0:00:25 > 0:00:28He was born Robert Brydon Jones in Swansea,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32but professionally dropped the most distinctive of Welsh surnames
0:00:32 > 0:00:34and halved his first one to become Rob Brydon.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37He retained this name, playing versions of himself
0:00:37 > 0:00:39in the TV series The Trip,
0:00:39 > 0:00:41where he reviewed restaurants with Steve Coogan,
0:00:41 > 0:00:44in the movie A Cock And Bull Story,
0:00:44 > 0:00:48the game-shows Annually Retentive and Would I Lie To You?
0:00:48 > 0:00:51and his talk programme The Rob Brydon Show.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54His fictional identities include Keith,
0:00:54 > 0:00:58the cuckolded taxi-driver in the monologue dramas Marion and Geoff
0:00:58 > 0:01:02and a variety of unlucky men with Julia Davis as their woman
0:01:02 > 0:01:06in the dark comedy series Human Remains.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10He's just published his memoirs, Small Man In A Book.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13People always wonder about this, the dark side of comedians.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Comedy is an insecure thing to do, isn't it?
0:01:16 > 0:01:18Well, it's an odd thing to do.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22But also it's a gamble that... If you lecture on nuclear physics,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25you don't necessarily know
0:01:25 > 0:01:29if you've failed the audience, or the audience don't respond,
0:01:29 > 0:01:32but as a comic, you know instantly, and that's an awful thing.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36It is, but when you get it right, it's fantastic.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41And it's my opinion that comedians, that it is a calling, you know,
0:01:41 > 0:01:46that it's not something that you choose to do, you know.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48It's something that you choose to follow,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51but comedians look at the world a certain way.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54I remember, quite a few years ago now,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57having a...a revelatory moment, where I realised,
0:01:57 > 0:02:01"Oh, yeah, not everybody looks at things like this, do they?"
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Not everybody takes pretty much every situation in life,
0:02:04 > 0:02:07and you're looking at it from different angles
0:02:07 > 0:02:10to try and find which way to turn it to make it amusing,
0:02:10 > 0:02:11to make it funny.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14So it's...it's just the way...
0:02:14 > 0:02:18I think it's just the way you are, the way you're wired.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21And you say, when it works, the pleasure of that.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23When I've watched a comedian in a big venue,
0:02:23 > 0:02:27it's that sense that they are in control of the thousand...
0:02:27 > 0:02:29- Yeah.- ..or several thousand people,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32which, as a straight actor, you would almost never get.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35- Does it feel like power? - Yes. Yeah, definitely, yeah.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38Yeah, it really does, erm...
0:02:38 > 0:02:44And equally, when it's not working, it-it feels like...
0:02:44 > 0:02:48a scare at a nuclear plant, you know.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51It feels like, "Oh, my God, how do I switch this off?!"
0:02:51 > 0:02:54But yes, when... when you're firing on all cylinders
0:02:54 > 0:02:57and you've got this whole room with you,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00oh, it's a terrific feeling, you feel like a mixture of...
0:03:00 > 0:03:05this will date me... Eddie Murphy and Elvis and all those things.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09Because the comedian has to lead,
0:03:09 > 0:03:13and even sometimes leads in a very passive-aggressive way, you know.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16If the comedian is playing low-status,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19they're still, none the less, leading the room,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22and that's what an audience wants.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25It's not easy being Welsh, no, it's not, no, no.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28We're not as cool and trendy as you English.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31I watch the English people coming in, they're like Hugh Grant.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35"How are you doing? Great to see you. Hello, how are you? Excellent!
0:03:35 > 0:03:37"Just back from two weeks in France."
0:03:37 > 0:03:41A Welsh hello is not like that - a Welsh hello is basically this.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46Who made a sheep noise? No... No!
0:03:46 > 0:03:49No! No, I'm serious, no sheep noses, please.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52No, I mean that, seriously, no sheep noises.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56It's very hard for me to remember this act with an erection.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59LAUGHTER
0:03:59 > 0:04:01One of the decisions a performer has to make,
0:04:01 > 0:04:03in the age of Twitter,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06is to what extent to interact with the audience.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Your collaborator Steve Coogan is against it.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12You seem to be for it. You tweet not only jokes,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16but for example the birth of a child and so on, erm...
0:04:16 > 0:04:18Do you ever feel uneasy
0:04:18 > 0:04:22about having to be so apparently open about your life?
0:04:22 > 0:04:26Er... Yeah, sometimes, a little bit.
0:04:26 > 0:04:27But...
0:04:27 > 0:04:31I'm in control of it, so...
0:04:31 > 0:04:34So when you say, the birth of a child,
0:04:34 > 0:04:38it does make it sound horrifically callous, erm...
0:04:38 > 0:04:42It's a funny thing, Twitter, the...
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Largely, it's a very pleasant, rather enjoyable thing.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47You feel as though you're sort of communicating
0:04:47 > 0:04:51with like minded people - friends or, you know...
0:04:51 > 0:04:57It's become a tool for people like me to communicate with your audience,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00to keep your audience... entertained, I suppose.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03No, the reason I mention the birth of the child is...
0:05:03 > 0:05:06I used to work with your wife, and I was vaguely...
0:05:06 > 0:05:09You weren't involved with the birth, though, Mark.
0:05:09 > 0:05:10No, I wasn't in any way at all...
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Telling me on camera, that would to be very upsetting.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17The only way I know about it is that I saw in the Sun,
0:05:17 > 0:05:21as a kind of news report, they said birthing pool at home, all that kind of stuff.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25- They'd got that from you.- They had. - I was just interested in that,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28that it seems to me people release on Twitter
0:05:28 > 0:05:32more information than they would in an interview or a press release.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Yeah, but it's because you can control exactly how it's worded,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38where, if you say it to a journalist,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41you're going to have their filter, their angle on it, erm...
0:05:41 > 0:05:46And I think that's one of the very appealing things about it.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51To a degree, it kind of cuts out the middle man of the journalist.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54And...yeah, it's kind of curious,
0:05:54 > 0:05:59because I sort of think of myself as fairly private, really,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02and at its best, it is like... a little kind of community,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04you know, it's rather pleasant.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06You follow people who you're interested in.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08Not everybody does, of course,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11because you do get this most incredible abuse,
0:06:11 > 0:06:17where you think, "Why would a person ever want to be so horrible
0:06:17 > 0:06:19"and, I mean, abusive and...?"
0:06:19 > 0:06:22I mean, it's remarkable what people will say.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Comedians being compared to Ian Huntley and serial killers.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29Oh, it's... But, of course, you know, it just reminds you
0:06:29 > 0:06:33that all the evil in the world is from people, isn't it?
0:06:33 > 0:06:36So maybe we shouldn't be surprised, you know.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39But yeah, some of the stuff I get is, er...
0:06:39 > 0:06:41absolutely shocking.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44So if you're having a day with perhaps a bit of doubt in it,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47yes, it can sometimes take a little chink at your armour,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50but it goes with the job, I think, you know,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52and you've just got to...
0:06:52 > 0:06:55it has to bounce off you, really.
0:06:55 > 0:06:56Although, in this respect,
0:06:56 > 0:07:00it's one of the useful contrasts between you and Steve Coogan,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03because he campaigns for privacy very fiercely.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07- He's got more need for it than me. - But no, on that point,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10do you ever get irritated by the loss of privacy?
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Well, I don't get it that much - I don't live the sort of life...
0:07:16 > 0:07:21The tabloids have never been interested in me, really, you know.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24And long may that continue.
0:07:24 > 0:07:25I live a very...
0:07:25 > 0:07:29normal life in terms of...
