You are in the Special Features section - Sue Cook, Nationwide, Children in Need, Crimewatch, On Dangerous Ground, Force of Nature

Digger talks to Sue Cook, broadcaster and writer. 

 

Sue Cook

 

Some images courtesy of and © copyright www.rexfeatures.com

 

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Digger: What was your early background? 

Sue: I went to school and university and travelled around for a year after that. Singing in bands and things.

Digger: Singing in bands?...

Sue: Yes, I sang in a couple of bands at university.

Digger: Go on, what sort of stuff?

Sue: Well, the stuff at the time which was, I suppose, the early 70s. I sang The Doors' Light My Fire, I sang This Wheel's On Fire - the old Brian Auger song. And various four-part harmonies.

Digger: Have you kept in touch with the people in the band?

Sue: Well, I married the keyboard player which is where I get the name Cook. And we're still in touch.

Digger: That's good. At what point in your life did you decide to get into broadcasting and who and what were your inspirations for your choice of career?

Sue: I never 'decided' to get into broadcasting because I was quite a shy flower really. I wanted to be a writer and write newspaper columns. 

Digger: And you finally did got round to it with your books.

Sue: Yes, and then I finally got round to it.

Digger: What were you doing at 12 years old, because someone said that whatever you enjoy doing at 12 is what you want to do/are destined to do in adult life?

Sue: Oh really? An odd thing to say. I was at school being a kid! 

Digger: At 12, I used to do a newspaper for all the family and neighbours and I also 'ran a TV station' which was very low tech and basically a cardboard box with lots of cardboard sets being moved in and out. And my bedroom walls had TV control panels all over them!

Sue: That's impressive! No, I was a complete Tomboy at 12. I loved running on the pond when it was covered with thin ice, climbing trees and riding bikes like mad.

 

 

  

Young Sue

 

Digger: You sound very brave. Question 2... The BBC had a stranglehold on TV and radio until the 70s. Radio stations like Capital were there, at least in part, to release this grip. Did you see yourself as some sort of pioneer at that time and how exciting was it to be involved in the early days of commercial radio?

Sue: It was fabulous and so exciting. I'd been working for the Reader's Digest and then I got the sack. They said I'd never make a good researcher.  I sat in coffee bars for a couple of weeks reading the 'sits vac' and I read this thing about commercial radio coming to England and to London. I'd always loved listening to the pirate stations under the pillow on my dad's transistor radio. Listening to Brian Matthew fading in and out. The adverts - Horace Bachelor of Keynsham. I just loved pop music and I adored the DJs so I thought "well that would be good working for commercial radio." So I applied to Capital - in fact I just walked into Capital, which was a building site in Piccadilly at the time, and picked my way over the rubble. There was a woman at the reception desk and I said I've come to ask if I can have a job and she looked at me and said "Hang on, I'll go and get the programme controller." He came down and said "Alright, we'll give you a go." This was around March and the station went on air in October. And I was about the seventh employee they took on. So I found myself in a basement chopping up newspaper cuttings and then all the DJs began to be hired. Kenny Everett would be walking through the door, and Dave Cash and David Simons and Tommy Vance. I started singing little jingles and things. Basically I did everything from making the sandwiches to singing the jingles. In preparation for going on air. And I found myself broadcasting on the first day - October 16th, 1974, I think. The atmosphere was terrific. 

Digger:  We can remember when we had no choice of radio or TV stations but now we have an amazing choice as well as many other ways to watch, to listen and to communicate. What are the positives about broadcasting today compared to then and what are the negatives?

Sue: I suppose the positives are that the technology now is reliable. In the past it let you down a lot, although you could make a joke out of it. The autocue used to let you down and you had to make sure you had a copy of your script nearby. And have a thing prepared about what you did on holiday just in case! That happened regularly on Nationwide. 

Digger: I can remember that as a viewer - the excitement of the live format. 

Sue: They were good fun. It had a sense of event about it which you don't get now because there are so many channels and so much broadcasting. And people have access to it all, which is a good thing, but there's no sense of event. If someone does a certain kind of programme then they all jump on the bandwagon and do a cookery programme or a house makeover programme or reality TV or whatever. So nothing's special for very long, whereas it was in the 'olden days'.

Digger: So how did you get the gig at Nationwide?

