It was a case of beauty meets the beasts this week as The Hairy Bikers roared into town, and the lovely Denise Van Outen positively glided into the studio like a very graceful , all be it Essex, swan!

So may colourful accents and all round studio merriment commence.

I was obviously very excited at having another Essex gal in the studio but when Denise arrived I felt a tad inadequate standing near this lithe, blond bombshell.

I was further crushed when she declared to myself and Chris that she had been up all night with her baby Betsy who is teething. Well if that is what this talented vixen looks like when she’s had no sleep then I need to shake Betsy’s new front tooth, for had she been on top form, I may have been tempted to lock myself in the bathroom and weep copious non-showbiz tears.

Mind you I guess this is one lass who is used to getting up early in the morning and looking stunning, after her notable role as a presenter on The Big Breakfast.

Denise joined The Big Breakfast on Channel 4 as a weather and travel reporter in 1996 and landed the main co-presenting role in 1997. It proved to be her big breakthrough, with her cheeky “Essex Girl” personality and sexy clothing playing off well against the quick wit of Johnny Vaughan, and together they recovered audience figures to respectable levels. The same cannot be said for the length of Denise’s skirts however!

Denise is also an actress and singer, as well as presenter, and her other significant role was as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago on both the West End and on Broadway.

In 2007, she joined the panel for BBC One's follow up to How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream will Do!, which was casting Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, where she was to meet hubby to be Lee Mead.

Van Outen's personal life has always been subjected to the sharp glare of the British tabloid media. In 1991, aged 17, she had a relationship with popstar Gary Glitter. In 1996, Denise dated Dodgy guitarist Andy Millar. From 1998 to 2001, she dated Jamiroquai lead singer Jay Kay.

They were engaged and reported to be on the verge of marriage, but split up in 2001; his album A Funk Odyssey is mostly about their break-up, with the song "Little L" expressing his fight against cocaine addiction during their break up.

It seems Denise went from pervert, to extrovert and then finally settled on a fellow all singing, all dancing, Essex-ite! She married Lee in April 2009 in the Seychelles. Oh don’t they make a perfick couple.

Denise will next be seen on OK! TV hitting our screens on February 14^th alongside Matt Johnson, best known for presenting This Morning. The show will feature news and gossip about celebrities, music and fashion and takes over from axed programme Live from Studio Five.

Denise, however, seems unwilling to let the channel's previous problems bother her and said she is looking forward to starting filming.

'I have a huge appetite for all things showbiz so this show is right up my street. I'm really looking forward to working with Matt too and we can't wait to show the viewers what we've got in store,' she said.

Johnson added: 'I think Denise and I are going to have a lot of fun together – I've long been an admirer of her presenting style and know we'll get along like a house on fire.'

Well if anyone can, our Den can. So let’s hope this scrummy mummy puts on her usual Essex-tastic charm and manages to pull in the punters. Meanwhile I am off to go and Razzle Dazzle around the living room to the Chicago soundtrack in the hope of obtaining a ‘Denise’ washboard stomach, and all that jazz!

The BBC has come a long way – FACT. For decades, British regional accents were frowned upon by the broadcasting powers-that-be who preferred the supercilious tones of received pronunciation.

Fortunately, strong and character accents now bless the airwaves and nowhere are they more evident than BBC television’s The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook – two motorcyclists, habitual dodgers of scissors and razors, visit exotic locations and investigate and recreate local dishes with an accompaniment of liberal drizzles of extra-virgin wit, daftness and banter. You can’t go wrong.

Biker one is Dave Myers, a native of Barrow-in- Furness (a ‘Barrovian’), the town at the southern tip of Cumbria. His deadpan accent is flatter than a ruined soufflé. Biker two is Si King, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne; his animated Geordie chatter adds spice to the proceedings.

The theme of their TV series' and books is simple – ride motorbikes, cook and eat local food and drink the local drink, especially beer: “We asked the BBC – can we take on the countries’ beer and drinking cultures, they said yes, which is great because you can put the research against expenses.”

These lads were an absolute joy to have in the studio though I have to say that they smelt very strongly of patchouli oil – Odd!

They joked around with myself and Chris and made fun of our ‘Soho Ways’ as they put it. Funny cause when asked if they wanted a brew Dave promptly asked for a proper cafetiere of coffee. So now who has fancy pants ideas and double standards?!

Engagingly daft humour is a key ingredient of the Hairy Bikers’ presentation and so we wondered how this would go down with Prince Charles’ wife the Duchess of Cornwall, as after talking at A1 they were off to cook for royalty nonetheless.

Sure enough the next day their escapades at Clarence House had been well documented as The Hairy Bikers and a group of young chefs prepared a special lunch for Camilla and her son.

The secondary school pupils were invited into the kitchens of Clarence House to prepare a three-course meal, assisted by the TV cooks.

The teens had won a competition to devise a menu fit for a duchess, and her guests - including her food writer son Tom Parker-Bowles - as part of British Food Fortnight. No pressure then.

Spotting one of the television chefs in the hot kitchen, the duchess added: "Ah, I see a Hairy Biker! Very nice to see you. You all look very organised down here. I was expecting chaos."

Dave praised the pupils for their culinary skills and thanked the duchess for allowing them all into her home.

