One of these days, dismounting from his high horse, Brian Cox is going to suffer a terrible injury. The Scottish mummer, long resident in New York, cares so deeply about the state of our world that he pins up notices weekly, like a headmaster riled beyond endurance by rotters in the lower fifth.
Cox has every reason to be in a frightful bate. Critics have dismissed Glenrothan, his first film as director, as twee Jockery. Along with Alan Cumming, another Scot who prefers to view the Trossachs from the commanding heights of uptown Manhattan, he has honoured his home with an unintentionally hilarious movie that leaves no eye dry.
This champion grump holds political views so predictable that even the dogs in the streets of Dundee are word perfect
Facing Laura Kuenssberg last week on her politics show, Cox gave a much more convincing performance in a role he has mastered – ‘the man who answers all questions to his own satisfaction’. On this ground, fair-minded critics will agree, Cox cannot be surpassed.
No wonder he knows his lines so well. This latest performance as a Caledonian Mr Valiant for Truth was his eighth turn on Kuenssberg’s stage. Seven times he has gone on as a panellist. Once, when he was appearing in the West End in Long Day’s Journey into Night, he was a guest.
As the programme is five months short of its fourth birthday that is some going. Seven appearances as pundit. Yet this champion grump holds political views so predictable that even the dogs in the streets of Dundee are word perfect.
For an actor of notable gifts, he fails the first test of drama: show, don’t tell. He is so determined to have the first word, the last, and emphasise every syllable in between, that he has long since joined the ranks of world-class crashers.
His denunciations of those he despises fall a long way short of poetry. This week he took the strap to Donald Trump, stressing his unpopularity, yet failing to acknowledge that shooting the President was not a good idea. Indeed, he seemed more interested in the shooter’s lack of clothing than his actions.
In the past he has settled his sights on Nigel Farage. Fair enough. Farage divides opinion sharply, as do most people who offer themselves for our scrutiny. But this savant, who dislikes ‘populism’, seems never to have noticed a disagreeable thing about Alex ‘Groper’ Salmond or Saint Nicola, whose ‘Travels in the Campervan’ have entertained so many folk north of the border.
What makes this grizzled veteran so dazzling a catch for producers? A scattering of stardust helps. Cox has become a star, as opposed to a fine actor, since the screening of Succession. As the foul-mouthed father of a disputatious clan he has acquired a fan club among those who believe liberal use of the F word rings a bell for liberty.
And how the BBC loves to promote public figures who hold strong political views. The ‘fifth guest’ chair on Question Time is often filled by actors, comedians and even sports personalities who are given every encouragement to ski off-piste, whether or not they can manage a snowplough.
The Kuenssberg show, which fails to make the most of its presenter’s skills, has established a company of regulars who trot in and out of the studio. The leading man is Piers Morgan, who has appeared nine times. Usually he is good value, because he speaks clearly and has been known to change his mind.
Susanna Reid, the broadcaster, has seven notches on the producer’s board. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef and ‘campaigner’, has six, which puts him level with Shami Chakrabarti, the all-purpose bossy-boots, and Sharon White, civil servant and lady of business.
Zarah Sultana, who swaps parties as others try on hats, has been a guest six times. Pippa Crerar is a five-timer. As the Guardian’ s political editor she is house-trained, and, to be fair, she comes across well. Certainly better than another five-timer, Alison Phillips, former editor of the Mirror.
‘Campaigners’ and ‘activists’ rub along very nicely in this set-up. Actors, too, so long as they hold the approved views. Cumming and Steve Coogan have got the nod but, for some reason, there has been no sighting yet of Laurence Fox.
