Education Guide Autumn 2024

Round & About

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Round & About

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Read more articles in our 2024 Education Guide

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Benefits of boarding
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There are many questions to ask when considering which school is right for your child. Headmaster Tom Dawson examines the options to help you make an informed decision

As independent schools face ever increasing challenges; a fall in birth rate, higher cost of living, increase in mortgage rates and now VAT on school fees; the necessity to evolve and adapt has never been greater.

Schools must listen to the needs and desires of parents in order to survive and thrive. They should also, however, be very clear about what they offer and maintain an individuality that provides choice for parents. Some schools, faced with this existential question have chosen to extend down or up, to adapt their boarding model or in the case of a number of independent schools recently, go from single-sex to co-ed. This is a huge shift in policy for some schools with a very long history of educating just boys or girls. These changes have not been made on the spur of the moment but after long consideration of the advantages of both models; so what exactly are they?

Looking at the latest Independent Schools Council (ISC) census, 18% of schools are now single-sex (not including nursery), with more girls being educated in single-sex schools than boys. Interestingly, between years 7 and 10 (ages 11 to 14) 30% of ISC schools have year groups of either all boys or all girls.

Learning styles

Single-sex schools will argue that boys and girls learn in very different ways. This is certainly a generalisation but it does have a strong element of truth in it. This is particularly when the pupils are younger. Girls mature more quickly and approach learning in a more disciplined and determined way than the majority of boys. You only have to look at two pieces of work side by side and more often than not, it will be obvious which was produced by a boy and which by a girl. In order, therefore, to get the most out of the different learning styles, the teaching needs to be adapted to suit. Personalised teaching is a mark of a good independent school and that can be easier in a single sex environment.

It is also true that in single-sex settings, boys and girls can feel more able to be themselves and involve themselves in activities they might otherwise not. Children often feel pressure to conform to traditional gender roles, and this can be a barrier to learning. In single-sex schools, pupils are free to express themselves without fear of judgement or ridicule. This can lead to increased confidence and self-esteem, which can have a positive impact on academic performance and in participation in other activities. It is sometimes precisely because there are no girls that some boys will be happier to sing in the choir or play a female role in a play. The same can be said of girls who might have interests that may be seen by the more traditionally minded (some might say ignorant!) as more male pursuits.

The flip side is that co-ed schools can be seen as much more representative of the society that all school leavers will emerge into. Why separate children when that is not what the future holds for them? Many will say that children need to be in co-educational environments in order to learn that everybody is equal regardless of gender or any of the other protected characteristics. The need for mutual respect and understanding of both sexes is of paramount importance and a co-educational environment can facilitate this in a natural way.

All single-sex schools create situations with other schools where boys and girls are able to mix with each other but these events are often excruciating in their awkwardness. Thankfully, they are often more imaginative than the discos with boys on one side and girls on the other but it is rarely natural and it is always fleeting. There is the rush at the end of the event with a frantic swapping of numbers or ‘snaps’ but this can lead to all sorts of problems if the children are not properly guided in how to use these appropriately. Co-education can improve these social skills and help boys and girls to be more natural in each other’s company.

Whatever your view, the key element is choice. It is ultimately for parents to decide which route is better for their children and, providing that these options remain, there are so many good schools out there providing an outstanding education in a range of different settings.

Tom Dawson
Headmaster, Sunningdale School

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Could you be James Bond?

Karen Neville

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James Bond fantasies can easily unravel as Michael Smith reveals in his latest account of spies and secret lives

The popular image of a spy as epitomised by James Bond all too often leads people to imagine they can be spies.

FBI Special Agent Richard Miller was supposedly a professional paid to look for spies, but he was 48, seriously overweight and widely expected to be fired for a series of lapses that included leaving the keys in the door of the FBI offices overnight. He did have one potential asset.

Svetlana Ogorodnikova, a slim, pretty, blonde Russian, had emigrated to the US in the early 1970s hoping to become a Hollywood actress. She was all too happy to play a Mata Hari role by helping Miller to recruit the KGB man as his own agent, and turn himself into a hero, a top spy.

