Ruby (talk show)

British late-night talk show

Ruby

Series 4 Title Card

Genre| Talk show
Directed by| Ed Bye
Peter Orton
Southan Morris
Presented by| Ruby Wax
Theme music composer| Simon Brint
Country of origin| United Kingdom
Original language| English
No. of seasons| 4
No. of episodes| 48
Production
Executive producer| Clive Tulloh
Running time| 40 min
Original release
Network| BBC Two
Release| 12 May 1997 (1997-05-12) –
9 November 2000 (2000-11-09)

Ruby was a late-night talk show broadcast on BBC Two in the United Kingdom.

The series premiered on 12 May 1997,[1] and was hosted by writer and comedian Ruby Wax. In each episode Wax holds an unscripted roundtable discussion with up to five guests. Framed as a dinner party, guests included actors, writers, stand-up comedians, musicians, journalists and other well-known figures in the entertainment industry.

A total of 48 episodes were broadcast between May 1997 and November 2000.

## Production

[edit]

Wax with guests Salman Rushdie and Carrie Fisher

Each episode was recorded at BBC Television Centre. All episodes were pre-recorded, and often with no time limit. The conversation between Wax and her guests would sometimes last up to three hours, and would later be edited down to 40 minutes for broadcast. Multiple episodes could be recorded on the same day. The set was dressed as a restaurant and bar, and guests would eat, drink and smoke as if at a dinner-party. To add to the restaurant atmosphere, additional tables were populated by BBC staff including producers, secretaries, cafeteria and office workers.[2]

## Notable guests and episodes

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Actress and writer Carrie Fisher appeared regularly on the series. Fisher and Wax had become close friends since first meeting on Wax's earlier series, The Full Wax. Fisher appeared in a total 7 episodes of the series.[3]

According to his 2004 autobiography, talk show host Graham Norton first met Fisher when they both appeared as guests on the same episode, and also became good friends with her.[4]

Actor and comedian Scott Thompson appeared during the series' third season, and spoke at length about witnessing the 1975 Brampton Centennial Secondary School shooting.

Actor Alan Cumming also appeared during the series' third season, and spoke at length of his experience of being stalked by obsessive fans while he was performing in the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret.

## Reception

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In reviewing the first three episodes, columnist Jasper Rees wrote in The Independent:

> Ruby (BBC2, Mon to Wed) doesn't feel fully thought through: you get the impression it's an experimental stop-gap. But - hats off - it doesn't skimp on ambition. Uniting guests round a dining table with no particular axe to grind or product to promote, the challenge accepted by Ruby is to keep the conversational ball up in the air without the support system of topicality, and without the flabby or ill-disciplined as an equivalent show on radio could get away with.[5]

## Episodes

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### Series 1 (1997)

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The first series of 12 episodes was broadcast thrice-weekly, usually on Monday-Wednesday nights, in May and June 1997.

No.
overall| No. in
series| Guests| Original air date

|
|
|

1| 1| Leo Bassi, Raoul Heertje, Eddie Izzard, Terry Jones and Babben Larsson| 12 May 1997 (1997-05-12)
2| 2| Eve Arnold and John Simpson| 13 May 1997 (1997-05-13)
3| 3| Marianne Faithfull, Lucinda Lambton and Will Self| 14 May 1997 (1997-05-14)
4| 4| Carrie Fisher and Salman Rushdie| 19 May 1997 (1997-05-19)
5| 5| Carrie Fisher, Joanna Bowen, Helen Lederer, Kathy Lette and Bernadette Moran-Ferreira| 20 May 1997 (1997-05-20)
6| 6| Carrie Fisher, John Lahr and Hugh Laurie| 21 May 1997 (1997-05-21)
7| 7| Frances Barber and Meera Syal| 27 May 1997 (1997-05-27)
8| 8| Frances Barber and Meera Syal| 28 May 1997 (1997-05-28)
9| 9| Jeremy Hardy, Jonathan Miller and Muriel Spark| 29 May 1997 (1997-05-29)
10| 10| John Diamond, Carmen Callil and Helena Kennedy| 2 June 1997 (1997-06-02)
11| 11| Rupert Everett, Jill Robinson, Fiona Shaw and Martin Sherman| 3 June 1997 (1997-06-03)
12| 12| Alan Davies, Anna Massey and Glenys Kinnock| 4 June 1997 (1997-06-04)

### Series 2 (1998)

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A second series of 12 episodes was broadcast thrice-weekly on Monday-Wednesday nights in July 1998.

