The Rest Is Entertainment - Richard Has The Perfect Show For Prince Harry

Episode Date: August 24, 2026

Will Meghan Markle REALLY be in a Guy Ritchie drama? Should Mr Brightside be the first item on the British Constitution? Why are the BBC beefing with YouTubers? The Sussexes are returning to the UK amidst rumours that Meghan has been cast in Guy Ritchie’s hit The Gentlemen. Are the rumours true? And what TV format advice does Richard have for Harry? Mr Brightside has now spent over 500 weeks in the UK Singles Top 100. How did it become such a cornerstone of British culture? The government have unveiled plans to give established broadcasters, like the BBC, more prominence on YouTube and TikTok. Marina has strong opinions. Songs used in show:  Goo Goo Dolls - Iris  (John Rzeznik, Reprise Records) Vance Joy - Riptide (James Keogh, Infectious Music / Warner Music Group) The Killers - Mr Brightside (Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Island Records) The Rest is Entertainment is brought to you by Octopus Energy, Britain's most awarded energy supplier. Sponsored by Lloyds. Looking for extra value from your spending? You can bank on Lloyds to help your money go further. Search Lloyds Rewards in your app. Summer sale is here: get an annual membership for a third off with code SUMMER26. That's ad-free listening, every bonus episode, and full access to our exclusive members' series. Sale ends August 31st, so grab it before summer's over. For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com  Video Editor: Adam Thornton  Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott  Senior Producer: Joey McCarthy  Social Producer: Emma Jackson Exec Producer: Ami Bennett Filmed at www.westdigitalstudios.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The rest is entertainment is presented by Octopus Energy. Now, one talent can make a career. Three usually gets you an official title. Yep, and that official title is a triple threat. You call triple threat. Anyone who can act, sing, and dance. Now, these days, three can seem almost modest. The same person might write, direct, produce, and have another career on the side.

J-Lo would be a triple threat, huge music career, started as a dancer, huge acting career as well. It's an amazing talent to be able to have. And now, drinks mogul as well. Is she? You have to be the mogul now. I think the mogul is always the third thing now. So she's a quadruple threat.

Yeah, I sing, I act, and I have a lifestyle portal. But that phrase, all singing all dances. It escaped entertainment and now it's used for anyone and anything that does several jobs very well all at once. Which is a pretty fair description of Octopus. It's the UK's largest energy supply at one of the country's biggest installers of heat pumps, solar panels and batteries. and it runs a major electric car leasing business for good measure. I mean, that's a quadruple threat, isn't it? Yeah, that's a quadruple threat.

Hello, and welcome to this episode of The Resters Entertainment with me, Marina Hyde. And me, Richard Osmond. Hello, everybody. Hello, Marina. Hello, Richard. How are you? Yeah, I'm okay. 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 will be interested in this. So we're 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 a lot. There's plenty there. Shall we begin with Megan and Harry returning to the UK? Yeah.

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 haven'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 and one podcast. Netflix paid up to $100 million. They didn't actually pay the full $100 million because 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 we'll be coming back to you later. As ever, her company is a little bit of a black box. We don't really know 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 sort of lifestyle company? 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 absolutely sure because when their lives blow up again, when, if their life, blow up again, they have a proven compelling story which can be retold if it gets another chapter in one way or another. Yeah, they're big stars, they're big names. Yeah, 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 advanced talks for an acting role. That was written an Australian publication. And the second story came via deadline, Hollywood Bible and variety, saying that she was in an Australian. was in talks to appear in The Gentleman's Putative Season 3. Which we've spoken about many times before, the Guy Ritchie series based on his own movie. Now, if you're asking me what I like about the story, Richard, I would have to say it's absolutely everything. I said to my friend Georgia on Saturday, if she ends up in that Guy Ritchie Borset, I will literally get Stendhal's syndrome. You know Stenthal syndrome. This is named after the French writer who went to Florence in the 19th century and he looked at the giotto frescoes and you get sort of palpitator when you're in the presence of great art