He said: "The dining room looks so beautiful. The Duchess of Cornwall has supported 'British Food Fortnight' from the beginning and it's very generous for her to throw open her house and let us two hooligans into her kitchen."

Camilla had previously spoken to Mr Myers about her love of food, saying that traditional British steamed puddings are among her favourites. He added: "She is famous for her roast chicken - we know that from Tom." So even the royals like nothing more than a classic bird and a nice bit of stuffing!

A little known fact is that Dave suffered from alopecia for most of his life.

His ‘Mam’ was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 50; he was eight. Within two years, she was in a wheelchair.

Dave’s hair began falling out then, and when he was 14, he developed alopecia.

His biggest fear was that he was never going to get a girlfriend like the other boys in his class at Barrow Grammar School. Luckily, he had some great mates, so bullying wasn't an issue.

Strangely, his hair grew back when he was 40, following an emergency operation to remove a cyst on his brain. The medical profession will never admit that it was the pressure of that which stopped his hair growth, but he’s utterly convinced that it was.

So the irony is not lost on Dave that he’s made his name as a Hairy Biker. He says joking of his now infamous mane:

“All of my mates, who are experiencing baldness for the first time, don't find it quite so amusing”.

So if you ever open your door to see Dave Lee Travis and the Honey Monster asking for their Cornflakes/Sugar Puffs back then it could actually be Dave and Si researching recipes for their next tour. Just follow the patchouli oil trail.....

So we have had the beauty and the beasts so what about an ambassador of the arts?

John Woodvine is an English stage and screen actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles. They are some stats people!

John trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked with the Old Vic company in the 1950s.

Woodvine frequently played police officers from early on in his career, including in the seminal British drama series Z Cars in the 1960s and Softly, Softly in the 1970s.

His film roles include the 1981 John Landis film An American Werewolf in London (he later re-created his film role for the BBC Radio One adaptation of the film). He also appeared in the Oscar-nominated 1972 Richard Attenborough film Young Winston.

In 2008 John was seen as Joe Jacobs in the ITV1 soap Emmerdale but he wasn't the first choice funnily enough.

Blimey O'Reilly - it was only going to be Blessed who was scheduled to play the role!

An Emmerdale spokesperson said: “Unfortunately Brian was unable to film his scenes due to a last minute clash of schedules. However, we’re thrilled to confirm that the part of Joe will now be played by John Woodvine.”

So the doctor, more famous than even Dr Karl Kennedy of Neighbours fame, was thrown an Emmerdale life buoy by none other than big man Blessed.

London News:

If you are out and about in London this weekend then why not welcome in the Chinese New Year.

The major celebrations in Central London are the largest outside Asia!

Chinese New Year 2011, the Year of the Rabbit, falls on 3rd February. And London's main celebrations will be held on Sunday 6th February.

Trafalgar Square hosts traditional and contemporary Chinese entertainment such as dance, music and acrobatics as well as firecrackers, Chinese dragons and lions.

Meanwhile, Chinatown will be bustling with special decorations, stalls, food and lion dance displays. Shaftesbury Avenue hosts a local performance stage featuring performances by Chinese artists.

So get yourself down down there to join in the free street parties that are sure to go off with a hop, skip and a jump - Rabbit Stylee of course!

Catch you next week folks............

It was a case of men and machinery behaving badly this week.

First up we had the restaurant below and to the right of us causing mass grief with a clapped out extractor fan!

The noise was akin to a motorbike spluttering and revving except a motorbike usually moves on, thus dispersing noise pollution. This dirge continued for well over an hour and a half, occasionally stopping to choke and lulling us into a false sense of security that all would, once again, be ‘quiet on the Western front’.

But alas. After a few more asthmatic wheezes the drone would continue.

Obviously this isn't ideal when running a sound studio. It was of course also our busiest day of the week – Typical and Happy Blooming New Year!

Well our brave soldier, and man on the ground, Mr Charles Nove went in to investigate.

The restaurant in question said that they couldn't turn the fan off as it was the only ventilation for their kitchen and they would lose money. Charles explained the nature of our business and said that we too would be losing money if the racket continued.

We officially had a cold war situation on our hands people.

Charles decided to bring in the heavies ........or the environmental health squad to you and I.

They were very helpful and said we had a strong case, but you know how it is when say your computer has been playing up and you call the IT guy over to have a look and it miraculously works again, well that is exactly what happened when Charles was on the phone to the ‘keep it down’ man. One choke, one last violent shake, and just like a very exaggerated stage death, the fan breathed its last breath. RIP fan – may we all now live in peace!

I don’t know if anyone else got caught in the flash flood on Friday afternoon in London but my god did it chuck it down. It was like Arma-bloody-geddon!

Ivan Massow had made a return visit to our studio to listen to the piece as recorded last week with editing and music effects now in place. The poor chap, who let’s face it, could have afforded to land a helicopter on our roof if necessary, had cycled to us! Not only that but he had left all waterproofs at home and only had a fleece for protection.

A very messy Massow no doubt made it back home to his renovated mansion in Clerkenwell! You gotta love his no airs, no graces attitude.

Just after Ivan left to get soggy, Neil Morrissey, who had a car laid on for him, arrived at our studio a little drier and with a massive spring in his step.

