August 21, 2025 • 31 mins
ALAN CUMMING takes a seat on the TV Topics couch to discuss the explosive 3rd Season of 'The Traitors', the vibe in the Traitors castle, how he would do as a contestant on the show, his dog Lala's time in the spotlight, and more.
Plus we talk about the TV shows that he loves that left an impact on him.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
Hey, where's the remote? It's time for TV Topics, where
those who love television discuss the series and
performances that should be on your radar.
Hello and welcome to TV Topics. This is your host, Stephen
Pisakowski. I'm an entertainment journalist
and a critic with a lifelong love of television.
Over the last decade, I've been conducting interviews with
(00:25):
hundreds of TV's most talented celebrities, including Dick Van
Dyke, Natalie Portman, Bryan Cranston, and so many more.
After speaking with them, I often found myself wondering
what are they watching on TV? So I started a podcast to find
out the answer to that question.For each episode, I invite one
guest to sit down with me to discuss the TV they love, plus
(00:46):
how TV helped shape them and their careers.
Today my guest is the great AlanCumming.
He's the Emmy winning host of The Traders.
Alan has worn many hats both on The Traders and throughout his
career. He's appeared in the X-Men
franchise, James Bond, Spy Kids,The Good Wife, Romeo and
Michelle, Doctor Who, and an array of other projects.
(01:07):
As he mentions during our conversation, he likes to try
new things. That probably explains why he
chose to be a guest on TV Topics.
So grab a seat on the TV Topics couch and enjoy my conversation
with Alan Cumming. Hello Emma.
And coming in today, I'm talkingto Stephen Pusakowski on TV
Topics. First of all, welcome to TV
Topics Island. Thank you and congratulations on
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the Emmy nominations. Also last year's wins, as well
as your incredible guest hostingon Kimmel, which I love so much.
That was just incredible. I, I did not expect that.
I was, I expect kind of simple down the middle and boom, you
went out there and spoke truths.It was fantastic.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
It was a great, I felt glued about it and such a great
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response people. But it's kind of saddened me
that we're so hungry for people actually just saying the truth
and speaking up, you know, but we're, we're all so scared.
So it was a double edged sword, but I'm really, really glad I
did it and I haven't been deported yet.
You know what, there has to be leaders and and people will
follow as you recede. Currently on a daily basis
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people follow. So if we get the right leaders
out there, hopefully 12310 a dozen, 1000 a million will
follow behind. That's true.
It's yeah. And it's something that's, you
know, we've got to try and be optimistic in times.
Which is which is not easy thesedays.
I'll see so. We're going to get into your
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work on The Traders in just a few, but first let's talk some
TV topics. Remember, there's no pressure,
no right or wrong answers. It's all a bit of fun.
Looking back over the years, what has your relationship with
television been? Were you ATV junkie who watches
everything? Were you very selective?
Do you have go to shows? I'm sort of my relationship with
TV is, is kind of, I have a, a sort of a, an affair.
(02:56):
It's sort of a sort of like a fuck buddy.
Can you say that? Sure.
Yeah, I'm sort of like sort of afuck buddy.
It's a regular but sporadic thing, and enjoyable, but
sporadic. And you know, yeah, I'm not, I'm
not, I'm not a big TV watcher. Well, is there a prime time
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show? One that you remember really
loving like the first one, no matter how good or bad it was.
That was your show. A prime time show.
I loved Starskin Hutch. The original Starskin Hutch.
I used to love that. That was so great.
I loved Huggy Bear. I loved her car.
(03:37):
Yeah, I was a big Starskin Hutchfan.
Was it the well, that era was happening while it happened, But
what what about it? Was there something in
particular? Well, you know, I was a little
boy in Scotland and it just seemed like such a magical land.
And I just loved how sort of they were kind of like lawless a
little. They were kind of so they sort
of seemed to be able to do what they wanted.
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And you know, it was my kind of introduction to America actually
was through those shows Tusking Hutch and I guess Hawaii 5 OA
little bit as well. Although it's really quite
exotic. It makes America seem really
exotic. I mean, everywhere's exotic.
If you don't know what it is, sure, but I still think it's
quite exotic. In those days, the lawlessness
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was actually on the good side, which seems like we kind of
shifted the the goal posts or something recently.
Yes, it. Shows you the need for rules to
be adhered to. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Even if it is a, you know, a buddy cop show.
So what about shows that make you laugh?
Is is there a one that stands out?
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Is there something you put on ifyou or something that will make
you laugh consistently? I usually, it's usually British
shows I put on like there's a, there's a, there's a comedian
who's actually dead now called Victoria Wood and her TV shows,
her sort of TV specials are absolutely such brilliant,
hilarious writing and sort of her, her observation of language
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are, you know, just just tremendous.
So I, I things like that she wrote it.
There was a sort of a, a thing which like a fate, a sitcom
called Acorn Antiques as a sort of ATV show set in an antique
shop that she did as a sketch. And then they did a behind the
scenes of the TV show of the antique shop and that was is one
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of the funniest things. I still do lines from it with my
friends. So yeah, I would think Victoria
Wood. Is there a stand out like
something that I can if I wantedto find one episode or one
special that I can tune into? But I still it's got Victoria
Wood as seen on TV. But I would say I would say the
one which is the behind the scenes.
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I don't know if it's Christmas special or something, but it was
the behind the scenes of Acorn Antiques is hilarious hilarious.
I will go look for that. It's also bits about, you know,
there's lines when they're rehearsing and they're all, you
know, they're sort of, you know,that way that people have little
sweaters tied around their shoulders and they've got their
scripts and they're going. And so I move over here and I
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say my line and the camera's on me then isn't it Simon?
Simon. Yes.
Tea break, Tea break. OK Simon.
Like that. So they do they, I, I do that
when I'm rehearsing a thing. This is a sort of a laugh to see
if people I've got any sort of, you know, joke in them.
I'll be I'll say. So I'm doing I'll say this here
and then the camera's on me, isn't it?
And the camera, you're basicallyon my face and more of AD brick,
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right. And to see what there's I have
to be able to go. Oh yes, of course.
I'm like, I was kidding. Do people ever take it wrong?
Oh man, this guy's a real a realdouche.
Yes, yes it does. It can backfire.
It's also like the thing I used to say when I would go sit in
the makeup chair for the first time on a new job.
And then some would say, you know, So what were you thinking
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for your character? And I would always say, oh, I
think I should have dyed blonde hair.
And maybe it's a little bit of blue eyeshadow and some blush
and a light lipstick. You know, I would always say
that. And one time I was doing this
film and I said I thought I'd goblonde and have a perm.
And they said, actually, we werethinking about curling your hair
and taking it down a few tones. What that meant was I had this
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terrible old granny. You know, like when old ladies
wash their hair and it goes liketight, tight curls.