it's too beautiful you're fainting with joy at the beauty of it or as a story it would be it would be overwhelming for you and potentially as a piece of art as you know i yield to no one in my admiration for the gentleman yes um it's can i i i'll just throw in my um uh two pennoth which is god i think it's a really good move she's she's an actor do you're acting i i really i really think if you're something, just do that. Do the thing that you are good at. It's, you know, the whole world of it. 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. So 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 I, 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 gentlemen have said, oh, no, this was just a chance. between Guy Ritchie and Megan, this is not official Netflix, know 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'd be perfect for the gentleman. I mean, you literally call her.

She's a character, you wouldn't call her the Duchess because that's too old for her. You call her the princess or princess. She's the daughter of a murdered Vegas 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 because she does the thing that she's good at. Don't you make her... Lanshade it, is it? Like, invert the trope.

So she's the actual princess and she's got this effectless, useless husband. And that's her role. She's a princess of somewhere. And maybe... I think even for Guy Ritchie, that's too on the nose. But I definitely think you would call her... I don't recognize the...

There is no way, no... There's no way someone... A cockney character in that show is not at some point calling her princess. It is an impossibility. It's nailed on. But remember, okay, first of all, Season two of the gentleman airs on the 3rd of September. So this is incredible publicity for it, 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 the 2024. He's obviously open to people who have alternative profiles, Maya Jama's in the new season. I mean, Vinny Jones right from the very beginning of Guy Ritchie'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's about an aristocrat who inherits his stately 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 and this. No way. I mean, you don't think?

Literally, to everyone, it would be like Prince Harry is getting cucked on streaming right now. I suppose so. I appreciate that it's just acting. Yes. But this is what happened with Grace Kelly, you see. She couldn't be kissing Carrie Grant anymore. 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, like, you know, a minor European royal kissing Carrie Grant. And I have to say that some things change, but others don't. I think it would be very, very, very, problem. Maybe there could be tension. Maybe they've got, whatever. But I don't think you can have that. Yes, 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'm married and you don't want to meet my husband. There'll be like some kind of thing. Incredibly on the nose. Ironistic. Yeah, yeah. I agree. I think it works for everyone this. Yeah. I really do. I think it's like it works for Netflix. It works for Guy Ritchie. 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, but let's, 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, former editor of Fantasy Fair and the New Yorker.

And she's sort of, super, super well connected. She got a great substack. She's called Fresh Al. She's very, very good. Having said that, she said, I believe that the role, She said the role has been withdrawn due to pressure and backlash. Okay. Much as I love her, I do not buy that at all. That is not how TV works. There's no backlash. This is great backlash.

Netflix don't want the views. 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 going to have backlash for everything. But 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 have 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 Fish has 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 turning it back at it. 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 gentlemen is about to start on Netflix. Yeah. It kind of works perfectly for everybody.

Yeah, 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 favoured Amelia.

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 because of various reasons the tax breaks, the huge studios that are being 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... And there's only one. Yeah. There's only one duchess. But, I mean, I could think immediately, I mean, pretty much anything that's struggling to get financed at the moment, or it's just trying to find that final 5, 10% of finance,

which is often the hardest thing with a new show. Stick Megan in it, you will get that final 5 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 going to be in rivals, be in the gentleman. I don't think she's right for rivals, but she could, potentially she could. Yes, the gentleman is perfect.

