Ruby (talk show)

Last updated

Ruby
Ruby Title Card.jpg
Series 4 Title Card
Genre Talk show
Directed by Ed Bye
Peter Orton
Southan Morris
Presented by Ruby Wax
Theme music composer Simon Brint
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes48
Production
Executive producerClive Tulloh
Running time40 min
Release
Original network BBC Two
Original releaseMay 12, 1997 (1997-05-12) 
November 9, 2000 (2000-11-09)

Ruby was a late-night talk show broadcast on BBC Two in the United Kingdom.

Contents

The series premiered on May 12, 1997, [1] and was hosted by writer and comedian Ruby Wax. In each episode Wax holds an unscripted roundtable discussion with up to five guests. Framed as a dinner party, guests included actors, writers, stand-up comedians, musicians, journalists and other well-known figures in the entertainment industry.

A total of 48 episodes were broadcast between May 1997 and November 2000.

Production

Wax with guests Salman Rushdie and Carrie Fisher Ruby Wax with Carrie Fisher and Salman Rushdie.jpg
Wax with guests Salman Rushdie and Carrie Fisher

Each episode was recorded at BBC Television Centre. All episodes were pre-recorded, and often with no time limit. The conversation between Wax and her guests would sometimes last up to three hours, and would later be edited down to 40 minutes for broadcast. Multiple episodes could be recorded on the same day. The set was dressed as a restaurant and bar, and guests would eat, drink and smoke as if at a dinner-party. To add to the restaurant atmosphere, additional tables were populated by BBC staff including producers, secretaries, cafeteria and office workers. [2]

Notable guests and episodes

Actress and writer Carrie Fisher appeared regularly on the series. Fisher and Wax had become close friends since first meeting on Wax's earlier series, The Full Wax. Fisher appeared in a total 7 episodes of the series. [3]

According to his 2004 autobiography, talk show host Graham Norton first met Fisher when they both appeared as guests on the same episode, and also became good friends with her. [4]

Actor and comedian Scott Thompson appeared during the series' third season, and spoke at length about witnessing the 1975 Brampton Centennial Secondary School shooting.

Actor Alan Cumming also appeared during the series' third season, and spoke at length of his experience of being stalked by obsessive fans while he was performing in the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret .

Reception

In reviewing the first three episodes, columnist Jasper Rees wrote in The Independent :

Ruby (BBC2, Mon to Wed) doesn't feel fully thought through: you get the impression it's an experimental stop-gap. But - hats off - it doesn't skimp on ambition. Uniting guests round a dining table with no particular axe to grind or product to promote, the challenge accepted by Ruby is to keep the conversational ball up in the air without the support system of topicality, and without the flabby or ill-disciplined as an equivalent show on radio could get away with. [5]

Episodes

Series 1 (1997)

The first series of 12 episodes was broadcast thrice-weekly, usually on Monday-Wednesday nights, in May and June 1997.

No.
overall
No. in
series
GuestsOriginal air date
11Leo Bassi, Raoul Heertje, Eddie Izzard, Terry Jones and Babben Larsson 12 May 1997 (1997-05-12)
22 Eve Arnold and John Simpson 13 May 1997 (1997-05-13)
33 Marianne Faithfull, Lucinda Lambton and Will Self 14 May 1997 (1997-05-14)
44 Carrie Fisher and Salman Rushdie 19 May 1997 (1997-05-19)
55 Carrie Fisher, Joanna Bowen, Helen Lederer, Kathy Lette and Bernadette Moran-Ferreira20 May 1997 (1997-05-20)
66 Carrie Fisher, John Lahr and Hugh Laurie 21 May 1997 (1997-05-21)
77 Frances Barber and Meera Syal 27 May 1997 (1997-05-27)
88 Frances Barber and Meera Syal 28 May 1997 (1997-05-28)
99 Jeremy Hardy, Jonathan Miller and Muriel Spark 29 May 1997 (1997-05-29)
1010 John Diamond, Carmen Callil and Helena Kennedy 2 June 1997 (1997-06-02)
1111 Rupert Everett, Jill Robinson, Fiona Shaw and Martin Sherman 3 June 1997 (1997-06-03)
1212 Alan Davies, Anna Massey and Glenys Kinnock 4 June 1997 (1997-06-04)

Series 2 (1998)

A second series of 12 episodes was broadcast thrice-weekly on Monday-Wednesday nights in July 1998.

