Friday Night with Jonathon Ross

Friday nights will be rubish from now on, Wossy has just resigned from the Beeb – what’s going on?

Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand

Today is a very sad day in the life if British television and radio, after decades of independent ground breaking production of high quality television and radio, the BBC Trust have decided to kill off the BBC as we know it and instead hand the reigns of the corporation to the Daily Mail newspaper and allow the journalists (and I use that word lightly) of that right-wing anti-everything to run this institution. I feel desperately sad that the BBC Trust, and I suspect in time Ofcom when it reports on the Jonathon Ross and Russell Brand incident will also submit to the pressure by a daily newspaper instead of standing up to what is nothing more than trouble makers and overpaid ego’s (and yes I point to those newspaper journalists again and not Jonathon Ross).

Today is the end of the BBC as we have grown to know and love it over the years and I’m left wondering why nobody has the backbone or teeth to stand up to this newspaper, to be fair the newspaper is scum and doesn’t even warrant being used as toilet paper and I desperately wish people would stop being so politically correct and act in the interests of what the licence fee payer actually wants instead of pampering to these right-wing conspirators who only want to sell a few extra newspapers instead of reporting the real problems in the world today.

For the last 15 years newspaper sales have decreased year on year and the only time they see a spike in sales is during a national or international catastrophic event so it doesn’t take much to figure out that by making a non-story as high profile as possible, sales will increase – it infuriates me that nobody has the backbone to stand up to these fools and regulate them in the same way every other industry in the country is regulated, free speech my backside – if they reported responsibly and accurately people would stand up and applaud them for their actions but at its core the newspaper industry is nothing more than a trouble maker and a playground bully – light the blue touch paper and stand back to watch the ensuing firework display. Has nobody got the balls to stand up to these idiots?

Amazing Journey - The Story of The Who

Last night was a pivotal moment in my life and I cannot underestimate the power that it has had on me. Since the age of 9 I have had, some would say a very unhealthy obsession with The Who. This has never been unhealthy in my opinion however, The Who rescued me almost in a spiritual sense as a child – they were my awakening and touched me in a profound and deeply personal way, and since that discovery more than twenty-seven years ago the relationship I have forged with this band has grown and expanded beyond simply that of an avid fan, it is now such a deep and personal relationship that at its core lies a very profound respect, it is in every sense very tangible.

Last night was the London Premier of a new documentary about The Who’s career charting their global rise to mass hysteria since their inception as The Detours at the very beginning, right through to the present day. I’ve seen The Who countless times in concert, the last time being only last year at the football ground in Bristol and they sounded as good then as they have at any previous concert that I’ve seen them play, going right back to the very first concert I ever saw in 1989 when they toured the world under ‘The Kids Are Alright’ banner. Last nights Premier at the Odeon Cinema in Kensington was linked to 16 other Odeon Cinemas around the country all showing the new documentary simultaneously, but the Kensington gig was the one to be at – both Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend attended, along with family members of the late great Keith Moon and John Entwistle, not to mention a menagerie of famous people from the world of television, sport, music, fashion, film and entertainment, including Jeremy Clarkson from the BBC’s Top Gear who acted as host. I’m still not completely sure how I managed it but I had a ticket for last nights Kensington gig and my mind is still a haze this morning – it was unquestionably the best night of my entire life.

The Who have been a monumental part of my life, I have followed their career almost like a disciple follows his Messiah, I didn’t think it was possible to learn anything that I didn’t already know about this band, I was sure, until last night that I had seen almost every piece of archival footage available on The Who, and I certainly didn’t think a documentary could, at times almost bring me to tears – Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who did all of that and more. It is a canvas on which the makers have meticulously and painstakingly painted depth, colour, integrity and honesty; it’s the story that every Who fan wanted to make. After the film finished the auditorium erupted into cheers and claps and people spontaneously jumped to their feet and continued their applause as the credits rolled up the screen, a moment later the Producer of the film took to the stage to give his thanks to those who helped make the film possible, and then the moment we had all waited for – Roger and Pete, along with the Producer and Director of the film took to the stage in front of the giant screen to be interviewed by Jeremy Clarkson, questions posted through The Who’s web site over the past few weeks were put to all those present on the stage for about 30 minutes or so, and I came out of that auditorium a blessed man. I always knew The Who were special to me but last night I found God, my relationship with The Who has always been a deeply spiritual experience but after twenty-seven years of courtship I came away feeling that I had finally tied the knot last night.

The Who