The one to watch - Losing It
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
“Losing it can, of course, be funny. It’s a loss of control and it’s particularly funny when it happens to other people. But anger can also be embarrassing and shameful. People in positions of responsibility are not supposed to lose their rag. But there are times when we just can’t help it. The pressure builds up, the tension mounts and we search for a means of release.”
Griff Rhys Jones is a man on a short fuse who has by his own admission spent the whole of his career “losing it”. When he’s not the charmer we’re used to he paces up and down, kicks holes in walls, barks incessantly at his long-suffering PA, and spends the early hours composing irate emails to his producers. In this first episode of a two-part series, Rhys Jones takes a look at the universal, but little explored theme of anger, asking why it occurs, whether it can be used for good and what, if anything, can be done to prevent it. He also examines how anger affects us all in everyday life from road rage to family bust-ups. Far less of a detailed psychological inquiry than a “personal journey”, the programme nonetheless provides plenty of factual fodder while still being highly entertaining. Rhys Jones discovers that he explodes with anger far more often than is acceptable, and talks to friends and work colleagues in order to ascertain how his own anger affects those around him. When his former agent admits “Actually, no. It wasn’t at all nice being around your anger,” he is genuinely shocked. However, he admits he has a problem with rage.
“About a year ago, I made a film for the BBC about a sailing race and during the course of it I got into a filthy temper,” says Griff. “I started shouting at the blameless people who were racing with me. I flew into a rage about something which was completely beyond my control. It was actually nothing new for me. I do get… cross.”
Other contributors include journalist Rosie Millard, chef Heston Blumenthal, writer Muriel Gray and comedian Rory McGrath who talk about instances when they have flared up and what triggered this.
Losing it is on BBC2 at 9pm.