No Amanda Holden wasn't in the vicinity – Ouch!

Unfortunately his affair with Holden has become one of the things synonymous with all things Neil Morrissey.

I get the feeling that this cheeky chap can turn women’s heads and knows how to have a good old party. Even Ivan Massow backs up this claim by telling us that Neil would often frequent Ivan’s sprawling pile in Frome Somerset and end up being drunk and disorderly in his very garden – small world – In fact it may have been this chance meeting at A1 that led Ivan to comment about Neil in his column for the Daily Telegraph (Sunday 16th Jan 2011) saying....

“I have been a resident of Frome for so long now that I recall, with some nostalgia, the time when someone shouting, "I've just seen Madonna at the cash-point machine" got everyone excited. Nowadays, her occasional loitering outside the supermarket stirs up as little local interest as finding that Neil Morrissey has behaved badly once again in the Sun Inn, or Frances De La Tour has been bed-&-breakfasting at the Melrose guest-house, or that the Prime Minister and Roy Strong are having a multi-cultural chin-wag in the Blue Boar Inn”

Gosh – A1 clout or what!

So back to bad boy Neil.

Born in 1962 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, Neil suffered a traumatic childhood, having been separated from his parents at the age of ten and placed in care after being involved in a string of burglaries.

He won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and made his television breakthrough in Boon.

His role in Men Behaving Badly made him a household name; and his voiceovers for Bob The Builder made him extremely wealthy.

He’s also famous for well-publicised romances with Liz Carling, Rachel Weisz and the aforementioned, Amanda Holden.

In recent years he has divided his time between television dramas such as Paradise Heights, West End theatre (A Passionate Woman, Acorn Antiques: The Musical, Guys And Dolls) and investing in production companies and hotel properties.

However it was somehow inevitable that Neil Morrissey would one day end up running his own pub. From playing the lager-loutish Tony in Men Behaving Badly to his investments in Dylan Thomas’s old drinking haunts in west Wales, Morrissey is no stranger to propping up a bar – just ask Ivan Massow!

And so, in a classic case of the poacher turned gamekeeper, he finally got round to owning his own drinking establishment. Together with TV ‘beer chef’ and author Richard Fox, he became a part owner of Ye Olde Punch Bowl Inn in the Yorkshire village of Marton cum Grafton.

The duo’s six-month journey from finding the 17th-century property through to brewing and selling their own beer (Morrissey Fox Blonde Ale) on the premises was documented in a TV series, Neil Morrissey’s Risky Business, shown on Channel 4.

Neil says of his own brew:

“If Kronenbourg is the Coldplay of the beer world, then my own beer is like John Lennon and Julie Christie driving through London in a silver Jaguar E-Type circa 1967 with The Kinks’ Waterloo Sunset blasting out of the speakers”

Keeping with his pub theme he goes on to say:

“Martin Clunes is a beer god. I’d never say no to a long session in the pub with him. Elizabeth I would have been one of my ideal drinking partners. Apparently, she used to down four pints of ale before breakfast. In an ideal world, she’d have joined me, Keith Moon, John Lennon and all the Bloomsbury Group around the table of a good boozer. Now that would have been a session and a half”

I agree - Royalty and Rock ‘n’ Roll – Get In!

So I guess when talking all things ‘pub’ fewer things are funnier than a good pub joke and here is one of Neil’s favourites:

“A man is sitting in the pub when he hears a bowl of peanuts on the bar saying, ‘Ooh, you are lovely; you’re really amazing.’ Then the fruit machine shouts, ‘Rubbish – look at the state of that haircut. And your socks don’t go with your shoes.’ The barman apologises. ‘Sorry,’ he says. ‘The nuts are complimentary but the fruit machine is out of order.”

Cheers Neil!

London Showbiz News:

So last night saw the second round of Dancing on Ice to see who would be for the chop before the real show gets going.

Jayne Sharp, who has been mentioned on my blog before, is married to ‘Comedy Dave’ Vitty who took part in last night’s show. We had Jayne in, not once, but twice last week and she gave us the low down on Dave’s training.

She said that he is actually a very good skater but she felt the routine he was given didn't really show case that enough. Instead it focused on rigid dance moves which outlined what Dave’s really not good at – Dancing!

Dave, who is used to being heard and not seen, says of his brave step into the Lycra limelight:

“My attitude on this is that you either do this show or you don’t, and if you are going to do it you've just got to throw yourself in and embrace it. If they want to stick me in a pink costume one week then fine, it doesn't bother me.”

It seems that somebody took him at his word, as last night poor Dave was trussed up like a fab lolly on a psychedelic day!

VITTY for VICTORY!

So there we have it folks. Machines and men behaving badly - or just behaving in a new, weird and wonderful way. As a wise person once said "life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get" and that is just how I feel working here at A1 VOX!

(I believe it will be a couple of weeks until my next Blog so until then keep it warm and lucid people).

WELCOME BACK AND A HAPPY 2011 TO ALL FOLLOWERS OF A1 VOX!

It’s time to clean your pipes and get ready for some vocally uplifting New Year action – WAHEY – OO ER MISSUS!

I hope you had a gorgeous break and managed to stuff yourself stupid. And so another year begins..........................................

