I don't live by "The Rules" you know, and if there's one person who has influenced me in that way of thinking, someone who is a maverick, someone who does 'that' to the system then it's Ian Botham.
Brilliant questioning, incisive and intelligent. I wish the media were as challenging to pricks like Botham nowadays. Disgusting that the comments here are condemning these wonderful kids. Nowadays kids would ask stupid "celebrity" questions about who he's dating or what his favourite meal is. Depressing to see the decline of our society.
Brilliant questioning my arse, it was a risible series of attempts to prove a lefty narrative that had been implanted in their juvenile brains. I think their teachers should have joined the drug dealers (who poison young bodies) in prison for poisoning their minds.
Ad hominem followed by 'straw man' accusation. Brilliant. This line of questioning simply exposed Botham as the selfish, regressive, vile man he is and it's absolutely no surprise that he's a puppet of the pro hunt lobby these days. This audience was brilliant.
??......I am not British, and know little about Botham outside his cricket career.....he sounded quite relaxed and much more rational than the questioners....a trail blazer
@@samain11if they ask what you agree with, they're "free thinkers," if they ask what you don't agree with, they're lefties who've been brainwashed. Fuck outta here.
Sad to see such polarization in the comments, condemning either Botham or the youth. think both interviewers and interviewee largely come over pretty well. The questions are tougher than the average journalist and Botham does his best to answer them honestly and without evading them. Kudos to audience and him.
People see me, and they see the suit, and they go: "you're not fooling anyone", they know I'm rock and roll through and through. But you know that old thing, live fast, die young? Not my way. Live fast, sure, live too bloody fast sometimes, but die young? Die old. That's the way- not orthodox, I don't live by "the rules" you know. And if there's one other person who's influenced me in that way I think, someone who is a maverick, someone who does that to the system, then, it's Ian Botham. Because Beefy will happily say "that's what I think of your selection policy, yes I've hit the odd copper, yes I've enjoyed the old dooby, but will you piss off and leave me alone, I'm walking to John O'Groats for some spastics."
Came here from The Guardian...I thought he did pretty well really. I think a mistake is thinking that a cricketer/celeb is a deep thinker on questions like apartheid, drugs and conservatism. He's just a bloke who's great at cricket being grilled for his views which he probably hasn't spent a lot of time or effort in shaping, but which are known because he's a celeb who got asked questions about them and they were aired to the world.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching that again. I remember watching this back in 1986 ( thought it was shown in 1984, but never mind), and thoroughly enjoyed it back then as well. Those kids gave Botham such a tough time, however, felt Beefy handled the situation quite well. You could clearly see he felt uncomfortable throughout the programme.
Botham walked into an ambush...he tells his truth which is rare in a city with the worst tabloid media ever.. A Hero in that respect for sure. and a hero on the field entertaining us all.
Yes, he's punched the odd copper and yes, he's enjoyed the odd dooby but will you just piss off and leave him alone while he walks to John O'Groats for some spastics.
"You can change nappies if you want to love. Its a free country. That's why my dad fought in the war". The bits where he realises that for an audience of children he's going into too much detail about killing animals are great too. You get the feeling that about 15 seconds in he's at the point where in most arguments he'd start punching faces, and he realises he can't do that here. Oh Beefy, you knob!
Maybe his views were all a bit too much in 1986 but for 2023 he seems on the money. Came to this from a link on the Guardian, with the full expectation of lampooning Botham. But he defends himself perfectly ably and various comments are almost insightful. For example, it being preferable to shoot and consume a wild deer, rather than an animal bought up in slavery in a pen. I'm veggie but if you're strong enough to kill your own meat, you should be allowed to eat it. What better connection to the foodchain. His responses about weed are also quite forward thinking. Stupid little moustache though.
They actually nailed him quite a few times, he's very uncomfortable and squirms quite a bit especially when asked about his smoking of dope and over what period!! Well done the inquisitors!!
Botham might have agreed thinking kids will ask some easy questions and it will be fun time. it turned out to be a horrible time. would have been waiting for the programme to get over.
I always though Botham was a bit of an oaf but telling a girl that his dad fought in world war 2 so girls have the freedom to change nappies was quite the viewpoint.
First time I've seen this. I bet he thought it would be an easy question and answer session, all about cricket and how much they admire him etc. Wrong ! It was an interrogation but brilliant too, poor old Beefy was squirming. They should get them all back and do it all over again, see if views have changed ?
Don't particularly like Botham, but he did fine here. He was probably a little annoyed at the amount of questions deriving from falsehoods or quotes out of context. Can't blame him.
ITB did better than bloody well on this show. It's hard not to like the bloke, even if you disagree with him (which I don't about animal welfare, being the son of a farmer. He is dead right all the way along and a lot better informed than some of the youngsters in the audience).
love Ian I have admired him throughout his career but he was floored by these kids in my opinion! Resorting to calling the girls "love" is condescending - he's matured with age - don't think he would behave or talk like this nowadays ! He was so unprepared for these intelligent questions.
I wish cricketers these days were politically aware or at least educated. At least differentiate Marijuana from synthetic, eventually fatal drugs. DID YOU KNOW ... Michael Holding did Mainframe COBOL work for Bank of England before he bowled his first in Test Cricket for West Indies at the age of 20?! ! !!! I always hoped India's right-wing payback to Indira Gandhi would be a Maggie Thatcher, but never had the dreaded imagination that a "Gandhi" would "reincarnate" (India's favorite fairy-tale word) into a form that is the mastermind of Hindu religious armed-militancy and lynchings inflicted on its own people.
This is so obviously a stitch-up. No way Botham would have agreed to this had he known that the producers were going to forcefeed the kids questions that relentlessly go after the same controversial talking points.
Wow, i loved him on sky for the test matches but always thought he was slightly entitled and arrogant, and now this has resurfaced and it all makes sense
He's a vocal guy and has strong opinions. A couple of the questions came across as a bit puritanical in all fairness but they did ask him some challenging questions which he answered honestly.
I've got to hand it to Beefy for putting up with this crap. I'd have walked off after the first couple of questions. Never have I seen so many uptight, joyless teenagers in one place. Who really cares whether he changed nappies or smoked a few spliffs? At their age I was more concerned about where my next snifter was coming from and trying to get my leg over. The world would be an excruciatingly boring place if we all behaved in the polite, politically correct way alluded to by these loaded questions. They could have simply asked "What's your view on blood sports?", instead of "We know what your view on blood sports is, and we don't like it, and we're right and you're wrong, and we'll make sure everyone knows it, and we'll enjoy watching you squirm." As soon as they started talking about Thatcher the game was up. I suppose this lot are today's social justice warriors and useful idiots who are rubbing their hands in glee with every boatload of "refugees" that turns up in Greece or Italy. Oh wouldn't they love Europe to fling open the borders and invite the entire third world in for a "better life" ... all four billion of them.
Agreed. The jocks have always had an incredible authoritarian/puratinical streak, this used to manifest itself in protestantism but obviously it's not right on or PC to dig Jesus any more so now they're in to Marxism
Ian Botham's also quite vocal about every issue in the world, so frankly you reap what you sow. If you're going to go around spouting bollocks, then you should be able to stand up to a bunch of children, which he clearly couldn't manage
Fucking hilarious. Professional sportsman gets battered for everything thats wrong with everything ever. WHY DID YOU TAKE DRUGS YOU DEMON !!!!! I bet he wishes he took some before he went on this.
