Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Tuesday. 5.20 a.m. Another day dawns. Oh dear, what a cliché. But I couldn't resist. As usual, I've been out with Alfie. It's been raining overnight. We walked along the path towards Oldbrook Green and all around the equipment in the fenced-off children's play area there was quite a considerable puddle.  

6.45 a.m. The kitchen was cleaned, washing-up was done, rubbish was taken out, and I'm ready to go to Camphill at around 8.20.

7.00 p.m. I drove to Camphill as usual. The traffic was a good deal quieter than usual. I'm not sure why. I couldn't have been because schools were on holiday, because they don't break up for the summer until the beginning of August. We were down to around half the usual contingent of participants, due to the fact that many were on holiday. We also had a lady come along who was volunteering her time the same way that I do, and she seemed to fit in very well. Whether she comes back is another matter. Also, a resident of Camphill came into the theatre workshop to sample the experience, so she may or may not return.

After the usual check-in and some really crazy games, one about being on a ship and having to run in the right direction, i.e. Port, Starboard, Bow and Stern (which, incidentally, I don't have a problem with, because my father had several boats and you certainly remember those parts, when you get shouted at, as he was prone to doing (Port, particularly, with the saying 'no port left - in the bottle.) A bit of good exercise, running about from one side to the other until I got caught out!

The stage was set up for some more filming. The green screen material was arranged so that, once a piece of film (actually video, technically, but never mind) had been completed, additional background material could be digitally inserted so that it would look as if the actors were on a beach in a ship or somewhere in the wild west. I got a chance, at long last, to see some of the completed footage, and, I must say, it looks amazing. There is still quite a lot of work to do, such as editing, putting in music, intertitles and probably sound effects, but generally, it all looks fantastic.

A television crew arrived at Camphill, as they are making a documentary for Channel Four about caring for people with learning disabilities and how they will be cared for as they age. During the morning, they focussed on one of the resident's houses within the Camphill campus. We continued to work on filming material for the 'Pirates' film, although I wasn't used, basically because not all the actors were available as they were on holiday.

After lunch, the television crew came into the Chrysalis Theatre. The chairs were put into a circle and some of the residents sat on the chairs. It was set up so that the young actor Reuben (not sure exactly what his surname is.) was going to ask the group questions, which had been written on cards and placed behind the camera.) as the camera and sound engineer juggled with moving around without disturbing the flow of the discussion. The group were really great, didn't show any nerves and didn't fluff their words!

It was exciting that the group will now be the focus of this documentary, but as I write this, we don't know exactly when it will be broadcast. No doubt also streamed on the Channel Four website.

Wednesday. 8.30 a.m. Yet another bright and sunny morning. Not a great deal more to say on the matter.

1.00 p.m. It is currently raining. In fact, quite a torrential downpour. Well, after all the heat we've had over the last couple of weeks, it's something of a relief.

It's All Action? . . .More like Inaction!

Monday.  2.25 p.m.  Action, did I hear you say? This is Dexter House we're talking about. I have mentioned the matter of the scooter stores, which were built outside against one outside wall of this building. They were constructed because the fire officer did an inspection of Dexter house some while ago, (probably before I moved in more than three years ago), and said that the electric mobility scooters which some tenants use, can't be stored in any of the common areas, mostly in the corridors. They have to be parked there at present, so they can be charged overnight. A great deal of money has been spent building these sheds, which have concrete floors, electric power points, lighting etc, but cannot be accessed from the main building because of ramps and special doors which can be opened automatically so that scooters can get in and out of the building, but nobody at Milton Keynes Council will take any responsibility for paying for the work to be done to install these doors. Total incompetence on the part of the Council to get this work completed. It rather defeats the point of having the sheds built. Meanwhile, it's a trip hazard to have doormats on the outside of flats!!!! Meanwhile, if there's a fire in this building, some of the exit routes are blocked by mobility scooters!!!

I took my car to Bleak Hall Motors for its service, which was booked for 10.00 a.m. I try to get to appointments early so, if there is a chance of them starting earlier, then it's always worthwhile.

The mechanics soon had it in the workshop and I just sat in the waiting room as there was no point going home. I could have walked, but then I would have had to walk back. I read one of my books, which I had taken, and my reading glasses (or, at least, one pair that were usable and not broken.) 

After about an hour and a half, I was told that the brake fluid needed topping up, so I agreed to have it done. The whole procedure was finished by 12.20 or thereabouts, so I paid and left. I wanted to post some Christmas cards, which at that point I hadn't purchased, but I thought I'd get the stamps first and so drove into Coffee Hall, which is opposite Bleak Hall. The post office in the One-Stop shop in Garraways has a post office inside, so that seemed the obvious, and closest place to get stamps. Unfortunately, on arrival, I discovered it was closed for lunch. From there I drove to Waitrose at Oakgrove and got the Christmas cards and a book of postage stamps and as I was driving back home along Chaffron Way I realized that I had left the Sainsbury's bag which I had taken with me to Bleak Hall Motors was still in their waiting area and so I drove all the way back, retrieved the bag containing my book and glasses and then drove home to have lunch which consisted of a sandwich which I had purchased in Waitrose.

Tuesday. 6.25 a.m. It's been raining during the night. I could hear it when I woke up at around 2 o'clock. 

4.40 p.m. The drive to Camphill this morning was virtually free from the aggressive drivers and the long queue getting across the various roundabouts on the way. I imagine this is due to schools being on holiday and parents not driving their little darlings to school.

It has been really sunny and mild today. Considering how cold it was barely a week ago, with snow on the ground and surfaces in some places slippery and covered in ice. It's almost like spring. 

After the usual check-in, we did a game which had a Christmas theme to it. We stood in two lines across the hall, facing each other, and as you were in pairs, facing each other, you had to pretend it was Christmas morning and were giving your opposite number a present, which you had to mime giving to them, and then they opened it and then they gave you a present. A great deal of fun and a good way to use your imagination.

Terrie, the leader of the drama workshop, got the cast of 'Twelfth Night' to do a run-through of the first act of the play. A bit rough around the edges, but everyone remembered most of their stuff, and it was done because it will be several weeks before there will be further rehearsals.

