Ephraim Hardcastle
SARAH Sands’ frustration at draconian BBC editorial cuts prompts her surprise resignation as editor of Radio 4’s Today programme. Sarah bridled at plans to switch control from programme editors to centralised news executives. Says one source: ‘She also couldn’t understand why the likes of semi-retired Jim Naughtie was being retained on a substantial salary while foot soldiers crucial to the success of Today were threatened with redundancy.’ Surely a damehood beckons for taking one for the team?
SHARP elbows at Broadcasting House jostle to replace Miss Sands, with BBC media editor Amol Rajan already a frontrunner. At 36, he may be deemed too young. On the other hand, his Question Time rant calling Donald Trump a ‘psychopath’ and ‘a lying, racist, sexist bully’ might make him a likely candidate!
HOW will Kate deal with Bafta’s exhortation to turn up at Sunday’s awards in pre-worn clobber? The Duchess of Cambridge is not averse to recycling her attire. Perhaps she could remove the mothballs from the lilac Alexander McQueen number, pictured, that she wore to a Bafta dinner in Los Angeles shortly after she wed William in 2011?
WEEKS before Alastair Stewart’s Shakespearean ‘angry ape’ tweet, he was asked by John Humphrys on Celebrity Mastermind about the future of news bulletins. ‘In all seriousness,’ he replied, ‘I think the advent of social media has really put us on the spot.’ Should a Mystic Meg vacancy occur, Alastair, we’ll let you know!
COOKERY writer Elisabeth Luard recalls her late husband Nicholas, producer of the film The Keeler Affair, accompanying Christine to Cannes to promote it. ‘Nicholas had shared a double room with Miss Keeler,’ Elisabeth tells The Oldie. ‘Double rooms were essential, he assured me soothingly, for reasons of economy.’
KATHERINE Parkinson plays Barbara Good in a forthcoming stage version of The Good Life. In the TV series daffy Barbara was played by Felicity Kendal, who was repeatedly voted Rear Of The Year. In this MeToo era, the accolade is unlikely to be awarded to Doc Martin star Katherine.
SAMANTHA Markle joins the feeding frenzy surrounding her half-sister Meghan by urging her to apologise to their father Thomas, adding: ‘Parents don’t expect to be paid back but they expect a little bit of gratitude... without him she would be a waitress at best.’ And without her, Samantha, where would you be?
MARY Beard is filmed naked for her new BBC2 show, The Shock Of The Nude, with her long grey hair protecting her modesty. What’s the Latin for ‘get your kit off’? (Tuum ornamentum ut off.)