And they made my hair red. So I'd like a ginger mop on my
head for months. So I've kind of stopped doing
that now. It sort of sort of backfire.
Jokes sometimes backfire, especially when you have that
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type of humour where people havea very difficult time reading
it. And, and I, I, I know that from
experience where people years later will say, oh, that was a
joke. I'm like, how did you not know
my, even my daughters? I'm like, you didn't know I've
been your dad since you've been born.
You don't know my humour, but. I always say that to my husband.
I say if you have to explain it,then it's not really a joke.
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You know what I mean? If you have to say oh that was a
joke because blah blah blah blahblah, not a joke.
I never explained it, but if you, my thing is, if you don't
understand the joke, I think youneed a little more time with
people and you need to read it better.
But that's just, you know. I'm a jerk objective.
So how about with TV Magic time?Is there one character, no
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matter what the time period or genre, that you would have liked
to have played? And the the original performance
will still remain. So that'll continue, but you
will get your chance to to use your instincts in that part.
I think I'd like to have been the $6 million man.
Oh. I'd love to see that.
That's fantastic. I liked, I was obsessed with
that show, too, when I was a little boy, and I just think it
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would be, yeah, I loved Lee Majors, but I think I could I
could make him a bit more kooky.I could see that, yeah.
Sort of an eccentric. An eccentric $6 million, of
course it would be something like $600 million, man, now
would probably. Would you want to do it back
then and and step into it in the70s?
Or I mean, I think, I think all the things that I, you know, I'm
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talking about all these shows, they're all kind of from a lot
from a, from a another time. I actually love sort of the
period nature of I'd much ratherdo something that was a period
film or you know, than a contemporary one just because
it's sort of another layer to hide yourself in and to merge
yourself. And I like it much better.
So yeah, I think I would be likein the 70s.
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So it probably would be. I'd be like the sort of two and
a half million dollar man maybe.The the best use of slow motion
ever. That with the sound effect it
worked. That was it.
And then there was the bionic woman.
I loved it. She would when she had her
bionic ear, and she would alwaysgo like this with her hair, just
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so you knew, she was listening. Like she had a bionic ear, for
God's sake. She didn't need to pull her hair
back here to her hair, but they all.
The hair would have ruined everything.
Had a close up of her hair goingback like that.
I loved that. And what was.
And he had a bionic eye. I think he could see.
Yeah, I think so. Yeah.
Yeah, I love. I had the the action figures
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that you can open the arms and see inside of them and yeah,
just pretty fantastic. And he was married to fire a
faucet. Yes.
So that was that was exciting. I had one of those fire a faucet
posters, you know the one which they're going at this.
Sure. And our own, yeah.
Who doesn't know? It young people.
(10:27):
Too true. Let's head into some of the
traders a little bit. You've had such a cool career.
X-Men, James Bond, Tony Winner, The Good Wife, Romeo and
Michelle. What made you want to host The
Traitors? I didn't.
It was just sort of, it was thismistake, you know, they just
sort of asked. I mean, I didn't seek it out.
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It just sort of came to me. And I guess what made me do it
was the people involved. They were just seemed really
nice. I mean, I, my agent said, oh,
there's some show in a murder show in a castle.
They want you to host. I was like, what?
And so I met with them on Zoom and they were just really
lovely. And I sort of started to get the
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hang of it and, and we I said, Igo.
I said, oh, so you should be really theatrical.
She'd be like a James Bond villain.
They're like, yes. I said, maybe I could bring my
dog and, and pet her. Like, you know, James Bond
villains always have patting pets.
And so that's why Lala's in it, my dog.
And and then also I watched the Dutch version of it because
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based on a Dutch show and I watched the Dutch version, I was
obsessed with it. So it was really, it was just
kind of like something differentand the nice people, you know,
the nice people. And I thought they seemed fun to
it was a bit of jumping off a Cliff that, you know, I didn't
know what I was doing a whole new thing.
But you know, if it's nice people, what's what's the worst
thing that can happen? It's, you know, gets cancelled.
So yeah, that, that was why it wasn't like I sought it.
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But I've, I think it's a really great idea to be open to new
things and to sort of, you know,not be bound by what you've done
before just to, I've always donethat actually.
And I think it's a bit confusingto people that you sort of
someone like me, you know, in, in certain films or doing these
plays and then suddenly you're doing a reality show.
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But I like it. I like I have eclectic tastes
and I think that's reflected in my career.
That's great. That's you know how I try to
take on the world and like when you eat, don't try the things
you've had before, try somethingnew.
And if you don't like it, well, you don't.
And if you do, maybe this is your the best thing ever.
You know, maybe this is the pathyou want for the rest of your
life. So you'll never know if you sit
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back and say, well, I'll just continue the same old, same old.
So which I I appreciate in your career is that every time I see
you in something new, I'm like, Oh, well, I didn't expect that,
but you know, you come out like it, like Kimmel came out and
nailed it. I was like, really just
fantastic. Yeah, that's, yeah, I, I, that's
what I want to keep doing. I've, I've always, I do as I've
always done that. But now I guess, you know, when
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you've been around the block a few times, when people know you
from different things, people realize, oh, he's that guy and
all these different things. And that's it's actually very
satisfying. It's such a fun show to watch
and when I'm watching it, it's I'm like very engaged,
questioning some of their decisions, their paranoia and
all the madness of what goes on during those banishments.
What is the vibe in the castle? Is it very cutthroat and intense
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like it is on TV? In the round tables, it's very,
very tense and they play this scary music.
They leave, they take them into the room and they play this
scary music for about 5 minutes and then I come in at the end of
the thing. So it's very, it's sort of there
is a, it's engineered to be really stressful and, and often
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they're really scared to talk, you know, so that's, and then it
gets really brutal, sometimes really brutal.
And I have to sort of, sometimesI have to intervene.
But the rest, you know, the, in the, in the bits when they're
all sort of gossiping and plotting and everything, I'm not
really a part of that, but I canwatch it.
I watch it from my lair upstairs.
You know, I've got a little, I've got this screen in the
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room. I get ready and I can see
everybody. So it's not, I mean, I think
it's, it is, it is pretty similar to the, the vibe that
you see. There's lots of hushed
conversations and then, and thenthey have, you know, then they
have their dinner and they're all just chatting.
And then the, the round table isthe thing though, that is just,
it's, I mean, it's very, very heightened and a lot of emotion
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and there's a lot of tears and, and screaming and, you know,
some really brutal moments. So it's, it's always exciting
though. I love it.
Yeah, there's a lot of big personalities.
So you wonder, is it played up or is it legit?
And it sounds like it's legit the way when they see these
people crying and we see them feeling betrayed and all the
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different, you know, array of emotions that go on there.
