Jeremy Corbyn Labour
Hancock was a comic genius
What are your earliest TV memories?
We lived in a little village until 1956-1957. There was only one TV and I think the family wished they’d never got it because all the children used to go round to watch it. My mother had a very strict rule that when we did have a TV it had to be switched off by 7.30pm to do our homework. TV started at about 4.00pm back then, but she relented and let us watch [BBC sci-fi series] Quatermass and the Pit – it was really good. I also watched the World Cup final in 1966 on a black-and-white TV.
As a kid I liked watching the police drama series Z-cars, set in Liverpool. Director Ken Loach worked on it, although I didn’t know that until much later.
Do you watch any of the soaps?
I watch Eastenders on catch-up. They have some brilliant plot lines,
like the one recently when Denise had to visit a food bank for the first time – it was very moving. I also enjoy Hollyoaks and Holby City.
What’s your all-time favourite TV show and why?
As a kid I enjoyed Hancock’s Half Hour. Hancock was a comic genius. A lot of BBC4 documentaries are excellent, but there are too many Top of the Pops replays. Historian Lucy Worsley is very good and I watch Monty Don sometimes. I look at a bit of all the main news channels. The funniest TV show was Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Which political comedies or dramas do you enjoy?
Yes, Minister is a British classic. I’ve seen some of House of Cards and enjoyed it – very gripping!
Would you follow ed Balls onto Strictly Come Dancing?
No – I don’t think anyone wants to see that!