It was with mixed emotion I watched the Jeremy Beadle tribute on ITV last night.
Selfishly, I miss the great man as I can no longer call on him to help with some event that I might be involved with. At the moment I am putting together a charity event involving the celebrated Eggheads team, as part of the new schools 14-19 diploma initiative.
All the elements have Jeremy Beadle written all over them and he would have thrown himself into the event and ensured that I had no worries and the evening raised many thousands of pounds and a good time would be had by all.
Also quite selfishly I miss the vibe that Jeremy brought to every conversation we ever had, every situation, every meeting – positive, glowing, ambitious, enthusiastic and real.
Perhaps I didn’t learn too much new about Jeremy. I was actually working with the new production company of You’ve Been Framed just after Jeremy was dropped as presenter and I know, despite what David Liddiment might now say, the reason he was replaced was that they wanted someone cheaper!! This was typical showbiz false economy and with the best will in the world Lisa Riley found Jeremy a very hard act to follow.
I remember telling Jeremy this story and until then I had no idea how genuinely hurt and upset he was at this decision. You see Jeremy was not driven by money, although he could make it very easily, and he would have found a compromise.
In all honesty Jeremy was probably bigger than the show and it occurred to me that is probably why he didn’t get the opportunity to diversify into chat-show hosting.
Ironically, Jeremy kick-started the career of Jonathan Ross and yet he could have shown him a thing or two about interviewing techniques but when you are such a huge star, as Jeremy undoubtedly was, the public find it very difficult to accept you in another guise.
Jeremy was pigeon-holed as a prankster and yet he was one of the most knowledgeable men in television. Give me the choice between Jeremy and Stephen Fry for my quiz team and it would be Jeremy every time. Not to undermine Stephen’s qualities at all but I would know a lot of the comedian’s areas of speciality whilst Jeremy would always come up with the weird and wacky facts no one else would know.
Anyway, it was an ironic tribute from the company that let him down in a way, but all the same it was great to see Sue, Cassie and Bonnie in such good form and if I learnt anything at all it was that Jeremy was much sicker than he ever let on.
This programme made me think of another great friend who has just died prematurely.
Mark Bytheway was a similar animal to Jeremy in some respects. Great knowledge befitting a former World Quizzing Champion and current British champion, but a man who defies description such is his uniqueness and unpredictability. Blessed with an almost unequalled intellect Mark managed to live life to the full and balance the enforced lonely existence of a professional quiz player with bouts of gregariousness only known to those errant ‘never miss a session’ drinking types. Not your average world champion was Mark, but fiercely loyal and respectful. He quizzed with Jeremy too and on one occasion actually had Jeremy literally hurling trivial pursuit questions at him whilst he was cycling for dear life – don’t ask!
Mark also had an infectious enthusiasm which couldn't help but rub off on you and on many occasions we played in a team together and he involved me in professional 'quiz attacks' long before we had a recognised circuit. We had great successes together and just loved it when a plan worked. It is difficult to describe Mark's personality but imagine if Jeremy was Hannibal then Mark would be Murdoch!
I literally couldn't get to Mark's funeral, which has played heavily on my mind, but I loved him like a brother and know that his partner Jo has a magnificent support system in his local Swindon quiz fraternity and in particular my old friends Tim Westcott and Eric Kilby. I would occasionally play D'artagnan to their Three Musketeers but they were true brothers-in-arms.
RIP Jeremy and Mark - your like will never be seen again
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