The KGB officers in San Francisco were rightly suspicious and rejected the approach. But their bosses in Moscow ordered them to go ahead. When the KGB said yes, Miller and Ogorodnikova celebrated and ended up making love. “It was just something that happened,” Miller said. “She was a very attractive woman. It just sort of came with the territory. I had a James Bond kind of fantasy.”

But the fantasy was spiralling out of control. The KGB sent Ogorodnikova to Moscow to be briefed on what to do and it was agreed that Miller would be paid $50,000 in return for handling over anything the KGB wanted. Ogorodnikova took Miller to the Consulate-General for a meeting with the KGB boss, but the normally teetotal FBI officer was so nervous that he had a few drinks to calm his nerves and became very drunk. He got out of the car in the full view of the FBI surveillance team watching the building, who photographed him with Ogorodnikova and soon identified him.

The FBI set up a surveillance operation against them Operation Whipworm – she was Whip, he was Worm. They bugged Miller’s and Ogorodnikova’s phones and cars, recording an agreement to fly to Vienna to seal the deal. But the trip never went ahead. They were both arrested and jailed.

* Read more stories about spies who never became famous in Michael Smith’s book The Anatomy of a Spy, published by History Press

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Down to Earth with new incense

Liz Nicholls

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Whether you’re meditating, practising yoga or just want to create a chilled atmosphere, the new Earth range by Temple of Incense is your grounding in peace

A harmonious blend of amber woods, earthy musk, tonka bean and mitti (Hindi for soil). Earth by Temple of Incense captures the raw, earthy elements that keep you connected and grounded, and will bring the outside in.

Whether you’re meditating, practicing yoga, looking to sync your body to the natural rhythms of the earth, or just want to create a chilled atmosphere, Earth incense sticks are the gateway to peace and tranquillity.

Even a brief burn of 10 minutes will renew your energy and enhance your vibe with the natural world.

Temple of Incense masterfully creates fresh and diverse vegan and cruelty-free, temple-grade incense sticks, resins, oudh and oils for every occasion and every room. Each box contains 20 luxury incense sticks, ethically hand-crafted with love and consciousness, masterfully created from the best quality oils and resins, sourced locally and from around the world.

The Temple of Incense story began in 2012 on a little market stall on Portobello Road, when two sisters from London – Simi and Sam Aydee – brought their expertise and passion for incense stick artistry to life, creating and marketing world-class natural incense, along with traditional and contemporary sculptural stick holders and bowls to complement every home décor. 

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Johnny Ball on maths & memories

Liz Nicholls

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Liz Nicholls chats to Johnny Ball, 86, who’s on a mission to make maths easy for all & stars with his daughter Zoe at Wantage Literary Festival  

Hi Johnny! Did you enjoy school?
“I had a dream time in primary school in Bristol. Aged 11, we moved to Bolton and though I was at a grammar school, I was neglected; two illnesses caused me to miss most of the autumns in years 2 and 3. I achieved two O-Levels. So they were surprised when they saw I’d got 100% in maths.”

Q. What would help youngsters master maths at school?
“The main problem is the neglect of geometry [in the curriculum]. It’s geometric thoughts and ideas that help our future engineers as well as artists. Geometry is a visual explanation of mathematical concepts and thus far more relevant than just numbers.”

Q. Can anyone become good at maths, even those who are frightened?
“Being frightened of maths can happen. But everything we get wrong in education is repairable, if and when we get the student in the right frame of mind. Often when school is ending, youngsters get the urge to achieve, despite recent failings. Things can be turned around in sixth form.”

Q. Who was your hero growing up?
“As regards my maths and science career, Jacob Bronowski’s TV series and book, The Ascent of Man, became my bible especially when I was writing Think of a Number and Think Again.”

Q. What do you love about life in Bucks?
“We moved to south Bucks just as my TV career took off and Think Again had won a BAFTA. We bought a wreck of a house, but today it is our pride and joy. Every aspect of the house has been improved over the years.”

