Former News of the World chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck is to become a theatre critic on a local newspaper in Surrey.
The ex Fleet Street journalist, who was arrested on suspicion of phone hacking last year before being released without charge, will write reviews for weekly Newsquest title the Surrey Comet.
He denies the allegations that led to his sacking from News International last year and is currently pursuing a claim for unfair dismissal against the company.
Neville, who now pens his own blog, will contribute reviews of shows from the Rose Theatre starting with The Lady from the Sea which will be launched on Monday 5 March.
Said Neville: “Theatre is a passion of mine going back many years. I did English and theatre studies at university in 1980 so it has been a 33-year passion.
“I have been going to the Rose Theatre since day one, not to every piece, but regularly.
“Last year I saw The Importance of Being Earnest and a few other things. It is an extremely high standard and it deserves to succeed because of all the hard work that went into it.”
He criticised the Arts Council’s failure to give the Rose a grant as ‘crazy’, but promised his opinions would be fair and balanced.
Assistant editor of the Comet Julia Kennard said: “We are thrilled Neville Thurlbeck has joined us as the Surrey Comet’s official theatre critic.
“As a newspaper at the heart of the community we welcome the opportunity to have even greater coverage and comment of the arts in Kingston.”
Theatre-lovers and wannabe critics will also be given the opportunity to disagree with Neville and post their own alternative views to spark artistic debate in the borough.
Reviews will be posted on a revamped Rose Theatre section of the Surrey Comet website and also in the paper.
Added Neville: “We do not want to give undue criticisms but pass criticism only when it is deserved.”
“In these days of flagging interest in the arts the Surrey Comet is a crucial medium to advertise and get the message across about the artistic lifeblood that’s rich and flowing through the borough.”
Neville worked for the News of the World for 21 years and became its chief reporter in 2003.
He twice won the Scoop of the Year prize at the British Press Awards – in 2000 for revealing that former Conservative chairman Jeffrey Archer perjured himself during a 1987 libel case and in 2005 for revelations about the private life of David Beckham.
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He’s right about flagging interest in the arts. Not just the public but newspapers owners. a lot of papers dont have anyone dedicated to the arts and review very few local productions. Coverage is mostly handouts puffing productions.
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Good news for the Comet, Neville is an outstanding journalsit and a superb human beinng and friend. All the best Nev, As the curtian rises, so will you!
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Said Neville: “Theatre is a passion of mine going back many years. I did English and theatre studies at university in 1980 so it has been a 33-year passion.
… I’m guessing you failed maths though Nev?
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“… I’m guessing you failed maths though Nev?”
1980 – 1st year
1981 – 2nd year
1982 – 3rd year
…
2012 – 33rd year
Looks like journalists can do simple sums better than photographers.
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Northern Snapper, count the years on your fingers. Go on. Visualise the chronology.
Then apologise to ‘Nev’. Then go about sticking to snapping.
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Northern snapper you are a prat! Say something positive mate
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I trust he will be remunerated in the traditional way – free tickets and nothing else?
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Wish you hadn’t bothered now eh Northern Snapper…
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To get to the bottom of this we really need to know which month in 1980 Nev started University.
If it was September 1980 for example he should have said “Theatre is a passion of mine going back many years. I did English and theatre studies at university in 1980 so it has been a 32 and a half year passion”.
In fact it would have been more accurate if he’d broken down the length of time into months.
So he should have said: “I did English and theatre studies at university in 1980 so it has been a 396-month passion”.
Then, depending on which month he started at university, we could project that information backwards and eventually land on the exact number of months during which he has felt passionate about theatre.
Sheesh. Whatever happened to accuracy, eh?
No wonder these Fleet Street fellows have come unstuck.
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Good on you, Nev. Fleet Street’s loss is Surrey’s gain!
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