Brian Cox

Summary

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Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster

Episode: Brian Cox (Actor)
Date: April 15, 2026
Hosts: Ed Gamble, James Acaster
Guest: Brian Cox (actor, Succession, Manhunter)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Off Menu brings the acclaimed Scottish actor Brian Cox into the “Dream Restaurant.” Known for iconic roles in Succession, Manhunter, and a decades-spanning career, Cox discusses his approach to food, directing for the first time, and offers a tartly comedic tour through memories of Scottish meals, Hollywood sets, and the perils of fluoride. Brimming with sharp banter, affectionate roasts, and signature Off Menu surrealism, the conversation explores food, film, and biting humor in equal measure.

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Key Topics & Discussion Breakdown

1. Introducing Brian Cox (Actor)

• [04:27–05:07]
  • First time with this Brian Cox; previous guest was the scientist.
  • Admiration for Cox’s career, especially Succession and his long filmography.
  • Jokes about cannibals and connecting Cox’s roles (Hannibal Lecter, William Stryker).

2. Directing Debut and the Nature of Performance

• [11:47–13:54]
  • Cox discusses his directorial debut with the new film Glen Rother.
  • Explains his reluctance and surprise at stepping into directing, emphasizing practical craft over high-concept filmmaking.
  • Memorable quote:

    “So much of what goes on in cinema, especially with...directors and their concepts, and I can’t fucking stand concepts, quite frankly. I want them to go and take that concept and shove it up their, you know what. But...when you’ve got the actors, you just let the actors do the job.” — Brian Cox [12:57]

3. Cox’s Scottish Food Origins

• [14:00–17:36]
  • Labels the Off Menu format a bit “bourgeois” and highlights the difference between Scottish and English meal traditions.
  • Reflects on rationing, his grocer father, and the pragmatic approach to food in Scotland.
  • Explains dinner/tea/supper distinctions in Scotland and shares vivid fish-and-chip shop memories featuring Italian-Scottish accents.
  • On Scottish food traditions:

    “The food really fundamentally was a quite healthy food in that sense...you deal with what you have. And that’s why porridge and oats has been the biggest thing.” — Brian Cox [14:25]

4. Water, Fluoride, and Corpses

• [17:40–19:26]
  • Rejects still/sparkling water debate as “bourgeois,” launches a passionate anti-fluoride mini-rant.
  • Ties in (dark) humor about corpses with good teeth.

5. Bread, Starters, and International Influences

• [19:43–22:30]
  • Chooses poppadoms over bread and champions chapati for dip transmission.
  • Enthuses about Greek Cypriot restaurant Lemonia (Primrose Hill), highlighting their “kleftika” (slow-cooked lamb shank) and unique Greek cheeses (saganaki over halloumi).
  • Dream starter: Gazpacho, praising its invigorating and healthy qualities, noting its year-round appeal.

6. Main Course Dilemma: Lamb or Sea Bream?

• [25:51–26:47]
  • Torn between Lamb Biryani (Indian) and Greek Sea Bream.
  • Appreciates the manageable, flavorful nature of sea bream over pricier fish, ultimately consents to include both in his dream meal.

7. The Art of Side Dishes: Peas, Please

• [33:25–34:20]
  • Champions peas as “very underrated”—the “Nick Cage of the vegetable world.”
  • Prefers them soft but well-cooked with salt, for optimal gravy absorption.

8. Memorable Moments & Quotes from Acting Career

• [27:21–30:13]
  • Candid anecdotes about Adaptation, Nick Cage, and Robert McKee.
  • Praises ensemble actors from Succession and Rushmore, shares industry stories (e.g., Michael Gambon, Bill Murray).
  • On Nick Cage in Adaptation:

    “Nick Cage is...such an undervalued actor...what Nick does in that movie is just...an incredible performance.” — Brian Cox [27:44]

9. Dream Drink: Margarita and (Sometimes) Lagavulin Whiskey

• [38:35–42:48]
  • Picks a classic Margarita, with strict insistence on salt around the rim:

    “If I go to a bar, they serve it without salt, I will refuse to drink it. No, no, the proper margarita has to be salt around the rim.” — Brian Cox [42:07]

  • Gives homage to Lagavulin as his favorite whiskey—espouses the pleasures of merely smelling it at his age, and details its peaty, warming quality.

10. On Succession Improvisation, Cast, and Show’s Success

• [43:03–47:11]
  • Dishes on improvisation in Succession; praises Kieran Culkin’s evolution.
  • Discusses cast bonds, Jesse Armstrong’s vision, and why he thought Logan Roy should've died one episode later for dramatic balance.
  • Favorite Succession line:

    “I love you, but you’re not serious people.” — Brian Cox [45:23]

11. Feline Friends & Life Lessons

• [47:47–49:48]
  • Shares moving stories about his cats, notably the late “P,” credited as “just pure love.”
  • Contrasts cats and dogs: “Cats...are so, so self possessed. They don’t need anything.”

12. Dream Dessert: Cranachan

• [51:59–54:04]
  • Picks the Scottish classic “Cranachan” (raspberries, cream, oats, honey, whiskey).
  • Amused by the English “borrowing” of the dish as Eton Mess:

    “All they did was stole cranin and called it an eaten mess...eating is a mess anyway.” — Brian Cox [52:49]

  • Enjoys it semi-frozen; discusses Scottish ingredients, especially heather honey (“the bees must screw the heather to get the honey!” [53:55]).

13. Dark Matter, Science, and Driving

• [54:32–57:45]
  • Engages in Off Menu’s recurring darkly comic “is dark matter evil?” bit.
  • Dismisses space and cosmic concerns:

    “I couldn’t give a shit about what’s in space, quite frankly...you go nuts.” — Brian Cox [55:37]

  • Rants about the “stupidity” of human behavior, especially drivers.

14. Cannibalism in Acting (and Not in Reality)

• [60:16–62:47]
  • Marked as Off Menu's “second cannibal guest.”
  • Asserts he’s “not a method actor” and would never eat human flesh—staunchly resists the hosts’ recurring (jokey) attempts to lure guests into discussing which body part they’d try.

15. The Brian Cox Menu (Recap)

[62:47–63:43]

• Water: Fluoride-free Scottish bottled
• “Popping ons” (poppadoms) and all the dips
• Starter: Gazpacho
• Main: Lamb Biryani (with Greek Sea Bream allowed on the side)
• Side: Peas
• Drink: Margarita
• Dessert: Cranachan

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Notable Quotes & Banter Highlights

• On Directing:

  “So much of what goes on in cinema ...is all about directors and their concepts, and I can't fucking stand concepts, quite frankly.” — Brian Cox [12:57]

• On Peas:

  “I think peas are very underrated.” — Brian Cox [33:25]

• On Margarita Rims:

  “If I go to a bar, they serve it without salt, I will refuse to drink it...the proper margarita has to be salt around the rim.” — Brian Cox [42:07]

• On Scottish Cuisine:

  “The food really fundamentally was a quite healthy food...and that's why porridge and oats has been the biggest thing.” — Brian Cox [14:25]

• On Succession:

  “The team was just divine...all of them were great. Even Jeremy…” — Brian Cox [44:23]
  “I love you, but you’re not serious people.” — Brian Cox [45:23]

• On Eton Mess:

  “All they did was stole cranin and called it an eaten mess.” — Brian Cox [52:49]

• Final Roast:

  “You are geniuses in your own field. I’m still trying to find out where that field is. But you are geniuses in your own field, I take it. So thank you for the lack of validity of this whole experience.” — Brian Cox [64:23]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Ep. Introduction / Succession talk — [04:27–05:56]
• Directing Glen Rother — [11:47–13:54]
• Scottish food & family memories — [14:00–17:36]
• Water, fluoride, corpses — [17:40–19:26]
• Bread vs. poppadoms & Lemonia/Prior Hill — [19:43–22:30]
• Main: Lamb vs. fish — [25:51–26:47]
• Peas as underrated — [33:25–34:20]
• Margarita & whiskey — [38:35–42:48]
• Succession improvisation/cast — [43:03–47:11]
• Cats as “pure love” — [47:47–49:48]
• Dessert: Cranachan, Eton Mess — [51:59–54:04]
• Dark matter/space — [54:32–57:45]
• Cannibal banter — [60:16–62:47]
• Recap & final roast — [62:47–64:23]

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Tone, Comedy, and Memorable Exchanges

• Cox blends warmth and sharp, sometimes withering humor (“lack of validity of this whole experience” [64:23]).
• Ed and James riff heartily, roast each other’s food opinions (“Get a bigger plate, you moron!” – Cox to Ed on Yorkshire pudding [24:30]).
• Physically animated moments; understated Scottish reminiscence mixed with coarse modern banter.
• References range from classic theatre anecdote, Hollywood sets, to affectionate send-ups of podcast format quirkiness.

