Ben Elton on Blackadder, Mr Bean & Writing TV Classics

What does the man behind Blackadder actually think about modern comedy?

Ben Elton, multi award-winning comedian writer, novelist, director and lyricist joins Romesh to discuss his new autobiography, 'What Have I Done?’' and share with us how he went from being a 10-year old auditioning for amateur theatre, to writing some of the most-loved British sitcoms including Blackadder, The Young Ones and more.

From going to University with Rick Mayall, getting the call to work with Queen and how the We Will Rock You Musical really came about, to what happened when Blackadder got cancelled and why he loves Mr Bean so much.

Plus: a classic question from Shanthi, a rant about mobile phones and an unexpected modelling pitch to M&S. Don't miss it.

A Ranga Bee Production in partnership with Platform.

00:00 - Intro

02:50 - Ben’s autobiography

04:49 - On reviews and critics

09:09 - A gift for Ben

12:54 - Ben’s route into writing

15:34 - On stand up

21:32 - Challenging sexism and politics

24:10 - On Improvising

26:13 - The real story of Blackadder

37:55 - Ben’s favourite work

39:30 - On negative headlines

40:56 - Upstart Crow with David Mitchell

43:32 - Triumph and disaster

45:03 - Shanthi’s question to Ben

48:35 - On We Will Rock You

01:01-40 - Misquoted

01:16:55 - Saying what you want to say

01:18:28 - Modelling pitch

01:19:02 - Outro

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