Heaven-sent ad opportunity

“There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” That is the cheery message London buses will be carrying if Richard Dawkins, the atheist, can raise enough cash.

The slogan is to be daubed across 30 Westminster buses in retaliation for a series of bendy-bus Christian messages. CBS Outdoor, the bus advertising company, said that it would run the atheist ads in January. “Religion is accustomed to getting a free ride,” said Dawkins, who will match donations up to £5,500.

Ariane Sherine, creator of the Atheist Bus Campaign, said: “I’m very pleased so many people are behind the atheist bus. Though not actually behind the atheist bus - they’d get covered in exhaust fumes.”

“I had a very peculiar experience the other night,” Michael Sheen revealed during a Tiscali Screen Talk at The Times BFI London Film Festival. “David Frost introduced me to Gordon Brown - but he introduced me as Tony Blair.” The actor memorably dramatised TB’s “Granita triumph” over his rival in The Deal . “I saw this look of panic spread across Gordon Brown’s face,” he added. Bond may have moved on, but Pierce Brosnan indulges in some product placement with this political endorsement during a pit stop in Malibu

“Have you ever met a real British Intelligence officer?”, Dame Stella Rimington asks Daniel Craig via Time Out . “How would I know if I met a spy?,” parries Craig. “So no spy has ever approached you in solidarity?” the former M persists. “What? A nod and wink? No.” Bond wouldn’t crack either.

A treat for University of Leicester students tomorrow when Ian Hutchby, Professor of Sociology, lectures on TV talk shows. His paper examines “the way revelation of personal information is managed by the protagonist”. Shame it clashes with the Alan Titchmarsh show.

Peaches Geldof, 19, has defended her surprise (to Dad) marriage to the US rocker Max Drummey. “Max graduated from Harvard with honours in social anthropology and can play 12 instruments,” she tells Heat. “I didn’t go into it thinking ‘This is going to last for ever’ . . .”

Rock monster’s school uniform

The Face: Angus Young

A 53-year-old man who wears school uniform to work would normally be a cause for concern, but the return of Angus Young, whose Neanderthal riffs grace a new AC/DC album this week, has brought joy to the metal kingdom.

Like Young’s juvenile stagewear, Black Ice has matured not one jot from the hard-rocking formula patented by the Australian band on their 1980 classic Back in Black. Young formed AC/DC with his older brother Malcolm in 1973, inspired by Chuck Berry’s riffs. Some 200 million album sales later, Angus admits that donning his trademark uniform helps to transform a quiet man into a rock monster.

Artistic progression was never an option. “I thought rock’n’roll was supposed to be juvenile.

You sing what you know.

What am I going to write about - Rembrandt?”

Postscript

- People discovered that even movie stars wait in line when we saw Keanu Reeves in the queue for tickets outside the Sarah Silverman gig.

- John Cleese tells Radio Times that he’s not keen on gadgets, despite hosting Batteries Not Included, a new show about gadgets on Dave. He’s equally vague about other details. “I’m afraid I don’t have the faintest idea what it’s called. Is it called Dave? Dave’s the TV channel? How peculiar.”

- At The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, Tony Benn recalled being told that antiVietnam protesters may try to take over his Technology Ministry. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ve been trying to take it over since I got here and I haven’t succeeded yet.”

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