Appearing on a major British television chatshow could make a showbiz career in the 1970s and 80s – and end one too. It was more than simply joining a line-up of famous faces with a fresh project to promote.
Sir Michael Parkinson was the first to give Billy Connolly, an unknown Scottish comic, a chance on his BBC show in 1975. A year later, Parkinson’s tussle with Rod Hull’s Emu puppet made TV history. And when Meg Ryan derailed her interview with him in 2003, her public image as a sunny, Hollywood heroine was dented. They don’t make interviewers like “Parky” any more, it seemed. Except now, it turns out, they do.
