It’s time to stop fighting it. I am now old enough to enjoy BBC Radio 4…
I have long been aware of the BBC Radio 4 institution that is Desert Island Disks but I have always assumed that it would be too high brow for me. I like my brow to be around the medium level with an occasional dip into low brow. Medium to low brow Johnson they call me in some circles. The addition of writer and comedian Charlie Brooker as a guest intrigued me enough to download the podcast version however and I’m really glad I did…
Charlie Brooker is the misanthropic genius behind Black Mirror, Screen Wipe and others. He has never been defined by his musical tastes per se but you would imagine he has auditory opinions are in order based on his film and TV knowledge. The premise of Desert Island Disks sees the guest shipwrecked on a desert island with only eight records of their choosing, a Bible, the complete works of Shakespeare and then a luxury item. What I gathered from this episode however is that current presenter Kristy Young goes well beyond this superficial premise as this conversation with Charlie Brooker occasionally sounded more suited to the therapists couch then to a supposedly lighthearted chat. This makes for an illuminating and interesting podcast however, particularly with a guest as open and reflective as Brooker.
We are treated to a brief history of Charlie Brooker during the reflection in between songs and as Brooker has never been one to follow convention, his choices include video game themes and the score to an obscure children’s film albeit alongside the almost obligatory Beatles number.
I enjoyed this episode immensely and I would certainly recommend to any fans of Brooker, whether this will inspire me to listen to more Desert Island Disks is yet to be seen but I’m certainly more open to it then I was before. Maybe my brow will begin to go higher as I get older and indeed fatter.