Have you watched The Assembly? It is a fabulous chat show on ITV that is funny, insightful and uplifting instead of the format’s usual inanities and celebrity plugs. Those taking the hot seat seem nervous at the outset but often moved by the end. Many questions are brilliantly direct, some bizarrely offbeat.
Sir Stephen Fry was asked about his shower routine along with questions about his past use of cocaine, his suicide attempts and sexual positioning. Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon looked uncomfortable being grilled on her arrest, then emotional discussing her miscarriage, lack of children and thoughts of fostering.
The secret of this French import that strips away standard pretensions of both celebrity and television is simple: the interviewers are autistic, neurodivergent or have learning disabilities. It provides a platform for the sort of people all too often banished to the fringes of society, displaying their humanity, vibrancy and wit while highlighting the value of harnessing citizens with different perspectives. The 25 interrogators are becoming cult stars themselves.
Yet, hidden away from television cameras, hundreds of similar people are trapped in psychiatric hellholes with their lives shattered in a grotesque scandal that drags on and on – despite endless promises from bureaucrats and politicians to end it.