It's weird because I always felt, and I think I've said it on this podcast before, but I always felt that if the 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 always thought it 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 they been saying, why have they been safe? so many stories about them, why is them and all this stuff? And it's like, the fact is, people are, everyone says they're not interested in them, they are. 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. Oh, definitely most people don't care, but the people who do care, really, really, really, really care. I agree. I do believe that their most compelling stories, remains their real life one. And it's, I was thinking about this. I ended up writing about this on Friday in my Guardian column. And I was thinking about, you know, there is something, it's very difficult. They told that story so exhaustively because 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, a runaway cruise ship, so that you can go back to the same money well. And there's lots of sequels that are really high concept where you're like,

the only way this can work is if we somehow get the characters. I mean, diehard's like this. Diehardt's like this. So there's a team of writers going, it's going to be brilliant if we get Megan and Harry back to the UK. It feels an impossibility. Let's work out a way that that can happen. And it's happened. Yeah.

It 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, it pre, it was there before her royal fame. Okay, so it's the thing that she does. That's that's her trade. And by the way, everyone's rediscovered, everyone's discovered suits. Like every single person, every, like, Gen A people have watched the whole of suit. 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, you know, he wants and doesn't. want and all those things that I think a normal human being would struggle with in that situation. But I think if he comes over here, I saw him on the Joe Mahler 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 he just appears on television every now and again and is 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 a, I'd have him meeting people. but there's a bunch of things that he could do. 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 interesting? Because I think one thing that really works for him is the Invictus Games and his work with veterans. I've got a show called Harry's Special Forces. It's like DIYSOS meets.

challenge Anika and it is exactly that thing of something needs rebuilding a house needs rebuilding community centre and he does it

with a bunch of army veterans people have been you know 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're putting their skills out there for employers as well

it kind of it's lovely feel good I like it's good I would watch it Harry's 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 he listens. Oh, no, I'm being told he doesn't. But perhaps Megan will listen and come back to him. But Harry's Special Forces, that feels like a hit. I love Harry's special forces. What else could she be in?

Well, I mean, kind of any, I mean, she's an actor. Yeah. You sort of be in whatever someone writes next, right? I mean, because she just does what she does. Holland Coburn. Come on, a drama. Oh, yeah. The January drama, please.

She'd be great in that. You know what? And knowing how. 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, has 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 mess with his time. And I go, yeah, I'm shocked. Harlan, I'm shocked you agreed to do it. It's a good book. It's good book. Yeah. The one show I think that Harry definitely couldn't do that would be funny would be

who do you think you are. Because it'd be like, now, we've gone back four generations. we found something quite surprising. Your great, great, great, great, grandfather, any guesses? I don't know, was he a king? Yes, he was a king, yes. And three generations before, what do you think your great, great, great, great, 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, would I like to you? I think, you know, just make, make a lot to you? No, because his stories. Oh, I was that. I mean, I watched all of this. This is the point.

Everyone's saying they're just getting over their skis and whatever. No, people will want to watch it. And 8% of people have a definite opinion on Harry and Megan already, right? I would say in the country. I don't think it is. Have a very, very, very strong opinion one way or the other. 4% one way, 4% the other way. You've still got 92% of people who are like, oh, yeah, well, if he's doing something interesting, I'll watch it.

I think it's way higher than that. 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 in the most brutal entertainment market in the world. And if you fail there. Everyone fails. Yeah. Yeah, but they failed quite significantly. And there 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 huge, I saw people saying, oh, well, I mean, And they were never even at the Met Gala and were like, oh my God, I don't even know if they wanted to go. But the things that Americans regard as the imprimatur 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 it against it or 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 think one appearance on the Taskmaster Christmas special and all this

forgiven. Bake off. I don't know about Bakeoff. I don't know about bakeoff. Sleb bakeoff. Oh, I know you're talking about Sleb Bake-off. It'd be really weird if he turned up on the regular bake-off. He could do it.

He could do it. She couldn't do it. Yeah. I think honestly, the wheel, what I lie to you, Taskmaster Christmas special, that's why I'd have him on. And Harry will go and pitch Harry's special forces. be absolutely huge. Everyone wins on Harry's Special Forces.

