Sir David Frost is and has been many things, but he is not Art, Music or Drama, which are loosely assumed to be the key criteria for inclusion in Ludlow’s annual festival, and there seemed no obvious reason for his appearing here. But this festival has become something of a cultural potpourri, and it’s hard to find a coherent theme in the choices made by the organisers. I’ve said this before, but of course, in some ways this doesn’t matter at all. They booked Frost for “An Audience with Sir David Frost (Followed by a Q&A session)” at Ludlow’s Assembly Rooms and I went along quite uncertain of what to expect.

To start with it turned out to be a truly enjoyable nostalgia trawl through ‘60s television satire, of which David Frost was the principle pioneer. Showing some evocative clips from That Was The Week That Was, and the Frost Report, he was obviously relishing his role in bringing so much great and subsequently famous talent to the screen for the first time – like Roy Kinnear, Willie Rushton, John Cleese, Ronnies Corbett and Barker.

Frost is also a natural stand up comedian, and he was clearly enjoying himself; he must love it – why else would he trail out to Ludlow the night before he was due on an early plane next day to the US to host a conference for the Al Jazeera TV network? He was an unstoppable, bubbling geyser of witty, close-up observations of some of the extraordinary people he’s interviewed, all delivered with a knowing smile that draws his audience right in.

In the second half of the show, he took questions and gave great value, sometimes a good five minutes’ worth of answer. He was asked, intriguingly, who he most liked being interviewed by.

One of the best, he said, was Peter Florence, director of the Hay Festival, who talked to him there this year, and asked him questions he hadn’t been asked before. Peter Florence has developed significantly as an interviewer over the years he’s been running Hay Festival. He has developed both in gravitas and in introducing insightful new perspectives on his subjects. I was especially impressed this year with his Stephen Fry interview, which was well-balanced, witty and gently probing, in a way that Fry could not but relax and answer with engaging candour.  I predict that, if he wants to, Peter Florence will go on to become a major television interviewer, and Frost’s commendation won’t get in the way of that.

So far, then, Ludlow Festival has thrown up some gems, despite the disparate nature of its programme. And tomorrow night I am putting on a small fringe event of my own, when, with guitarist Simon King and pianist Liam Dunachie, I will be performing music from the Great American Songbook at the Globe Bar in Ludlow, in aid of Miracles, Bosnia Herzegovina, a charity concerned with child victims of the Bosnian Conflict.

Anyone in South Shropshire who isn’t going to see Jo Brand (with whom I inconveniently clash) assures me they will be there. Better get there early if you want a good table.

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