The rest of the day was fun (well, in general, the drama workshop at Camphill is fun in some way or  another .) 

After the tea break, Terrie announced that we were to play the game 'Taskmaster', which was originally on one of the UkTv channels but is now on Channel Four. The idea is that a panel of five contestants are given various tasks and each is scored and the contestant with the most points is the winner. Mitchell, who is a new member of the leadership team within the drama workshop, went off and filled a bag with all manner of items and then the contestants, who sat on the stage, had to guess what was in the bag by feeling it. 

Several more tasks were given to the contestants and after lunch, one more go with a different set of contestants. Then there was Camphill's 'Great British Bake-Off.' I was chosen to be Mary Berry and Mitchell was Paul Hollywood (who are judges in the television show, if you didn't already know.) We made a bit issue of tasting the two cakes which some of the Camphill residents had made, which being definitely over-the-top. The two teams of bakers had to mime making their cakes (similar to how it's done on the television show.) and then we had to mark the cakes. In the end, we decided (at least I decided.) That there wasn't a lot between the two bakes and said that it was an equal win for both.

The final hour of the day was divided between having a dance around in the hall to Christmas music and the final half-hour was taken up with Terrie telling one of her stories which were very interesting and entertaining, by 4 o'clock when the drama workshop ends, it was all 'Happy Christmas!' to all until the group meets up again on 11th January 2023.

Maybe, Possibly . . . On The Edge, Only Slightly . . . But Perhaps Not . . Can't Really Decide . . .

 Good Friday. 7.45 a.m. I'm waiting to go and put my washing in the washing machine. I mustn't put my things in the machine before 8 a.m otherwise I get my wrists slapped. I mean that metaphorically of course  (or do I?) It's just someone being very petty about things. Well, I'm not one to waste the day lounging about in bed, and if I had my way I'd have the washing machine on an hour earlier. Such is life. I have started the process of making a Victoria sponge and have the cake tins lined with greaseproof paper I've sorted out ingredients and will go out and buy some more ingredients, such as eggs and flour and will start baking this afternoon. There's a Good Friday service at the Oaktree Centre at 10.30 a.m. so it will be after that.

8.20 a.m. It's an exceptionally warm and sunny morning. Can this be real? A British Bank Holiday with SUNSHINE? Except, is Good Friday officially a Bank Holiday? It should be. Monday is. My digital thermometer reads 74º F. It really seems crazy to have this place so warm. I think I'm turning into a hothouse plant. 

Washing in the machine and it's on. Oh, the excitement is too much! I'm overwhelmed by it all. How do I operate the newly-installed machine? It looks like the same machine as the other one, but it has what looks like a digital screen. How to operate?

3.15 p.m. I've been to the Good Friday service at church this morning. There seem to be quite a few new faces. Cross buns afterwards, but not hot. Oh, don't be picky! Well, you can't really call them Hot Cross when they aren't. I drove home and then nipped to Lidl as I wanted to make a Victoria sponge I'm taking it with me to my friends Mike and Margaret as I have been invited to lunch with them on Sunday.

The temperature in the flat as I write this is 81º F. It's crazy. I have the lounge window open and electric fans on in the lounge and my bedroom.

5.30 p.m. The temperature is currently 85ºF. How much warmer will it get?

Saturday. 7.08 a.m. It's another bright and sunny morning. The thermometer currently reads 76ºF. Still far too hot inside my flat, but it's cooler outside. Whose idea is it to allow these flats to be so over-heated? Not good for the environment and is a real waste of energy and money.

2.58 p.m. Currently, the temperature in my flat is 82ºF. The world has gone crazy. Even with two electric fans on full blast and the window open, this flat is like a steam room.

Easter Sunday. 6.55 a.m. The thermometer currently reads 78ºF. A really sweltering night. No possibility of the heat being reduced. Although, saying that, it was really cool and pleasant out when I took Alfie out.

Just learnt that ITV is going to revive the infamous reality show 'Big Brother.' There seems a sort of desperation in reviving this as it's been on Channel Four, then Five where it was dropped. Why do they think there's an audience for this on ITV? Going further down market. They have more or less got endless gameshows on and this, channel although not officially a game show, shows a total lack of imagination on behalf of the management of ITV. 

Monday. 3.30 a.m. I have woken up and the heat is too much, so here I am on my MacBook writing this. The digital thermometer reads 81ºF. How crazy is this situation?

1.50p.m. The temperature is currently 83ºF. Still enough to fry an egg, if one was inclined to do so (which I'm certainly not.)

Tuesday. 6.40 p.m. Currently, the temperature as recorded by my digital thermometer is 76ºF. I have had the windows open all night and both electric fans running, and it has been very uncomfortable in the flat. 

5.50 p.m. It's a good deal cooler as I write this. My digital thermometer currently reads 78ºF. 

Wednesday. 6.20 a.m. It's a good deal milder this morning, thank goodness.  My thermometer now reads 71 º F. At least it's a temperature which I can cope with.

What's On Television?

As the days draw in, the children go back to school and everyone (presumably) stays in and watches television, the new Autumn television schedules start in earnest. 'The Great British Bake-Off" started it's latest series on Channel Four on Tuesday. I can't say I'm all that bothered with it. I can't say I'm that interested in cake-baking competitions. I did see some of last year's episodes, but I don't know why this has taken the nation by storm. I know there was a great deal of fuss when the BBC lost the show to Channel Four because, basically, the makers of the show got greedy and wanted more for making it. I still don't see how it can be worth something in the region of £5 million pounds. After all, they don't have to pay actors, writers and all the host of production staff that you would need for, say, a costumer drama, or any other sort of drama. Nor would they have to do endless takes as you have to have when making drama. I actually prefer the similar show where potters have to produce ceramic items. 'The Great British Throwdown' or something. I think it's made by the same production company that makes 'Bake Off,' called Love Productions. They also do something else called 'The Great Sewing Bee,' both shows were on BBC2. Having done a Google search I find that the pottery competition has been cancelled after two series and another says that the company who makes it is 'looking for contestants.' So, which one do I believe? I know you can't believe everything you see on the internet, but it seems a pity that the BBC had to fall out over 'Bake-Off.' Independent production companies are great, but I think some have let things go to their head. Money, that is. The format of 'Bake-Off' isn't exactly original, let's be fair. We all know it's 'formats' for television shows like this that sell. Different television 'territories' around the world, remake their own versions and the originating production companies make a lot of money from this. No doubt there are many versions of 'Bake-Off' being made in other countries. But if it wasn't for the broadcasters, such as the BBC, ITV or Channel Four, they wouldn't be able to survive without their money to make their shows, which they seem to forget. If the BBC hadn't commissioned the show in the first place, and looked after it on BBC2, where it started life, and then, eventually, moving it to the higher-rated BBC1 where it really took off, then they couldn't have managed to hike the price when it caused the trouble when the BBC realised they could no longer justify the higher production costs, hence the move to the commercial Channel Four, who can at least recoup the costs with sponsorship and higher advertising revenue. 

