The lovely video attached to this post is Owen Duff singing his cover of Björk’s Unravel. Owen is the brother/stepbrother/halfbrother of my friend Helen. Helen and I shared a house in Norwich when we were at University and I recall the two of us listening to Homogenic (the Björk album on which Unravel appears) on repeat.
Helen is now one of those academics about whom the Daily Mail throws up it’s collective hands in outrage (a sure sign that she is doing something right); she works at Warwick – as associate professor in television and film studies no less – and undertakes really interesting research into television historiography (one of my favourite words) and the history of television for women.
They’re an interesting bunch the Wheatleys – Phil, Helen’s dad was Director General of the prison service. I was once arranging to meet Helen at King’s Cross in London over the phone and we were discussing whereabouts in the station to meet, Phil was in the background overhearing our conversation and suggested that we meet “next to the prostitute”. We didn’t. Or at least I don’t think we did.