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Iain Lee

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    #1

    Iain Lee

    Local radio has just lost its most entertaining presenter:

    http://radiotoday.co.uk/2015/11/iain-lee-departs-bbc-three-counties-radio/
    Tags: None
    #2
    Iain Lee

    There goes a guy who had to sit with gritted teeth while all his former partners-in-crime went on to global fame and fortune. He could've had the same, but didn't want it enough. Hence he's been presenting a fairly obscure radio breakfast show.

    So did he jump, or was he pushed?

    Comment

      #3
      Iain Lee

      Jah Womble wrote: ...while all his former partners-in-crime went on to global fame and fortune.
      Well, there's Gervais and Baron Cohen obviously but there's also Edith Bowman and Aleks Krotoski...

      I think his real problem while he was concentrating on TV is that most of his vehicles didn't really appeal to his interests - mind you, did RI:SE appeal to anyone?

      Even though Iain had a few stabs at a gaming show, Charlie Brooker seems to be the only person at the moment capable of or interested in making truly engaging television about video games (at least since GamesMaster ended, that is) and I don't think there's the demand for him to document KISS the same way Rhys Thomas has about Queen, for example.

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        #4
        Iain Lee

        Trois Fois Un Rouge wrote:
        Originally posted by Jah Womble
        ...while all his former partners-in-crime went on to global fame and fortune.
        Well, there's Gervais and Baron Cohen obviously but there's also Edith Bowman and Aleks Krotoski...
        Not to mention Daisy... thing. You know. Her.

        Comment

          #5
          Iain Lee

          I was thinking of Gervais, SBC and also of others like Mackenzie Crook, etc. (Edith Bowman seems to be doing okay - I can't imagine her ambition extended much further than the career path she's enjoyed - but, as one who has no interest in gaming, had to Google Aleks Krotoski.)

          Years ago, I produced one of Lee's TV series and while I found him to be a nice enough guy - and pretty good on the show - felt him a little self-entitled on occasion. Others later suggested to me that he didn't show up for meetings (and sometimes proper work) and could be temperamental. Some while later, he moaned to the press about these previous projects - and bemoaned his lack of greater success - which isn't a very helpful attitude to take if you wish to get on.

          I don't deny that there's talent there, just believe that his attitude hasn't helped. Not having heard him since his Xfm days, I'll be honest that I don't know a great deal about his radio career, however.

          Comment

            #6
            Iain Lee

            He seems to have a habit of self-sabotage, so he can then play the victim. OTOH he remains genuinely very funny. In a way he's trapped between two stools: Too big for local radio, not cut out temperamentally for a long stint in anything bigger. Some parallels with Danny Baker, although Baker has a thicker skin and seems to land on his feet and make bags of money.

            Comment

              #7
              Iain Lee

              Lee's disdain for "Mental!"* seems to be shared by former contestants:

              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0FleI9DrHI

              But if Lee thinks it was shit, why did he take the gig?

              *The exclamation mark was surely fatal.

              Comment

                #8
                Iain Lee

                Mental was made on an almost-zero budget, so I'm not sure what people would've been expecting. (Hopelessly unwieldy format, mind you.)

                I've now read The Guardian's piece on why Lee had to leave Three Counties, so have some sympathy for the guy in this instance.

                Comment

                  #9
                  Iain Lee

                  You have sympathy for his views when interviewing a dunderheaded Christian bigot, but it didn't seem like he was a long way off navigating the sort of semi-neutral waters someone in his position really has to take.

                  With Edith Bowman being mentioned, can someone fill me in as to why she has had any sort of decent career in broadcasting?

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Iain Lee

                    Do you mean 'did' not 'didn't'?

                    I agree that Lee was intemperate and crossed the line between a sort of Paxman/Humphreys grilling and simply shouting obtusely over the other person and not addressing her spurious points. However I would have thought that a private slap on the wrist would have covered that misdemeanor rather than forcing the guy to apologize to a bigot.

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Iain Lee

                      Yes, I mean did. The thing is that these programmes need bigots to come on future shows and spout their religious drivel, so if they feel they are just being abused rather than engaged with then they'll just take their idiocy elsewhere.

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Iain Lee

                        I think it's the "Kilroy" effect (or Talk Radio effect) whereby controversy rather than enlightenment is the key. Lee didn't play the game correctly, I would guess, although I don't think his behavior in that clip is any worse than the Kilroy rants I recall from the late 80s (IIRC Kilroy would shout down anyone who was a leftie, 'do-gooder' or other stereotype of his imagination while giving an easy ride to the Tory-lite jobsworths)

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