We have a host of new drama series coming up, most notably ITV's Sunday evening costume drama, Vanity Fair. I notice it's also being shown on Mondays, so presumably they're hoping that viewers will be so hooked on to it on a Sunday evening that they will want to switch on the next evening. But surely, with catch-up technology, it makes no difference when you watch. I also see it's in seven parts, which at least means they're giving it enough air-time for the story to be allowed to breathe. I was concerned that it might only get four episodes, which certainly wouldn't be enough, because it's a long and rambling novel which has lots of subplots, similar to a Dickens novel. Having read it, Thackeray, it's author, spends ages going somewhat 'off-topic', wandering off from the plot to discuss certain pertinent matters, a bit like Victor Hugo in 'Les Miserables,' where he also spends whole chapters discussing things that aren't all that central to the matter in hand. (This is also going to be adapted for BBC television, as a non-musical version, by Andrew Davies, who has adapted many of the more successful BBC classic dramas, such as 'Pride and Prejudice.') 'This 'Vanity Fair' is  being co-produced with Amazon money, so no doubt you'll be able to see it if you have an Amazon Prime account and a Fire Stick. This is at least the third version of Vanity fair done by television. I remember that the BBC did a version in the late 1970's which had Susan Hampshire playing Becky Sharp and it was probably the first classic serial they did that was in colour, no doubt on BBC2 which was the first channel to go over to colour in 1967. There was a production in 1987 and then a more recent one in 1998. It therefore seems quite a popular book to adapt for television. The newest one is the first done by ITV who don't seem to do a lot of costume drama, unless you count 'Downton Abbey' which definitely isn't (or wasn't, as it has ended it's television run) a classic drama. No doubt the thinking behind this being adapted is that audiences love classic, costume drama, which the BBC seems to have the lead in producing them, when one thinks of the 1995 version of 'Pride and Prejudice,' which has become the blueprint for adaptations of this type. I even hear that ITV is now developing a new version of this Jane Austen book, although one wonders how they can better the BBC, Andrew Davies scripted version. Perhaps it's because these novels are now in the public domain so they don't have to pay royalties to produce them.

I've now seen the first two episodes of 'Vanity Fair.' Having enjoyed the BBC's adaptation which was broadcast in 1998, which I enjoyed enormously, and read the novel, this new version had plenty to live up to. Part from the opening sequence with Michael Palin as Thackerary, and the vision of a carousel and so on, it wasn't particularly inventive in style or production and no more different from any other classic period drama series.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by what they'd done with 'Vanity Fair.' It must be difficult to do a classic novel such as this which has had so many previous adaptations, all having been produced by ITV. There are people on social media, such as Twitter, complaining about nit-picking things such as, why have C.G.I. in a 19th century serial? Doesn't make sense. Nor does the fact someone doesn't like having characters speaking directly to them, breaking the proverbial 'Fourth Wall.' But this has been done plenty of times before, in such shows as 'Lovejoy' and 'House of Cards.' All very petty and why not just enjoy the story and not find fault with things?

The BBC has 'The War Of The Worlds' in the pipeline, the H.G.Wells classic novel, which has been adapted quite a few times, notably the Orson Wells Mercury Theatre radio version which caused panic across the U.S.A. in the 1930's because of the way it was produced, as a sort of 'live' radio broadcast. Then it was made into a 1950's movie and more recently Stephen Speilberg made his own version, starring Tom Cruise. All these had in common was that the story was set in a contemporary period, but this new television version is to be set in the Virctorian era, like the original novel. Great that they are at least setting this production in the period in which the novel is set. I'm intrigued to see how they do the alien war machines and other sci-fi things such as the heat rays, and in particular, the way they do the opening scenes with the Martian spaceships crashing into earth and making the crater and the unscrewing of the capsule which gets buried on Horsell Common. With C.G.I. effects at their disposal they can make the war machines a good deal more realistic than trying to use miniatures which can look really pathetic. Wells gives the novel quite definite locations in places in and around London which gives it a reality amidst the fiction. That is why it works best being set in England and not in America as the two Hollywood films do.

As for comedy, well, sitcom in particular is rather thin on the ground at the moment. That is, if you mean by sitcom something shot in a studio with an audience, more like a stage play and it's done more or less 'live.' In this vein I can recommend 'Upstart Crow,' which is a sort of spoof on the life of William Shakespeare and starring David Mitchell as The Bard Of Stratford-Upon-Avon. It takes liberties with the perceived knowledge about his life and how his plays were written, but it's very funny and can even mention anachronisms which make the whole thing work. It's now in it's third series, which surprises me, because I was almost certain when it was announced that it would be produced in 2016 as part of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death that it wouldn't survive much more than one series. How wrong could I be when it seems to have become almost to have gained a cult following, similar in style and tone to 'Blackadder." Indeed, it is written by one of that show's co-authors, Ben Elton.

No House Inspection

I'm somewhat annoyed. I got a note through the door this morning (Wednesday), from our landlord, to say he won't be visiting and can I ring him tonight to reschedule? Having spent the last few days cleaning the place, it's a bit of a nuisance, to say the least. It does mean that I can be with Carol this morning when the doctors do their ward round, because I wouldn't have been there if the house inspection had gone ahead for 11 o'clock this morning. Hopefully Carol will be discharged sometime today, so at least she will see a spotless house, or as near as possible. Never mind, at least it will be ready for a landlord visit next week. I don't know when the note was put through the letterbox. I have been awake since at least 5 a.m., been out with Alfie for a walk, but I never heard the letterbox rattle, as you would expect if something was pushed through.

