Why Are Brits So Good At Acting?

Summary

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The Rest Is Entertainment – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Why Are Brits So Good At Acting?
Date: July 15, 2026
Hosts: Richard Osman & Marina Hyde

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Overview

In this Q&A edition, Richard Osman and Marina Hyde dive into insider questions about film, television, and pop culture, centering the conversation around several hot topics. The episode’s focal point is the question: Why are British actors so overrepresented in Hollywood and what makes them so good? Alongside this, the hosts explore the enduring conversation about film length (inspired by "The Odyssey"), technological innovations for immersive viewing, horror film release strategies, and personal stories they’d love to have covered on the podcast.

With their signature wit and breezy expertise, Richard and Marina move fluidly from specific listener queries to wider industry commentary. The episode features behind-the-scenes insights, notable industry anecdotes, and sharp, often tongue-in-cheek cultural analysis.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Are Modern Films Too Long? (02:58 – 06:59)

Prompted by Listener Louis Campbell: Is "The Odyssey" (three hours long) too lengthy for general audiences?

• Marina’s Take (03:22):

  • Defends epic film lengths: "It's three hours of air conditioning. What's wrong with you?"
  • Argues that experiencing culturally dominant works is important, even if they're long or not to individual taste.
  • On Marvel movies and length: "Sorry, how on earth was that? Three thousand and seven. What a joke."

• Richard’s View (05:20):

  • Epic stories like "The Odyssey" justify their run time; he trusts directors like Christopher Nolan to deliver engaging long-form cinema.
  • Makes a humorous aside about cinema snacks: "If you have your last cola bottle and you just have like a sneaky little look at your watch... I don't want to double pick and mix it."
    – Richard Osman (05:20)

• Shared Consensus:

  • Epic films should be experienced, both for cultural literacy and as a unique cinema-going experience, especially in summer.

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2. The 'Brits in Hollywood' Phenomenon (07:14 – 11:42)

Listener Chris Ellis asks: Why are Brits seemingly overrepresented in Hollywood, especially playing Americans? Is there data or reasoning behind this?

• Richard’s Insight (07:32 – 11:29):

  • Consults Tamara Lee, a top LA-based British casting director.
    • Tamara Lee’s Explanation:
      • The UK’s acting industry is highly competitive due to its small size; actors must hone their craft intensively (theater, soaps) before heading to Hollywood.
      • British actors arrive ‘finished’—professional, well-trained, comfortable on sets, and familiar with industry demands.
      • Australians receive similar credit for soap opera and theater backgrounds.
    • Visa and working permit hurdles mean studios actively choose Brits for quality, not cost-cutting.
    • Example: In films like "Disclosure Day" and TV shows, British actors are cast as Americans, not just Brits.

• Marina adds (11:29 – 11:57):

  • Notes the prevalence of British cameos in UK-filmed global projects, like Only Murders in London, predicting “the cameos are going to be off the chain.”

• Notable Quote:

  • "Britain is quite a small industry and to make it as a working actor in the UK, actually you have to be amazingly good because there are far fewer opportunities."
    – Tamara Lee (via Richard Osman, 07:32)

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3. The Future of Immersive Entertainment Tech (11:57 – 16:38)

Listener Sean McNeil asks: Will reproducible sensory experiences (beyond audio/visual) ever become mainstream in movies/TV?

• Marina’s Take (12:10 – 16:00):

  • Historical rundown of "Smell-O-Vision" (started at 1960 World's Fair), which tried synchronizing scents with film scenes.
    • Issues: uneven distribution, lingering smells, impractical moving to modern cinema.
  • Home tech: “Olorama” and scratch-n-sniff attempts are more viable but still niche.
  • Predicts the real growth area is haptics—wearables that allow viewers to experience touch/feedback during films and especially immersive gaming.

• Richard’s View:

  • Less bullish on mass adoption for mainstream cinema; thinks immersive tech will thrive in gaming rather than traditional films.

• Notable Moment:

  • Humorous banter on "Meta glasses":
    • "Literally no one is quoting you as calling them pervert glasses. I was quoting them as Kendall Jenner's pervert glasses."
      – Richard Osman (15:37)

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4. Book Publishing: "All Rights Reserved" vs. "Moral Rights" (20:11 – 23:21)

Listener Daniel Steele asks: What’s the legal difference between "all rights reserved" and "the moral rights of the author have been asserted"?

• Richard’s Investigation (20:36 – 22:37):
  • Consults his agent for clarity:
    • "All rights reserved": A business/copyright clause – publisher/holder controls distribution, sales, adaptations.
    • "Moral rights": The author’s personal, perpetual right—to always be acknowledged and to object to derogatory edits or adaptations.
  • Both standard in publishing contracts; authors rarely know (or can articulate) the distinction.

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5. Why Don’t All Horror Films Come Out at Halloween? (23:33 – 26:09)

Listener Anthony Bellows asks: Why aren’t more horror films released at Halloween?

• Marina explains (23:47 – 25:48):

  • Halloween weekend is bad for box office due to parties and trick-or-treating.
  • Horror is a perennially strong genre—studios release outside October to capitalize on bigger audiences, e.g., Labor Day.
  • Example: "The Conjuring: Last Ride" (Sept 5 release) nearly $500M gross.

• Richard’s Point:

  • Horror’s year-round success means Halloween releases aren’t essential.