It feels legit. And I'm happy to hear it is.
Yeah. And it's sort of like, you know,
it's sort of like psychological torture.
These people are in a bubble. They're not allowed their
phones. Don't you know, they're in this?
They sort of become obsessed with the game and they become
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obsessed with the idea of the sort of, you know, they take it
personally. They they, they start, you know,
even though they know it's a game.
And then but they actually started to say things that make
no sense and begs to say stuff that I would never, I could
never be a traitor. You think, yes, you could if I
tapped you on the shoulder. So it's just that lose the
reason and it's you just see them kind of getting sucked into
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this vortex of irrationality andyou know, it's always around
sort of episode 6 or so that yousee that, oh, they're gone.
It's and that's when it becomes sort of Lord of the Flies with
Botox. I'm sure you have to.
I'm sure you have to keep your distance like you know, and keep
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a wall between you as the host and them as the players.
But you ever want to stop it in the game and tell somebody like
you are messing this up, Like wake up?
All the time. Shake him a little.
Bit all the time I'm just like have to like there's sometimes I
want to scream at how stupid they're being or what, you know,
like this clearly, like like in this last season, clearly it was
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bought. Boston Rob is a traitor.
I mean, it made it made me. I mean, he left so many clues
clearly and yet he managed to. He said this so sort of
charismatic and sort of devious.He managed to squirm out of it
and they voted off. Where's one time?
I just thought I could not believe it.
It was, I mean, he kind of shot himself in the foot.
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But yeah, it's, it's it's, it's so hard not to just slap them.
I and Melanie Alinsky on on TV topics and we got into the
traders a little bit and then wefor like 3 minutes, we kept
talking like we got to stop. But we're talking about Boston
Rob's kind of his missteps that at first seemed like he was
making the right steps. Then it was like, you know, like
you said, shot himself in the foot.
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But it's funny to hear it from somebody across across the
globe, completely different lifefrom me.
And we're all enjoying this because there's something about
it that just makes you want to play and want to want to watch
these people sometimes self destruct.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's a psychological
minefield, you know, and I thinkthat's what I I used to think it
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was just about the fact that we could see people lying, watch
people lying, watch people having to lie.
And because it's something that we we all lie all the time, but
we never get to sort of watch people knowing that they're
lying or rarely. But I think it's actually more
of a general psychological, you go down this, you go with them.
It's very sort of immersive. And I suppose the fact that it's
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all takes place in that castle and it's also just spooky that
it makes you kind of go on this journey with these people.
You kind of become immersed in this morass of of lies and and
so it's sort of ego with them onthis sort of psychological mind
fuck. You're locked in there with them
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in that same castle. Yeah.
So I read that you often play a a puppeteer, that you are a
trickster. You, you know, you're kind of
very involved on set in ways that weren't probably put in the
contract. What are some of your juiciest
additions to the game? Well, I think it's mostly like
the what I say, like I, I quote Shakespeare all the time.
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I've quoted Plato, I've quoted Goethe.
I mean, all these hilarious authors and things that have
been, you know, tracts of text I've been quoted.
I don't think any other competition reality show has
ever had so many Shakespearean quotes spouted.
(18:43):
That's one of them, I suppose. I suppose also my dog Lala.
I don't, I think I've brought on, brought me, you know, pushed
her to international stardom. I think she's a great silent
movie actress. She has somebody has to the dog,
the noise that she make when shemakes sort of noises, they're
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all dubbed because it's not her.She never makes a noise.
She never barks. So there's some dog somewhere in
a sound library that's dubbing Lala because she's like, that's
why I think she's like a silent movie star.
She just communicates with our eyes.
Some years, some years later, it's going to be like a Milli
Vanilli where this another dog is suing your dog like I want
my. Money that.
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Was my wine. So if you could play the game,
would you want to be a traitor or faithful?
And how long would you last? I think it's so arbitrary.
I really do. I mean, I think I would
obviously want to be a traitor. It's much more fun, I think.
Is it a tactical thing? I mean, I think when you look at
it, you probably got more likelihood of lasting longer as
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a faithful just by the law of arithmetic.
But because I mean very, I mean,apart from Siri, she was so she
was, she went all the way through.
Most of the traders kind of get,you know, booted out and you
know, there's such carnage in this last series.
None of the ones at the beginning were there at the end.
(20:12):
So I. But it's, it's much more fun
and, and I, I, I, I mean, for meanyway, I would like, I like
that. And I don't know.
I mean, I think it's I, I don't,it's such a game of chance.
You know, you, you think you're doing really well.
I remember once, years and yearsago, I did that the weakest
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link, they had a sort of celebrity weakest link and I was
on it and I was seeing so well and I was, you know, winning and
everything. And then I realized that the
other people had, you know, plotted against me and I was
booted out. And I was, I remember I was
feeling so naive that I hadn't, I just thought, oh, I'm doing
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well, I'm going to win. And then I thought, no, when
you're doing well, that's when the other people form alliances
and screw you over. So I got a little taste of it,
but I that feeling was just terrible.
So I don't know, I, I don't knowthat I'm, I don't know that
anyone who can be that prepared for what goes on in that castle.
It it does, it really screws with your mind.
(21:15):
Yeah, it's going to be tough because even if you come in as a
trader and you know, your job isto lie, you're still I think can
overplay it, underplay it, be naive.
You know, the faithfuls are, areout there blind and just having
to have faith. You know, it's in their name.
They have to be faithful. They have to find and decide
what that path is. Who is it that I'm going to
latch on to? Who is it that I'm going to
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believe? Who's going to be my ally while
the traitors are just out there lying?
You're like, well, which one is my game?
I, I don't know, I think, I think I'd go traitor.
Yeah, I think. And also you have to remember
they are obsessed. They are, they are for weeks and
weeks. They have nothing else to think
about, but they just eat, breathe and sleep this game.
And they get and they spiral andthey get paranoid and they make
(22:00):
terrible pack mentality decisions.
They're all just in this, you know, it's, it's like a, it's an
immersive, utterly immersive bubble.
And they they go mad, they lose their reason, which makes
television but also not a good decisions on their part.
(22:22):
I'm looking forward to the next season.
After carnage. Before we close outlet's, let's
do a few more TV topics. OK, you rub your remote control,
Genie comes out and offers you this TV based wish.
What TV show do you want one more season of?
It can be a prequel, something in the middle or one at the end,
any way you want and ever in thewhole cast would come back.
(22:42):
It does not matter. It's again, it's magic.
I think I'd like, I'd like another season of The Sopranos,
just because it was so good, of course, but also the sort of
debate about the ending, you know, I have my ideas about.
(23:03):
I think, well, clearly they're about to get all shot and
murdered, but maybe they're not.And I love I, I would love that.
I would love to see it in some more.