I was washing up at the kitchen sink when I saw a dustcart drive past. I had put three bags of rubbish out, two black bags and a pink one with recycled stuff in it. Why didn't they stop to pick up our bags? It's 8.35 as I write this, and those bags are still were I left them earlier this morning. Why don't the dustmen take them instead of driving past? I know they take the recycled bags separately, but, frankly it doesn't make sense to just drive past. I bet these bags will still be here when I get back home later this afternoon. It really is an odd way to collect rubbish. You are supposed to put it out well before 7a.m. on a Wednesday, but quite often it's still there at 2 p.m.  I heard a report on BBC television news the other day, which said that some recycled material isn't recycled and goes to landfill. Not very good to hear that, when I go to so much trouble to put stuff in the correct pink bag. Incidentally, why are Milton Keynes Council replacing the pink bags with grey bags? Seems a bit pointless to me. What's wrong with pink? As it is, they are very flimsy and easily torn and quite difficult to open.

Later. The continuing saga of the carpark barrier. I don't know whether to laugh or cry over this. I know I've given time and energy to the car parking arrangements at Milton Keynes University Hospital in quite a few of these blog posts. Why on earth they don't just remove the stupid things, because they seem to cause much stress and angst. Either you can't get in, because the barrier won't raise, or the tickets don't come out of the machine when you enter, or the barrier won't raise to let you out. It's more than a little bit annoying. This morning the barrier was raised, so you couldn't take a ticket when you pressed the button. Which meant, when I came to leave this afternoon, I had no ticket, so when I drove out, with the barrier down, I had to press the 'help' button to get a security person to let me out. It can be tricky to do this, because you have to stop the car near enough to the machine so you can stretch out your arm to press the button. Then a disembodied voice asked 'which car park?' to which I had to think, and then said 'near Cardiology,' at which the barrier was raised. I think they must be loosing money from this pandemonium. The barriers seem to spend more time inoperative and operative and people wouldn't be paying to park. Why not just remove all these machines and return to free parking?

On the ward things haven't changed much. No new patients. I arrive in plenty of time for the doctors' ward rounds. It amuses us that when they arrive, around half a dozen of them, with one pushing the computer trolley thing which has all the patients notes in it, they bundle into the 12 X 12 space each patient and their bed contains and draw the curtains around them. How many doctors can you fit in the space? It can be quite intimidating if you are the patient, as I have been myself, with so many people crowding in, sometimes with students, some at the back of the group, someone making notes. What are they all for? The, should I say 'lead doctor', who does all the talking has this morning come in and SITS ON THE BED! Outrageous! I was told you must NEVER, as a visitor, SIT ON THE BED! When I was on one ward a couple of years ago, there was a woman, a volunteer, who was so rude to Carol, she wouldn't let Carol read my notes, which were on a clipboard in a holder at the foot of the bed (now all notes are on the new computerised system eCare or something.) This harridan came in to work in Ward 1 when Carol was first admitted nearly five weeks ago. I think she took her authority too far and was just plain unpleasant. Anyway, this female doctor tells Carol this morning that they have found an antibiotic which will work to eradicate the infection in her septum. She can be given this new antibiotic via a P.I.C.C. line, which has to be inserted (as the old one was, which was removed a week or so ago.) Carol would need to come to the hospital on a daily basis to have the antibiotics administered through the P.I.C.C. line, for two weeks, then the medication can be taken in tablet-form for a further six weeks. We later learn that a community nurse (I think that's the title.) would visit Carol at home and administer the antibiotics, which would cut the risk of further infection, which might happen if she was to visit the hospital. Later on, another doctor appears and says that the lady who fits the P.I.C.C. line is currently on holiday and there is no-one else able to do the job. Which seems amazing to me. Why on earth doesn't the hospital have someone who can cover for this lady whilst she is on holiday? So, it would seem that Carol is likely to be in hospital for another few days, intact, most likely until Monday when I image the P.I.C.C. line-lady returns from holiday.

This evening I have been attempting to contact our landlord via telephone. Each time I attempt this operation, I just get a recorded message and to 'leave a message.' I try on three separate occasions. I don't want to record a message. I just want to speak to the man. I don't want either him or his wife ringing once I've gone to bed or to ring when I'm out. I want to speak to a live person. So much easier and less annoying.

Some time later I get a telephone call. At first I think it might be the landlord. But it's not. It's a woman doing a survey. I agree to do it. It's on political things and turns out to be on my views on Brexit and the so-called 'Chequers Agreement' on a 'soft' Brexit deal. What are my thoughts? Well, I'm not going to tell you on here. I did ask, at the end of the interview, what the information would be used for, but she wouldn't say. Probably for a newspaper of one of the television channels, BBC News, ITN or Channel four or even Sky News.

More Reading and Watching-1

I'm currently reading Dominic Sandbrook's book 'State of Emergency,' the third of his series of books on the history of Britain since the Suez Crisis of 1956. It's covering the Heath government of the early 1970's and his negotiations for Britain to enter the Common Market, or E.E.C. (European Economic Community) and how he had to get the general public on side and then to get the required support of Parliament. It's interesting, in light of the 2016 referendum on whether Britain should leave what has now become the European Union (E.U.) and how indifferent the people of Britain were at the time. There was a referendum later in the 1970's, when Labour returned to power, which lead eventually to more integration with Europe, the Maastricht Treaty and the eventual creation of the single currency, the Euro (which Britain didn't join, for better or worse.) It's an extremely detailed account of the whole process and well worth reading. I have one more book, 'Days In The Sun' to read once I've completed this volume, and each volume is a think door-topper, each around 600-700 pages. 'State of Emergency' covers the years 1970-74, whilst 'Days In The Sun' covers the years 1974-1979, the year that Margaret Thatcher came to power. I'm hoping that Sandbrook will eventually release a book which covers the Thatcher years of the 1980's and, eventually, one on the 1990's.

