Ryan Tubridy chats about the sudden death of Jeffrey Archer

It's, it's quite an extraordinary, I suppose, a twist in the tale, uh, if you will, wh- which involved me talking with Jeffrey Archer for the last four months in his extraordinary penthouse apartment on the Thames in London, near Vauxhall.

Um, every couple of weeks I'd go in and sit in his place with Jeffrey in one seat, and then a friend, depending on the day.

It could be Tim Rice, who wrote Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar one day.

It was, uh, it was Joanna Lumley, the great actress, another day.

It was Prue Leith of the, formerly of the Bake Off-

Mm

... another day, and Gyles Brandreth another day.

And they just would tiptoe through their friendship over the course of 45 minutes, and I was just nudging the conversation along.

That was my job.

So I got to know Jeffrey Archer quite well.

I, I would've interviewed him a few times, uh, for my Bookshelf podcast or on the TV-

Yes

...

when I was on the TV many years ago and so on.

So we, we, we, we knew each other quite well i- in as much as you can do.

I mean, he was-

Mm.

There was, there was a lot of Jeffrey was about showmanship and, um, you know, putting on the, a, a, a front, but he was, he was never boring.

And then that brings us to, uh, Monday evening, which was the eve of his, uh, the launch of his last ever book and last ever novel.

He said he might write other pieces, but he's gonna write this as a last book called Adam and Eve.

And on the eve, if you will, of that book launch, uh, we were to do an event together, um, in this building just near the Shard on the London Bridge, where he was to be interviewed by me in front of 120 fans of his who'd got tickets to come to this place.

And that was, I was, the, the agenda was I was to meet him and his son at 6:20, uh, three floors up from me.

I was sitting down having a cup of tea in the canteen, which was empty, and doing some notes.

And the next thing I see the HarperCollins lady, the, my colleague from HarperCollins walking down, looking very troubled.

And, uh, I said, "Sit down.

It's, it's quite an extraordinary, I suppose, a twist in the tale, uh, if you will, wh- which involved me talking with Jeffrey Archer for the last four months in his extraordinary penthouse apartment on the Thames in London, near Vauxhall.

Um, every couple of weeks I'd go in and sit in his place with Jeffrey in one seat, and then a friend, depending on the day.

It could be Tim Rice, who wrote Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar one day.

It was, uh, it was Joanna Lumley, the great actress, another day.

It was Prue Leith of the, formerly of the Bake Off-

Mm

... another day, and Gyles Brandreth another day.

And they just would tiptoe through their friendship over the course of 45 minutes, and I was just nudging the conversation along.

That was my job.

So I got to know Jeffrey Archer quite well.

I, I would've interviewed him a few times, uh, for my Bookshelf podcast or on the TV-

Yes

...

when I was on the TV many years ago and so on.

So we, we, we, we knew each other quite well i- in as much as you can do.

I mean, he was-

Mm.

There was, there was a lot of Jeffrey was about showmanship and, um, you know, putting on the, a, a, a front, but he was, he was never boring.

And then that brings us to, uh, Monday evening, which was the eve of his, uh, the launch of his last ever book and last ever novel.

He said he might write other pieces, but he's gonna write this as a last book called Adam and Eve.

And on the eve, if you will, of that book launch, uh, we were to do an event together, um, in this building just near the Shard on the London Bridge, where he was to be interviewed by me in front of 120 fans of his who'd got tickets to come to this place.

And that was, I was, the, the agenda was I was to meet him and his son at 6:20, uh, three floors up from me.

I was sitting down having a cup of tea in the canteen, which was empty, and doing some notes.

And the next thing I see the HarperCollins lady, the, my colleague from HarperCollins walking down, looking very troubled.

And, uh, I said, "Sit down.