Philip Pullman

[gulplum]

Amy Z wrote:
> It sounds fascinating.  Hear, hear on his take on "good and evil," 
> and hats off to the interviewer for not mentioning HP once.  Does 
> anyone know whether it ran/will be run on PBS?

If it is ever shown in the U.S., I highly doubt that it'll be on 
PBS.  As far as I know, most UK TV shows on PBS are from the BBC, 
which isn't quite the be-all and end-all of British TV (this isn;t 
one of their shows). :-)

However, from other interests of mine, I know that various South Bank 
Show programmes have been shown on A&E (the Arts & Entertainment 
Network?) on cable, and I wouldn't be surprised if this one turns up 
there as well. 

As for the interviewer, well, I'd expect nothing less from (Lord) 
Melvyn Bragg. He's not just a celebrity interviewer, he's a major 
figure in both British arts appreciation and TV production. Apart 
from being the "face" of the SBS, he is also its editor and usually 
producer, and an executive of the broadcasting station. He's a very 
clever guy, and I would seriously recommend his series called "The 
History of English" (language) which he did last year. 
(potted biog here, which was clearly done before that series: 
http://www.visitcumbria.com/mbragg.htm)

Incidentally, the name of the show is a very clever play on culture: 
the South Bank (capitalised) is a major centre of British arts, along 
the south bank (duh!) of the Thames in central London which includes 
the South Bank Centre (3 concert halls, a couple of proper art 
exhibition spaces, the National Theatre, the National Film Institute) 
and various other "arty" institutions. And also the home of the TV 
station which produces this show. The SBS has also been a major 
element of British cultural life for the last 20 years + and one of 
less than a handful of shows I watch on that station. Like the 
station, it's been seriously dumbed down over the last decade or so, 
but still lives up to the ideals of a populist approach to serious 
culture. It tackles a single subject each week, based on an in-depth 
interview with the artist/writer/musician/performer in question. 

I have no idea whay I went on that long digression, but some folks 
might find it interesting. :-)

I got the feeling that Bragg was desperately trying to lead Pullman 
into making HP comparisons, but Pullman was just as clearly desperate 
not to make them. :-) 

Oh, and something important I forgot to mention last night: I was 
very pleased to hear Pullman's pronunciation of Lyra's daemon's name, 
which I've been wondering about ever since I read the books last 
year: PantaLAImon; the stressed syllable is "lai", with a short "a" 
(i.e pronounced as it is in Pullman's name).