The third  series of 'Humans' has finished. It is a co-production between Channel Four and the American network A.M.C., and is based, however loosely, on the Swedish television series 'Real Humans.' I have watched all the series up until now. It has been an enthralling series. If you don't know what it's about, it's set in a parallel world to our own, where synths (robotic humanoids) have been developed to aid humans in many tasks, from caring for the home to working in a range of jobs, such as in factories and warehouses. It's what science fiction should be, it should ask questions about such things as modern life, automation, A.I., computers etc etc. In another respect it can comment on such things which modern society discusses, issues which we are concerned with at present, such as immigration, genocide, integration, the introduction of automation, and how these things effect the world we live in.  As yet there has been no news as to weather a fourth season will be commissioned, but it certainly deserves to be decommissioned as there are so many plot threads which could lead to a fourth season.

I'm watching some of the classic television comedy which is shown on channels such as Gold, Yesterday and W. I've been revisiting sitcoms such as 'One Foot In The Grave.' The one where Victor and Margaret get trapped in their garden shed by a swarm of bees and then Victor has to go to get his eyes tested and has drops put in his eyes and, because he can't see, doesn't realise that everyone has gone home in the optician's. It's as funny as I remember it from first seeing it back in the 1990's. A comudgenly pensioner with a grumpy disposition, the bane of the people he meets, and a wife who often dispares when he is being moody. A gloriously understated performance from Annette Crosbie. Strange to think she played Queen Victoria in the ITV series 'Edward VII.' My mother always made mention the fact, when this actress was on television in anything, that she didn't have all her teeth, for  some strange reason. I hadn't noticed, but it was possibly true. She had all her front teeth, but for some reason or other, had none at the back. Why or how I have no idea. This would be before video recorders were invented, and you could record something off the television and then freeze frame. What an odd thing to remember? And how did my mother know? It must have been a gift to notice such things. Never mind. I digress, as ever. Just saying, it was a long way from Queen Victoria to Margaret Meldrew. She played another queen in the 1970's series on BBC1, 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII,' as Catherine of Aragon, opposite Keith Michell as Henry VIII. It must have been one of the first big colour drama series.

Another episode, from, I think, the second series has Victor attending a life-drawing class and when he gets home he shows the drawing of the naked female model to his wife Margaret, who becomes suspicious when Victor takes a job at the woman's home. Further complicating ensue, as they invariably do in a lot of sitcom, when Margaret has a male neighbour in to help with some jobs around the house and they go out together and one thing leads to another. Misunderstandings and the like, the basis of so much comedy, from Shakespeare right up to date with not only 'One Foot In The Grave' to many other shows, in the theatre and on television.

I recently bought the box set of 'Allo, 'Allo. I absolutely love this series, but I have never seen the earlier episodes. In 1985 I worked on the show as a Supporting Artiste, when it was being filmed on location in and around Lynford Hall, near Thetford, Norfolk. The stable yard was the location of the village square immediately outside Rene café, which is the centre of activities. I was amongst quite a few other S.A.s who played German soldiers and we were supposed to hang around in the square. Some other scenes were shot in the West Tofts Military Training area, not usually open to the public. I also filmed there for a drama/documentary series called 'Soldiers.' We were supposed to be the dead and dying at various battles all round Europe, including the Battle of Waterloo (details of which are mentioned in an earlier blog post on here.)

The thing about 'Allo, Allo' is that it has several plot lines running through it, which is unusual for a sitcom. Usually in a sitcom, you get the same characters appearing every week, and each situation, generally, ties up within each half-hour episode, but with 'Allo, 'Allo you get several of these plot lines running concurrently, the Gestapo chasing after the stolen paintings of the 'Fallen Madonna With The Big Boobies,' The Resistance ('I will tell you this once and once only' etc etc.) The British Airmen and how they will be got out of France to return to England etc etc and how all these inter-relate and run across whole series and, indeed, the entire 80-odd episodes.  It is actually a parody of an earlier BBC drama series called 'Secret Army' which starred Bernard Hepton and Angela Richards, an actress who was in the company when I was starting out in Stage Management at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham in 1969. 

Woefully Awful Easter Telly

It's a Bank Holiday weekend. The weather's awful. If it looks sunny and bright, it might suddenly rain. We'd been shopping. We went over to Boot's at Westcroft as Carol had a prescription that needed making up. We parked and then walked over the carpark to Boot's. Having handed the paperwork over, we were told by the assistant in the pharmacy that it would take around ten minutes, so we went into Morrison's to buy a few items. Having then gone back to Boot's and collected the made-up prescription we returned to the car to drive home. The weather still not decided, so we turned on the television. Not the usual Saturday morning programmes, no doubt because it's a Bank Holiday weekend. Unimaginative scheduling generally, with cooking shows on both sides. James Martin used to be the host/presenter of 'Saturday Kitchen' in BBC1, but has recently decamped to ITV to do virtually the same thing but called 'James Martin's Saturday Morning.' How incredibly original, I don't think. Virtually the same thing as the BBC show, but because it's the commercial rival, it can have sponsorship. I don't dislike him, he's not what I'd call a 'celebrity chef.' Down to earth and all the rest of it (well, he's a Yorkshireman, after all.) And he does plain food, none of that poncey suff certain other 'chefs' get away with on other television shows. But do I sense that he's just gone to ITV because he gets paid a good deal more than he would have done on the good old BBC? It's similar to what happened over the 'Great British Bake Off' when it was revealed that the production company who make it, Love Productions, couldn't get a decent deal with the BBC as they wanted more dosh for making it, so it went to Channel Four. Another story for another day . . . Mind you, having seen some of the Channel Four episodes, it's not much different to how it was on BBC1, without Mary Berry or Mel and Sue, but never mind. Even with advertising, it doesn't seem much different.

The fact is, television just seems to churn out the same old stuff, no real imagination or originality. Too many game shows. Nothing wrong with one or two, things like Countdown, Only Connect or Mastermind. At least they have questions that make you THINK. But to just churn out endless stupid gameshows in the afternoon (Tipping Point, The Chase to name two that run one after the other.) While on BBC1, as the same time as The Chase, there's Pointless. No doubt these shows are cheap to produce. You don't have to pay your contestants (do they get expenses, for example, train fares to reach the studio for recordings? I doubt it somehow.)