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Useful Takeaways for New Listeners

• The episode is a rich mix: food nostalgia, sharp wit, cinematic legend, and uniquely Scottish perspectives.
• Brian Cox’s food choices are both rooted in personal history and cosmopolitan curiosity.
• Expect lively interjections, some culinary wisdom (and anti-fluoride rants), and playful, endearing digs at hosts and the premise itself.
• Cox’s candor and comedic timing elevate the episode beyond culinary chat—a must-listen for fans of theater, film, and fearless opinion.

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Transcript

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[Brian Cox (actor)]

I just need to.

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[Ed Gamble]

howdy folks. This episode of Off Menu is brought to you by Boar's Head the Fryer's Turkey Breast.

[James Acaster]

Imagine a backyard tradition, okay? A sun drenched afternoon, a massive vat of bubbling oil, and a man named Big Dave wearing goggles.

[Ed Gamble]

It's a lot of effort for a bird.

[James Acaster]

It's a lot of effort for a lunch, isn't it? Well, what if I told you that Boar's Head has brought that exact backyard tradition right to the Deli counter.

[Ed Gamble]

Well, I'd say, James, you finally lost it, and I think you lost it a while ago. But this is beyond the pale.

[James Acaster]

Boar's Head brings to the deli the taste of. Of deep fried turkey. It's all the seasoning and that golden fried glory of the Friar's Turkey Breast. But without Big Dave having to set up a perimeter in your garden.

[Ed Gamble]

Oh, man, that sounds genuinely incredible.

[James Acaster]

Only from Boar's Head, Ed. It's basically craftsmanship you can eat. Speaking of which, you lot listening need to get down to your local deli counter and experience the difference Boar's Head makes. The Friar's Turkey Breast in stores now. It's delicious, it's golden. It's the taste of deep fried B's head.

[Ed Gamble]

Committed to craft since 1905. Welcome to the off menu podcast. Taking the wine of conversation, pouring it into the blender of the Internet, hitting the blend button of friendship, and pouring it into a lovely big glass of podcast.

[James Acaster]

James, that's a gamble. My name is James A Castle. Together we own a dream restaurant and every single week we invite in a guest and asking their favorite ever start a main course dessert side dish and drink. Not in that order. And this week, our guest is our secret guest. Our secret guest is Brian Cox. A returning guest.

[Ed Gamble]

No, not a returning guest, but our first same named guest, James. Because of course, we've had the scientist Brian Cox, but he would never come back because we upset him by asking him questions about science. We now have the wonderful actor, Brian Cox. James, what an actor. What a career.

[James Acaster]

What a national treasure. Of course.

[Ed Gamble]

National treasure.

[James Acaster]

Absolutely love Brian Cox. I was a fan of Brian Cox for a long time and then he did Succession and, like, went to even higher heights.

[Ed Gamble]

The stratosphere.

[James Acaster]

So quite excited and intimidated. A little bit nervous about interviewing Cox.

[Ed Gamble]

What characters this man has played. Played James Logan, Roy, of course. But you've got to be looking at Hannibal Lecter.

[James Acaster]

Yes. Which is. Well, you pointed out this after William Striker, this is our first lecter, of course.

[Ed Gamble]

Our first striker and our first striker, our first lectern. Not our first cannibal, really. Sebastian Stan, did he play.

[James Acaster]

He did play a cannibal, yes. He. He ate. He was trying to eat Daisy. Edgar Jones, wasn't he?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No.

[James Acaster]

Rascal.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

But.

[Ed Gamble]

Well, we can maybe ask Brian about human flesh.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, we have to.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Got to ask the cannibals, then.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, yeah, we always have to ask the cannibals about human flesh. And we always ask people who pick iced tea if they've met Iced tea. Those are the two rules of the pod.

[James Acaster]

We're bound to those and we can't help it. Our hands are tied when that happens. William Striker, does he eat stuff?

[Ed Gamble]

Not sure. I don't think he sees Striker eat.

[James Acaster]

Not really.

[Ed Gamble]

Doesn't like mutants, though.

[James Acaster]

Doesn't like mutants, which is a shame. Or probably drill into that. We'll drill into that because that you should. Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

But as far as I'm aware, James, Brian Cox does not play a cannibal in his new film.

[James Acaster]

Glen Rothen, lovely segue.

[Ed Gamble]

Thank you.

[James Acaster]

He's directed it. It's a directorial debut, which I'm always excited about. When actors, like, direct a film for the first time.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes. You can get into the nitty gritty with him about the directorial process.

[James Acaster]

Yes.

[Ed Gamble]

And I'll just wait for the food stuff.

[James Acaster]

Okay.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Oh, that. That's your prerogative.

[Ed Gamble]

But interestingly, James. Yeah, he. He plays in this film part of a family business.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

Alan Cumming is in this film.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

But they run a whiskey distillery. This, the family business is a whiskey distillery, which is a drink.

[James Acaster]

Which is the drink. And this is the food podcast. So will he choose whiskey as his dream drink?

[Ed Gamble]

Human flesh and whiskey. Not sure. He does that in Manhunter.

[James Acaster]

He's gonna say human flesh and whiskey and then do that.

[Ed Gamble]

Pretty sure he doesn't. Glen Rother comes out in UK cinemas this Friday 17th. April. 17th of April, it comes out.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

We'll.

[James Acaster]

We'll ask more about that. Get to speak to Brian more about that.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes.

[James Acaster]

If, of course, he hasn't said the secret ingredient by then, and then we'll have to kick him out.

[Ed Gamble]

We will.

[James Acaster]

Restaurant.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes.

[James Acaster]

And this week, the secret ingredient is Bo Succession. Maybe specifically, if he wants to eat it on the floor.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes. Born the floor.

[James Acaster]

Bore on the floor. One of the most iconic scenes from succession, which is, let's face it, a series of iconic scenes.

[Ed Gamble]

It's iconic scene after iconic scene, and they all make sense in order.

[James Acaster]

Crucial. That's good writing.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah. That's what I struggle with sometimes when I'm writing. Yeah, sure. I write iconic scenes.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Podcast Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

But they don't make sense in order.

[James Acaster]

That's the thing with us standups, man.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

We write all these routines. Iconic scenes, I call them, which is iconic scenes.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

And then we have to, like, put them together in a show.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

But then you sit down and write a script. That approach doesn't work.

[Ed Gamble]

Doesn't work.

[James Acaster]

Just go from that. That idea to that idea willy nilly.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

You really appreciate those people who Write succession.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

They really know what they're doing.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes.

[James Acaster]

Well, I ask him a lot about films and then tell him what he's been in.

[Ed Gamble]

Give me a break.

[James Acaster]

I tell him he's been in so much stuff. Super Troopers, well done.

[Ed Gamble]

Thank you. It's a new one coming out.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Really? Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Pretty cool.

[Ed Gamble]

And this is on YouTube as well. You're probably watching this on YouTube. If you are watching on YouTube or you're listening to it, why not watch it on YouTube?

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah. Why don't you do both?

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

See which one you like the best.

[Ed Gamble]

If you are just listening to this, you do want to watch it because James got a new T shirt on that I like.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is fresh. Fresh on today.

[Ed Gamble]

Fresh tea, baby.

[James Acaster]

I saw Paul Mescal wearing something similar.

[Ed Gamble]

I don't think ever say that as a man. Never say you're wearing something because Paul Mascar was wearing it.

[James Acaster]

Really?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Why?

[Ed Gamble]

Because A, you sound like a little bitch and B, B, you could. No one looks like Paul Masco apart from Paul Mascar.

[James Acaster]

I look pretty similar to him because

[Ed Gamble]

of your lovely earrings.

[James Acaster]

Well, that's. That's in the post. I'm definitely gonna do that.

[Ed Gamble]

Well, you should dress more and more like Paul Mescal every episode.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

I'm sitting here.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

Until the inevitable Irish accent.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. But I'll never do, like the exercise or anything. Or get buff.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, no, no.

[James Acaster]

I'll dress exactly like him and do the voice.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

We gotta get him back on.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah. Tasting menu for Paul. If you're listening, Paul.

[Ed Gamble]

Tasting menu for you, Paul. And don't be shocked when you arrive. James is going to be dressed exactly like you.

[James Acaster]

But in which film? Gladiator. Gladiator 2.

[Ed Gamble]

This is the oven you menu.

[James Acaster]

Brian Cox, the actor and director.

[Ed Gamble]

Welcome, Brian, to the dream Restaurant.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, it's. Well, so far, it's nice to be here.

[James Acaster]

Welcome, Brian Cox to the dream restaurant. We've been expecting you for some time.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Can you say that again in English?

[James Acaster]

Please welcome Brian Cox to the team restaurant. We've been expecting you for some time.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Okay, bye.

[Ed Gamble]

James is a genie, so he's welcoming you to the dream Restaurant.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, do you rub them up the wrong way?

[Ed Gamble]

I rubbed him up the wrong way. Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

It's always good to rub the genie out the wrong way because then he can shut the up. You know what I mean?

[Ed Gamble]

Feel free to swear, by the way.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No. Oh, I can swear. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I never used to swear until I did this TV show and it's affected me Now I'm telling everybody to off.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

On a regular basis.

[Ed Gamble]

And people love it.

[James Acaster]

Right?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

People want me to turn the off. And it's the easiest thing to say. They say. They come up to me and say, can you tell me a fuck off? And they go, oh, no, wait, no, you've got your fuck off now.

[Ed Gamble]

Off.

[James Acaster]

Do they ever interrupt you while you're trying to enjoy a meal?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, no, I wouldn't let them near me. No, No. I have strict instructions through restauranteurs to not allow anybody in them. It's like the worst time is when you come out of the.

[James Acaster]

Like.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I went to the theater to see this. Oh, God. What's the play called? I can't remember the title of the play. It was brilliant with Rosalind Shanks at the. At the Wyndham's last night. It was really excellent play, really great play. But you come out and all these, you know, could you sign this? Could you sign the next one? You know, you don't. You could be signing a check for all. You need a lot of money to come at you. Just don't. And yesterday I finally had to turn around and said, will you just all fuck off? And they go. They're like rats. They scamper away.

[Ed Gamble]

But delighted as well. They got the fuck off.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. People shout poppadoms or bread at me and stuff like that because of this podcast. Do people shout off at you?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, no, because it wouldn't be. It would be more than the life's worth if they did that. Quite frankly.

[James Acaster]

Too scared.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yes, because I have a lot of equipment around me.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, of course. You've just directed a film for the first time.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I have.

[James Acaster]

Like, it's very exciting. I love it when actors, like, step into the director's chair.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, I never expected to do it. I mean, it was the last thing in the world I thought about. You know, I've. I've acted for 65 years. This is my 65th year. Wow. Of acting.

[Ed Gamble]

Congratulations.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Thank you. Thank you. I'm dreading it. But anyway, so. So, anyway, so I've never really bothered about any of that. And then finally they. My friend Neil Zeiga came up and he said, David Ashton, who I've been doing because I love the radio. The radio is my passion. You know, that's the great thing about coming back here, because they still do radio and they still have radio drama. You know, if you two ever have a. You know, have a problem, you should get yourself with the BBC drama rep, because I'm sure you could do very well. Yeah. Anyway, just giving you advice for the future.

[Ed Gamble]

Thank you.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah, keep it coming.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

But no, it's. It's. The radio is great. So he wrote this series called McLevey, which I've done for 20 years. David Ashton. And then he wrote the script and then you're directing it. And I said, what do you mean I'm directing? He said, no, you're directing it. You're gonna direct it. I said, well, that's the first time I've heard of it. He said, no, you're directing this film. So I said, well, okay, I'll direct the film. But. And it was. It was tough, but I loved it in the end because I realized that so much of what goes on in cinema, especially with. It's all about directors and their concepts, and I can't fucking stand concepts, quite frankly. I want them to go and take that concept and shove it up there, you know what. But most of the time. But, you know, with, you know, with somebody who just comes and does it, and especially when you've got the actors, you just let the actors do the job.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And when you've got people like Shirley Henderson or people like Alan Cumming, you don't have to stand there and tell them what to do because they know what to do. Yeah, let them do it. But I think too many times where, you know, we're all, you know, you're all James Cameron bound, and it's always to be, you know, plastic and. But plastic that moves, you know, pretty well. You know what I mean?

[James Acaster]

Now, we going to ask you a lot about food. You said you had listened to the podcast, but you have a few notes for us.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, I just think it's a wee bit bourgeois. I really do think, you know, you're talking to a sort of middle class converted or even people who haven't quite made middle class who think, oh, this is another program I can listen to about food aspiration. So I'm going to talk about what it was like in the 50s, about when you were. I'm not. I was a child of the 50s, so I remember rationing and I remember when you did my sweetie ration, and my dad was a grocer, ironically. So I remember that there wasn't everything. And that's actually the interesting tradition about Scotland is food is on hand. There are things that you, of course, prepare, but basically it's what you've got. You deal with what you have. And that's why porridge and oats has been the biggest thing. I mean, they used to keep Porridge, actually, in the old days, they would keep porridge in drawers so you could cut it and serve it, preheat it up.

[James Acaster]

I didn't know that.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I wouldn't think it'd be a very nice way to eat porridge, but they did that in the past.

[Ed Gamble]

So it was just ready to go, ready to go.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

So it was a ready meal. They baked it, kept it in a drawer and then you cut yourself, add your hot water and there it was. And then usually they recommended. Well, always it was honey because there was never any sugar. So honey was a very healthy aspect of it. And the food really fundamentally was a quite healthy food in that sense. In the same way that, for instance, my. Like the lunch that we would get. But that was the other thing. Lunch is a completely Anglo, It's a completely English concept, because we don't have lunch in Scotland. We have dinner or dinner or dinner, depending which side of Scotland you come from. When I come home, it's dinner. What are you going for your dinner? And the dinner meant that that was your lunchtime, but lunch was never. So there was dinner, there was tea time and there was supper. So you had dinner, tea time, supper. So dinner was a lunch. And that would probably be a soup of some kind, usually a ham broth soup. That was very popular within working class community, that you got a ham broth and you add vegetables to it and you cooked it up and it was delicious. Had all the natural ingredients from the bone, from the marrow of the bone. And that was your lunch or dinner. Sorry, see, I've got some angles. And then in the evening you'd have your tea time and your tea time would be anything, really. Sometimes it was usually bacon, you know, bacon and eggs for tea, not for breakfast, but for tea. And then suppertime was late at night and then you had your fish and chips.

[Ed Gamble]

Nice.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

So you had your fish and chips before retiring, which was always a bit odd, but it's true. And the great thing where I came from in Dundee is all the fish and chip shops were owned by Italians, they were all Italians and they had these Italian Scottish accents. So I was a wee boy, I would go in there and I'd be mucking and the guy would say, if you want the fish and the chips, eat the fish and the chips. If you don't want the fish and the chips, done a macaroon with a sack dish, which was the salt dish. I said, sor. That was the sort of. And it was this kind of accent that you could introduce the esposito families, the Suaves, the Del Nevos, the Pacones, all these Italian families cooking the best ever fish and chips ever. You know, they just had the right amount of batter, the right. And the haddocks were just incredible.

[James Acaster]

Well, we always start with still sparkling water. Do you have a fresh.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

See that show bourgeois you get. We always start with still sparkling water because this is such a vital. You mean water with bubbles? Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

Would you like still water or water with bubbles, Brian?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, well, the problem is nowadays, because what they do worse and everybody doesn't realize this now, fluoride is terrible. And there's so much. There's fluoride in all our water now. And we should stop it because fluoride causes the deterioration of the brain. It's one of the things that contributes to Alzheimer's is fluoride. So you shouldn't drink anything with. Drink bottled, but not fluoride in water.

[James Acaster]

Okay.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Because all the dentist people have gone saying that. Because my dentist always gave me fluoride toothpaste, which I. And of course I'm now mentally deficient as a result, which you can tell by sitting here.

[James Acaster]

Oh, yeah, you mean this is a podcast about. About the news.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

You keep talking about food.

[James Acaster]

We keep on asking you about current events. You keep on talking about dinner. Like it's very concerning. I didn't want to attempt the accident. Do you have a preference? So you want fluoride free water?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Fluoride free water is very important in a bottle. Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

Bottle water is Scottish water.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Scottish water. But of course, they put fluoride into the reservoirs, you know, and it's not good.

[James Acaster]

Right.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And it was a big thing about the teeth. And you know, your teeth are fantastic. Even a corpse has good teeth.

[Ed Gamble]

The old price.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

When you find a skeleton, it usually.

[Ed Gamble]

Teeth.

[James Acaster]

Oh, yeah. Skeletons. Say what you want about them.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Fluoride is not a problem. Get rid of the fluoride and you'll be fine.

[James Acaster]

We haven't had much fluoride chat on the pod. This is.

[Ed Gamble]

We very rarely have a corpse brought up at this point.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. Actually, it's the earliest someone's brought up a corpse, especially in a positive. Yeah, yeah. Pops or bread? Pops or bread.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Brian Copperdom.

[Ed Gamble]

Poppadom's nice.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Poppadom. I mean, that's the other thing too, that the great thing about growing up is you get experience of other people's food. Yeah. You know, and I love that. I mean, for instance, where I live now is in Primrose Hill and there's a wonderful Cypriot restaurant called Lemonia, which I Recommend to anybody. It's probably. It's a, it's Cyprian restaurant which is Greek, but it's a. It's a family restaurant that's been going for. For nearly 50 years. Well, the people who run it and the food, the kleftika is just. They have this lamb shank that they cook all day. It's a slow cooking lamb shank and it's absolutely delicious. And the other thing is, what's the famous cheese in Greek? Halloumi. Halloumi never touched me.

[Ed Gamble]

You never touch it?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No. The best cheese they have is called saganaki.

[James Acaster]

Oh, yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Have you tasted.

[Ed Gamble]

I've had saganaki.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Have you had saganaki?

[James Acaster]

I've not.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Tell us about saganaki.

[Ed Gamble]

It's less squeaky than halloumi. It doesn't have the squeak.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

It doesn't bakes very well.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And it's hot. Yeah. Eat it hot. It's absolutely delicious.

[Ed Gamble]

It's got more of a sort of stretch than halloumi. Yeah, it's delicious.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

It's really, really good. Really, really good. So that's very good. And then we have a very good fusion restaurant where they do a lot of stuff. So you know your food. That's why I couldn't say, oh, my ideal meal is this. I mean, my ideal meal is the one I eat when I'm hungry.

[Ed Gamble]

We are going to force you to give your ideal meal though, Brian. That is. That is the format.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. We're naughty boys.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah. Well, we understand. It's an annoying question because if someone asked me, what's your dream meal? I'd be like, well, it depends on the day.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, I like loads of that. Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

No, no, no, you can't. We've. Actors have tried this with us in the past and we know now we're going to have to nail you to the wall.

[James Acaster]

Of course you want all the dips for the poppadom.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, yeah. I love pompadour. I mean, I love them. I love chapati and I love poppadoms because the thinner the bread, the more purchase you get, whereas the bigger, the thicker the bread, it sort of absorbs it too much and you never get that, you know, extra thing that you get with for me with a chapati or a pompadour, you know,

[James Acaster]

a dream starter for you, Brian Cox.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Some kind of soup. Probably the. I mean, this would, you know, different seasons. But the ideal soup for me is gazpacho. Oh, nice.

[James Acaster]

We're going cold. Yeah, Lovely cold soup.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Lovely cold soup is a great Way to start the meal, you know, and it's healthy and it's invigorating and it sets you up. I think gazpacho is a great, great meal.

[Ed Gamble]

But of course, more. You would think more in the sort of summer. Summer season.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, yes, it's more or less a summer thing, but I take it all the year round. I mean, you can get it all year round nowadays. And some of these gazpachos that they sell as gazpachos are really quite good. They're really quite good.

[Ed Gamble]

When you think about your dream restaurant and the dream meal, do you have a particular place in mind or a particular season?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, it depends really on the restaurant, you know. I mean, there's a wonderful restaurant now in Princeton, Primrose Hill, called Michael Nadra. And that restaurant is just brilliant because the Sunday roast there is to die for. To die for. Their Yorkshire pudding. Michael's Yorkshire pudding is beyond a dream. And if you ever want to have a really great, good Sunday meal. Can you travel?

[James Acaster]

Oh, yeah, we're allowed. I can travel. I'm allowed to Primrose Hill. My mommy says

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I have to take

[Ed Gamble]

the lamp with me, of course, because he's a genie. So I would have to go on, go to Primrose and rub them up the wrong way.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

The wrong way? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[James Acaster]

Well, we'll see.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

But that. That does. Michael Nadra is just that. I mean, I walked past that restaurant for 13 years and I didn't go into it, and now I'm hooked. I go there every Sunday. It's just incredible.

[James Acaster]

This guy doesn't like Yorkshire puddings. He's. He always slags Yorkshire puddings. I don't like Yorkshire puddings.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, there's nothing to be said.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I mean, I can't. I'm speechless.

[Ed Gamble]

What makes these Yorkshire puddings special? Do you think?

[James Acaster]

I.

[Ed Gamble]

Do you think even I, as a Yorkshire pudding denier, would like.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

It's only. It's a Yorkshire pudding, but it's with the gravy. That's the thing that makes Yorkshire spuding. It's not just Yorkshire pudding on its own because it's too dry, but if you eat it, if you cut it and. And have it with the gravy, it's delicious. Yeah, it's delicious, Ed.

[Ed Gamble]

My issue with them is they take up too much real estate on the plate.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, it's laughable, isn't it?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

He's doing a cooking program. Too much real estate on the plate.

[Ed Gamble]

It's too much real estate on the plate.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Right. Pursuit for I question that. I question your career choices.

[James Acaster]

Look, Good point, Brian.

[Ed Gamble]

Look, they said they're huge and they don't. They. They taste like.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Get a bigger plate.

[James Acaster]

Yes. No one said this to him before. Get a bigger plate, you moron.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Plate. And then say. If you worry about the size of your Yorkshire pudding, just say, hey, chef, give me a bigger plate. Because I love your Y pudding. I don't want it to shrink. So I'll. I'll. I'll have in a bigger plate.

[Ed Gamble]

Okay, thanks, Br. And I'll ask for a bigger plate next time.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Good. That'll show me a problem.

[James Acaster]

Brian, before we continue, I gotta tell you, you're in three of my favorite films of all time. Can you guess, just by your experience of me so far, what those films are?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I have no idea.

[James Acaster]

You wouldn't even be able to.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, I've done so many of them.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, I've done so many.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

65 years I've done. Well, I've done over 200 movies. So.

[James Acaster]

You have.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Well, I'll maybe ask you questions about them as we go on.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Okay.

[James Acaster]

Okay.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Then you don't have to reveal it. And I'll guess from your question.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. Okay. So guess what film this is from this question.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Who do you think is the Zodiac killer?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Oh, and the Zodiac.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, who do you think the Zodiac killer it was?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I have no idea.

[James Acaster]

Oh, come on, Brian. You were in the film.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, I played the guy who defended Jack Ruby, by the way.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And he failed there.

[James Acaster]

Your dream main course, Brian?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

My dream main course? Ah, well, I have two dream main courses. Really. It depends on what I'm feeling like on a particular day. But I love lamb, so anything, you know, lamb, biryani or an Indian lamb I just absolutely adore. And then I love the Greek thing is to go back to the fish. The sea bream. I love the Greek sea bream, which is absolutely delicious. And you gotta bone it because it's quite bony, but it really is a very, very, very tasty fish. I think it's more tastier than the Dov ersol, which is incredibly expensive. Yeah, the sea bream is manageable.

[Ed Gamble]

That would be grilled, like sort of barbecue. Do you have that on all?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

Absolutely delicious.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, really good.

[James Acaster]

So you probably aren't gonna enjoy us trying to make you choose between those two things.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, no.

[Ed Gamble]

Should we do a few takes of each and then we can pick one later?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Up to you. I'll never listen to this.

[James Acaster]

You will listen to. I think you're Gonna listen to this? Yeah, I think, I think you'll listen back to this a few times. It become like you'll get my lawyer

[Brian Cox (actor)]

to listen to it. That's what I have to do now all the time.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Brian, you know, you went too far, okay. You got to learn to behave yourself.

[Ed Gamble]

I don't think you need to learn to behave yourself, Brian. Fantastic. We're loving it.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Good.

[James Acaster]

You delivered my favorite monologue. Maybe in movie history adaptation. Yeah, yeah. When you play Robert McKee. Where I play Robert McKee, you're given a. For the listener. You're giving a seminar in writing.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah. And about life, you know, but he knows nothing about, you know, all about life.

[James Acaster]

It's so good.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I mean, when I blame Nick Cage.

[James Acaster]

Yes.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

By the way, Nick Cage is. Is such an undervalued actor.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And amazing. Because in that film, the way he acts with his twin is incredible.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I mean, to see what Nick does in that movie is just. It's an incredible performance.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And it's not given the due respect that it deserves, actually, because he's so eccentric.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Nick Cage. But he's, he's, he's, he's one hell of an actor.

[Ed Gamble]

Oh, I love him.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, he's amazing. Everyone's performance isn't. I think Chris Cooper, one of the.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Oh, Chris is wonderful. Yeah. He's a wonderful actor.

[James Acaster]

And I didn't know who Robert McKee was when I watched. I didn't know he was a real guy who gave these writings.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

It was very funny because I remember when we were doing it and Robert was very nervous because he. They included him. They thought they were going to hum. He was worried that they were going to humiliate him, but. But not at all. They had huge respect. And I said to him, when we were. We did the scene, when there's a scene in the bar between Nick and I afterwards, we were talking quite quietly and I said. And the guy came, the first assistant came up to the director, which was. What's his name, lovely guy who directed it.

[James Acaster]

Oh, Spike Jones.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Spike Jones, Yeah. Spike came up to Spike and he said, well, finally you've got your Obi Wan Kenobi character. And I said, you know, and I told, I told McGee, Robert, I told him that. And he went, oh, thank God, thank God. Because he thought it was going to be rubbish, you know.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

So he thought, oh, I'm Obi Wan Kenobi. That's good.

[James Acaster]

Do you remember much of that monologue?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, yeah. If you ask me, of course I'll Kill you. I'll reach out my long arm and strangle you. Don't do any. Do you remember much that mono?

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, you could. Do you remember it?

[James Acaster]

And why the are you wasting my time with it? I remember that line.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

That's not quite the rhyme, but I understand. I can tell by the way you said it.

[James Acaster]

A child watches his mother beaten to death on the steps of a church.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yes, that's right.

[Ed Gamble]

You did it in your own style, I'd say. You made it sound like you're standing.

[James Acaster]

I would do it in my own style if I was playing that role. I'm not gonna nail it. Like, yeah, yeah, I'm gonna do it how I would do it.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, yeah.

[James Acaster]

And the film probably wouldn'. Do very well.

[Ed Gamble]

Different film.

[James Acaster]

Very different. Robert McKe wouldn't be as. I don't think anyone would be calling that character Obi Wan Kenobi if I.

[Ed Gamble]

More C3PO.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, more C3PO.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, I would have thought so. Or. Yeah. Okay.

[James Acaster]

No, go on.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, no,

[James Acaster]

feel free.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Brian, not.

[James Acaster]

We could go half and half lamb and seab bream if you want.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, I mean, that's fine. Yeah.

[James Acaster]

I thought you'd be okay with that.

[Ed Gamble]

So it's a biryani. You want the lamb?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Lamb Biryani, yeah, sort of lamb. Yeah. With one of those exotic Indian sauces.

[Ed Gamble]

Do you have a particular go to Indian restaurant that you like?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Unfortunately, no, because we. We used to have an Indian restaurant up in Permutation. I tried to travel nowhere else but in my local area.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

So we don't have an Indian restaurant, which is a great shame. Actually, there used to be one, but there isn't one anymore, so I have to go to Kensington or somewhere like that. Get a bus pass.

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[James Acaster]

Your dream side dish.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, I love peas. Yeah, I absolutely love peas. I think peas are very underrated.

[Ed Gamble]

Like Nick Cage. The Nick Cage of the vegetable one?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yes. That's very well put. You know, you're working with somebody very intelligent. You should really be very thankful.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

I say this to him, Brian. You should be very thankful. He should thank me every day.

[James Acaster]

I do thank you every day.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, that's right. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. What did you just say?

[James Acaster]

He said that peas with the Nick Cage are the best.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Peas are great. I love peas.

[Ed Gamble]

How do you want these peas prepared then, for your dream meal?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Just simple, soft, not too hard and well cooked in salt and. Yeah. And then because the gravy, you know, when you have a peas, the. The peas attract the gravy and that works very well.

[James Acaster]

One of my other favorite films that you've done is with another director. I'm interested to hear what you think. He's very. He's very particular and precise. Is Ewan Rushmore. Oh, with Wes Anderson.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Who you've worked with twice. Yeah. You did fantastic Mr. Fox as well. Yeah. Which must have been very different. Although he had you. When you're doing fantastic Mr. Fox, he had you acting it out still.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, unfortunately, Michael Gambon was still alive then, so that sounds rather Wrong.

[James Acaster]

No, no, we're all. We've all got a lot more work now. Michael Gambon's no longer with us.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Why did I say it that way, Michael? He was very funny. He was just one of the. But I remember I played Iago to his hotel and he was just so naughty. Because in the. In the mad scenes, he used to go, I love you, I love you, I love you. Because nobody would understand he was saying, I love you. Yeah. I go, I love you. And I'm going, michael, don't do that to me when I'm on stage throwing. You know. And he'd stop acting. He'd build up to something and I'm going, oh, yes. And then he'd stop. And I said, where have you gone? Notorious. But brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

[James Acaster]

So you were both in fantastic. Mr. Fox Doing the voice.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yes, I did. Well, I actually originally was playing that part that he played.

[James Acaster]

Oh, I see.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And then I was replaced, so there was a lot of bitterness about that.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, well, he didn't replace you in

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Rushmore, which didn't place me in Rushmore. Well, Rushmore was the first film, so I couldn't have been replaced because the only one he made before that was Bottle Rocket.

[James Acaster]

Yes.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

He got to do a bit more of, like, his own thing with Rushmore. Was there a sense of, like.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, Rush was. I think Rushmore is good. I think he's become very fantastical. You know, I mean, he's.

[Ed Gamble]

He's.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

He followed the fantastical Mr. Fox. Yeah. Become more Mr. Fantastical than Mr. Fox. So I. I still like Wes, but it's. It's an acquired test, shall we say?

[James Acaster]

Yeah. He's got more and more precise and being able to do whatever.

[Ed Gamble]

You can tell. You can tell.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

It's just in terms of his visual sense.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And he always has great actors. He's lucky that way. You know, he worked with Bill Murray, did a lot of his films. Many, many of his films. And then Ray Rafe has done. Ray Fines has done the. The Hotel. The Hotel, which is really excellent. Really excellent.

[James Acaster]

Is it true that Bill Murray financed a lot of Rushmore as well? Is that. Because, like.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I don't know about that, so I wouldn't swear to it. I know it could be possible. It could be possible, but he probably needed the work, so he probably needed some kind of, you know, something that could show his craft. So he probably may have decided to

[Ed Gamble]

finance it, chuck a bit of money at it. Why not?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

I might start doing that.

[James Acaster]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

But buy myself parts in films, that's pretty good.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yes, but it's just, you know, because they always go, that's the guy.

[Ed Gamble]

Too late. I'm in a film.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah. They can't do anything about it. I've been in a film with Bill Murray, of course.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Have you?

[Ed Gamble]

Of course Brian doesn't know this. Ghostbusters, Frozen Empire. Brian.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

What?

[Ed Gamble]

Ghostbusters, Frozen Empire.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, no.

[Ed Gamble]

Well, James is in that.

[James Acaster]

I'm Lars Pinfield. You probably know the character.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, I have no idea who you're talking about. What is it?

[Ed Gamble]

He said, you know Ghostbusters. Yeah. They still make them. And there's ghost.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

But it was the female Ghostbusters. Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

After that, so then they made a couple more, and there's one called. The most recent one is called Ghostbusters Frozen Empire. And James plays Lars Pinfield.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

All right.

[James Acaster]

Scientist.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Is that made here?

[James Acaster]

Yeah, reading. Yeah, we made it in Redding. Yeah, yeah, mainly.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

There seems to be an act of desperation about that.

[Ed Gamble]

Do you mean making it in Reading or casting James?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, no, no, no. Not casting James. No, no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that, James. I meant making it in red.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Why? Because Ghostbusters was originally set in New York. New York.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, Redding's very similar to New York, though. You've been there?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, I've always tried to avoid it.

[James Acaster]

Oh, well, you should go. It's like it's the New York of the uk.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

You must have missed out

[James Acaster]

your dream drink. Now, we're excited about this because obviously,

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Margarita,

[Ed Gamble]

we were going to make a wonderful connection between drinks and the new film. Obviously, there's a. Isn't.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, I mean, there is the family business. Drink a lot of whiskey. Yeah, but eventually you can't really drink a lot of whiskey. You get to my age.

[Ed Gamble]

Right.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Okay. You have to sort of temper it a bit. I mean, my favorite whiskey is still my favorite whiskey. And I occasionally will. I'll have a smell of it. More than even a drink of it, because actually, even smelling whiskey is. Is as good as drinking it, and people don't realize that. So it's called Lagavulin.

[James Acaster]

Oh, yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And it's the Peaty whiskey. Yeah, it's an island whiskey. It comes from the same river as Eileen. What? Oh, what's the. Or what's the other whiskey called? Come from Eileen. His name's gone. Anyway, it's the same.

[James Acaster]

You should know that My dad loves this whiskey.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

It's the same river. It's the same river. But it's different. One. But one is. It's. This is the peaty. It's the part of the river which has really, you know, got that peat taste feeling, you know, and it does that when you drink it. It goes down, and then it makes this little. In the center of your body, it just goes. And it's. Wow.

[Ed Gamble]

It's amazing how you can acquire that sort of taste because my. My dad drinks that sort of whiskey. And I remember maybe when I was 16 or 17, he was like, have a taste of this. And I literally could not believe a human being was putting that in their mouth. He cried just. It was. Matt, I didn't cry.

[James Acaster]

You told me you cried.

[Ed Gamble]

I think I've never told you this story before. We've done 300 episodes. All right, all right, Bo. Sorry, Brian.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I don't want to throw a bucket of water.

[Ed Gamble]

We don't like doing this in front of guests, normally. Sorry. The PT and just the. The way it feels in your mouth and it absolutely takes your head off. But now I would absolutely drink.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, but the thing is, don't let. You. Don't let it sit in your mouth. You have to swallow it. So the thing is to do. To breathe in. Yeah. Take it. And. And that's where. When it hits there, when it gets into the gut and it does that. Pow. And it spreads through your butt. Oh, yeah. Amazing.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

In fact, you made me want to drink.

[James Acaster]

It's one of my dad's favorite whiskeys that when I go home to see my parents, if he's got a bottle of that, will stay up and have.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, it's. It's a great whiskey. A really great whiskey. But I do drink margarita.

[James Acaster]

But margarita is good.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, tequila is really quite healthy because it's from the agave plant. So it's all. It's a very healthy drink. You know, actually, believe it or not. I mean, apart from any of the syrup stuff that they add to it. But the tequila, actually, tequila itself is really good.

[Ed Gamble]

And it's an upper. Is the only upper.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, it is an upper. You know, it's not. It's not that depressive.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No. You don't get very many tequila drunks falling out of pubs. You do get whiskey drunks falling up, but not tequila drunks.

[Ed Gamble]

Do you have anywhere that makes an amazing margarita that you go to?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I haven't. Well, the guy who did it was a guy when I was doing Rat in the skull in the 80s and we went to New York, and there's a guy called Neville who's from Jersey, and he used to make them in the bar, which was. I can't remember the name of the bar, but they were the best I've ever had, and I haven't had any since because he was very special. He did it. Very special.

[James Acaster]

Did you do the salt around the rim?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, the whole thing.

[James Acaster]

When you're. When you're drinking it with the salt around the rim, are you rotating the glass with every sip or are you just.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

From the same bit every time?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, no, no. You should rotate the glass. That's. That's the idea, you know, and then salt. The salt sort of alleviates the sweetness. Yeah. Which is. And I. It's really. I love it. It's good, this.

[Ed Gamble]

I think the salt around the room is so important. I was speaking to someone recently who's like, I don't like the salt around the room. So they have a sugar rim, which is madness to me.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, it's insane. I mean, he's not treating the drink properly. Yeah. You know, I mean, the. They, you know, these drinks, like margarita, they've come to their own identity through years of. Of refining and refining and refining, you know, and they know that. That salt makes that. Because it's quite a sweet drink, but it stops it being overly sweet. And that's why the salt render him is very important. And a lot of people, you know, if I go to a bar, they serve it without salt, I will refuse to drink it. I said, no, no. The proper margarita has to be salt around the rim.

[Ed Gamble]

I completely agree.

[James Acaster]

When you're. This is what I'm thinking. While we're talking to you, you. When you're improvising on succession, do you think the other actors find it quite intimidating? Because you're playing Logan Roy, so you're even more kind of like.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, I didn't improvise all that much.

[James Acaster]

You didn't that much?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, I. I felt. I didn't feel the need to improvise. You know, I mean, the genius improvising, who was terrified of it when we started was Kieran Culkin.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And Kieran became a genius, but he was panicked when he was first asked to improvise. I remember he said, what do I do? I said, well, you make it up. And he said, really? I said, yeah, it's fine. You just make it up. Whatever you feel is you're happening to your character at the time, and you just go with it. And then we couldn't stop him. He was like a tap that we turned on and we Couldn't turn it off. He was brilliant. He's brilliant. And he's got so much success now. And he deserves it because he's a really good. I mean, and that boy was. You know, he comes from a very troubled family. You know, they've had a lot of tough time, that family. And, you know, his sister was killed in a car accident, you know, and they were very close, very close knit family. And he had. Before he came to do succession, he had a really tough time, and now he's flying, which. And he deserves to, because he's a wonderful. And he's a wonderful guy, too.

[James Acaster]

Is there members of the cast who you still keep in contact with quite a lot?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, unfortunately, no. Because of work, you know, you move on to somewhere else and you're not doing with your team. And that was a great team. I mean, working with that team for all the years that I worked with them, you know, five, six years now. Over five or six years. Four seasons, but it was over six years. And it was. They were just divine. I mean, all of them were great. Even Jeremy. Strike.

[James Acaster]

Wrong.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Jeremy's a wonderful actor.

[James Acaster]

He's fantastic.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

He's a wonderful actor. And to play with. He's great. Yeah. He has a lot of other stuff, the playing with. There was never a time when I didn't enjoy doing a scene with Jeremy, and there was always an adventure in the scene, you know.

[James Acaster]

Well, so many. I was thinking the other day about, like, just like the very few TV series that even have more than one good season, let alone like four in a row. Wrap it all up. Everything's brilliant about it. All the characters are memorable, the writing. Like, it's so hard to get so many people all working at that higher, higher level.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Jesse Armstrong, that really is Jesse Armstrong. I mean, he has that. He has a unifying quality about him and. And people. And we want to work for Jessam. We want to do our best for him. He's a wonderful producer. Wonderful. And it was a great show, and it was always an adventure. You know, some of the. Still, my favorite line is, I love you, but you're not serious people. It's still my very. And it says about that. Says the whole thing, really. You know, but that was my only. My only caveat about me as I felt he put too much pressure on the young people because we'd had so much about what their debate was throughout. Probably throughout the. Certainly the first. The last series of the. Of the third series, there was a lot of that. And then into the fourth series, but I felt that they should have killed me off one episode later because it was a burden for them to repeat go through what they had to go through again. So sometimes, and I think Jesse agrees with me, I think it was, it became a bit repetitive in a way. Really. Yeah. But it's still brilliant. I mean still, you know, it still stands brilliantly of any show I've ever done. I still think it's one of the best things I've ever done. You know, just as a, as a, an ensemble piece. Just fantastic. But I, I think Jesse had, you know, he's just an extraordinary man to work with. You know, he's just, there's a sort of, you know. And the fact that he went only to four series I thought was incredibly brave. I mean everybody thought, oh, we can get another series out of this. I knew, you know, because I kept saying it was called Succession and you got to see a time when they, they do the succession bit and, and, but that was my only feeling just, just one episode later. It could have been, it could have been set off. I mean, still the same idea, but just.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, I mean I, I. That episode where your character does die is one of those few episodes of tv I can remember like where I was sitting in my living room when I was watching it because it was such a shock. Yeah. I was like, I can't believe they're doing this now.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And in that sense it worked brilliantly. I still think we could have had the shock, but I think we could have done it one later, you know, and that would, and it would have alleviated the stuff that the kids had to do afterwards.

[Ed Gamble]

How many different places do you sit in your living room? I could tell you where I'm sat in my living room when I watch anything.

[James Acaster]

I would sit wherever. The sofa free on the sofa. Because I got cats, man.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

Oh yeah. He's got a lot of cats.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I've got cats.

[Ed Gamble]

How many cats have you got?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, sadly P, who is our eldest cat, who is. I'm not an animal person at all, but P was just this extraordinary. I thought he was a bit needy for me, you know, but he, he's just passed. Well, he's just passed away.

[Ed Gamble]

Sorry.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And he was 19.

[James Acaster]

Wow.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah. And he was just, he was just pure love. The ca. Is pure love. And I, I just. Cuz it was a, it was always, you know, there on your lap and what have you. And at first I thought, cuz I'm not very good with all of that anyway. But then in the end, in the Last days of his life. He. We used to sit on the sofa together and we'd talk. Yeah, we would literally, I would, I would talk to him and he go home. I mean, I probably, I would have been certified, but it would have discovered me.

[Ed Gamble]

I talk to my cat all of the time. I think I know what he's saying. I'm like, yeah, I'm agreeing with it.

[James Acaster]

You know, Brian's had too much fluoride. That's what everyone's worried about.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. But the wonderful thing about cats is they're so, so self possessed. You know, they don't need anything. You know, they, they do that, you know, you're not. That's a problem with dogs. You've got to wipe up their, you know's life.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, he's wiping up all the time, that guy.

[Ed Gamble]

He's a.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I feel for you, but you know, it's just you, you cats don't do that.

[Ed Gamble]

You can't do their own thing. So when they're affectionate, it feels like a privilege.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Of course I, I took it for granted that, you know, with, with PC, I took it for granted. We've got another cat who's equally 19. She's still going Princess. Wow. And. And then we've got this little bruiser called Bowie who's a, you know, one of those gray cats. I think they're a special breed.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I met a similar one in California which was exactly the same looking cat with the same behavior. Very stroppy. Yeah, very stroppy.

[James Acaster]

A British short hair, maybe.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah. Is that what they.

[James Acaster]

The gray, blue ones?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, yeah, that's something.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. Beautiful cats.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Beautiful cats. But they can be a bit, you know, for instance, she was a female and she didn't get on with Princess. There was a lot of browing between Princess and her. You know, the females, when they get together, they don't. The males, they don't bother. But the females, they get a lot of that goes on.

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[James Acaster]

We arrive at your dream dessert, Brian. My favorite course, Crannogen. Okay, here we go. Now you know fully well we don't know what you're so happy with yourself that we don't know what that is. You know what that is? Yeah. Oh, sorry, I'm the ignorant one.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

One cranin is.

[James Acaster]

Do you want to say what it is?

[Ed Gamble]

Raspberries.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yes.

[Ed Gamble]

Cream?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yes.

[Ed Gamble]

Oats in there as well?

[James Acaster]

Yes.

[Ed Gamble]

Bit of whiskey maybe.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And honey.

[Ed Gamble]

And honey. Get in the bin, mate.

[James Acaster]

I know what it is

[Brian Cox (actor)]

also now and it's self. You can now serve it semi frozen so it's really.

[Ed Gamble]

Oh nice.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And that's really delicious. And that's. That's a fantastic sweet. And again it's a Scottish. I mean of course the boys who went to Eaton called a thing called Eaton mess and all they did was stole cranicin and called it an eaten mess.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Cuz eating is a mess anyway so it's understandable.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. I hope it burns to the ground. I hope eaten burns to the ground and then they can call that a mess.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

You've gone a bit too far on.

[James Acaster]

Sorry.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Steady on, James.

[James Acaster]

Well, that's. That dessert is. Is this the first time we've had it on the pod?

[Ed Gamble]

I think it's the first time we've had cranicin on the delicious.

[James Acaster]

Do you have good memories of it? Do you remember like when you first had it?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, I. I had a. I think had a. I can't remember where I first had it, but I think it was in Edinburgh. I first had it at somebody's house. And I just thought, wow, what is this? And I didn't know anything about it, you know, about Cranigan. It's really good.

[Ed Gamble]

It is a combination of some of the best, like Scottish products.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And that's the other thing. It is Scottish products, and it's products of the ground, you know, raspberries and it's oats and it's whiskey. And also they insist. And I don't even know what that is, but they say that the best honey is heather honey. Do you know what heather honey is?

[Ed Gamble]

I know it exists. And I could probably taste. I taste it and say, that's heather honey. But I don't know how they put. How the heather's getting in there or what stage they put the heather in.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, the bees must screw the heather to get the honey.

[James Acaster]

It must be.

[Ed Gamble]

That must be what it is.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, good on him.

[Ed Gamble]

Those randy little bees.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, screw the other. Let's, let's. Hey, guys, I think we've had it with the other. The flowers. Let's. Let's go to the heather. We're coming, Heather. We will be there very soon.

[Ed Gamble]

These horny American beef.

[James Acaster]

It should have been that B movie that.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, yeah.

[James Acaster]

Seinfeld made. You could have been a very cool horny bee character who loves the heather. I'd watch that.

[Ed Gamble]

I'd watch that for sure.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, yeah.

[James Acaster]

We do have to ask you, Brian, this is very important. If. If they. If scientists found dark matter matter and bought it back, what if it was evil? What would you think they should?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Like, what is dark matters?

[James Acaster]

Finding the dark matter, like out in the cosmos. They're looking for it, aren't they? They're looking for dark matter. A lot of these scientists. But what if they find it's.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

But they're in a ship. Did they get out of their ship?

[James Acaster]

I think they might have to get out their ship to scoop it up, maybe.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Scoop up dark matter?

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah, if they scoop it.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

It up.

[James Acaster]

But like, they're so keen to find it, these scientists, but they haven't really considered, like, what if it's evil? So do you think what if it's there? Yeah, yeah, what if it's there? But like. But what if it's evil, Brian?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, I. I find it. I mean, they're scientists, so they should know that what the constitution of dark

[James Acaster]

matter is, but they don't because they've never found it before. It's what. What I'm worried about.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, but they're going to be interested.

[James Acaster]

And you're worried about this.

[Ed Gamble]

I'm Worried about. Are you worried about space?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Space?

[Ed Gamble]

What's in space?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, I don't even bother. I couldn't give a. About what's in space, quite frankly. You know, it's there, you know. Yeah. I mean it's too big a concept. You go.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

You know, you go nuts. I mean, that's why people go mad because they imagine what's going on out there and they think instead of what's going on in here. I mean, that's the problem, you know, we human beings are so incredibly stupid. Haven't you noticed?

[James Acaster]

Yes. Oh yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

They are so stupid because. And they make the same. All you have to do is sit in a car. Car. Sit in a car driving with people and you see the stupidity of drivers. I mean they're like idiotic.

[James Acaster]

Yes.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Idiotic in their behavior. Idiotic in the way they drive. Idiotic in the way they park. Idiotic in every aspect. That's why I don't drive anymore. I stopped driving.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Mind you, I did have a T bone crash where somebody tried to try to kill me, but that was a different thing.

[James Acaster]

Still food related. Food related. The T bone.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, yeah, it was a T bone.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

So that's good.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, yeah.

[James Acaster]

They've still ties in with the pod.

[Ed Gamble]

They've just gone around the other side of the moon. Have you been reading about this?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Oh yeah. Yes, yes. Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

I, I was thinking why, why are we doing that?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, I mean, the point is they go around the other side, what they called the dark side and the moon and they realize, oh no, it's sunny. Yeah.

[James Acaster]

And you go, that's huge.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I could have told you that.

[Ed Gamble]

Ask Brian next time.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Because of the sun's shining there. Yeah. It's going to be hitting the back side of the moon.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

It's only logical, you know, we don't have time. No sign as they go, they go, oh, would you believe it? The dark side of the moon isn't dark anymore. It's got sunshine all over it. Oh, I found that incredible. Don't you, don't you find it incredible too, Nigel? Oh, yes, I find it absolutely incredible.

[James Acaster]

This is it.

[Ed Gamble]

We got to see a one man show from you, Brian, at some point about going to the dark side of the moon.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Of course, Pink Floyd may have to change the song.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

But their career's ruined the the also bright side of the moon.

[James Acaster]

So just to conclude you don't. You do think that dark matter is evil or you don't think it is, or you.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I don't Give a about dark, don't

[James Acaster]

give a about it.

[Ed Gamble]

That's the ruling.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I mean, really, I, I mean, I think there are other things in life to worry about. The dark matter.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Well, when we had the other Brian Cox on the podcast.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

And he told us that it wouldn't be evil.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, I'll go along with him.

[James Acaster]

I don't know. Do you think that guy knows what he's talking about?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah, of course he knows what he's talking about. Not Brian Cox. He's a very nice and very intelligent man. Far more intelligent than I am.

[James Acaster]

You've, You've hung out with him. Isn't that confusing? We've hung out together confusing. Isn't it for you?

[Ed Gamble]

That must blow people's minds if they see you together.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

Cuz you got the same name.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Oh, that's. That's why it blows people. I'm wondering why. Yes, because we have the same name. Yeah, but it's. He's a different Brian Cox. Oh, yeah. I mean, there are many Brian Coxes in the world, unfortunately, there are a lot of them. But no, I, I have great respect for him and he's usually very right and he's, you know, he's. There's something logical about Brian Cox.

[James Acaster]

We had him on this podcast and I don't, I don't know, Brian. If you, if you heard him on this, you'd think, like, we probably question his credentials.

[Ed Gamble]

He got quite frustrated with us, I'd say, because we kept asking him if. We kept asking him if dark matter would be evil or not.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

And he probably thought that was a ridiculous question. Yeah, exactly. So why do you keep asking the question?

[James Acaster]

Well, I knew that you'd take it more seriously. And you did. And I, I appreciate.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, we really talked about.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Talks about Dartmouth. You know, there are other things. There are other priorities. Oh, hey, Dart, darling, before we make love, can we discuss dark matter? Because I'm really concerned about it. Are you concerned? I don't give a shit, Brian. Well, somebody's concerned about it. The guy on the podcast, he's really obsessed with dark matter. I didn't even know what it was. I thought maybe. Is it shit? Is it shit that somebody shits out in under space? That could be dark matter, you know? You know, flying turds.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, I think, yeah, it could be flying turds.

[James Acaster]

See, this is good.

[Ed Gamble]

This is how science happens. We're pushing the conversation.

[James Acaster]

Flying turds. But I mean, I agree with you that if you bring it up as you're about to make love, it is Going to be a mood ruder. Especially if you segue to flying turds. Exactly.

[Ed Gamble]

Post. I'd go post. Post coital for that discussion.

[James Acaster]

Yes. You both collapse on.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I can't do any post coital. Shavey. Shave me.

[Ed Gamble]

Save me.

[James Acaster]

Save me.

[Ed Gamble]

You're. You're our second cannibal we've had on. On the pod.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Cannibal.

[James Acaster]

Yes.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

You had another cannibal.

[Ed Gamble]

We had Sebastian.

[James Acaster]

Sebastian. Stan played a cannibal once and now you are the second person we've had on who's played a Cannibal.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

It's the 40th anniversary of when I played that cannibal.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

This year. That's amazing.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

40 years. Still a better film than the other ones.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, the other ones a cack.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

You know, I mean, they're good films,

[Ed Gamble]

but one of the best films.

[James Acaster]

Of course. Well, look, Brian wouldn't like Sun.

[Ed Gamble]

I love both films, but he wants

[James Acaster]

his lamb sizzling and on his plate. He doesn't want it silent.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

If we.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

My revenge on that.

[Ed Gamble]

Did you.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah. I cast the director, Jonathan Demi.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

In a TV thing. I did. I had to have a director and I was going for Jim J. To start with, but I thought he's too socialist. I thought, Jim, Jim, I know what Jonathan Demi and I can get my own back. And at one point, Jonathan Demi. Jonathan, can I just say something? One of the things that actors don't do is look into the camera. It's very disconcerting when an actor looks into the camera. So could you please not do that? Because he did have a habit of looking at the camera, God rest his soul, because he's no longer with us. But I said, jonathan, please try and avoid that if you can. Oh, I love that.

[James Acaster]

If at the end of your dream meal, say we had to send out some human flesh for you to eat.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No.

[James Acaster]

Which. Which part of the. Which part of the person.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

I'm not accountable, but we have to.

[James Acaster]

Our hands are tied. It.

[Ed Gamble]

I'm not a method actor either. We've established this. So you wouldn't.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

We certainly would not eat anybody. Yeah.

[James Acaster]

No, we have to.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

What do you mean we have to.

[James Acaster]

We have to send out some human flesh for you.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, you don't.

[James Acaster]

We have to. Our hands are tied.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Then you can't stand if your hands are tied. You can sound like flesh.

[Ed Gamble]

Good point.

[James Acaster]

If you had to be a bit of a person. If you had to be a bit of head.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, he's gone. Is he losing it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

It's best to just let this Ride out. It's best to answer actually, Brian. So what part of me would you eat?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, I'm not. No, no, no. That's buying into his fantasy. I'm not going to bang into his fantasy. His fantasy is his own fantasy. Why he should be hospitalized.

[James Acaster]

Gladly.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Gladly.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

[James Acaster]

Take me to hospital.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Well, I'm gonna read you your menu back now, see how you feel about it. You would like fluoride free bottled Scottish water. You would like popping ons of all the dips. You would like a gazpacho for your starter.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

How did you get that so quick? Quickly, huh?

[James Acaster]

I was read. I was reading your menu.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Oh, really?

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah. Your main course, lamb biryani with Greek sea bream as well. Side dish, peas, of course. Drink? Margarita and dessert. Now, I don't really know how to pronounce it.

[Ed Gamble]

Give it a good go.

[James Acaster]

Yes, yes, you can. By all means. That's. That's your menu. You're quite impressed how I. I got it so fast.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, yeah,

[Ed Gamble]

it is impressive.

[James Acaster]

It's impressive, yeah.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, yeah, you're gonna reveal the trick.

[James Acaster]

You thought I should be hospitalized, but look how clever I am.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Well, that still doesn't avert the need for your hospitalization.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, fair enough.

[Ed Gamble]

Brian, thank you so much for coming to the dream restaurant.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

You're welcome.

[James Acaster]

What, just take you some of his earlobe and you eat that?

[Brian Cox (actor)]

No, not eating anybody's earlobe. I mean, I'll suck on a few, but I'm not going to eat anyway.

[James Acaster]

Before making love.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Yes.

[James Acaster]

Instead of discussing the earlobe.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Can be a great tender place.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

It's a shame we've got to end the interview here because we're going down a path that I did not expect we were going down.

[James Acaster]

Well, there you go.

[Ed Gamble]

The places.

[James Acaster]

Take the places.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Right?

[James Acaster]

Always end it tenderly.

[Ed Gamble]

Thank you so much, Brian.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

You're welcome.

[James Acaster]

Thank you, Brian.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Thank you. This is one of the worst things I've done for weeks, but I'm very glad to have done it because I realize we'll never be doing it again. But thank you. You're both geniuses in your own field. I'm still trying to find out where that field is. But you are geniuses in your own field, I take it. So thank you for the lack of validity of this whole experience.

[Ed Gamble]

Well, there we are, James. That's us told.

[James Acaster]

Well, we got roasted at the end.

[Ed Gamble]

We got roasted.

[James Acaster]

Roasted on the way out. I'd moved the mic away from my face because I thought we'd done.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

And then he roasted us. I was like, I can't even respond to this.

[Ed Gamble]

I absolutely loved it. I love being roasted by someone.

[James Acaster]

Roasted. It was good stuff. He didn't say bore. Didn't even talk about boar on the floor, actually.

[Ed Gamble]

No, it didn't come up. Well, that would have been harsh for us to bring it up.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been tricking him.

[Ed Gamble]

We didn't talk about. We didn't talk about Autela.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

We didn't talk about the wine in the blender.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah. There's a lot of things that we could have bought up there.

[Ed Gamble]

He's actually not in a lot of those scenes though, to be fair.

[James Acaster]

Sure, sure, sure.

[Ed Gamble]

So that would have been a weird thing to bring up.

[James Acaster]

I think we learned so much about him, about not just his career, but his view on the cosmos.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Life, directors, what he thinks of them, what he thinks of people's work.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

What he thinks of us. We definitely learn.

[Podcast Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

The worst thing he's done in months.

[James Acaster]

Yes, he did say that. Yeah, he did say it's one of the worst things he's done in months.

[Ed Gamble]

It energized me. I've never really been insulted like that to such an extent that it energized me.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

Gave me a buzz.

[James Acaster]

Glenn Robin is out this Friday.

[Ed Gamble]

Go and see it. Brian Cox's directorial debut.

[James Acaster]

Alan Cummings in it.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, man, come on. Whiskeys, you know, maybe take a lager.

[Ed Gamble]

Margarita.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, of course, sorry, Margarita, but a lager. All them whiskey with you to the cinema. Yeah. And watch it. Just drink and fill it.

[Ed Gamble]

Pop from a little hip flask.

[James Acaster]

Pop right in here.

[Ed Gamble]

I'm on tour. Ed gamble.co.uk for tickets. My show's called Fresh Hell, going all over the UK starting in late January 2027. Come along, come along.

[James Acaster]

Go and see Ed do his stand up comedy. I am also touring with my show James acaster until August. Jamesacassa.com for tickets. Yes, I'm in Blackpool tomorrow and Friday and I don't know, I don't think they're sold out, to be honest. I think one of them is and one of them isn't. So, you know, come along if you're in Blackpool, it's the. It's actually the perfect location for this show specifically.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes. Because James Strictly.

[James Acaster]

Oh, Ed, we're not allowed to say that yet.

[Ed Gamble]

Thank you very much for watching, listening. We will see you next week.

[Brian Cox (actor)]

Bye.

[James Acaster]

Off.

[Podcast Advertiser]

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