Don’t mention Frank Muir…

Dame Joan Bakewell

The ticket price was £12 but frankly that was giving it away. If it had been three times this or more, it would still have been a steal. And obviously everyone knew it because the talk was a sell-out long before the festival even started. It's easy to wax lyrical about an event such as this but that would require too many words and hyperbole. Better to just shoot from the hip - it was a privilege. Veteran broadcaster, journalist and writer Joan Bakewell took to the stage at Oxford's Natural History Museum and simply stole the show. At 83, and still boasting all the vivacity, smarts and sassiness of someone 50 years her junior, she was relaxed, funny, and deliciously unassuming. A president of Birbeck College and a Labour peer, she spoke about her life and why her new book Stop The Clocks solidifies the lessons she's learned. The audience was enthralled and Telegraph interviewer Matthew Stadlen appropriately adroit, ensuring a relaxed but revealing 60 minutes of fascinating observation and comment. Apart from that there's not much more to say. Other than the obvious: a masterclass in spirit and substance...