Richard Has The Perfect Show For Prince Harry

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Get your tickets today at netflix.com/house. Hello, and welcome to this episode of The Rest is Entertainment with me, Marina Heintz. And me, Richard Osman, hello everybody. Hello, Marina. Hello, Richard, how are you? Yeah, I'm OK. How's your week been? It's been pretty good, thank you. There's obviously some big news that we will be talking about today. Yes, I saw when Megan was coming back and then it was suggested that she might be in a certain show directed by a certain person. I thought, "Oh, I know someone who'll be interested in this." So, were we talking about Megan and the acting career and what happens next? What happens next? We're also talking about Mr. Brightside. Mr. Brightside, it's about to pass an extraordinary milestone, which I will mention later. So, I thought it's worth taking a look at where it came from and quite why it's become such a permanent fixture in the nation's consciousness, as well as on the nation's radios. And we're also going to talk about a sort of fracas that is developing between some YouTubers and the BBC as a result of some plans that the government have. I mean, there's a lot of stuff we like talking about there. There's plenty there. Shall we begin with Megan and Harry returning to the UK and particularly the media side of that? Last week, it was announced that having made their home amongst the lotus eaters of Montecito, Harry and Megan would in fact be returning to our toxic shores. They hadn't loved it here previously, but they are going to be coming back. Their children are already enrolled in school for September. And they're going to make their life here for a bit, period unspecified. So, first of all, let's talk about what they left behind in a way, because I think that's quite interesting. The state of the, just a quick rundown, the state of the deals they left. They remember they had a Spotify deal which sort of flamed out after $20 million at one podcast. Netflix paid up to 100 million. They didn't actually pay the full 100 million 'cause they didn't deliver on so much content because people did not want to watch the global activism and polo documentaries. But they loved the one about Megan and Harry and their story, which I'm sure will be coming back to later. As ever, her company is a little bit of a black box. We don't know really now how well it's doing. We know that Netflix has pulled out of it. They were selling it in some of their bricks and mortar stores. - Is that the, as ever, her lifestyle company? - That's the jam and the candles and the rosé and that jazz. But as I said before, Netflix still have a first look deal with them and they will keep in with them. I feel absy-sure because when their lives blow up again and when, if their lives blow up again, they will, they have a proven compelling story which can be retold if it gets another chapter in one way or another. - They're big stars, they're big names. But why, okay, so why the return? There was obviously masses of speculation. But then the first story on Friday came that she was in advance talks for an acting role. That was really an Australian publication. And the second story came via deadline, the Hollywood Bible and variety, saying that she was in talks to appear in the gentleman's putative season three. - Which we've spoken about many times before. The Guy Richie series based on his own movie. - Now, if you're asking me what I like about the story, Richie. - Is it everything? - I would have to say it's absolutely everything. I said to my friend Jojo on Saturday, "If she ends up in that Guy Richie bullshit, I will literally get Stendhal Syndrome." You know Stendhal Syndrome. This is named after the French writer who went to Florence in the sort of 19th century and he looked at the geoto frescoes and you get sort of palpitation. When you're in the presence of great art. - Very beautiful. - It's too beautiful. - Fainting with Jojo at the beauty of it all. - As a story, it would be overwhelming for you. - And potentially as a piece of art, as you know, I ought to know and in my admiration for the gentleman. - Yes. It's, can I just throw my two peneth, which is, God, I think it's a really good move. She's an actor. Do your acting. I really think if you or something, just do that. Do the thing that you're good at. It's for, you know, the whole world. When you do something that you don't do, when you're like a square peg trying to fit in a round hole, people will always be cynical of that and it's quite hard. You can't ever quite be yourself. If you do the thing you train to do and that you are good at, you can just be yourself and people will judge you in that way. So to me, Megan joining the gentleman would be perfect for her. It would be, I think it would be amazing for the gentleman. Now it's come out that the gentleman have said, oh, no, this was just a chat between Guy Richie and Megan. This is not official Netflix, no, nothing about it. - Yeah, I want to get into the weeds of that in a minute. - By the way. - I do too, but I think we perfect for the gentleman. - Oh, it's one of the gentlemen. - You literally call her. She's a character, you wouldn't call her the Duchess 'cause that's too old for her. You call her the Princess or Princess. She's the daughter of a murdered vagus mob boss who's come over to England for revenge and to find some money that someone's taken off her. I mean, it's great for her 'cause she does the thing that she's good at. - Well, don't you make her, yeah, like invert the trope. So she's the actual Princess and she's got this feckless use of this husband and that's her role. She's a Princess of somewhere. And maybe we'll get into that role. - I think even for Guy Richie, that's too on the nose. But I definitely think you would call her. - I don't recognize her. - Princess, there is no way. There's no way someone, a cockney character in that show is not at some point calling her Princess. - Of course, it's nail on, it's nail on. But remember, okay, first of all, season two of the gentlemen as on the third of September. So this is incredible publicity. Not that it needs it. I think the last one when it came out was it was like the fourth biggest series worldwide in the first half of 2024. He's obviously open to people who have alternative profiles. Maya Jarmas in the new season. - And if any Jones right from the very beginning