On returning to VOX towers I thought I had developed 'Turkey Brain' as I could clearly hear the cooing of a pigeon....................coming from the stationery cupboard!

I felt the need to arm myself with a broom and plastic bag, though why they would help me if a rat with wings decided to take flight round the office I still don’t know.

The noise seemed to get louder as if the bird knew I was about to attack it and cause death by Tesco asphyxiation.

Luckily Charles came to the rescue with the knowledge that the bird wasn’t actually ‘in’ the office but just as damn well close as it could get!

There appears to be a pocket in the brick work which makes a nice warm resting perch for cold feathered friends. They can work their way right in and apparently all that is keeping us from them is a piece of plywood behind the stationery cupboard – hence why said cooing seems to be coming from inside the room. Mystery Solved and the bird lives to see another day – Coo-phew.

“That’s a nice pair of Secateurs!”

Not a phrase one hears too often but I did hear it in the office this week as Chris and Charles looked over the merits of this common gardening tool.

We get a lot of random post through our door including a brochure for Frances Hilary - Covent Garden’s resident gardening store – hence Chris’ outburst. It is a lovely little find and gardening has never looked so good! Check it out if green’s your bag.

Roger Allam popped in to VOX Towers for some New Year cheer this week.

Roger is sometimes heralded as one of Britain’s least known but most brilliant actors. You have probably seen his face and heard his voice in a plethora of media platforms. He is best known for his stage performances especially as the original Javert in Les Miserables. It is his voice that can be heard on the original cast recording of the same show.

He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1981 and has been with them for many seasons ever since.

He has been nominated three times for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, winning in 2001, for his role as Captain Terri Denis in a revival of Privates on Parade. He has also been nominated for, and won, the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Roger diversifies his stage roles from appearances with the RSC to pantomime performances such as playing villainous Abanazar in Aladdin at the Old Vic theatre, co-starring Ian McKellen, Maureen Lipman and Sam Kelly.

Apart from treading the boards Roger has appeared in TV and film. In 2006 he appeared in Stephen Frears' The Queen, starring Oscar-winner Dame Helen Mirren, as the Queen's private secretary.

Roger has also re-teamed with Stephen Frears in Tamara Drewe, the film version of Posy Simmond's popular comic strip. Allam plays the self-centred and serially unfaithful crime novelist, Nicholas Hardiment, who is bewitched by London journalist Tamara Drewe, played by Gemma Arterton. The film received critical buzz at the 2010 Cannes film festival and the Mail on Sunday described his performance as 'wonderfully sleazy'.

A great tribute to Roger comes from the late, great, Arthur Miller, who in the closing chapter of his Timebends autobiography (1987) writes: "To play Adrian....in the 1986 Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Archbishop's Ceiling, Roger Allam gave up the leading role as Javert in the monster hit Les Misérables because he had done it over sixty times and thought my play more challenging for him at that moment of his career. Nor did he consider his decision a particularly courageous one. This is part of what a theatre culture means and it is something few New York actors would have the sense of security even to dream of doing."

A marvellous accolade and to me sums up the magnitude of Roger's talent. An honour to have met him.

Millionaire Ivan Massow came to visit VOX Towers and we made sure we had the posh coffee on, though we needn't have bothered for this was one very 'un-millionaire' type of man. Simon Cowell watch and learn!

Ivan is best known for changing financial services in the wake of the 1980s Aids crisis when he campaigned to abolish higher insurance premiums for gay people.

Ivan was born in Brighton as Ivan Field, the son of a policeman, John Field, whom Ivan has described as "abusive". His mother left the relationship and remarried, before giving Ivan up for adoption at the age of 12, aiming to give him a better life. He was adopted by a bachelor businessman, John Massow, taking his surname. Later, after Massow had come out as gay, his adoptive father broke off all contact.

This guy did not have your regular start in life and a lot of people, having had this type of upbringing, would have ended up in the gutter. Not Ivan Massow – he worked hard against all the odds and continues to campaign for everything that he believes in.

Never one to mince his words, Ivan wrote a piece for the New Statesman magazine in which he attacked the predominance of conceptual art describing it as "pretentious, self-indulgent, craftless tat" and "the product of over-indulged, middle-class [...], bloated egos who patronise real people with fake understanding". He called the ICA a "pillar of the shock establishment" and personally attacked Tracey Emin saying she "couldn't think her way out of a paper bag". Don’t hold back now Massow!


Something that a lot of people don’t know is that Ivan is severely dyslexic and left education with an O-level in metalwork and a BTEC in art and design. As a 'closeted' homosexual working within the financial services industry, he experienced the homophobia that typified the early 1990s mortgage and life assurance industry.

Massow saw how gay men were penalised for their sexuality when they applied for financial services. In a time of increasing HIV rates, gay men were seen as high-risk and required to pay much higher premiums than other customers, whatever their circumstances.

These premium increases could be as high as 600%.

In 1990, Massow started a financial services business from a squat in Kentish Town, North London, having failed to find funding for his idea. With his acquired industry experience, Massow was able to source ways for gay people to take-up mortgages and insurance at equal rates, rather than suffer the standard rejection of every insurer.

By using the industry's computerised ‘automatic underwriting' systems, he was able to smuggle his clients through using said tool. By 1997, Massow's firm, Massow Financial Services, had become the 10th largest Independent Financial Adviser in the UK and was valued at £22 million.