Sue: I remember I was working in radio on Radio 4's 'You and Yours' programme and I'd just taken delivery of my very first answering machine. I came home in the evening, anxious to see if I'd got any messages, and there was a little number one blinking at me on the digital readout. It was the deputy editor of Nationwide saying "would you come over and have a chat?" So it was definitely worth buying that answering machine. 

Digger: Where was the HQ, as it were, for Nationwide? Was it at the 'doughnut building' in Shepherd's Bush?

Sue: No, at Lime Grove. The current affair programmes all came out of there, which was a beautiful old film studios. That's Life and Panorama and us and, eventually when it started, Breakfast Time all came out of Lime Grove.

Digger: How scary was it working to such tight schedules on live TV?

Sue: I just loved it and found it fun. I wasn't at all intimidated by it.

Digger: You didn't get sick beforehand?

Sue: No, I don't know why because I was quite a shy person. But funnily enough, as I get older I think it's more scary now than it was then. I can't really explain it, but it felt pioneering and fun and there was an atmosphere of trust. Not like the insecurity there is now where you feel that any minute now if you say the wrong thing you'll lose your job.

Digger: I've heard several times that the BBC, even if a person isn't employed by them - comedians and writers under contract, that the BBC is very bad at communicating bad news about termination of contracts or cuts.

Sue: Yes, it's absolutely dreadful. Man-management is not their skill.

Digger: It's always 'they' isn't it and not 'we', so that nobody takes responsibility.

Sue: Absolutely, considering they're in the communications industry it's not their strong point.

Digger: And what were the highlights for you?

Sue: Oh, the awful thing is that I've forgotten more than I can remember and people remind me of things I've completely forgotten I did. I interviewed James Stewart, which was fantastic. Most of the time I'm not overawed by stars, but James Stewart was in a different category altogether.

Digger: He was a war hero and a genuinely nice guy. I saw him in Harvey in the west end in the 70s.

Sue: Yes, I loved Harvey and his other movies and he was a perfect gentleman and he was getting quite old then. He was a little bit deaf and so I had to speak (imitates speech) REALLY QUITE LOUDLY and e-nun-ci-ate my words clearly.

Digger: I met Janet Leigh at a Harrods book signing and she didn't understand a word I said! Well, I'm exaggerating, but I don't know if it was because my mouth was so dry with nerves because I was such a huge fan or my accent, but she had to talk to me through an interpreter who was her agent or minder, and it was quite surreal! I don't think she was tuned into the English accent and way of speaking.

Sue: Possibly yes.

Digger: How difficult or easy a decision was it for you to get involved with Crimewatch? Were there concerns that the public might not be ready for such graphic demonstrations of real-life crime?

Sue: It seemed to be a logical progression because I'd been doing a programme called Out Of Court for about four years. In those days there weren't that many females who did live stuff. They couldn't cast their net all that wide. Esther Rantzen was far too busy with other things to be a candidate. Because I did Out Of Court, a lot of them were the same production team and I thought it would be very exciting. I don't know if you ever went through a phase like this, but I listened to my father's short band radio and I used to listen to the police broadcasts. I thought it would be breaking new ground and I like doing anything that does that. But I must say that I was unprepared for the pitfalls of it, one of which was having to walk a very thin line between scaring people to death and on the other hand glamourising the criminals. So it had to be a very matter-of-fact tone of voice and I tried not to use any adjectives in my script and I tried to be very straightforward. I think the fact that we didn't use adjectives and we didn't have sound effects and things made us so different from the rest of telly that it brought people up short and made them realise that this was real and not some drama. Whereas now, I don't think they do that and they do have sound effects and music and speculate about what people's conversations might have been. And they do strut around the set. 

 

 

Sue in her early Crimewatch days

 

 

Digger: And they show bloodstains on the floor.

Sue: Yes, that's right. One I saw recently there was blood dripping in the snow. We'd never have dreamt of doing that and I honestly don't think it's that effective. I could see it creeping that way by 1996 and I'd been doing it eleven years and I just thought "I can't be part of this anymore." And also I'd never done anything else in that time and it's very boring doing the same thing and I wanted to write a book. And I wanted some time in my career to be asked to do something else. I was getting very type-cast as Mrs Goody Two-shoes looking as if I had a full dustbin under my nose and saying "Now here's another murder and here's another sexual assault." And I just love interviewing people and having a bit of a laugh and it was all going a little bit wrong. That was it. 