of Guy Richie's career, he's good at putting people on screen who you wouldn't necessarily think of of being on screen. And by the way, you do think of her as being on screen because she's an actor. - Okay, yeah, the show though itself, it's about an aristocrat. If you haven't seen it, it's about an aristocrat who inherits his state-of-home and discovers that his late father has been allowing it to be used as a drug farm. I have to say, we can talk about the type of roles in a minute, but it is difficult. It is different, okay. I know it's just acting, but you cannot have her kissing Theo James in this. No way, I mean. - You don't think? - Literally, to everyone, it would be like Prince Harry is getting cocked on streaming right now. - Yes, I suppose so. - I appreciate that it's just acting. - Yes. - But this is why when we raise Kelly, you see, she couldn't be kissing Harry Grant anymore. - I don't think so. - When Grace Kelly got married to. - Prince Albert. - Prince Albert and Monaco. She had to give it all up because you couldn't then be seeing a minor European royal kissing Harry Grant. And I have to say that some things change, but others don't. I think it would be very, very problematic. There would maybe that could be tension, maybe they could be whatever. But I don't think you'd have that. - I think you're right. I think there would be a no-kiss clause in this contract. I think there would be a plot line where someone does try to kiss her and she pushes them away and says, "I married and you don't want to meet my husband." There would be like some kind of thing. - Incredibly on the nose. Ironist. - Yeah, I agree. - I think it works for everyone this. - Yeah. - I really do. It works for Netflix. - It works for Guy Richie. It works for Megan. It works for people who love the gentleman. And people who don't love the gentleman, it doesn't matter. - Oh, yeah. Everybody's watching this. - Yeah, everyone's happy. - Okay, so let's get into the weeds a little bit more. Tina Brown then wrote a comment saying. - Who is it? She's the former editor of-- - She's a former editor of Fantasy Fair and then New Yorker and she's-- - She's super, super well-connected. - Super well-connected. She's got a great sub-stack. It's called Fresh Out. She's very, very good. Having said that, she said, I believe that the role that she said, the role has been withdrawn due to pressure and backlash. Okay. As much as I love it, I do not buy that at all. That is not how TV works. - There's no backlash, this is great backlash. - Yeah. - Yeah, it's like, no, it's like, "Oh my God." - Oh my God. - Yes. - Okay, Guy Richie somehow cares about backlash. Okay, don't worry about it. - Yeah, literally if by backlash, you mean the usual suspects on social media have their exactly normal opinions about everything. Then, I mean, that's, I'm afraid the rest of history, you're gonna have backlash for everything. But actually, in terms of actual human beings, people are like, "Huh, oh, that's interesting." - I'll watch, I'll bite, okay. - So then today, I noticed we're recording this on Monday morning. Now there've been lots of experts have now come out and said, "Oh, I think it was leaked to make her seem in demand." Which is, okay, maybe because that is actually quite a clever thing to do because what you are saying by that is, "Oh, she's available." It's like when, in Harry Met Sally, when Carrie Fisher's got all the roller decks of available men, and one of them gets engaged, and she just turns the corner over, because she might, at some point, be selling it back up. What we're saying here is, she is on the market again. If you would like to offer a role in anything from EastEnders to the gentleman, then, you know, she is taking calls. - And as you say, season two of the gentleman, is about to start on Netflix. It kind of works perfectly for everybody. - Yeah, I don't, anyone's saying, "Oh, she's overstepped the mark here and leaked it." Not at all, it just says, "I'm available, and all sorts of other things will now come in." I have to say, I do think that there is a career angle in this move for her, because I cannot see a world in which, I mean, I know there's been all kinds of speculation, like, "Oh, the king is very ill, and that's why they've come," or whatever the reason is. But I think that there has to be a career angle for her to consider it, because it's obviously, you know, not her most favored milieu. - Well, yeah. - Just according to her own testimony. - Yes, but it feels like if you're an American actor, actually being in the UK is not a bad place to be, because we know how much stuff is getting made over here now, 'cause of various reasons that tax breaks. - Yes. - The thing built, and, you know, the trouble with being American in America is so is everyone else. Whereas in the UK, there's fewer Americans. So, you know, it does feel like- - And there's only one. - There's only one not chance. - But, I mean, I could think of immediate, I mean, it pretty much, anything that's struggling to get financed at the moment, or it's just trying to find that final five, 10% of financed, which is often the hardest thing with a new show, stick Megan in it, you will get that final five or 10%. I mean, it's absolutely, she'll have a choice of things to be in. My view is stick with the gentleman. I think I would love to see that. If you're not gonna be in rivals, be in the gentleman. - I don't think she's right for rivals, but she could, potentially she could be. Yes, the gentleman is perfect. I, it's weird, because I always felt, and I think I've said it on this podcast before, but I always felt that if this timeline had played out differently, what she could have done is marry him, get the two children, maybe the marriage doesn't work out, and you go back to Hollywood to be Julia Roberts for your 40s, which I, which I always thought was a possibility, but in fact, what they did is they made their freedom flight rather earlier, and they did it together. So now, it's interesting, so many people are saying, why have there been so many stories about them, why has there been all this stuff? And it's like, the fact is, people are, everyone says they're not interested in them. They are, they read, this does more traffic than you can possibly imagine. There's a reason that it's at the top of everyone's newspapers. - It's like saying, why do people keep writing about Manchester City and Liverpool? - Yeah. - Because