Q. What was your favourite book a child?
“I read Treasure Island when I was about eight. In my 30s my mother told me they had been advised to keep me away from books as was clearly so clever, I might have a brain tumour.”

Q. I asked you about Strictly when we chatted years ago & you were not enamoured with how you were treated. How do you feel about it now?
“I went out first through a series of circumstances I don’t wish to revisit. But the very day after I was thrown out, the Strictly Tour asked if they could pencil me in, as they understood how badly I had been treated. Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace (who I had danced with at a sort of audition) said they wanted me to play the old man in their touring show, but I could not accept, due to other work.

Q. I loved you on TV as a child! Do you have any favourite shows?
“Sadly, BBC children’s TV on its own channels get nowhere near the viewing figures we achieved. It was a criminal decision by the BBC. It was clear when we were making our Think programmes, that our script and editing standards were very high – the best in the world. I often worked in the adult sector and never saw anywhere near the directional standards we achieved. I turned down Tomorrow’s World three times.

Q. What has it been like writing your memoirs?
“I have a quite detailed memory and my problem in writing my memoires, is cutting it down to only feature stories that are worth telling because they are unusual and often unique – Like Dad walking home with me on his shoulders while totally asleep – Mum being machine gunned in Bristol with me in the pram – The lad who robbed a bank and caught a bus home – The thief, who proved how good a thief he was, by stealing the Charge Book from the Police Station – The time I did the Val Doonican show with not one rehearsal and how the camera broke down after a couple of gags – we were live to 19 million viewers. Why, when Roy Orbison and The Bee Gees did their ONLY appearances at British Clubs, I was chosen as the comedy before their spots.

Q. If you could make one wish for the world, what would it be?
“For the world I worry a lot, but if you examine every say ten years back through your life, you see that things do get better when compared with the past – I hope we can always say that this continues. For me, I make wishes every day – mostly that I can keep on working.

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Recipes with Clodagh McKenna

Liz Nicholls

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We’re sharing two recipes to make the most of the last of summer thanks to Irish chef, author & TV star Clodagh McKenna

Read the Q&A with Clodagh McKenna here.

Prawn Coconut Curry

Check out this light, fragrant curry recipe! It’s quick, easy and packed with juicy prawns, creamy coconut milk and crunchy green vegetables.

Ingredients
Serves four, cooking time 15 minutes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp dried or chilli flakes or one whole red fresh chilli chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric (optional)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds (optional)
• 1 tin of coconut cream or milk
• 1 tin of tomatoes (whole or chopped)
• 450g / 15oz fresh king prawns
• Green vegetables – spinach, chard, pak choy, green beans, or peas
• Zest of 1 lime
• Fresh dill, flat leaf parsley or fennel
• Sea salt

Method
1. Place a saucepan or casserole dish over a low heat and add the olive oil. Stir in the onion, garlic and ginger, cover and cook for two minutes. Next remove the lid and add the garam masala, chilli, mustard seeds and turmeric. Stir and cook for two minutes.
2. Stir in the coconut cream and tomatoes and season with sea salt.
3. Next stir in the fresh king prawns, and cook for five minutes.
4. Lastly add the green vegetables and zest of one lime, and cook for a further 5 minutes.
5. Sprinkle fresh herbs on top and serve with lime wedges or any of these if you have them, rice, yogurt and naan bread.

Rosewater pavlova with soft summer berries

One of my favourite desserts, this is so decadent and looks fabulous, too. I sometimes swap the raspberries for other soft fruits. I make the pavlova the night before and leave it to cool overnight in the oven; switched off, of course.