Digger: Good! You were born, in my view, at a perfect time to enjoy the sixties as a teenager. What are your happiest memories of the sixties?

Sue: Yes, that's right, my teens coincided exactly with the sixties.

Digger: I'm very jealous because I was born a bit too late and would have liked to have been a mod.

Sue: I was half a mod and half a rocker, depending on my boyfriend at the time. So I did the scooter and the parka bit and I also did the motorbike bit. I used to love pillion riding.

Digger: And you went down to Brighton and the seaside venues?

Sue: No we didn't do that. I used to go to various clubs - the KKK Club and Eel Pie Island and Burton's. There were a lot of clubs around in those days. The Purple Pussycat and all that. We saw Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, Geno Washington and the Ram Jam band. Baldry and Joe Cocker and Georgie Fame and Alan Price. It was an era when music gave teenagers their own identity for the first time. And parents following on from the war were very anxious to be conventional and that we should all do well and conform and don't stick your head above the parapet. And suddenly we all got our own identities. I loved John Lennon and The Stones, particularly The Beatles. For me, John Lennon made me feel I really could have an identity of my own. 

Digger: Do you still listen to music a lot?

Sue: Oh yeah! My iPod is my favourite item.

Digger: I don't trust people that don't like music or haven't got a sense of humour and you've got both of those so well done! (both laugh) Next question: If you could arrange a dinner party and invite any guests, living or dead, real or fictional from any era, who would you chose and why?

Sue: I'd have Graham Greene, because he's my favourite author. And I'd have Bill Bailey, because I think he's bloody funny. He's very talented and he combines music with comedy in a very unique way, which I think is good. I think I'd have Ann Leslie because she's probably a pain in the arse and would scare everyone to death, but she's such an interesting woman. She's been all over the world and she's got a real take of her own on all these political situations like Iraq and Afghanistan and so on. She doesn't feel as if she's got to tow any party line. So that's three. Who else would I have? I'd have one of my ancestors, I think. I'd have my old  grandfather, I think and find out what he was like and what his life was like. Maybe if I could have my grandmother as well to get the woman's point of view? That would be interesting to find out first-hand.

Digger: I saw a programme where they showed that the Germans had methodically and efficiently done recordings of British POW's in the first world war onto old 78 records. These still exist in an archive. And some of these were played back to the direct descendants of these guys. This was obviously the first time they'd ever heard them talk. And it was very emotional and the strange thing was that the accent and language that these guys used had changed in a couple of generations, be they in Bolton or the west country or wherever. 

Sue: At one point I wanted to spend a year or so trekking around with a tape recorder recording people who ... I think they've already gone now as this was ten years ago ... people who were part of all sorts of dying crafts and traditions - people who would never get the chance to speak again. In a parallel life I really wanted to do that. I think it's probably now too late. I tried interviewing my parents but they're so bloody self-deprecating. I sat them in the garden with a glass of wine but they're very aware as soon as they think they're being recorded. 

Digger: Is that a British thing or a generational thing?

Sue: I think it's a generational thing. I mean, for a start, they don't like talking about the war. So they tend to gloss over all that.

Digger: You went back to Marrakech - what was that like? 

Sue: It was great. It hadn't changed and I think I could pick out the little room I rented all those years ago. A lot of it was quite tacky and scary the first time I was there. A hole in the floor toilet and cockroaches and I had food poisoning while I was there. They look very lurky and swarthy and sinister in their long jalabas. But after about three days of walking around I felt totally at home. You stopped seeing them as threatening and could see beyond the exteriors and they were very friendly people actually. 

Digger: You've travelled quite a lot since, haven't you? How much travel did you do with the Holiday programme?

Sue: Oh, quite a lot. The best trip I had was Russia. I loved Russia. 

Digger: Did you speak any of the lingo?

Sue: No, I'm quite good at languages and I did pick a bit up. I speak French, German, Spanish and Italian. With French and German being better than the other two. And I do enjoy languages and I feel terribly ashamed if I'm in a country where I can't manage to make myself understood. 

Digger: Good for you. I think everybody should make a bit of an effort because you get so much back, don't you?

Sue: Yes, you do. It shows that you take an interest and that you're not just there to be part of and not contribute.

 

 

Various publicity shots, including, top left, her very first

 

Digger: What did you study at university?

