MY TV LIFE Giles Kristian
Midlands-born Giles, 46, found fame with pop band Upside Down but is better known now as the best-selling author of the Raven historical novels.
What was your first TV memory?
Standing in mum and dad’s bedroom and the news talking about Elvis’s death. And a lot of black and white TV – The Adventures of Champion (the Wonder Horse), The Lone Ranger, Zorro, Harold Lloyd. But Saturday mornings were all about Swap Shop.
Who was your first TV crush?
I fell in love with Jane Seymour in Live And Let Die. She played Bond’s psychic love interest, Solitaire, and I thought she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
What was your first TV appearance?
I was lead singer in Upside Down, but before I got the gig I had to get through an audition. The BBC made a series called Inside Story and filmed the first six months of the band. Then we performed on Top Of The Pops when our first single went Top 10.
What is your favourite current show?
Ozark. Potty-mouthed Ruth Langmore, played by Julia Garner, is one of the most charismatic and compelling characters on TV. She’s extraordinarily good, although it annoys me that everyone in the show is so mean to her. I just want to give her a hug.
Which TV show would you take to a desert island?
Game Of Thrones for the sheer scale of it. It’s such a compulsive blend of medieval politics and fantasy. The actors buy into their roles and the show feels authentic.
What TV show would you like to put out of its misery?
Love Island. It’s proof mankind is doomed. A bunch of vacuous, shallow, self-obsessed people craving attention. I’ve had people tell me they don’t have time to read, yet they somehow find time to watch Love Island. It makes me despair.
Guiltiest TV pleasure?
My son Aksel loves an animated Netflix show called Clarence about a happy-golucky boy tackling day-to-day life and having adventures with weird friends. It’s brilliantly silly and makes him laugh out loud, which to me is the best sound in the world.
What are you up to at the moment?
My new novel Where Blood Runs Cold is just out. It’s a chase thriller and a survival story, but it’s also about a father coming to terms with his daughter growing up, and his own mortality.
Where Blood Runs Cold by Giles Kristian (Transworld, £14.99) is on sale now.