Over the last two weekends, as usual at this time of year, three TV shows have concluded with public votes (by phone, text and online) to determine the winning contestants: “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here”, “Strictly Come Dancing” and “Sports Personality of the Year”. For the fourth year running, ITV’s “The X Factor” was not part of… Continue reading Votes For Women
Most weekday mornings I spend a few minutes checking out Breakfast TV. I try to catch the local weather on BBC Breakfast, typically in the bulletin just before 7.30am. On ITV I mainly check in just to see who’s accompanying Susannah Reid on “Good Morning Britain”. Since Piers Morgan left the show there has been a succession of… Continue reading Word of the week: Alphablocks
So, here are two things I have learnt over the last week. First, TV presenter Richard Madeley does not like it when people start sentences with the word “So”. It was a featured item on Jeremy Vine’s show on BBC Radio 2 last week. As you may know, the show runs from 12 noon until 2pm Monday… Continue reading So, Jeremy Clarkson has never heard of “Tenable”
We continue to subscribe to Netflix, nearly two years after I agreed to my daughter’s request that we sign up for the “free” 30 day trial. I learnt recently that I could reduce my monthly fee down a bit. We are still paying extra so that we can run it on up to four devices.… Continue reading World of the week: Dazzle
“I want to be a tomato.” Does this phrase mean anything to you? If not, how about saying it with the voice of a child, sounding really miserable, about to burst into tears? If it rings any bells, then you probably remember an advert for Prudential financial services from the late 1980s. I have been… Continue reading “I want to be a tomato”
Back in 2017, in this piece, I wrote about “Countdown”, the game show that was the first programme broadcast when Channel 4 launched in 1982. It continues to be aired most weekdays at 2.10pm, with repeats at 6am. The show has been in the news recently because it has a new host, Anne Robinson. She took over from Nick Hewer in the episode broadcast… Continue reading “Countdown” July 2021
This piece is about the 4-letter word that begins with “C” and rhymes with “hunt”. In the thousand or so pieces published so far on this Blog I have referred to this word a few times but never spelt it out, and will not do so here. Over the last ten days I have watched… Continue reading Word of the week: The C Word
Last Friday, Channel 4 devoted the hours after 9pm to the sitcom “Friday Night Dinner”, to mark the show’s 10th anniversary. We have been big fans of the show for the last couple of years and were looking forward to it. There was a documentary featuring interviews with the cast, crew members (including the writer, Robert Popper) and celebrity fans. One of the show’s stars,… Continue reading Word of the week: mischievous
Breakfast TV here in the UK currently offers us three main options: “BBC Breakfast” on BBC1, “Good Morning Britain” on ITV and comedy shows on Channel 4. “Milkshake” on Channel 5 is aimed at young children, and 10 years ago, when our children were 4 and 6, we often tuned in for episodes of “Peppa… Continue reading Word of the week: “Cheers”
How is your knowledge of Irish geography? If you have never visited the island of Ireland it may be rather hazy. This earlier piece, prompted by the All-Ireland Hurling Final between Limerick and Waterford, reflects on how I got to know my way around the place, on childhood holidays and then as an adult. I have spent time in 23 of the… Continue reading More about Irish counties (“It’s a long way to Tipperary…”)
The Compartments 