Ingredients
Makes one pavlova, cooking time 90 minutes
For the pavlova:
• Nine egg whites
• 500g caster sugar
• 2 tsps cornstarch
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp rosewater

For the filling
• 500ml whipping cream
• 1 tbsp icing sugar
• 1 tbsp rosewater
• 200g fresh raspberries / loganberries

Sprigs of red currants to decorate

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Use an electric mixer to whisk the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until firm peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly until mixture is thick and glossy and the sugar completely dissolves. Add the corn starch, vinegar and rosewater and gently fold until just combined.
3. Pour the mixture on to the prepared baking tray in a circle shape and use the back of a wooden spoon to shape the meringue into a nest. Place the meringue in the pre-heated oven and turn the heat down to 140°C and bake for 1.5hrs. Once the meringue is baked, turn off the heat, open the oven door and allow it to cool completely.
4. When the meringue is cooled and ready to serve you can start assembling the filling. You don’t want to add the cream too far in advance as it will soak into meringue. Gently whip the cream until it thickens and then whisk in icing sugar. Fold in the rosewater and then spoon the filling into the centre of the meringue. Add the fresh berries on top.

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Heart & Craft: Polymath William Morris

Liz Nicholls

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Image: Wallpaper, Daisy (2) / © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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Liz Nicholls delves into the world of celebrated designer, maker & polymath William Morris thanks to a beautifully reissued V&A book

William Morris’s designs will be familiar to you, either by stealth (as the backdrop of your favourite pub) or as peacock flourishes you’ve chosen to adorn your own home.

Image: William Morris, photographed by Frederick Hollyer, 1886 / © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Such is the legacy of the man who said: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not known to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” What’s more, this pioneering radical believed in a utopian design democracy. This is why you’ll find his mesmerising patterns inspired by British wildlife, such as The Strawberry Thief, on walls, tea towels and… just about everything in between, in homes from the humble to the haughty, to this day. No individual has had such a lasting impact on the history of British design.

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

What’s more, William’s world view and love life were as colourful as his exquisite creations, as William Morris, V&A, edited by Anna Mason, illustrates in lavish style. Where to start…?

Image: Strawberry Thief. Designed by William Morris, registered 11 May 1883 / © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Image: Redcar Carpet. Designed by William Morris, 1881 / © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

William Morris was born in east London in 1834. The financial success achieved by his broker father gave him a privileged childhood, as well as inheritance. Time spent exploring parkland, forest and churches, and an enthusiasm for the stories of Walter Scott, helped William develop an early affinity with landscape, buildings and history. At Marlborough College he gained a reputation as an eccentric nicknamed “Crab” and loved the Savernake Forest and other local beauty spots.

He went up to Oxford University, reading classics at Exeter College, to prepare him for the Church. It was here that he met Edward “Ted” Burne-Jones, who was to become one of the era’s most famous painters, and Morris’s life-long friend. Ted introduced William to Dante Gabriel Rossetti – a central figure in the Pre-Raphaelite group – joining a team painting wild, whimsical murals at the Oxford Union. This led to a chance meeting with a local stableman’s daughter, Jane Burden. Never one to stick to snobbish class rules, William married Jane in 1859. Her striking looks were to make her a model of idealised beauty for members of the Pre-Raphaelite group for the next 30 years. As Anna Mason notes, Jane’s surviving correspondence reveals her lively and inquisitive mind, and their children Jenny and May were raised by creative, loving parents.

Image: Jane Burden, unknown photographer, 1868 / © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Image: The textile printing shed at Merton Abbey / © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

William and Jane moved into Red House in 1860 which they furnished and decorated. Meanwhile, Jane became Rosetti’s principal model and the relationship between them became romantic. However, there was no separation or scandal; William continued to treat his wife with kindness and respect. In 1871 they leased Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire, AKA “Heaven On Earth”, which inspired William’s design and literary works. It’s well worth a visit today; Kelmscott Manor

Over the next decade he continued to design at an impressive rate, adding at least 32 printed fabrics, 23 woven fabrics and 21 wallpapers – as well as more designs for carpets and rugs, embroidery and tapestry – to the company’s range of goods. By 1881 William had built up enough capital to acquire Merton Abbey Mills.

Towards the end of his career, William began to focus increasingly on his writing, publishing a number of prose narratives, including his most celebrated: News from Nowhere (1890). Infused with his socialist romantic ideals, this book offers his vision of a simple world in which art or “work-pleasure” is enjoyed by all.

