“It’s Neil Warnock, live from Cornwall…”

I watched the BBC’s stab at covering the lower divisions of English football Read more

Questions about Corrie

1 – If Jerry’s had a heart attack, why hasn’t the absent eldest daughter come back to see how he is? And what the hell happened to that grandad? Read more

“Just say sorry”

Crikey, almost a month since the last OTT blog entry? Well, allow me. I’ve just watched the Sky Sports exclusive interview with Sir Alex Ferguson, as conducted (and executively produced) by Sir David Frost. Read more

Corrie court out?

So, is Casey the Mad Arsonist, Abductor and Adulterer ever going to be put on trial on Coronation Street? Read more

“Hello. I’m bulge temptingly!”

I’m enjoying the repeats of Whose Line is it Anyway? on Dave, although there has been some quite brutal editing done for watershed purposes; the type which Canadian and American audiences used to suffer even in more appropriate later slots when the episodes were first aired. This was not what Hat Trick nor Channel 4 intended…

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Quintessential inhabitants

I like QI. I’ve watched every episode many times over. I frequent the official forums. I have had correspondence from John Lloyd. And I even got the play-at-home game on DVD at Christmas 2006, though I’ve only looked at it once. Read more

Great to be back, so it is!

Jim McDonald’s return to Coronation Street has been long overdue, and for once I’m actually not speculating nor pondering the plotlines ahead for Charles Lawson, though one can imagine that something isn’t quite going to go to plan when Liz and Vernon (a fantastic character) tie the knot in two weeks. I’m just glad the ex-con, ex-Army patriarch with the temper from hell is back. Read more

Our Little Swampduck

Coronation Street from me again, then (it remains my only TV obsession when HIGNFY isn’t on… ) and the sad news that Liz Dawn is leaving her role as Vera Duckworth after 33 years due to ill health. Read more

“Kevin… fire!”

I love Sally Webster, and I’m sure the greatly talented but hugely unnoticed Sally Whittaker is equally as loveable. The celebrations of her 40th birthday in – where else? – the Rovers Return marked a significant moment in the lifespan of one of British soap’s most consistent residents. She is one of Coronation Street‘s must-sees. Read more

Punctuationism

Nice of ITV1 to show Die Hard the other night, a film I never get tired of seeing (and, considering I haven’t been to a cinema since a date with Sue Cain to watch Kingpin in 1996, that’s saying something), under the Action Heroes motif. Read more

“Your perm wasn’t that bad…”

Tracy Barlow’s trial is about to start on Coronation Street and so, in final preparation for an event on which the soap is pinning so much hope, we got a rare beast for the Street tonight – a two-hander. Read more

It started with a kiss… sort of

Something’s just occurred to me during the current Arthur ‘n’ Martha storyline in Coronation Street. Why didn’t the kiss outside the nightclub really happen? Read more

“Chicken, noodles and… lemon curd?”

The 21st century MasterChef is the first cookery programme on television I’ve ever liked. It’s informal, competitive and doesn’t have Loyd Grossman sniffing near the saucepans. Read more

“I think something should go wrong with May’s air conditioning…”

I can already guess just how much sanctimonious, over-sensitive complaining will have hit the BBC Duty Log over the last 12 hours or so since the latest episode of Top Gear aired on BBC2. Read more

Lead us not into temptation

I first heard ages ago that The Afternoon Play was coming to BBC1 when the controller was interviewed on 5Live by Simon Mayo. Despite my interest being aroused by the idea at the time, only yesterday did I get round to watching one. Read more

“Can you arrange some tea, Coop?”

I really like Judge John Deed, yet I have to acknowledge there are flaws. It’s deliberately political. It’s riddled with legal inaccuracies. It pre-supposes that only three lawyers ever operate in the High Court. Read more

“It’s terminal…”

Or maybe that should be “interminable”. I adore Coronation Street and always have, but in the run-up to Christmas we have two of the most unattractive and realism-lacking storylines in progress. Read more

Dee-vine

The first two episodes of Lead Balloon on BBC4 have been nothing but a joy. Read more

Drop dead Fred

“Be happy; I say, be happy.” The last words, as they turned out, of Frederick Handel Elliott, master butcher of Weatherfield, publican to the masses and one of Coronation Street‘s finest entertainers. And now he’s dead. Read more

Operation Winkle

So, blog favourite Strictly Come Dancing is back, but as someone whose enjoyment of daring routines is tempered by the desire to avoid all potential for car-crash telly (I always left the room when Fiona Phillips took to the floor last year), I find myself in my usual mixed state of enthrallment and discomfort when it transmits. Read more

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