Roger Bolton
- Presenter
Press clippings
I had a real treat this week, meeting Kenneth Williams, or rather Robin Sebastian the man who plays him so superbly in the new Hancock's half Hours. Can any comic actor have given his audiences so much pleasure while obtaining so little for himself? I suppose I could be talking about either Kenneth Williams or Tony Hancock. They both suffered from deep depression and both died alone, having taken overdoses. Thank heaven many of their recordings have survived, and that where they haven't many of the scripts have. You can hear my interview with Robin Sebastian and the rest of the programme here.
Most of us are here today, gone tomorrow, but not Williams and Hancock. They are truly immortal, at least on radio.
Roger Bolton, BBC Blogs, 7th November 2014Feedback: BBC radio comedy
This blog is usually concerned with concerns or controversy about BBC radio, so I thought I'd start this week with some praise, for the often maligned Radio 4 comedy output, well, for some of it.
Roger Bolton, BBC Blogs, 10th October 2014Feedback: Bad Salsa
Are there some things one should not make jokes about? Cancer for example? Radio 4 does not seem to think so.
Roger Bolton, BBC Radio 4 Blog, 11th July 2014Is comedy left wing or is it just anti authority?
Does comedy tend to be left wing or is it just anti authority? Discuss. That sounds like an exam question, and, if I was answering it, I would try to make a distinction between comedy which is about individual human behaviour, and that which is about attitudes and organisations. I would try.
Roger Bolton, BBC Blogs, 8th March 2013Feedback: Comedy on Radio 4
I hope he won't be embarrassed if we meet in Berkhamsted High St, my local town, but I love Ed Reardon, so I was delighted to meet his co-writer this week, Andrew Nickolds.
Roger Bolton, BBC Blogs, 5th April 2012Feedback: Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show
Some comedies still divide the country, none more so than Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! On Feedback last week we broadcast emails from highly critical listeners who couldn't understand how the Count was ever commissioned in the first place and who called for his immediate decommissioning - "Rubbish", "drivel," and "a waste of space" were among the politer descriptions of the show.
Roger Bolton, BBC Blogs, 30th March 2012