0:07:29 > 0:07:34..putting out the recycling and, er...going to the tip
0:07:34 > 0:07:36and going to restaurants, you know.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39I'm not going out to clubs, I'm not going out with, you know,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42different women, new girlfriends, all that kind of stuff,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44so it's just not that interesting.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47And I'm very happy that it's that way,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50and I...I do kind of play up to that image a little bit,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53the kind of Uncle Bryn side of things, you know,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56just to keep everything nice and...
0:07:56 > 0:07:59I've no desire for that sort of interest.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02I don't see how that could possibly, erm...
0:08:02 > 0:08:04enhance my life.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07One other interesting way you've dealt with being well-known
0:08:07 > 0:08:11- is you've played with this image of who Rob Brydon is.- Oh, yeah.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15So in Cock And Bull Story, in The Trip,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19in Annually Retentive, even to a degree in the chat show,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21you're more a version of yourself
0:08:21 > 0:08:25- than Michael Parkinson is a version of himself.- Hmm, yeah.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29What's going on for you when you play those roles?
0:08:29 > 0:08:33I mean... something like Annually Retentive,
0:08:33 > 0:08:35that's... that's me...
0:08:36 > 0:08:41..playing a very nasty, you know, bitter version of me.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45I'm not a huge fan of that show, I think there were great bits in it.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47- Don't go off on one now. - I'm going off on one!
0:08:47 > 0:08:50- Because you've made me look an idiot. - Don't shout at me.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55Let's have less of the gags as well, of "I'm the centre of attention."
0:08:55 > 0:08:58The programme, in case you haven't noticed it, is about me, OK?
0:08:58 > 0:09:00- Let's talk about The Trip.- Hmm.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03One of the fascinations of it is that we know it's not really you
0:09:03 > 0:09:07and it's not really Steve Coogan, but one of the other games
0:09:07 > 0:09:13is that we suspect there probably is quite a lot of needle between you,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15and that's why it's interesting,
0:09:15 > 0:09:18that you're exaggerating something that is really there.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21To a degree, yes, I think we are,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25but we both wanted to do it as characters.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29And the big concern for us was, "Oh, God, get over ourselves."
0:09:29 > 0:09:32I... I remember saying to my wife, "People are going to think
0:09:32 > 0:09:36"that I think I'm this fascinating person, you know,"
0:09:36 > 0:09:39which I don't think, by the way, erm...
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Scintillating, yes.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44And Steve and I were both saying,
0:09:44 > 0:09:48"OK, let's do this idea, but can't we be Mick and Roger?"
0:09:48 > 0:09:51"Can't we be characters?"
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Because I wanted to be playing parts, not being myself,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57but Michael is a very persuasive person...
0:09:57 > 0:10:01- Michael Winterbottom. - ..and wouldn't let it go,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04and so we did it like that.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08I think the way we're portrayed, you could be forgiven for thinking
0:10:08 > 0:10:11that we spend a lot more time with each other than we do.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14In reality, we don't see each other unless it's work,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16or we run into each other at something.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20Erm... And there's a lot more warmth
0:10:20 > 0:10:24erm...between us, most of the time, you know.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27But there is also rivalry.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32Yeah, but it's not a rivalry like it is on the screen, though.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35It's not a...
0:10:35 > 0:10:40I mean, in reality, I don't feel rivalry with him,
0:10:40 > 0:10:42and I wouldn't...
0:10:42 > 0:10:47I wouldn't denigrate him in reality, like I do on the show.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50When we're playing the parts in The Trip, you know,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53we're improvising it,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56and your instinct is to look for conflict.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Because you're working under a comic construct,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02we're there to be funny and to entertain.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06And sometimes the choices you make will be...
0:11:07 > 0:11:11..true to your...character,
0:11:11 > 0:11:16and sometimes you make choices solely for the gag, for the moment.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Come, come, Mr Bond.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21You derive as much pleasure from killing as I do.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25- Come, Mr Bond, you get as much pleasure...- I'm saying that bit.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Just don't do a caricature, try and do it real.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31- Shut up, don't tell me how to act! - Well, I bloody should do.- Why?
0:11:31 > 0:11:35Because sometimes you tend to sort of crank it up a bit.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39Whereas you are widely regarded as the king of understatement(!)
0:11:39 > 0:11:41I mean, the way it's portrayed...
0:11:41 > 0:11:44I mean, we would never sit across a meal from each other
0:11:44 > 0:11:48and niggle at each other like that, it just wouldn't happen,
0:11:48 > 0:11:52and I would never sit there doing impression after impression.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Although, having said that, you see, a few people have said to me,
0:11:56 > 0:12:00who know me well, when I've said, "Oh, it's not a realistic version,"
0:12:00 > 0:12:03they go, "That's exactly what you're like."
0:12:03 > 0:12:07And for people who are interested in the technique of impressions,
0:12:07 > 0:12:09there's a particularly fascinating scene
0:12:09 > 0:12:13where you do competing impersonations,
0:12:13 > 0:12:14particularly of Michael Caine.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19I found that intriguing, because when you hear them separately,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23we think you sound exactly like him, but they're slightly different.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27I can't remember if we'd planned it or Michael said, "Do impressions."
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Because that happened a lot, this kind of edgy film-making.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34A lot of the time, it was, "Do Basil Brush!" Seriously.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36You know, "Just do more impressions."
0:12:36 > 0:12:42And I used to do a thing in my act, where I would talk about how...
0:12:42 > 0:12:45YOUNG CAINE: In the 1960s, Michael Caine used to talk like that.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47OLD CAINE: But over the years that has changed,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50and all of the cigars and all of the brandy
0:12:50 > 0:12:53can now be heard in the back...of the throat.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57So Michael Caine's voice now, in the Batman movies
0:12:57 > 0:13:00and in Harry Brown...
0:13:00 > 0:13:05I can't go fast because Michael Caine talks very...
0:13:05 > 0:13:08..very...slowly.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10This is how Michael Caine speaks.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Michael Caine speaks through his nose like that.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16He gets very, very specific, it's very like that.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19When it gets loudly, it gets very loud indeed!
0:13:19 > 0:13:21It gets very specific.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24It's not quite nasal enough, the way you're doing it.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26You're not doing it the way he speaks!
0:13:26 > 0:13:31Steve genuinely feels his impressions are better than mine.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33He feels they're more clinical, more accurate.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36He's generous enough to say mine are more entertaining,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39which I think is very big of him.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41He's...
0:13:41 > 0:13:45So he...I think he's being quite sincere in that bit.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48"You're not doing it properly, you're not getting the broken voice."
0:13:48 > 0:13:51And I've since seen Michael Caine in interviews,
0:13:51 > 0:13:53almost quoting what I do in my act,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56because he says, "My voice did used to be higher,
0:13:56 > 0:13:58but now, with all the cigars and the brandy..."
0:13:58 > 0:14:01I go, "Man, that was my line, I used to say that on stage!"
0:14:01 > 0:14:04You know? Amazing!
0:14:04 > 0:14:06A number of people have said to me
0:14:06 > 0:14:09that the specific thing of the impersonations,
0:14:09 > 0:14:12and there's a scene in Cock And Bull Story
0:14:12 > 0:14:15which feels fantastically real, where you needle Steve
0:14:15 > 0:14:18- with impersonations of his impersonations.- Yeah.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22That does go on, doesn't it? Sometimes you do it a bit too much.
0:14:24 > 0:14:29Well...I, erm...
0:14:29 > 0:14:32I wouldn't have said so, you see?
0:14:32 > 0:14:36He might. He might say that.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39He's far more prone to say that I irritate him.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42I think I'm more polite than he is.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47I mean, he can be a very irritating, fluctuating man,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50but my instinct is never to kind of say that, you know.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52But if you're with somebody who is a...
0:14:52 > 0:14:56somebody who is gifted with comedy, as he is,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00to me, it's almost curmudgeonly not to sometimes share that.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03And he will, but a lot of the time he doesn't.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07A lot of the time, he's quite, you know, "s-s-serious."
