Roald Dahl interview | Children's Author | A plus 4 | 1984

Mavis Nicholson speaks to acclaimed writer and author Roald Dahl.
Recorded in 1984
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[@belalmiah980]

I loved reading his books as a child. In fact in my adult years i still do! He was a genius and for me, the greatest children's fiction writer ever.

[@carolinependleton8445]

Me too.

[@A71260]

Me three. 😢

[@A71260]

Rest in peace roald dahl😢

[@A71260]

He was a really good guy 😢

[@garyfenlon5769]

At the very end of the interview Mr. Dahl casually mentions a book he has just finished writing, that book was the magnificent "The Witches"

[@HandyAndyTechTips]

Great interview and an amazingly talented guy.

[@meropale]

I read so many of his books as a kid in the 80s and loved so many of them. It's really strange watching him give an interview. I don't know if I have a favorite book of his, but it might be James and the Giant Peach. None of his books left me feeling great at the end but I still loved them.

[@MichaelTurner856]

Cool

[@JJONNYREPP]

Roald Dahl interview | Children's Author | A plus 4 | 1984 rik mayall did dahl's tales the world of good. prior to that there was the james and the giant peach kids BBC tv adaptation... british broadcasting corporation - i was told it meant something else........ he had simple intimation and took it form there. the simple ideas are allus the best.

[@cBearTV-]

Dear Roald really has brought so much joy to children, I remember as a child it was The BFG and George's Marvellous Medicine that really opened up the world of literature to me, since then I've read and enjoyed so many books but it all started with Roald Dahl as before then I really could never get into the enjoyment of reading, I'd mechanically read but couldn't find the key to full emersion into a book and the world the create, so his book really for me and so many others opened a new world, and of course educationally enjoying reading is so helpful for gently furthering your understanding of language. I've gone on to have many favourite authors and books, but the two most worn books I own are still the BFG and George's Marvellous Medicine for even as an adult it's great to jump back into the safety and security and of course fantasy of the two stories that still mean so much to me. It's not always easy to get children engrossed in reading and often it takes one particular author or one particular book to click with the child reader, it to me is a real shame that the word now moves so quickly that the patience and time needed to read it often very limited. I Thank Roald so much for work and his charitable work too which is far less mentioned, the gift of being able to enjoy literature is a great gift that isn't given the credence it should in our generation. Anyhoo for the snozcumbers and the for the amazing world you opened up to so many people... Thank you Roald.

[@richardsyoutubechannel995]

A true children's hero

[@shirleyjwagle]

He is very skilled

[@gambriehewert1677]

But anti-semitic, his family have just apologised.

[@thericksterdickster6456]

@@gambriehewert1677 No one cares twat

[@NightRanger77]

This is so British 😂

[@Cockneyartist]

Lovely, warm interview with deep questions, just like today's TV. NOT!

[@petitmeowmeow]

Harder to hold us to the page? I'm 30 and I've read many a good novel but never been as gripped as I have by Dhals work

[@roubamoussa8852]

He is so popular for children

[@Dre4dFN]

I was forced to watch this from school

[@ImranSahir1]

When you're a bit older, you'd sure want to reconsider that first verb.

[@wonderwoman5528]

And, did you enjoy?

[@khankhalil8574]

Hey. About 24 years ago, I watched a movie on TV, in which a group of soldiers are staying in a forest. One of them catches a spider and encloses it in a glass bottle. The mate of the spider sees this. When the soldier goes to sleep, the other spider comes down and bites him on one of his feet. I just remember "Thames" on the screen just before the movie started. I saw "Thames" again here in this video, so I wanted to ask if you know anything about that movie. I forgot the title. And if you have the movie, please share the link.

[@jonharrison9222]

Thames was the name of the tv station.

[@alexcarter8807]

@@jonharrison9222 Thames and the Gianth Thpider. Obviously.

[@JosieStev]

@@alexcarter8807❤❤❤❤❤

[@davidfarmer2193]

30 years today you've been gone, Roald. Your books will still be popular for newer generations to come. R.I.P.

