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Digital Spy's Editorial Assistant Philippa Warr reports on the behind-the-scenes activities at the DS offices.
Sorry that this blog is a bit later than usual. I wish the excuse was something more entertaining than just being outrageously busy but I'm afraid it isn't. Perhaps I should have made something entertaining up? Yes, let's do that - I was out yachting with Britney Spears and lost track of time. Anyway...
On Tuesday David "I'm with the band" Balls went to catch up with N-Dubz. Due to some tight scheduling our intrepid reporter bundled into one of the band's taxis for a chin wag with Dappy. Dappy was eating a chicken and rice thing at the time so questions were interspersed with pearls of wisdom such as "mff nff chomp chomp unff" and "sfft uffn grff chomp". Luckily for Dappy this meant David was also on hand to open his drink, although at the last minute David ruined his cool credentials by being unable to open the bottle with his teeth. Clearly university was wasted on him!
On a completely separate note, things are not looking too good for Dan Saney's promotional bonsai tree. For those of you who have been following this blog since the start (and your commitment over the last two months has been truly heartwarming) you will remember that Mini Ninjas popped in to deliver it to him as part of some game promo. You may also remember me doubting Mr S's l33t treekeeping skillz. Well, it seems I was right. The tree has moved out after a breakdown in communications - namely that Dan didn't know what it wanted and the tree refused to provide hints - and is eking out an existence in the garden (Dan isn't entirely sure where). If I were a lesser person I would say 'I told you so' but instead I shall keep a diplomatic silence.UPDATE: Just as well I kept a diplomatic silence given the tree has apparently made a miraculous recovery over the weekend. I could try to insist that the apparently healthy leaves are actually some kind of green fungal growth but I may actually have to accept that Mr Saney's garden brand of tough love is working.
Humble pie tastes AWFUL.
Phil x
This week, Simon and I seemed to be duelling for the dubious title of 'worst anecdote'. Simon is currently winning with the one I mentioned last week - basically he went to the
Fantastic Mr Fox press conference, sat as far away from Mr Clooney as was humanly possible and failed to engage him in any conversation whatsoever. My anecdote is slightly less terrible as I attended the
Men Who Stare At Goats press conference and sat far closer - in the second row for the completists among you - I even took a picture AND Kevin Spacey was there AND he smiled at me. Take that Simon!
Tom "I love
24 more than I love oxygen" Mansell then tried to muscle in on the lame anecdote contest with his sad tale of nearly meeting Carlos Bernard but then not meeting him after all. A fine attempt. Chris Allen was disqualified from the contest on account of his trip to see the cast of
Hustle actually happening. He even went out of the office to Birmingham and hung out with Robert Vaughn too.
Rescuing the week with an undiluted injection of celebrity was Austin Drage (
X Factor class of 2008) who
serenaded us on Wednesday afternoon. He sang his socks off and most of the office promptly fell hopelessly in love. I think it was the amazing singing combined with his implication that it would be more pleasurable to get intimate with a pair of scissors than to watch John and Edward perform anything.
Phil x
Just after I wrote the last blog entry - literally just after I pressed 'submit' - our intrepid music reporter David Balls ventured out to meet up with JLS. He says it was an interview but I have a sneaking suspicion that he was actually auditioning to be the fifth band member. He did return to the office afterwards so I'm assuming there were some creative differences or dancefloor disputes that prevented the formation of this supergroup (you can get a glimpse of his incredibly brief stint in the band on the right). There is a bright spot in this sad story though - when David was walking down the hall Alexandra Burke wandered out of the loos and said hi.
In a slightly less star-studded anecdote your beloved blogger (that would be me) toddled along to a launch party for the DS game
Scribblenauts. I was already very excited about the game itself but what really sealed the deal was the promise of a rooster hat. Yes, you heard me, a Rooster Hat. The main character, Maxwell wears one and let's just say it did not disappoint. It's bright red and I think you'll agree that I look amazing! (Please agree, no-one else has yet :( )
In other news, Kris, Neil, and James are jetting off to America for a whole week to
party at Disneyland do lots of work. Staying behind does have its perks though - last time we all put in our various food requests and the office was pretty much awash with candy the day after they came back (FYI peanut butter M&Ms; were awesome, Twinkies were less so)!