No.
overall| No. in
series| Guests| Original air date

|
|
|

13| 1| Jeanne Moreau, Joanna Lumley and Boy George| 6 July 1998 (1998-07-06)
14| 2| Frances Barber, Michelle Collins and Gerald Ratner| 7 July 1998 (1998-07-07)
15| 3| Rhona Cameron, Brigitte Nielsen and Joe Simpson| 8 July 1998 (1998-07-08)
16| 4| Edwina Currie, Helen Lederer and Tony Slattery| 13 July 1998 (1998-07-13)
17| 5| Dominick Dunne and Clive James| 14 July 1998 (1998-07-14)
18| 6| Carrie Fisher, Dominick Dunne and Clive James| 15 July 1998 (1998-07-15)
19| 7| Carrie Fisher, Julian Lennon and John Diamond| 20 July 1998 (1998-07-20)
20| 8| Ivana Trump, Dana International and Julian Clary| 21 July 1998 (1998-07-21)
21| 9| Richard Wilson, PD James and Elizabeth Wurtzel| 22 July 1998 (1998-07-22)
22| 10| Bruce Robinson, Joanna Bowen and Ian Ross| 27 July 1998 (1998-07-27)
23| 11| Neil Simon, Anna Massey and Josephine Hart| 28 July 1998 (1998-07-28)
24| 12| Bret Easton Ellis, Carrie Fisher and Elizabeth Wurtzel| 29 July 1998 (1998-07-29)

### Series 3 (1999)

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A third series of 12 episodes was broadcast thrice-weekly on Monday-Wednesday nights in September and October 1999.

No.
overall| No. in
series| Guests| Original air date

|
|
|

25| 1| Terry Gilliam and Eddie Izzard| 13 September 1999 (1999-09-13)
26| 2| Anthony-Noel Kelly, Carrie Fisher, Graham Norton and Griff Rhys Jones| 14 September 1999 (1999-09-14)
27| 3| Frances Barber and Graham Norton| 15 September 1999 (1999-09-15)
28| 4| John Lloyd, Joanna Lumley and Sarah Miles| 20 September 1999 (1999-09-20)
29| 5| Billy Crystal| 21 September 1999 (1999-09-21)
30| 6| Robert Bly, Marion Woodman, John Simpson and Tony Slattery| 22 September 1999 (1999-09-22)
31| 7| Glenda Jackson, Helena Kennedy, John Diamond and Patrick Kielty| 27 September 1999 (1999-09-27)
32| 8| Marianne Faithfull, John Brown, Nicky Haslam and Anita Pallenberg| 28 September 1999 (1999-09-28)
33| 9| Scott Thompson, Rhona Cameron and Robert McLiam Wilson| 29 September 1999 (1999-09-29)
34| 10| Malcolm McDowell and Edward Hibbert| 4 October 1999 (1999-10-04)
35| 11| Malcolm McDowell, Edward Hibbert, Lindsay Duncan, Scott Thompson and Karen Moline| 5 October 1999 (1999-10-05)
36| 12| Olympia Dukakis, Martin Sherman and Alan Cumming| 6 October 1999 (1999-10-06)

### Series 4 (2000)

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A fourth and final series of 12 episodes was broadcast on Monday-Thursday nights in October and November 2000.

No.
overall| No. in
series| Guests| Original air date

|
|
|

37| 1| Roseanne Barr| 23 October 2000 (2000-10-23)
38| 2| Jerry Hall, Graham Norton and Georgina Beyer| 24 October 2000 (2000-10-24)
39| 3| Siân Phillips, Amanda Donohoe and David Sedaris| 25 October 2000 (2000-10-25)
40| 4| Lucie Arnaz, Alexis Arquette and Suzanne Bertish| 26 October 2000 (2000-10-26)
41| 5| Jackie Collins, Rich Hall and Helen Lederer| 30 October 2000 (2000-10-30)
42| 6| Roseanne Barr, David Baddiel and Lynda La Plante| 31 October 2000 (2000-10-31)
43| 7| John Diamond, Matthew Manning, Beechy Colclough and Jonathan Harvey| 1 November 2000 (2000-11-01)
44| 8| Jay McInerney, Kate O'Toole, and David Sedaris| 2 November 2000 (2000-11-02)
45| 9| Ewan McGregor and Eddie Izzard| 6 November 2000 (2000-11-06)
46| 10| Michael Gambon, James Fleet and Kevin McNally| 7 November 2000 (2000-11-07)
47| 11| Anthea Turner, Will Carling, Clarissa Dickson Wright and Johnny Scott| 8 November 2000 (2000-11-08)
48| 12| Robert Winston, Phil Hammond and Muriel Gray| 9 November 2000 (2000-11-09)

## References

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1. ^ "Ruby (1997)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 12 October 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
2. ^ "60 Seconds Extra: Ruby Wax". Metro UK. 27 October 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
3. ^ "Carrie and Me". Huffington Post. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
4. ^ Norton, Graham (8 December 2011). Graham Norton: So Me. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9781444717778. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
5. ^ "Dinner for two (or more) chez Wax". The Independent. Retrieved 12 October 2019.

## External links

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* Ruby at IMDb

*[No.]: Number