Old published stuff

Spring has arrived and the coast is calling. With a new Turner gallery in the pipeline and a clutch of chic B&Bs and restaurants Margate is shrugging off years of decline and staging a comeback No pebbles here ... Margate sands. Photograph: Alamy The once-glorious seaside resort may have fallen on hard times, but after years of neglect a new £17.4-million art gallery is at the forefront of a bid to restore "Merry Margate's" fortunes. And, having missed out on the gentrification that transformed many of Britain's coastal resorts, Margate is now beginning to capitalise on its nostalgic, retro appeal. Opening in the spring of 2011, the Turner Contemporary will aim to entice the arty crowd away from the chichi streets of Whitstable and Broadstairs down the coast, and celebrate the resort's proud association with the arts – from JMW Turner to Tracey Emin – in the process. But there's no need wait until it open...

Posted by Stewart Turner There’s really nothing worse than a relentlessly cocky posh kid, is there? And with this in mind, this latest slice of poverty TV kicked off with footage of 13-year-old George Abingdon showing us “daddy’s best car”, taking time out in the billiards room, and reeling off a list of his famous Gloucestershire neighbours. “If you’re born poor, you can easily change it,” he boomed, with one eye on a safe Tory seat. The format of How the Other Half Lives is a little like that of The Secret Millionaire , but instead of charities, here the cigar-chomping businessmen help out needy individuals. In the rich corner this week was David, a marketing guru who got on his bike and worked himself up from nothing “because he didn’t want to be broke”. In the poor corner was Cal, an ex-crusty who lived in a horse box for 18 years before making the life-changing decision to turn her back on The Levellers and become a barrister. While it was all refreshingly celebrity-free, and ...

Posted by Stewart Turner A couple of decades ago, TV royalty used to be rewarded for long service with a good-natured love-in on This Is Your Life – or if they were really lucky, an hour-long An Audience With… ego rub. Not any more. This being the 21st century, the celebration has to be tempered with a smattering of sneering sarcasm and Jimmy Carr one-liners. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of “roasting”, you’ll be surprised to hear it doesn’t consist of rubbing a national treasure in goose fat and sticking him in the oven with a couple of Premier League footballers. It’s actually an American term for a bout of friendly mickey-taking. Other stars in line for the honour courtesy of Channel 4 this week include, er, Sharon Osborne and Chris Tarrant. But first up was doddering game show legend Brucie. Unsurprisingly, most of the jokes centred on either Brucie’s formidable chin or the mere fact that he hasn’t popped his clogs yet. Some were pretty good, such as the odd one-li...