Rev Richard: I got ticked off for unholy language on TV
THE Reverend Richard Coles says he was once reprimanded by the church after letting out a “bad word” on the panel show Have I Got News For You.
The broadcaster, who didn’t reveal the offending phrase, is trying his hand at comedy for Stand Up And Deliver, a two-part series on Channel 4 in support of Stand Up To Cancer.
The former member of the band The Communards, said he would avoid foul language in his routines or risk disciplinary action, according to the Clergy Discipline Measure.
Speaking to Radio Times, Richard, 58, said: “I could be done under the terms of the clergy discipline measure.
“I once let out a bad word on Have I Got News For You. When I opened my email the next day, the first thing I saw was ‘Lambeth Palace complaint’. I’ve been a bit wary since.”
Richard’s sister-in-law died last year
after contracting Covid-19 during treatment for cancer and in 2019 his civil partner, David Coles, who was also a priest, died after a long illness.
Richard said he was comfortable laughing when faced with an event such as the death of a loved one.
Explaining his reasons for joining the stand-up show, he said: “Well, as a vicar, of course I spend a lot of my time laughing in the face of death. It comes with the territory, and dark humour is good and cool.
“Also my sister-in-law died of cancer, and Covid, in the middle of all this...so being involved with Stand Up To Cancer is obviously a good thing.”
He added: “David’s dying was actually full of comedy, which made me and him laugh when he was in a fit state to appreciate what was going on.
“Medics, undertakers and clergy have a black sense of humour, but I’m not sure it’s something for public consumption.”
Richard has been paired with established comedian David Baddiel, who is mentoring and training him ahead of a special performance.
The five amateurs on the Channel 4 series include soap star Katie McGlynn and reality TV personality Curtis Pritchard.
The full interview is in Radio Times magazine, out now.
ACTOR James Nesbitt says he is a bit miffed that Line of Duty bosses failed to pick him for a part in the show.
The Cold Feet star, 56, bumped into the series creator Jed Mercurio at a party in London and confronted him about the lack of a role in the hit drama.
James, who still spends part of his time in his native Northern Ireland where the series is often filmed, recalled: “I said, ‘Come on, Jed, when are we going to get a chance to work together?’
“Even though Line of Duty had been shot here for years I was never considered for it, which has always slightly galled me.”
James, who played Adam Williams in all nine series of Cold Feet, told Radio Times he was reluctant about its return.
The comedy-drama, first broadcast in 1998, came back in 2016. James said: “They tried to revive it for years and I thought it would be the worst thing.
“It was an important programme for a lot of people. The idea of bringing it back and it not working, of destroying its legacy, would have been awful. But I was delighted when it returned with new resonance.”
The actor will be back on our screens in a BBC One crime drama produced by Jed. James stars as Tom Brannick in Bloodlands. He hunts for a legendary assassin known as Goliath, after a car with a possible suicide note inside is pulled out of Strangford Lough. James said: “It is a classic Mercurio thriller where you’re not sure what’s going on, with different stories interwoven. We’re seeing Belfast in a new context, a more contemporary city.
“It is a cat-and-mouse thriller but the fact that it has the legacy of the Troubles brings an added depth to it.
“It’s also a story about a father and daughter, and of loss, so there are real human stories attached to it. It’s something audiences will invest in.” ●Bloodlands premieres on BBC One on Sunday at 9pm.
AN actress who appeared in Harry Potter films is locked in a legal battle with her mother over a £435,000 will.
Charlotte Hepworth-Bell claims her grandmother promised to leave her enough money to buy a home.
But her mum Heather says she is due her full half-share as she looked after Elaine, who died at 84 in 2016.
Film and TV extra Charlotte, who also worked on EastEnders and Holby City, told the High Court she had had to “cope on her own” when growing up with anxiety issues.
After a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome she cannot support herself via a full-time job, she said.
She was helped financially by Elaine but was left out of the will. Half of it went to Heather, 65, while two siblings received a quarter each.
Charlotte, 34, is making a claim for “reasonable provision” from her gran’s estate, largely a £310,000 home in Hertford, under the 1975 Inheritance Act. “Without financial aid, I won’t have a home,” she said.
“I have never been able to have a full-time job. I have had part-time work, I have done extras work, I have worked with disabled people. They’re not lucrative. I want to be financially independent from my family.”
Araba Taylor, her barrister, put it to Heather that Elaine wanted her to use part of the bequest to help Charlotte, adding: “She trusted you to do the right thing, didn’t she?”
Heather, who denied being a poor parent, said: “She left me that extra money because I was the one who was around all the time. I was the one who supported her and cared for her.”
Ruth Hughes, her barrister, said Charlotte already shares a home with her boyfriend, adding: “Charlotte should be – and indeed is – able to stand on her own two feet.”
Judge Owen Rhys reserved to a later date. judgment