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6. Entertainment Stories They Wish They’d Covered (27:25 – 32:36)

Listener Bryony asks: What major stories from before the podcast would they love to have covered ‘live’?

Richard’s List:

• Will Smith and Chris Rock Oscars slap: layers of celebrity, personal drama.
• Piers Morgan’s GMB storm-off amid Megan Markle drama: the “amazing” TV and tabloid spectacle.
• Sony Pictures Hack: Fascinating insights into studio emails, franchise strategy, exec culture.
• Diana’s Panorama interview: Now more intriguing as new information about its background has emerged.
• Sex Pistols and the rise of punk: How culture and music were both agent and product of change.
• Blair & Cool Britannia: The shaping of 1990s UK pop and political culture.

Marina’s Reaction:

• Enthusiastic agreement, especially about deep-diving into the Sex Pistols (her friend Paul Cook was a member).
• Suggests many would make great bonus or mini-series episodes.

Memorable Exchange:

• On the Sony Hack: "If ever I hear the expression ‘unbelievably embarrassing explosion of emails,’ I think that sounds like it’s up our street."
  – Richard Osman (30:34)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You should experience it anyway, because I tell you what...it will dominate our culture."
  – Marina Hyde (04:00)

• "By the time these Brits come over to Hollywood, they are so honed, they are so brilliant."
  – Tamara Lee (via Richard Osman, 07:32)

• "Meta reach out."
  – Marina Hyde, joking about her viral ‘pervert glasses’ remark (15:59)

• "So it’s a thing about the health of horror."
  – Marina Hyde (25:48)

• "I think Smell O Vision remains just around the corner forever."
  – Marina Hyde (16:00)

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Important Timestamps

• 03:22 – Discussion of film length and pop culture engagement
• 07:32 – Casting director’s explanation for British acting success
• 11:57 – "Only Murders in London" and UK-based filmmaking/cameos
• 12:10 – The history and pitfalls of "Smell-O-Vision"
• 15:07 – Tech-based futures for immersive entertainment
• 20:36 – Explaining "all rights reserved" vs "moral rights"
• 23:47 – Why horror releases peak outside Halloween
• 27:25 – ‘Stories that got away’ they would have loved to cover
• 30:34 – The value of the Sony hack for industry insight

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Tone & Style

• Conversational: Laced with camaraderie, wit, and gentle teasing.
• Insider Expertise: Both draw on personal contacts and business experience for unique insights.
• Playful: Frequent jokes, pop culture references, and “in the know” ribbing (e.g., about “pervert glasses”).
• Engaged: Both hosts express genuine curiosity and delight in unpacking each topic.

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For Listeners Skipping the Episode

This episode covers the big question of why Brits are so successful in Hollywood—attributing it to the rigor and breadth of British (and Australian) acting training, especially in theater and soaps. The conversation radiates outward from there, touching on the joys and challenges of epic-length films, the pie-in-the-sky prospects of sensory movie tech, strategic timing of genre releases like horror, and their wish list of entertainment stories that slipped by before the podcast began—all punctuated with industry anecdotes and sparkling banter. Whether you’re an entertainment obsessif or a casual pop culture fan, this episode serves as both insight and entertainment.

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Transcript

[Marina Hyde]

The rest is entertainment is presented by Octopus Energy. Now, flowers, Richard, are a very important part of show business and there is

[Richard Osman]

a reason we're talking about flowers. As always with Octopus Energy, they do very interesting things with their customers. We will get to what they do with flowers. But yes, it's sort of the currency that runs everything.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah. I mean, in the Bachelor, it's actually part of the format. Right. The rose ceremony. So that flower is really earning its money.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah. Can you imagine the person, by the way, there will be a rose wrangler on that show who has to make sure that the roses are absolutely perfect. That's like. That's a completely full time job.

[Marina Hyde]

Also a full time job doing flowers for Elton John.

[Richard Osman]

Oh, my goodness.

[Marina Hyde]

One of the great lines in a court case ever, when one of his managers was accused of ripping him off and they discovered in court that he'd spent £293,000 on flowers in 20 months. QC was like, sorry, how's that possible? He said, I like flowers.

[Richard Osman]

Now, shall we get onto Octopus Energy? They have a sort of committed team who always look after your account. So if you get an email from them, it's the same people, but also they get to know you so well that sometimes they'll understand if you're going through a hard time. And what they will do is they will send you flowers.

[Marina Hyde]

It's not an apology, it's just because someone was going through something and they. You get your flowers.

[Richard Osman]

This episode is brought to you by EasyJet. You must have had that moment when you're watching a film, but you completely tune out the plot and start daydreaming about the location instead.

[Marina Hyde]

The bright Mediterranean colors on screen suddenly make the British weather look even greyer.

[Richard Osman]

And sometimes it doesn't even take the Technicolor. Put on a black and white thriller set on the Italian coast and I'll enjoy the mystery. But part of me is already working out which flight gets me nearest, preferably with less identity theft and bluer skies.

[Marina Hyde]

For me, it is Greece. Once the rumors started that a certain star studded musical was returning to the islands, that was all I needed. I was thinking about departures.

[Richard Osman]

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[Marina Hyde]

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[Richard Osman]

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[Dominic]

That's right.

