I saw Gambon in the theatre a few times (memorably in A Number, Volpone etc) but the 1st time I saw him on stage was at @thesjt in Scarborough c.1990, in Ayckbourn’s Taking Steps & also playing the title role in Othello (with Ken Stott & Claire Skinner.) RIP Michael Gambon.

So sad to read this news today. Anita Carey obituary theguardian.com/tv-and-radio…

Watching “Blur at the BBC” on TV and remembering my own ‘brush with Blur’ - I was at the @NationalTheatre with @emallery in 1997, and Damon Albarn asked me, “Do you have a light?” during the interval of “Closer.” (I didn’t.) #blurnight

Wonder if there will be any songs from Blood Brothers in this section… #Eurovision

For some reason, the staging of the Australia entry puts me in mind of that Cate Blanchett/Martin Crimp play at the NT a few years ago. #nichetweet #Eurovision

The Spain entry feels like it has been lifted from a rock opera of The House of Bernada Alba #eurovision #Eurovision2023

Call me a Eurovision purist, but I’d like more taffeta and less singing about body bags #Eurovision #Eurovision2023

Justin Welby sounds disconcertingly like Michael Whitehall.

Wondering if I somehow have a 2nd job (that I do whilst being unaware of it) booking the guests on Pointless Celebrities. Tonight’s guests include Beverley Craven, Patti Boulaye & @dannycare - which is spookily the kind of line-up I would come up with. #pointlesscelebrities

I’m watching the Olivier Awards red carpet (green carpet?) footage on TikTok* and all I can say is if Hannah Lowther tries to make Janet McTeer play that “buzz wire” game I will not be responsible for my actions. *first time for everything #OlivierAwards

Shocked to wake up to the sad news about Paul O’Grady. Lily Savage was a brilliant & hilarious comic creation, and PoG brought wit and warmth to everything he did - radio, panto, prime-time TV, musicals… And his autobiographies are wonderful. Such a loss.

In Adelaide, for festival season (was last here in 2008.) Went to a couple of interesting Writers’ Week interviews today as part of the @adelaidefest - one with David Hare and the other with Esther Freud. Also shared a hotel elevator (and weather small-talk) with Billy Bragg.

Overheard in hotel reception, New Zealand: GUEST: A loud siren outside woke us up at 6am - we wondered what it was…? RECEPTIONIST: Ah, that was the call out siren for the volunteer fire service. GUEST: Hmm. Have they thought about setting up a WhatsApp group instead?

One of the highlights of today’s visit to the Christchurch Art Gallery was watching a gallery employee explaining to two boys (around 10 years old) what the artist’s intentions were when creating these… provocative… works of art.

Oh Lord, I just heard someone say “shag” on #TheArchers

Just spat out my tea whilst laughing at this.

All I’ll say about #thatsmyjam is: it’s surely unusual for a BBC1 Saturday night prime time TV show to have ‘celebrity guests’ who are exclusively from US TV shows (or who live in the US.) Is it actually recorded in LA…? I miss Blankety Blank, with Su Pollard/Gayle Tuesday &c.

To be fair, the article itself does refer to “casting directors” but nonetheless here we are again, in 2023, and the meaningless term “casting agents” has made another unwelcome appearance in today’s @guardian (It’s an interesting read, though.)