And I actually love the idea of,you know, going, there's a few
things that I've been working on, like projects that have
been, I did decades ago are coming back, you know, in
(23:24):
various forms. And it's really nice to go.
But like the X-Men thing, it's quite nice to go back to a
character after many, many yearsand see.
So I actually would love to see where they all are now because I
really, I just love that. And I came to it very late.
I used to watch it. I'd fly all the time, but I and
they had it on Delta and I used to, it was so exciting.
(23:47):
Every time I'd go on a plane, I'd just to watch endless
Sopranos. So yeah, that was that's what
I'd like. It's a great choice and you'd
like to see where they all are now, even if that means the
whole family's in a cemetery plot.
Yes, yes, it might be a very short live it's.
Just a one episode season might.Be a picture that'd be
affordable. How about favorite theme song,
(24:09):
one that you cannot skip and if you want to sing it you got to
growth Gold Star? Favorite theme song?
What do you think? Oh you don't?
I love Cagney and Lacey. Oh, you're going back.
(24:34):
I, I, I know the show. I don't remember.
I know the, the actresses. I don't know the the theme song.
Oh my God, I I love the themes I've got.
There was a great and then what was the other one that again, it
started from the 70's. The one that was Ellie was the
policeman thing. It was a very popular chin.
Hill Street Blues. Hill Street Blues.
(24:55):
Yeah, I can't remember it right now, but that was a really good
one. Like that's a piano.
Right. Yeah, like all those.
Yeah, I know a lot of the time now they don't really have theme
tunes. Like when I did The Good Wife,
we didn't really have a theme tune.
(25:15):
It just sort of went, you know, it didn't have a sort of a tune.
It was just a sort of kind of, Idon't know, it's a bit like a
sort of more violent version of what you'd get in a massage
room. And it was.
And it just sort of did that. I think we did that sort of pack
more content into the show, you know?
(25:36):
Yeah. More commercials, probably.
You are commercial. Yeah.
Because, I mean, basically what we do is just like a filling
lettuce and tomato in the middleof a sandwich making money for
cornflakes. Yeah.
So I, I think I miss AI, miss a good theme tune these days.
Yeah, I mean, I agree. So let's move on.
(25:57):
How about the greatest TV momentin TV history according to Alan
Cumming? The greatest TV moment in TV
history, I think is going to come in Season 4 of The
Traitors. There is something that happens
that is just so insane. And so they go fucking nuts and
(26:20):
there's some behaviour that happens because of it that is
just outlandish. So it's I honestly, it's
certainly the best moment of Traitors TV history.
And Traitors is probably the show that I've watched most
these days. So I'll just leave it at that.
I like it. That's a that's a nice teaser.
I was watching anyways, but now I'm like, all right, that sounds
(26:43):
that sounds intriguing. It's going pretty good.
And there's been some good moments already, so to to
already top those is saying a lot.
Yeah. So how about four TV shows that
make up your TV Mount Rushmore? And this does not have to be
What are the best shows? These are the four shows that
Alan Cumming would forever remember.
Well, the Soplanos, gosh, I'm going to say adolescence.
(27:08):
I just think that's such an incredible show.
There's this season and well, I think will change people's
perceptions of what TV can be. There's a British show called
The More Common Wise Show that Iwatched when I was a little boy
that was just so I loved so much.
What is it? What's that about?
There are two comedians called Markham and Wise, Eric Markham
(27:30):
and Ernie Wise, and they just did little sketches and things
and they had a song called BringMe Sunshine in Your Smile, Bring
Me Laughter. All the while, in this world
where we live, there should be more happiness, So much joy we
can give with each brand new bright tomorrow, Bring Me
Sunshine. So it's very uplifting.
And they were just sort of surreal, slightly surreal
(27:52):
characters. And so I loved them.
And I think I'd go for Victoria Wood as well I could.
Absolute genius. So Victoria Wood, Markman, Wise,
Sopranos and Adelaire since Wow to get it at last.
What the variety there? And the final question, if you
had a magic door, one that allowed you to access and live
(28:14):
in any TV show whenever you want, popping in, popping out,
and you didn't have to give up your real life, so when you
walked into that world, your regular life paused and you walk
out, it continues. Which show would it be and why?
I think right now it would be what you call it, the sort of
the, the, the, the Gilded Age. Because I would like to go into
(28:36):
that world and tell them to shutup and stop talking about
cutlery and things like that andto get a life.
It annoys me so much. So there are all the plots
about, oh, she had the wrong kind of napkins and things like
that. I mean, I really enjoy it, but
I, I, I get annoyed by the fact that I'm becoming, I'm so
obsessed about the fact that, you know, someone's Butler had,
(28:57):
wouldn't give them a knife or something.
So yes, that's what I'd do. I'd go in and kind of slap them
all and then walk out with the club, the nice club, I would
slap them. Because you have access to this
all from this day forward. So when you weren't slapping
them around and and scolding them for cutlery conversations,
what else would you do? That era of of England.
(29:17):
I would swan around in the carriage.
I would like maybe, I mean it's not really the right period,
but. I was in America.
It's in America, Yeah, it's in New York.
I would swan around in a carriage and I would.
I love the thing of when you come to someone's house with a
card and you leave a card. I would, I would leave a lot of
cards at people's houses and things like that.
(29:39):
I'd be very busy, actually. I'd be very, very associable.
Yeah, yeah. Hilarious, though.
I just think I have a sort of love hate relationship with that
show. I really do enjoy watching it,
but I as I say, I want to slap everybody.
It's a great cast and but I can understand well.
Thank you so much for being an amazing guest, for your fine
work across genres, across everything, even including
(30:00):
Doctor Who, which I didn't get to see you this year, this
season, but I did get to hear your voice, which is quite
fantastic. I was like I I enjoy the episode
and I was surprised to see it was you.
It's me. There I am.
Through space and time, genre and and and everything else.
So thank you so much. Thank you, Steven.
Nice to talk to you. Nice to talk to you as well and
(30:21):
good luck with this upcoming season.
I'm looking forward to the explosion.
What's out? Bye.
Well, thank you to Alan Cumming for being my guest and be sure
to check out his work on The Traders, which is streaming on
Peacock with, as you said, an explosive third season on its
way. Keep tuning into TV topics and
be sure to subscribe on Spotify or Apple podcast or wherever you
(30:41):
find your podcast. And if you really enjoy the
show, please give it a five starrating.
It really helps. You can also follow TV topics on
Instagram at TV under score topics.
Thanks for listening and stay tuned for more TV topics.
TV Topics is produced by Steven Prusakowski.
ZAP.
Hey, where's the remote? It's time for TV Topics, where
those who love television discuss the series and
performances that should be on your radar.