Harry Special Forces is a fantastic show. I would definitely watch that. Megan on the Gentleman, Harry on Harry's Special Forces, before you know it, the entire narrative is rewritten. Like I'd give a toss about anyone's narrative. You know what I mean? That's a whole... 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. There might be one of my favourite things in the middle. Yeah, you never know. In Marvel's ones, there used to be a mid-credit scene

and then there'd be an end-credit 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 Bert Reynolds, where they would do bloopers. It just feels like a secret little glimpse into a different world. 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. Right, 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 Lloyds.

Search Lloyd's rewards in your app. Eligibility criteria, terms and conditions apply, retailer offers and cashback amounts may vary. UK residents 18 plus. Hey, this is Michael and Hannah from Gollhangers. The Rest is Science. This episode is brought to you by Cancer Research UK. When we talk about beating cancer,

we often focus a lot on survival and that can mean overlooking impacts that last long after treatment ends. Yeah, for example, take cancers in children. and young people, the treatments themselves can be incredibly harsh. They can cause lifelong side effects like infertility or hearing loss. And Cancer Research UK is working to change that, because young people, they should be able to grow up hearing the voices of the people that they love and living their lives to the fullest. That's right. And one clinical trial led by Cancer

Research UK showed that giving another drug alongside chemotherapy nearly halved the number of children losing their hearing. And today, the treatment combination is being. used by doctors across the world. For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research and breakthroughs, and how you can support them, visit cancerresearchuk.org slash rest is science.

Right now, for a limited time, everyone's part of the Buick team, even you. Buick's employee pricing for you event is on now. Get a purchase credit of up to $3,168 on a 2026 Buick Envision. Surround yourself with signature Buick refinements, from an available massaging driver's seat to an expansive panoramic moonroof and a stunning ultra-wide 30-inch diagonal screen. Don't miss Buick's employee pricing for you event.

Visit buick.ca for more details. Welcome back everybody. Now before we get on to 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 all 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, it's atrest's Entertainment.com, you can sign up there, add 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 bellhop at the Gold Coast Casino called Brandon Flowers. And he is in a synth pop band called Blush Response. 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 as 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 in anger.

And he's an anglophile anyway, Brandon Flowers. But he comes out at that going, what I need is a guitarist. That's what I need. Finds 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 Coonning wrote. It may be familiar.

And that's Brandon, Dave, and a drum machine. The very first time they ever did, it's instantly recognisable. The lyrics have not changed a jot. Now, 1st 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. 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. Like 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 they wrote. Dave, Kernan, it 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 Anchor.

And it's still there, if you want to go there. It is opposite a crawfish restaurant and a 24-hour massage parlor 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, it only has one verse. I was about to say they don't even change really in the first and second verse. Yeah, he does the verse, then he does the chorus. Then he goes, oh, I should probably do another verse. I'll just do it 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. It had a very slow start, Mr. Brightside. Brandon Flowers did an amazing tracks of my years with Vernon 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, 5707 inches of that song.

Which, if you have one, by the way, are worth an awful lot of money now. Again, no one was all that interested. Then Sane Lowe started playing it on Radio 1, Texas Back. Zane No, isn't it? You know, the era you're in when you're talking about Zain, though. So Zaino starts playing it. Steve Lomack starts playing it. And the UK start falling 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.

It 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 or hate it. Where do you stand on Mr. Brightside? There's so much about it that's really interesting, that it's a song sort of about being in your own head. And yet it seems almost engineered to be sung with absolutely massive people when you're wasted it like two in the morning. There's something that it sort of 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 it would have to be. It would have to be because it's become this thing, despite the fact that they're, as you say, from 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 it is. I think some people think they're just Mr. Brightside. I would go on record as saying, I think they might, it's them or Bell and Sebastian are my absolute favorite band. Album after album. Yeah, they've done amazing.