No.
overall
No. in
series
GuestsOriginal air date
131 Jeanne Moreau, Joanna Lumley and Boy George 6 July 1998 (1998-07-06)
142 Frances Barber, Michelle Collins and Gerald Ratner 7 July 1998 (1998-07-07)
153 Rhona Cameron, Brigitte Nielsen and Joe Simpson 8 July 1998 (1998-07-08)
164 Edwina Currie, Helen Lederer and Tony Slattery 13 July 1998 (1998-07-13)
175 Dominick Dunne and Clive James 14 July 1998 (1998-07-14)
186 Carrie Fisher, Dominick Dunne and Clive James 15 July 1998 (1998-07-15)
197 Carrie Fisher, Julian Lennon and John Diamond 20 July 1998 (1998-07-20)
208 Ivana Trump, Dana International and Julian Clary 21 July 1998 (1998-07-21)
219 Richard Wilson, PD James and Elizabeth Wurtzel 22 July 1998 (1998-07-22)
2210 Bruce Robinson, Joanna Bowen and Ian Ross 27 July 1998 (1998-07-27)
2311 Neil Simon, Anna Massey and Josephine Hart 28 July 1998 (1998-07-28)
2412 Bret Easton Ellis, Carrie Fisher and Elizabeth Wurtzel 29 July 1998 (1998-07-29)

Series 3 (1999)

A third series of 12 episodes was broadcast thrice-weekly on Monday-Wednesday nights in September and October 1999.

No.
overall
No. in
series
GuestsOriginal air date
251 Terry Gilliam and Eddie Izzard 13 September 1999 (1999-09-13)
262 Anthony-Noel Kelly, Carrie Fisher, Graham Norton and Griff Rhys Jones 14 September 1999 (1999-09-14)
273 Frances Barber and Graham Norton 15 September 1999 (1999-09-15)
284 John Lloyd, Joanna Lumley and Sarah Miles 20 September 1999 (1999-09-20)
295 Billy Crystal 21 September 1999 (1999-09-21)
306 Robert Bly, Marion Woodman, John Simpson and Tony Slattery 22 September 1999 (1999-09-22)
317 Glenda Jackson, Helena Kennedy, John Diamond and Patrick Kielty 27 September 1999 (1999-09-27)
328 Marianne Faithfull, John Brown, Nicky Haslam and Anita Pallenberg 28 September 1999 (1999-09-28)
339 Scott Thompson, Rhona Cameron and Robert McLiam Wilson 29 September 1999 (1999-09-29)
3410 Malcolm McDowell and Edward Hibbert 4 October 1999 (1999-10-04)
3511 Malcolm McDowell, Edward Hibbert, Lindsay Duncan, Scott Thompson and Karen Moline5 October 1999 (1999-10-05)
3612 Olympia Dukakis, Martin Sherman and Alan Cumming 6 October 1999 (1999-10-06)

Series 4 (2000)

A fourth and final series of 12 episodes was broadcast on Monday-Thursday nights in October and November 2000.

No.
overall
No. in
series
GuestsOriginal air date
371 Roseanne Barr 23 October 2000 (2000-10-23)
382 Jerry Hall, Graham Norton and Georgina Beyer 24 October 2000 (2000-10-24)
393 Siân Phillips, Amanda Donohoe and David Sedaris 25 October 2000 (2000-10-25)
404 Lucie Arnaz, Alexis Arquette and Suzanne Bertish 26 October 2000 (2000-10-26)
415 Jackie Collins, Rich Hall and Helen Lederer 30 October 2000 (2000-10-30)
426 Roseanne Barr, David Baddiel and Lynda La Plante 31 October 2000 (2000-10-31)
437 John Diamond, Matthew Manning, Beechy Colclough and Jonathan Harvey 1 November 2000 (2000-11-01)
448 Jay McInerney, Kate O'Toole, David Sedaris 2 November 2000 (2000-11-02)
459 Ewan McGregor and Eddie Izzard 6 November 2000 (2000-11-06)
4610 Michael Gambon, James Fleet and Kevin McNally 7 November 2000 (2000-11-07)
4711 Anthea Turner, Will Carling, Clarissa Dickson Wright and Johnny Scott 8 November 2000 (2000-11-08)
4812 Robert Winston, Phil Hammond and Muriel Gray 9 November 2000 (2000-11-09)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Wood</span> British comedian (1953–2016)

Victoria Wood was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over several decades and her live comedy act was interspersed with her own compositions which she performed at the piano. Much of her humour was grounded in everyday life and included references to activities, attitudes and products that are considered to exemplify Britain. She was noted for her skills in observational comedy and in satirising aspects of social class.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrie Fisher</span> American actress and writer (1956–2016)

Carrie Frances Fisher was an American actress and writer. She was best known for playing Princess Leia in the original Star Wars films (1977–1983). She reprised the role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017) — a posthumous release that was dedicated to her — and appeared in The Rise of Skywalker (2019), through the use of unreleased footage from The Force Awakens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruby Wax</span> American-British comedian (born 1953)

Ruby Wax is an American-British actress, comedian, writer, television personality, and mental health campaigner. A classically-trained actress, Wax was with the Royal Shakespeare Company for five years and co-starred on the ITV sitcom Girls on Top (1985–1986).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Davies</span> English comedian, presenter and actor

Alan Roger Davies is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is best known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series Jonathan Creek (1997–2016) and as the only permanent panellist on the BBC panel show QI since its premiere in 2003, outlasting its original host Stephen Fry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Kay</span> English actor and stand-up comedian (born 1973)

Peter John Kay is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Addison</span> British comedian, writer, actor, and director

Christopher David Addison is an English comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on Mock the Week. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for BBC Radio 4.

