John Gibson: Fern and Frank the double act

Possibly your were still vegetating in your pit Sunday morning, the telly off. So you’d miss the excellent one-to-one talk show that was well worthy of a much wider, wide-awake audience. Fern Britton shadow boxing with Frank Bruno.

This should have been screened between, say 8 and 9pm rather 10am to 11 on the Sabbath, when it followed on from Professor Marr.

Fern’s guest this Sunday, Daniel O’Donnell. I’m hiding under the covers already.

Dolly hurtin’

Chest a minute, here’s an update from one of the bigger girls. Dolly Parton’s living with discomfort and a certain distress. Now openly admitting to her chums that even her support bra is cutting into her shoulders. She’s feeling the pain.

“My boobs are killing me and I don’t know if I can stand the pain any longer. My boobs have been a trademark but I’ve paid one helluva price.

“But I’ll never retire . . . like Mae West, I’m going to sit in a wheelchair with my high heels on.”

Bad to verse

Touching. Something to remember him by. Before he embarked for Tobago, Norrie Rowan thrust a paperback at me, thinking he wouldn’t get it past security. Exactly what my library needed . . The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in Scots. It cot £8.99 in new money. All heart, is Norrie. Careful with that magic sponge there!

Afterwords . .

. . . My invitation to Orla Guerin’s whoopee Christmas party has arrived. Got your’s yet?