Sue: Psychology was my main subject, with English and a bit of archaeology. I just went there to do psychology, English, French and German and when I got there they said they'd made a bit of a boo-boo because French and German clash with psychology, so they asked me to choose two other subjects. So I chose archaeology and dropped the languages at that stage really. 

Digger: You've obviously got a knack for them.

Sue: Yes, I think a musical ear helps. You're musical, aren't you? Wasn't that a photo I saw of you drumming?

Digger: Yes, but I wouldn't call myself musical, just that I appreciate music and have a good ear for music and lyrics. There are jokes about drummers like "What do you call a guy who hangs around with musicians? - A drummer." And even one or two drummers I have interviewed say they played the drums because they couldn't play an instrument.

Sue: That's a bit harsh!

Digger: What makes you most proud to have been associated with Crimewatch and Children In Need and what are the biggest legacies of the programmes?

Sue: We did do some good things on Crimewatch, although I worried that it had some negative influences as well. I was worried that it might 'normalise' crime. And give people ideas and make it seem less shocking and, therefore, a little easier to imagine doing, if you see what I mean?

Digger: There's that belief that things are a lot worse than they used to be and I'm not convinced that's true. Are you?

Sue: Well, Nick Ross would always say that's it's not true and that things have always been bad. But I don't know. Certainly knife crime and gun crime is much more prevalent. I started getting very aerated about that when I was doing Crimewatch because I was realising that you can buy knives and guns quite easily. It's illegal to carry them so the minute you walk out of the shop with your knife or gun in your 'brown paper bag' you're breaking the law. But (angry) why the HELL, why the F don't they make it illegal to sell them and get them at the point of sale? I just think we ask for trouble. Doing Crimewatch gave me an awareness and anger about things like that. Children In Need, of course, was an absolute DELIGHT to be involved with. I did that for thirteen years and it was nothing but doing good and it was wonderful to be associated with it. Not only did I get to rub shoulders with extraordinary stars and lovely people, but it was just so moving at 2 o'clock in the morning at the end of each programme to say "The total is..." 

Digger: And it was obviously live and people winging it as it went along.

Sue: There were some horrendous things that went wrong but everybody was on the same side so it didn't matter.

 

 

   

Sue with Nick Ross on Crimewatch and Terry Wogan on Children In Need

 

 

Digger: What do you think of the current controversy that exists about presenters 'of a certain age' being, allegedly, replaced by younger people?

Sue: I don't think Nick Ross was, I think it was different to what people said it was. Women are more of a victim of ageism than men are. They want 'eye candy' and I think that's wrong and we need to change our attitudes and go the other way, but whether we will or not is another matter. 

Digger: Are there more women in positions of power in TV and entertainment than when you started out?

Sue: I think that there are more women behind the screen and on it.

Digger: So they must be able to control what happens there?

Sue: Well, you'd think so, wouldn't you? But I think they start subscribing to the same attitudes. I'm not sure what is it. Certainly I think there are as many woman as men but ageism is still a problem and I think one of the problems is that they all want to seem younger than they are and they're scared that they're going to get marginalised if they're not careful. So the executives, the minute they get to 45, go through an instant mid-life crisis and buying sport's cars and booking much younger presenters just to show how young they are. 

Digger: Talking of cars, and going completely off-topic, tell me what sort of cars you have had?

Sue: Oh, I love cars! My first car was a Mini, then I got a Mini Cooper with tinted windows which kept breaking down every time it rained, because water got into the distributor. The first new car of my life was a little Datsun Cherry which I roared around in. Its number plate was FUT 4L. And then I went through a series of Alfa Romeos - I had an Alfetta 1.6 which was a gorgeous car. They had a reputation as being unreliable but mine were very good. I loved my Alfetta and then I rather regretted in the end that I got a new Julietta 1.6. And then I got a 1.8 which wasn't as good as the 1.6 and, um... I wrote it off.

Digger: Why haven't Top Gear had you on there?

Sue: I don't know. That's another thing! They were very chauvinistic in the eighties. I remember being on a motoring programme with Chris Serle and we were the out-and-about reporters and they gave me the little upholstered roller skate and they gave him the Jaguar. And I thought if they were really enlightened, why don't they give him the upholstered skate and me the Jaguar? Very chauvinistic days they were and I think certainly times have improved in that sense. 

