Richard vs the SAS

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Do celebrities get an easier time on SAS: Who Dares Wins? Why are box office returns measured commercially, rather than the number of tickets sold? How is filming in cars done? What time do you start drinking as a guest on Saturday Kitchen? Your excellent questions answered by Richard and Marina on The Rest Is Entertainment.

Producers: Neil Fearn
Executive Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport

Inside This Episode:

The hosts discuss the filming techniques used in car scenes for dramas and police procedurals, noting the shift from older methods like rear-projection footage (e.g., “To Catch a Thief”) to modern CGI. Real cars are often on a low-loader or process rig for filming.
There’s an amusing exploration of filming in the BBC drama Night Sleeper and Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, which uses real driving but without road markings for aesthetic reasons.
Richard Osman describes the immersive nature of reality TV shows like Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, where participants are isolated from producers, and the directing staff maintain a stern atmosphere on and off camera.
The episode touches on Richard’s hypothetical refusal to participate in Celebrity SAS, contrasting the role of actual SAS veterans like Andy McNab with TV presenters who play the role for reality shows.
There is a discussion about radio broadcasting logistics, with the hosts explaining how shows like Jason Manford’s on Absolute Radio have complex algorithms matching the length of songs across different eras.
Book market data is discussed, comparing it to the film industry where box office sales dominate, while the book industry focuses more on unit sales.
Richard and Marina entertain a discussion on the culture of celebrity reality show WhatsApp groups and how bonds form among participants in these settings.

Media Mentions:

To Catch a Thief
Magpie Murders
Night Sleeper
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
Thursday Murder Club (film)
The Batman
The Penguin (TV show)
How I Met Your Mother
USS Callister (from Black Mirror)
The Sopranos
House of Cards
EA Sports FC 25 (video game)
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins
Strictly Come Dancing
I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
Saturday Kitchen
Sunday Brunch
Graham Norton Show

Hot Takes:

“Night Sleeper, which is all set on a train… has video screen of exactly the entire journey from Glasgow to London… just outside the windows of the train. And it looks like they really are on a train”
“You think Celebrity Antiques Road Trip is not like a Marvel movie?”
“[Drinking wine on Saturday Kitchen] is like Christmas Day, isn’t it? It doesn’t count!”
“[Barrowman] vomited and just looked at his vomit and then went: ‘Right, I’m out’.”
“Those guys are no longer in the SAS; they’re in show business.”
“It is really not fake, but it does not last long, that camaraderie of reality shows”
“[Movies like Dune make] a lot of money, because people want to see it on an enormous screen, and they will pay for that”
“You’d be shocked how many tickets are being sold this year compared to the late Nineties”

Notable Numbers:

80% of the UK doesn’t drink enough water, according to a Liquid IV survey of 1,096 UK adults.
1 – the movie Furiosa sold fewer tickets than The Garfield Movie, but it was No.1 in the box office because it told sold more premium tickets