Philip Edgar-Jones – Favourite Things
Each week Reaction Weekend brings you Favourite Things – interviews with interesting people about the skills, hobbies, pleasures and past times that make them who they are.
Philip Edgar-Jones is Director of Sky Arts (now free to air) and Head of Entertainment at Sky. Edgar-Jones has been at Sky since 2012, where he commissioned for Sky 1, Atlantic and Arts before taking control of Sky Arts. Before that he was Creative Director and Executive Producer of Big Brother on Channel 4.
These are a few of his favourite things.
Supermarkets
My wife hates supermarket shopping or shopping for food at all, so it’s lucky I enjoy it so much. If she’s ever unlucky enough to be with me when during a shop, the taking my time to seek out new brands or stuff I’ve never heard of wrapped in exotic packets drives her doolallay. Any kind of food store is heaven for me… sometimes I’ll deliberately forget something on a trip to the supermarket or local deli just so I have to go back there again. During lockdown I’ve found joy in shopping once a day in the local shops. This summer I think I probably spent the equivalent amount of time there as I would usually on a foreign holiday. The greatest joy of all is visiting a supermarket in a foreign country and, honestly, if it’s a choice between visiting a local sight of cultural significance or a local supermarket – the latter wins every time. I mean, who knows what new cheese you’ll find?
Matinee theatre
I love the buzz of the theatre, the anticipation and the rituals – like the Mexican wave to let people pass into their seats, flicking through the programme trying to guess what all the cast have been in before, downing Maltesers before the play begins and praying it’ll be a good one. My favourite haunts are National Theatre, The Almeida, The Old Vic and my local Park Theatre in Finsbury Park – I’ve seen work to inspire and delight in all those places. And going in the daytime for a matinee is something extra special, it gives the whole experience just that little frisson – it feels like even more of a treat in daytime and afterwards you emerge, blinking into the daylight with the rest of the evening to spare.
Seaside walks
I grew up in Ayrshire on the coast near Largs and Saltcoats and my wife grew up spending her summer holidays in Newcastle in County Down Northern Ireland, so the sights, sounds and smells of the sea are evocative and nostalgic for us both. We love to take long walks and get to the sea as often as we can. Once we have read our walking guidebook instructions for the 14th time and spent the first 45 minutes finding where our walk is supposed to start, we eventually see the sea ahead of us and all the worries of the world melt away.
Entering a hotel room for the first time
A journey is all about anticipation and I often enjoy the trip as much as the destination itself. When I wake up on that first day of a holiday and I’m at the point of maximum time off work- it’s pure joy. Then there’s arriving at the airport where you’re at the gateway to everywhere. Getting on a plane, waiting for the food to arrive, and I LOVE airline food no matter how bland and rubbery. At the other end of the journey maybe a new climate hits you – heat or cold it doesn’t matter. And then there’s my favourite bit of all – entering a hotel room. What’s the view like? The décor? Which switches control which lights? How comfy is the bed? Do they enough hangers for both of us to hang our clothes? How long will it take to figure out the air con? Now imagine if there’s a well-stocked mini bar too…can you feel the excitement?
Drumming
I like to spend at least half an hour a day playing the drums for a bit of rhythmic catharsis. I’m a below average drummer, technically, but I can keep time passably and make a stab at a paradiddle or two and the opening of Bowie’s Five Years (so a beginner really). Rhythm is everything to me – when listening to contemporary music the drums and the bass are what draw me in before melody and with classical music I’ll head straight to Philip Glass for those hypnotic, repetitive movements – and if there’s some serious timpani in any classical concert or opera, then happy days. Sometimes with a really good beat I can even kid myself I can dance. But that’s a whole other story.