0:15:07 > 0:15:11And you just think, "Oh, come on," you know.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14I should dominate totally in those things.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17It should be like I'm Gandalf and he's Frodo.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20- "I shall not have the ring." - Very good, Rob.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23- I do Steve as well.- Can we just sort the shoes out first?
0:15:23 > 0:15:25"Can we just sort the shoes out first?
0:15:25 > 0:15:30"I've got a big house in the Hollywood Hills. Look at my pool!"
0:15:30 > 0:15:32That's Alan Partridge. I don't speak like that.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37- "I don't talk that way. Yes, I do!" - Stop it!
0:15:37 > 0:15:41We've talked about the roles where you are apparently Rob Brydon,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44but the other side of it which few actors can do is your vocal abilities.
0:15:44 > 0:15:49I'm thinking about the April Fool on the Ken Bruce Show on the radio.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53And it seems to me that's an extraordinary thing
0:15:53 > 0:15:57that for at least a large part of the show
0:15:57 > 0:15:59we're convinced it's him then it turns out to be you.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02For someone who is so interested in voices, that was kind of
0:16:02 > 0:16:05the ultimate, to actually pass yourself off?
0:16:05 > 0:16:08I loved that, you know.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10I just had the idea of it and said to them,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14"What about April Fool's?" And it's a voice I find I can do.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18I liked it very much, that sort of losing yourself in another character.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22And because you were completely invisible on the radio,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25so the e-mails were coming in saying,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27"What's wrong with you? Are you drunk?"
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Well, a fair number of people realised it was me,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33but I think the casual listener just hearing it in the corner
0:16:33 > 0:16:38"would just hear the voice..." HE MUMBLES LIKE KEN BRUCE
0:16:38 > 0:16:40"Chris Rea, Road to Hell."
0:16:40 > 0:16:42You just kind of accept it's him.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45And, with hindsight, I wish I'd gone further now with it.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48I wish I'd sort of had him having a breakdown or something,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52or saying something, really going a little bit further than I did.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54And this vocal ability,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58this mimicking ability that you have, it is like a musical gift.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02I mean, you couldn't teach someone. It's like a tuning fork...
0:17:02 > 0:17:04You could teach someone to do very broad things.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07You could take the characteristics of a voice or personality
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and teach them to, you know, to do that.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13But in terms of the ear, yes,
0:17:13 > 0:17:18I think it's something that you're born with or you're not worn with.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22And that way in which sometimes Rory Bremner will say, "I just can't get Nick Clegg,"
0:17:22 > 0:17:24are there people who have eluded you?
0:17:24 > 0:17:28Yeah, I mean, the thing is I really only do people -
0:17:28 > 0:17:32I may be protesting too much here - but I really only do people that I like.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36With me, it's always the sincerest form of flattery.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40So, you could list the people that I do
0:17:40 > 0:17:43and it's all people I kind of admire or have affection for.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46- Tom Jones, Ronnie Corbett... - Exactly, yeah.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49There was a period in the early '90s,
0:17:49 > 0:17:54I was working on a radio show on Radio Five called The Treatment, and they would
0:17:54 > 0:17:56give me a cassette of all the politicians
0:17:56 > 0:18:00and I would have to LEARN the voices. I resented that.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03So I used to do terrible impressions on there.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Very generic Peter Mandelson and...
0:18:06 > 0:18:09"Just talking like that, really, you know."
0:18:09 > 0:18:11Someone just said, "Oh, he's quite smooth,"
0:18:11 > 0:18:15and I sort of resented having to learn them.
0:18:15 > 0:18:20And there's a story in the autobiography of a nightmare
0:18:20 > 0:18:23on the Parkinson show where you get -
0:18:23 > 0:18:28it's a very good example of this sort of thing. You get Anthony Hopkins and Tom Jones mixed up.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32Yeah, which never happens to me, that's the thing. I say that...
0:18:32 > 0:18:37It was when I did Parkinson - and it's a big deal cos I grew up...
0:18:37 > 0:18:40I loved chat shows as a kid.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43And I used to love... Parkinson was the sort of high church of it.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46All my heroes were on there.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51So to finally appear on it was overwhelming and I kind of blew it.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54I wasn't good on there.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56I was overwhelmed by it.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00Before the show, he came to the dressing room and said...
0:19:00 > 0:19:02HE MUMBLES LIKE MICHAEL PARKINSON
0:19:02 > 0:19:05He said, "We'll be talking about Wales.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07"Very depressing people, the Welsh, the Celts."
0:19:07 > 0:19:09I said, "Yeah, if you say so."
0:19:09 > 0:19:11"I might talk about that.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14"You do a very good Anthony Hopkins, don't you?" I said, "Yeah."
0:19:14 > 0:19:18He said, "We might do that. Have a good show."
0:19:18 > 0:19:22So, when it came time to do it, I was so scared.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25I'm at the top of the stairs waiting to come on.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28He goes, "..coming from Wales, Rob Brydon!"
0:19:28 > 0:19:30HE HUMS PARKINSON THEME MUSIC
0:19:30 > 0:19:33And you've got to make that horrible entrance.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35I looked like such a turnip.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38I came down the stairs and it's like the Cathedral of Parkinson.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41The audience are so reverential.
0:19:41 > 0:19:42APPLAUSE
0:19:45 > 0:19:48And then he says something which I think is a cue for my impression.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51He says, "Very gloomy people the Welsh, aren't they?"
0:19:51 > 0:19:53I thought, "This is the cue."
0:19:53 > 0:19:56So I said, "Yes. I tell you someone who isn't gloomy,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59"that's Anthony Hopkins." So, then I do my thing.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03Now, what I do when I used to do Anthony Hopkins is I would say,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07"Well, you know, good Lord, I used to drink, not any more.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10"Very dull, very boring, don't like to talk about it.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13"Life's a game really, isn't it? Mustn't take too seriously."
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Which is my take on him.
0:20:15 > 0:20:20And normally when I do that - you did it then - it gets a response.
0:20:20 > 0:20:25And voices are where I'm secure, it's where I feel good.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28This is my area. So I start doing it...
0:20:28 > 0:20:30HE EXHALES
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Nothing. And it really threw me, you know.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37And in my head - this all happens in a nanosecond, right.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39In my head, I'm going, "Oh, my God!"
0:20:39 > 0:20:41Now, in the build-up to doing the show,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44my fear was that I would die on Parkinson.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49We all have this fear to really die on it.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53So I press on and out of nowhere - and I never get voices wrong -
0:20:53 > 0:20:55out of nowhere I do my Tom Jones cough.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00When I do Tom Jones, I always do him going "Huh!" because he's always...
0:21:00 > 0:21:03"You know, the eyes are wide open.
0:21:03 > 0:21:09"I'm sitting in a CHAIR. He'll stress a word that doesn't warrant it.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12"Huh! And then he'll cough.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14"Exactly! Yeah."
0:21:14 > 0:21:17So I do the cough. So in the middle of doing Anthony Hopkins,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19I suddenly coughed for no reason.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23So I went, "Well, I don't like to talk about it,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26"used to drink, very dull, very boring... Huh!"
0:21:26 > 0:21:30And now in my head I'm going, "Woah, what the hell are you doing?
0:21:30 > 0:21:32"What are you doing!?"
0:21:32 > 0:21:34I never get that wrong, that's the thing.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38So, what can I do, what can I do? And then it comes to me.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Do the slurping noise from the Silence of the Lambs.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43Do the...
0:21:43 > 0:21:47It's a crowd-pleaser. Even an idiot can understand that.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50It appeals to everyone. "OK, do that."
0:21:50 > 0:21:52But what I did was this - so I went,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56"Well, you know, I used to drink, not any more, very dull, very boring,
0:21:56 > 0:22:01"don't like to talk about it.. Huh! Ssss..."