Anyway, I digress, as I have a habit of doing. Never mind. On turning on the television this morning, we had to endure endless sofas adverts. What is it about Bank Holiday television? Why do we get a sort of traffic jam of sofa advertising in the run-up to Christmas, New Year, Easter and other Bank Holidays? I've discussed this matter in an earlier blog post. Do people honestly go out and buy new three-piece suites just because there's a holiday period coming up? DFS, SCS, Furniture Village etc etc all have those annoying adverts on again where you are supposed to get a sofa for ridiculously low prices. They're virtually giving them away. How can they do it?

Anyway, we turned on the television this morning, expecting James Martin, when all we got was another cookery show (of a sort) called 'Who's Doing The Dishes.' It's been on for several series, but we seem to have missed it. A load of celebrities have a meal in another celebrity's home. They have no idea who it is, but as each course of the meal is presented to them, and from various clues in the rooms they try to work out who the celebrity it is who cooked the meal. Really trite and awful. A sort of mash-up of 'Through The Keyhole' and 'Come Done With Me.' On this edition the celebrity who was the hostess was Lesley Garrett, the opera singer. I'd heard of hear, obviously, but the guests who had the meal she'd made I'd never heard of. Did it matter? Carol wanted to turn over to another channel as it was so dire, but I was determined to stay with it til the end, as it got worse and worse, just to see how it ended. The so-called celebrities could win £500, if they could guess who their hostess was, if they got it right, that person had to do the washing up. Such an unoriginal idea. It's sad that ITV has come down to producing this sort of stuff. No doubt it cheap and cheerful to make and gets high ratings. Talk of going down-market or merely dumbing down, but this is a good example.

Crass and Stupid Television

Why is it that Saturday evening television has to be so dire? Around 6 o'clock and the schedulers seem to think we want to sit through ropey game shows with a voice-over who shouts at us. Stupid games,  played by 'celebrities' jumping into water, bouncing on huge inflatable balls, being soaked, covered in mud and generally acting the complete and utter fool. Such is the description of the current show on BBC1 'And their Off For Sport Relief.' So, I hear you say, it's for charity. Well, it might be, but does it have to be so dire? I know they want you to phone or text to donate money, but why come up with this total load of drivel. A couple of months back the BBC gave us something which was hosted by Len Goodman, the former 'Strictly Come Dancing' head judge, called 'Partner In Rhyme.' Truly awful. But it could hardly be any worse than something called 'Don't Scare The Hare,'  which filled the same slot a few years ago. The worst aspect of these shows has to be the awful, loud audience reactions. Do the sound engineers on these shows just turn up the volume on the studio audiences? This was no better than something dreamt up for school kids in the 1970's. I realise they are intended for 'family audiences,' but they could have come up with something a little more intelligent than this. I don't expect 'Mastermind' or 'Only Connect,' but this was far too down-market. Just filler of the worst possible sort.

I had the misfortune to watch ITV's early-morning television effort when we visited the hospital on Friday. There's very little news-worthy material in it, from what I saw. Aimed at an audience who just wants trivia, celebrity gossip, soap-news and not a lot else. The set looked remarkably like a branch of Carphone Warehouse. No wonder the BBC gets higher ratings when this is all ITV can come up with. Just not worth watching. Every five minutes they keep flashing up 'coming up next' along the bottom of the screen. The graphics are far too busy and annoying. I seem to recall, when the government was busily auctioning off the ITV franchises, when was it, in the 1990's, someone saying that ITV wouldn't 'dumb-down.' How wrong could they be? Can't get more dumber than this. Sorry, but when TV-AM had the breakfast contract it was far better than this. How things have moved on, or possibly not. I reckon it's aimed at an audience with the concentration-level of a goldfish.

I have mentioned my dislike of 'Strictly Come Dancing' in an earlier post. It must be extremely popular, which would account for the fact that it's been running every year since 2004. I have no complaint about the actual dancing, it's the hype and ballyhoo that surrounds it that I can't stand. There seems to be an over-abundance of 'talent' shows on both main channels. 'The X Factor' rules on ITV which also has 'Britain's Got Talent,' whilst the BBC had 'The Voice' for several seasons until ITV took it over. Why so many so-called 'talent' shows? Does Britain REALLY have talent? I'm not sure, but endless similar shows is annoying. The BBC sees fit to foist yet another on us, called 'All Together Now.' I have yet to watch it. Do those who win these shows find real or even imagined 'fame and fortune?' Usually they last for a few years and then fade away. Proving that you do need some sort of talent to survive in a get-rich-quick world. Th television companies must make a great deal of money out of the 'phone in' element of these shows. You have to telephone the numbers that flash up on your television screen after each dancer or singer has done their bit so that you vote. A certain percentage of the cost goes to charity (in the case of 'Strictly Come Dancing.' I think it goes to Children in Need.) and the rest no doubt gets taken by the television company.

I know, I know! I hear you saying, 'well, if you don't like it, don't watch it!' which is fine. I shouldn't. But you have to admit that watching something that is awful has a sort of 'car-crash' element to it, to see how bad it it, a sort of 'so bad, it's good', if you get my drift. And with so many other channels on Sky, there is plenty of other stuff to watch. Just thank goodness for Channel 4, BBC Four and the brilliant Sky Arts channel.

I shall end this post here, but I'm sure to find more in the days and months ahead to add to my thoughts on this vast subject.