most people don't care. - It cares. - Oh, definitely most people don't care, but the people who do care really, really, really care. - I agree, I do believe that their most compelling story remains their real life form. And it's, I was thinking about this, I ended up writing about this on Friday and my guardian column. And I was thinking about, you know, there is something, it's very difficult. They told that story so exhaustively 'cause they did the book and the documentary and they did sit down interviews with various people. And so there was nothing left to squeeze out of that story, but it slightly reminds me to return to a place that they say is completely toxic of the toxic family and all of those things. It does remind me a little bit of those very high concept sequels where you're like, okay, I understand speed one, the bus can't slow down. Okay, you've somehow got to contrive to get Sandra Bullock on something else that can't slow down in case of speed two, run away cruise ship. So that you can go back to the same money world. And you can, and there's lots of sequels that are really high concept where you're like, yeah. The only way this can work is if we somehow get the characters, I mean, die hard like this, die hard things like this. - So there's a team of writers going, it's gonna be brilliant if we get Megan and Harry back to the UK, if feels an impossibility, let's work out a way that that can happen. - And it's happened, it's somehow happened. So that will create a whole load more friction and more things that, I'm not saying this is their plan, but it could become, once again, you could have new stories to tell in the documentary format. - If I were them and I'm not, if I was Megan, I'd be acting because it's pre, it was there before her Royal fame, okay? So it's the thing that she does, that's her trade. - And by the way, everyone's rediscovered, everyone's discovered suits, like every single person, every like Jenn A, people have watched the whole of sea. - And then the question is what does Harry do, right? And again, it's hard because when you have that profile and that status that has been conferred upon him and that he wants and doesn't want, and all those things that I think are normal human being would struggle with in that situation. But I think if he comes over here, I'm sorry on the Joe Marla podcast. And he's very good, he's very good on things like that. And I think, you know, you could build a fairly nice media career for Harry where it just appears on television every now and again, and he's very happy doing that. If I was his advisor, and I can exclusively reveal that I'm not, but if I was his advisor, I'd have him meeting people. There's a bunch of things that he could do onto, I put him on the wheel tomorrow with Michael McIntyre. But he'd be great on the wheel. Michael would look after him. - Yeah. - It's not too high pressure. He'd look good if he got something right. He'd look self depreciating if he got something wrong. I wouldn't put him on the traitors or I'm a celebrity or anything like that. I've got a show for him. - Have you. - You're into a show because I think one thing that really works for him is the whole, the Invictus Games and his work with veterans. I've got a show called Harry Special Forces. It's like DIY, SOS meets Chan and Janica. And it is exactly that thing of something he's rebuilding, a house needs rebuilding, a community center needs rebuilding. But he does it with a bunch of army veterans. People have been injured in the line of conflict and they build something and put something together. At the same time, he's showing these guys from the army, these veterans, and they put in their skills out there for employers as well. It's lovely. It's feel good. - I like it. It's good, right? - I would watch it. - Harry Special Forces is a good name for it as well, don't you think? - Oh, I know. You've got the whole concept. - Yeah, yeah. I mean, that feels so harry. If you are listening, I think your distance. I know I've been told he doesn't, but to perhaps make a listen and come back to him. But Harry Special Forces, that feels like it. - I love Harry Special Forces. What else could she be in? - Well, I mean, kind of any, I mean, she's an actor. You've sort of been whatever someone writes next, right? I mean, she just does what she does. - Colin Coban, come on, a drama. - Oh yeah. - The January drama, please. - She'd be writing that. - She'd be. - Do you know what, and knowing Colin, as I do, he would be so bang up for that. - Everyone would be by the way. - Yeah, he did a book last year with Reese Witherspoon, who, as you know, he's got the biggest book club in America, and her press release said, "Oh, I couldn't believe it when he agreed to do it." And I miss his home, and I go, "Yeah, I'm shocked." "Oh, and I'm shocked you agreed to do it." It's a good book, it's a good book. The one show I think that Harry definitely couldn't do, that would be funny, would be who do you think you are? - Yeah. - Because it would be like, "Now, we have gone back four generations. We found something quite surprising. You're great, great, great grandfather." Any guesses? I don't know, he was here, King. Yes, he was a King, yes. And three generations before, what do you think you're great, great, great, great, great grandfather was, was he a European King? Yes, that is who he was. That's like kind of the best and the worst episode of who do you think you are, ever, right? But I would, I think, stick him on what I like to you. I think, you know, just make my thing. - No, I like to you. - No, because his story is, you're gonna leave anything. - Yeah. - This is the point. Everyone's saying they're just getting over their skis and they're whatever. No, people will want to watch it. - And eight percent of people have a definite opinion on Harry and Meghan already, right? I would say that in the country, I don't think it is, have a very, very, very strong opinion, one way or the other, four percent, one way, four percent, the other way. You still got 92 percent of people who are like, "Oh, yeah, well, if you're doing something interesting, I'll watch it." If she's in something, do you think? - Yeah, but I tell you what is interesting is that what happened in America is they went off them. And there is a perception that they took a lot of money and didn't deliver. I mean, they did go out to deal, the most brutal entertainment