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. So you have like, I don't know, fans, Ferdinand and Block Party and, you know, Arctic Monkeys and Raised, like, all those people. they sounded quite British. There's something about it that it just, it sounds quite,

he is an Anglophile, as you say. Yeah, he grew up on the cure and the Smiths and bands like that. It's funny enough, a peck shop, but yes, a huge fan of all of that stuff. He talks on that Vernon Kay 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, Ronnie Vanucci and Matt Sturmer, joined the band. He said they were sort of writing songs and they really liked what they were. And they're, you know, 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 see. somebody else do it and it 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, or actually about, because it is about something really, it's about something really dark and sad and like 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. Things like Wonderwall and Don't Look Back in Anger and even common people or even angels.

I mean, you know, things that people really belt out are not these kind of, you know, completely sort of euphoric things whatsoever. There was a really, in Euro 2024, they were playing at the O2. Killers. 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 90s. 91st minute or something.

England scored. Then there was all this red and white confetti came down and they went straight to Mr. Brightside. Come on. 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 all their university nights, but now it's like at weddings. And so it's the song that's all. We had it at our wedding. So we were talking about what songs to have. And then we say, I don't know about Mr. Brightside. I said, I promise you, later on in the evening, it was a December wedding. We went freed from desire, Mr. Brightside, 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 is something about it. And again, as you say, there's a darkness in lots of these anthems. But it's called Mr. Brightside. And Wonderall is called Wonderful. You can imbue it with some possibility. Because you can hear it on your own, like, when you've broken up with somebody, and it's like, this is my devastation writ large.

Or you can hear it with like all your friends at half past one in the morning. Yeah. Tides around your head. 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 Marr that's never reached number one. Funny off, it took that over from Wonderwall. But looking through the charts this week, there are a lot of song that we've talked about the more abundity of the charts and how things hang around. And we paused to reflect that Ray Mien, which we talked about six weeks ago,

is still number one. 22 weeks, Ray, me and Azad. 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'm just going to 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 special dispensation to reveal number one first. because otherwise the item wouldn't have made sense. Oh, 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 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 Riptide. I mean, you recognise it, right?

It's got that kind of fokey thing, a little bit of a rocky thing. But yes, it's 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. It's 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 Goo Dolls, which again, we all recognize it's one of those songs that just hangs around forever and ever. It's that sort of plaintiff, balladie type song that they're always covering on X Factor. And every time you hear it, you go, hold on, what's that song? Because they don't really mention the title in the chorus. So everyone, it's almost that 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.

Massive on TikTok. 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 that's not currently in the top 100, which is two weeks away from five years. And that's Lewis Capaldi's somebody 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 is called Thrasher, and he's made a country album. I think, yes, please. And it's really, really, really good. So if you only know Keders from Mr. Brightside, you've got the 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. It doesn't be? I've got a lot of views on why it shouldn't be, but carry on it. Oh my God, 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 lots of things, there has to be a certain amount of religious programming, there has to be a certain amount of children's programming, news has to have an impartiality, all of that stuff. But the issue is,

is that all the privileges you get are based on the old broadcast tech. 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, this 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 ordinary days, you turn on your TV and the first five channels are the PSP 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. 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 PSB's prominence. Trying to give the PSB's 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 YouTube. It's 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 passed 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 how the government really think that YouTube is going to work, then I am very worried about that, okay? What would prominence on YouTube mean, what the UK government decide how the algorithm

works? Okay, good luck with that. I, you are pushing, 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, I mean, just say the government managed to get some value out of YouTube in this one battle. Yeah. Okay. They will find a way to take it back.

Just ask Mr. Beast, okay? Mr. Beast has got done over, if you will, by the algorithms switching to push smaller creators, okay? this all reminds me a lot of a there's a friends episode where chandler wants to give some money to joey but jerry's proud so he has to invent this game that he can lose money to jerry 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 chadler just changes the rules and wins all the money youtube is like It's their platform.

