<copy><![CDATA[ΓÇ£Good evening. My name is Keith Barret and I am a divorced man... and I can honestly say that IΓÇÖve never felt happier.ΓÇ¥ Of all the aggrieved dads out there, Keith Barret is the least likely to join Fathers 4 Justice and hurl purple powder bombs at the prime minister. ThatΓÇÖs because Keith is tolerance incarnate. Forever the optimist, Keith is determined to ΓÇ£make my divorce workΓÇ¥, as itΓÇÖs merely ΓÇ£the ultimate phase of a marriageΓÇ¥. Banned from seeing his wife and with limited access to his ΓÇ£little smashersΓÇ¥, Rhys and Alun, Keith makes an unlikely relationship counsellor. But that hasnΓÇÖt stopped the BBC from inviting him to host his own chat show exploring the subject. Each week he will draw on his own experiences ΓÇô and those of his celebrity guest couples, such as Richard and Judy, the ΓÇ£Kilimanjaro of relationshipsΓÇ¥ ΓÇô to try to answer the question: ΓÇ£What makes a good relationship in the 21st century?ΓÇ¥ Admittedly, asking Keith what makes a marriage work is a bit like asking Jordan to present a show on chastity, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson on economising and Ron Atkinson on race relations. Is this some BBC executiveΓÇÖs idea of a joke? Yes. Keith Barret is the comic creation of Rob Brydon, and was first encountered in the video diaries that comprised the award-winning show Marion and Geoff. KeithΓÇÖs monologues are painful comic episodes in which he details the dismal reality of divorced life with a detached chirpiness that belies his inward despair. Over the course of two series we saw KeithΓÇÖs fortunes improve as he was promoted from minicab driver to chauffeur. But Keith the cuckolded cabbie<br>at the BBC? ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs perfectly plausible,ΓÇ¥ Brydon insists. ΓÇ£The idea is that an impresario has seen KeithΓÇÖs video diaries and his motivational talks and, in the spirit of the moment, has given him his own chat show. ΓÇ£Just look at how many people from reality TV shows are now presenters: Kate Lawler from Big Brother presented RI:SE, Jeremy Spake from Airport presents holiday shows, Tommy Walsh used to be a builder and now co-hosts Ground Force. ItΓÇÖs chillingly plausible that these kind of people get presenting jobs.ΓÇ¥ The same has happened to Keith, who now finds himself in a different world. What effect has this had on his character? ΓÇ£Well, in a shallow, superficial way, getting his own chat show is the most exciting thing thatΓÇÖs ever happened to him. I imagine he would be impressed walking into the BBC and seeing someone famous and saying: ΓÇÿUnbelievable! David Attenborough, that is.<br>I said hello but I donΓÇÖt think he heard ΓÇÖcos heΓÇÖs very busy.ΓÇÖΓÇ¥ Although Keith hosts his own primetime chat show, Michael Parkinson need not worry. Sample Barret interview technique: ΓÇ£Ooh, isnΓÇÖt this lovely? Richard and Judy are petting on the sofa. In a way, I think IΓÇÖd spoil it by asking questions.ΓÇ¥ So will we get a no-more-Mr-Nice-Guy version of Keith? ΓÇ£Not really,ΓÇ¥ Brydon gently corrects. ΓÇ£KeithΓÇÖs still a nice guy, but heΓÇÖs in a heightened state in the studio and tends to get overexcited at being the centre of attention. HeΓÇÖs a bit like a child, in a way: if you give him too much attention he starts to misbehave. HeΓÇÖll come out with stuff thatΓÇÖs politically incorrect. My role model in all of this is Barry Humphries as Dame Edna.ΓÇ¥ Indeed, Dame EdnaΓÇÖs killing with kindness can be seen in KeithΓÇÖs catty side. When he thanks the participants of his speed-dating excursion for coming to the show, he says: ΓÇ£We asked you at the last minute. Luckily, you were all available.ΓÇ¥ Does Brydon worry that there is a danger people may lose sympathy for Keith now he is successful? ΓÇ£Not really, because underneath it all heΓÇÖs the same guy. He still doesnΓÇÖt see much of his boys, who mean the world to him. That part of his life still hasnΓÇÖt changed.ΓÇ¥ In that sense, is Keith using his chat show in the way that he uses his camera in Marion and Geoff? Does Keith need an audience to help him get through life? ΓÇ£Well,ΓÇ¥ Brydon says, ΓÇ£in the story of Marion and Geoff, Keith doesnΓÇÖt matter: nobody wants him, nobody needs him, nobodyΓÇÖs life would be altered if he died, and thatΓÇÖs quite an unpleasant thing<br>to live with. ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs quite reflective of the times, in that there are men ΓÇô and IΓÇÖve met a lot of them because theyΓÇÖve driven me around ΓÇô who will, if they know the show, tell me their stories, which are often sadder than KeithΓÇÖs. These men are used to being providers and, because of the way the laws are now, theyΓÇÖre no longer needed. Keith is one of them. He doesnΓÇÖt know what to do. However, now that he has his own show at least he feels wanted, so things are looking up.ΓÇ¥ Although Keith now has a career in television, there are still moments of pathos. ΓÇ£People ask me what I have to offer: my boys. ThatΓÇÖs all I have. Seriously, IΓÇÖm not a man of material wealth, with flashy cars or clothes. My wealth is in my boys.ΓÇ¥ So does Brydon envisage carrying Keith with him for the rest of his life, just as Peter Cook carried his alter ego, EL Wisty? ΓÇ£I imagine him staying with me, but I do get tired of him after a while. I remember, at the end of filming the second series of Marion and Geoff, IΓÇÖd had enough of staying in that frame of mind. HeΓÇÖs the kind of man whoΓÇÖs not in charge of his own destiny, heΓÇÖs floating around, and that was uncomfortable because you start to feel like that in yourself. ItΓÇÖs been fun because I love being him... but not for too long.ΓÇ¥ That said, Brydon will need to stay happy in the role at least until the end of the year, as he is taking The Keith Barret Show to the Edinburgh Festival before embarking on a nationwide tour, where Keith will be dispensing his, ahem, expert advice on relationships to the uninitiated. So if you, like Keith, have ΓÇ£known upset and spent dark nights staring deep into your soulΓÇ¥, tune in for a penetrating insight into the world of courtship rituals. Even if it teaches you nothing about life and love, then, at the very least, as KeithΓÇÖs catch phrase would have it, ΓÇ£itΓÇÖs just a bit of funΓÇ¥. The Keith Barret Show, BBC2, from Monday, July 5, 9pmClick <a href="asfunction:Tardis.webPageOpen,http://www.edfringe.com"><b>here</b></a> for details and to book tickets for the Edinburgh Fringe and <a href="asfunction:Tardis.webPageOpen,http://www.robbrydon.com"><b>here</b></a> for details of Rob BrydonΓÇÖs UK tour.<b>Rob Brydon is pictured right</b>Picture by SARAH LEE]]></copy>
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<quote><![CDATA[Keith Barret, the hapless dad from Marion and Geoff, has his own chat show. God help us all. By Dafydd Goff]]></quote>
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<quote><![CDATA[Asking Keith what makes a marriage work is like asking Jordan to present a show on chastity]]></quote>
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