23 Nov 2020
Robert Lindsay is giving the most wonderful readings in a prog about Roald Dahl on BBC4 now. I once phoned Dahl from a payphone when I was 15 to ask if he’d let me interview him at my school. But when I rang, I asked to speak to Ronald Dahl and a voice said “There’s no-one here of that name”. I insisted this was the number I’d found for Ronald Dahl until he proferred “There’s a Roald Dahl who lives here”. When I asked to speak to Roald Dahl, the voice said “Speaking”. But when I asked if he’d let me interview him, he answered “I’m far too old and grumpy to be interviewed by a young boy like you”. Which was fair enough. We’ve gone on to produce more stories by Roald Dahl than any other company in the world, including one of our favourite productions, George’s Marvellous Medicine. Very many thanks Ronald.