[@cygil1]

Those that aren't cancelled, at least.

[@thomsboys77]

@@cygil1 Get over yourself

[@kimchipig]

Not only was Dahl a master storyteller, he was also a very talented RAF Fighter Command pilot during WW2. I love this stories.

[@chrisnam1603]

and so much more♥

[@flipflopsneeded]

And a racist.

[@kimchipig]

@@flipflopsneeded yup. He used to hang out with Agatha Christie, too. Nor was he the only racist in the UK at the time.

[@jaytamati7558]

He was an 'Ace' fighter pilot with at least 5 confirmed kills

[@F1Tom2005]

@UCXdVVZN9QYY6qhXpNswohCg fuck off, that's just how things used to be, stop trying to fucking cancel every single person from the past because they didn't live to today's standards

[@kendalson7817]

He wrote the screenplay for 'You Only Live Twice', my favorite Bond.

[@chrisnam1603]

yes, amongst sooo many other stories & more♥

[@KyleSurette13]

Interesting. I didn’t know that

[@stephencaldwell252]

Nobody's perfect in real life but what a fantastic author. Stunned when she asked about the dream and how his life helped write idea for his book. Don't get interviews like this on tv now. Can't go 10 seconds without fake laughter like graeme norton

[@wonderwoman5528]

He was a self confess perfectionist and his works are perfection. He never dumbed himself down for children and recognised that they are far superior to adults

[@petitmeowmeow]

I agree, he made me feel quite mature as a child because he always spoke to us candidly

[@jonharrison9222]

His editors disagree.

[@jeanneah8083]

​@@jonharrison9222 as a perfectionist he would have hated editors melding with his work

[@JJONNYREPP]

Roald Dahl interview | Children's Author | A plus 4 | 1984 1301pm 16.5.23 a simple notion paid dividends... that they are far more clued up than you give them credit for, these wonderful children he speaks of, and it is usually brow beaten out of them, this far sightedness, by a select few... the chosen few being those who you will find at work, in your home town, in the street... i wasn't aware he was norse. and it took me some time to enjoy his work - Rik Mayall worked him into the fabric of my teens... with a george's marvellous medicine reading for the jackanory tv show.... as i pretty much ignored him during the tales of the unexpected years - even though i watched that show avidly. i never consider the credits rolling at the end of films or tv shows or when reading a book.

[@in_st_a_st]

🙄

[@gilesl]

He was a very talented man

[@juandomingoperon7965]

@@baalbaalblacksheep191 He wasn't a pedo. He was just a miserable asshole.

[@BodybuildingSteve]

@@juandomingoperon7965 As a true brit should be :D

[@nigelmurphy6761]

The man was an absolutely genius

[@mikekaraoke]

And to think, just a number of says ago Puffin were going to rewrite some of the words in his books but since the backlash of it they have now backtracked!

[@alexcarter8807]

I grew up with the old school Charlie & The Chocolate Factory with the Oompa-Loompas being black. The art's better in the old books too.

[@suns3tzz]

I love how they talk, its so satisfying.

[@nihilistic7840]

Children are more demanding. Adults are more gullible

[@filmneek]

Isn’t it the other way round?

[@TheSlowPianist]

@@filmneek A child will tell a king the bare truth to his face, and an adult will lie to himself.

[@truthiseverything9511]

Absolutely wonderful, what a treat. Mavis Nicholson conducted a truly honorable interview.

[@LK-gl3rj]

The interviewer is every so slightly confrontational and rude. Dahl is above it though.

[@wonderwoman5528]

P.s. the interviewer was brilliant in this. I’ve seen Mavis before. Wish she would return for more interviews. She was a natural at getting her guests to be completely at ease

[@jonharrison9222]

Not any more, sadly. She died a few weeks ago.

[@wonderwoman5528]

@@jonharrison9222 no way? Why didn’t I hear about it

[@mikekaraoke]

@@jonharrison9222 So sad 🥹

[@More_Row]

She’s terrible at pronouncing Roald

[@Ettibridget]

​@@More_RowAll english-speakers are.