Problems With Sky

We've been with Sky for a few years now. We originally had Sky when we lived in Crownhill. Then we had to move from that house (full details in an earlier blog post.) to this house. We opted for Freeview. More out of necessity rather than choice, because there was no Sky dish at this address. Neither was there a decent out-door ariel, which you needed if you were to receive a decent signal from Freeview. We had a Freeview set-top box and had an indoor ariel, but the picture quality was very poor. We did an on-line search through a price comparison site in an attempt to find an alternative television provider. We had intended to set up a Virgin media account, but soon discovered that we couldn't have one basically because Virgin, which is a cable company, wasn't available in Milton Keynes, which seemed a bit strange, considering that the place is so modern, you would imagine that it would have been cabled when the place was built. So we didn't have much of a choice but to go with Sky. We also wanted to switch our internet provider as well as having a land-line telephone, so we decided to have all of these services with one provider. Also, with Freeview, even if there was a decent enough signal, their service was (and probably still is) fairly basic, to say the least. You get BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4 and a handful of what can best be called 'cast-off' channels. All very well if you don't want to pay for a subscription. We wanted to be able to watch a wider range of programmes and Sky was beginning to branch out and make it's own shows. As I'm not very interested in sport,  and neither is Carol, if it comes to that, football in particular, there seemed no point in having any of the sports channels at additional cost. We felt we were missing out as there are exclusive channels they have which Freeview and Virgin don't provide. Such as Sky Arts (at that time they had two Arts channels.) Which is why we set up a Sky account and had a Sky + box as well as internet and landline telephone. It makes it simpler if you have all these services from one provider, meaning only one direct debit payment each month.

We upgraded our Sky service to Sky Q fairly recently. We wanted to have a television in our bedroom, so chose to have a multi-screen service, which means we have the main Sky Q box in the lounge. It is connected via wifi (the router is in the hall near the telephone socket.) We bought an HD television just before we got the new Sky contract sorted out. It was a 39 inch Toshiba. But it didn't last long. It failed to work and it seemed we were going to be without television for a while until we could afford a replacement. I still can't believe that set only lasted four years at most. We now have a 43 inch Hitachi and, quite honestly, it's a better set, which, like the old Toshiba, has a built-in DVD player.

So, why have I waffled on for two paragraphs? Where is all this leading? Well, the other day Carol mentioned that she couldn't get some of the channels to work. You'd get a 'no satellite signal' message come up. BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4 and 5 appeared fine, which was odd, because if they worked, why not the Sky subscription channels, such as Sky1, Sky Atlantic and the Sky Arts channel? I eventually rang the sky helpline and the on-line man ran me through some self-help instructions, the usual range of options to re-set and re-boot the Sky Q box, but nothing worked. Those channels would not work. We have booked an appointment to have an engineer come and sort the thing out on Saturday afternoon, so, hopefully, it will be back to normal after then.

I'm intrigued by the automated telephone system Sky has when you ring their helpline. It's voice-activated for a lot of the menu when you first call. I think it might put some people off ringing at all, those who don't like using automated systems. But the voice they use is quite realistic, which is probably why it might be off-putting. But I soon got through to a human and there wasn't the usual long wait you often get with call-centres and then listening to awful music for what seems like hours and hours.

Crazy News Reporting

Why do the BBC insist on sending their news reporters out when weather conditions are really awful? On the past couple of days, when we've had really awful snow storms across most of the British Isles, on the early morning BBC Breakfast programme, it seemed necessary to send several news reporters out in the midst of what looked like blizzards, to stand next to a motorway (standing on a bridge, I might add, although I bet the producers would have liked them to stand on the hard shoulder or even in the central reservation) to do a piece straight to camera? What on earth does it add to anything? They did it when we had some really awful floods a few years ago, and even had a poor reporter actually standing in the middle of a flooded road, with the water lapping around his ankles. Why not just have them in the studio? Would it not be safer? Even when there are high seas, someone has to stand on the esplanade or as near as possible to the sea at some remote seaside location, with the waves crashing over the parapet. It wouldn't just be the reporter who's life is at risk. What about the cameraman, no doubt a sound recordist and probably an assistant. How do they justify this and what about doing some sort of risk assessment? I don't think it's just the BBC who do this, but we watch mostly their news output. I expect ITV and Channel Four do this, although ITN does the news on television for most of the commercial channels. I begin to wonder if the reporters get a choice for this type of reporting, or do they have to draw straws to go to these locations? Does it really add anything by putting these reporters in these locations? Would it be easier, and a good deal safer, to just let them do their report in a warm and dry studio? 

Daytime Television. The Good, The Bad and The Dreadful

Over the past few months I have watched a more than average amount of daytime television. Probably because Carol has been off sick from work. I have to admit under different circumstances I wouldn't normally watch so much. When she was at work I might watch Bargain Hunt, or otherwise I can find something on catch-up or recorded on Sky Q from the previous day or from a few days or even weeks. Most of what is shown is, franky, mere trivia, but recently there have been some quite good programmes. Admittedly there are too many make-over shows and programmes about selling houses. Also wall-to-wall gameshows. It seems that all I.T.V. can make and show are things like 'The Chase' (probably the best at the moment), but surely 'Tipping Point' has some of the easiest questions for any gameshow. But it's addictive. Watching that machine moving backwards and forward and waiting with bated breath for the discs to fall in just the right place and then push others fall over and score points that make cash has a sort of hypnotic effect. Perhaps that's what they want to happen; sort of activating so they have a sort of captive audience. Countdown on Channel Four is addictive. At least it's intelligent. I'm fine with the word part, but when it comes to the maths section, I give up. Perhaps it's because you have just 30 seconds to work it out. If it was longer then I might have a chance. I love words and particularly word-origins, so that bit intrigues me.

There are some far better shows on more recently. One is in the afternoon at 3.45 on BBC1 and called 'Money For Nothing.' The premise doesn't sound particularly brilliant, perhaps not on paper, but actually works and keeps you hooked until the end. It starts off with a lady called Sarah Moore, who apparently won the first series of 'The Great Interior Design Challenge.' She visits a tidy-tip at a variety of locations across the country and hunts out people who are disposing of what are at first sight worthless bits of furniture, old chairs, wardrobes, and the most unlikely objects, such as washing machines, old bits of fence and a good deal more, which she takes away. She has, according to the voice-over, done in a sort of tongue-in-cheek style by Arthur Smith, that she has had 'special permission' to ask for and remove these otherwise gone-to-seed items. In other words, you, as a member of the public, cannot take any item from a tidy-tip. Actually I would say, once it's gone in the recycling bins there you can't remove it. Well, legally you can't. She has to select three items and then takes them away to either transform them herself or takes them to designers and makers who revamp them into new bits of furniture or uses part of them to make new items. These she sells on and the profit is returned to the people she took the original item from at the tidy-tip. The results are usually quite stunning. Although a very small minority haven't hit the mark, at least with us. But that is extremely rare.

