After months of speculation about who would take over from Jonathan Ross as host of the BBC’s flagship film review show, Film [Insert Year Here], Auntie Beeb has confirmed that Claudia Winkleman has bagged the gig.
Mark Kermode, long presumed to be the frontrunner for the chair vacated by Ross when he left the programme recently, ruled himself out of contention on Friday, but we imagine that the Winkleman deal had been clinched long before that.
At first glance, it’s something of a leftfield appointment and early reaction to the news that the glamorous TV presenter has got the job has not been favourable. However, it should be noted that she’s presented film shows on TV before – she presided over Sky’s Oscar coverage a couple of years back – and presents Claudia Winkleman’s Arts Show on Radio 2 presently. She’s also married to** Kick-Ass** producer, Kris Thykier, so has a unique insight into the business. (Curiously, it also continues the show’s association with Matthew Vaughn’s film; Ross is married to its co-writer, Jane Goldman.)
"I am completely over the moon about being given this enormous honour,” she told the BBC.
The programme’s format is being restructured to fit Winkleman, who will now discuss and debate the week’s news and reviews with a panel of pundits, journalists and expert judges. “Just so people don't panic, it's not just me, because that would be horrifying,” she said. “So it will be brilliant critics and all kinds of people sharing their knowledge, because I'm rubbish on horror.”
Despite initial shock at the appointment, we’re more than willing to give Winkleman – and the format revamp – a chance; something positively encouraged by Ross in a recent tweet. “Hope everyone will give the lovely Winkleman a chance to settle into Film 2010 chair,” he said. “She is smart and funny and knows her stuff.”
The man knows, the man knows…