<i>A Country Practice</i> Australian television series

A Country Practice is an Australian television soap opera/serial which was broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 22 November 1993, and subsequently on Network Ten from 13 April 1994 to 5 November 1994. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,088 episodes were produced.

<i>The Paul OGrady Show</i> British comedy chat show

The Paul O'Grady Show was a British comedy chat show presented by comedian Paul O'Grady, first shown on 11 October 2004. The programme is a teatime chat show consisting of a mixture of celebrity guests, comic stunts, musical performances, and occasionally viewer competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Caulfield</span> Welsh actress, writer and comedian

Josephine Samantha Caulfield is a British actress, writer and comedian.

Graham Duff is an English writer, actor and producer. He was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, and lives in Brighton. He graduated from the University of Brighton. His work for TV and radio is typified by intricate plotting, large casts, frequently dark subject matter and a love of wordplay and surrealism.

<i>So Graham Norton</i> British TV series or programme

So Graham Norton is a British television chat show hosted by Irish personality Graham Norton. It aired on Channel 4 from 3 July 1998 to 1 March 2002.

<i>The Graham Norton Show</i> British comedy chat show, broadcast on BBC One

The Graham Norton Show is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton succeeding Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in BBC One's prestigious late-Friday-evening slot in 2010.

The Jack Docherty Show was a weeknightly comedy chat show which first aired on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom between 30 March 1997 and 23 June 1999. Presented by comedian Jack Docherty, the programme was one of the first to air on the channel, doing so as part of its opening-night schedule on 30 March 1997. The show was recorded at London's Whitehall Theatre during the early evening and would then be broadcast in a late-night slot. It featured a mixture of chat with celebrity guests, comedy, and music, and followed a similar format to shows such as NBC's Late Night with David Letterman in the United States.

Nighthawks was an Irish television series broadcast on Network 2. Shay Healy presented. It was part of the major re-brand of RTÉ Two as Network 2 in 1988.

<i>Carpool</i> (web series) British web series

Carpool is a web series presented by English actor and comedian Robert Llewellyn. In each episode he interviews a guest while giving them a lift in an eco-friendly car. The guests are often well-known British television personalities such as Jonathan Ross or Ade Edmondson. However, Llewellyn also interviews less-well-known figures as long as he feels that they will prove to be an interesting subject. The guests also included Llewellyn's fellow Red Dwarf actors, Danny John Jules, Craig Charles, Chris Barrie and Hattie Hayridge. Llewellyn has also reunited with his Scrapheap Challenge co-hosts, Cathy Rogers and Lisa Rogers for interviews.

Justin Moorhouse is an English stand-up comedian, radio DJ and actor from Ashton-Under-Lyne. He appeared in Phoenix Nights, Looking for Eric and Guess The Attendance. Moorhouse has also appeared as a guest on the Dave TV series As Yet Untitled with Alan Davies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Pascoe</span> English comedian, presenter and writer

Sara Patricia Pascoe is an English actress, comedian, presenter and writer. She has appeared on television programmes including 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown for Channel 4, QI for BBC and Taskmaster for the digital channel Dave.

The thirty-third series of the British medical drama television series Casualty began airing on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 11 August 2018, one week after the end of the previous series. The series consisted of 46 episodes. Lucy Raffety continues her role as series producer, while Simon Harper continues his role as the show's executive producer. Sixteen regular cast members reprised their roles from the previous series. The series, which is billed as "The Year of the Paramedic", begins with a motorway collision stunt sequence, and features a crossover episode with spin-off series, Holby City. This series featured the departures of six cast members, including Amanda Mealing as Connie Beauchamp, Azuka Oforka as Louise Tyler and Chelsea Halfpenny as Alicia Munroe. Four new regular cast members also joined the series, while two actors began appearing in a recurring capacity.

<i>Holby City</i> (series 21) Season of television series

The twenty-first series of the British medical drama television series Holby City began Airing on BBC One on 2 January 2019 in the United Kingdom. The series consists of 53 episodes. Kate Hall acts as the series producer for episode one and was replaced by Jane Wallbank from the following episode; Simon Harper is the executive producer. The series is billed as an anniversary year for the drama as it celebrates twenty years since its launch. The series also features a crossover episode with sister show Casualty, an episode written by the show's co-creator Tony McHale and the show's 1000th episode, due to be broadcast in November 2019. Thirteen actors reprise their roles from the previous series and former cast members return for guest stints throughout the series. Three new regular characters were also introduced, while Nic Jackman was promoted to the main cast in his role as foundation doctor Cameron Dunn.

References

  1. "Ruby (1997)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 12 October 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  2. "60 Seconds Extra: Ruby Wax". Metro UK. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  3. "Carrie and Me". Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  4. Norton, Graham (8 December 2011). Graham Norton: So Me. ISBN   9781444717778 . Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  5. "Dinner for two (or more) chez Wax". The Independent. Retrieved 12 October 2019.