When Harvey Met Bob
Published July 19, 2025
Film info
- Title When Harvey Met Bob
- Director Nicholas Renton
- Year 2010
- Run time 1hr 30m
- Genre Drama
- Tagline All in a good cause
Bob Geldof and Harvey Goldsmith set up one of the world’s greatest ever concerts, Live Aid in 1984 to help ease the Ethiopian Famine.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 2:11 | The amount of time Bob has spent on phones must be astronomical. |
| 6:59 | “…to do nothing is to tacitly consent to this.” |
| 8:23 | £1.35! |
| 12:27 | “If you need any help with the Ethiopia thing…” Harvey said, and surely regretted his words! |
| 17:28 | Domhnall has really done some homework on Bob, his movement is just like him. |
| 18:21 | A hundred years from now, people really will still be talking about Live Aid. |
| 24:13 | “It’s like a global jukebox. Viewers phone in money and music comes out.” |
| 31:53 | If IS a better word than no. |
| 40:37 | “We should have gone to the BBC from the start.” Truth! |
| 44:55 | Goonhilly shoutout! |
| 52:59 | Hard to get Paul McCartney’s specific Liverpool accent right. |
| 1:01:20 | Yes Freddie. |
| 1:04:46 | I love his attitude that it doesn’t matter what people think of him as long as it works. |
| 1:14:00 | “Watch your language.” Coming from Bob, ha. |
| 1:15:10 | Did he actually walk around all day with a clock on him? |
| 1:23:30 | If Paul McCartney gets imposter syndrome, then no one is safe. |
Thoughts
There’s a lot of Live Aid nostalgia around at the moment as we recognise 40 years since the life-changing music event. This was a made-for-TV movie that documents Bob Geldof organising the charity concert, both working alongside and arguing incessantly with Harvey Goldsmith. It’s a great dramatisation of events, I’m sure with elements dramatised for effect but also I’m sure with great accuracy - for example how much Geldof lied and effectively bullied to get this thing off the ground. I was a bit disappointed that Paula Yates was effectively a non-speaking role, but there was plenty else to enjoy - particularly Domhnall’s portrayal of Bob which was accurate and moving in equal measure. Great job.
Rating: 5 / 5