[@patrickc3419]

I remember being home sick from school, in the late 80s, and my mom brought me home from a bookstore The Twits; his first book I ever read. I loved it; was immediately hooked, and read nearly every book of his over the following 3 years. I remember being so sad when he died when I was 9.

[@noahleith2509]

Unsurpassed. Nobody came close to his talent for writing kids books, and he turned down a British Knight honour, what a guy!

[@samhanmer3306]

Agree he is stand alone in his talent for children’s writing However, he did not decline a knighthood - he turned down an OBE - the reason being h wanted a knighthood. So he didn’t turn it down for any other reason than he wanted more lol

[@noahleith2509]

In fact he did turn down a Nighthood: www.google.com/search?q=did+roald+dahl+who+turned+down+a+knighthood&sca_esv=595026517&sxsrf=AM9HkKkrBs4fbg7Qnh7A7iFet_kn8A1Pzg%3A1704179570487&ei=creTZc6hHdmEhbIPkNmx0A8&oq=did+roah+dahlwho+turned+down+a+knighthood&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiKWRpZCByb2FoIGRhaGx3aG8gdHVybmVkIGRvd24gYSBrbmlnaHRob29kKgIIADIEECEYCkjePVDzB1jbK3AAeAOQAQKYAbwRoAH-MaoBCzItNC41LTIuOS0yuAEByAEA-AEBwgIEEAAYR8ICCBAAGIkFGKIEwgIIEAAYgAQYogTiAwQYACBBiAYBkAYI&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

[@Ulnvtcydr]

Love old Roald, fantastic mind.

[@Trickynickymarts]

Lovely to watch, thank you

[@karinhelleryogadance3182]

I just read the BFG it's an amazing book good job Roald you legend

[@ajecks]

You can tell he got slightly annoyed at her armchair psychoanalysis of him - 'you're a clever old bird', according to his daughter Tessa - Roald disliked therapy and psychoanalysis in particular because he thought it made him too self-aware of his own inner workings and that he would be unable to write his stories. His way of dealing with his own traumas was to write stories, not to analyse them.

[@bjarkusmcfarkus6737]

he was absolutely right about Israel

[@ajecks]

He was, he might have been a bit brash and clumsy when talking about "jewishness", but he was sympathetic of the Palestinians plight and fight and was appalled at what the state of Israel did to Palestinians - now he's been painted as some horrid racist antisemite when he was just calling a spade a spade. I hate today's mindless cancelling of these great minds that Dahl was, he was an extremely gifted writer and had the gift of true empathy - he was on the right side of history.

[@themovingdance2744]

I tutor children in creative stories and drawing and we laugh all the time. I m not a success at all as I left all that serious boring office life way back in 2004 at 46 went travelling. I lark around even now. I m 61 and they crack me up.

[@ven11235]

I have dreamt of the future a few times. I always get dejavu when the event passes then I remember the dream. I am incredibly happy to see Roald Dahl talking about this.

[@susanneyuk-pingpong8705]

Very cool, his books were my childhood - I never used to play video games lol.

[@MrTheedarkhorse]

Love how unegotistically egotistical he is 00:43 Say's it like it is. Objective. He gave the title of his next book away at the end Great interview, great interviewer. Where do you find these videos

[@DashDrones]

Is it as easy to write for adults as to write for children? Who said it was easy????

[@johnnyyen3007]

Roald Dahl was The Fantasticerest Writer ever! He invented more words tban Shakespeare and came up with marvellous stories that will hopefully last forever. David Walliams tries to imitatehis style but they're not even in the same league. Marvellous to see the talented Mavis Nicholson again doing this interview too.

[@martymartin2894]

Angus young guitar player from ac/dc looks like Roald Dahl now that angus is getting old. Just something I noticed.

