This Morning

Louis Barfe, formerly of this parish, told the story on his old Twitter handle that when Davidson was making his sitcom Up the Elephant and Round the Castle, there was a scene in which his character was to be punched by a young actor playing a mugger. The crew, who had not found Davidson pleasant to work with, had a whip round and told the actor that the money was his if, accidentally on purpose, he would connect the punch and lamp Davidson rather than "acting".

Allegedly Davidson was somewhat unhappy, and told the young actor that he would personally see to it that he would never work again. And such is his influence that nobody has ever heard of David Thewlis.

But this website has never been a TV professionals forum has it? So second-hand hearsay and guesswork will have to do.

I have seen Phil at filming of Mr and Mrs a few years ago and he came across as a very nice bloke on and off camera.

Jim Davidson hasnt really been on telly much, after that sitcom he went on to Home James and then it was 5 years before the Gem game? plus Commercial breakdown and that pretty much it?

The other person Ive heard a mix bag was Cilla black, but again you cant be on the clock all the time hence she went abroad to get some peace? Some people have said she was nasty? Of course there was the Friday night project and Michael barrymore but of course, Alan carr should have been looking closer to home for over the top star..

Cilla Black was revered by Cabin Crew with numerous stories of her being on flights.

Whilst my experience is more in radio than TV many of the presenters I’ve worked with have worked on TV as well. I can honestly say that the number I’ve found to be genuinely unpleasant is very very small. Some are easier to work with than others, some are more friendly and chatty than others (for some that’s because they’re very focused on their work, others will chat before and after), most of them will say thank you after a show to those working on it. The number you dread working on a show with is fortunately very few.

That makes them little different from those working ‘behind the scenes’ - if you’re in a technical role you just tend to spend more time with them. Unless you’ve worked with a presenter - or know colleagues who have - it’s usually not possible to work out what a person you see on TV is really like. You certainly can’t get a fair impression from one out of context clip when they might have been having a bad day, we all have those.

As an example I talked to a colleague who had a friend working on a particular programme. I - as a viewer - had formed an impression on how the presenters on that show would be to work with. I was more wrong that right in what I’d thought.

Cilla is often the poster girl for stories about unpleasant celebrities, and I was once witness to how difficult she could be. However, I've also heard stories from friends that say how much of a laugh she was, and incredibly caring too.

A lot of evidence points to her Bobby being the rude one and overly protective of her, speaking on her behalf on flights etc. Perhaps she found it difficult to adjust after 30 years of that sort of relationship (both in marriage and professional life).

I know that she was a nervous flyer which may explain some of the stories from BA cabin crew (though I will say it's quite rich for BA crew to accuse someone else of being stuck up and rude).

Perhaps it's because it was so jarring between her on screen image that made her appear more of a monster than she actually was.

However there's no smoke without fire and the only example I know of her getting called out on it on television (from a fellow LWT star) was fantastically brutal:

I've read a fair number of Cilla-related stories but there is some inconsistency. One of which was her apparently causing a fuss in a restaurant when she demanded a private table and started flinging homophobic insults to the staff. If she had that streak in her, I couldn't imagine her and Paul O'Grady would be such close friends.

Most of her friends were gay - although calling someone a gay slur doesn't have to be homophobic. Gay people use them all the time.

I feel we've digressed beyond repair and doubt this will get spun off as a "was Cilla a cow" thread, so I'm going to try bend the topic back into shape.



I love that coming up menu. The Stock Aitken & Waterman style music!

That is one of the menus that has gone missing!

Why is Fern Britton in when Holly and Phil are off? She's been in for the second time when Holly and Phil are off. It's making me wonder now xD

Once fine, Twice... Oooohhhh.....

Perhaps it's just too awkward now.

I have to say, I've been best friends with colleagues at work before, sharing my entire life with them. When I moved on, I moved on. You end up discovering that the thing you've got in common most is the job. So it's possible for it to happen quite easily.

I suspect some of the pay dispute was true, but they didn't hold it personally against each other, then it came out and made things uncomfortable.

It was reported that Phillip texted Fern to wish her luck for her 2011 Channel 4 series the day before the first episode.