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Ben Elton is delighted. 'I'm having a renaissance, mate,' says the creator of Blackadder and Upstart Crow, who's just won a
BAFTA for Channel 4's one-off anniversary special return of the show that made him famous, Friday Night Live. 'Suddenly people have started being nice to me again.'
Ben went through a sticky patch a decade or so back when the critics turned against him, partly for allegedly selling out by working with Andrew Lloyd Webber, but the motormouth stand-up was back to his old form on Friday Night Live in October. 'Being able to return to Friday Night Live was an absolute thrill in itself but winning a BAFTA for it was incredibly special,' he says. 'Not least because it might encourage Channel 4 to do more. I think live cabaret makes brilliant telly and Friday Night Live is 100 per cent live, no safety net, no delay. That offers a thrill you don't get from streaming a series.'
' Back in the 80s he was one of the angry young things ofof my sitcom were brutal. had a on Newsnight about 'Elton is alternative comedy, but this time he was hosting up-andcoming acts. 'It just goes to show that Boomers and Generation Zedders can get on after all!' While he waits to see if more will be made, Ben is about to do something new and daring, making his West End theatre debut at the age of 64, acting and singing in a brand new production of We Will Rock You, the musical he wrote with members of the band Queen. It's a project that's very close to his heart, going all the way back to when he was a schoolboy, feeling fed up and alone but finding comfort in the songs of his favourite band.
'I left home when I was 16 to study theatre,' says Ben. 'I was very lonely and very sad living in a bedsit and it was very challenging indeed for a while, but Queen were with me all the way through it. Now I'm about to sing one of their songs at the London Coliseum!'
The look on his face is a mixture of pleasure and disbelief. The idea came up when he was casting the revival...