Hello and welcome to TV Topics. This is your host, Stephen
Pisakowski. I'm an entertainment journalist
and a critic with a lifelong love of television.
Over the last decade, I've been conducting interviews with
(00:25):
hundreds of TV's most talented celebrities, including Dick Van
Dyke, Natalie Portman, Bryan Cranston, and so many more.
After speaking with them, I often found myself wondering
what are they watching on TV? So I started a podcast to find
out the answer to that question.For each episode, I invite one
guest to sit down with me to discuss the TV they love, plus
(00:46):
how TV helped shape them and their careers.
Today my guest is the great AlanCumming.
He's the Emmy winning host of The Traders.
Alan has worn many hats both on The Traders and throughout his
career. He's appeared in the X-Men
franchise, James Bond, Spy Kids,The Good Wife, Romeo and
Michelle, Doctor Who, and an array of other projects.
(01:07):
As he mentions during our conversation, he likes to try
new things. That probably explains why he
chose to be a guest on TV Topics.
So grab a seat on the TV Topics couch and enjoy my conversation
with Alan Cumming. Hello Emma.
And coming in today, I'm talkingto Stephen Pusakowski on TV
Topics. First of all, welcome to TV
Topics Island. Thank you and congratulations on
(01:27):
the Emmy nominations. Also last year's wins, as well
as your incredible guest hostingon Kimmel, which I love so much.
That was just incredible. I, I did not expect that.
I was, I expect kind of simple down the middle and boom, you
went out there and spoke truths.It was fantastic.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
It was a great, I felt glued about it and such a great
(01:50):
response people. But it's kind of saddened me
that we're so hungry for people actually just saying the truth
and speaking up, you know, but we're, we're all so scared.
So it was a double edged sword, but I'm really, really glad I
did it and I haven't been deported yet.
You know what, there has to be leaders and and people will
follow as you recede. Currently on a daily basis
(02:10):
people follow. So if we get the right leaders
out there, hopefully 12310 a dozen, 1000 a million will
follow behind. That's true.
It's yeah. And it's something that's, you
know, we've got to try and be optimistic in times.
Which is which is not easy thesedays.
I'll see so. We're going to get into your
(02:31):
work on The Traders in just a few, but first let's talk some
TV topics. Remember, there's no pressure,
no right or wrong answers. It's all a bit of fun.
Looking back over the years, what has your relationship with
television been? Were you ATV junkie who watches
everything? Were you very selective?
Do you have go to shows? I'm sort of my relationship with
TV is, is kind of, I have a, a sort of a, an affair.
(02:56):
It's sort of a sort of like a fuck buddy.
Can you say that? Sure.
Yeah, I'm sort of like sort of afuck buddy.
It's a regular but sporadic thing, and enjoyable, but
sporadic. And you know, yeah, I'm not, I'm
not, I'm not a big TV watcher. Well, is there a prime time
(03:17):
show? One that you remember really
loving like the first one, no matter how good or bad it was.
That was your show. A prime time show.
I loved Starskin Hutch. The original Starskin Hutch.
I used to love that. That was so great.
I loved Huggy Bear. I loved her car.
(03:37):
Yeah, I was a big Starskin Hutchfan.
Was it the well, that era was happening while it happened, But
what what about it? Was there something in
particular? Well, you know, I was a little
boy in Scotland and it just seemed like such a magical land.
And I just loved how sort of they were kind of like lawless a
little. They were kind of so they sort
of seemed to be able to do what they wanted.
(03:59):
And you know, it was my kind of introduction to America actually
was through those shows Tusking Hutch and I guess Hawaii 5 OA
little bit as well. Although it's really quite
exotic. It makes America seem really
exotic. I mean, everywhere's exotic.
If you don't know what it is, sure, but I still think it's
quite exotic. In those days, the lawlessness
(04:22):
was actually on the good side, which seems like we kind of
shifted the the goal posts or something recently.
Yes, it. Shows you the need for rules to
be adhered to. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Even if it is a, you know, a buddy cop show.
So what about shows that make you laugh?
Is is there a one that stands out?
(04:42):
Is there something you put on ifyou or something that will make
you laugh consistently? I usually, it's usually British
shows I put on like there's a, there's a, there's a comedian
who's actually dead now called Victoria Wood and her TV shows,
her sort of TV specials are absolutely such brilliant,
hilarious writing and sort of her, her observation of language
(05:04):
are, you know, just just tremendous.
So I, I things like that she wrote it.
There was a sort of a, a thing which like a fate, a sitcom
called Acorn Antiques as a sort of ATV show set in an antique
shop that she did as a sketch. And then they did a behind the
scenes of the TV show of the antique shop and that was is one
(05:25):
of the funniest things. I still do lines from it with my
friends. So yeah, I would think Victoria
Wood. Is there a stand out like
something that I can if I wantedto find one episode or one
special that I can tune into? But I still it's got Victoria
Wood as seen on TV. But I would say I would say the
one which is the behind the scenes.
(05:47):
I don't know if it's Christmas special or something, but it was
the behind the scenes of Acorn Antiques is hilarious hilarious.
I will go look for that. It's also bits about, you know,
there's lines when they're rehearsing and they're all, you
know, they're sort of, you know,that way that people have little
sweaters tied around their shoulders and they've got their
scripts and they're going. And so I move over here and I
(06:07):
say my line and the camera's on me then isn't it Simon?
Simon. Yes.
Tea break, Tea break. OK Simon.
Like that. So they do they, I, I do that
when I'm rehearsing a thing. This is a sort of a laugh to see
if people I've got any sort of, you know, joke in them.
I'll be I'll say. So I'm doing I'll say this here
and then the camera's on me, isn't it?
And the camera, you're basicallyon my face and more of AD brick,
(06:28):
right. And to see what there's I have
to be able to go. Oh yes, of course.
I'm like, I was kidding. Do people ever take it wrong?
Oh man, this guy's a real a realdouche.
Yes, yes it does. It can backfire.
It's also like the thing I used to say when I would go sit in
the makeup chair for the first time on a new job.
And then some would say, you know, So what were you thinking
(06:49):
for your character? And I would always say, oh, I
think I should have dyed blonde hair.
And maybe it's a little bit of blue eyeshadow and some blush
and a light lipstick. You know, I would always say
that. And one time I was doing this
film and I said I thought I'd goblonde and have a perm.
And they said, actually, we werethinking about curling your hair
and taking it down a few tones. What that meant was I had this
(07:09):
terrible old granny. You know, like when old ladies
wash their hair and it goes liketight, tight curls.
And they made my hair red. So I'd like a ginger mop on my
head for months. So I've kind of stopped doing
that now. It sort of sort of backfire.
