Mark Lawson - A New King of Talk-Shows?

Overstating things a little, perhaps, but I find ‘Mark Lawson Talks to …’ on BBC4 a most refreshing departure from what has become the standard talk show format. The title says it all really. Does what it says on the can, as they say. No fuss, no gimmicks, no audience even - just two people, in a studio - talking.

Whereas most talk show interviews are considered long or ‘in-depth’ if they last longer than ten minutes, Lawson has an hour with his subject so the conversation can be allowed to develop. While conversing at such length may be beyond many of our modern celebrities, most, if not all of Lawson’s interviewees have performed well. They appear relaxed and articulate. The programme does not fall into the trap of giving people an opportunity to ‘plug’ their latest product, and this further adds to the relaxed atmosphere. Often, as in the case of Lawson’s latest guest, Melvyn Bragg, the discussion covers a whole career, whole life even.

The Bragg interview (repeated Friday October 3rd, 2.45 am! Set the Sky+) was particularly intense as he described particularly painful periods of his life - his difficulty in accepting the return of his father after the war, his teenage depression, the suicide of his first wife. Echoes of previous discussion programmes such as the famous Face to Face (ickledot is too young to remember the original broadcasts of this series) perhaps, but here the interviewee has freedom to reveal their innermost thought or not.

Mark Lawson has often criticised those who look upon television of the sixties and seventies as being a golden era, his implication being that there are programmes of quality (whatever that is) around today. His brand of ‘talk-show’ amply illustrates his point. Hope it sticks around for a while to come.