market in the world. - Exactly. - And if you fail, everyone fails. - Yeah, but they failed quite significantly. And then people said things out loud about how badly they failed. And I think there's a sort of sense that they didn't have some kind of future. I saw people saying, "Oh, well, I mean, you know, they were never even at the Met Gala." And they're like, "Oh, my God, I don't even know if they wanted to go." But the things that Americans regard as, you know, the imprimature of having made it, they didn't do some of those things. And maybe they didn't do them because they can't in their position. Or they didn't decide against it. I thought it was controversial, whatever it is. But there is a perception in America that they have failed at that sort of highest entertainment level. - Yeah, and once you have that reputation, you do have to go back. and regroup. But honestly, I just, I just think one appearance on the taskmaster, Chris and special and all this forgiven. Bake off. I don't know about bake off. So let's, let's let bake off. Oh, I know, I know, I know you're talking about some of the bake off. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It'd be really, really weird if you turn up on the regular bake off. He could do it. He could do it. He could do it. So you can do it. Yeah. I think honestly, the wheel, what I like to you, taskmaster, Chris and special, that's what I'd have him on. And Harry will go and pitch Harry's special forces, but absolutely huge. Everyone wins on Harry special forces. And Harry special forces is a fantastic show. I would definitely watch that. Megan on the gentleman, Harry on Harry special forces, before you know it, the entire narrative is rewritten. Like I give a toss about anyone's narrative. You know what I mean, that's the whole. Yeah. It's absurd that people have to live in public, isn't it? It's so crazy that to have an opinion on people is mental, but none of us can help it. Shall we go for a break, Richard? Yes. And after that, I'll be talking about one of the most peculiar chart stories in British chart history. I'm talking about Mr Brightside. I said that already. It's not a spoiler. This episode is brought to you by Lloyd's Rewards. Now, a big mistake that people make is leaving the cinema as soon as the credits roll, because there might be a bonus scene right at the end. Yeah, absolutely. One of my favourite things in the middle was, yeah, you never know. In Marvel's ones, it'd be a mid-credits scene and then there'd be an end-credits scene. I remember the first one, I really remember, well, too, I remember Ferris Bueller's day off where he tells you to go home at the end, but also smoking in the bandit with Burt Reynolds, where they would do bloopers. It just feels like a secret little glimpse into a different world. Yeah. And it doesn't quite have to be over. Yeah, exactly. And it's just a lovely little added bonus. You've done everything, you've made your show, you've given everyone everything, it's just a lovely little extra. Which is also the idea behind Lloyd's Rewards, extra value appearing inside something you were already doing anyway, your daily banking. From shopping to streaming, you can bank on Lloyd's to help your money go further. It's rewards like this that make 14 million people bank on Lloyd's. Search Lloyd's Rewards in your app, eligibility criteria, terms and conditions apply, retailer offers and cashback amounts may vary UK residents 18+. Beat the heat, play, eat and shop on repeat at Netflix House at Galleria Dallas. Bring your crew and save. Hank joined BJ's wholesale club the day he became a father of 30. I coach football. Now coach Hank saves up to 25% off grocery store prices, 30 pounds of pasta, three cases of protein bars, 75 sports drinks, and that's just pregame. He knows teamwork, and BJ's knows savings. This is your home coach, home of the save. Join for just $20 at bj's.com/maskete and save 10 cents per gallon for six months. Open soon, limited time offer, new members only. BJ's home of the save. Welcome back everybody. Now before we get onto Mr Brightside, our bonus episode this week is the continuation of our The History of James Bond series which I'm loving. And this one is sort of about finding Sean Connery, which is quite a tale. I would say that. I mean, we're finding another bond at the moment, but finding the first bond has its own wrinkles. If you want to become a member of Suresis Entertainment.com you can sign up there at free listening all of that, but Mr Brightside. I'm going to take you back to very early 2000s. We're in Las Vegas. It's a young bell hop at the Gold Coast Casino called Brandon Flowers. And he's in a synth pop band called Blush Response. Okay, now Blush Response think I think we've got what it takes to make it. They make two decisions. Firstly, they're all going to move to LA. Secondly, they're going to dump Brandon Flowers, which has got to go down to probably one of the worst decisions in music history. So Brandon Flowers, he's 20 years old, he's in walking home from work. Someone walks out of an oasis gig, gives him a ticket. He goes into see the encore, which is don't look back at anger. And he's an angler file anyway, Brandon Flowers. But he comes out at that going out what I need as a guitarist. That's what I need. Find an advert for a guitarist called Dave Cooning. And the two of them meet up. They get on very, very well, start writing songs. They go, you know what, we're going to lay one of these songs down. And this is the very, very first recording of the very, very first song that Brandon Flowers and Dave Cooning wrote. It may be familiar. And that is that's Brandon, Dave, and a drum machine. The very first time they ever did it is instantly recognizable. The lyrics have not changed a jot. Now, first of April 2021, Mr. Brightside makes chart history. It becomes the first song in British history to have been in the UK charts for five years, 260 weeks. It done. Even now, no one has matched that. It's not a single song that has matched that. This week, it's about to have its 520th week in the top 100, meaning 10 years in the charts. There's still not another song that's done five years. And Mr. Brightside has had 10 years in the UK chart. It's just become this behemoth. Even Brandon Flowers says, it feels like it's not part of me anymore. It belongs to other people. So it's a very, very, very first thing that he wrote. Dave Cooning had