Jokes sometimes backfire, especially when you have that
(07:30):
type of humour where people havea very difficult time reading
it. And, and I, I, I know that from
experience where people years later will say, oh, that was a
joke. I'm like, how did you not know
my, even my daughters? I'm like, you didn't know I've
been your dad since you've been born.
You don't know my humour, but. I always say that to my husband.
I say if you have to explain it,then it's not really a joke.
(07:53):
You know what I mean? If you have to say oh that was a
joke because blah blah blah blahblah, not a joke.
I never explained it, but if you, my thing is, if you don't
understand the joke, I think youneed a little more time with
people and you need to read it better.
But that's just, you know. I'm a jerk objective.
So how about with TV Magic time?Is there one character, no
(08:14):
matter what the time period or genre, that you would have liked
to have played? And the the original performance
will still remain. So that'll continue, but you
will get your chance to to use your instincts in that part.
I think I'd like to have been the $6 million man.
Oh. I'd love to see that.
That's fantastic. I liked, I was obsessed with
that show, too, when I was a little boy, and I just think it
(08:39):
would be, yeah, I loved Lee Majors, but I think I could I
could make him a bit more kooky.I could see that, yeah.
Sort of an eccentric. An eccentric $6 million, of
course it would be something like $600 million, man, now
would probably. Would you want to do it back
then and and step into it in the70s?
Or I mean, I think, I think all the things that I, you know, I'm
(09:00):
talking about all these shows, they're all kind of from a lot
from a, from a another time. I actually love sort of the
period nature of I'd much ratherdo something that was a period
film or you know, than a contemporary one just because
it's sort of another layer to hide yourself in and to merge
yourself. And I like it much better.
So yeah, I think I would be likein the 70s.
(09:22):
So it probably would be. I'd be like the sort of two and
a half million dollar man maybe.The the best use of slow motion
ever. That with the sound effect it
worked. That was it.
And then there was the bionic woman.
I loved it. She would when she had her
bionic ear, and she would alwaysgo like this with her hair, just
(09:44):
so you knew, she was listening. Like she had a bionic ear, for
God's sake. She didn't need to pull her hair
back here to her hair, but they all.
The hair would have ruined everything.
Had a close up of her hair goingback like that.
I loved that. And what was.
And he had a bionic eye. I think he could see.
Yeah, I think so. Yeah.
Yeah, I love. I had the the action figures
(10:04):
that you can open the arms and see inside of them and yeah,
just pretty fantastic. And he was married to fire a
faucet. Yes.
So that was that was exciting. I had one of those fire a faucet
posters, you know the one which they're going at this.
Sure. And our own, yeah.
Who doesn't know? It young people.
(10:27):
Too true. Let's head into some of the
traders a little bit. You've had such a cool career.
X-Men, James Bond, Tony Winner, The Good Wife, Romeo and
Michelle. What made you want to host The
Traitors? I didn't.
It was just sort of, it was thismistake, you know, they just
sort of asked. I mean, I didn't seek it out.
(10:47):
It just sort of came to me. And I guess what made me do it
was the people involved. They were just seemed really
nice. I mean, I, my agent said, oh,
there's some show in a murder show in a castle.
They want you to host. I was like, what?
And so I met with them on Zoom and they were just really
lovely. And I sort of started to get the
(11:09):
hang of it and, and we I said, Igo.
I said, oh, so you should be really theatrical.
She'd be like a James Bond villain.
They're like, yes. I said, maybe I could bring my
dog and, and pet her. Like, you know, James Bond
villains always have patting pets.
And so that's why Lala's in it, my dog.
And and then also I watched the Dutch version of it because
(11:30):
based on a Dutch show and I watched the Dutch version, I was
obsessed with it. So it was really, it was just
kind of like something differentand the nice people, you know,
the nice people. And I thought they seemed fun to
it was a bit of jumping off a Cliff that, you know, I didn't
know what I was doing a whole new thing.
But you know, if it's nice people, what's what's the worst
thing that can happen? It's, you know, gets cancelled.
So yeah, that, that was why it wasn't like I sought it.
(11:53):
But I've, I think it's a really great idea to be open to new
things and to sort of, you know,not be bound by what you've done
before just to, I've always donethat actually.
And I think it's a bit confusingto people that you sort of
someone like me, you know, in, in certain films or doing these
plays and then suddenly you're doing a reality show.
(12:13):
But I like it. I like I have eclectic tastes
and I think that's reflected in my career.
That's great. That's you know how I try to
take on the world and like when you eat, don't try the things
you've had before, try somethingnew.
And if you don't like it, well, you don't.
And if you do, maybe this is your the best thing ever.
You know, maybe this is the pathyou want for the rest of your
life. So you'll never know if you sit
(12:34):
back and say, well, I'll just continue the same old, same old.
So which I I appreciate in your career is that every time I see
you in something new, I'm like, Oh, well, I didn't expect that,
but you know, you come out like it, like Kimmel came out and
nailed it. I was like, really just
fantastic. Yeah, that's, yeah, I, I, that's
what I want to keep doing. I've, I've always, I do as I've
always done that. But now I guess, you know, when
(12:57):
you've been around the block a few times, when people know you
from different things, people realize, oh, he's that guy and
all these different things. And that's it's actually very
satisfying. It's such a fun show to watch
and when I'm watching it, it's I'm like very engaged,
questioning some of their decisions, their paranoia and
all the madness of what goes on during those banishments.
What is the vibe in the castle? Is it very cutthroat and intense
(13:17):
like it is on TV? In the round tables, it's very,
very tense and they play this scary music.
They leave, they take them into the room and they play this
scary music for about 5 minutes and then I come in at the end of
the thing. So it's very, it's sort of there
is a, it's engineered to be really stressful and, and often
(13:40):
they're really scared to talk, you know, so that's, and then it
gets really brutal, sometimes really brutal.
And I have to sort of, sometimesI have to intervene.
But the rest, you know, the, in the, in the bits when they're
all sort of gossiping and plotting and everything, I'm not
really a part of that, but I canwatch it.
I watch it from my lair upstairs.
You know, I've got a little, I've got this screen in the
(14:01):
room. I get ready and I can see
everybody. So it's not, I mean, I think
it's, it is, it is pretty similar to the, the vibe that
you see. There's lots of hushed
conversations and then, and thenthey have, you know, then they
have their dinner and they're all just chatting.
And then the, the round table isthe thing though, that is just,
it's, I mean, it's very, very heightened and a lot of emotion
(14:27):
and there's a lot of tears and, and screaming and, you know,
some really brutal moments. So it's, it's always exciting
though. I love it.
Yeah, there's a lot of big personalities.
So you wonder, is it played up or is it legit?
And it sounds like it's legit the way when they see these
people crying and we see them feeling betrayed and all the
(14:47):
different, you know, array of emotions that go on there.
It feels legit. And I'm happy to hear it is.
