Breaking news!... Kirsty Wark swaps the autocue to take on TV comedy role
However, former news anchor and journalist Kirsty Wark has shown that she's game for a laugh, too, after sending herself up in a new Scots comedy show.
Ms Wark appears in Good For Her, on BBC Scotland, in a running sketch that follows a woman who can't stop speaking as if she's delivering the news.
As the gag continues in snippets throughout the show, the condition is seen to affect every facet of the woman's life.
In one scene, she and a man she has been dating go out for dinner in Glasgow, with the afflicted woman continuing her dry delivery when the dialogue is mere chit-chat.
The date is briefly interrupted by Ms Wark, who, it is made clear, is an old acquaintance of the central character – played by comedian and show writer Zara Gladman.
However, Ms Wark reveals that she too cannot converse without the same deadpan delivery.
Ms Wark, 70, is known for her austere presence and keen questioning on the BBC's flagship current affairs programme Newsnight.
She has covered several general elections and a host of major international news events, as well as presenting BBC2 arts programme The Late Show and fronting Words with Wark and The Kirsty Wark Show.
Ms Wark was named Journalist of the Year by Bafta Scotland in 1993 and Best Television Presenter in 1997. She was also honoured with a Bafta Fellowship earlier this year.
Never one to shy from controversy, she responded to a plea from Tory MP Andrew Rosindell for a return to broadcasting the national anthem by saying at the end of a Newsnight broadcast that they were 'incredibly happy to oblige' – before playing a clip of the Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen, which was banned by the BBC when it was released during the late Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.
But Ms Wark has also previously taken a lighter approach to broadcasting, winning the Star Baker accolade in The Great British Bake Off, appearing in Celebrity MasterChef, and playing a cameo role as herself in Doctor Who and Absolutely Fabulous.
Ms Wark stepped down from Newsnight in 2024 and now presents Front Row on BBC Radio 4. She is also working on documentaries and her third novel.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Peter Brookes's Times cartoon: July 14, 2025
Buy prints or signed copies of Times cartoons from our Print Gallery at or call 0800 912 7136
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Eric Idle says he feels ‘lucky every single day' after surviving cancer
Actor and comedian Eric Idle has said he feels lucky 'every single day' after surviving pancreatic cancer. Idle, 82, revealed in 2022 that he had received an early diagnosis and been successfully treated for the illness. In a Letter To My Younger Self for the Big Issue, the Monty Python star said: 'I miss a lot of people. Great people like Mike Nichols. 'I will find myself thinking of a funny line and thinking, you must tell Mike that. Or Jonathan Miller. So many of my heroes have gone, like Robin Williams. I still kind of occasionally speak to Billy Connolly, but I really miss him. 'You've got to find other people, you know, because there are still other funny people you can have dinner with or play guitar with. 'I got lucky, because I had to, I survived pancreatic cancer. So I feel that since 2019 I've had a reprieve. So I don't know or care what people say about me, I'm lucky every single day.' Idle also reflected on some of the issues financing Monty Python's Life Of Brian, which saw the film's creators receive help from Beatles star George Harrison. He said: 'For a while we had no money. (Media impresario) Lew Grade read it and just went nuts. He said, we can't possibly make this. I went to America to find money. 'I had been talking to George Harrison who was a huge fan, and he said, 'I'll phone you in the morning, don't worry'. And I thought, well, nobody's got four and a half million dollars. 'But finally, when everybody turned us down, there was a call from him saying, 'I've got you the money'. 'He had mortgaged his house and his business and raised the cash and put it all on a Python film. The most extraordinary thing to do.' Idle, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Sir Michael Palin fronted the ground-breaking sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. A huge hit, 45 episodes were made between 1969 and 1974, as well as five films including 1975's The Holy Grail, on which hit musical Spamalot – written by Idle – is based. Read the full interview with Idle in the Big Issue, out now.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Harry and Meghan 'frustrated' after details of secret 'peace summit' between Sussexes' spokesperson and King's aide is caught on camera
Harry and Meghan are said to be frustrated after a meeting between their chief of communications and an aide of the King was caught on camera. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex last night denied leaking details of the rendezvous between Meredith Maines and the King's communications secretary Tobyn Andreae in London on Wednesday. Liam Maguire, who runs Harry and Meghan's UK public relations team, was also at the meeting at the Royal Over-Seas League near Clarence House – a private members' club, which, somewhat ironically, champions international friendship and of which the King is patron. It is not known whether it was Charles or Harry who arranged the 'peace talks' but pictures of the two sides enjoying drinks raised hopes of a reconciliation. Both Harry, 40, and his father, 76, are said to be keen to reconcile, especially after the King was diagnosed with cancer last year. However, Harry and Meghan are said to have been frustrated that pictures of the extraordinary meeting were published in The Mail on Sunday. Sources close to Prince Harry insisted the Sussexes were not responsible for passing details of the meeting on to the newspaper. A secret meeting took place between Head of Comms for Royal Family Tobyn Andrea and Meridith Maines head of comms for The Sussexes Harry and Meghan are said to have been frustrated that pictures of the extraordinary meeting were published in The Mail on Sunday A source said the summit was only the 'first step towards reconciliation between Harry and his father, but at least it is a step in the right direction' They acknowledged that having the details splashed across newspaper front pages was not an ideal start to what they had hoped would be a new period of peace, The Telegraph reported last night. Pictures of the meeting show Ms Maines, carrying a black Louis Vuitton bag, arrive by taxi with Mr Maguire at 3:50pm on Wednesday. Mr Andreae turned up minutes later carrying a gift from Berry Bros & Rudd, the official wine supplier to the Royal Family. The trio were later seen chatting over drinks in the 26C (78F) sunshine on a first-floor garden terrace overlooking Green Park. After ten minutes they resumed their discussions inside. A source said the summit was only the 'first step towards reconciliation between Harry and his father, but at least it is a step in the right direction'. The source told The Mail on Sunday: 'There's a long road ahead, but a channel of communication is now open for the first time in years. There was no formal agenda, just casual drinks. There were things both sides wanted to talk about.' Royal experts suggested the meeting was 'more of a courtesy call' than peace talks. Royal commentator Ingrid Seward said she believed it was simply a chance for Ms Maines, who was appointed earlier this year, to meet her British counterpart, respected royal aide Mr Andreae. King Charles III walks with his son Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex as they arrive at St George's Chapel on September 19, 2022, ahead of the Committal Service for Queen Elizabeth II The Palace refused to comment on whether Prince William was aware of the meeting but royal experts said it was unlikely to have gone ahead without his approval. The 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham is one opportunity for a public reconciliation reportedly being discussed by both sides. Buckingham Palace and Mr Andreae declined to comment last night. The Sussexes' representatives did not respond.