already written the riff. Brandon Flowers had, he'd woken up one night with like a worried about something. And he went down to a British pub in Las Vegas called the Crown and Anker. And it's still there. If you want to go there, it is opposite of the Crawfish restaurant and a 24-hour massage parlour and a foot spa as well. Is that he goes down there, sees his then girlfriend kissing another man, goes home, writes the lyrics to Mr. Brightside, which as I say, have not changed a jot from that moment to this. You will notice as well, by the way, he only has one verse. I was about to say, didn't he even change it in the first and second verse? Yeah, he does the verse. Then he does the chorus. Then he goes, I should probably do another verse. I'll just do exactly the same thing. And laid it down, I say. That's the first ever demo. And at first, sort of no one really liked it, had a very slow start, Mr. Brightside. Brandon Flowers did an amazing tracts of my years with Burning Kay on Radio 2 this week to support his new album, which I'll also talk about later, because it's brilliant. So they lay down that song. No one's interested. They go to a studio, they go to another studio outside Vegas. They sort of do various versions of it. By the way, the song you hear now is the very, very first version that they did in the studio. Everyone after that tried to re-record it and re-record it and make it different. They stuck with that first one. America was not interested at all. No one wanted to buy it. And then in the UK, a tiny independent label called Lizard King heard it, liked it, and pressed 500 copies of it, 507 inches of that song, which if you have one, by the way, a worth an awful lot of money now. Again, no one was all that interested. Then St. Louis started playing it on Radio 1. Texas Back, Zane though, isn't it? You know, the era you're in when you're talking about Zane though. So Zane though starts playing it, Steve Lemack starts playing it, and the UK start forming in love with Mr. Brightside. They signed to Ireland. They put the record out again. It does nothing again. They then have a hit with somebody told me. They then re-release Mr. Brightside, which is a few years old. Now again, the very first thing they wrote, the very first thing they ever recorded, goes to number 10 in its first week. It has never been in the top 10 since. It's been in the charts for 10 years. It has never actually been in the top 20. Again, it had one week at number 10, same in America, number 10, never gone higher up than that. But in the meantime, it's set so many extraordinary records, some of which I'll go on to. But it's, people love it, I hate it, right? Where do you stand on Mr. Brightside? There's so much about it that's really interesting that it's a song about being in your own head, and yet it seems almost engineered to be sung with Nazi masses of people when you wasted it like two in the morning. There's something that it defines that millennial anxiety in a way and spiraling. There's something I don't know. We don't have a sort of written constitution in our country, but if we did, I think that Mr. Brightside would actually be in it. I think we'd have to be. I would have to be, because it's become this thing, despite the fact that, as you say, from Vegas. Yeah, fabulous Las Vegas. It has the highest cultural status without any question, and they're the first to admit it in the UK. They've had eight number one, they've obviously done very well in the UK, they've had like eight number one albums or whatever. I think some people think they're just Mr. Brightside. I would go and record a saying, they might, it's them all better than Sebastian and my absolute favourite band. They album after the album. Yeah, they do. This guy can write a pop song. Oh, yeah, completely. But what I'm interested in is why we adopted it far more intensely than the Americans. And it's sort of like, it did arrive in the middle of that big indie rock scene, you see, I don't know, fans, Ferdinand and Block Party and you know, Martin Monkeys and Bray's like, all those people, they sounded quite British. There's something about it that it just, it sounds quite, but he is an anglophile, as you say. Yeah, he grew up on the cure and the smiths and bands like that. It's funnily enough. A peck shot, but he's huge fan of all of that stuff. He talks on that Vernon K thing, which is really worth catching, because his song choices are interesting and he's interesting, but he says, and this is such an interesting lesson for anyone in any creative endeavor in any creative field. He said, you know, him and the gang, him and Dave first, and then the other two, Ronny Vanucci and Matt Sturmer joined the band. He said, they were sort of writing songs and they really like what they were and they were talking through what to do. He said, and then the strokes released, is this it, right? And he listened to it, and he went, oh my god, of course, of course, that's what a band should be. Of course, that's the energy a band should have. He said, they got rid of every single song they wrote apart from one and just went back to the drawing board and started again because he'd seen somebody else do it. And he was like, oh, that is better than what I'm doing, which is such a great response to when you hear something extraordinary. There's something about the anthemic kind of quality of it. A lot of our big sing-along songs in, I was thinking about this, are actually about, because it is about something really dark and sad and anxious and yet they make it seem sort of euphoric at the same time. A lot of our songs have that dark and complicated quality to it. It's things like Wonder Wall and don't look back in anger and even common people or even angels, I mean, you know, people really bowed out or not these kind of, you know, completely sort of euphoric things whatsoever. It's, there was a really, in Euro 2024, they were playing at the '02, and yeah, the killers, and they stopped to allow the crowd to watch England beating the Netherlands. And as soon as they won, it was like 91st minute or something. England scored, then there was all this red and white confetti came down and they went straight into Mr. Bright's line. It's an alternative national anthem. Yeah, we get it guys, you're from Vegas. But it's also interesting because of what streaming and things like that have done to it. It's kind of a song that's all right to passage