Phil x
Now, if you are any kind of soaps fan you can hardly have failed to notice the Inside Soap Awards were taking place this week. Kris 'soaps are my lifeblood' Green and Chris 'my camera sees all' Allen decamped to Sketch to
hang out scoffing mini-burgers provide comprehensive coverage of the event.
Kris and Chris were AWED by the egg pod toilets (dignified pic on right), SURROUNDED by the glitterati and ASTOUNDED by the dancefloor skills of Neil 'just call me Beyoncé' Wilkes and James 'religious follower of Len's
It Takes Two masterclass' Welsh.
There was also the now-standard picture of Kris with his arm round Cheryl 'Heather Trott' Fergison. I've included it below so you can see just how much joy there was on Kris's face. I really do wish I'd put a sneaky few quid on him being the father of her baby in
EastEnders, you know.
Elsewhere Neil managed to convert hanging out in John Barrowman's dressing room and looking through his things into 'work' with a few well placed
Doctor Who questions. The interview built to a startling climax with the revelation that Mr Barrowman is gay.
Listen closely to hear Chris 'I'm a trained actor, darling' Allen gasping with completely natural surprise...
Phil x
Some of you may have seen Alex "DS Icon" Fletcher appearing on your tellyboxes every now and again over the last few months. There was his Sky News bit about Michael Jackson, his audience spot on
Big Brother's Big Mouth and, most recently, his Sky News chat about Susan Boyle-mania. Assuming television studios to be at least as glamorous as the DS offices, I asked what it was like in the Green Room and prepared for stories of rock royalty and wild parties...
Apparently Newton Faulkner was hanging about drinking honey and warming up his vocal cords while David "I'm a Celebrity" Gest wandered around talking about Michael Jackson to anyone in the vicinity. In case you're wondering what they could possibly be doing on Sky News with the esteemed Alex, he assures me they were guests on
Live From Studio Five which is filmed next door.
To allow you to judge whether that was more or less glam than DS Towers this week let me tell you about *our* special celeb guests! We recorded two DS Sessions: one of
Eva Simons, which is already on the site, and the other of Niki "X Factor" Evans. Dan French and myself were planning on watching Eva but the session had started by the time we got to the room so we had to listen just outside, peering at her from round a corner like the most ineffective SWAT team in the history of the world. Niki Evans was here this morning and startled us with some rather fruity turns of phrase! See? We can be just as cool as any Green Room!
Phil x
Hello all!
Let's start off with some good news: the bonsai tree is (allegedly) still alive. I say 'allegedly' because I have no photographic evidence, only the word of self-proclaimed tree killer Dan Saney. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt because, quite frankly, I don't have the money to fight a libel case if I'm wrong.
Leaving legal matters to one side we've had loads going on this week! Neil and Kris Green went to Paris to hang out with Brendan and the
Coach Trip crew (what can I say? We're obsessed!) while Chris Allen and Kris Green (he gets everywhere) went to chat to Bonnie Tyler. Unlike the bonsai story I have photos to back up these claims! Chris Allen is pictured here with Bonnie (he's the one on the right).
For those of you not in the know Bonnie is going to be turning up in an so-crazy-it-just-might-work
dream sequence for
Hollyoaks Later. It involves a rendition of 'Holding out for a Hero' with Carmel in a jail cell. Chris Allen assures me that Bonnie was "awesome!!!" and has a gardener named Chris Green. The latter has become my fact of the week.
