Russell Brand prattles hilariously on Radio 2 while George Martin and son play God with the Beatles
Russell Brand Show R2
This has been Russell Brand's year; though, weirdly, for such a natural communicator, his impact has largely been mute. You might have missed his 6 Music, MTV and E4 shows, but you'd have had to have deliberately mislaid your eye-glasses not to be confronted with the man's dandy-tramp image and tabloid-friendly sexual career. But Brand isn't just a lady-legged lothario. He's a witty broadcaster - the podcast of his 6 Music show was one of the BBC's most successful ever - and his move to Radio 2 makes a lot of sense. He's been posted to Saturdays, when 2 is at its trendiest; though putting him on in the evenings seems odd, as most of his audience will be out. Still, there's always that podcast....
When I've tried Brand's programme before, I've found it irritating (too scattershot, too many other people); but his first Radio 2 show was just great. There were high calibre guests - Little Britain's Matt Lucas and David Walliams, journalist Jon Ronson, plus Noel Gallagher - but it was the banter in between that made the show. Brand's fey voice is a disconcerting cross between Ricky Gervais and Pete Doherty - like a modern-day Charles Hawtrey - but his talk is sublime. He prattles fantastically. Like Gervais, he bounces off his broadcast partners, Matt Morgan and Trevor Luck; unlike Gervais, it's he himself who provides the entertainment. He has a winning turn of phrase: Noel Gallagher is 'that boorish loon gambolling round his estate'; his brother Liam 'has no mum mode. Whereas I have good mum manners.' Brand is also, a la Jonathan Ross, divertingly self-aware, taking the mickey out of himself as much as do his compadres. 'Ssh,' he warned Matt, who mentioned Russell's lady companion. 'I don't have a girlfriend. Don't attack my core market.' Did I mention that he's very funny? His two-hour show quite brightened up my Saturday night in.
observer
