Monthly Archives: January 2011

John Barry: Sentimental Music Man in an E-type Jaguar

Posted on January 31, 2011 by samiraahmed

Beat Girl
The Knack
Out of Africa Continue reading →

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From Citizen Kane to Morning Glory: Journalists on Film

Posted on January 25, 2011 by samiraahmed

In the light of Morning Glory — the new film about breakfast TV anchors with Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton, this is my assessment of journalists on film for The Spectator Arts blog; the good, the bad and the ugly. … Continue reading →

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Michael Gove on educational elitism — a flashback to Oxford 1988

Posted on January 20, 2011 by samiraahmed

  Hearing the attacks for alleged “elitism” made on Education Secretary Michael Gove’s  plans to make the National Curriculum of English state schools more academically rigorous, I remembered something he wrote about that very subject 23 years ago, in January … Continue reading →

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From Ealing to Four Lions: How to fund a great British film.

Posted on January 18, 2011 by samiraahmed

BAFTA Nominations were out today. When I remarked on Twitter yesterday that the Golden Globe winning, now much BAFTA nominated, Oscar hopeful The King’s Speech had been funded via the scrapped UK Film Council I was flagging up the difficulty … Continue reading →

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Why I’m a Cover Girl.

Posted on January 15, 2011 by samiraahmed

Listening to R2′s ‘Sounds of the 60s” this morning, I realised to my shame that I had no memory of ever before hearing the original Beach Boys’ version of “Break Away.” Why? Because in the mid 80s I discovered the … Continue reading →

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Swinging racism: Floella Benjamin’s memoir of 60s London

Posted on January 13, 2011 by samiraahmed

Talking to Linda Grant earlier this week about her 60s/70s novel about the privileged babyboomer generation, who “had it so good”, got me thinking again about the remarkably different 60s experience of one of Britain’s best known presenters — Baroness Floella Benjamin. Her frank autobiography about her teenage years is a harrowing account of daily racist abuse, in Swinging London. I thought it worth posting the long version of my exclusive interview, which appeared in The Independent in October, and examines her journey to the House of Lords. The Age of Aquarius musical, Hair, did actually change her life, though not in the way you might think… Continue reading →

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When I Lived In Groovy Times – an interview with the Novelist Linda Grant

Posted on January 11, 2011 by samiraahmed

I spent a fascinating afternoon with award winning British writer, Linda Grant, this week, discussing her timely new novel, We Had It So Good, (published January 20th 2010) about the babyboomer generation and going through photos she’d dug out for my news cameras, to help analyse … Continue reading →

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Little Feminist on the Prairie

Posted on January 10, 2011 by samiraahmed

This is the full version of my Guardian article published in November 2010, about why I chose her as my specialist subject on Celebrity Mastermind. What Laura Ingalls Wilder still  teaches us about independence, and living through an age of austerity. … Continue reading →

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Mastermind: Lessons from the black leather chair

Posted on January 9, 2011 by samiraahmed

When I agreed to appear on BBC1′s Celebrity Mastermind at Christmas, nobody told me I would be subject to makeup mishaps, psychological intimidation and pain in the brain. I know, I know. The word “celebrity” in a programme title is … Continue reading →

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Where next for the government’s ad men?

Posted on January 9, 2011 by samiraahmed

In the light of the flu crisis this winter, here’s my special Channel 4 News report from June 28th 2010 which predicted the dangers as well as the budgetary challenges, as the new government slashed spending on public information campaigns.

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