0:22:01 > 0:22:04Then in my head I'm going, "What are you doing? You're hissing like a snake!
0:22:04 > 0:22:07"He doesn't hiss like a snake!"
0:22:07 > 0:22:10And it traumatised me. And I just kind of went...
0:22:10 > 0:22:15And he went, "Yeah..." And I just sat there. "Oh, my God!"
0:22:15 > 0:22:19Then the Queen Mother died, so the show was delayed.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23So it went out two weeks later. I spent two weeks thinking,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26"This is it, I'm going to be shown for the fraud that I am."
0:22:26 > 0:22:30And, you know, I literally couldn't eat before it went out.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34That was how nervous I was. And I sat watching it like this.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37And, you know what...it was OK.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40It was just kind of nothing special.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Which, in a way, is the worst thing.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45And you've just written the autobiography
0:22:45 > 0:22:51and that - in general before that - were you prone to self examination,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54either of yourself or with medical professionals?
0:22:54 > 0:22:58Yes, yes. Far more prone to it than you might think.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03I kind of... One thing that slightly irks me about The Trip
0:23:03 > 0:23:06is this image of Steve as the, "Oh..." and me as the, "Ah!"
0:23:06 > 0:23:11I just choose to be "Ah!", you know. I feel I came to success quite late.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13So I really do feel quite genuinely,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16"Wow, isn't this great, aren't I lucky?"
0:23:18 > 0:23:20To compare it with someone like Steve -
0:23:20 > 0:23:23successful in his early 20s, earning a fortune.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28I slogged around through my 20s, doing all sorts of rubbish.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32Always with an eye on what I've ended up doing.
0:23:34 > 0:23:40So I think that informs this seemingly lighter nature.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44But underneath we get into that notorious cliche about comedians,
0:23:44 > 0:23:49this idea that it has to be underpinned by misery or insecurity.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52In your book - I don't know if the publisher was disappointed -
0:23:52 > 0:23:55it's a little short on trauma, your book, isn't it?
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Well...
0:23:57 > 0:24:00I'm on my second marriage.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02My first marriage I have three children from.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06So, you don't have to be a professor of psychology
0:24:06 > 0:24:10to know that that's going to be a traumatic experience.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12I don't talk about it in the book.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16I explain my reasons for not talking about it in the foreword.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20Because I have children. I have children at school age
0:24:20 > 0:24:25and I don't think it would serve any purpose for them
0:24:25 > 0:24:31to see intimate details of their parents' lives in a book, frankly.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34One trauma which you do write about,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37and I think trauma is not too strong a word, is acne.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40- Yeah.- That everyone has that... - There is trauma, Mark. No, seriously,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43I mean, the skin thing is interesting
0:24:43 > 0:24:49because it's only recently that I've been happy to talk about it.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51Because I think I've reached the stage where I go,
0:24:51 > 0:24:54"This is what it is."
0:24:54 > 0:24:57But I had very bad acne as a teenager
0:24:57 > 0:25:00and it left me with scarring, you know.
0:25:01 > 0:25:06When I finally saw a dermatologist in my early 20s, having gone
0:25:06 > 0:25:11through years of antibiotics for it, he said, "Oh, this is chronic acne."
0:25:11 > 0:25:15Because what happens is your family and friends understandably say,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19"Oh, it's not bad," because they can see beyond it, you know.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21But it's...
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Often I find I'm out in the street and I see a kid with bad acne,
0:25:25 > 0:25:27I want to go up to them and say,
0:25:27 > 0:25:29whatever you do, don't touch it.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33But you never do because their parents are probably telling them,
0:25:33 > 0:25:35"Oh, it's not that bad."
0:25:35 > 0:25:37And they'd go, "Oh, really? Is it bad?"
0:25:37 > 0:25:39But I do, I really feel for them.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44I would like to sort of offer them advice and help them.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48And without, well, we are invoking national stereotypes, but there
0:25:48 > 0:25:52are certain aspects of Welshness that are famously remarked on.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54Rugby, chapel-going, singing.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Did you have a bit of all that growing up?
0:25:56 > 0:26:01Not the rugby, I was always terrified of playing rugby.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04The sound of the studs on the boots as they would come out
0:26:04 > 0:26:07from the dressing room along the concrete.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Krk, krk, krk. Oh, God!
0:26:10 > 0:26:14And the boys used to come out with their knees going up.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17I was quite sort of just so and I liked my little...
0:26:18 > 0:26:22And when I would play football I would play it in quite
0:26:22 > 0:26:23an artistic way.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26I would like my friend to tell me where he was going to place it
0:26:26 > 0:26:28and I would dive for it.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31It was like we were acting. Just place it, I'm going to dive.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35So the rugby, I've got into rugby much more later in life.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39The singing, I always loved to sing. Love it, love it, love it.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41- What was the other - chapel?- Chapel.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43We went to church, we weren't chapel.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46But, yeah, we used to go to church every Sunday.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49I went to Sunday school.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52So... That was part of my life,
0:26:52 > 0:26:56but perhaps not in the way one might think of as a Welsh chapel.
0:26:56 > 0:26:57There was none of that.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59There's a particular moment in the book which
0:26:59 > 0:27:03I think Professor Freud would seize on, where you're listening
0:27:03 > 0:27:06to your father on the telephone, your father was a car salesman,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09- and you write about the way in which he would modulate his voice.- Yes.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13He would use different voices. I think that's quite significant, isn't it?
0:27:13 > 0:27:17I honestly hadn't thought of that. I suppose it is...
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Given what I've gone on to do. But I remember, dad was a salesman,
0:27:21 > 0:27:27so I remember him being on the phone and always kind of, you know...
0:27:27 > 0:27:34Normally he'd have a Port Talbot accent but, "Hi, hello, Mr Jenkins.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36"Yeah, we're going to get that sorted out for you."
0:27:36 > 0:27:39It must have gone in.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43I was aware that that voice was slightly different
0:27:43 > 0:27:48to his normal voice, because he was performing in a way. You're selling.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52But I'd never made the correlation of...
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Because, as I say, I think it was just always what I was going to do,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01because I was one of those kids that was always entertaining.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03I say in the book,
0:28:03 > 0:28:07even at church I used to literally hide in the robes of the vicar.
0:28:07 > 0:28:12He used to hide me in his robes in front of the congregation and then I would jump out!
0:28:14 > 0:28:17I was encouraged to do that.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21And the social aspects of it, it's interesting.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25- It was two private schools and then a comprehensive school.- Yeah.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28But then later your father's business went bust.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32Were you sent to a comprehensive because they were short of money?
0:28:32 > 0:28:36No. No, no, no. Interestingly enough, no.
0:28:36 > 0:28:43I'd gone to two private schools and then we moved to Porthcawl,
0:28:43 > 0:28:49which scared me because the school I'd gone to in Swansea was very...
0:28:49 > 0:28:53Was lovely. I say in the book, it was like a gentleman's club.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Lovely teachers, small classes.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00My memory of it is of a caring environment, a lot of love.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03I liked it a lot.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06My image of comprehensive schools was Grange Hill,
0:29:06 > 0:29:11which to me was like Straw Dogs or something.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15I used to watch and go, my God!
0:29:15 > 0:29:16And when I went to the school,
0:29:16 > 0:29:20I vividly remember standing in the playground.
0:29:20 > 0:29:25Somehow I was in the playground when a bell went for break time.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29And all these people, all these kids.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33I say it was like a CGI battle scene from Lord Of The Rings.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36All of these people. I've never seen so many people.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40And of course they are all in their uniforms, they all look kind of the same.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44I thought, "Wow!" It kind of overwhelmed me.