William’s artistic versatility, technical prowess and imagination are evident across everything he tried, in fields including painting, drawing, stained glass, furniture, tiles and tableware, wallpaper, textiles, calligraphy and printing. The fruits of his creative mind and prolific work ethic remain in continuous production.

Visit V&A (vam.ac.uk) for more info & to shop.

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Billy Billingham: Always A Little Further

Liz Nicholls

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As featured in Spotlight: A Diary For The South East: https://youtu.be/hRZ4aR0vLHE

Liz Nicholls chats to SAS: Who Dares Wins star Billy Billingham MBE QCB whose new Always A Little Further tour visits Wycombe Swan on 25th November, plus Aldershot, Newbury & more beyond

Billy has had many astonishing experiences. He left school at 11 and ran with gangs in Birmingham before joining the Royal Marine cadets and Parachute Regiment, to rising to the rank of sergeant major in the SAS and undertaking hundreds of classified and extremely dangerous missions.

He spent more than 20 years in the Special Forces serving in countless warzones, winning a commendation for bravery, and being awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II, before embracing for the life of a bodyguard to celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Sir Michael Caine, Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe.

Billy will also take us behind the scenes of his hit TV shows where he gained a reputation for excellence, integrity, and a no-nonsense approach. A transformational leader, Billy inspires contestants to take on mentally and physically demanding challenges.

So, Billy, how did these big talking tours of yours come about?
“I got asked to help raise some money for a charity for bereaved children and of course I said yes. I thought I’d be talking to about 30 people. I went down to the venue on the morning and… there’s 300 people coming, and my heart fell out! My wife said; well, what are you going to talk about?! So we put a logical sequence together of trials, tribulations, lessons learned. And off we went! But I didn’t feel frightened, I enjoyed it.

“And I think this is now our fourth year. I love the response from the audience. I believe in giving back, especially to people who are looking for advice or just a bit of motivation.”

Q. You’ve had quite the life haven’t you? I mean literally highs and lows. What was your lowest moment, do you think?
“There’s a few. And that’s where the journey starts with me.
“So, I was a bd kid. My mum said I ran with a bad crowd but I knew right from wrong and I was bad, and it’s about owning that… Everybody should nowadays, instead of blaming others for our own mistakes. An old man I stole a hat from chased me, and rather than give me what I expected, when he caught me, he actually gave me the time of day and said come to learn boxing. That was a lightbulb moment.

“Then the next was in the cadets. I was taught proper discipline. And it was a hard discipline, but you were treated fairly, and I was learning great skills. I’m not academic. I’m a ‘monkey see, monkey do’ kind of guy.
“And then the saddest turning point in my life, which I talk about, was when I got stabbed and nearly died at 15. I felt more of an idiot, looking at people who love me, my family and my friends thinking I was going to die. I remember thinking if I get out of it, which I did, of course, I’ve got to change my life. And then getting into the military, and the military really was my saving grace.”

Q. And what advice would you have for anyone whose child is really struggling with school?
“At school, in English, maths, everything, I was the worst. I was petrified or sweating with anything academic. My strength was on the running field, doing physical things. So my advice to any child who’s struggling: do your best, be respectful, and find out what you’re good at and embrace that. Because there’s an avenue for everybody.”

To book tickets visit: Billy Billingham MBE | Projects | Fane

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George Egg grilled before Big Feastival

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As featured on our YouTube channel

Liz Nicholls chats to the thoroughly entertaining anarchist cook, comedian & dad George Egg who will star at Big Feastival in Kingham this coming bank holiday weekend

Q. Hello George. Lovely to talk to you, our snack hacker! Are you looking forward to Big Feastival?
“Yeah, I’m really excited, it’s my second time. I’m doing a cookery demo and a stand-up set both on the same day [Sunday].”

Q. And can you tell us a bit about your shows for those who haven’t seen you live? “So in theatre show, I cook on stage, live… real cooking as well, not some sort of clowny gesture towards it, it’s decent stuff! But the twist is that I don’t have any conventional kitchen equipment; I cook with power tools and things like a laptop that I’ve converted for cooking on. I’ve got a sort of flame-thrower thing, a wallpaper stripper and I cook three plates of food the audience can try. I’m also the Snack Hacker. And my stand-up is straight stand-up… but with props!”