now. So someone who was 18 when it came out is now 40. So, you know, obviously they've sung it although in their university nights, but now it's like at weddings. And so it's the song that's always. We had it on our wedding, so we talked about what songs to have. And they were saying, "I don't know about Mr. Bright's side." I said, "I promise you, later on in the evening, it was December wedding. We went free from desire, Mr. Bright's side, all I want for Christmas is you." I mean, the roof came off the place. We had to pay for repairs. But, you know, there's something about it. And again, as you say, there's a darkness in lots of these anthems, but it's called Mr. Bright's side. And wonder what it's called, wonder what you can't. You can imbue it with some possibilities. Because you can hear it on your own when you've broken up with somebody. And it's like, this is my devastation, writ large. Or you can hear it with all your friends at half past one in the morning. Yeah, it's amazing. It's amazing. It's amazing. But also, it's about. We've talked so much about those songs that kind of hit just before streaming becomes totally ubiquitous. And then they get adopted into every playlist. And they take on a life of their own. And it's so benefited from that. And it just now comes around in everything. And it's part of people's rights of passage. Yeah. It's the third biggest UK single of all time by combined units, which is sales and streaming. Behind, do they know it's Christmas and Elton John's candle in the wind? It's the biggest UK single by Mar. That's never reached number one. It was funny if it took that over from Wonderwall. But looking through the charts this week, there are a lot of songs that we've talked about the more abundity of the charts and how things hang around. And we'd pause to reflect that Ray Min, which we talked about six weeks ago, is still number 22 weeks Ray Min has now had. I think next week it's going to be knocked off. I think by usual the French rapper, I think it is. I could be wrong, but 22 weeks. But there's 25 odd songs that have been there for over a year. But I just don't go through. There's the five songs on the chart at the moment that have been there for over three years that have been on the charts for three years. Don't forget, we know what number one is already. That's the killers. So I have a special dispensation to reveal number one first, because otherwise the item wouldn't have made sense. I'd never shame you. Number five, everywhere by Fleetwood Mac, number four dreams by Fleetwood Mac, three years and three and a half years on the charts. I'm going to play you the top three. None of them have been number one. None of these top three have been number one. But these are the songs that have hung around forever and ever and ever and ever. Number three, three and a half years. Just four weeks more than the Fleetwood Mac dreams is this. Vance Joy and Rip Tide. I mean, you recognize it, right? It's got that kind of focusy thing, a little bit of rocky thing. But yes, been on the charts for over three and a half years. Because we're in a situation now where, you know, Radio is still playing Abba and Queen, when we like a song, we like a song, and in the world of streaming, you can hang around the charts forever and ever and ever. Because the charts are no longer decided by, you know, teenagers who like, you know, the new pop music is decided by what we all listen to all the time. So that's number three. Number two, four and a half years in the charts is this. That's Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, which again, we all recognize it's one of those songs that just that hangs around forever and ever. Is that sort of plain-tier, ballad-y type song that they're always covering on X Factor? And every time you hear it, you go, "Hod, what's that song?" Because they don't really mention the title in the chorus. So everyone, it's almost like everyone's hearing that for the first time, every time they hear it. Everyone's reminded of that song, every time they hear it for the first time. Yeah, insanely huge. And then Mr. Brightside at number one there. But it's some, as I say, 10 years in the charts this week, which is incredible. No other songs ever reached five years. There is one song. It's not currently in the top 100, which is two weeks away from five years. And that's Lewis Capaldi's "Somebody You Loved." So it'd be lovely if that got the five years as well. But I just think, I mean, I love the killers. I think they're extraordinary band. Brandon Flowers, a new album, it's called Thrasher. And he's made like, he's made a country album. Yeah. I think yes, please. It's really good. It's really, really, really good. So if you only know killers from Mr. Brightside, you've got a whole world of brilliant songs to listen to. And if you love a bit of country, then Brandon Flowers has got a country album out this week. But I just wanted to celebrate this incredibly unlikely song becoming the biggest anthem in an entirely different country of the century. Now, this is a big story, I think, this next one, BBC versus YouTube. Yeah. I've got a lot of views on why it shouldn't be, but I love it when you've got a lot of views. Can I give the background to this first? As part of the government green paper, which is about the future of media in this country, there's all sorts of things that the government is looking at. The main ones are news and how it's regulated, the future of distribution, the switchover, like turning off broadcast, and the future of regulation, and also the future of public service broadcasters, which, as we know, are the main, what we would call the terrestrial channels. And the PSBs have what we call a compact, the PSB compact, which means that they have lots of obligations of things they have to do, and they get stuff in exchange, certain privileges. What's being talked about? And by the way, when you say those things, there has to be something about religious programming, there has to be certain amount of children's programming, news has to have an impartiality, all of that stuff. But the issue is that all the privileges you get are based on the old broadcast text, so you might get like spectrum or prominence within the linear TV guide EPG. So what they're trying to do is kind of help the PSBs for the future, because how do you make sure they continue to thrive, because they are a good thing for society, and