Last night on BBC 1 in the West Midlands, they aired the piece we filmed in Washington.
If you didn't catch it and want to see it you can go either to the BBC iplayer website, search for Inside Out and select the West Midlands program, or follow the link:
and fast forward through the program to about 19 minutes and 15 seconds where the piece starts.
I think it is available to view on the iplayer site for about a week.
Though it is only twelve or thirteen minutes long, it does capture a little of the flavour of the trip. Though we did many, many hours of interviews with the different people there (as noted in my blog entry 'Washington - January 2009') the bulk of those interviews couldn't have been included simply due to time constraints.
I hope it's of interest to you!
Best wishes, as always, and I trust all is well.
12 comments:
Excellent piece, Roger. Wish we could see more of the raw footage. Any plans to do a follow up?
I can imagine how exciting it must have been to walk the streets of your novel; I experienced that connection between fiction and fact when I did a research trip not too long ago. It wasn't Washington D.C. (it was East London) but it did bring my book to life in my own mind, a great feeling.
I loved Washington D.C. when I visited there late last year. It was only for a day, but you can feel the power of the place in the streets, in the restaurants, in the monuments. A very unique city. I will definitely be picking up A Simple Act of Violence!
Again, congratulations on the BBC special - hopefully we will see another new episode sometime in the future.
Yes, I was pleased with it, but I can't help but think of all the interview footage that unfortunately will never see the light of day (about four a a half hours!). There's no plans to do a follow-up, and with what we got we could make a brillaint two-hour documentary. Such a shame. There was one section which was taken out at the last moment due to the earlier piece overrunning where June Boyle was talking about sharing a box of raisins with Lee Boyd Malvo when she secured his confession. It was strangely riveting, and really unsettling to see how she reacted to this. Magnificent stuff! Bradley Garrett took me on a drive-around in DC for a couple of hours. He took us to the Starbucks where the three kids were murdered some years back (I took a lot of pictures while I was out there and I'll be posting them in the gallery soon as I can - and one of them is the memorial in Starbucks itself for those murdered staff members). I spent a day in Arlington, and I saw all the usual sites, but really - as you say - it is the people that make it so fascinating. Anyway, great to hear from you, and if you do get around to reading Simple Act drop me an e-mail and let me know what you think. The big paperback and the hardback are out now, and the smaller paperback comes out on April 2nd.
Take care Daryl, and have a great weekend.
Best,
Roger.
Thanks Roger - it sounds like a very special trip. Who has the rights to the cutting room floor? Maybe the BBC could do you a solid and let you show the four and a half hours on your website! Wishful thinking, I know.
I'll definitely pick up the paperback in early April - looking forward to it.
I know what you mean Roger - I was in Kobe, Japan when the massive Hanshin earthquake struck in January 1995. I was the only British person interviewed by the BBC's Fergal Keane. We talked for at least half an hour (on camera), but back in Britain my face was on screen for 15 seconds, if that. Oh well. I was famous for a moment...
A fascinating programme. Really enjoyed the interviews you did, especially with the reformed drug addict. Shame they didn't devote the whole programme to your stateside visit. The other items of the programme were pale in comparison but still what we did see was better than nothing at all. I can well understand your fascination with the states, and your visit could only have re-affirmed this. Good luck when the paperback of ASAOV comes out. It deserves to fly off the shelves. Congratulations also for finally getting published in the states. Also nice to see the front cover of The Anniversary Man. Looking forward to reading it in September. Also I see on Amazon it says about your your 2010 book, but could you elaborate on what '3 of 4 Untitled Ellory means?
Cheers speak soon
Daryl...I don't know who has the rights to the unused material - the BBC I presume, and I can't imagine they'd be too interested in devoting an entire program to what we did in Washington, despite the fact that I think it would be fascinating. C'est la vie! Better to have even a small part of it than nothing at all. I'll try and get the pictures posted as soon as possible. Have a great weekend!
Best,
Roger.
OEJ - Do you have a copy of the interview you did? Did they ever send you a tape of it? I was wondering, because that would be an amazing thing to see.
Hope all's well.
Roger.
Martin - Well, when I published ASAOV in hardback it was the first of a new four-book contract, so ASAOV was #1 of 4, The Anniversary Man is #2 of 4, the book for 2010 will be #3 of 4, and 2011 will be #4 of 4, and then hopefully they will give me a contract for some more. Number Three is done, entitled 'The Darkest River', and I am working on Number Four for 2011 and that is called 'The Saints Of New York'.
Missed it last night Roger, saw the beginning of the programme with Pete Waterman and decided to do the washing up!
Just watched it on iplayer, it must have been really interesting and what a shame they had to cut so much.
Which 3 of your books are being published in the states later this year?
Hey Debbie...good to hear from you. They're actually publishing three over the next two years as far as I understand. A Quiet Belief In Angels in September this year, and then A Simple Act of Violence and The Anniversary Man in 2010.
Just viewed on home dvd - Fugitive Pieces, and in the theme of life I am turning 64 years young tomorrow 22 March.
Watch this movie, it is like reading A Simple act of violence, in that I mean the sensitivity to is allowable, acknowledged and written about in these amazing times.
Music of Creed, Live and Seal in words and melody frame today the feelings deep emotions historic fact portrayed in free writing.
Are there only a small echelon of hu-mans at this time SEEING through the portal of a Stuart Wilde concept into the heartsong of us as human, not needing individualised male/female role playing but allowing, writing and sharing an inner soul connectedness that moves us through all our parallel lives.
I hope so, in visiting old age environments around cape town I would not fit in, because I have not relinquished the power of the warrior in moving to the culmination of my life in this timezone into a abundance of experience - experiences that are blown away daily - by witnessing that the so-called male persona vs the femail persona is a misnomer of great delusion, that indeed the sensitive open honest male body - is a facade - that in there in that elemental form into expression, we man to woman are exactly the same essence.
Hire the dvd - watch it with people, friends, family you love deeply and see that out of the so-called labelled negative, is contained the seeding of superlative abundance in true harmony with all our heartsongs, we each sing out the note of one symphony.
love love Louij
Louij,
I will do this, most definitely, and thank you very much for the recommendation.
I trust all is well with you.
Roger.
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