Images by: Matt Lincoln

Q. Who were your comedy influences when you were younger? “Laurel and Hardy! Not just when I was younger, now as well. I also love lots of comedians including James Acaster.”

Q. So your first Edinburgh show, How To Cook in a Hotel Room was in 2015? “Yeah, that’s right. It was a totally self-produced show, not even any posters, and it sold out! I toured that for a couple of years then I realised I’d created this niche which led to more shows, using power tools and stuff!”

Q. Are you surprised how popular it’s been and what amazing fans you’ve picked up along the way?
“Yeah, I’m really surprised. I mean, I’m wracked with self-doubt! I think the success comes down to the fact that it is unique. And it comes from a real genuine passion. I love cooking, I love being inventive and creative…”

Q. And do you think we could all maybe go a little bit more rogue, like you, with our cooking?
“Yeah! If you kind of look at cooking as art you should be creative and break rules and challenge convention!”

Q. Like me you’re thinking about food pretty much every waking thought… what would your last supper be? “Crikey. Do you know what, I need to figure out before next week what my favourite last supper is. I’m writing a cookbook at the moment, and I’m crippled by choice, always. There’s a lot of nostalgic stuff in there because my dad did all the cooking when we were kids. And there’s loads of things that he did that bring everything flooding back. He used to make this lemonade with a whole lemon and ice cubes and sugar and a liquidiser…”

Q. What were your school dinners like? “Oh, I’ve such fond memories of school dinners! I went to school in south-east London, and they had this tuck shop, basically, all the things that they couldn’t sell. There’d be lukewarm fish fingers and sausages and things, which they’d sell for 5p, 10p. It was lethal! I’d go there towards the end of the lunch hour and just have like, eight fish fingers.”

Q. And what I really like about you is that you don’t have any sort of notion of guilty pleasures… Everything’s a pleasure! There’s never this snobbery about food that you sometimes get. “Yeah, oh, utterly. I mean, that’s my kind of ethos certainly with the Snack Hacker stuff. I don’t feel like salad cream is a naff ingredient: personally I call it white ketchup. I mean, it’s very similar; it’s full of vinegar and sugar. We didn’t have salad cream when I was growing up. We were quite a middle-class family and my parents frowned on salad cream like they frowned on ITV. So at school, I got a sachet of salad cream and had that with fish fingers. I was like, oooh, in heaven.”

Q. You’ve got some great fellow foodie famous fans haven’t you? “I mean, yeah, well, Craig Charles has really taken me under his wing. That’s lovely. So I do this weekly chat with him on BBC 6 Music every Monday where I give him a sort of quick, easy recipe idea. He’s so positive! I mean, every idea I come up with, he’s like ‘oh, God, I want to eat that’. Gennaro Contaldo too; I just I love him: he’s so funny, he reminds me of that Laurel & Hardy era.”

Q. What’s your favourite bit of kitchen kit? “A pressure cooker is something I discovered in the last few years. The recipes you can do! Check out the book by Catherine Phipps: you can do like a joint of roast beef in something like five minutes and it’s perfect, pink in the middle. It’s incredible! Otherwise, a microwave! We didn’t get one until after my dad had died but it’s amazing. You can do all sorts like chicken crackling and stuff which is just heaven.”

Q. You’ve got a cookbook coming out soon, haven’t you, as well as your theatre shows this autumn?
“Yeah, that’s being published June next year, see you at Big Feastival for a taste!”

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Will Young’s luminous return to pop

Liz Nicholls

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Multi award-winning British pop star and actor Will Young is back with his ninth studio album Light It Up

Multi award-winning British pop star, actor and all-round good egg Will Young is back with his ninth studio album Light It Up – out now via BMG.