Over in France,
Coach Trip did a spot of filming in the famous Parisian Cabaret, Paradis Latin (look right for a pic) and Brendan took to the stage to show off his can-can moves - sadly we don't have pics of that but perhaps if you're a regular
Coach Trip viewer your loyalty will be rewarded. Apparently Neil and Kris didn't get to brave the dance floor but they did see a fellow journo taking a spectacular tumble down some steps before pulling a couple of chairs on top of himself. Kris Green was also very pleased with himself after beating Neil at cards on the way home.
That's enough for this week! If you'll excuse me I'm off to challenge our editor to a few hands of blackjack...
Phil x
I've just noticed that on the homepage this blog is listed as "The Assistant"- I feel like a budget version of The Apprentice!
Fascinating observations aside, let me tell you what's been happening in and around DS Towers this week...
Well, on Friday the grand finale of
Big Brother 10 tempted Tom and Alex out to Zone 94 (or wherever the heck Borehamwood is). Apparently there was some kind of a feast laid on for the visiting journos to keep them from getting too rowdy while they waited. I believe the highlight of Mr Fletcher's night was the Shakespearean-style monologue that Marcus 'Irrepressible Dark Horse' Akin delivered to a captive audience at 1am. Tom did not have a favourite moment and thought that the buffet at yesterday's
Doc Martin launch was far superior.
Fast forward through the weekend, past a
Merlin screening where impromptu cameraman Dan French angered thirsty interviewees by rocking up with (and not sharing) a pint, and you get to the TV Quick awards. They were just down the road at the Dorchester Hotel which was a bit of a relief! The usual crowd were there: celebs, PRs, reporters - you get the idea - and a good time was had by all. Well, almost all. Chris Allen tells me that one of the enormous back boards fell down and nearly knocked one of the PRs out. How utterly inglorious for the poor woman - crushed by a giant version of Tony from
Hollyoaks. Certainly not one for the autobiography!
Neil and Tom went on a day trip to Portsmouth a couple of days ago for a catch up with office favourite Brendan from
Coach Trip. Now I'm more of a
Come Dine With Me kind of girl so the particulars were lost on me but I am assured that they had fish and chips with Brendan himself (he was still lovely) AND they both got to ride on the actual coach.
Last but not least, as I was writing this some mini ninjas descended on the office to drop off a bonsai tree and promote the new Eidos game
Mini Ninjas (you can recreate our surprise by looking at the picture on the right and saying "Oh!")
That's about it for the moment - come back next week to find out (among other things) whether Dan Saney has managed to keep his new pet tree alive. Current prediction? It's not looking good...
Phil x
Welcome to Diary of an Editorial Assistant!
You can probably work out from the name that this is a blog-type affair written from the point of view of me, your friendly editorial assistant. In the interests of saving you a trip to the Meet The Team page my name is Philippa and I've been at DS Towers since the beginning of March working, unsurprisingly, as their editorial assistant.
Hang on! What exactly is one of those?
The easiest explanation is that it involves a little bit of absolutely everything; from competitions to recruitment and from image work to interviews. This is how I explain my job to my mother when she asks (although she still says "Philippa does something to the internet" when pressed for details).
With my fingers in so many pies means I'm in a good position to let you guys know a bit more about the team that brings you DS and a little something of what goes on behind the scenes!
Well, with the introductions out of the way, let's end this first entry with a snippet about what's been happening recently:
The big event of the week has been the
2009 Edinburgh TV Festival which saw Neil, James, and Dan French jet off to Scotland in the name of keeping you lot informed! The sheer volume of live blogs, news, interviews and tweets-that-weren't-at-all-aimed-at-making-other-people-jealous that followed meant we hardly had a chance to miss them at all...
In other news we recently recorded a new DS Session featuring none other than Preston, formerly of The Ordinary Boys. The backdrop was our small but beautifully formed HR room and in order to create a bit of atmosphere - and also because we all secretly love being serenaded - seven of us piled in to watch and applaud. This may have been a bit of a mistake as it made Preston incredibly nervous, but we genuinely enjoyed him belting out 'Dressed to Kill' and 'Heart of Gold'.
You'll be able to see the session (and pretend you were there too) on the site next week!
Phil x
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