Denton On Denton

PHOTOGRAPHY STEPHEN WARD
WORDS HUGH BALDWIN
STYLIST LIZ JONES

Andrew Denton wants to do more in television but appear on it less. “My ambition is to have a very fruitful television career that doesn’t actually involve me being on television,” Denton says. “I’ve always got lots of ideas. More than enough for one lifetime I think.” 

It’s the kind of statement that captures the essence of Andrew Denton: one part Groucho Marx and one part forthright thinker. Though he’s one of the most recognisable people on the box, within moments of meeting him it’s clear his ambitions go way beyond being ‘a face’.

Andrew Denton
with Deborah Harry Respected as one of the hardest-working people in the Australian television industry, his catalogue of work drips not just with wit but integrity. His familiar style of razor-sharp humour mixed with insight first emerged when Denton was a writer and presenter for the 1988 ABC TV series, Blah Blah Blah, but it was the following series, The Money or the Gun, which captured public attention. He also likes to point out his less celebrated early career highlights.

“I did appear on ABC TV’s Theatresports in 1987,” Denton reminds me. “Oh, and I once played the role of a taxi driver in The Investigators and had half a dozen lines (all delivered badly) in A Country Practice.” 

Antonio Banderas on guitarIt was the beginning of a long career in television, from Andrew Denton Live & Sweaty (ABC) to Denton (Seven), once described as “perfect viewing for the whole dysfunctional family”. He has written and presented TV specials about teenagers with cancer (The Topic of Cancer); hosted, written and co-produced the Logies’ awards ceremonies; and, among many other projects, established the landmark interview show Enough Rope, which will launch its fth season this year.

Denton admits that by becoming something of a TV stalwart he’s not unlike the group that used to be the target of his humour – Don Lane, Burt Newton, Graham Kennedy and Ernie Sigley among them, all well-known television personalities in the 1970s and 80s.

“When I started, I railed against that cosy generation,” Denton says. “I used to say at the time there was Don and Burt and Graham and Ernie and Ernie and Graham and Don and Burt. And they all used to get on each other’s shows and that was Australian television.

Bill Clinton “But now there are 5,000 outlets. If you don’t like what’s on TV you watch YouTube. And if you don’t like what’s on YouTube, you make your own.”

Despite the fact that his 20th anniversary in TV is fast approaching, Denton is showing no signs of weariness, largely due to the ongoing success of Enough Rope. According to Denton, there was never any expectation that Enough Rope would survive beyond its initial run in 2003.

“Originally it was only meant to be 13 shows. I wasn’t sure that there were two years in it,” he says. “At the start of every year we think it will probably be the last year, so this will probably be the last year.”

The Enough Rope team is kept fresh by Denton setting new goals and twiddling with the show’s format to prevent any predictability.

“The main way we’ve done that is through making more documentaries,” Denton says. “We’re putting seven documentaries to air – that’s stretched the talents and skills of everybody in the unit.”

“The great joy of the show is that the ABC has given us space to look anywhere and everywhere. Just when you think you’ve spoken to everyone, you speak to someone else who just blows you away.”

Barry Humphries“I was watching a back tape of Michael Stipe from REM. He was very left-eld. Very. So left-eld, in fact, I think he met himself coming back around the right. But I had this out-of-body moment where I thought, ‘What fun, what a privilege to have sat and chatted with Michael Stipe for an hour.’ So it’s not hard to keep fresh – even though it’s the same show – because what’s put in front of us is always so different.” 

The depth of research that goes into making Enough Rope is revealed by the regular “How did you know that?” exclamations from the guests. It’s one of the reasons the program has been recognised with an Australian Film Industry award (2006) and a Walkley award (2003), among others.

“One of the reasons those moments are memorable is because they’re really honest,” Denton says. “It’s not normal in an interview to see the guest suddenly stopped in their tracks.”

“The much more rewarding moments – Michael Stipe’s an example – are where the guests fall completely silent. They might really pause before giving an answer and the longer the pause the more honest the answer. It’s funny, often I nd the best questions are silence and often the best answers are silence. It’s really weird for an interview show that it’s at its absolute best when nobody’s saying anything.” 

Andrew Denton with
The WigglesEnough Rope has produced some of the most engaging interviews seen on Australian TV – though the fallout for the guest can be sometimes positive, sometimes negative.

Denton points to former Australian Test cricketer Michael Slater as an example of the positive. Slater opened up on the show about his battle with a bipolar disorder and his life has since turned around, allowing Slater to establish himself as a cricket commentator.

Convicted conman Peter Foster was a different kettle of fish and tried very hard to have the interview “changed, scuttled, edited – anything which led to a fascinating exchange of correspondence,” says Denton.

Gabriel ByrneEvidence of Denton’s desire to move more and more behind the camera can be traced to his original backing of the Chaser team – he executive-produced their news satire program, CNNNN in 2002 and 2003. More recently, he explored new territory executive-producing another interview program, the Ten Network’s David Tench Tonight, where the host was an animated character interviewing live celebrities.

You could be forgiven for thinking, however, that a career in television was a childhood dream for Denton. But no: “I wanted to be halfback for South Sydney football team for a long time but then I realised that I could neither pass nor kick nor tackle – which in recent years could still have made me eligible,” he says. He did end up being a key player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, though, during their ght to be re-admitted to the National Rugby League.

Footballing dreams aside, Denton acknowledges that his career in? uences have been part nature and part nurture. “My father was a broadcaster and a writer and so I think I had a bent that way, but basically, coming from a very verbal household, I was good at communicating,” he says. “I just fell into it through Theatresports. It’s that old thing of an opportunity comes up, you take it, it leads to something else.”

Steve IrwinYou get a sense that his desire to wear the producer hat much more often than the presenter’s also comes from an understanding of the changing times. “I feel the age for people like me is probably passing a bit,” he comments. “For some of the projects I’d like to do, it doesn’t matter about reputation.”

I think with the explosion of outlets, there’s going to be less and less money to make things, so big ideas – some of which I have – quite possibly won’t be made. Reputation ain’t what it used to be.

For someone who is known for digging into the lives of others, though, Denton has managed to keep his own life, with wife and media personality Jennifer Byrne and their child Connor, relatively private.

Andrew Denton with Cate
Blanchett“Jennifer and I have been really clear on what we’re prepared to share and what’s ours – people respect that,” he says. “When Connor was born I joked that we were going to sell the photos to the NRMA Open Road magazine and do an article on how well the car handled on the way to the hospital.”