Top of the Pops

No matter how many times the BBC might tell you otherwise, the sad fact is that Top of the Pops doesn’t matter as much as it used to. Read more

Time Shift: Malcom Muggeridge

About 20 years ago I received a novelty card game for Christmas. On the cards were printed a picture of a television character and a series of questions. Answer one correctly and move on to the next laying the last down to make a square and winning the game. There is a point to this. Read more

Designing the Decades

Like its little brother the ’80s, the 1970′s has received a rather rough press. Crap fashion, crap music the critics carp. Well, bollocks to that. The ’70s were bloody brilliant. I know. I was there. Read more

Reborn in the USA

As the song so beautifully stated – let’s get this straight from the start. Under no circumstances can Davina McCall be considered as a suitable host for a television show. Read more

Monk

As a child growing up watching television with a fanatical fervour in the early 1970′s, I came to hate only one thing – Saturday afternoons beyond the football results as this inevitably would mean only one thing – the frickin’ rinky-dink Pink Panther. Read more

Jonathan Creek

At a time when runs of television series seem to be getting longer and longer (or in the case of Holby City – never ending), the brief return of Jonathan Creek after however many years away (save for a superlative special a couple of Christmases back) sticks out like the sore thumb in the tightly clenched fist of modern day scheduling. Read more

Comic Relief Night

Of all those dates in the calendar that remind you of advancing age, one of the most commanding, and depressing, is Comic Relief Night. Every two years it returns, unhelpfully prompting comparisons with last time round, and encouraging you to lower your expectations accordingly. Read more

The Great War

There’s something strangely reassuring but also a bit unnerving about settling down to watch a weekly television series not due to finish for another half a year. What will have happened to yourself, those around you, the rest of the world, come six months time? Read more