Brass Eye at 25

[lauraxsynthesis]

Chortle is doing some content on this:

https://www.chortle.co.uk/video/2022/01/28/50067/brass-eye-at-25-what-did-the-first-viewers-think

https://www.chortle.co.uk/interviews/2022/01/28/50068/chris-morris-hes-the-nicest-guy-ever

[Janie Jones]

Front Row on BBC radio 4 in 10 minutes (or on catch-up) is covering this.

[AzureSky]

Just watching Animals again after a very long time. At 12.5 mins in Morris says 'So far, do we have it right or wrong?'and next to him is a black and white photo I've always thought looked weird, a stag with a massive mouth wide open, but I've just paused it and noticed the dogs and bloke in the background which makes it a lot more disturbing. Anyone know the origin of this? Surely not real?

[AzureSky]

Does anyone have Torque TV (BE pilot)? I have it on 'SVCD' but it doesn't work on my Blu-ray player. I remember it having a thing on spiders.

[McChesney Duntz]

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2yapo6

[Virgo76]

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/brass_eye/features/brass-eye-at-25/

[lb99]

Does anyone have Torque TV (BE pilot)? I have it on 'SVCD' but it doesn't work on my Blu-ray player. I remember it having a thing on spiders.

Just realised that Torque TV is a pun. Or is it supposed to be? Feels like it is.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/brass_eye/features/brass-eye-at-25/

heeeey they said our name

[Retinend]

Great article from Chris Hallam - take a bow if you're lurking, Chris!

Reading it reminded me of how much the celebs involved were humiliated.... But also, conversely, how little damage Brass Eye did to Jeremy Paxman. Quite the opposite, in fact - to my generation he is seen as the coolest man in news media, and in no small part due to how Morris parodied him, in tandem with the much-clipped "did you threaten to overrule him?" interview with Michael Howard.

 How much was Morris doing an affectionate parody in Brass Eye, and how much was he aiming for a mockery? Because I would say if he was going for mockery, it backfired.

Bonus musing: who fucking cares if Michael Howard threatened to overrule one of his MPs? Why is that clip so famous? Just because it's a major politician getting flustered and the other guy acting totally aloof, when it was previously expected for news broadcasters to act with deference towards such men?

[neveragain]

That article falls into the Famous Brass Eye Bill Bailey Trap (saying that musical comic Bill Bailey appeared when it was actually an American actor with the same name.)

[Retinend]

I missed the error - what was the mix-up?

[Magnum Valentino]

That article falls into the Famous Brass Eye Bill Bailey Trap (saying that musical comic Bill Bailey appeared when it was actually an American actor with the same name.)

There's also a footnote at the very end stating the DVD was slow to be released and didn't come out until 2007, which is bollocks. He even links to an article clearly stating a 2002 release date.

That and the Bill Bailey ignorance really let that article down.

[Retinend]

and we wonder why more freelance feature writers don't post here...

[Petey Pate]

Bonus musing: who fucking cares if Michael Howard threatened to overrule one of his MPs? Why is that clip so famous? Just because it's a major politician getting flustered and the other guy acting totally aloof, when it was previously expected for news broadcasters to act with deference towards such men?

I think it's because Howard is so clearly avoiding answering a simple yes or no question - but you're right that it's not that remarkable in the context of BBC news journalism. You could even argue that it helped demonstrate to politicians that you could avoid answering a journalist's questions and face no real consequences. 

[Egyptian Feast]

lol, they spelt Bananacunt's name wrong.

[Menu]

I think it's because Howard is so clearly avoiding answering a simple yes or no question - but you're right that it's not that remarkable in the context of BBC news journalism. You could even argue that it helped demonstrate to politicians that you could avoid answering a journalist's questions and face no real consequences. 

Exactly. It's textbook how not to be a politician. I think it was the Head of the Prison Service that he threatened to overrule about something that nobody cared about after about an hour. To Howard's credit he said in his memoirs that he should have just said that yes he had threatened to overrule him - which is right because that clip now almost defines his entire career. The other extreme is someone like Johnson or Trump who just lie about everything, again and again. Howard was trying not to lie(which is a good thing) but it just made him look weaselly. He should have answered truthfully or simply explained why the issue was sensitive.

I think Paxman said later that another reason why he kept repeating the question was because the producer was in his ear saying that the VT for the next bit was broken or something, and he didn't have any more questions prepared.

[Virgo76]

I think Paxman said later that another reason why he kept repeating the question was because the producer was in his ear saying that the VT for the next bit was broken or something, and he didn't have any more questions prepared.

That bit is a myth.
In his memoirs, Paxman says Howard could have defused it by saying "it was a long time ago now. I'll take another look at the papers and get back to you" or something. Howard was reportedly furious afterwards.

[Menu]

That bit is a myth.
In his memoirs, Paxman says Howard could have defused it by saying "it was a long time ago now. I'll take another look at the papers and get back to you" or something.

Yes exactly. A weird rhetorical hill to die on. TBF he'd probably been up for 20 hours and was mentally exhausted.

I hope so, anyway.

[Virgo76]

lol, they spelt Bananacunt's name wrong.

Eh?

[Egyptian Feast]

Eh?

Apologies for any confusion. Bananacunt is occasionally used as a nickname for the Father Ted (disputed) and IT Crowd writer referred to in the article as Graham Lineham. He earned this sobriquet through being a cunt who has gone bananas.