The Gossip: Saints, Sinners and Spooks

Myleene Klass, set to be involved with Shalit Global TV

Ben Dowell's fortnightly dose of arts and media tittle-tattle.

Outgoing Proms director Nick Kenyon was on fiery form at his leaving do this week – a posh bash at the Royal Institute of British Architects.
He was typically frank about his relations with other senior executives and colleagues, most of whom he praised.
But at one point he suddenly added: “There’s also Jane Root but we won’t go into that.”
Oh go on, Nick. What, one wonders, on earth did the former controller of BBC2 do to get your goat?


Kenyon also referred to occasionally “sticky” relations with current Radio 3 controller Roger Wright who takes over the Proms brief from next year.
Speaking of the relationship with Wright, which some in the music world had believed to have been strained ever since Kenyon allegedly opposed his appointment, he praised Wright as a “public service man through and through”.
 However he did mention a couple of orchestras whom Kenyon had hired and whom Wright has now unhired, which has apparently cheesed him off, If only a little bit.
By the way, Roger’s a mate and I am sure he’ll do a brilliant job.


Look out for May when the Vatican releases a DVD featuring Pope John Paul II preaching messages of love and hope to the faithful -  with music written by the avant-garde British film and TV composer Simon Boswell.
Boswell’s written a remarkably modern score: soaring orchestras and house-music-style anthems play over trippy images of the late pope.
The hope in the Vatican is that record sales will provide a popular push for JP II to get sainted.
And you heard that here first.

Strange goings on at BBC drama where the new season of Judge John Deed will see Martin Shaw’s be-robed having less rumpy pumpy.
 The actor insisted that his character be taken more seriously and is keen to cut the bonking out. Also I hear  all the stories in the new series of Spy drama Spooks will be entirely centred on Iran oddly enough.
That’s 11 episodes. About Iran. How weird.


Jonathan Shalit, the head of Shalit Global Communications and the manager who famously discovered Charlotte Church and has made Mylene Klass her millions,is going to set up a Shalit Global TV division.
Klass, Konnie Huq from Blue Peter and Andrew Castle from GMTV are all involved I hear.


Rory Bremner tells me that he has an unlikely model for his impersonation of David Cameron – Keith Floyd.
 “Cameron has smoked dope and he also seems to have a rasp to his voice – as if that comes from his past, smoking a bit too much maybe,” he said.
“There’s quite a bit of Keith Floyd in there as well but I am working on other characteristics.”
With the way Cameron is going in the polls maybe a boozed up chef who is not really on telly these days is not as unlikely a choice of inspiration as it first seems.


Best quote from a fairly boring recent conference on kids TV I attended.
 “I wonder where the Clangers fits in with Professor Sonia Livingston’s ideas about the politics of self-representation.” Priceless.

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