Clive Anderson: ‘I’m a low achiever who does virtually nothing with his time’
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How do famous names spend their precious downtime? In our weekly My Saturday column, celebrities reveal their weekend virtues and vices. This week: Clive Anderson
6.30am
I know this will annoy readers, but I do get up early. It’s partially due to Ailsa, my Glen of Imaal terrier, and also to do with getting older. I’m actually a low achiever who wakes up very early and does virtually nothing with his time.
7am
I walk the dog on Highbury Fields, near where I live.
8am
Home for a healthy breakfast followed by an unhealthy one – porridge, fruit and yoghurt, then afterwards toast and marmalade.
9am
Another dog walk. This time, I’ll pick up papers, a coffee and chat to other dog owners.
10.30am
My work and personal life have never been divvied up tidily. At one time I was working as a barrister in the week and recording TV shows [including Whose Line Is It Anyway? and more] at weekends. It’s not that I’m all work and no play – there was a big element of fun to making those programmes.
I used to do my Radio 4 show Loose Ends on a Saturday, but that’s now pre-recorded. If it’s not a match day [Anderson is an Arsenal fan], I’ll go to an exhibition, such as the British Museum’s Legion: Life in the Roman Army, with my wife Jane [a physician]. I love London and its history. I’m currently taking my podcast, My Seven Wonders, on a national tour. I think the London Underground is one of my wonders of the world.
1pm
I may have a friend over for lunch and then we’ll go to an afternoon Arsenal match, or sometimes I take one of my kids [he and Jane have three children, Isabella, Flora and Ed, all in their 30s]. Stadiums are much more comfortable and safe than they used to be, but there was a joy in watching people play on a mixture of mud and sand as opposed to a manicured pitch.
3pm
Kick-off. I live a short stroll away and have been going for donkey’s years. I enjoy women’s football too – I notice that the crowd is slightly more generously spirited.
7pm
Some weeks I can have two shows to see relating to people I’m interviewing. The joy of going in work mode is that tickets are free! I recently saw Player Kings with Sir Ian McKellen, who is still doing dynamic acting in his 80s. Sometimes we go to dinner parties on our friendly street.
1am
I think it looks bad if a dinner party ends before midnight. I then faff around before bed – and try to avoid going down rabbit holes on the internet – because I find it hard to get to sleep. At the moment I’m reading Armistead Maupin’s Mona of the Manor (because I’m due to interview him).
As told to Louise Burke
