Video: Clive James 'in...', 'at...', 'meets...', 'goes...' | clivejames.com
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Not Postcards: Clive James ‘in / on / at / meets / goes...’

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I regret to announce that, as of today February 8, 2021, YouTube has closed the account of user "Cleops", a free channel carrying high quality copies of Clive's 'Postcard' series, plus many other classic TV programmes not available elsewhere. I will try to find adequate copies of the programmes now missing from this archive — SJB

Clive James meets Roman Polanski (1984)
A special programme, filmed in Paris, in which the Polish-born film director of "Rosemary's Baby", "Chinatown" and "Tess" talks openly for the first time about his extraordinary life and work. In this exclusive interview, Roman Polanski talks to Clive James about his childhood in the Warsaw ghetto, his early struggle to become a film director, the horrific murder of his wife Sharon Tate, his relationship with young girls, and the rape charge which led to his flight from California to France.
Clive James meets Katharine Hepburn (1985)
Australian writer and poet, Clive James, in one of the best, most revealing interviews with actor Katharine Hepburn, filmed in her New York home. Hepburn talks about her parents, their activism, her upbringing, how she chooses film roles and those she stays away from. In the mid-80's she was still not talking about her personal relationship with fellow actor Spencer Tracy, so when James delves deeper into the topic Hepburn warns him off mid-sentence without missing a beat. She is just as tight-lipped about her relationship with Howard Hughes, but offers a perspective on why he ended up like he did.
Clive James in Dallas (1985)
Intrepid Aussie investigator Clive James sets out to find the real goings-on in the American city of Dallas. During his time in the city of mirrors, Clive visits a minister who presides over a church covering five entire blocks, is a guest at millionaire's dinner party, goes shopping in style and meets Dallas's real life equivalent of the Ewings — the Hunt family. Then there's the real estate tycoon, Twinkle Bayoud, who has made millions out of buying and selling the homes of the rich. The end to Clive's glittering visit to Dallas, with its oil barons and football teams, is a ball where the cars in the drive are bigger than most people's houses.
Clive James on Safari (1986)
It's 30 years since legendary author Ernest Hemingway went on his last safari, and in this special programme Clive James follows in his wheel tracks, accompanied by Hemingway's original guide. He takes a humorous look at the animals and the people of Nairobi and the African bush while staying part of the time in a moveable camp and part of the time in game lodges. But he finds that setting off on safari is anything but simple. His guide through the game reserves of Kenya is Dennis Zaphiro, the same man who accompanied Hemingway in the mid-1950s. This is the land of the Masai and, incredibly, Clive is initiated into the tribe!
Clive James at the Playboy Mansion (1987)
It fell to television's most unlikely playboy, Clive James, to seek out the man who started the sexual revolution nearly forty years ago: Hugh M. Hefner, founder of the Playboy empire. We find out how Hefner is facing up to feminism, the worldwide threat of AIDS and the moral majority.
Clive James — The Heroes of San Francisco (1987)
American football is an up-market, billion dollar business. The teams are run like movie studios, they are awash with talent and glamour and no team has more glamour than the San Francisco 49ers, winners of two Superbowls and one of America's top teams. Clive James spends a week with the 49ers — he meets the players off the field, spends some time with the cheerleaders and enjoys a new experience 2,000 feet above San Francisco Bay.
Clive James in Japan, Pt.1 (1987)
Clive James finally travels to Japan and finds out for himself what it's like to participate in the kind of crazy game show he has observed for so long. Clive discovers what the Japanese 'salaryman' does to let off steam at the end of his record-breaking productive day. Culture shock hits Clive hard, sitting cross-legged for hours on end, being fed raw fish by Geisha girls and attempting to navigate the Tokyo subway system. All this on top of jet lag!
Clive James in Japan, Pt.2 (1987)
Clive's culture shock worsens as he continues his journey through Japan. He's almost flattened by a 35-stone Sumo wrestler and travels to the health spa of Beppu to be voluntarily buried up to his neck in volcanic sand and simmered like a potato in a boiling sulphur bath, inexplicably full of grapefruits.
Clive James at Sanctuary Cove (1989)
The Ultimate Event was the week-long party thrown by developer Mike Gore for the opening of his Sanctuary Cove community in the city of Gold Coast, Queensland. In this documentary, Clive James finally gets to interview Frank Sinatra.
Clive James, Racing Driver (1995)
When Clive James was invited by the Australian Grand Prix organisers to take part in their celebrity challenge it was a dream come true. There was just one small problem... he couldn't drive. Clive needed help quickly and who better to teach him than former world champion Stirling Moss?
Clive James goes Country (1995)
Clive James visited Nashville, Tennessee. In spite of the fact that he has no vocal or instrumental talent, with the help of such luminaries as Tammy Wynette, Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins he made a record, but in doing so he upset many of his British fans: a mention of the hundred-plus highly acclaimed song lyrics he'd already written for Pete Atkin and Julie Covington would surely have blown his cover.
Clive James in Buenos Aires (1995)
Clive learns to dance the tango, in the dance's home city. "I studied the language far into the night. I was looking for the phrase, 'Is it legal to hold you like this?'"
The Clive James Grand Prix Show (1996)
Filmed in 1995 during the final Adelaide Formula One Grand Prix, this programme features the famous tension-filled sit-down interview between Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill at the peak of their on/off track rivalry.
Clive James meets Damon Hill (1997)
Clive James remains a man unfulfilled. What he wants above all, what he desires with every fibre of his being, is to drive a Formula One racing car. The erudite Antipodean has not actually come out and admitted it, but the wish pervades his documentaries about the sport, and influences his unashamed hero-worship of the drivers. Damon Hill meets Clive James (ITV) allowed him to get close to realising his ambition. [ — Independent ]
Formula One season review, 1984
Clive summarises the action from all sixteen of 1984's races in the Grand Prix calendar. He made this programme for the Formula One Constructors' Association, but this version was captured from the American ESPN network and is missing its introduction and final credits, as well as suffering crushed blacks and oversaturated colours. There's also a version of the FOCA original on YouTube with undistorted colour and greyscale, but it's been split into 16 separate episodes, one for each race, it's been down-sampled to a 240-line image, and the first episode (Brazil) has been removed by Formula One Management! So here's the more complete ESPN version, though on YouTube, for those smart people at F1 have blocked it from being embedded in players like ours. [SJB, August 2020]
Dutch GP, Zandvoort 1984
Clive's take on the action at Zandvoort.
Formula One 1986 World Championship season summary
Unlike 1984's review, this appears to be the original UK version, but it's still missing its introduction and its closing credits. Worse, it's been uploaded to YouTube horizontally stretched to fill a 16:9 frame, when it was shot (as were most things in 1986) in 4:3 aspect ratio. We can't do much about that. This one too is unembeddable: what are they trying to protect? We link to YouTube. [SJB, August 2020]
Featured video: Clive James — Live in Las Vegas (1982)
Clive James offers a fascinating and humorous view of one of the great gambling cities of the world — Las Vegas. The sharp-witted presenter also meets a selection of the rich and famous who inhabit that desert oasis.