Sue W sent me an interview that REG did with South Africa Tonight on their website when he was filming “The Story Of An African Farm” recently. In the interview he talks about what it’s like going back to Africa and filming (REG has been back to Swaziland every year for the past 22 years he’s been living in London) and how much he liked the idea of playing the fake Irish conman, Bonaparte Blenkins. You can read all about it here.

Cartoon Network and The Prince of Wales Arts & Kids Foundation announced the launch of “cARToon netWORK – ARTWORK”, a partnership designed to get children involved with the arts, and discover connections between all art forms. Workshops will be designed and led by artists from different fields including Richard E. Grant, Siobhan Davis, Quentin Blake and Benjamin Zephaniah. Sue W sent me an article which talks more about it and you can read that here.

As this all started to take place back in late October it’s unsure just exactly what it was that REG did, but I’ll drop him a note and see if I can find out. Stay tuned.

Sue W sent me a page from the Marketing Week Effectiveness Awards website which has named Argos as the winner for the retail section of the awards for 2003. It goes without saying that it’s largely REG’s influence, as Zak the has-been rock star, which has brought such great success and high profit margins to the Argos brand. Richard has been playing the part of Zak in the television commercials for over a year now and Argos are pretty chuffed about it, to say the least. You can read more about the Marketing Week Effectiveness Awards here.

Thanks to Stargazer (and various publications) here’s the listings for Reg on TV over the festive period…

09-12-03 (BBC 1) 23:55
LA Story-FILM

24-12-03 (Channel 4) 18:10
A Christmas Carol-FILM

24-12-03 (BBC 1) 20:00
Eastenders Christmas Party

24-12-03 (UK Drama) 23:05
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1 of 3) Repeated on 25-12-03 at 02:55

25-12-03 (UK Drama) 23:05
The Scarlet Pimpernel (2 of 3) Repeated 26-12-03 at 02:45

26-12-03 (UK Drama) 23:15
The Scarlet Pimpernel (3 of 3) Repeated 27-12-03 at 03:10

26-12-03 (BBC 3) 21:00
Eastenders Christmas Party (repeat)

27-12-03 (BBC3 ) 20:00
Eastenders Christmas Party (repeat)

Here’s what the Ananova website had to say about the upcoming Eastender’s Christmas special:

“Albert Square is to host a one-off variety extravaganza as part of the BBC’s musical themed line-up for the festive period.

EastEnders’ Christmas Party, which will bring together stars such as Liberty X, Jo Brand and Richard E Grant, will be the first time the Square has been used for anything other than drama.

Famous names past and present will be in the show, which will be hosted by Shane Richie and will see Mike Reid pulling pints at the Queen Vic.

Christmas comedies include the last ever Only fools And Horses and The Office, both to be aired by BBC1. The Office, returning for a one-off edition, will be making its debut on the station after previously airing on BBC2.

Michael Parkinson will also be hosting a festive musical variety show, Christmas Night With The Stars.

Traditional favourites The Sound Of Music and The Wizard Of Oz will be back for a seasonal BBC1 return but this time with a new twist.

They will tap into the nation’s love of singalong versions and digital viewers will be able to call up subtitled lyrics to add their voices to those of Julie Andrews and Judy Garland.

And BBC3’s Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps will be getting in on the act when it turns into a comic musical. Ralph Little will be seen as Marilyn Manson and Will Mellor as Eminem in the show.

The digital station will also be giving a TV premiere to the Madness musical Our House.”

Just a little more on REG’s involvement in the special – I’m reliably informed that the sketch involves Eastenders actors Perry and Laila Morse teaching Greg Ruzedski, Clarissa Wilson-Dickson (Two Fat Ladies), Jenny Bond (former TV royal reporter) and REG how to “talk proper” in the Eastenders café.

And that, as they say, is an exclusive!

Ever wondered what Richard might smell like? InStyle Magazine did and so it checked with various celebrities, REG included, to see what perfumes they preferred. It’s only a very short snippet but you can check it out here.

Thanks to Denise for passing this along to the Temple.

Stargazer also wanted to remind U.K. people that “LA Story” is on BBC1 next Tuesday at 11:55PM.

Sometime tomorrow Richard will be recording Dame Edna Everidge’s Christmas chat show special in London which should hit U.K. screens very shortly after. Get those VCR’s ready girls and boys as it’s sure to be a riot.

More Doctor Who stuff today in the form of an older article that was sent to me a long while back from Joann. Those of you on the mailing list have probably read this one already. The reason it’s taken so long to actually reach the Temple site is because it was in .jpeg format and therefore needed transcribing first (I tend to do push these ones to the back of the pile and do the “easy stuff”, ie “already transcribed stuff” first). Anyway, the article is from The Scottish Sunday Post and you can read that one here.