- Face the future - 28th August 2026
- Tastey - 28th August 2026
- In the mind’s eye - 27th August 2026
During 23 years with the BBC, and a 43 year journalistic career (when he was trained to use clear and simple language, avoiding jargon), our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry, learned there was often a fine line between humour and crisis, which is highlighted by news now that an American had run out of breakfast materials, so she asked a travel ‘fixer’ to fly to Paris for a croissant!
Over the years you would almost become used to absurd events, and they would become humorous when you looked back on them.
I remember filming in a Welsh jail once, and one of the prison officers declaring: “I’ve been with them all – the Birmingham Six, the Guildford Four. The RENAULT FIVE”.
How we laughed. Not.
One of the production team then quietly asked: “Where exactly were the Renault Five in prison?”!
On another occasion in a production meeting, I inquired of a researcher who had found a contributing expert: “What will he say?”
She then responded: “Anything you want him to say…”, which is EXACTLY what you didn’t to hear!
Then there were the laughable remarks by the crooks I’ve exposed over the years – con artists seemed to specialise in them.
I remember presenting one with his birth certificate on camera, and saying: “This is you isn’t it?”.
To which he bluntly replied: No it isn’t!”.
I knew he was lying, but what was worse is that he KNEW I knew he was lying!
Ridiculous comments like these have been put centre stage for me, by details of what is coming out today in the travel industry for very rich people.
There is, for example, information about the travel ‘fixer’ who is at the whim of his or her wealthy client with each one spending at least $1 million on travel every year, on top of a $100,000 subscription fee to the firm.
The requests are absurd – such as fly to Paris to fetch a croissant, or ludicrous – like “call whoever you need to call” to get it to stop raining.
So the next time you hear something preposterous, remember it could be worse – you could be asked to do one of these things!
The memories of Phil’s decades-long award-winning career in journalism as he was gripped by the rare disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A GOOD STORY’ (which includes some of the strange language he had to learn). Order it now!
Tomorrow – during that career for him highlighting new evidence has always been crucial, and nowhere is this more needed than in the state of mental health care today – where securing urgent appointments can be difficult.
