When Kirsty Wark bid farewell to Newsnight last summer, her departure marked the end of an era.
After 30 years as the programme’s longest-serving anchor, she stepped down from the BBC’s flagship current affairs show with a final episode that celebrated her formidable career.
It was a night steeped in nostalgia, tributes, and a few surprises, encapsulating the depth and breadth of her impact on British journalism.
Among her final guests was the irrepressible Alan Cumming, the Tayside-raised actor whose charm and wit offered a fitting complement to Wark’s incisive gravitas.
Together, they reflected on the news, the arts, and the shifting tides of culture – a conversation that felt both poignant and celebratory, a moment of transition for both interviewer and guest.
Now, just seven months later, the tables are turning.
At the Pitlochry Winter Words Festival, Alan Cumming is interviewing Kirsty in what promises to be a lively and intimate discussion.
It’s a role reversal that will see one of Britain’s most respected broadcasters stepping into the unfamiliar territory of being questioned rather than questioning.
How will it feel for Kirsty Wark to be in the hot seat?
“Alan interviewing me is going to be funny, because I’m very rarely interviewed,” she laughs in an interview with The Courier.
“I actually interviewed Alan just about three weeks before Christmas.
“I’ve done the odd format like this before where I answer the questions, but it’s not really something I’ve done much before. So it’s going to be kind of strange, because, you know, he’s me and I’m him!”
Alan, of course, has recently taken over as the theatre’s artistic director, a role that has already sparked great enthusiasm and intrigue within the arts community.
However, Kirsty has known Alan for many years, long before he became an internationally renowned performer.
She’s kept in touch as his “phenomenal” career has developed and now classes him as a good friend.
How did Kirsty Wark first get to know Alan Cumming?
“I’ve known Alan since just after he left drama school, when he and Forbes Masson got together as Victor and Barry and came to interview me as part of their ‘Scones and Tea with Victor and Barry’ series,” she smiles.
“And I’ve sort of been friendly with him ever since.
“The thing about Alan is, you know, he’s absolutely got that work ethic. And he kind of embraces his life with both hands.
“I think this (Pitlochry) thing has come at the perfect time for him.
“What he does at Pitlochry will be a real part of a legacy—not just on stage but off stage too.”
Kirsty laughs that when she interviewed Alan for the Hogmanay podcast Front Row on BBC Sounds, he unwittingly “gave the game away” that he would likely perform on stage at some point while serving as Pitlochry Festival Theatre artistic director.
But despite her experience as a seasoned interviewer, she still has little idea what questions he might ask her.
Kirsty has fond memories of Pitlochry
Kirsty saw the first production of the Black Watch play in Pitlochry and gushes about a “great restaurant down the hill” near the theatre, which she frequents.
Her connection to the wider Perthshire area is also longstanding, including visits to Auchterarder and the occasional trip to Gleneagles.
Dumfries-born, her family holidayed in Scotland and Ireland when she was a child.
Even when she left home for university, she wasn’t too far away, heading off to Stirling University at the age of 17.
Asked what enticed her into journalism in 1976, she says: “Well, I’m just quite nosy, and I love stories, and I came from a house where we talked about history a lot.
“You know, you need to sort of look at history to understand what’s going on today.”
What else has Kirsty Wark been doing?
Since Kirsty said “goodnight and good luck” to Newsnight, her schedule has been anything but quiet.
As host of The Reunion on BBC Radio Four, she has recently brought together the cast of Absolutely Fabulous and reunited the survivors and first responders from the night a police helicopter crashed into the Clutha pub in Glasgow, killing 10 people.
In November, when asked about the misconduct allegations against now former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace, the former Celebrity MasterChef contestant from 2011 said that in her experience, Wallace shared “sexualised” jokes during filming.
She described her overall experience on the show as positive and the crew as “fantastic,” but noted that Wallace’s behavior was a “fly in the ointment”.
But as she reflects on her three decades at the helm of Newsnight, it’s the pivotal moments in history that stand out.
What are Kirsty Wark’s Newsnight highlights?
“When I look back at things like (the school shooting at) Dunblane, it’s still such an extraordinary and awful moment,” she says.
“And you know, political and cultural interviews as well – interviewing people like Toni Morrison, Harold Pinter, people like that, as well as doing big political interviews.
“But saying that, I’m very glad I finished when I did, because it was the right time.
“I certainly don’t miss the commute because it was a long, long commute.
“But I miss my colleagues. Part of the reason I stepped back from Newsnight was because I felt I’d done enough.
“But also another part of the reason was the ‘pipeline’. We need to give young women and men the chance to do these jobs.”
Always a place for insightful journalism
Technology continues to change at pace, and the news industry is at the sharp end of those changes.
But Kirsty, who was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by St Andrews University in 2023 in recognition of her outstanding career, still believes that there should always be a place for journalism that “tries to explain and analyse what’s going on in the world”.
Kirsty is in the midst of writing her third historical novel, set in Glasgow towards the turn of the 19th to 20th century, weaving in women’s issues, which is a subject of particular interest to her.
She also continues to host Front Row from Scotland every Wednesday night, ensuring that the team covers Scotland “in the best possible way”.
Promoting Scotland’s flourishing arts and culture scene is also a passion.
But she is particularly enthusiastic about Dundee’s creative industries.
What is special about Dundee?
“I mean what Andrew Panton is doing at Dundee Rep, what Leonie Bell and the team are doing at the V&A, and what the DCA is doing – it’s absolutely fantastic,” she says.
“I think people should be very proud in Dundee of what they’ve got. And then you’ve got Duncan of Jordanstone, Abertay, design in medicine at Ninewells.
“You look at the boat (RRS Discovery) lying there in Dundee, and indeed, you look at all the work that was done in jute and in textiles.
“Dundee has always had a strong design focus, and we just have to find creative ways to keep that going. Art and design isn’t just some whim – it’s part of our industrial base.”
Kirsty Wark in conversation with Alan Cumming at the Pitlochry Winter Words Festival on February 22 is now sold out.
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