Talk of the Town (1997)

Talk of the Town was created by Patrick McGeown in 1997 from an idea by the Executive Producer Brian Marcar. It was the first foreign language program on commercial Thai Television. Thai people feared making mistakes in English - they saw the language as difficult and frightening - but necessary. Talk of the Town combined humour, colour, wacky news themes and location shootings to make the program unique. The program was conceived in early internet days and research was carried out in libraries, books and on the ground. The program gained a following in many sectors of Thai society and school teachers set homework based on the day's content. Pronunciations, stories, international news and the idiom of the day ensured variety. The production team travelled throughout Thailand and recorded the program in towns, cities and in one instance on an Australian warship. Patrick McGeown wrote, produced and co-presented the program with four different presenters. The first presenter was Gina Daruty followed by a few others and then stability reigned when Andrew Biggs joined. Andrew, who spoke Thai fluently, helped lift the program's profile - and it became one of the longest running programs on Thai Television. Andrew took the reins in 2002 when Patrick left Thailand. Talk of the Town's last episode ran in 2006 after being broadcast every weekday for nine years. Versions of the program were re-packaged and also aired in Myanmar.