for the UK Creative Economy, they are the reason we have the great, the unbelievable creative economy, and it is the PSBs who spend and keep the industry alive, no matter what Netflix tells you, because their profits go back to the US or whatever. And as you say, in order to turn on your TV, and the first five channels are the PSB broadcasters, so that's easy, you have that prominence. But now most people are not switching on the TV in that way. No. How does one help the public service broadcasters in that situation? Well, what we're going to talk about today, and I really wish we didn't have to, because it's become this big sidetrack issue, and it's not the main thing that lots of the other stuff I just said is the main thing, which is that the government is talking about trying to give them prominence on YouTube. Trying to give the PSBs prominence. And as a result, lots of YouTubers are angry, because they're saying, oh, well, why should they be given advantage? And this is, by the way, I think, a real sidetrack thing. It's not just YouTubers TikTok and things like that as well. But this bit of the debate is coming to really dominate. So the idea would be the government pass legislation. I think they want to do it voluntarily with these platforms, but otherwise they pass legislation, which says you are given in the algorithm, you are boosted further than you should be, is what is being discussed? If that's what how the government really think that YouTube is going to work, then I am very worried about that. What would prominence on YouTube mean? What the UK government decide how the algorithm works? Okay, good luck with that. What you'd be doing is pushing content that people don't want into their streams. That is a really bad consumer experience. And just say the government managed to get some value out of YouTube in this one battle. They will find a way to take it back. Just ask Mr. Beast. Mr. Beast is It's got done over, if you will, by the algorithms switching to push smaller creators. This all reminds me a lot of, there's a friend's episode where Chandler wants to give some money to Joey, but Joey is proud. So he has to invent this game that he can lose money to Joey in. And anyway, so he does that. And it works. It's called Cups or something. And then Joey plays it with Ross and loses it all to Ross. And Ross thinks, "Wow. I'm amazing at this game. I'm going to play Chandler." It's like, dude, it's a fake game. And so John just changes the rules and wins all the money. YouTubers like Cups, okay? It's their platform. They will take the value out of the platform, not you. And if the government, so this is a stupid debate and it's taking up too much time, I have sympathy with some of these YouTubers. Yes. But don't worry about it. Can I just say, there is no way the PSBs can be big on YouTube. There's just no way. And no one is big on YouTube. The biggest 10 players on YouTube in total have like this tiny single digit percentage share on YouTube. And if you look at what the PSBs have done on YouTube, last year, I think, channel four and ITV sort of threw the kitchen sink at it. And they put so much of their content on it. Do you know how much money they made is estimated between five and seven million pounds off that? Sorry. Who's that going to save? Okay? Even if they give prominence and you double that or you triple that. I don't need to tell you that 20 million pounds is not going to save the public service broadcasters. Okay? I mean, even if it's 20 million pounds, they have to save half a billion over the next few years. So it's something to this and it's money down the back of the sofa in terms of what lies ahead for them. Switch over, isn't it? In basic terms, explain what you mean by switch over because I know it's a huge deal. Turning terrestrial TV off to release, which is incredibly expensive and you end up paying hundreds of millions of a year to companies like Archiva and you don't have to do that anymore. And you can spend that much money on the UK. I mean, to turn it off, do you mean like the transmitters and things like that? The stuff that's growing up where TV came from? Yes. And everybody to be digital, but not, but people not to be left behind because it's a very important social good and they understand that, but this is the really important parts. One of the really important parts of it. A huge kind of carriage cost to companies would begin for structure, you know, or just to beam that terrestrial signal to smaller and smaller amounts of people. Small and smaller numbers of people, yeah. Okay. Also, content made on other platforms, taking content that's made for other platforms and dumping it on YouTube doesn't really work. Native creators are what work. And by the way, I think the PSBs and they are doing this, they should make much more for these platforms or that's designed to be watched like this. But I mean, even that person, the director general of the BBC said that this isn't a good idea. I'm just like, I'm trying to sort of fool YouTube or to kind of get one over it. It's just a stupid idea to try and get the big PSBs to give problems. What can the government do that, isn't this? Oh, my God, I'm so excited that you can ask me again so I can say, we need a button on the remote. Yeah. There needs to be a button on your remote. They can legislate for that. You need a dashboard button for radio in the, in cars. They could force the platforms to provide more data on who is watching. They can give various kind of promotional inventory to push stuff through. But this is the stuff that will make a difference. The other stuff though in that green paper is far more important. The future of news, remote buttons, dashboard, all things like that, digital switch over, digital switch over is so much more important than this. Okay. If we turn to restaurant TV off, it will release billions to be spent on the UK creative economy. Forget little arguments about five and seven million pounds that you might get from YouTube. You need a swift transition. And the argument about switching over is there's still a lot of people in an older generation who would then lose their services. Which we don't want to happen. We want everyone to be brought along, but it's so worth doing because it releases so much money that can be spent in the creative economy. So there will need to be better privileges for PSBs, but there are things like the button on the remote, maybe