[@lauradegregorio5005]

Haha he does

[@starboy4674]

RIP the king of all authors

[@CalRoberts-gx3jt]

It would be funny to think of Roald Dahl today An eccentric megastar who sings the praises of avant garde artists like Bong Joon Ho while also slagging off cancel culture & expressing his support for Brexit & #FreePalestine while giving Donald Trump several signed copies of his books

[@tinaou6352]

I am reading “the witches” now

[@007beck9]

Tales Of The Unexpected was his best work

[@heatheragray]

My fav author

[@drilldrulus1235]

A good imagination and good writing skills and doing the hard work writing = success

[@fellowcitizen]

6:56 Dunne, 'An Experiment With Time' archive.org/stream/AnExperimentWithTime/Dunne-AnExperimentWithTime_djvu.txt

[@QueenieTT]

What was the second book he said he liked as a child?

[@timelordvictorious]

How true the more succesfull you are the more serouis sadly true in meany people in this time.

[@shirleyjwagle]

Ronald Dahl is the best writer❤️✍️

[@gambriehewert1677]

His family have just apologised for his anti-semitism.

[@bronyatheistfedora]

What made this dude so attractive to women in the thirties will always be a mystery to me

[@TheSlowPianist]

You might turn up the volume on your device, for a start!

[@RMokros]

Simple. He is a legend. You get good genetics and lots of money to raise the kids with.

[@bronyatheistfedora]

@@RMokros no, he was literally hired by the British government to seduce high profile women as part of the war effort

[@elftower907]

the fact he was a genius and influential

[@JJONNYREPP]

Roald Dahl interview | Children's Author | A plus 4 | 1984 1312pm 16.5.23 i often wondered what it was made women take notice about other chaps... being an artiste and desperately tortured with one's own personal mythos.... getting into a fight. talking bollox on you tube. doing one's own shopping.

[@EVERYTHING-lz5rs]

ROALD DAHL

[@ninjaskeleton6140]

He has some brutal recollections in his autobiographies

[@alexcarter8807]

I recently finished *Boy* and am now working on *Going Solo* they're great!

[@alexcarter8807]

Up the street from where I work is a place that rents out equipment, trailers and forklifts and such things. It's called Dahl's. I first learned about it when I asked my boss where he got the trailer he had that weekend from. "I got it from dolls", I thought I heard him say. "Dolls???" was my reply. "Yeah, Dahl's!" that's when the penny dropped. So there are a few Dahls/dolls around ....

[@thespunkavenue3471]

Ancestor of Jk rowling

[@the.blue.raven7777]

Bless him

[@alexcarter8807]

I want to find his stores for adults, he wrote some real zingers it seems. I got to read one, about a pilot who goes down at sea in a life jacket, I think about it still.

[@evansclan4eva49]

This man was related to William Wallace. Must be where he got his rebel attitude.

[@alexcarter8807]

Oh, everyone's related to William Wallace aren't they? I'm related to Genghis Khan and in my book that's much more to be proud of.

[@keldpiafriisolsen1439]

V

[@muhammaduddin9268]

Great Man.

[@trickyplays240]

He wrote the screenplay for You Only Live Twice while Ian Fleming wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang… ironic

[@fredpickett6219]

One of The best.

[@muhammaduddin9268]

Fuckin true, happened to me lots of time.You can dream about the future.This Man is truthful.

[@afiqahfarihah5470]

"Harder to do for children"......well tq and I love Matilda

[@Helen-ls8ij]

The first two minutes are golden.

[@hurricanefury439]

he is my hero

[@joebidensblacknuts6032]

I’m only here for a school project

[@starwarsprequelsandsequels7582]

To bad he is antisemitic

[@lawrenceabbott5292]

Woke

[@starwarsprequelsandsequels7582]

@@lawrenceabbott5292 thanks^^

[@bighutch73]

Hes actually dead

[@starwarsprequelsandsequels7582]

@@bighutch73 1. I know 2. So is Hitler and we are still making fun of his antisemitism

[@Ura_Jack_Off]

Anti-semitism is beautiful.