Digger: There have been enormous changes in broadcasting since you started. What in your view have been the most significant of these and what do you think will have the most impact on TV and radio in the future?

Sue: I suppose the technology is the biggest change and the proliferation of channels. Which isn't necessarily a good think, I don't think. Because there are so many channels, paradoxically they can't take any risks with the audience because they're all vying for viewers and so they all do the same programmes and show the shows that they think will get the biggest audiences. Any minority programmes don't get done. So that's why you get every channel is doing a cookery programme or a house makeover programme.

Digger: It's a shame we haven't got the Hancock factor like we used to. Everybody would just stop to watch that - the whole nation practically.

Sue: Yes, a television programme was an event and you'd go down the pub afterwards and everyone you knew would be talking about it. I think that is a bit divisive, but I do like the fact that you can get Podcasts - I love being able to download programmes I've missed or, if I really like something, seeing it again.

Digger: I'm assuming you're quite high-tech in terms of being able to adopt new technology?

Sue: Yes, I love technology. I was one of the first to go live on air using a computer in 1986. Something called Telecom Gold. 

Digger: What could you do on them in those days?

Sue: It was weird, it was like one of those spy dramas or movies you see where there's a black screen and suddenly someone is typing white letters across your black screen. It was enough to make your tummy turn over in those days.

Digger: Access Denied!.. What makes you laugh, what makes you sad, what make you angry and what makes you hopeful? Let's start with laugh?

Sue: Well, Bill Bailey...

Digger: Have you seen him live?

Sue: No I haven't actually, I must do that. I've got all his DVDs. I've got a funny sort of sense of humour. I laugh at the proverbial slipping on banana skins. I don't like clowns and things but when someone trips over I tend to laugh.

Digger: I bet you then go rushing up and help them.

Sue: Yes, I run up to them laughing. 

Digger: It's a strange thing comedy and what makes people laugh. I suppose it's like people's musical tastes. I was talking to somebody earlier and their comedy tastes were totally alien to me.

Sue: Nobody can really nail it down. I think it's there but for the grace of God sometimes. When a stand-up comedian talks about an embarrassing situation people think 'I nearly did that' or they can see themselves in that situation.

 

 

        

More early Crimewatch publicity shots

 

Digger: Have you got many comedy shows on DVD?

Sue: I've got the full set of Bill Bailey. And Friends which I think is a great laugh. I love Friends.

Digger: I liked Coupling, which was sort of the British equivalent.

Sue: No, I never got into that. 

Digger:  What makes you sad?

Sue: Um... Injustice. War. People who don't seem to want to understand other people. Not being able to connect with people is sad. I love nothing better than connecting with people. 

Digger: So what make you angry?

Sue: The politics of the last ten years. The very mention of the words 'Tony Blair'. The words 'Iraq' and 'war' put together. Injustice again, it makes me very angry.

Digger: Did you get similarly cross about the Falklands war?

Sue: Yes, I did.

Digger: What annoyed me was, I worked in The City at the time, and they did a fly-past after the war with Harriers and so on going past The City and the West End. It would have been about 1983, and everybody was cheering and flag waving and I thought "Hang on a minute, this war was totally avoidable" and it got me really cross.

Sue: Do you remember the Libyan bombings?

Digger: Yes.

Sue: I remember the planes were coming back after having bombed and I was speaking to my friend on the 'phone and thought that was really bad and I said "How dare they do that in our name, without our permission?"

Digger: (Ironic) They didn't have time to take a vote.

Sue: But I thought it was really wrong and I went on the march demonstrating about the war in Iraq and I came home and Tony Blair was doing a speech in Glasgow saying "These people who are demonstrating don't know what they're talking about and they'll have blood on their hands." And I'd like to know who had more blood on their hands now.

Digger: His trouble was that he was so sure of himself and so believed he was right. 

Sue: A closed mind.

Digger: What makes you hopeful?

Sue: Ooh, the fact that the sun comes up every morning. The fact that I can hear the birds singing in my garden. That kind of thing. My children, of course. And my husband's niece has just had a little baby and I spent the whole of last week cuddling a little baby.

Digger: (Laughs) And you're getting all broody now!

Sue: Yes!

Digger: I'm a sort of surrogate, that's not the right word, but my girlfriend has four and eight year-old granddaughters and they're great fun but hard work. 