0:29:44 > 0:29:49There were just so many more people. And I didn't settle in there until I found the drama department.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51And then I was away. And then I knew what I wanted to do.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54I'd always known that I wanted to perform,
0:29:54 > 0:30:00but once I got into that environment I thought, "Well, this is me now."
0:30:00 > 0:30:03Whatever I do next, I just want to carry on this feeling
0:30:03 > 0:30:08of rehearsing plays, putting on things.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10I love this, how can I carry this on?
0:30:10 > 0:30:13And that was my thought in going to drama school.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16No great desire to be an actor, really.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19I was just I want to carry on what I enjoy at school.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23In retrospect, one of the key things you did in your childhood
0:30:23 > 0:30:25was a seminal stage production of Star Wars.
0:30:25 > 0:30:30Yes, yes. This was when I was in Dumbarton.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32Star Wars was very popular.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35I say in the book it had caused quite a stir in Swansea,
0:30:35 > 0:30:40almost suggesting that in other places it had failed a little bit.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43Yes, we wrote a stage version of Star Wars.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47We couldn't make an R2D2 because the shape was too difficult,
0:30:47 > 0:30:49so we had a canine from Dr Who.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52I played Luke Skywalker.
0:30:52 > 0:30:58It was... That was my first proper stage appearance
0:30:58 > 0:31:01and also my first stand-up, because before the show
0:31:01 > 0:31:03I went out in front of the curtain
0:31:03 > 0:31:07and did gags from The Two Ronnies joke book.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09So...
0:31:09 > 0:31:13You know, I did the joke about a Swedish woman
0:31:13 > 0:31:18was pulled from the North Sea earlier today by a Scottish trawler boat,
0:31:18 > 0:31:21and she was covered by an old Macintosh.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24Mr Angus McIntosh of Fife, who was delighted.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27That was what I did from the book.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31We talked about the apparent absence of trauma in your childhood,
0:31:31 > 0:31:34but there were a couple of things which passed you by.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38One which was clearly very traumatic for your parents
0:31:38 > 0:31:41- was they lost a child.- Yeah. - Which you were unaware of.
0:31:41 > 0:31:47I must have been aware of it because I was five or six, around that age.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51Yeah, I had a brother and
0:31:51 > 0:31:54I think he was six months old.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58So, you know, at six months - you've got used to this child.
0:31:58 > 0:32:03But I've evidently blocked it out because...
0:32:03 > 0:32:11All I can remember is a very isolated picture of my mother crying on
0:32:11 > 0:32:13the sofa.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16That's the only memory of it.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19And it's only while writing this book that I thought,
0:32:19 > 0:32:25"Hang on, you must have, you know, you must have been aware of it."
0:32:25 > 0:32:28Was he talked about much when you were growing up?
0:32:33 > 0:32:35Well...
0:32:35 > 0:32:37Not excessively, no.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40I don't know how much it would be normal to talk about
0:32:40 > 0:32:42a little brother who died.
0:32:42 > 0:32:43I don't know.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46An interesting thing is my brother, Pete,
0:32:46 > 0:32:48is eight years younger than me.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52So I've always said it's more of a paternal relationship with him
0:32:52 > 0:32:56than fraternal because of the difference.
0:32:56 > 0:33:01But my mum said we've always thought that was because you felt you had to protect him
0:33:01 > 0:33:03because you'd lost this brother.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07- Which makes sense. - That's interesting, isn't it? - Yes, it makes great sense.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11The loss of your father's business, again, you say this is,
0:33:11 > 0:33:14which adolescents often do, you blocked that out pretty much.
0:33:14 > 0:33:15Yeah, to a degree.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19This was when I was doing the school shows, which were my life.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21We would do a big musical every year.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23It might sound silly to people but it was my life.
0:33:23 > 0:33:28We rehearsed this pretty much all year round.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30So, yes, he lost...
0:33:30 > 0:33:33The business went, it was the recession.
0:33:33 > 0:33:38The steel works were on strike in Port Talbot were the garage was.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43Interest rates were 17%. 17%!
0:33:43 > 0:33:46And, like a lot of businesses, it went.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51So we moved back to Baglan, we moved in with my Nan.
0:33:51 > 0:33:56I was aware that can't have been easy for my dad in terms of pride, or for my mother.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58But I think they kind of sheltered me from it.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02I was going to say that. They seem in both cases, both the death of your brother and this,
0:34:02 > 0:34:04they seem to have been very good at not...
0:34:04 > 0:34:10- Yeah.- Transmitting it to you and your brother.- Yeah, yeah. I think so.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13I mean... Certainly the business of my brother.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17The more I think about that, the more peculiar it is. They must have just sheltered me.
0:34:17 > 0:34:22But my mum says that in those days it wasn't like it is now.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25Where you are need counselling because you've tripped on the kerb.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29Let's talk about the kerb and your relation to it.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33Then, she says the attitude was very much, "Oh, well, never mind."
0:34:33 > 0:34:37And that it wasn't... So your question - was it talked about?
0:34:37 > 0:34:41Not like it would be today, I think it's fair to say.
0:34:41 > 0:34:46We've talked about various schools. A famous route into comedy is doing the teachers.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50But given your particular skills in this area, would you do that?
0:34:50 > 0:34:54Yes, yes. I'm terribly predictable in that sense. Yes, I did. I...
0:34:57 > 0:35:00So shoot me, you know!
0:35:02 > 0:35:06Yes, I enjoyed that and I used to do little shows.
0:35:07 > 0:35:12When I was in Dumbarton I would do the teachers. They used to like it.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15That was the thing, I was always encouraged.
0:35:15 > 0:35:19Even by the people I was so cruelly satirising. They were, "Well done!"
0:35:19 > 0:35:20They used to like it.
0:35:20 > 0:35:21Do you remember the teachers?
0:35:21 > 0:35:26- Yes.- I mean in terms of their voices. - I'm not suffering from dementia!
0:35:26 > 0:35:31Oh, their voices. We had a teacher, Mrs Mossford,
0:35:31 > 0:35:33who used to use the headmaster, Mr Thomas,
0:35:33 > 0:35:35as a stick to threaten us with.
0:35:35 > 0:35:40Because she used to find it hard to control the class. She taught us Welsh.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44So she would, if things were getting out of hand, she would say, "He's coming!"
0:35:44 > 0:35:47"Mr Thomas is coming! He's coming!" Very dramatic.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49"I can hear him, he's coming up the stairs!"
0:35:49 > 0:35:55And you would go, "No, he's not. He's never turned up yet." Then of course he would appear.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57Yeah, I used to do all of those.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00You went to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama,
0:36:00 > 0:36:01very impressive sounding.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05- It wasn't Royal when I was there. - Ah.- It's become Royal since then.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08- It was simply Welsh when you went. - Yes, it was.
0:36:08 > 0:36:15- But you then dropped out. Were your parents worried about that?- No, no.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18My parents were always supportive.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20Remarkably so, given that I wasn't doing very well at school.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24But I think they just always had faith in me.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26So I went to the Welsh College of Music and Drama.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28I'd only been there for a year-and-a-half
0:36:28 > 0:36:31when a friend and I had a double act.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34We did a gig, a musical comedy double act,
0:36:34 > 0:36:39we did a gig on Radio Wales on a live show with a live audience.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43I liked it, because I've been interested in radio as a child.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45And...
0:36:45 > 0:36:50They then offered me, firstly filling in for somebody on a quiz show,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53then they offered me this early morning radio show, 6:30am to 7:30am.
0:36:53 > 0:36:59I really didn't think too long about it because it was work,
0:36:59 > 0:37:02and the chance of a job meant money.
0:37:02 > 0:37:03So I left.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08And a lot of the early work, radio and voice-overs,
0:37:08 > 0:37:12were you, because of the skin condition we talked about,
0:37:12 > 0:37:15were you self-conscious about your looks?
