Kilroy (1986–2004) User Reviews

Robert Kilroy Silk

[marylee-7 · 10/10 · 20 January 2008]

I enjoyed Kilroy on the BBC. He is such a fair man and I agree with all of his comments, even the last comment that everyone seemed to complain about concerning the Arabs. I can't see that it is terrible to talk about the truth.

I miss his shows and I would like to see him back on again. I feel that I pay my licence fee and I should be able to choose the television programmes that are aired on the television.

Most of his shows were about subjects that I enjoyed listening to and some of the subjects were there to help other people.

M. Taylor, Derby, UK

I like this chat show

[colinpeppiatt · 27 July 2002]

'Kilroy' has maintained a nice Englishness about it. Chat shows have become more and more extreme in recent years, with people badmouthing each other and attacking each other. But Kilroy has refused to go the way of Jerry Springer. I couldn't watch this show every day and it isn't 'tapeable'. But over the years, when I'm off sick or on holiday, or just at home, this has been, on occasions, an enjoyable show to watch. Often, this show is very good and very sensible. The spoofs of it in recent years by Aliastair McGowan have made me enjoy it more! Robert Kilroy-Silk does an excellent job as host. He always lets people have a fair amount of time to get their points across and move the discussion on. He's firm, so that people don't ramble and don't engage in personal debate across the studio floor, but fair, so that people have the chance to make their points. He's also sympathetic when he needs to be, and can defuse tension, whether that be anger or upset, with his good use of humour.

It will be happily missed

[thekennelman · 12 January 2004]

This dreadful piece of Television has blighted the mid morning schedules for nearly 18 years, and has thankfully now been pulled. Ironically not because the BBC have finally realised how awful it is but because of an allegedly racist article recently penned by the host in a Sunday tabloid.

In the furore over the whole affair pundits have been queuing up to offer comment, the best of which was by Ex-newsreader Michael Buerk. He summed up 'Kilroy' as "Trailer Trash Exhibitionism" and who am I to disagree?

The audience would appear to be selected for their ignorance and combativeness rather than their ability to contribute to the debate. The subjects chosen, loosely follow hot topics in news and current affairs but I doubt whether one single minute of the broadcasts has added anything of substance, particularly to the participants who seem beyond help. They have added to Kilroy's income however and his apparent standing. Both might be taking a bit of a knock now, but what's the betting that Sky pick up this show if the BBC finally decides to kick it in to touch.

Good Riddance

[de_niro_2001 · 17 April 2004]

Although I usually say that people who demand that certain programmes be taken off the air need to get a life and I only ever saw small parts of this show (I was usually at work when it was on)I'm happy it was axed. Mr Kilroy-Silk has turned arrogance into an art form and he has the manner of an authoritarian and patronising headmaster. The format of the show just seemed to be a crowd of people in a studio discussing some meaningless and usually gloomy topic while Mr Kilroy-Silk presided. It's really surprising that it lasted the thick part of two decades. It's not as if the debates on it brought about any kind of action on the issues being debated. And it was a show ripe for parody. In Bottom Live: Hooligan's Island Richie is talking about what he might be missing on TV and says there might be a Kilroy show on Striptease Compulsion with Susannah Charlton as celebrity demonstrator. Messrs Mayall and Edmondson effectively summed up how ridiculous the whole show was.

This Was A Classic Chat Show

[Theo Robertson · 27 August 2004]

I don`t believe what I`m reading on this page about this discussion show being " Awful " . If you want to see awful discussion / chatshows try switching over to ITV while this show was broadcast and you`d see THE TIME - THE PLACE with the highly patronizing John Stapleton , VANESSA which was presented by an egocentric fat woman or TRISHA which usually featured council estate scum with umpteen illegitimate children with several more on the way

KILROY was different , we`d get the burning issues , like the state of the NHS , law and order or asylum seekers where government ministers would be sat in the studio being grilled by the electorate , an electorate our elected representatives have nothing but contempt for . We`d also get council estate scum too and I can clearly remember one edition involving neighbour disputes that ended with one women bawling live on air :

" You called me a f***in` mars bar , ya f***in` liar ya f***in did "

To which a rather agitated Robert Kilroy Silk gasped " I`m not listening to this "

I can understand why many people didn`t like the presenter . Kilroy comes across as vain , arrogant and very insincere . You can just imagine him going up to the director before rehearsals and saying " Okay today we`re dealing with bereavement in the family . Make sure you hold a close up of me looking upset whenever a guest tells their heartbreaking story " and there`s been many tales that as soon as the cameras stopped rolling Kilroy would walk off set and ignore his guests ( Totally unlike the affable Jerry Springer ) like some sort of prima donna . How true all this is I don`t know but I do know this is the kind of show that democracy is all about . You may not like the presenter but thank god we live in a country where a man is allowed to produce a show like this

KILROY is gone now . The show was executed by the BBC over an article Robert Kilroy Silk wrote in a newspaper column involving Arab states which the BBC decided breached impartiality rules . Considering the amount of anti American / anti British bias the BBC featured in their coverage of the 2003 Iraq conflict I`m not sure they even know what " impartiality " means and so Robert Kilroy Silk found himself out of a job but stood in the European elections for the UK Independence Party , a party I happily voted for and a party that now has several members in the European parliament one of whom is Robert Kilroy Silk

I loved your TV discussion show Kilroy and don`t let the b*stards grind you down