Yeah. And it's sort of like, you know,
it's sort of like psychological torture.
These people are in a bubble. They're not allowed their
phones. Don't you know, they're in this?
They sort of become obsessed with the game and they become
(15:10):
obsessed with the idea of the sort of, you know, they take it
personally. They they, they start, you know,
even though they know it's a game.
And then but they actually started to say things that make
no sense and begs to say stuff that I would never, I could
never be a traitor. You think, yes, you could if I
tapped you on the shoulder. So it's just that lose the
reason and it's you just see them kind of getting sucked into
(15:31):
this vortex of irrationality andyou know, it's always around
sort of episode 6 or so that yousee that, oh, they're gone.
It's and that's when it becomes sort of Lord of the Flies with
Botox. I'm sure you have to.
I'm sure you have to keep your distance like you know, and keep
(15:52):
a wall between you as the host and them as the players.
But you ever want to stop it in the game and tell somebody like
you are messing this up, Like wake up?
All the time. Shake him a little.
Bit all the time I'm just like have to like there's sometimes I
want to scream at how stupid they're being or what, you know,
like this clearly, like like in this last season, clearly it was
(16:12):
bought. Boston Rob is a traitor.
I mean, it made it made me. I mean, he left so many clues
clearly and yet he managed to. He said this so sort of
charismatic and sort of devious.He managed to squirm out of it
and they voted off. Where's one time?
I just thought I could not believe it.
It was, I mean, he kind of shot himself in the foot.
(16:34):
But yeah, it's, it's it's, it's so hard not to just slap them.
I and Melanie Alinsky on on TV topics and we got into the
traders a little bit and then wefor like 3 minutes, we kept
talking like we got to stop. But we're talking about Boston
Rob's kind of his missteps that at first seemed like he was
making the right steps. Then it was like, you know, like
you said, shot himself in the foot.
(16:55):
But it's funny to hear it from somebody across across the
globe, completely different lifefrom me.
And we're all enjoying this because there's something about
it that just makes you want to play and want to want to watch
these people sometimes self destruct.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's a psychological
minefield, you know, and I thinkthat's what I I used to think it
(17:17):
was just about the fact that we could see people lying, watch
people lying, watch people having to lie.
And because it's something that we we all lie all the time, but
we never get to sort of watch people knowing that they're
lying or rarely. But I think it's actually more
of a general psychological, you go down this, you go with them.
It's very sort of immersive. And I suppose the fact that it's
(17:39):
all takes place in that castle and it's also just spooky that
it makes you kind of go on this journey with these people.
You kind of become immersed in this morass of of lies and and
so it's sort of ego with them onthis sort of psychological mind
fuck. You're locked in there with them
(18:00):
in that same castle. Yeah.
So I read that you often play a a puppeteer, that you are a
trickster. You, you know, you're kind of
very involved on set in ways that weren't probably put in the
contract. What are some of your juiciest
additions to the game? Well, I think it's mostly like
the what I say, like I, I quote Shakespeare all the time.
(18:20):
I've quoted Plato, I've quoted Goethe.
I mean, all these hilarious authors and things that have
been, you know, tracts of text I've been quoted.
I don't think any other competition reality show has
ever had so many Shakespearean quotes spouted.
(18:43):
That's one of them, I suppose. I suppose also my dog Lala.
I don't, I think I've brought on, brought me, you know, pushed
her to international stardom. I think she's a great silent
movie actress. She has somebody has to the dog,
the noise that she make when shemakes sort of noises, they're
(19:03):
all dubbed because it's not her.She never makes a noise.
She never barks. So there's some dog somewhere in
a sound library that's dubbing Lala because she's like, that's
why I think she's like a silent movie star.
She just communicates with our eyes.
Some years, some years later, it's going to be like a Milli
Vanilli where this another dog is suing your dog like I want
my. Money that.
(19:28):
Was my wine. So if you could play the game,
would you want to be a traitor or faithful?
And how long would you last? I think it's so arbitrary.
I really do. I mean, I think I would
obviously want to be a traitor. It's much more fun, I think.
Is it a tactical thing? I mean, I think when you look at
it, you probably got more likelihood of lasting longer as
(19:51):
a faithful just by the law of arithmetic.
But because I mean very, I mean,apart from Siri, she was so she
was, she went all the way through.
Most of the traders kind of get,you know, booted out and you
know, there's such carnage in this last series.
None of the ones at the beginning were there at the end.
(20:12):
So I. But it's, it's much more fun
and, and I, I, I, I mean, for meanyway, I would like, I like
that. And I don't know.
I mean, I think it's I, I don't,it's such a game of chance.
You know, you, you think you're doing really well.
I remember once, years and yearsago, I did that the weakest
(20:32):
link, they had a sort of celebrity weakest link and I was
on it and I was seeing so well and I was, you know, winning and
everything. And then I realized that the
other people had, you know, plotted against me and I was
booted out. And I was, I remember I was
feeling so naive that I hadn't, I just thought, oh, I'm doing
(20:54):
well, I'm going to win. And then I thought, no, when
you're doing well, that's when the other people form alliances
and screw you over. So I got a little taste of it,
but I that feeling was just terrible.
So I don't know, I, I don't knowthat I'm, I don't know that
anyone who can be that prepared for what goes on in that castle.
It it does, it really screws with your mind.
(21:15):
Yeah, it's going to be tough because even if you come in as a
trader and you know, your job isto lie, you're still I think can
overplay it, underplay it, be naive.
You know, the faithfuls are, areout there blind and just having
to have faith. You know, it's in their name.
They have to be faithful. They have to find and decide
what that path is. Who is it that I'm going to
latch on to? Who is it that I'm going to
(21:36):
believe? Who's going to be my ally while
the traitors are just out there lying?
You're like, well, which one is my game?
I, I don't know, I think, I think I'd go traitor.
Yeah, I think. And also you have to remember
they are obsessed. They are, they are for weeks and
weeks. They have nothing else to think
about, but they just eat, breathe and sleep this game.
And they get and they spiral andthey get paranoid and they make
(22:00):
terrible pack mentality decisions.
They're all just in this, you know, it's, it's like a, it's an
immersive, utterly immersive bubble.
And they they go mad, they lose their reason, which makes
television but also not a good decisions on their part.
(22:22):
I'm looking forward to the next season.
After carnage. Before we close outlet's, let's
do a few more TV topics. OK, you rub your remote control,
Genie comes out and offers you this TV based wish.
What TV show do you want one more season of?
It can be a prequel, something in the middle or one at the end,
any way you want and ever in thewhole cast would come back.
(22:42):
It does not matter. It's again, it's magic.
I think I'd like, I'd like another season of The Sopranos,
just because it was so good, of course, but also the sort of
debate about the ending, you know, I have my ideas about.