0:37:15 > 0:37:19Were you happier as a voice at the time?
0:37:19 > 0:37:24I suppose I was self-conscious, although you might not have known it.
0:37:24 > 0:37:29I think I used to kind of front it out quite well.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31No, it's just that I...
0:37:31 > 0:37:33No, there wasn't a direct link.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37It's just that this opportunity came my way,
0:37:37 > 0:37:39and I had been interested in radio.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42I had been Junior DJ of the Week on our local radio station
0:37:42 > 0:37:45when I was about 13.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49And I was interested in mobile DJs, I was into all that.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55No, I don't think the skin thing was a factor in that.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59And a lot of voice-overs, because of your vocal ability,
0:37:59 > 0:38:01you always did a lot of advertising voice-overs.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03Is that ever a moral decision?
0:38:03 > 0:38:07Do you have to like the toilet cleaner or fizzy drink in question?
0:38:07 > 0:38:12Yes, yes. I have to really believe in that toilet cleaner, Mark. Yes.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15The only things that
0:38:15 > 0:38:18I don't do are
0:38:18 > 0:38:20violent video games.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23The script for a video game is like War And Peace.
0:38:23 > 0:38:27Its massive because you have to have all these options. I did loads!
0:38:27 > 0:38:29And it was about that thick.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32I sat in a booth on my own saying,
0:38:32 > 0:38:36"Behold, the Cursed Casket of Minge."
0:38:36 > 0:38:41But you have to have all the options, so, "Would you like to see the Cursed Casket of Minge?"
0:38:41 > 0:38:45"So, you are not interested in the Cursed Casket of Minge."
0:38:45 > 0:38:51"Oh, look - a casket. I think it's cursed. Could it be full of minge?"
0:38:51 > 0:38:57And it goes on and on and on and on, and I didn't like it.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59Some of the early acting roles,
0:38:59 > 0:39:04Dennis Potter's Cold Lazarus, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07At that stage you were just a jobbing actor.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11- You were taking what there was. - I was hopeless, yeah. And I was bad.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15I was all right in Lock Stock but in my defence,
0:39:15 > 0:39:18for Cold Lazarus I felt I was doing too much.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22And the director, I'm sure he's a fantastic director,
0:39:22 > 0:39:24kept saying, "No, do more."
0:39:24 > 0:39:27It was green screen and I had to look at
0:39:27 > 0:39:30the case around the lens,
0:39:30 > 0:39:32imagining that I could see Diane Ladd.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37I had to look, my head was hovering above a swimming pool in a sphere
0:39:37 > 0:39:39and I have a look at her and look sad as she was telling me off.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42And he said to me, "No, do more." I was going,
0:39:42 > 0:39:44"You don't think it's too big?" "No, do more."
0:39:44 > 0:39:46Yes, ma'am. Too damn right.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49The wilderness!
0:39:50 > 0:39:53And then when I watched it, the thing I always say is
0:39:53 > 0:39:56when I'm doing too much I become Griff Rhys Jones.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59That sort of thing.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02And that's what it was. I saw it and went, "Oh!"
0:40:02 > 0:40:07But then I was stuck in this world of tiny roles.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09I used to say a labrador could play them.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13They were inconsequential roles that never moved your career on.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15No casting director would take me seriously
0:40:15 > 0:40:16as playing a role with an arc to it.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20I was always being offered things prefaced with nerdy.
0:40:20 > 0:40:25So I played a nerdy newsreader in the Russ Abbot sitcom.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28I did all these tiny parts.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32And you become one of those guys, and those guys are out there.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35I feel for them because... Unless they're happy.
0:40:35 > 0:40:40Some actors are happy with that but I really wanted to be at the front.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42I was so desperate to get to the front.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45People who have turned out to have been a late starter,
0:40:45 > 0:40:49as you did in this respect, they very often say,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52"I always knew it would work, the moment would come."
0:40:52 > 0:40:56- But can you say that?- Mostly, but I did begin to falter.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58I did begin to falter.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02I did start to think, just before it happened,
0:41:02 > 0:41:04OK, I'm going to be a voice...
0:41:04 > 0:41:08If you do many voice-overs, you do pretty well.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10You've got a nice life, you go skiing,
0:41:10 > 0:41:13you go on your summer holiday, nice couple of cars, nice house.
0:41:13 > 0:41:18And I thought, this is it, this is me, this is what I'm going to do,
0:41:18 > 0:41:22and I'll probably end up working on Radio Reading or something.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24There are worse things in life.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26Then I ended up getting a part in
0:41:26 > 0:41:30Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, which I almost turned down.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33Thank God I didn't, but I almost turned it down because the casting
0:41:33 > 0:41:37director phoned me directly and said, "Rob, how're you doing, I've got this thing.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40"It's a nerdy traffic warden."
0:41:40 > 0:41:46I can remember being in my kitchen and going, "Oh, God."
0:41:46 > 0:41:49I was all ready to say, "No, thanks." I thought, what's the point?
0:41:49 > 0:41:52It's not going to further my career.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55Maybe it's because she said it was a film.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57I thought, right, OK.
0:41:57 > 0:42:02She said, you go along to Ealing Studios and meet this director, he's called Guy Ritchie.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06OK, fine. So I went. And sat there, met Guy.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10The funny thing was I read it and he said,
0:42:10 > 0:42:13"Anybody can play the part, it wasn't difficult."
0:42:13 > 0:42:15At the end he said, "Of course you can do it."
0:42:15 > 0:42:20He told me when it was filming, which often indicates you've got the role. Not always, but often.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24And then I started telling him the story of when I'd been on First Night.
0:42:24 > 0:42:29This big film, Sean Connery, Richard Gere. Tiny role in it.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33And I'd had an experience there, because Martina, my then wife,
0:42:33 > 0:42:35was pregnant with our first child, Katie.
0:42:35 > 0:42:41And... the due date was coming but they wanted us villagers,
0:42:41 > 0:42:43I played First Villager, this tiny part,
0:42:43 > 0:42:46they needed us for longer on this big American movie.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50But I said, I can't do it because I've got the baby coming and I want to be at home.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53So one day the producer, a guy called Hunt Lowry, came out and said,
0:42:53 > 0:42:57"OK, where's the expectant father?" And I'm dressed like a peasant,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00so the status was just amplified beyond belief.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03I said, "Me." "OK, let's walk."
0:43:03 > 0:43:07He said, "Listen, I understand how you feel, I know the situation, I'm a father myself.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11Here's what we'll do. We'll get your wife here, give her a trailer,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14Anything happens, we take you to the hospital."
0:43:14 > 0:43:15"Second option."
0:43:15 > 0:43:18"We get a nurse to your house, the minute anything happens
0:43:18 > 0:43:20"she gets in the car, you get in the car,
0:43:20 > 0:43:22"you go to the hospital."
0:43:22 > 0:43:25Well, you know, I just, I'd rather be at home.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29I didn't know how films worked. I wouldn't think of doing that now.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31Then he turned and kind of went,
0:43:31 > 0:43:35"If I knew you'd behave like this you'd have never got the job."
0:43:35 > 0:43:36And off he went.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38And I started telling Guy this story,
0:43:38 > 0:43:43not realising that it didn't paint me as the best potential employee.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46So I went away and then heard nothing. I thought, I didn't get it.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50What had happened, I think the finance had fallen through
0:43:50 > 0:43:52so eventually I got the job and I did it.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55And when it came out, the film, it was a big hit and,
0:43:55 > 0:44:00lo and behold, I got mentioned in a review in Empire magazine.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03I was a big film fan then and used to read Empire every month,
0:44:03 > 0:44:05and they mentioned my name.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07I couldn't believe it because it was a small part.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11They said an extremely unlucky traffic warden, Robert Brydon.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14And my kind of opportunistic side went, "Right,
0:44:14 > 0:44:16"this is some kind of leverage.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18"I must be able to use this."