Our own Mr Nove conducted an interview with Ivan, just before Christmas and even though this guy has amassed a small fortune for himself you can see that it is his beliefs and seeing justice done that is more important to this self made chap than pound signs.

This can be confirmed by Ivans answer to the question: now he is better off, does he feel happier?

“No, because the most miserable times in my life have usually involved money. I had a partner in my early 30s who used to earn obscene amounts, but our lives became very shallow, aloof and dysfunctional.

I found no pleasure travelling in private jets, for example – there's a buzz doing it the first time, but afterwards it becomes an isolating experience. His love of excess destroyed our relationship and in the end I gave away my share of the businesses we owned just to leave as an expensive exit. Afterwards I'd never been happier”.

Just goes to prove the age old saying that money doesn’t buy you happiness. But being able to afford your partner taking you to the cleaners, and thus taking that ‘expensive exit’ when reality hits, is still a privileged position to be in me thinks!

So a very interesting man and someone that I feel will be popping up on our radars again and again.

This week sees the return of Brian Blessed to A1. Brian keeps in shape by climbing up large mountains. About the only thing on Earth larger than Brian Blessed is Mount Everest, which he has attempted to scale three times without ever quite reaching the summit. Lets see if we can find out how the 'King of Ham' spent his Christmas and New Year – until then – catch you next week 2011 Voxers!!!!

DIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ho Ho Ho and welcome to the last blog of the year.

I hope you have enjoyed hearing all the escapades of the fourth floor, as much as we have enjoyed sharing them.

Last week we saw quite a few of our regulars back including, Ray Brooks, Caroline Quentin and Lewis McLeod. A1 VOX newbies came in the form of Holly Willoughby and Victoria Coren.

At the age of 14, Holly was spotted by talent scouts at The Clothes Show Live exhibition. Storm Model Agency snapped her up and signed her on the spot. She appeared in teen magazines for girls and from 1998, at the age of 17, she started modeling underwear for various clients including Pretty Polly. Gosh, I was barely allowed out in skirts above the knee at that age! She’s a game girl that Holly.

In 2000, Holly won an audition for a show on CITV featuring S Club 7 called S Club TV. After these shows, she worked as a receptionist for a while and then as a runner for the now defunct shopping channel Auction World TV. I started my career as a runner, does that mean there’s hope for me yet!? Move over Holly...Hello Phil....there’s a new Sheila in town!

Having persuaded a friend to record a show reel for her, she secured an agent and presented several children’s shows for the BBC including their flagship entertainment show Ministry of Mayhem which was aired on Saturday mornings. It was on this program that she met her future husband Dan Baldwin.

In 2006, the shows title was changed to Holly and Stephens Saturday Showdown in order to reflect the popularity of its co-presenters. During the final episode of the show Holly accidentally revealed one of her breasts during a particularly energetic routine. OO ER MISSUS!

CITV received a small number of complaints, though the wider audience merely wrote the occurrence off as unfortunate. Ah – the old Janet Jackson publicity stunt – always a profile raiser and not the last time Holly's..erm..assets..would overshadow proceedings!

Holly presented CD:UK for a short while but her major breakthrough came as a mainstream family entertainer came when she was chosen to co-present the flagship ITV talent show Dancing on Ice, alongside Phillip Schofield.

She has presented a number of other ITV programmes, especially spin-off show such as The Extra Factor. She has also presented shows exploring celebrity gossip such as Lip Service and the comedy show Celebrity Juice with bessie mate Fearne Cotton, Keith Lemon and Rufus Hound. We have now had all four Celebrity Juice presenters at A1. Top Trumps!

Holly has co-presented ITV’s morning show This Morning with Phillip Schofield since September 2009 after she took over the role from Fern Britton. At only 29 this lady has secured a top spot on day time TV, already had a baby, another is on the way, and she's won a BAFTA! WONDER WOMAN WILLOUGHBY is what I say!

A little know fact is that this golden haired beauty, who reads live from an autocue daily, is in fact dyslexic – just goes to show where pure grit and determination can get you folks.

Holly was a joy to have in the studio. No airs and graces, and after her session there wasn’t a car waiting for this lady...oh no....the pregnant presenter leapt on the back of a taxi courier motorbike instead – Atta Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Saturday night saw the Strictly final and what a dance extravaganza it was.

After taking the crown, Strictly Come Dancing 2010 winners Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev appeared to confirm the romance their fans have been hoping for.

While celebrating their win on Saturday night, the excitement appeared to get the better of Artem, who dropped his guard and planted a kiss on his 27 year old partner.

The pair have hinted at their affection for each other, but have remained coy on whether they are an item throughout the series.

Kara said that now that the competition is over, they can concentrate on the future.





'We get on brilliantly and it will be nice to do normal things like go to the cinema or for a meal because we spend all our time in the studio.'

Kara was forced to dance through the pain to victory, but after the show she was whisked to hospital where it was revealed she had torn ligaments in her lower arm.
Kara and Artem wowed the judges with four incredible performances, including the American Smooth and their energetic show dance.