(23:03):
I think, well, clearly they're about to get all shot and
murdered, but maybe they're not.And I love I, I would love that.
I would love to see it in some more.
And I actually love the idea of,you know, going, there's a few
things that I've been working on, like projects that have
been, I did decades ago are coming back, you know, in
(23:24):
various forms. And it's really nice to go.
But like the X-Men thing, it's quite nice to go back to a
character after many, many yearsand see.
So I actually would love to see where they all are now because I
really, I just love that. And I came to it very late.
I used to watch it. I'd fly all the time, but I and
they had it on Delta and I used to, it was so exciting.
(23:47):
Every time I'd go on a plane, I'd just to watch endless
Sopranos. So yeah, that was that's what
I'd like. It's a great choice and you'd
like to see where they all are now, even if that means the
whole family's in a cemetery plot.
Yes, yes, it might be a very short live it's.
Just a one episode season might.Be a picture that'd be
affordable. How about favorite theme song,
(24:09):
one that you cannot skip and if you want to sing it you got to
growth Gold Star? Favorite theme song?
What do you think? Oh you don't?
I love Cagney and Lacey. Oh, you're going back.
(24:34):
I, I, I know the show. I don't remember.
I know the, the actresses. I don't know the the theme song.
Oh my God, I I love the themes I've got.
There was a great and then what was the other one that again, it
started from the 70's. The one that was Ellie was the
policeman thing. It was a very popular chin.
Hill Street Blues. Hill Street Blues.
(24:55):
Yeah, I can't remember it right now, but that was a really good
one. Like that's a piano.
Right. Yeah, like all those.
Yeah, I know a lot of the time now they don't really have theme
tunes. Like when I did The Good Wife,
we didn't really have a theme tune.
(25:15):
It just sort of went, you know, it didn't have a sort of a tune.
It was just a sort of kind of, Idon't know, it's a bit like a
sort of more violent version of what you'd get in a massage
room. And it was.
And it just sort of did that. I think we did that sort of pack
more content into the show, you know?
(25:36):
Yeah. More commercials, probably.
You are commercial. Yeah.
Because, I mean, basically what we do is just like a filling
lettuce and tomato in the middleof a sandwich making money for
cornflakes. Yeah.
So I, I think I miss AI, miss a good theme tune these days.
Yeah, I mean, I agree. So let's move on.
(25:57):
How about the greatest TV momentin TV history according to Alan
Cumming? The greatest TV moment in TV
history, I think is going to come in Season 4 of The
Traitors. There is something that happens
that is just so insane. And so they go fucking nuts and
(26:20):
there's some behaviour that happens because of it that is
just outlandish. So it's I honestly, it's
certainly the best moment of Traitors TV history.
And Traitors is probably the show that I've watched most
these days. So I'll just leave it at that.
I like it. That's a that's a nice teaser.
I was watching anyways, but now I'm like, all right, that sounds
(26:43):
that sounds intriguing. It's going pretty good.
And there's been some good moments already, so to to
already top those is saying a lot.
Yeah. So how about four TV shows that
make up your TV Mount Rushmore? And this does not have to be
What are the best shows? These are the four shows that
Alan Cumming would forever remember.
Well, the Soplanos, gosh, I'm going to say adolescence.
(27:08):
I just think that's such an incredible show.
There's this season and well, I think will change people's
perceptions of what TV can be. There's a British show called
The More Common Wise Show that Iwatched when I was a little boy
that was just so I loved so much.
What is it? What's that about?
There are two comedians called Markham and Wise, Eric Markham
(27:30):
and Ernie Wise, and they just did little sketches and things
and they had a song called BringMe Sunshine in Your Smile, Bring
Me Laughter. All the while, in this world
where we live, there should be more happiness, So much joy we
can give with each brand new bright tomorrow, Bring Me
Sunshine. So it's very uplifting.
And they were just sort of surreal, slightly surreal
(27:52):
characters. And so I loved them.
And I think I'd go for Victoria Wood as well I could.
Absolute genius. So Victoria Wood, Markman, Wise,
Sopranos and Adelaire since Wow to get it at last.
What the variety there? And the final question, if you
had a magic door, one that allowed you to access and live
(28:14):
in any TV show whenever you want, popping in, popping out,
and you didn't have to give up your real life, so when you
walked into that world, your regular life paused and you walk
out, it continues. Which show would it be and why?
I think right now it would be what you call it, the sort of
the, the, the, the Gilded Age. Because I would like to go into
(28:36):
that world and tell them to shutup and stop talking about
cutlery and things like that andto get a life.
It annoys me so much. So there are all the plots
about, oh, she had the wrong kind of napkins and things like
that. I mean, I really enjoy it, but
I, I, I get annoyed by the fact that I'm becoming, I'm so
obsessed about the fact that, you know, someone's Butler had,
(28:57):
wouldn't give them a knife or something.
So yes, that's what I'd do. I'd go in and kind of slap them
all and then walk out with the club, the nice club, I would
slap them. Because you have access to this
all from this day forward. So when you weren't slapping
them around and and scolding them for cutlery conversations,
what else would you do? That era of of England.
(29:17):
I would swan around in the carriage.
I would like maybe, I mean it's not really the right period,
but. I was in America.
It's in America, Yeah, it's in New York.
I would swan around in a carriage and I would.
I love the thing of when you come to someone's house with a
card and you leave a card. I would, I would leave a lot of
cards at people's houses and things like that.
(29:39):
I'd be very busy, actually. I'd be very, very associable.
Yeah, yeah. Hilarious, though.
I just think I have a sort of love hate relationship with that
show. I really do enjoy watching it,
but I as I say, I want to slap everybody.
It's a great cast and but I can understand well.
Thank you so much for being an amazing guest, for your fine
work across genres, across everything, even including
(30:00):
Doctor Who, which I didn't get to see you this year, this
season, but I did get to hear your voice, which is quite
fantastic. I was like I I enjoy the episode
and I was surprised to see it was you.
It's me. There I am.
Through space and time, genre and and and everything else.
So thank you so much. Thank you, Steven.
Nice to talk to you. Nice to talk to you as well and
(30:21):
good luck with this upcoming season.
I'm looking forward to the explosion.
What's out? Bye.
Well, thank you to Alan Cumming for being my guest and be sure
to check out his work on The Traders, which is streaming on
Peacock with, as you said, an explosive third season on its
way. Keep tuning into TV topics and
be sure to subscribe on Spotify or Apple podcast or wherever you
(30:41):
find your podcast. And if you really enjoy the
show, please give it a five starrating.
It really helps. You can also follow TV topics on
Instagram at TV under score topics.
Thanks for listening and stay tuned for more TV topics.
TV Topics is produced by Steven Prusakowski.
ZAP.
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