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Keep Talking

A Broadcasting Life

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Keep Talking

By: David Dimbleby
Narrated by: David Dimbleby
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About this listen

 David Dimbleby reflects on his 50 year career at the BBC taking us behind the scenes of some of the biggest moments in British broadcasting.

David Dimbleby has interviewed prime ministers and presidents, made award-winning documentaries, chaired Question Time for 25 years, and anchored the BBC's live coverage of historic national and world events.

KEEP TALKING is David's wry look at his own extraordinary career, and the people, events and controversies he has encountered along the way. As a broadcaster for the BBC, David had an obligation to appear a neutral observer. Now finally 'off the leash' he writes without inhibition but with his characteristic wit, clarity and insight, about monarchy, politics, and the state of Britain.

His book is enlivened with honest accounts of broadcasting from the inside - from commentating on Diana's funeral to anchoring ten successive General Election night results programmes. The faux pas, the secrets of the craft and what he was really thinking are shared for the first time. He reveals his own battles with politicians; queries the purpose and effect of political interviews; and considers the power of broadcasting - through programmes such as Question Time - to explore and amplify the public voice. Whilst profoundly British, the book ranges wider, in particular reflecting David's time in many countries, including Southern Africa and the United States.

David has been there for us at nearly every major national event of the last fifty years. Serious, outspoken, and leavened with humour, KEEP TALKING reveals how David has seen it all - and is now telling it as he sees it.

(P)2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited©2022 David Dimbleby Art & Literature Journalists, Editors & Publishers Politicians Politics & Activism Thought-Provoking Career

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All stars
Most relevant
This is a witty but informative memoir of David Dimblebeys time with the BBC. It is also a passionate plea for its ongoing existence.

A unique and trusted voice

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national treasure David Dimbleby described Jimmy Savile as having "had sex with underage girls and boys" instead of the actual legal definition of "having raped children". For someone who is so particular about details, this is a shocking failure to address the actual truth head on.

it was all going swimmingly, until

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David Dimbleby is one of best narrators on Audible and his book is a great listen - I'm sure would have been equally good to read. Is very honest about the ups and downs of BBC and in world where few defend it, his support and explanation of how it works is really good. His background about Question Time and Election days from the coal face are very listenable. One of best books of 2022

Great View of Contemporary History

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A fascinating insight into the world of the BBC and David Dimbleby’s account of it. Anyone interested in history, politics and broadcasting will be in for a treat.

Superb Story of Dimbleby’s BBC journey

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Dimbleby is in retrospective mode: this is part-memoir, part-investigation and part-essay focusing on the BBC, his long-time erstwhile employer (though he was back in action commentating during some of the Queen’s funeral). He’s a champion of the Beeb — and believes it’s too often unfairly targeted by politicians with axes to grind. But he isn’t blind to its faults. Dimbleby, in forensic fashion, looks at scandals which have hit the corporation - recent and yesteryear. Savile, Gilligan, Bashir - there are quite a few - and Dimbleby’s own run-in with Harold Wilson, who didn’t like questions about his private income. Management suits are often to blame for blunders. Dimbleby complains that the Beeb sitcom W1A is all too accurate. The opening sections about Dimbleby’s early career as a political interviewer; the probing of Beeb controversies; and the final essay on whither now for the BBC are all excellent. He’s a fantastic narrator. The disclosures about Royal reporting and commentating are a highlight. There’s a lot in the closing stages about his foreign reporting, including from Rhodesia and Albania. Some of it is very good — but I didn’t find it as compelling as the rest (others might). It’s an eminently listenable book by a man who can stake a reasonable claim to being our greatest living broadcaster.

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