Despite falling at the final hurdle, finalist Matt Baker said he was thrilled with the result, saying: 'It's been great. I have absolutely thoroughly enjoyed tonight, and Kara and Artem are worthy winners. If I was at home, I would be voting for Kara as well.'

Lighting up the dancefloor: Matt and Aliona opened the show with their sexy Samba to Young Hearts Run Free.

But why is all this relevant for an A1 Blog I hear you cry!?

Well before Strictly, there was.... Come Dancing..., a BBC TV ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off from 1949 to 1998, becoming one of television's longest-running shows. One of its many presenters was our very own Mr Charles Nove.

This picture is from Charles’ archives on the set of Come Dancing back in 1992 with Rosemarie Ford and musical director Andy Ross. Our Mr Nove certainly has had fingers, and sequins, in many a showbiz pie!

Next up to VOX Towers was Victoria Coren who currently writes weekly columns for The Guardian and The Observer, presents the BBC4 quiz show Only Connect and the Radio 4 comedy series Heresy, as well as playing poker as a member of PokerStars Team Pro UK. WOW, what a mixed bag.

Aged 14, and inspired by lonely Jo March from Little Women, Victoria submitted a short story to Just Seventeen magazine under an assumed name. The story was accepted and published, earning her the princely sum of £90. Hooked on trade immediately, Victoria answered a nationwide appeal from the Daily Telegraph for a teenage columnist got the job and wrote for them weekly for four years.

Victoria adapted the newspaper columns of John Diamond into a play A Lump In My Throat, which was performed at The Grace Theatre and The New End Theatre in London and The Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, before Victoria re-adapted it into a TV play for BBC2 starring Neil Pearson.

As a broadcaster, she has presented Fourth Column and Off The Page for Radio 4 and two series of Balderdash And Piffle for BBC2, as well as documentaries on language and surrealist art for BBC 4.

As a poker and gambling specialist, she has presented Late Night Poker and The Poker Nations Cup for Channel 4, a series of World Poker Tour for ITV2 and the chat show Bar Beat for the Poker Channel.

She has also appeared as a guest on Question Time, Have I Got News For You, You Have Been Watching, The Bubble, Loose Ends, Midweek, Woman’s Hour and various other short-term experiments.

One such experiment took place in 2002, when Victoria disappeared into the X-rated film industry with her best friend Charlie Skelton and they wrote a book about it, Once More With Feeling – Hot Stuff.

A second experiment was Victoria’s memoir of a life playing cards, For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair With Poker, which was published by Canongate.

For the third experiment, and the one that really stood out for me, Victoria revealed that she had instigated a hoax in order to trap a group who turned up to memorial services for people they had never actually met!

She created the fictitious and recently deceased Sir William Ormerod, and placed an advertisement in the main British newspapers for his memorial service "followed by a drinks reception". Coren reported that the group duly applied for tickets claiming to have known the late Sir William. OOOOOO -naughty Victoria.

Gambling, porn and deceit!!!!!!!! This girl has dipped her toe in every sin known to man, but from mightily clever angles.

She is certainly no wall flower and uses the media to cause what I call The Ripple Effect. In short, she is one clever lady, exploring areas and ideas that are very close to the grain but gets away with it - all dignity intact!

When asked if she has ever NOT said something that she wished she HAD said Victoria replied:

“No, although they once cut something which I thought was a shame. Mike Tindall the rugby player was in one of the celebrity games – he’s a good tournament player, absolutely fearless and with a decent sense of situation – and he’s also a really nice guy. I was telling my co-commentator (Mark Gregorich) that Mike is the boyfriend of Zara Phillips, and I mentioned that Zara sometimes has a big stud in her mouth. They said they couldn’t possibly broadcast that on ITV. I couldn't see why not. I was simply referring to her fashionable tongue piercing”.

Well there you go – honest, direct and to the point, this is one girl who I will never play mind games against for money! Sharp Cookie doesn't even come close!

LONDON AT CHRISTMAS

TRAFALGAR SQUARE TREE

I would just like to take this opportunity to wish all our A1 VOX followers a Merry Christmas and a vocally uplifting 2011!

I have been attacked by a Blue Spruce!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas tree decorating should come with a health warning.

It’s all worth it though as after a couple of glasses of mulled wine you can sit back and enjoy the glorious splendour of your tree in lights. It’s like Freaking Krakow at our place and I love it!

But enough of me let’s get back to this week’s blog.

“Form up. And stay alert. We could run out of space real fast”

No I am not running out of Blog space but this is just one of the epic lines recited by our first guest this week from the film, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, so ‘lock S-foils in attack positions, I'm going in’.

Denis Lawson began his acting career with a small role in a 1969 stage production of The Metamorphosis in London's West End and has since starred in television dramas such as The Merchant of Venice opposite Laurence Olivier as Shylock, Rock Follies and Dead Head. His big Hollywood moment came playing X-wing pilot Wedge Antilles in all three original Star Wars movies, and later reprised the role, in voice-over form, for the Nintendo GameCube game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2.

Because his name was misspelled in the Star Wars credits, there was some controversy about if it was the same actor playing Wedge in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980). It is indeed the same actor. ‘Roger that, Rogue Leader’.

Denis was offered the role of Captain Antilles in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), but turned it down. The part went to Rohan Nichol. According to Star Wars continuity, this Captain Antilles has no relationship to Lawson's other character, Wedge Antilles. Confused much?