To celebrate the new album, Will is also embarking on his most intimate tour yet this autumn. The sold-out Light It Up Live 2024 Tour is an up-close-and-personal evening of acoustic performances of all his hits and new songs, stories and conversation. The tour kicks off on 3rd September.

Light It Up is a shimmering return to from for one of Britain’s best-loved and steadfast pop singer-songwriters of the 2000s. The new body of work captures the musical richness of 1970s and ’80s soulful pop with a modern twist. A testament to Will’s magnetic vocals and storytelling prowess, each song – whether designed for escapism or reflection – feels perfectly tailored to soundtrack a moment.

Will says: “I really hope this is the go-to pop album for a dance, for a cry and for a celebration. I know I do all three with it. It is just so exciting to produce a complete pop album. Crafting pop music can be so fun and the challenge to sing those songs is something I’ve relished.”

“I really hope this is the go-to album for a dance, for a cry and for a celebration.”

Young has teamed up with renowned Scandinavian hitmakers PhD (who has worked with Kylie and Little Mix), and reunited with Andy Cato of Groove Armada, as well as long-term writing partners Jim and Mima Elliot (who worked on Will’s defining album, “Echoes”).

The euphoric lead single Falling Deep (BBC Radio 2’s Record of The Week) sets the tone for the ’80s pop inspiration that colours the album. Punchy synth-pop numbers like ‘Talk About It’, which Will wrote with Jim and Mima Elliot, and ‘Feels Just Like A Win’ bring confessional lyrics to the dancefloor.

The Worst is an introspective song that stands tall next to Young’s evergreen classic Leave Right Now as one of his best ballads yet. It is produced by PhD, who co-wrote the track with Celine Svanbäck (Dagny) and Sam Merrifield (Mimi Webb).

The intimate acoustic arrangement illuminates every relatable lyric that portrays an overthinker terrified of opening up to the possibility of new love in fear or being hurt again. Will sings: “I hate not knowing how the hell it’s gonna end. What if you’re the worst? What if this could hurt? Maybe I should self-sabotage as for nothing, cutting you off when I start feeling something.”

A theme that appears to underscore the album is the joy and complexity of life in your 40s. The anthemic title track Light It Up (BBC Radio 2 A-List) is a life-affirming call to celebrate your individuality and to never let the world diminish your true self. Over a sumptuous, soulful ’70s pop production, Will sings: “Light it up, and let them know it. You’re too loud to be quiet, too bright now to stop glowing. Don’t waste who you are.”

On the wistful electronic pop track Midnight, we get a glimpse of Will’s humour in the tongue-in-cheek lyrics. “Texting every ex, trying to get my fix. Why does no-one tell me that they are married?”

The album closes with a reimagination of ’80s hit I Won’t Let You Down, co-produced by Andy Cato. Showcasing Will’s uncanny ability to breathe new life into a song, the new arrangement, with its transcendent electric guitar solo and spacious rhythmic beat, is the perfect soundtrack to drift away into the sunset.

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Ben Elton on Authentic Stupidity tour

Liz Nicholls

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Comedian & actor Ben Elton shares his thoughts ahead of his new tour which stops at Newbury Corn Exchange on 28th August, Milton Keynes on 15th September & Wycombe Swan on 16th September

Ben Elton’s always had a lot to say. You don’t write countless sitcoms (including Upstart Crow, The Thin Blue Line, The Young Ones and Blackadder), pen 16 novels, four West End plays and musicals (including Queen’s We Will Rock You) if you’re not an ideas guy.

And it’s fresh ideas which have always driven his groundbreaking stand-up comedy routines, plenty of which will be explored in Ben’s new stand-up tour – his first since 2019 (the previous one was 15 years before that). The show’s called Authentic Stupidity, and it’s all about the ridiculous things we humans do and think.

Ben says: “The tour title is a little joke about how we’re all saying that Artificial Intelligence is this great threat to humanity, which of course it is, but I reckon the biggest threat is actually… Authentic Stupidity! Never mind AI, let’s start by worrying about AS! But really all my tours could have been called Authentic Stupidity, because they’re always comic explorations of the essential absurdity of existence. I think all good comedy is.”

