G&TV: Book ‘Em and Risk It (11/08/1983) Quickies Posted by Ian Symes on 13th February 2025, 09:53 From the Robert Llewellyn interview in Smegazine Vol. 1 Issue #13, as recently revisited by the DwarfCast Smegazine Rack: RL: But I've known Mac for years and years, in fact I did my first ever television work with him. It was in about 1980, I think, in some weird programme for Channel 4 - it was recorded before the channel started. TS: What was that? RL: Bookem and Riskit. It was a pretty appalling experience. It was the first time I'd done any telly and it was a bit of a shock - very different to Red Dwarf and very different to anything else I've done since. But it did get broadcast - once - I think it was on the third day Channel 4 went out, and it was watched by about 7 or 8 people over the whole country, including me. This sounds like a job for the potty-mouthed archivists! We immediately set out to track down any known recordings of this obscure and elusive pilot, utilising all our detective skills, industry contacts and technical wizardry... only to discover that our good friend Jonsmad had already sent us a link to it months ago. So... good. The upload comes via comedy writer Bill Matthews (creator of Never Mind The Buzzcocks and They Think It's All Over, fact fans), who was a very early adopter of VHS. The sound is horribly distorted at the start, but it sorts itself out around twenty minutes in. Read more →
G&TV: Razzmatazz Quickies Posted by John Hoare on 14th May 2019, 06:21 This month’s G&TV is short and sweet. No prolonged, tedious analysis. No choosing something purely so I can rant about something which has been annoying me this week. Just a little something you almost certainly haven’t seen before. With many thanks to Gary Rodger for the clip, here is Mac McDonald appearing on Tyne Tees kids music programme Razzmatazz in 1981. As… a human jukebox. You’re welcome.
DwarfCast 96 – Mac McDonald Interview Xtended DwarfCasts Posted by Ian Symes on 16th November 2017, 21:35 Subscribe to DwarfCasts: RSS • iTunes Last Friday morning - a mere twelve hours after Skipper had landed on UKTV Play - a DwarfCast splinter group consisting of Ian Symes, Danny Stephenson and Jo Sharples descended on returning guest star Mac McDonald's house, and he foolishly decided to let us in, for the second time in as many years. Later that night, we played you a brief snippet during the Live DwarfCast, but our conversation was long and rambling, so here's the full-length uncut version. Our rambling chat touched upon all manner of Skipper-related topics, such as last-minute script amendments, the similarities between Mac and Hollister, the benefits of budget constraints, Doug's approach as a director and what happened to Hollister after Series VIII. We also touched upon such diverse topics as lost luggage, being cast in Batman, Donald Trump, pornography, moustaches and tales from the rehearsals of the Red Dwarf Movie. Read more →
DwarfCast 70 – Mac McDonald Interview DwarfCasts Posted by Ian Symes on 1st April 2016, 12:01 Subscribe to DwarfCasts: RSS • iTunes Somewhat foolishly, film star, comedy veteran and Space Corps captain Mac McDonald willingly allowed two members of the G&T team to enter his home. This is the resultant conversation, which takes in such topics as duetting with Dolly Parton, being terrified of Sean Connery, illicit sexual encounters during the filming of Series 1, cereal and fat jokes. Ian Symes is your host, and his posse consists of Danny Stephenson and Jo Sharples. An enormous thank you to Mac for his time, hospitality and pecan cake. Read more →
Things that cast members have said to you by way of refusing an interview News Posted by Ian Symes on 26th March 2006, 21:46 #1, Mac McDonald, Memorabilia, 2006: "Nah, I don't know anything about comic books. I can talk about cereals, though." Read more →
