Faces of the week

Our regular look at some of the faces which have made the news this week. Above are Bob Geldof (main picture), with Robert Kilroy-Silk, Patricia Routledge, Philip Green and Christopher Reeve.

Bob Geldof

Bob the Gob's been at it again. The man who fulfilled his boyhood dream of becoming a rock star "to get rich and to get laid", and went on to become Saint Bob, highlighting the reasons behind developing world poverty, has now turned his attention to the family and the father's place in it.

In two television documentaries, Geldof launches a tirade against the evils of the 1960s and the country's high divorce rate.

He makes the case for why families should stay together, berates women for their attitude towards men, and believes fathers are getting little justice in divorce cases through laws that assume that children are always better off with their mothers.

Geldof has rounded on modern-day "soap-opera" culture. "If our expectation of married life were more realistic, then the everyday reality would not be thought of as difficult, limiting or mundane but rather as comforting and supportive."

Two of Bob Geldof's daughters, Pixie and Peaches

He has seized on statistics that women initiate 70% of all divorces, suggesting they should lower their expectations of men.

"Men have never felt the need to talk, so why is it now that 'he doesn't talk to me anymore' is enough to end a relationship?" he asks.

Geldof's authority to speak about these subjects (or lack of it, say his critics), stems from the very public breakdown of his marriage to Paula Yates and its messy aftermath.

She left him for INXS frontman, Michael Hutchence, and Geldof was granted custody of their three children after a bitter custody battle.

After the deaths of Michael and Paula, Geldof adopted the couple's daughter. He cares for them together with his partner of 10 years, French actress Jeanne Marine.

Bitter debate

Geldof's own background saw his mother die when he was seven. His travelling salesman father left Bob and his two sisters to fend for themselves much of the time.

It created a gulf between father and son that was not bridged until Geldof's marriage to Paula began to fall apart. Then, he says: "The importance of family hit me for the first time."

Predictably, Geldof's treatise has provoked bitter debate.

Maureen Freely, in the Guardian, accuses Bob Geldof of emphasising the trivial reasons behind divorce. "Poverty, heartbreak, exhaustion, public censure and long, lonely nights. That's what divorce brings to most people in the short term."

Receiving an honorary doctorate in 2004

Cristina Odone, in the Times, points out that while divorce can affect children badly, so can quarrelling parents at home.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, of the Independent, suggests Geldof should focus not on fathers but "on the rights of children and the responsibilities of parenthood".

On the other hand, Conservative MP, Ann Widdecombe, applauds Geldof for having the courage to state the obvious. "We are not a happy society for being licentious," she says.

Journalist Amanda Platell, a former Tory spin doctor, believes Geldof is "fighting against a blatant and outdated system that fails to reflect how men have changed".

And Melanie Phillips, of the Daily Mail, in sympathy with Geldof, urges the Conservative Party to stamp out "this libertine free-for-all" from which "all our social ills" derive.

So, the enfant terrible of rock, the man who always regarded himself as anti-establishment, who first made an impact in his homeland in 1977 by attacking, on television, the Catholic Church for its perceived abuses, now finds his bedfellows are politically conservative.

Bob Geldof tells a story of how his father would come home, make a provocative statement, and then sit back to watch Bob and his sisters get heated over the issue. It's in his blood.

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Robert Kilroy-Silk Robert Kilroy-Silk's ambition to become leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party has been put on hold... for the moment. The broadcaster-turned-politician had made clear his aim to take over as head of the anti-EU party. But, following discussions in Brussels, at which "strong views" were expressed, UKIP's 12 MEPs agreed to put the matter to one side for the present. Kilroy-Silk, elected in June, had vowed that UKIP would "wreck" the European Parliament. Full story

Patricia Routledge The actress Patricia Routledge, most famous for her television portrayal of that arch-snob, Hyacinth Bucket, has received a CBE from the Queen in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The 75-year-old performer, acclaimed for her performance in Alan Bennett's monologue, A Woman of No Importance, was honoured for her services to drama. "I just want to do good work with good people in good places," she says. "And as for retirement, I can hardly spell the word." Full story

Philip Green Philip Green, the boss of the High Street retailer Bhs, is to receive a £40m dividend payment, after the company posted record profits. Mr Green, who also owns the Arcadia fashion business, said operating profits at the 162-store chain rose by 5.8% to £111.6 million. Though sales were virtually flat, greater efficiency added to profits. Green, whose attempt to buy Marks & Spencer foundered in July, said that he currently had no takeover plans in mind. Full story

Christopher Reeve The film world has been mourning the Superman actor, Christopher Reeve, who has died of heart failure at the age of 52. Reeve, paralysed from the neck down following a horse-riding accident in 1995, had been an outspoken advocate for stem-cell research, which might hold the key to treating spinal cord injuries like his. Reeve's widow Dana is reportedly planning a large commemorative service at Juilliard, the famed Manhattan performing-arts school where Reeve studied. Full story

Compiled by BBC News Profiles Unit's Bob Chaundy.