[Alan]

It's heating up, everyone. The Rest Is Football is on Netflix for the world's biggest tournament. And we're officially in the business end. The knockouts are here. And don't worry, myself, Alan and Micah are still here every day from New York City. All the debates from the biggest games, and a special guest or two for good measure. What a time we're having. Don't miss it.

[Marina Hyde]

Hello, and welcome to this episode of the Rest Is Entertainment Questions and Answers Edition. I'm Marina Hyde.

[Richard Osman]

And I'm Richard Osman. Hello, everyone. Hello, Marina.

[Marina Hyde]

Hello, Richard.

[Richard Osman]

How are you? I'm very well. We've got some really, really good questions this week. Can we start with Louis Campbell?

[Marina Hyde]

Yes.

[Richard Osman]

Who has this question. He says, can we finally have the conversation that everyone is too cowardly to have? Okay, so that's always a. That's a. That's a punchy way to start a question. That better be good. He said, it is summer. The sun is shining. The World cup is on. I'm busy. The Odyssey is three hours long. That's too long to sit in the cinema for.

[Marina Hyde]

Okay.

[Richard Osman]

It's a provocative question.

[Marina Hyde]

It's a provocative question. Okay.

[Richard Osman]

Is the Odyssey too long? Quite famously long. The Odyssey.

[Marina Hyde]

First of all, it's three hours of air conditioning. What's wrong with you? Second of all, I would say, no, of course it isn't. It's an epic. There's some Marvel films that I've seen and been like, sorry, how on earth was that? Three thousand and seven. What a joke. But I hope lots of people will go out and see it, because I always. I mean, obviously part of the reason we do this is because I want to see and listen to and watch all the things that dominate pop culture. Because even if you don't like it or you think it's too long, whatever, just see what it tells us about our times. I don't think you have to like these things, but you have to. You should be interested in it. And I go and see if it's too long. If you think it's too long, they could have lost 40 minutes then.

[Richard Osman]

But by then, you've had to sit through it.

[Marina Hyde]

Yes, but you should experience it anyway, because I tell you what, this is a direct. Because what? I would go. Because it will dominate our culture.

[Richard Osman]

Oh, I'm definitely gonna go.

[Marina Hyde]

You've got a director whose name is bigger than any star in terms of getting people into theaters, which has been problematic and difficult. And, I mean, it's forced this Ridiculous discussion which I sort of slightly love between people like, you know, Elon Musk, who obviously doesn't understand how literature and history work and Tom Holland who does.

[Richard Osman]

But which Tom Holland?

[Marina Hyde]

Not the one in it.

[Richard Osman]

Do you see why I was confused?

[Marina Hyde]

But people who saying, you know, oh, this is an adaptation. Yeah. You don't understand how literature works. You don't understand how arts and history of arts work and you don't understand the history of literature and the history

[Richard Osman]

of art, which is insanely good at catching spacecraft in a way that I wouldn't be.

[Marina Hyde]

No, but you. Okay, it's the idiot trifecta. Culturally, you honestly, all things derive from things, build on them, on new versions of them, you know.

[Richard Osman]

But also you should be clever enough to know that other people are clever than you in other areas.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah, yeah. That he's got some personal growth to affect that I would say.

[Richard Osman]

And also Elon Musk has as well. But that's not. Yeah, I was pretending I was talking about Tom Holland.

[Marina Hyde]

I know, I know, but I. But yes, so I know. I don't think it will be too long. I'm pretty sure he knows quite a lot about pacing and I will love to go and see it. I'm really looking forward to it.

[Richard Osman]

My view would be if any film should be three hours long, it probably is the Odyssey. And if any director could be trusted with making a three hours long film, it is. Christopher Nolan said put the two of those together. Either way though, I do sort of think any film where you pick a mix runs out halfway through. You know, if you'll pick a mix runs. If you have your last cola bottle and you just have like a sneaky little look at your watch. Sorry, I've got an hour and 40 left and I have got no white mice. I, I find that quite difficult. I don't want to double pick and mix it.

[Marina Hyde]

No, no. Well, I mean there must be. You must have a ratio like if you're going to see something quite short.

[Richard Osman]

Yes, no, I eat at the same rate. Whatever the. Pick a mix, pick a mixer, just buy more.

[Marina Hyde]

Why can't you do the maths? I mean, if anyone can do the math, it's. You can mix maths. Why don't you just get enough for a three hour film right.

[Richard Osman]

If you think I'm not filling it right to the top anyway, you're very, very, very wrong.

[Marina Hyde]

Well then get to. Is it crossing a bridge?

[Richard Osman]

I just think with the, you know, the cost of that.

[Marina Hyde]

Get clear with me. Ingrid, carry one.

[Richard Osman]

I could see would not do that. I could honestly fund Odyssey 2 by buying two pick and mixes.

[Marina Hyde]

Don't you think it's quite expensive now it's a food court with a digital screening room attached.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah. But yeah, I think it's okay to be three hours long if it's. I mean, listen, we may come back in a week's time. Just go. Oh my God, Louis, you are absolutely right. But it is. There's. I think there are few things better when it is really, really hot than going to your local cinema during the day. It is air conditioned. There's no one in there. Someone has spent millions of pounds producing something just to entertain you. And you can have a mint choc chip ice cream.

[Marina Hyde]

What more, honestly, do you want?

[Richard Osman]

Yes, please. Yeah, I wouldn't have pick a mix during the day. That's an evening cinema snack.

