The Interviews
- TV documentary
- U&Gold
- 2015 - 2016
- 12 episodes (2 series)
A series profiling comedians via their chat show appearances. Features Dawn French and Tamsin Greig.
Episode menu
Series 1, Episode 1 - Kenneth Williams
Further details
The spotlight is on one of the nation's best loved entertainers; Kenneth Williams, a star of stage, radio, television and the silver screen, best known for the Carry On films and his mastery of sexual innuendo and outrageous double entendres.
A great raconteur, Kenneth was god's gift to chat shows, never short of an anecdote or gag, he lit up the nation's talk show sofas with his witty banter but his own life story had a much darker side...
In interviews with the most celebrated interrogators like Frost, Parkinson, Wogan and Harty, Kenneth talks openly about his frustrations, phobias and his darkest moments, even discussing how he contemplated suicide.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Wednesday 24th June 2015
- Time
- 9pm
- Channel
- U&Gold
- Length
- 60 minutes
Cast & crew
| Dawn French | Narrator |
| Kenneth Williams | Self (Archive Material) |
| Michael Parkinson | Self (Archive Material) |
| Russell Harty | Self (Archive Material) |
| Terry Wogan | Self (Archive Material) |
| Michael Aspel | Self (Archive Material) |
| Mavis Nicholson | Self (Archive Material) |
| David Frost | Self (Archive Material) |
| Joan Rivers | Self (Archive Material) |
| Matthew Kelly | Self (Archive Material) |
| Nicholas Parsons | Self (Archive Material) |
| Gloria Hunniford | Self (Archive Material) |
| Mike Williams | Series Producer |
| John Quinn | Executive Producer |
| Iain Coyle | Executive Producer |
| Sean Doherty | Executive Producer |
| Dan Ablett | Editor |
Press
The Interviews, TV review
Gold might be known for showing reruns of Only Fools and Horses, but it does occasionally commission its own stuff. The Interviews proved to be a gentle, old-fashioned show, enjoyable thanks to its subject, but one that may not attract much of an audience beyond the channel's devotees.
Sally Newall, The Independent, 25th June 2015First in a series of retrospectives from British comedy greats, delivered via carefully collated archive interview footage, starting with one of comedy's most fascinating figures, Kenneth Williams. Unencumbered by Carry On baggage, it was the chatshow that allowed Williams to express himself. These interviews show how Williams's wispy frame inflated with enthusiasm given a soapbox for his specialist subject: himself. With excerpts arranged to present his storied life in chronological order, it's a fine addition to GOLD's comedy roster.
Mark Jones, The Guardian, 24th June 2015Radio Times review
"Oh - what's the bloody point?" Kenneth Williams was, as they say, "good value" on chat shows. Wogan could engage automatic pilot as Williams whipped the audience into hysterics, riffing through anecdotes and voices. As this clip show proves, he was a ludicrously witty man - a smutty, funny C3PO. So of all his notable quotables, why is it the defeated final line of his diary that is now inescapable? Oh infamy, infamy...
Because the truth is, Williams doesn't fit the "tears of the clown" stereotype. He didn't suffer in silence: he told interviewers and the nation about his depression, narcissism and various complexes. His skill - whether on Round the Horne, Carry On, or on the sofa - is that he always said the unsayable. It's just that he made you laugh while doing it.
Jonathan Holmes, Radio Times, 24th June 2015