Uh And then you'll move to the Express. Now this was as a feature writer.

Michael Parkinson4:40

Yes. Yes. And you became part of it.

Presenter4:41

The game part

Michael Parkinson4:42

But

Presenter4:42

Lun

Michael Parkinson4:42

Yes, yes, I yes, I I did it for money.

Michael Parkinson4:46

When did television

Presenter4:46

Did television first cast its spell?

Michael Parkinson4:48

Well, I'd done a little bit in Manchester. I was the worst performer in the world. I did a a programme up there, a local programme for ABC television, and I'd always wanted to do it because I'm very vain and I wanted to be recognized in the street.

Michael Parkinson5:00

And I remember very well, I did my first programme and I walked across to the pub opposite the studio there and I went in and I stood there and I thought they're going to come flocking at me, they're going to have autographs and all this kind of thing.

Michael Parkinson5:11

And after about five minutes the landlord came out, he looked at me, he said

Michael Parkinson5:15

He said, by God, lad, he said, there's been a fellow on television that looks just like thee. And I thought, and I stood there.

Michael Parkinson5:20

And he said, We don't look disappointed, laddie. Well, bloody terrible. The first time he'd been recognised, he's got all

Speaker 15:25

Yeah.

Speaker 15:26

The first I would be recognizing.

Presenter5:27

It's not altered since I might then. Yeah.

Speaker 15:28

The same.

Michael Parkinson5:28

Ends it.

Speaker 15:28

Uh

Michael Parkinson5:28

Some items.

Presenter5:29

But since then things have got better. Now, serious television, as it were, started for Granada, didn't it?

Michael Parkinson5:35

Yes, it did. I was working in London on a magazine, it folded. Right out of the blue, there came a call from Granada from a man I met once at a party political conference saying would I go up there and think about sort of uh producing programmes? And I went up there and I did a programme, uh a nightly current affairs program called CMS 630, which really wasn't, it was a deep end, but it was again the best way to learn.

Presenter5:57

News and interviews.

Michael Parkinson5:59

Very tough work indeed and uh I did it solidly for uh for a year and uh uh Granada eased me out of it and I went into a world in action which is probably even worse

Presenter6:07

Where did they take you?

Michael Parkinson6:08

Uh I went all over the place and eventually I went to um the key thing for me was I went to Zanzibar and they had the revolution there and I was the first journalist in.

Michael Parkinson6:17

I was the first John to be arrested as well. And I was one of the first to get kicked out as well. And therefore, when I got back to England, ITN interviewed me.

Michael Parkinson6:24

And uh it was very strange how things are happening in television. They interviewed me and Granada rang me up and said, You're now a performer.

Presenter6:29

Mm-hmm.

Michael Parkinson6:30

Which is very curious, you know, how things happen in television. Nothing's

Michael Parkinson6:34

There's no ambition at all there.

Presenter6:35

And then you move to BBC's twenty-four hours to become a reporter.

Michael Parkinson6:39

That's right. I did that for about 18 months and travelled all over the place. I covered the six-day war in Israel and I traveled extensively all over the world. And I found that I very, very quickly got tired of it. Very quickly got tired of it. And being married with three kids, it was all the more difficult as well. I mean, one found oneself in a situation where you wanted to get back. And if you're Alan Wicker, of course, and not married, well, that's why Wicker's possibly the best in the business, you know. Yes, it doesn't hesitate.

Michael Parkinson7:05

And then you did sports.

Presenter7:06

Torino.

Michael Parkinson7:07

Yes, I I I took some time off from BBC to write a book and the new contracts were announced and London Weekend asked me to go there as a an executive producer in charge of this programme, which was to be a documentary programme about sport.

Michael Parkinson7:20

The problem was, of course, as we know, there was a tremendous gap between what the companies promised at the time and the reality of the situation. So.

Michael Parkinson7:28

The gap being so wide as to make me sort of upset, I left them. I went to

Michael Parkinson7:33

Back to Granada and I did cinema, which was in my television career I suppose, the uh the breakthrough, yes.

Presenter7:40

Films of course being of special interest, this was right up your street and you were allowed to present it in an absolutely your own style.

Michael Parkinson7:46

This was the key thing. I was for the first time I was allowed to to present something in in my own fashion. And of course it's very easy, if you have a skill at writing, the easiest thing, as you well know, is to write about something which you're obsessed with. And I've been obsessed with movies ever since I was a kid, you know, little four and four nights a week.

Michael Parkinson8:05

I mean, I fell in love with Rita Haworth when I was about nine.

Presenter8:08

Now we were talking about your BBC late-night chat show. This was a a showbiz sort of program.

Michael Parkinson8:14

Hmm.

Presenter8:14

Uh

Michael Parkinson8:15

Quite deliberately so. Um

Michael Parkinson8:17

I the critics always want you to do something that's terribly meaningful. You know, crucify people in the studio and this sort of thing. And that certainly has its place in in in television. Um I d don't particularly want to do that. And what I want to do was big personality interviews. And that's what we decided to do. And I think we were right. We only did two short bursts of programmes, two thirteen week ones, and we got some extraordinary people on.

Presenter8:38

Well now you're doing your your writing stint, you're having your sabbatical, and your wife is is doing a show while you're resting.

Michael Parkinson8:44

Yes, you've got to keep on working, you know.

Presenter8:45

Mm-hmm.

Michael Parkinson8:46

She's doing a programme uh in London. For you doing a um an afternoon woman's programme, yeah. I thought about time of her out to work. She had thirteen easy years of

Presenter8:56

Now other occupations, you you do a column for the Sunday Times most of the time.

Michael Parkinson8:59

Yes, I know. Most of the time. I shall probably start writing for the Sunday Times again very shortly. And books?

Michael Parkinson9:06

Um

Michael Parkinson9:07

Books, I've got one coming out um this year, um in a couple of months' time, um, a big glossy book about um the Westerns, cowboy films, who's a great passion, right? Written um in collaboration with a man called Clyde Jevons. Yeah. And that's gonna be it's one of the few books ever published with more pictures than words. Good.

Presenter9:25

Michael, are you good with your hands? Could you look after yourself on this island?

Michael Parkinson9:28

No, I'm absolutely Clear. Totally useless. Can you cultivate? Can you build shelters? No, no, nothing about that at all. Really? I mean, I I probably could, but they wouldn't be very good. Fish.

Michael Parkinson9:40

And chips. It's like

Speaker 19:41

For the citation game. No. Try to escape.

Speaker 19:45

I can't swim. I mean it's a you know, be obviously used. I'll be there forever. You're gonna hate it every minute. Well, I don't know it. There are more things in life than building shelters, I suppose.