“I’ve always done that in my routines. Sharing my own fears and joy and exasperations. Just being as funny as I can about the sh** that’s on my mind”. “Every part of my comedy is an exploration of human inadequacy,” he says, using Blackadder as one of his earliest examples “Blackadder thinks he’s so clever but his vanity, his jealousy and his ambition screw him every time. We need to accept that we are not everything and that we don’t know everything. If we did that I think we’d do less harm to ourselves and to the planet. The world would probably be a lot nicer and safer if we all embraced our inner Baldrick!”

That’s not to say that is all misanthropy, though. “In some ways, the world is better now. I think younger people have started to accept that weakness is OK; that weakness is merely an acknowledgement that you might need help, that you aren’t necessarily the thing you want to be or that people expect you to be. All these things that we used to hide are coming out more.”

There are, of course, aspects of modern life that have emphatically not improved, in his opinion. And while insisting he’s not a Luddite, he’s acutely aware of where technology is going wrong. His most recent novel, Identity Crisis, has some clever themes about how technology is deployed in culture wars.

“Personally, I would rather the internet wasn’t around because, although it’s an ingenious and useful, it’s destroying democracy as we speak because we’re too stupid to tell the difference between verifiable facts and undiluted arse porridge,” he says.

“And now we’ve invented AI, I mean how stupid is that? If a terrorist went on television and said, ‘We’ve come up with a machine that will literally make human beings redundant’ we’d in MI5! We’d think this is a genuinely existential threat. But because this is a bunch of tech bros and billionaires in California, we’re all just going, ‘Oh well, apparently it’s going to be able to write new Beatles songs.’”  

So is Ben looking forward to his new tour? “Absolutely. There’s just so much to talk about. Finding the funny has never been more important”.  

Funny bones

Interestingly, Elton doesn’t think of himself as being a great comic performer; for him it’s all about his writing, which he’s repeatedly proven himself to be great at, ever since the cult sitcom The Young Ones hit BBC Two in 1982.  

“Look, I think I can be pretty funny in my delivery but it would be nothing without the material. I’m not a natural clown who can get a laugh just pulling a face”, He recalls taking his wife and then young children to the home of pal Rowan Atkinson.  

“Rowan was handing out the cakes and the cat was lurking nearby and appeared about to pounce. Rowan removed the fondant fancies and then without any knowledge of doing it, he did a little mime of an outraged cat,” he says. “For a moment, he inhabited the creature in front of him and the kids and us fell about. It was perfect. I couldn’t do that. I could be funny in conversation, but my funny bones are all about the words.”  

He’s doing himself down a bit though: he did a cracking job hosting the one-off revival of Friday Night Live – the variety showcase of comic talent – for Channel 4 in 2022. The show wouldn’t have won the Bafta against some stiff competition if he wasn’t a great performer.

It’s fascinating how a comedian’s early forays into stand-up can shape their persona. Those accustomed to today’s (relatively) polite audiences would blanche at the often-brutal atmosphere of the Comedy Store in London, where Elton – along with Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, French & Saunders and Jo Brand – cut his teeth.  

“Back then it was two shows a night, the early one at 10pm, then one at midnight, in a strip club in Soho. It was 1981, Brixton was in flames, Thatcher was starting her ten-year war on society and sometimes audiences were tense and angry,” he explains.  

“People weren’t tuned into what we now call ‘alternative comedy’, which I would describe as the comedy of ideas. People were used to comedians who told jokes and part of the joke might be about dealing with hecklers, so there was this idea that that was what a comic did – they dealt with hecklers. I hate hecklers. I’ve never heard a witty heckle. They’re mythical.  

“I developed what was probably an overly combative style just to shut the idiots down” says Elton. “It took me a long time to get out of the shadow of the gong.”  

But over a lifetime of hugely successful stand-up he’s learnt to have faith in audiences. “I learnt not to trust them, thinking that, if I paused, someone would shout out,” he says. “I can pause a little bit now, but I still don’t pause much… because I’ve just got too much to say.” 

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