[Marina Hyde]

Oh, really?

[Richard Osman]

But during the day I'd have like a little ice cream or something and a bottle of water. Yeah, of course.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah, yeah.

[Richard Osman]

Just in case you were wondering, I

[Marina Hyde]

was on Tender Hooks.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah, good.

[Marina Hyde]

Oh, this? You told me you were going to answer this one and I like it. It's from Chris Ellis. He says it often seems like British actors are overrepresented in Hollywood. Firstly, is there any data to back that assumption up? And if there is, why do you think it's the case? I struggle to understand why the UK would consistently produce uniquely fine actors.

[Richard Osman]

Yes, it is funny enough, we were talking about Disclosure day the other day and we were just saying, oh, it's interesting because, you know, you got Josh o' Connor in there. There's a lot of British actors in the. And then you realize they're pretty much all British. Yeah, Josh o', Connor, you've got Emily Blunt, there's Colin Firth, Henry Lloyd Hughes. There's. There's a lot of Brits in that movie. So I was thinking, oh, perhaps maybe it was filmed in the UK and. No, it was filmed in Hollywood. So it was filmed in New York, in fact, I think so they flown everyone over. So you are definitively right. There are a huge amount of Brits in Hollywood and more to the point, they're not playing Brits. There's a huge amount of Brits who go over and play Americans. So obviously we have. We share a language, so there's that. But as to why it is, I hadn't really given a huge amount of thought. So I thought the perfect person to talk to is an amazing casting director, one of the biggest casting directors in the business called Tamara Lee. Not Cut. And Tamara Works mainly in la, but she is British. So I thought, ah, I will ask, I will ask Tamara. And she says something. It hadn't occurred to me before, but of course it's true. She said, well, look, when the Brits are coming over to Hollywood, the actors said, britain is quite a small industry and to make it as a working actor in the UK, actually you have to be amazingly good because there are far fewer opportunities. I said, we have this culture of theater as well. So actually by the time these Brits come over to Hollywood, they are so honed, they are so brilliant. Anyway, they're incredibly honed by, you know, doing theater or doing soaps. Australians as well, by the way. She said, same thing. So they speak the language and they go over there and they already have a skill. She said, a lot of people come to Hollywood without training, they'll be working as waiters and stuff like that. And of course it's amazing American actors. But actually the Brits come over, they are already the finished article. So they'll go into a read or to an audition and immediately they have years of training, they've been on sets forever. They just, they, they know what they're doing. She said, so it's, they're incredibly highly valued in the uk. I said, is there like an issue where they would be cheaper than an American actor? Because sometimes people think that. And she said, I mean, maybe on your first job if you're not repped by one of the big American agents. She said, but A, not really, and B, if I want to cast a British actor in an American show or an Australian actor, there are so many hoops I have to jump through in terms of visas and in terms of working visas. So actually you have to go out of your way to cast Brits and to cast Australians in these things. So. So it's sort of the opposite. So she said, no, they just come over and they are just unbelievably brilliant because of the way our culture is and because we do have these theaters and we do have, weirdly, we have things like soap operas. He's talking about when the Australians go over and you know, in your own country, if you've been in Home and Away Our Neighbors, you might slightly be looked down on. Whereas in America they genuinely go, oh my God. So you, you've spent a long time on set, you absolutely, you're professional, you know exactly what you're doing. And the craft has been hon as well. So you know that it had not occurred to me just that even to go over There in the first place. Usually you pass through a school which a lot of American actors. A lot of American actors, some do, of course, a lot of American actors have not had to pass through. So you're immediately at this incredible level. And I, you know, I was talking about Widow's Bay on Tuesday's episode about how brilliant it is. And you know, the star of that is, is Matthew Reese, who's incredible and has been incredible in American things for a long time. One of the co stars is Kato Flynn, who's another British actor. You absolutely wouldn't know it from the accent for anything she's done. Those of theatre and again, they just go over and they're already brilliant. You don't have to do anything with them, you don't have to train them up further. You don't have to show them how to act and work on a set. You don't have to show them how to work with other actors. They have done it all before. So I thought that was, I thought that was fascinating. So thank you. Tomorrow, Lee, not cut for Finniga sitting up. She loves talking about it because she was like, oh, yeah, that's, yeah, it's fascinating. And yeah, we sort of rooted that out. Isn't it just. Yeah, yeah. Makes you proud to be British.

[Marina Hyde]

Yes.

[Richard Osman]

She also points out, of course, that lots of things like Marvel films are filmed in the UK and so that's sort of helpful. But the main thing is just is the sheer quality of the people who present themselves.

[Marina Hyde]

Funnily enough, you know, I said that I saw the producer of Only Murders at Wimbledon. It was so they're filming Only Murders in London.

[Richard Osman]

There's a lot of Brits in it now.

[Marina Hyde]

Oh, my God. The cameos, I think are going to be off the chain. I think it's going to be very, very fun.

[Richard Osman]

Question for you, Marina, from Sean McNeil. Given that television and movies have been able to reproduce audio and sound for us for whatever 100 years, when do you think that technology will allow for reproducing other senses for a more immersive entertainment experience?

[Marina Hyde]

Okay, that is a good question. And what people always think about when they think about this is smell, which is why it was the first thing that they ever did. Smell. O Vision debuted at the World's Fair, in which I think was the one in New York in 19. And there's these guys called Mike Todd and Hans Lauber. They believed that the sort of smell of stars and the smell of what you were watching could create this kind of primal, atavistic connection with them.