Sue: They are, but they're very rewarding as well. 

Digger: You can do all these daft things and get away with it.

Sue: Yes, you can really regress and enjoy it.

Digger: Do you think we do as we get older? Start being more child-like, I mean?

Sue: Maybe we do, yes. It's not a bad thing, I think.

Digger: Crimewatch and Children In Need are two extremes in some ways - showing the good and the bad of human nature if you like. What is your take on this - is there hope for humanity and do you see people as being basically good?

Sue: Um, I do think people are basically good. I don't believe in God, but I believe in good. Put an extra 'o' in it.

Digger: Do you think we go anywhere when we die?

Sue: I don't know. I'd like to keep an open mind on it. But I honestly do think there's some kind of communication that goes on. It's not exactly telepathy but sort of... did you ever see 2001 A Space Odyssey?

Digger: Yes, many times.

Sue: It's one of my favourite films and my interpretation of that was this. You add in this life to this growing, glowing pillar of consciousness and understanding which is kind of where you go when you die.

 

 

 

 

Digger: Yes, and I suppose people also inherit knowledge and consciousness as well.

Sue: Yes, I'm sure you do. That's exactly it, there's this huge ever-growing pillar of understand and energy and we're all contributing to that and feeding off it.

Digger: 'Cos we go to places and have an immediate attraction and almost an affinity with them even though we have never seen them before. And either you instinctively like or dislike somebody you meet or see for the first time. 

Sue: Sometimes I walk past someday in the street and I feel chilled by them. It might be for no reason at all or you think "I really like this person" and it's as if there's a bond there. 

Digger: It's weird! Next question, how would you describe the broadcaster's relationship with the public?

Sue: I always believed very strongly in the way I was taught when I first joined Capital Radio by the wonderful programme controller Michael Buhkt. He was also known as Michael Barry, the Crafty Cook. He said "You are talking to one person - never say thank you for all your letters or for all your calls. You're talking to one person, and keeping one person company in their house or wherever they are, and you're connecting with one person." And I've always felt as a broadcaster "Think of one person, not a row of upturned faces."  For me it works. It seems to be very old-fashioned and nobody seems to do it these days and they say "Goodnight to you ALL." 

 

 

 

 

Digger: It's almost, in a sense, a self-congratulatory thing saying that they're important and have a lot of listeners and get a lot of correspondence?

Sue: I think so as well. In my view broadcasting is about communicating to one person and enriching that person's life somehow. Either by making them laugh or giving a piece of information they didn't know about or giving them something they can talk to somebody else about. But adding to that person's life. I'm terribly old-fashioned!

Digger: I think radio can do that far better than telly.

Sue: It can actually.

 

 

 

 

 

Digger: Are you a collector?

Sue: Having done that Collector's Lot programme, I have always collected glass animals although I haven't really added much to them over the last few years. I had a collection of glass animals when I was little. I'm a terrible hoarder. I'm looking around my house and it looks pretty much like a shop!

Digger: I got that impression when you said in January that you were moving house in June but that you had to start now!

Sue: I've got lots of photographs in frames and ornaments I've had since I was ten, with the tails chopped off, but I can't bring myself to part with them because I remember who gave them to me. I anthropomorphise things a bit, is that the right word? Applying human qualities and sensations to inanimate objects. 

Digger: How difficult is it for women today to balance a career and motherhood and do you have any advice or suggestions to make the two work successfully?

Sue: It's very difficult and I was very lucky because I was allowed to work flexible hours. But it's a very difficult thing. I always tried to be at the school gates either to take them to school or collect them. And to read them a bed-time story is very important if you can do that a few days a week. And also mealtimes together, even if you are working a long day and have to eat later, I think eating together around a table is very important. 

Digger: I would guess that 99.9% of families in Britain don't do it now.

Sue: I think it's quite a serious thing. It's very important for kids to have a sense of family and roots. I don't think we wire kids up properly these days. They don't have that sense of solidarity and the social senses so then they don't understand. You need to give kids an empathy about how other people feel about things. 

Digger: We've got all the answers, haven't we? if only people would listen to us!

Sue: Yes, why don't we rule the world?

Digger: Are you nostalgic or do you tend to look forward?

Sue: I think it's important to be a bit nostalgic and to remember the past and the lessons you've learned. And to bear the future in mind. It's not always easy, but to try and enjoy the present as much as possible. The older I get the more I realise the present is all we've got.

Digger: Are you a cynical optimist?

Sue: Um... yes ... probably!

Digger: (Laughs)  Have you noticed that there's a pioneering theme in the projects you have undertaken? Are you always looking for a challenge, such as the thrill of live TV or working in a new medium or format?

Sue: Yes, I have been very lucky in that almost everything I have done has been breaking new ground. My career started in the 70s and so I've been rather lucky that way and I've been rather spoiled. So I expect and like to do things that are new and to break the boundaries a bit. I get very bored easily and I like the challenge of new things. 

 

 

     

 

 

 

Digger: Tell us about your books?

Sue: I have just finished writing my second novel. My first got some good reviews and some good publicity but the publishers let me down a little bit by not putting it into the book shops properly - the sales reps. So I learnt a lot from that experience now and with my second book I'm going to make sure I take the sales reps out to lunch and make sure they know what the book's about and who I am. I just got my editor's notes back and it's just like getting your essay back at university - there are lots of red notes in the margin and I'm busy working my way through that at the moment.  It's a couple of week's work, I think. Then I'm off to Brunei to do a book about the Sultan...

Digger: That sounds very impressive! 

Sue: Yes, it does! That was what my meeting earlier was about. I've got lots of people to interview.

Digger: He's a REAL big-wig, isn't he?

Sue: I think he's the richest man in the world.

Digger: Have you been out there before?

Sue: No, all I know is that I have to wear fairly modest clothing and that it will be hot and sticky and that I have to interview the Sultan.

Digger: How did you land that gig?

Sue: That was through a friend of mine who wrote a book on Brunei about ten years ago. He would have done the second one but for personal reasons he can't so I got the job. It will be interesting.

Digger: That will look good on your C.V. So you're now going out to see the richest person in the world? Very impressive! Next question - when did you find out Alan Partridge was abusing your good name, what was your reaction and are you and Alan friends once more?

Sue: I was watching telly at the time. And my kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. "Wow, mum!!"

Digger: I was watching Bottom - the live stage show the other evening. It was Rick Mayall and Ade Edmondson from the early 90's and they, how can I put it delicately, also mentioned you in their show. Let's just say they found you attractive.

Sue: Oh did they?! With Alan Partridge, funnily enough, I met him at a party. His director, Geoff Posner, had a 50th birthday party about two or three weeks later and Steve Coogan was there. He just looked at me as if he couldn't believe he was seeing me (Digger laughs) and he sort of blushed.

Digger: 'Cos he's quite shy as well, isn't he?

Sue: Yes, and we ended up talking for ages and then we took a mini bus back to somewhere else and did some more drinking and chatting and it was good fun.

Digger: Please describe yourself and your career in a couple of sentences.

Sue: I think I've just always tried to be straightforward and honest and me. I think if you try and be somebody you're not, people see through it straight away. So I've just tried to - the one person you've got to live with in life is yourself, and I hate it if I'm not nice or if I lose my temper when a salesman rings you up on the 'phone.

Digger: Do you get bad-tempered when driving?

Sue: Actually, I'm quite good driving. I've devised a way - if people cut you up or are unpleasant to you, I just blow a kiss at them.

Digger: I'm not sure I could do that! What are your biggest accomplishments and what would you still like to achieve?

Sue: Biggest accomplishments are having the children, aren't they? And writing the books. And that was essentially what I always wanted to do. And, at the ripe old age of whatever I am, I've managed to get them done and I want to do more now. So I suppose the two children and the two books, so far. And as far as what I would like to happen, I would LOVE it if one of my novels were to be made into a movie or maybe a TV drama.

Digger: That might happen mightn't it?

Sue: Yes, I'm writing a screenplay of my first book, although I've put it on the back burner. The second book is already with a drama producer and he's very interested in the idea of it so it could be possible. That would be a real thrill that would.

Digger: Well, I think there are still lots of good things to come, don't you?

Sue: I'd like to think so.

Digger: And this Brunei thing sounds very exciting. ... Well, that was the last question. Thanks for that Sue. 

Sue: I hope I haven't rabbited on too much?

Digger: No, don't be daft. That was very enjoyable and very informative. Thanks so much. 

Sue: Thank you. I think you do these things very well.

Digger: That's kind of you to say so. 

 

 

  

 

 

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