Denis appeared with his drama school classmate Ian McDiarmid in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). His nephew, Ewan McGregor later appeared with McDiarmid in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). It seems that the galaxy far far away is strangely interlinked with Mr Lawson.

He has appeared often on the West End stage, most notably during 1983-1984’s run of the musical Mr Cinder's at the Fortune Theatre. In 1999, he directed a production of Little Malcolm & His Struggle Against the Eunuchs - first at the Hampstead Theatre before transferring to the Comedy Theatre in London's West End. The production starred his nephew Ewan McGregor in the lead role of Malcolm Scrawdyke. And who says nepotism is dead!?

He played the leading role of John Jarndyce in the critically acclaimed BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' Bleak House in 2005, receiving an Emmy for his performance. Denis also appeared alongside Academy Award nominated actress Helena Bonham Carter in the BBC Four movie based on the life of Enid Blyton, playing Kenneth Darrell Waters, a London surgeon who becomes Blyton's second husband.

He also appeared in the West End playing the character of Georges in the revival of the musical hit La Cage Aux Folles, and as no stranger to musical theatre, we must also mention his turn starring in the London revival of Pal Joey opposite Sian Phillips.

Denis Trivia

The best age to be is...

"The age you are now. It's a bad idea to go through life thinking you'd rather not be the age you are, what's the point in that? The only birthday I didn't like was 30, but since then I couldn't give a toss."

He met his wife, Sheila Gish, on the set of the 1985 movie That Uncertain Feeling until they married in March 2004 in the Caribbean.

He is the Step-father of Kay Curram and Lou Gish.

His role as a pilot in Star Wars appears to have inspired both of his nephews. His younger nephew Ewan McGregor, as mentioned, followed him into the acting business and into the Star Wars films in particular. His older nephew, Colin McGregor, became a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Spooky!

In a nutshell, your philosophy is.......

"Go forward. I live in the present and I go forward into the future with a very optimistic, open mind."

Seems like he has more in common with Wedge Antilles than he realises with that last comment and on that note – the last word has to come from Rogue Squadron fighter Wedge himself:

"Copy, Gold Leader. I'm already on my way out”

Remie Purtill-Clarke came in to see us this week and what a beauty she is! Here is one of her publicity shots.

Remie has recently been seen in BBC2 filmsy fantasy spoof Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire alongside Sean Maguire and Matt Lucas.

Remie is a young versatile actress with a clear, soft and melodious read. She is a Proficient Irish speaker and I think you’ll agree she definitely has that Celtic look down to a tee!

Star of BBC Dead Ringers Mark Perry was next up at The Towers. The programme won Mark a BAFTA as well as five other awards.

Dead Ringers was a UK radio and television comedy impressions broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and later on BBC 2. The programme was devised by producer Bill Dare and developed with Jon Holmes, Andy Hurst and Simon Blackwell. Along with Mark it starred Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Phil Cornwell and Kevin Connelly. It was revealed by star Jan Ravens that the BBC quietly cancelled the television run in 2007 after five years of broadcast.

Mark was also nominated for Best Narration 2005 for his reading of the critically acclaimed audio book 'Finding Hercules'. He has an incredible range of cartoon voices, characterisations & accents, and a great straight voice too!

I thought I would stick with the Star Wars theme and re-live a classic Dead Ringers sketch where Obi-Wan Kinobe is talking to a used car salesman and giving him the low down on the car required:

We need passage to Aldershot.
A fine cargo hold; plenty of room for me, my apprentice, two Druids, and no questions asked.
A long time ago I had a Ford Galaxy, far far away.
A metric speedometer. Metric; no Imperial entanglements!
Could it outrun Imperial vessels?
Could it resist a tractor beam?
The color of my last car was a little on the dark side.
I can give you 2,000 now and 15,000 when we get to Aldershot.

[Kenobi to Darth Vader] You cannot win, Darth. If you strike me down, you will lose your No-Claims Bonus!

GENIUS!

LONDON NEWS

So there were more riots in London last week as the students revolted. I must say I am blooming happy that I got my degree at a fraction of the price compared to today’s poor scholars.

In fact it was only a few months ago that I finally paid off my student loan so gawd only knows how long today’s graduates will be in debt. They will still be paying it off as their own children attempt to get a degree at this rate!

Chaos last night surrounded the potential use of water cannon against violent protesters. Home Secretary Theresa May appeared to rule out its use in Britain, yet Scotland Yard insisted it would be ‘foolish’ not to consider deploying the high pressure hoses to control rioting protesters.

Thousands of student protesters are expected to descend on London today (Tuesday 14th December) for a fresh demonstration against higher tuition fees – amid fears of a repeat of last week’s riots Commander Bob Broadhurst, of the Metropolitan Police says:

‘I would emphasise we will not rush in to anything and we are not in the business of knee jerk reactions. Anything we do will be carefully and fully considered to ensure the best outcome for protesters, officers and all Londoners.’

Crikey seems like they may need the help of Wedge Antilles, Hans Solo and Luke Skywalker - or maybe just my Blue Spruce - I tell ya those needles are FIERCE!

Till next time people,Keep it Mulled , Keep it Chatty.