[Richard Osman]

Is this true?

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was a while until something came out with it and they did. There was a movie called Scent of Mystery and it synchronized the smell with specific scenes. So there was roses, there was pipe smoke, and it had a hilarious tagline, which was. First they moved bracket 1895. Then they talked brackets 1927. Now they smell brackets 1960. About the movies.

[Richard Osman]

1960.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah, that's. But the. The trouble. We can see what the trouble with it is.

[Richard Osman]

So they're just piping that in into the cinema through the vents.

[Marina Hyde]

Well, part of the trouble with it was that it didn't reach back, so the people at the front were, like, overpowered. You know, it's like one of those things that in the old Batman series, the Adam West Batman series, with that green stuff comes out the dok. Yeah. So it's always on the verge of coming back, this thing. Theatrical release cinema is struggling and the idea that you'd have to specially equip theatres with it is very difficult. And the biggest problem has always been not the creation of the smell, but the dissipation of it in time for the next smell.

[Richard Osman]

And also the dissipation of whatever smell is in the cinema anyway.

[Marina Hyde]

Your pick and mix beforehand.

[Richard Osman]

My pick and mix.

[Marina Hyde]

Your pick and mix.

[Richard Osman]

But people eating, you know, tacos or something.

[Marina Hyde]

Some things are. So, yeah, they've now created something called Olorama, which is kind of. Olorama. Yeah. But that sort of VR and home tv, which might be more successful. They're trying to get into home technology. But Smell O Vision gets so much coverage because it's the most intuitive one in a weird way, because I suppose it is this primal, instinctive thing.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah.

[Marina Hyde]

Having said that, what's much more. I think, and what lots of people who watch this sort of stuff think will become bigger is haptic. Cinema is the feet is touch. And so you might have wearable vests. You might have. I mean, people say chairs that move. Again, that's especially equipping theaters. But if people had wear of different types than the ones we have now, and you could watch the film with them or without them, either bring them from, you know, either have your own. That is much more doable wristbands, things like that. And actually, if you go to somewhere with like, an extraordinary technology department, like sort of Harrods or Selfridges, you will see these incredible gaming rigs that are kind of cordoned off that you're not really allowed to touch, where people. Which people wear so that they can be immersed in the game and that's much more likely that you might have.

[Richard Osman]

That's. Yeah, that's. It feels to me that it won't be cinema going down that route. It'll be. The world of gaming will come towards you and people will stop making content for that, rather than filmmakers doing it.

[Marina Hyde]

For sure. People will have rigs. People. There will be wearable things. You will be able to experience the film with or without it. And they're doing a lot on this. Anything that is more immersive, they are. They are doing more.

[Richard Osman]

I just think if 3D glasses didn't take off.

[Marina Hyde]

Perfect glasses.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah, carry on then. You know, it's. I think, I think, as you say, for cinemas, which.

[Marina Hyde]

Well, no, you see, we did that article on meta glasses. Did you see? Every single advert on the tube now is incredibly hot. People wearing these glasses. Metacart people are talking about them.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah. And literally no one is quoting you as calling them pervert glasses. I was quoting them as Kendall Jenner's pervert glasses.

[Marina Hyde]

Kendall Jenner.

[Richard Osman]

It's so weird.

[Marina Hyde]

You would think it's Kylie Jenner's pervert glasses.

[Richard Osman]

Sorry, Kendall Jenner's pervert glasses. Something completely different.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah.

[Richard Osman]

Kylie Jenner's pervert glasses. Yeah, I would just have that. Kylie Jenner's pervert glasses. Marina Hyde, resident entertainment. That feels to me like an open goal.

[Marina Hyde]

Meta Reach out.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah.

[Marina Hyde]

Anyway, so, yeah, so that. I think that that is going to become both at home and. Because you can see it's already so aspirational in gaming. And obviously there are these rigs that cost like 35 grand or something so that you can do it. But there are also much cheaper versions of it. So you experience some of this and it will come down and down in price. And I think that that sort of immersive thing will happen. I think Smell O Vision remains just around the corner forever.

[Richard Osman]

They used to do all sorts of like they used to do scratch and sniff. Sometimes a TV guide in the States where you would. For particular episode and you just scratch it while something was.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah, scratch it. That sort of thing. But, but, but, but actually just trying to hold. Holy equip. A theater is. Is a whole different thing.

[Richard Osman]

Exactly. Let's go to a break. After the break, we have a lovely question about stories you wish that happened while the rest of the entertainment was on air. Stuff that happened before we. We started the podcast. What we would have liked to have covered.

[Marina Hyde]

Looking forward to that one. Okay.

[Richard Osman]

This episode is brought to you by the Lloyds 5K house deposit.

[Marina Hyde]

Lloyds are offering a 5K house dep scene in 1996. What are your entertainment memories of the 1990s?

[Richard Osman]

I feel guilty talking about the 1990s because you look back and it was such a golden era.

[Marina Hyde]

We'd never had it so good and we didn't even realise because we were young and we just thought we were entitled to it all.

[Richard Osman]

We absolutely took it for granted. Yeah, Brit pop was absolutely in its pomp. Oasis playing to a quarter of a million people. You had Blur, Spice Girls, Dalpa.

