Charming legend of television

I ARRIVED at Phyllis Court Club to find that the car park was completely full.

As the lack of spaces suggested, the Baillie Gifford Marquee was full — and it’s not hard to understand why.

The former Question Time host remarked that his broadcasting career started when he was 12 years old.

Since then he has become synonymous with the BBC, leading television coverage of US and UK elections, the EU referendum and state occasions.

From Russell Brand, whom he labelled a “nightmare”, to Nelson Mandela, whom he conceded was his trickiest interviewee, it seems there are few famous people Dimbleby hasn’t interviewed.

Interviewed by Bryony Gordon, he reflected on memorable interviews, his recent television series Days That Shook the BBC and his role in the broadcast of the Queen’s funeral.

With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he coloured anecdotes with impressively accurate impressions of famous interviewees.

His account of interviewing Margaret Thatcher while sitting on a collapsing bin proved to be especially memorable.

Gordon had a difficult task on her hands as Dimbleby is used to posing tough questions of his own and has such an extensive career.

With just an hour at her disposal, I could see how she could risk leaving the audience dissatisfied.

However, I think she made good decisions. Touching briefly on Dimbleby’s new book, she mostly used the time to ask him about the future of the monarchy, the media and Liz Truss.

I think the audience appreciated this and used the question-and-answer time to pose questions about the BBC licence fee and the electoral system.

Dimbleby really conveyed his commitment to truth, fair questioning and his sense of responsibility to the viewer.

He certainly corrected Gordon when he felt she hadn’t quoted him precisely enough.

He was still signing books an hour after the talk ended and I think this speaks volumes about the respect people have for him.

He lived up to his reputation as a broadcasting legend and in the process also proved himself to be an uncannily skilled Thatcher impersonator.

Lucie Richardson