"...the Arena programme from 1987 on Jeffrey Bernard, who died last month, which follows him through his regular Soho eating and drinking haunts, in the betting shop and struggling with his column for The Spectator."
Glad I found this. I recently read Soho in the Eighties (Christopher Howse). It was great to put some faces to names in the book. Funniest thing was Mr Bernard's lunch companion trying to dissuade Alfredo from bursting into song. Hilarious! Thanks for posting.
The late Cormac McCarthy also liked the company of 'dodgy' characters, evidenced in, for example, his novel 'Suttree', which is said to be pretty autobiographical. As a guest on 'Desert Island Discs', Mr Bernard himself explains that when he was unable to write because of being unwell, it was because of his diabetes, not because he was hung over.
Yes, for a time he was married to Lala Ward. But she left him because: (And allegedly she really said this) "He never does the washing up and is either pissed or in the pub"
It wasn't the full version, but it caused the last video I left it in to be partially blocked, so it seemed easier to omit it this time. I'm just surprised that I didn't record the Bill Oddie programme.
