Saturday Kitchen: Richard Osman chats to Matt Tebbutt about book

Saturday Kitchen presenter Matt Tebbutt got a stern warning from guest Richard Osman on today’s (27th September) edition of the popular BBC programme.

This week, Osman was the show’s celebrity guest in the run-up to the release of his latest entry in the Thursday Murder Club series, The Impossible Fortune.

During an interview, Matt posed a rather risky question, asking the bestselling author: “Do you never… do you first and foremost think about what the character would do naturally?

“Or do you ever want to play with it and go, ‘Do you know what, I don’t care what people think about what happens to Joyce. I’m going to take it in this direction’?”

Osman quickly retorted: “How dare you suggest I wouldn’t care what people think about what happens to Joyce!”

Matt Tebbutt

Saturday Kitchen host told ‘how dare you’ after ‘worst thing he’s said’ (Image: BBC)

The author gave the presenter a cheeky smile while Tebbutt salvaged the situation with a laugh.

“Okay, I didn’t dress that up!” he admitted as Osman jokingly berated the Saturday Kitchen star.

“That is the worst thing you’ve said today,” he quipped. “And you’ve said some bad things.”

The author went on to explain his writing process a little further, admitting he doesn’t do as much planning as some readers might think.

Richard Osman

Richard Osman was stunned by the presenter’s question (Image: BBC)

“Genuinely, in my head and my heart they’re very real,” he shared. “So, actually, a lot of the time they lead me.

“They’ll say something and the plot becomes different. I don’t plan my plots at all.”

Tebbutt chimed in, “That’s quite renegade!” as Osman continued: “Lots of people don’t, lots of writers don’t. It’s more fun. If I’m taken by surprise then hopefully readers are taken by surprise as well.”

Matt Tebbutt and Richard Osman

Osman explained his writing process as a new Thursday Murder Club book hits shelves (Image: BBC)

Osman’s next book in his beloved murder mystery series, The Impossible Fortune, has just hit shelves in the wake of the divisive Netflix adaptation of his first Thursday Murder Club book.

The fifth entry follows the elderly amateur sleuths being drawn back into detective mode again after a year’s break when Elizabeth suddenly encounters a distressed wedding guest who’s in desperate need of their help.