Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Television producer behind The Office and other hit comedies; winner of six BAFTAs, a Golden Globe, and an Emmy.
On the island
Eight records
I've always loved Wham. This is one of their less poppy songs and surprisingly visceral lyrics.
This is a song called Inter Omri by Oma Kalthum, and she's the Frank Sinatra or the Nina Simone of Egypt, hugely well known.
it reminds me of my good friends, it reminds me of Ibiza, it reminds me of all the fun stuff that happens after midnight.
I tried hard to not pick this song because only a lunatic would pick the theme tune from their own show. But here it is.
it's so full of hope and it's also so melancholy. I really love songs that make me feel a bit sad.
The Girl Is MineFavourite
Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson
I'm going to play this for Coco. It's Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, and it's The Girl Is Mine.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:59What are you looking for when you're wading through piles of scripts, and how do you know when you've found it?
This is a cliche, but you don't know what you're looking for. But what I do know is when I found it, I'm quite instinctive. Yeah, I think when I know, I know. I can be like maniacally sure about a show.
Presenter asks
3:12How do you get on watching comedy made by other people?
I can't watch comedy. Not at all. No, I can't watch it. I can't relax watching it. If I watch comedy that's good, I'm annoyed. If I watch comedy that's bad, I'm annoyed. Somebody else got to make it, and it's bad. And so it never gives me peace.
Presenter asks
13:12Tell me a bit more about how your dad prepared you for the challenges life was going to involve for you.
Yeah, I think when it became clear what the extent of the disability was, then really dad was very quick into preparing me for adult life, you know, even as a four or five year old. ... I had a very strong sense that life was going to be difficult or could be difficult. And I think a combination of dad's immigrant mentality plus my wheelchair equals must try harder.
The keepsakes
The book
I'm really scared about my thoughts being the thing that derails me. It's gonna be like the fact that I won't be able to exist is inherent. So I've hear people on there going, I'm gonna build a hut. I'm not even gonna be able to move. And so I think that's when that's combined with a brain that will yearn for I mean, I've told you that I need people around me already. So I'm gonna try and slow my thoughts down to nothing, fade to black, is what I want. And so my brain can be quite an unforgiving place and if I can just calm that a bit, that's gonna bode me well.
The luxury
A curry house, Lauren. A massive curry house. An Indian restaurant, a four-story garish, neon-lit, no Mitchell and stars, nothing classy, but I would just sit there and maybe one day you'll change the format and send me a chef.
Presenter asks
24:09Why did you want a job in finance after university?
To make the wheelchair disappear, really, to make life more palatable, to be more comfortable, all I wanted to do was to sort of take the pain away ... with resource I'm able to make myself feel less disabled. And following that career as a stockbroker was all about that.
Presenter asks
34:23How did it feel to be in the limelight after The Office became a smash hit?
Life did change, for sure. I found myself getting my calls returned. I was suddenly allowed behind the red velvet rope, and I finally got a girlfriend. ... I was always worried about being Ash, the bloke in the wheelchair, and in that moment I was Ash, the bloke who did the office.
Presenter asks
43:39What approach have you taken with your daughter, given how your father brought you up?
Yeah, my daughter Coco, she's 11. First of all, I really hope she's funny and want her to be funny. It's really important for her to think that that's a really good thing. And she is. She's funny and she's cheeky and she's smart. She's easily the best thing that's happened. I love being a dad. I could spend a million, million hours with her. And I love being her mate.
“If I watch comedy that's good, I'm annoyed. If I watch comedy that's bad, I'm annoyed.”
“The Chancer and the Swan.”
“Dad used to say to me, they are all bastards.”
“I'm aggressively social.”