Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on the death of Sir Sam Neill

Beloved New Zealand actor Sir Sam Neill has died aged 78, as confirmed by his family in a new post.

The Northern Ireland-born New Zealand actor was best known for his leading role in the Jurassic Park franchise, Peaky Blinders, The Piano and numerous other films. 

UK correspondent Gavin Grey said he's had an impact all over the world.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now I'm joining now by Kevin Gray out of the UK.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Gavin, Hello, hither Andrew. Yeah, very sad news, isn't it?
About Sam Neill's death. And indeed was best known for his,
of course leading role in the various franchises about the
Dinosaurs as we know, but he was also born in
Omar in Northern Ireland in nineteen forty seven, and that

(00:23):
may give a good reason as to why his Irish
accent on Peaky Blind as the first series was so fantastic.
He was the son of an English mother and a
New Zealand father and at the age of seven, after
his father had spent time serving as an officer in
Northern Ireland with the Royal Irish Fusils, they then did
emigrate and as one of our listeners there said, settled

(00:45):
in Cashmere, suburb of christ So.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
What I find amazing about it is that because we
announced the news about an arranten minutes ago in all
of New Zealand, you know, sort of the ear came
out of us like a balloon, and they did it.
And then my phone started binging all over the place
from paid Is in America and in the UK as well,
and the breaking news sam neil As did so he's

(01:07):
very close to us, but he's actually very close to
the whole world. This is a big story, yes it is.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
And he was a wonderful actor and the obviously very
sad that he had only recently declared that he was
cancer free, having suffered from a rare form of blood
cancer and being treated for that. But yeah, big loss,
big loss of the industry, big loss of the world.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, his family says that it was sudden and unexpected
and he was blessed by the fact that he remained
cancer free to the end. So something else got and
we'll find out more about that as time goes by. Now,
what is the story behind a Zimbabwean who's appearing in
court in South Africa.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Well, there is a a bit caught hearing shortly in
Johannesburg because the man that is being sought is of
Zimbabwe national on Dardna Schuma, and he left Heathrow Airport
as seen on CCTV on a British passport a couple
of days before. People noticed that they hadn't seen his family,

(02:08):
he or his family around and when police checked, I'm
afraid that his wife and two children shoe children age
fifteen and five were found dead at the family home
in a village in Bedfordshire, which is to the north
of London, and the forty five year old, the father
and the husband, as it were forty five year old
arrested in Kensington, Johannesburg. The Crown Prosecution Service looking to

(02:33):
bring him back to the UK and extradite him on
three murder charges. He was said to be a pretty wealthy,
well to do individual in the world of tech and
lived in a really lovely house. Neighbors said they were
a gorgeous family. Just can't believe all this has happened
to them.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
Now, when you're traveling and you get into a bit
of a strife, you actually go to your local embassy
from your nation to actually ask for advice. A story
is out in the UK about the bizarre sort of
inquiries that people make two UK embassies.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yes, here are a few. I mean these inquiries are bizarre,
but that even more bizarre that you think you could
go to the embassy to ask them. So a British
holiday maker on holiday in Jordan asked where she could
get blonde highlights. Another one went to the embassy in
Paris and said I part my kind near the Eiffel
Tower and now I can't find it. A tourist in

(03:28):
Egypt asked the embassy staff to do something about the
shower temperature at the hotel. A caller asked the Embassy
in Paris how much duck paate they could bring back
to the UK. A brit in Georgia called the Foreign
Office to ask if their two pets could be granted
British citizenship to guarantee diplomatic protection. A holiday in Nigeria

(03:49):
asked the embassy for help seeking a refund for an
unsatisfactory meal two more quick ones. An individual planning to
visit the UK asked their local embassy for assistance in
trying to book tickets for the Royal Asket horse racing,
and of britt asking the Foreign Office Consular service how
to get in touch with their postman while they were away.

(04:10):
The hard and serious messages Foreign Office staff saying it's
some holidays users for what we're meant to be used
for lost passports, medical emergencies, that sort of thing.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
That sort of thing. Hey, Gavin Gray, I thank you
so much. That's Kevin Gray out of the UK.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
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