more support from the government and a charter settlement that sustains the BBC, not just into the 2030s, but beyond. It is so much more important than arguing with YouTube about how you can get in the way of their algorithm. What do you think this has come from then from the government? Do you think this is something that has been floated by the government or is it something that they genuinely. Well, I think that they think that you can't win it, these are the face eaters. You can't win it get. Big tech is not going to save anybody. It's like Ross thinking he's good at cups. They might win one battle, but in the end, YouTube will just find a way to get that value off you. And also, for anyone who's under 35, I mean, I could make an argument for a government intervening in capitalism. The BBC itself is that. It's sort of saying, yeah, listen, we live in a cap to the system, but there are ways and means that we can nationalise industries and things like that. It is very, very, very hard to make that argument to anyone under 35 who watches most of what they watch on YouTube and who have favourite creators already, and are very aware that most of YouTube is not sloped, but it's interesting stuff made very, very, very hard to make the political argument that that's something that should happen. And in fact, it makes you look a lot worse. Yes. And it's just pointless trying to go up against them, aren't it? Because they will find a way to win against you. Just ask Mr. Beast the most successful creator on their platform. You have the best creator for going to be in the world because we don't compete for funding and we compete for talent and all these other things. But the PSB is in no way going to be saved by YouTube. It's too small, it's the wrong thing, and it gets in the way of stuff that matters. The other stuff is much more important. And I do worry if they think that having some pointless kind of battle with YouTube over this is going to do anything. I can understand why the creators, and there have been quite a lot of creators who've gone on the record saying, oh, this is awful. You know, they're going to push that, you know, Dragon's Den and it's going to beat my content. Yeah. It won't, by the way. Yes. Yes. It just won't work. If people who watch Dragon's Den on YouTube know where to find it, it's on the BBC. Don't worry about it. Your thing, because it's made for the platform and it's native, will still continue to do better. And there just isn't any evidence on what we've seen that they could legislate in any possible meaningful way that would lastingly push the PSBs, that YouTube will not save the PSBs. This idea of having a button on the remote control, which you've talked about before and I love. But. And in Card Ashboards for Radio. Yes. Okay. But would that require all the PSBs to join up, because if I was ITV or Channel 4 and they put a BBC button on my remote control, I'd be like, I mean, this is crazy. Whereas, as we banged on about before, not that we bang on, that if they all joined together and had an iPlayer that had all the problems, you would have a button that literally took you to that. I agree. And it has to be iPlayer, because iPlayer is. Yeah. There's no point trying to, like, everyone's just got to go over themselves and that includes the BBC, by the way, and how much prominence would be given to the other broadcasters on iPlayer. Yeah. But my opinion is that, yes, and that we'll move in that direction. Because then you have a massive destination of scale. Yeah. You need to be a big destination of scale to compete with what's coming. And yes, they should absolutely have a button on the remote. Yeah. But if you did listen and we've lost three years into the future, you've got that button and you turn on something that's got all the BBC content, all the ITV content, all the dramas, all the game shows, all the Channel 4 content, I mean, there's a lot there. Yeah. That's a destination. That really is a destination. It's a destination of scale, which is what is going to be needed to survive, because they're going to be three or, you know, some people can say there could be four, but you don't. One's obviously going to be Netflix. You need to be given that prominence. Having some argument about the YouTube algorithm, they will simply change it. So ignore this debate. Ignore this debate, but don't ignore the rest of it because it's very important. Yes. Any recommendations? Yes. If you listen to it some of Tuesday, then tomorrow, the brand new season of Bookish begins. It's the first seasons when my favourite things on TV last year. I was lucky enough to see the first episode of this the other day at an event. It's brilliant. It's so brilliant. I literally just. I was like, I immediately want to watch the second episode and I can from Wednesday, all of the new series is out on Wednesday. And it's Mark Gators and he's playing a sort of. Is he a spy? Is he a detective? He runs a bookshop. There are murders, Elliot Levy. It's really great, loads of great guest stars and just brilliant murder mystery, but with real depth and real emotionality and, you know, it's really, really, really good. It's on you and Alibi. He's such a treasure. I think he's amazing. How about you? I would like to recommend a film that I've been waiting to recommend because I saw it screening much earlier this year. Teenage sex and death at Camp May as well. Oh, yes. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Okay. It's horror, but please leave your genre expectations at the door. I mean, it's really about female social satisfaction. Okay. God, it's such a lot. It's very funny. And it's stars Gillian Anderson, I mean, in a hysterical performance. Anna, I'm Linda from Hacks. Oh, Hacks, yeah. The two central performances are absolutely incredible. It's written director by Jane Schoenbrun. Ladies, you need to see this film. But men, you should see it too, as well. I absolutely loved it. I'm going to see it again. I'm amazing. Good recommendations this week. That was lots of fun. So we'll see everyone through Q&A on Thursday. See you on Thursday. (upbeat music) We do indeed. We are holding a summer sale so you can become a member of the club for a third of the regular price. That's right. With the code summer26 you can head to the rest of entertainment.com and claim an annual membership with this brilliant discount. 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