GUARDIAN UNLIMITED TALK - THE LEGENDARY "BAREFOOT DOCTOR ONLINE" INCIDENT

Guardian Unlimited Talk was, quite simply, the best talkboard on the internet in the first decade of this century.

From time to time, the papers (the site was a joint venture for the Guardian and the Observer) would put a famous personality online for an hour to discuss the issues of the day or plug their latest projects.

Most of these were uneventful but some were an eagerly taken opportunity.

Over the years, I had the priviledge to "talk" to such luminaries as Richard Branson (about Tubular Bells) and his ballooning partner, the late Steve Fossett (about the sale of the catamaran Cheyenne), Robert Plant (about him being voted above Jimmy Page in a VH-1 Legends of Rock poll), Carenza Lewis (about Time Team, obviously), Lenny Henry (about Comic Relief)  and Bill Drummond of KLF (the relative psychic powers of kittens and penguins.  Yes, really).

And then they fed us one of their own.

Stephen Russell, The Barefoot Doctor, was the Observer's "alternative" medic.  Or rather an alternative to a medic.  He was a regular target of our ire on the Talkboards and what possessed them to offer him up online live has never been explained, but offered up he was and slaughter him we did.

Much to the delight of Private Eye, Fortean Times and the British Journal of General Practice.

Sadly, the thread was heavily edited before I thought to save it for posterity, but what survived gives a good idea of what they deleted.  Needless to say, Mr Russell was never seen in those parts again.