[Dominic]

I'm so sorry.

[Richard Osman]

Spice Girls. Amazing movies at the cinema. Trainspotting. I mean, it felt a time of absolute optimism, but at the time you just assumed that was the way, that type of optimism. But part of the optimism, of course, is that mortgages were more affordable and that is what Lloyds is dealing with right now.

[Katie K]

Yep.

[Marina Hyde]

Last seen in 1996. Lloyds are now offering 5k deposit mortgages to first time buyers. Search 5k first time buyer 1996 average

[Richard Osman]

first time buyer deposits based on ONS data subject to status. Your home may be repossessed if you don't keep up repayments conditions apply.

[Dominic]

Hi everybody, it's Dominic here from the Rest Is History. I just wanted to let you all know that on our sister podcast, the Book Club, we have released an episode digging deep into George R.R. martin's A game of Thrones, the first book in his Song of Ice and Fire sequence. We go deep into the history behind Game of Thrones. So we go into the wars of the Roses, Hadrian's Wall. We talk about the influence of J.R.R. tolkien and comparisons with the Lord of the Rings. But Tabby, we also talk, don't we, about George R.R. martin's apparent stagnation and whether he's actually ever going to finish the books.

[Micah]

We investigate why it is that he has battled to finish them at all and whether he will ever be able to. But if you want to hear lots more about the history behind some of the greatest novels of all time, fear not. Coming up on the book club we have the Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi Delampertusa, which is all about Italian unification. We talk about Circe, where we delve into a particular part of the Odyssey and then after that we are doing the 39 steps, which Dominic, you chose and you love.

[Dominic]

Please join us at the book club. It's loads of fun and you will never find a better way to spend your life.

[Richard Osman]

Bye bye bye.

[Katie K]

Hello and welcome to Doing It Anyway, a brand new series from Goal Hanger. I'm Katie K. I've spent years studying the science and art of confidence, writing books about how we can close the confidence gap between men and women, and talking to experts and younger women about how to pass it on. Confidence means taking risks, acknowledging your fears, and, well, doing it anyway. In this series, I'll be talking to psychologists, entrepreneurs and business leaders to unpack how you can rethink challenges and grow your own confidence. We'll talk about how to spot the difference between confidence and competence, how to deal with office politics and stolen credit, and yes, handling rejection and ultimately, how you can become a better leader, teammate, and, yes, a better person. Doing it anyway with Katty K. Every Friday, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Marina Hyde]

Welcome back, everybody. Now, I have a question about moral rights from Daniel Steele. Maybe Danielle's boy.

[Richard Osman]

From Daniel Steele.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah, Daniel Steele.

[Richard Osman]

Okay.

[Marina Hyde]

Maybe Danielle's son. I don't know.

[Richard Osman]

Or grandson or.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah, could be. I've recently been listening to We Solve Murders. Ready for the new book, guys? It's called We Chase Shadows and it is out on September 15th. I'm dying for it. Okay, at the end of the recording, it says all rights reserved and the moral rights of the author have been asserted. What is the difference between all rights and the moral rights?

[Richard Osman]

You know why I really wanted to answer this question?

[Marina Hyde]

Because you're a very moral person.

[Richard Osman]

Because I'm very moral person. Well, two reasons, really. I've seen those two things on books my entire life. I've absolutely seen it.

[Marina Hyde]

I've written books with it.

[Richard Osman]

Yes, I've written in all of my books. It's all there. So firstly that. And secondly, I thought, well, I have absolutely no idea. I've never known. And I've always just thought, oh, yeah, of course, moral rights and all rights reserved. And he's absolutely right. Well, surely if all rights are reserved, that includes moral rights, doesn't it? So listen, I just asked my agent, often in this show, we've done things personally, we've been through personal experiences, sometimes we know exactly the right people. On this case, I literally just texted my agent to say, you know what? Daniel's right. What are those things? And so. Hello, Juliet. Thank you so much for replying. So, all rights reserved, which is the first one, that is just part of the standard copyright notice that essentially says, that's the business thing that says, we own this. You might be able to buy it from us, but you would have to buy it from us. So that's essentially saying, look at every single right in this to it being on screen on Anything like that, it belongs to us. So that's an economic thing, essentially. If you want to do anything here, come to us and we'll talk. Moral rights, however, are the author's rights. So that's my personal rights, which is the right, should anyone ever reproduce this in any way or talk about it. The right to be recognised as the author of the piece.

[Marina Hyde]

The right to be hunted down by me for doing it to you.

[Richard Osman]

Yes, exactly. Or the right to object to derogatory treatment of the work so it can never be edited or adapted without your permission. So it's sort of your moral right to the words that you have written and to what people might ever do with that and for no one ever else to be able to claim that they wrote it. So it's. To me, Daniel, I don't know if you agree those two things sound quite similar, but they are legally very different. But essentially, the all rights reserved is a business thing that is purely. We own it.

[Marina Hyde]

Come to us for anything.

