Smash!

One of the great TV phenomenons of the last year has been the pop nostalgia series. From Channel 4′s Top Ten, through BBC2′s I Love the Seventies, to Sky One’s TV Years, every channel now seems to have a programme taking an ironic look back at pop culture of the past, using archive footage, contemporary interviews and Stuart Maconie. Read more

One Foot in the Grave

Pre-publicity for the final series of One Foot In The Grave had made no bones about the fact that Victor Meldrew was going to die at the end of this run. In fact we even knew how he was going to be dispatched: the intrigue was how it could happen within the strictures of a sitcom. Read more

Chewin’ the Fat

Chewin’ the Fat returned for its third series, with a sprinkling of old favourites and a dash of new characters added to the mix. The question is, now that its popularity within Scotland is at an all-time high, has it affected the recipe? Read more

Brookside

Still deeply suspicious, I find it impossible to wholly recommend that you all seek out Brookside in case (as with may of its plotlines) it all goes “bang!” Yet, the revitalisation (promised by the makers for so long that OTT was actually talking about it almost a year ago) does now appear to be here. Read more

Brookside

“Over my dead body you will!” – Susannah Morrissey Read more

Countdown

“Words and numbers game”. That’s how this programme is famously often described by the Radio Times – just four simple words. A laughably concise billing, but what more needs to be said? Or rather, what else could be said that does justice to every painful pun, accidental gaffe or memorably pointless incident that makes up your average edition of Countdown? Read more