0:44:18 > 0:44:19You've got a ticket already,
0:44:19 > 0:44:22and if you don't move it, we will move it for you.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26- I'll only be a minute. - You've already been 15.- Look...
0:44:26 > 0:44:30- Come and have a look.- At what exactly?- Well, the van's half full.
0:44:30 > 0:44:36- So?- So, all I've got to do is fill it up, put you in it.- What?
0:44:38 > 0:44:42Let's talk about Marion and Geoff, in which you played Keith Barrett.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45Keith had come out of the radio show.
0:44:45 > 0:44:51Keith, I'd done a version of Keith at college but properly on the radio.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54I did a show called Rave, with Alan Thompson.
0:44:54 > 0:44:59Keith in those days was part of a double act called Tony and Keith.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02He was married to Marion
0:45:02 > 0:45:05but in that version of it Marion
0:45:05 > 0:45:08was having an affair with Tony while Keith drove his taxi.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12And he had a very high-pitched sort of cartoon voice really,
0:45:12 > 0:45:14but he was still that same sort of, very trusting, bloke.
0:45:14 > 0:45:19He'd come home and find Tony coming down the stairs red-faced, you know.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22Ha ha ha. "Oh, what are you doing here?"
0:45:22 > 0:45:26"I've just been helping put a cupboard up, don't worry." "Oh, lovely, lovely."
0:45:26 > 0:45:29Do you remember a thing called Video Nation,
0:45:29 > 0:45:32where people could have a camera and film themselves?
0:45:32 > 0:45:35I'd used that device in the little demo that I made.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37It was the camera on the dashboard.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40It's never explained why he's doing this.
0:45:40 > 0:45:42He's just keeping a record.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45I've just been to see Mr Redford, the solicitor.
0:45:45 > 0:45:50He wanted me to go in because he wants to get a fuller picture of the marriage.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53So I took him some photos. Some lovely ones.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57But...
0:45:57 > 0:46:00He said no.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05He said, "Do you know what I want to know, Keith, is...
0:46:05 > 0:46:09..when you first knew, you know, that your wife was having an affair?"
0:46:12 > 0:46:15Fair enough, that's his job.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19But I showed him the photos anyway because I think they are lovely.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23The breakthrough, looking back, was Human Remains in the year 2000.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27In various ways because you wrote it with Julia Davis.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31It was a very dark comedy, which a lot of the stuff you've gone on to do has been.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33And also you were able to show range
0:46:33 > 0:46:38because you played a different role each time.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41So in that way, looking back it was the perfect showcase
0:46:41 > 0:46:42for what you can do.
0:46:42 > 0:46:47Oh, yeah. The thing with Human Remains is, both of us,
0:46:47 > 0:46:52Julie and I, were so desperate to prove ourselves.
0:46:52 > 0:46:57Because we were getting on and people were having success.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00The fair was moving on and we were kind of going,
0:47:00 > 0:47:03"Woah, hang on, we are meant to be on that, hang on!"
0:47:03 > 0:47:07So there was such a lot of stuff wanting to get out.
0:47:07 > 0:47:12And when we started improvising those characters, it just poured out.
0:47:12 > 0:47:17I was so keen to say, "Look what I can do."
0:47:17 > 0:47:19I've never felt that since.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23And in both Marion and Geoff
0:47:23 > 0:47:27and Human Remains, they got on early to that,
0:47:27 > 0:47:28a lot of people do now,
0:47:28 > 0:47:33but the reality TV, the real people talking to camera.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36Well, Human Remains, we actually...
0:47:36 > 0:47:41At the 11th hour Julia and I kind of wobbled a bit and thought,
0:47:41 > 0:47:44let's not make a mock documentary, there are too many of them.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47Because People Like Us was a hit and we thought,
0:47:47 > 0:47:49we've seen enough of this.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53I remember hearing that The Office was being made and thinking,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56"It's too late for that - another mock documentary?"
0:47:56 > 0:47:58I thought we were a bit late to the party
0:47:58 > 0:48:02but it goes to show, it isn't what you do, it's how you do it.
0:48:02 > 0:48:07Yes, they were reflective of that trend, yeah.
0:48:07 > 0:48:12You know, the first time we made love would have been...
0:48:12 > 0:48:16- It was at King Carver.- We didn't make love in the King Carver.
0:48:16 > 0:48:17No, smashing.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21It was £6.50 all-you-can-eat and an all-night happy hour.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25It was a happy night. We really did gorge ourselves, didn't we?
0:48:25 > 0:48:30Oh, yeah. That night in a way set the template for our relationship.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34- It was like a feast. - We've gorged ourselves ever since.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38I think it just shows that we both had appetites. Yeah, yeah.
0:48:38 > 0:48:40Yeah.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43Gavin & Stacey, there's this pattern of working with people
0:48:43 > 0:48:46you've been in educational situations with like Ruth Jones.
0:48:46 > 0:48:50She was at Porthcawl Comprehensive when I was doing the musicals.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54I was Sky in Guys and Dolls, she was Miss Adelaide.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58She was Carrie in Carousel and I was Billy.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01She did Nighty Night with Julia.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04And then she and James...
0:49:04 > 0:49:10James Cordon, at the time, he had been in History Boys.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14In fact, you met him in Australia where he was touring History Boys.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17But he was not very well known.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20This was quite a gamble, this show.
0:49:20 > 0:49:25Yeah, but James is quite a talent. He really is.
0:49:25 > 0:49:30You don't have to worry about James. I met him on Cruise Of The Gods.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33I played this actor who goes on this fan cruise,
0:49:33 > 0:49:35very down on his luck actor,
0:49:35 > 0:49:37he had been a big star.
0:49:37 > 0:49:44And James plays the fan who turns out to be the son I didn't know I had.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47And I vividly remember being in this cabin,
0:49:47 > 0:49:50shooting the scene I think where he tells me.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53We were doing this scene right up close to each other,
0:49:53 > 0:49:55and I remember going, "God, he's good.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58"I'd better pull my socks up."
0:49:58 > 0:50:00So, are you a fan of the show?
0:50:02 > 0:50:04No. It's just all I had of you.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07Mum wouldn't let me call you.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10So you're not a fan of the show?
0:50:10 > 0:50:12No, it's rubbish.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16Oh, thank God for that.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21- The parts are incredibly stretched. - Tell me about it.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24The characters never did really develop.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27- They were two-dimensional. - Absolutely.- Sub-standard acting.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29Could only work with the material we got.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32And I also remember him one night,
0:50:32 > 0:50:36we were walking back from a taverna, we were filming in a beach resort,
0:50:36 > 0:50:39and him saying to me, "I really want to write, but I just,
0:50:39 > 0:50:42"I've got this idea but I just don't know how to go about it."
0:50:42 > 0:50:47And I said, "Well, just get on with it, just do it," and he did.
0:50:47 > 0:50:52Bryn in Gavin and Stacey is probably where the Welshness most comes out.
0:50:52 > 0:50:57In Bryn, you're drawing on people and atmospheres from growing up in Wales.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01Well, Bryn is not written by me. That's the thing always to remember with Bryn.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05Bryn is written by Ruth and James, but they wrote it with me in mind,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08and he's not a million miles away from Keith Barrett,
0:51:08 > 0:51:12who I did write, with Hugo Blick, in Marion And Geoff.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15Um... It's a similar, kind of...
0:51:15 > 0:51:19There's a naivete and seeing the best in the world, you know.
0:51:19 > 0:51:23What I like about Bryn is the other side of him as well, the tetchiness.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25I love playing that.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27When he would lose his temper with people.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31Look! No-one is going to ruin this surprise, all right?