[Richard Osman]

Come to us for anything. The moral right is simply in perpetuity. Those words were written by me. Don't mess with me, essentially, I think is the thing. So I thought it was gonna be a more intriguing answer than that, because, as I say, I've seen it my whole life and I thought, oh, the moral rights. Well, that's very intriguing, but that's all it is. It's on every single book ever. I've seen it for the whole of my life. I have never understood it as an author. I've never understood it. There will be lots of authors listen to this podcast. None of them will know the difference between this. They go, oh, okay, A, I didn't know, and B, I still don't really know. But I kind of. I see that they're sort. I see that they're sort of different. So thank you, Daniel, for. And do say hello to Danielle for us as well. Is that helpful?

[Marina Hyde]

I love it.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah. Marina. Anthony Bellows has a. Has a. I love someone with a. With a. With a verb as a surname.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah.

[Richard Osman]

Is that a verb?

[Marina Hyde]

Yes.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah.

[Marina Hyde]

It's the present tense of to bellow. Sorry if it's confusing.

[Richard Osman]

No, but I never know like verbs. I get them all mixed up. Anthony Bellow says, why aren't more horror films held back for the Halloween season? It seems like October would be the obvious time to release them. Yet many major horror films come out in spring or summer instead.

[Marina Hyde]

Okay, good question. Actually, that weekend is really not good ever for the North American box office because there are lots of Parties, there's trick or treating. Last year it was the worst weekend of the entire year in the box office. And if, okay, if a horror film is Halloween themed or coded in any way, then yes, but get it out before the weekend so that it has it. Because remember, horror films can stick around quite a lot of times in the, in the, in the cinemas because they build in words of mouth. You know, we have talked talking films that build by word of mouth. Something like Obsession, which built and got bigger and bigger every weekend. Horror is big all year round. It has, it is now, you know, it's a hugely well performing genre. It is absolutely in the mix with the big titles. So what you're optimizing for is like the holiday audience rather than the theme. So you don't feel like, oh, I have to have it, you know. So the biggest title last year in horror was Conjuring Last Ride. They released that on September 5th. It got just shy of $500 million. They did it the weekend. So that's the weekend after Labor Day, which is one of their big holidays. But it has a kind of big halo, that particular holiday. So they really went for it and they put it on the schedule at a point where they thought they could maximize money. And as you can see, it was kind of incredible. So this summer, this year you've got summer. You've got stuff like Evil Dead, Burn, Ice Cream Man, Insidious out of the Further. Those are all sort of July and August again. Lots of people will watch those titles. Then in October, what they've saved for it. You've got Other Mommy. That's going to be quite big. I think that's Blumhouse and Atomic Monster, which is released under Universal Clayface. This is, this will be interesting because it's like the DC universe under James Garnet Warners, they're doing a horror title. So we'll see about that. And maybe Terrifier four. Now, do you remember we talked about Terrifying Terrify. Yeah. It cost 2 million and made 90 million.

[Richard Osman]

It's genuinely extraordinary how often we're talking about these low budget horror movies that go absolutely crazy.

[Marina Hyde]

Unbelievable. Yeah. So you can see why there is absolutely no need to keep them around. There will be stuff there for in October, as I said, there's those titles, but there's absolutely no reason. And genuinely it's so big and it's such a runaway success that they are optimizing for the big holiday weekends to try and get them out there for audiences. So it's a thing about the health Of Horror.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah. And horror and Halloween are not necessarily the same thing. Halloween is a very specific thing. Right. And horror is everything. Although we associate the two. I always love every year that Strictly still does Halloween. You think? I mean, once they've done the Monster Mash once, what else have they got?

[Marina Hyde]

But. Yeah, but how good have some of the Treehouses of Horror been? I love Simpsons every single year doing it. And they're absolutely brilliant. My children sometimes just go on a tear and will only watch Treehouses of Horror on repeat. For the old ones. Yeah, it's. I mean, and the guy who did Obsession got his idea, really. Curry Barker got his idea from seeing a Treehouse of Horror about Monkey's Paw, you know, again, Elon Musk. That's how it works. Sometimes art is based on other art. The end.

[Richard Osman]

Like when you saw the people go to the moon, you think, I'd like to do. I'd like to do that, but in my own way.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah, absolutely derivative.

[Micah]

Bastard.

[Richard Osman]

You didn't go to the moon in the same thing.

[Marina Hyde]

No, you built on it.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah. You go, what? Sorry, why are you sending people into space? But they're not Neil Armstrong, because, you know it's Neil Armstrong that went into space. You seem to be sending completely different people up there.

[Marina Hyde]

Go and tweet that back at him.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah.

[Marina Hyde]

And then have a nice cheers.

[Richard Osman]

And also, oh, you sent a woman into space. But it's interesting cause all the original space people were men. So we're like, okay, fine, anyone can go into space. He's so woke. Yeah, yeah, he's so space woke.

[Marina Hyde]

Oh, Richard, I know you've thought about this one. It's from Bryony and it's about stories that got away. Are there any big entertainment stories from the pre Wresta's entertainment years that you would have loved to have discussed on the podcast as they were unfurling?

[Richard Osman]

Yes, absolutely. And mainly Bryony, I think it's because I always want to hear what Marina's got to say about something. So I've tried to choose ones where I thought I would be. There's a couple here that I would have been fascinated to go into. But a lot of them are ones where I'm like, oh my God, I have to hear what Marina has to say about this. When something comes on the news and you're like, okay, I'm just going to sit across from Marina and listen to. Listen to this. I've got a few of those. It's interesting because with our bonus episodes, sometimes we do get the Chance to delve further into stories which I find fascinating. And a couple of these, actually, I think we should do little bonus things.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah, me too. Tell me what they are.

