Some episodes from Ruby Wax’s 1993 series of talk shows.
Her first guest is Shelley Winters. I like the way her guests are all game to go along with whatever Ruby wants to do. Winters says she was on Wogan, and had fallen asleep in her dressing room.
Danny DeVito isn’t in the studio. He’s plugging his movie, Hoffa.
Ruby does a video diary, which features her husband, TV director Ed Bye.
Also featuring her son
She drops in on Patricia Hodge at home for a pre-interview.
There’s also an interview with a posh but not famous woman who had a facelift.
BBC Genome: BBC One – 29th April 1993 – 22:05
The next episode sees a wedding. The bride is Ruby’s nanny.
Jennifer Saunders is co host.
The first guest is Shelley Winters, as a proper guest. I guess this is a giveaway that they recorded multiple episodes in a single day, a not uncommon thing on some shows. Pointless records three shows in a day, and other quiz shows have a similar schedule.
Taffy Turner goes looking for Princess Diana. I love Taffy Turner.
Another piece features both Michael Winner
and the wonderful Katherine Helmond
Jeanne Moreau makes a brief appearance right at the end.
BBC Genome: BBC One – 6th May 1993 – 22:00
Taffy Turner’s segment this week features Mark Thomas, not as himself.
Jeanne Moreau is a proper guest this week.
Sound the Slatterywatch klaxon – it’s Tony Slattery as Ruby’s butler.
Here’s Will Self. I sat next to him on the tube once. In the radio times he’s billed as a ‘young novelist.’
To close, here’s Ruby riding a horse out of Television Centre wearing a crown.
BBC Genome: BBC One – 13th May 1993 – 22:15
The next episode is a Euro special. “You put Euro in front of anything and it sounds cheaper.”
Julie T Wallace (again – hope she’s well) plays a German TV host.
The first guest is Brigitte Nielsen.
Taffy Turner visits the Channel Tunnel under construction.
John Sessions plays a Greek broadcaster.
And an Italian one.
And Swedish. This segment is getting a little tiresome.
Ruby visits the Eldorado set. She likes riding things, doesn’t she?
She meets a pre-Bugs Jesse Birdsall, the Dirty Den of the show.
Credit spot: Location Director is Peter Cattaneo, before he shot to fame with The Full Monty.
BBC Genome: BBC One – 20th May 1993 – 22:00
The next episode starts with a clip from one of those ‘sex education’ videos that were popular at the time.
Her first guest is Brooke Shields, Somehow, Ruby manages to spit on her.
Richard E Grant isn’t happy that Ruby wants him to play flute and dance.
There’s A Day in the Life of Felicity Kendall
Next, looks like Ruby is poaching guests off of Clive Anderson’s show. Here’s Misha and Zek Halu, married sex consultants.
Then we get to see Richard E Grant playing the flute.
BBC Genome: BBC One – 27th May 1993 – 22:00
After this, we’re over to BBC2, and an episode of Horizon entitled Life is Impossible.
It’s all about one of the greatest remaining scientific mysteries – how did life begin on Earth. Professor Stanley Miller was the man who first experimented with generating a possible ‘primordial soup’.
Given that it’s dealing with one of the ultimate questions of life, the universe and everything, the programme is replete with clips from the BBC’s Hitchhiker’s Guide adaptation.
This is a nice programme, because there’s no consensus as to the answers, and instead we have a lot of scientists disagreeing with each other.
BBC Genome: BBC Two – 28th June 1993 – 20:10
After this, there’s a trailer for Black Daisies for the Bride.
Then, the start of a film called A Breed Apart which stars, among others, Powers Boothe, who died quite recently (less than two weeks ago as I write this) so I have to acknowledge this in the blog’s death list.
This recording stops shortly after the film starts, and underneath there’s an episode of Question Time. Two dead people on that, but Gerald Kaufman and Edward Heath died long enough ago that I can’t claim responsibility.
There’s a trailer for Friday Night Programmes.
Then the tape runs out during some Test Match Cricket.
VHiStory 