They will take the value out of the platform, not you. And if the government is, 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 4 and ITV sort of through 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? 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 listen, it's money down the back of the sofa in terms of what lies ahead for them. Switchover isn't? Can in basic terms explain what you mean by switchover? Because I know it's a huge deal. Yeah. Turning terrestrial TV off to release, which is incredibly expensive and you end up paying hundreds of millions of a year to companies like Archiever. And you don't have to do that anymore and you can spend that much money on the UK creative. And when you say turn it off, do you mean like the transmitters and things like that?

The stuff that growing up where TV came from. Yes, and everybody to be digital, 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 the debate. So we're paying that huge kind of carriage costs to companies with big infrastructure in order 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 platform, 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 that's designed to be watched like this. But I mean, even Matt Britson, the Director General of the BBC said that this isn't a good idea at the select committee. 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 PSBs to give prominence. 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. There needs to be a button on your remote. They can legislate for that. You need a

dashboard button for radio 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, dashboards, all things like that, digital switchover. Digital switchover is so much more important than this. Okay, if we turn terrestrial 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. The argument about switching it 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 ever, you know, more support from the government. And, you know, a charter of 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. Where do you think this has come from then from the government?

Do you think this is something that is, is it something that is it something that's just been floated by the government, or is it something that they genuinely... Well, I just, you know, I think that they think that they, you can't win a get... These are the face eaters, you know, you can't win a get. Big Tech is not going to save anybody. It's like Ross thinking he's good at cups. They might win one, they might win one battle. But they'll fight.

But in the end, YouTube will just find a way to get that value off you. And also, for anyone who's under 35, it is important. I mean, I could make an argument for, you know, a government intervening in capitalism. You know, doable. The BBC itself is that. It's sort of saying, yeah, listen, we live in a capital of 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 have favourite creators already and are very aware that most of YouTube is not slop, but is interesting stuff made by a really good creators. 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 on it because they will find a way to win against you. Just ask Mr. Beast, the most successful creator on their platform. We have the best creative economy in the world

because we don't compete for funding and we compete for talent and all these other things. But the PSBs are 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. It won't, by the way. Yes.

It just won't. If people who watch Dragonsden 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 its 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. YouTube will not save the PSBs. This idea of having a button on the remote control, which you've talked about for and I, and I love. And in car dashboards for radio. Yes, and in car dashboards for radio. 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 if, as we banged on about before, not that we bang on, that if they all joined together and had an I player that had all the public, You would have a button that literally took you to that. I agree. And it has to be I player because I player is, 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. But my opinion is that yes, and that we'll move in that direction. Because then you have a massive destination of scale. 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, let's fast for 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. 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're listening to it, it's on a Tuesday, then tomorrow the brand new season of Bookish begins. The first seasons were my favorite 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 Gatiss 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 a screening much earlier this year. Teenage sex and death at Camp Myasma. Oh, yes. I remember you mentioning.

Okay, it's horror, but please leave your genre expectations at the door. I mean, it's really about female social satisfaction. God, it's such a lot. It's very funny. And it stars Gillian Anderson, I mean, in a hysterical performance. Hannah Imbinder from Hax. Oh, Hacks, yeah. The two central performances are absolutely.

incredible. It was written directed 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 going to see it again. Good recommendations this week. That was lots of fun. So we'll see everyone for a Q&A on Thursday. See you on Thursday. Hello everyone. We've got some exciting news to share with listeners of the Restors Entertainment. We do indeed. We are holding a summer sale so you can become a member of the club for a third off the regular price. That's right. With the code summer 26, you can head to the rest of entertainment.com and claim an annual membership with this brilliant discount. So if you want to spend your summer listening to us discussing celebrity

drama behind the scenes stories and industry gossip but have none of the ads and why wouldn't you? It is a no-brainer. Plus you can catch up with all of the archive of our members only shows you may have missed including Marina's latest series of vibe shift. And we've got lots more of those special series planned. But remember, this deal will only run until the end of August. So don't wait to around head to the rest is entertainment.com now.