[Richard Osman]

I've gone sort of slightly, sort of starting, almost. Just before we started, we just missed Will Smith, Chris Rock, which would have been really good.

[Marina Hyde]

That would have been, yeah.

[Richard Osman]

Cause there's a lot there. The stories that I love are where there's about five or six different angles to it because you get to talk about the shock of what happened. Then you get to delve a bit more into Will Smith and into Chris Rock, a bit more into.

[Marina Hyde]

And Jada.

[Richard Osman]

And Jada. You know, it's a really. It's a world where you just think, I know I'll come into it from one angle, you'll come into it from another angle. We will never run out of things to say about it.

[Marina Hyde]

No, that's a really good night. I wish you'd had that.

[Richard Osman]

And because two weeks beforehand I had met Will Smith on the Graham Norton show and I was thinking, we're gonna be friends, I'm sure of it. And then.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah.

[Richard Osman]

So I would have loved to have talked to you now about that. I would have loved to talk about. And if something is TV based, I get excited. Piers Morgan storm off of GM TV and the whole Megan Markle style.

[Marina Hyde]

I'd have enjoyed that too.

[Richard Osman]

I would have loved that so much. And his amazing thing of saying, well, I left the show at double the ratings. I started going, no. On the day that you threw a hissy fit. It had double the ratings before then. It didn't. But all of that. Cause you get to talk about again, you get to talk about Megan, you get to talk about Piers Morgan, which is always funny. You get to talk about morning tv. So I would have really, really, really enjoyed that. And also he's the sort of person you can go on a 10 minute, absolute, like eviscerating rant about and you know, he'll be like, yeah, that was fun. You know, okay, good. You know, some people will take offense. So we could have absolutely gone in two footed on him. I would have loved to talk about the Sony Pictures hack.

[Marina Hyde]

Oh my God. Don't you think that. Well, I mean, I'm sorry, that would have to have been a. I mean, we should do that as a, as a fallout thing because it's so interesting and how it changed so many different things. That is a really. Yes, you're right. Do you remember that the North Koreans hacked Sony because there was this Seth Rogen comedy About Kim Jong Un, about North Korea, and they hacked them. And it was just this unbelievably embarrassing explosion of emails, but so revealing. And, you know, when you just want to understand a business, which we're always trying to do on this podcast, you understood so much about the staff and so much about, you know, Amy Pascal, who was one of the executives, all of whose emails kind of came out. And she was, you know, she is a more of an old style executive to some degree. And you can see the rise of franchise stuff. You can see all the different things they were doing. The kind of. So much information about our business came out of that.

[Richard Osman]

If ever I hear the expression unbelievably embarrassing explosion of emails, I think that sounds like it's up our street. So I would have loved.

[Marina Hyde]

That's a very good one.

[Richard Osman]

I would have loved that. I would have loved Diana on Panorama, I think would have been very interesting in a way worth doing that now because we know an awful lot more about how it came about, the machinations. And, you know, we actually. History, like, gives you, you know, makes. Makes that a bigger story. Yes, in lots of ways. And I thought just, I'll go back as far as I can. I would love to. And we should do it as a, as a, as a special episode or a series, the history of the Sex Pistols, because I think that, you know, culture, sometimes it's slightly ahead of where a country is going. And I think the Sex Pistols ushered in. It felt like they ushered something in, but of course they didn't. The thing was happening anyway and they were reacting to it quicker. So I love that about them, but I love that how manufactured they were in one way because of Malcolm McLaren and all that kind of stuff, which I find fascinating, but how unmanufactured they were in another way, because that's the way that culture was going. I loved the hype around them. I love how they didn't last particularly long, the stories, but I love the fact that, you know, you got Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten, but you've just got some guys from West London in that band who were just like cool musicians.

[Marina Hyde]

One of them's my friend Paul Cook.

[Richard Osman]

Let's get him in, let's get him in.

[Marina Hyde]

He's very good at talking about all this stuff.

[Richard Osman]

I really. I find that era completely fascinating about, you know, it's a real chicken and egg thing. What came first, you know, the Sex Pistols or, you know, just a new, New Britain.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah.

[Richard Osman]

And equally funnily enough, it'd be interesting to talk about Blair and Cool Britannia as well. Yes, I think that might be.

[Marina Hyde]

Oh, my God, that would be. That would be absolutely brilliant. Okay. Okay, Those are great. I love all those.

[Richard Osman]

Let's do them. But thank you. But, yeah, it's absolutely one of those things where I just think, oh, my God, I would love to get Marina's on that or something.

[Marina Hyde]

I want to hear yours.

[Richard Osman]

We can both get our teeth into. But we'll do some of those, please. I love them.

[Marina Hyde]

Those are brilliant. Okay, I want to do all of those. All right, I think that's us for today.

[Richard Osman]

Yeah, I think so. Thank you so much for listening. As always, for members, there's the World cup of UK quiz shows, which I know lots of people listen to already.

[Marina Hyde]

Subject quite close to Richard's heart.

[Richard Osman]

We had a lot of fun recording it. Did. With Maisie Adam and John Robbins. It's really funny. And we discover what is the greatest or most popular British quiz show of all time on that. For everyone else, though, we will see you next Tuesday.

[Marina Hyde]

See you next.