0:51:31 > 0:51:34Bryn, you've got to calm down, mate, you'll have a heart attack!
0:51:34 > 0:51:38- Ted, what the hell are you doing? Get inside!- Sorry I'm late.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40Right!
0:51:40 > 0:51:44If anyone is expecting friends, would you please phone them and explain...
0:51:44 > 0:51:45MOBILE PHONE BLEEPS
0:51:45 > 0:51:49They closed Plassey Street, there's no diversion. I was bursting for the loo...
0:51:49 > 0:51:52- Oh, my lord, they're here.- I mean... - Right, Ted, shush, please.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55Everybody, into position. Doris, lights. Band, stage.
0:51:55 > 0:51:56Ted, please be quiet!
0:51:56 > 0:52:00TED CHATTERS ON Everybody stand still.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03Nobody make a sound. TED, SHUT UP!
0:52:03 > 0:52:07I think he's wonderfully well-written and rang very true with me,
0:52:07 > 0:52:11types of Welsh men that I knew, that kind of retired man,
0:52:11 > 0:52:15and I wanted him to wear these light-coloured clothes, that was very important,
0:52:15 > 0:52:19because you see those people, and they can wear those light-coloured clothes,
0:52:19 > 0:52:22because they're not, at any point during the day, going to get them dirty.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25And I was fascinated by that, the light shoes, the light trousers.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28And because of your vocal abilities we talked about,
0:52:28 > 0:52:32do you, in approaching a role, whether you've written it or not,
0:52:32 > 0:52:35do you have to get the voice right first?
0:52:35 > 0:52:38It's usually the way in, yeah.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40And Uncle Bryn, it's heightened.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44My voice becomes heightened, but it's essentially...
0:52:44 > 0:52:45My voice is this.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48HIGHER PITCH: Bryn would be a bit more like this. I'll tell you for why.
0:52:48 > 0:52:53I will just make it a little bit more singsong and a bit more dramatic.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57- Look, are you Mrs West?- Who she is, my boy, is no concern of yours.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01- What's he selling? It's not Kleeneze, because he hasn't got a badge.- Nessa, please...
0:53:01 > 0:53:05You got her name quick! That's how they work, you see, Bryn, these Jehovahs.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08Oh, well, let's have a coffee and celebrate Christmas! Listen.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12This household has been vulnerable since the death of my brother, rest his soul.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14But you'll have no joy here, so move on.
0:53:14 > 0:53:19And don't even think about trying Doris or the Howells' next door, because they're Catholic.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22In fact, you could probably miss the next eight houses on this side.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25- Now, Gwen, who's at number 15? - That new couple.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28We don't know them. Give them a try, chance your arm. Who knows?
0:53:28 > 0:53:31And bringing this round full circle, really,
0:53:31 > 0:53:35a lot of the work you now do is in various ways under your own name,
0:53:35 > 0:53:38playing a version of yourself in The Trip, or Rob Brydon Show.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42But you'd like to get back to immersive character acting?
0:53:42 > 0:53:47Yeah, I would. The thing is, I mean, I do so many different things.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51I host a panel show on BBC One, so obviously, you know,
0:53:51 > 0:53:54I'm having my moment in the sun, and the thing is,
0:53:54 > 0:53:58I like all those different things.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01I'm not dismissive of panel shows when they're good.
0:54:01 > 0:54:06I think Would I Lie To You? is very good, very funny, very entertaining.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09I used to put on a different voice on the telephone
0:54:09 > 0:54:12and pretend to be my own agent.
0:54:12 > 0:54:17- Oh! Let's have it, then.- The voice? - Imagine I've just rung up. Hello.
0:54:17 > 0:54:22I'm the people that want to book Rob Brydon. How much would he cost?
0:54:22 > 0:54:24I used to call him Richard Knight.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26IN DEEP VOICE: Richard talked like this.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29He'd say, "Listen, love to help you out,
0:54:29 > 0:54:32"but at that price, we're really not going to make much movement."
0:54:32 > 0:54:35And I once did a charity gig...
0:54:35 > 0:54:37It's a lie.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39He's never done charity gigs!
0:54:39 > 0:54:43And I currently host a chat show on BBC Two.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47And I'm trying to make the kind of chat show I would like to watch,
0:54:47 > 0:54:52which is one that has talented people doing things that you, the viewer, can't do.
0:54:52 > 0:54:57Um... But I'm aware that in doing all these different things,
0:54:57 > 0:55:02you can't have your cake and eat it, you can't also be seen
0:55:02 > 0:55:04as a great actor.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08But I made a very conscious decision about four years ago,
0:55:08 > 0:55:12just do the things that you enjoy, that you like, and try and be good at them.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15My daughter...
0:55:15 > 0:55:18AS RONNIE CORBETT: My daughter.
0:55:18 > 0:55:19Tiffany Bianca...
0:55:19 > 0:55:21Tiffany Bianca.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24RONNIE LAUGHS, ROB IMPERSONATES THE LAUGH
0:55:24 > 0:55:26..came home with a fellow the other night.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28Came home with a fellow...
0:55:28 > 0:55:30From a different planet.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33From a different planet.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36He was half man and half sofa.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38He was...
0:55:38 > 0:55:41There's a lot of talk at the moment because of it being a recession
0:55:41 > 0:55:46about the people say inflated fees paid to TV and showbiz talent.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50Do you ever feel any guilt about that?
0:55:50 > 0:55:51No.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56No, because I feel...
0:55:57 > 0:56:00Well, I'm not, let's be quite clear,
0:56:00 > 0:56:03you'll notice my name is never in those lists.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05I am not in that league.
0:56:05 > 0:56:11I do a hell of a lot of work, and as a result I do all right,
0:56:11 > 0:56:13you know, financially, but I do a lot.
0:56:13 > 0:56:17I'm pretty much always working, really, one way or another.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24I mean, if you get into that, do you feel guilty, I mean...
0:56:24 > 0:56:29I kind of operate in the system that we have and the world that we have,
0:56:29 > 0:56:30and I...kind of...
0:56:30 > 0:56:33in my own conscience,
0:56:33 > 0:56:39in the amount I try to do to help other people and encourage other people, no.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41I always say, well,
0:56:41 > 0:56:44when people do criticise that, I say,
0:56:44 > 0:56:48look, that is the system that we're living in, go and give it a go.
0:56:48 > 0:56:52Many of the people we grew up watching on TV and in showbiz have vanished,
0:56:52 > 0:56:55or occasionally you'll see them in a touring production in Harrogate,
0:56:55 > 0:56:59- and people have to accept that in show business.- Terrifying.
0:56:59 > 0:57:04Do you make psychological and financial preparation against that day happening?
0:57:06 > 0:57:11Yeah, yeah, I'm very aware of it. Very aware of it.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15You know if you ever look at an old Radio Times from the '70s,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18and you see a name.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21Oh my god, they were huge!
0:57:21 > 0:57:25And that's really... that's very worrying, yeah.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29I've made a real effort to have eggs in a lot of different baskets,
0:57:29 > 0:57:33some of those baskets hidden out of sight, not in a Ken Dodd way.
0:57:33 > 0:57:37But it's such a bizarre business, though, Mark, isn't it, anyway,
0:57:37 > 0:57:42because, you know, it's like when you look at viewing figures,
0:57:42 > 0:57:44you have no idea how many people are going to watch.
0:57:44 > 0:57:49It's frightening. You try not to think about that, really, you know.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51In a way, it brings it back to the Twitter thing.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55In a silly way, there you're just communicating, you're just entertaining people.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59You put a funny photograph on or some witticism or whatever,
0:57:59 > 0:58:02and you're cutting everybody else out.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04Rob Brydon, thank you very much.
0:58:04 > 0:58:05Thank you.
0:58:19 > 0:58:21Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:21 > 0:58:23E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk