This is David Frost.
There was a memorial service for him in Westminster Abbey today. Very high-powered. Members of the royal family, politicians and TV people were out in force. Since there are probably people already wondering who on earth he was even though he only died in 2013 - such is fame in the 21st century - let me briefly fill you in.
David Frost was the total 1960s anti-Establishment man, famous for fronting satire shows on TV. They were pretty ground-breaking shows too, tackling some important issues: corruption among politicians, bribery in the Met, fraud in business. These were issues not even hinted at in the press or TV news. So much for investigative journalism. He was new to TV and had never worked in the press and was afraid of nothing and no one. His shows were a breath of fresh air for viewers. He also hosted a very funny and quite biting radio show on Radio 2 in which, among other things, he fingered plagiarism in popular music, showing how producers regularly ripped off other people's music - without paying, of course - by letting listeners hear how alike two bits of music sounded. You could hear the lawyers panicking every time Frost opened his mouth.
Then - sorry, but I have no other way to put this - Frost sold out. He discovered what fun it was to be in the Establishment rather than just commenting on it. Not to mention rewarding. He had his own TV show for a long time and had to be forced to give it up when the ratings went through the floor. Instead of telling stories about people in the news, he reached the point where he thought he was the news. Right to the end, he lived on the fact that he had interviewed President Richard Nixon and got him to admit how corrupt he was.
He was most famous apparently for holding 'parties'. On today's news I heard people boasting that they'd been invited and were introduced by Frost to other guests: Have you met the Pinochets? Do you know Bill...Clinton? He was a fame junkie to the end. He ended up as Sir David Frost and died on a cruise ship at the age of 74 just as he was about to give a talk about his life on TV.
What legacy did he leave? In terms of TV satire, none. The closest we get to satire on TV these days is Have I got News For You or the Hyslop/Merton show as I like to call it. On radio, it's The News Quiz or the Now Show. But these are pretty feeble versions of what we got served up to us in the 60s. And I can't see Spitting Image making a comeback any time soon.
In the week of Frost's memorial service, Bob Crow died. Aged 52. Also of a heart attack. He was born poor. Worked his way up and never forgot who he came from or who paid his wages. He increased his union's membership massively just by being visible and making it clear what the union stood for: its members' interests. He was hated by the Establishment and was bitterly attacked by politicians and the press - notably the Daily Mail - because he grew up in and preferred to live in a council house in his community and took holidays to places like Brazil. So on the one hand, it's not okay to tell rich people how to spend their money - they can have as many houses, cars and holidays as they like, pay for their kids's education - but working class people...?
But you know what they say: if you can't be an example to the rest, you can at least serve as a terrible warning. I know which one Frost was and I know which one Bob Crow was - and I know which one we'll miss more.
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