Jeremy Bowen: ‘Getting shot in reality isn’t like a movie’

Best and worst is a regular interview in which a celebrity reflects on the highs and lows of their life

Jeremy Bowen, 64, is the BBC’s international editor. Joining the corporation in 1984 as a trainee, Jeremy has since reported from some of the world’s most dangerous places and, this year, has been an on-the-ground reporter in both Ukraine and the Middle East. He lives in south London with his partner Julia.

Best childhood memory?

I used to love going from my home in Cardiff on summer holidays to my grandparent’s house. They lived in Knepp Castle in Sussex and had a whole, huge, apartment there in the West Wing. My siblings and cousins and I had the run of the woods, the lake and the boathouse and it was just wonderful. The gamekeeper didn’t like me much though. I remember he told me that if I could hit a rabbit with my catapult then he’d give me half a crown, which was a huge amount in the late 1960s if you were a kid. I never got anywhere near getting that half a crown and I’ve sworn off all field sports since then.

Best day of your life so far?

It has to be the birth of our kids. Julia and I have Mattie and Jack who are now 20 and 23. When you’re a youngster you do wonder about the meaning of life a bit and I found out that it’s really about the next generation in many ways. I liked being a father straight away. It totally changes your life but in a very good way. I was presenting BBC Breakfast when Mattie came along so I was able to see a lot of her during the day after work ended. I remember I had to get up at half past three in the morning and my main objective was not to wake Mattie up too.

Best friend?

I don’t really feel I have one single best friend. I have a certain number from different times in my life; some from school and then my three former flatmates from my time in Bologna where I lived in my early 20’s. Justin Webb is my best mate at the BBC. But it’s a bit invidious to say you have one best friend in the whole world. I don’t think I have that.

Best thing about being a war correspondent?

I don’t really like the phrase ‘war correspondent’ to be honest. I think of myself as a foreign correspondent and, yes, I’ve been to several dozen war zones and seen all sorts of horrible things. There are limits too. I only managed to get into Gaza once, very briefly, when I was out there recently; and I had to be honest about those limitations. It’s pretty clear that the lack of access is because there are a lot of things that the authorities don’t want journalists to see. If I’m the person there on the ground, it’s my job to make things as clear as I can to people, with the priority of getting as close as I can to telling the impartial truth. That’s more important than ever when there’s a tsunami of information and opinion coming into everyone’s phones.

Best decision you ever made?

To go off and live in Bologna when I finished studying history at UCL. This was back in 1982 and there were no tourists there in those days. I was 22 and it really opened my eyes to loads of things and broadened my horizons no end. Britain, back in the early 1980s, was rather dull and depressed and London was very dirty and scruffy. Bologna transported me to this fantastic medieval city just full of life. It was very bourgeois and also very prosperous but it was run by the Communists! I don’t think I had any clear ideas on identity before I went there. Bologna made me realise that I wanted to be a European, not just British. My sensibilities have always been very European ever since.

Best thing you’ve ever bought?

Definitely the 1986 Alfa Romeo Spider which I bought when I was 28. It cost a lot but I don’t regret it. It did fail its last MOT though due to the worn tyres. I decided ages ago that I would always keep it and I remember that, for the first five years I had it, I couldn’t drive it without having a massive grin on my face. It’s had a few homes over the years; including in Justin Webb’s garage. Well, that was until he demolished the garage to build a pod for him to sleep in before he does the Today programme.

Worsts

Worst day of your life to date?

I got shot in Cairo in 2012 but I knew, even at the time, that it wasn’t too serious and that I would survive. Far worse was the situation in Lebanon in 2000 when my friend and driver Abed Takkoush was killed by the Israelis when they fired across the border into Lebanon. My cameraman Malik and I got out of the Mercedes taxi we were in while Abed stayed in the car on his phone. A shell went through the back of it and the whole car exploded. Then they tried to kill us with a heavy machine gun. Abed, somehow, managed to get out of the driver’s window, while on fire. He fell down onto the road and I wanted to run out and get him. Malik insisted I stayed, saying we’d be killed ourselves if we got out. And he was right. Those situations really aren’t like Hollywood at all. In a film, I would have dashed out with bullets pinging around my heels. But the reality of war isn’t like that at all.

Worst thing about international travel?

I always get jealous when I read memoirs from old travel writers and they talk about taking steamers that take weeks before they arrive at their destination port. I do wish the world worked and travelled at a slower pace sometimes. I’m off to Ukraine next, and you can’t fly into there – unless you’re bombing someone. So I’ll be travelling by train and I am rather looking forward to the enforced slowness.

Worst place you’ve ever had to spend the night?

It’s a tie between two places. One was a guesthouse run by the Tamil Tigers that I stayed in when Sri Lanka was devastated by the tsunami that hit in 2004. It was in Mullaitivu and my room had a bathroom that I was scared to go into because I could hear things moving around in there. The other was in Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan after the first Gulf War. The hotel room was the single dirtiest place I have ever set foot in. The sheets were almost black and hadn’t been changed in years I don’t think. I put my sleeping bag and mat on the floor, which was about as dirty as the bed. The bathroom was like a cow shed with s*** everywhere. I’ve been back to Kurdistan since and, I have to add, the hotels are much improved.

Worst on-air gaffe you ever made?

I was doing a live two-way on the ten o’clock news from Turkey about internal issues with the Kurds. It was pretty complex and I got my tongue tied and ended up saying the issues were between the Kurks and the Turds. I thought I got away with it but a producer, ages later, told me that their team were laughing at me about it for months afterwards.

Worst thing you’ve ever eaten on the road?

In Ukraine every petrol station sells these very unique hot dogs. They’re not so much ultra- as hyper-processed. They’re circular buns with a hole in them and the sausage is squeezed in along with fake mayo, mustard and ketchup. They’re so cleverly made and, I have to admit it, actually quite moreish. Though it is the most artificial thing I’ve ever eaten. The devil incarnate in food.

Worst person you ever had to interview?

Christopher Plummer. I had eight minutes with him on BBC Breakfast and, moments before it began, his agent told my producer that he would talk about absolutely anything except The Sound Of Music. I hadn’t done my research so my plan was to really just focus on that. So, of course, I ran out of questions almost immediately and he got more and more irked. I still remember he had these long red socks that went right up to his knees. As this car-crash of a chat got more and more desperate, I still remember him angrily crossing his legs and just looking at these vast socks, hoping that my producer would end the interview as soon as possible.

The absolute worst

Mobile phones on the dinner table. I’m guilty of it myself but I think that phones shouldn’t even be consulted, let alone on view. During a quick lunch or just a snack I think it’s fine but when I’m at the table with my family or with colleagues for a proper meal then I just hate it. It destroys conversation. Instead of talking, all anyone does is just show each other videos. I absolutely can’t stand it.

Interview by Rob Crossan

Jeremy Bowen’s book, ‘The Arab Uprisings - The People Want the Fall of the Regime’ is published by Macmillan priced £9.99