John Bishop In Conversation With...
W, Thursday 1 Sep, 9pm
The Bish isn’t like your average stand-up. He’s thoughtful and only funny when it feels natural for him to be so. This makes him the perfect person to host this proudly old-fashioned, in-depth, ten-episode chat show, in which he probes one star for an hour each week. He starts with this lovely one-on-one with James Corden, which gets emotional… mainly for Bishop himself. ★★★★ Boyd Hilton A quickie with… John Bishop
What was the inspiration for this new chat show?
I used to watch Michael Parkinson’s interviews, which didn’t just rely on funny anecdotes. I thought there was a real gap in the market for a show featuring an hour-long interview, that gives us a chance to get to know talented people. I liked the Inside
The Actors Studio format, too, which gives the stars a chance to tell their story. So it’s a bit like that, mixed with Desert Island Discs, in terms of an eclectic mix of guests.
Is it odd interviewing someone like James Corden, who’s also a good friend?
When you’re with your mates, you don’t sit down and say, “Tell me how you get on with your dad.” So I think this format allowed me to ask questions I wouldn’t normally ask of my mates, and also find out things about people like James that I genuinely didn’t know.
How did you approach the interviews? You don’t seem to have cue-cards…
No, I really wanted it to be as pure a conversation as possible. We didn’t get researchers to call up the guests and get anecdotes from them in advance, and I don’t have a list of questions. I just wanted it to be two people having a chat. I mean, I’m 50 this year and I’ve been having conversations with people for a long time, so I thought it would be OK.