Category: British

  • Big-Mouth Billy
    Big-Mouth Billy

    There’s a line on page 73 of Proctology: A Bottom Examination which reads: Rik also made a corporate video in 1988, but his was for John Cleese’s Video Arts production company. Managing Problem People: Behavioral Skills For Leaders was directed by Charles Crichton (who directed A Fish Called Wanda), and was written by Stephen Fry.…

  • TV50 Continuity
    TV50 Continuity

    On 1st November 1986, the BBC celebrated 50 years of television, with its themed strand TV50. Here’s some of the continuity and trails that aired on that day. And here’s some nostalgic in-vision continuity …

  • Did Alan Partridge Nearly Buy Mrs Warboys’ House?
    Did Alan Partridge Nearly Buy Mrs Warboys’ House?

    Let’s preface this nonsense with two things. First, in universe, of course Alan didn’t. He was looking at a house in Norfolk, and Mrs Warboys lives somewhere else. Second, I always presumed that the house viewing scene from A Room With An Alan was shot on location. But on the DVD commentary track, Armando Iannucci…

  • Warden Walters
    Warden Walters

    The final joke of Bomb, the fourth episode of The Young Ones, never gets the laugh I think it deserves. It’s not a bomb, it’s an egg the plane has laid. I wonder if the noise of the baby plane has been mixed too loud and drowns out the laugh. Anyway, here’s Rick’s exclamation when…

  • Bootle Saddles
    Bootle Saddles

    Yesterday, whilst looking at clippings about ‘Allo ‘Allo, the last line of this review jumped out at me. I am constantly amazed by all the gaps in my sitcom knowledge. Bootle Saddles is a new one to me. It was written by Ray Mansell & Paul Benn, and aired on BBC Two in the autumn…

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  • Nineteen 90s Shows
    Nineteen 90s Shows

    I wrote another book about television. I like television. I like television so much that the first thing I modelled and printed on my new 3d printer was this … I made some more after that too. There’s a few more, including TVS, ATV, and HTV, but I bought you here to talk about my…

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  • Re-Casting Keanu
    Re-Casting Keanu

    Keanu Reeves is 56. That makes him eight years older than Clive Dunn was when he was first cast in Dad’s Army. But don’t panic, Clive Dunn was always playing much older characters than his own age. Keanu Reeves is 56. That makes him seven years older than Stephanie Cole was when she was first…