Last week saw most of Britain take a good old fashioned lashing of snow and sub zero temperatures. The capital managed to get a fine dousing in comparison, as the snow attempted to settle in poor old London’s polluted streets. Must try harder snow!

This was a photo I took from one of A1 VOX's windows. I just love the irony of the snow falling over a typical back building in London whilst palm trees sway about in the onslaught! Brilliant Stuff.

I also found this stunning picture of London in the snow from last year...when it actually did manage to settle.... and not turn to muddy brown slush that is just plain irritating and unsightly.

Ain't it pretty.

So due to the weather last week things were a little quieter at VOX Towers as lots of our clients struggled to make it into their studios dotted around the country.

The delightful Anita Rani managed to get in to see us no problem, and even asked after my finger as she saw it in its guise as comedy thumb the last time she was in. In case you too were all wondering, it has healed very nicely, and though I have no feeling above the 'slash line', (making it extremely hard to pull socks on believe it or not), the actual wound has finally closed up and stopped weeping at the drop of a hat! Nice.

In 2002 Anita presented The Edit a live news and entertainment programme on Channel Five. She has also presented a number of pop shows including Spring Break Live, Party in the Park and Pop City Live, as well as being a freelance journalist for Five News. In 2005 she was nominated as Best On Screen Personality at the Royal Television Society Midlands awards.

Anita joined the BBC Asian Network radio station and from April 2006 to March 2007 she presented the weekday morning talk-back programme Anita Rani on the BBC.

Anita has also delved into the world of sport as a regular reporter on The Cricket Show on Channel Four. She later joined Sky Sports where she became co-presenter with Simon Thomas on the Cricket AM show each Saturday morning.

In August 2008, she became the co-presenter of Rogue Restaurants on BBC1, and continues to be part of the team of roving reporters for The One Show.

Her most recent venture was last year when Anita appeared on BBC1’s Watchdog as a new co-presenter, replacing Julia Bradbury.

She is a lovely bubbly girl and we discussed the merits of the new train line they are putting in at Tottenham Court Road in time for the Olympics. It will run all the way from Maidenhead in Berkshire through the centre of London, out to Stratford and all the way to Shenfield in Essex – my neck of the woods!

Unfortunately this super duper line won’t be up and running until 2012 so until then we have complete and utter mayhem around one of London’s busiest junctions that is now a heaving building site, full of confused foreigners not knowing where the hell they are going after bobbing up from the underground. Gawd Bless Em!

Last week saw the final date of the Carrie’s War tour come to an end and we would like to take this opportunity to say a HUGE well done to our very own in house voice, Andrew Loudon.

Andrew directed Emma Reeves’ stage adaptation to great acclaim, first at the Lilian Baylis Theatre at Sadler's Wells in 2006 and again in 2009, where the production opened in the West End with a successful summer season at the Apollo Theatre.

The 2010 touring production of Carrie's War visited eleven venues across the UK from 1st September to 27th November. The production featured a thirteen-strong cast starring Brigit Forsyth and Hannah Waterman.

Nina Bawden's award-winning book has been consistently voted one of the nation's best-loved novels. This hugely successful stage adaptation by Emma Reeves brings to life Bawden's heart-warming, funny and evocative coming of age tale in a magical and beautifully staged production.

Nina Bawden based her best-selling 1973 novel, on her own childhood experiences as an evacuee in Wales during the War. Carrie's War has since been adapted twice for television by the BBC, most recently in 2004, the same year that Bawden received the prestigious S T Dupont Golden Pen Award for a lifetime's contribution to literature. Not a bad run eh.

Well the reviews say it all. Everyone thought the production was outstanding and really pulled at the old heart strings:

‘THERE IS AN OVERPOWERING HUMANITY TO THIS PLAY, DIRECTED BY ANDREW LOUDON, WHICH MAKES IT IRRESISTIBLE.’Sunday Telegraph - Critic's Choice

So there you go! Well done Mr Loudon, both the summer season and the tour were an absolute triumph and we hope you can relax for Christmas and take a well deserved break.

London News:

From Westfield to Canary Wharf, Hampton Court Palace to the Tower of London, ice rinks are springing up for the festive season.

As if on cue, with our plummeting temperatures, London’s ice rinks have thrown open their doors for the season, once again offering classic cityscape views, late night skating and a range of special events and party nights.

Typically, there's all manner of nosh and grog to keep those legs moving and the winter chill at bay.

Increasingly, as with Canary Wharf pictured here, and Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland, there’s a trend to make ice skating part of a larger experience; extras include shopping and spa treatments, fairground rides, a giant wheel and Zippos Circus. Take that Victorian London!

New to the scene this year is the London Eye rink where a twirl on the ice and a flight in your own capsule – quaffing mulled wine or champagne – is available as a two-in-one package.

The tried and tested, meanwhile, are gearing up again for festive Business: the rinks at the The Natural History Museum, The Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace are arguably the most atmospheric.

But, if it’s a touch of gliding glamour that you’re looking for then head on over to Somerset House, where the rink is bedecked with a 40 ft-high Tiffany Christmas tree. OOOO, get you and your fancy ways.

So there are just a few ideas to propel you with festive cheer whilst getting a bit of air about you.

So till next week, keep it toastie, tasty and tantalizingly tracheal!