'A Matter of Life and Debt' is the sort of programme that is fitting the BBC's public service remit to    'inform educate and entertain.' It's on mid-morning on BBC1. It's about credit unions, set up at various towns throughout the United Kingdom as an alternative place for people to save and take out debts so as to avoid taking on loans from loan sharks or pay-day loans which charge outrageously high interest rates. Sometimes it's so people, who have poor credit ratings and would never get a loan from more traditional sources such as high street banks. Some people want cash to buy furniture for their home or have a holiday but a lot of them use the cash to set up a business or to expand an already existing business such as a dog-walking company or hairdresser's.

Living At Home- Part 2

Living on a farm we had acres and acres of places to explore, run completely wild and play. I think we were exceptionally lucky in that respect, unlike children bought up living in a town. No excuses when it came to finding something to do in the school holidays. My mother would never allow us to spend our time indoors. No such thing as mobile phones, tablets, computers, Gameboys or any sort of computer game console. No daytime television during the 1960's. Television didn't start until children's programmes started at around 4-5 o'clock. No 24-hour television as we have today. As I've said in earlier posts, we only had 3 channels until Channel Four came along in 1982. If it was sunny and warm during the summer we'd be outside all day and not go indoors until it was teatime. Long bike rides through the country lanes around Cardington, generally messing about in and around the village, particularly the brook that ran through the farm. I doubt children would have such a connection to the world about them today as we had then. Getting dirty, building dens, tree houses and having adventures. Probably in a world which seems to be dominated by our old friend 'Health and Safety' it's more than likely that they don't have anywhere the same sort of lives as we did.

Malting Farm house was large (and is. It's still there, although no Murdochs live there any more). Well, it would have to be because there were seven in our family. It had lots of corridors and it wasn't centrally heated. I think I've mentioned this in an earlier blog post on here. There was an Aga cooker in the kitchen, which could be very difficult to light and had to be kept going using special fuel, sort of nuts of coal. In the dining room and some of the downstairs rooms there were fireplaces which were lit occasionally. It could be extremely cold in winter. But, saying that, we didn't know anything different and we survived. With so many rooms, idea for playing hide and seek. There were two attic rooms which we used as play rooms. It meant you could make a mess up there and it didn't matter. We had a model railway layout. I'm not sure, but I think we inherited it from a relative. I'm not sure whether it was from my mother or father's family, but it was quite an extensive Triang railway with no end of track that ran around an amazing raised sort of construction which included tunnels, stations, houses and other bits and pieces. With four brothers, we did get toys passed on as they were grown out of. Me being in the middle of five, anything I got passed down had already come from my two eldest brothers, James and Robert.

I had Mecanno when I was a child. I doubt very much if young boys have this toy nowadays, or even girls. I doubt they would even know what it was. It had metal pieces, usually coloured red, blue or silver, nuts and bolts and various mechanical gears, pulley and similar pieces which you could use to build all manner of machines, cars, bicycles or a combination of mechanical devices. I inherited most of this from my older brothers and got more 'sets' as the years went by. It grew and grew. You could get clockwork and electric motors to drive the machines you created and a lot of these creations could be built using instructions you got in magazines and leaflets. I'm not sure that you can still get this 'toy,' even if you can call it a toy. Birthdays and Christmases bought more and more bits to build more elaborate creations. Endless fun and interest and no doubt it encouraged boys (and possibly girls) to become interested in engineering and probably careers in this field. I think perhaps today children are more interested in computers and similar electronic devices and the fact that they can communicate with other people via the internet makes things that are more physical, such as Mecanno, somewhat obsolete, which is a real pity.

It seems that children in particular, but also a great many adults, spend a lot of their time on smart phones and tablets (as well as other gadgets) and don't appear to communicate much face-to-face. Living in a cyber world, chatting on-line via chat-rooms, text or email, seems to have replaced speaking to another person in the 'real-world.' You only have to walk down the average street or visit a supermarket or shopping centre to see how many people only appear to interact through their devices. Also, I'm sure that manners have gone out the window. People seem to have lost the ability to be even remotely patient. Not everyone, but mostly young people. They don't like having to wait, especially in queues, for example, at the supermarket. A lot more short-tempered people on the roads. A lot of people cutting me up on roundabouts, impatient to wait if you stop at a roundabout, coming up behind me in their car and expecting me to drive faster. Pushing you to move out of the way for them or at least drive faster. People expect to have everything NOW, not time to wait for anything.

Living At Home- Part 1

I have many more memories of living on the farm at Cardington. Being a farm, life seemed to revolve around the kitchen. I've probably mentioned this in an earlier post, but it was some time ago if I did but never mind. 

We had all our meals around a large table in the kitchen. We rarely, if ever, had meals in the dining room. Probably at Christmas, but certainly not for every-day meals. The kitchen table was large, probably made of deal and had a Formica surface. My mother used it when she was making cakes as it was high enough to stand at comfortably to work.

We always sat around that table to have meals. I don't think we ever sat and watched television with plates of food on our laps. We had to eat whatever was put in front of us, no finicky eaters. I don't suppose my mother would have put up with that sort of carry-on, with having five children to feed. We weren't allowed to be fussy eaters. You had to sit and eat what was put on your plate and finish it off. You had to sit quietly and wait until everyone else had finished until you got down from the table. I think it's only manners. Thank goodness we had such manners instilled into us as children. I grew up during the 1960's, well before the introduction of gadgets such as smart phones and tablet computers. You certainly wouldn't  bring toys or any sort of gadget to the dinner table. I think we had more respect for adults when I was a child. We stood up whenever an adult came into the room and you gave up your seat, for example, if you were on a bus. You held the door open for a lady (I expect you'd be called sexist if you did this today.) You didn't talk unless asked to and you didn't butt in if two adults where having a conversation. I'm sure in general people had more respect for other people and you waited patiently if you were in a queue.

Then we  had just 3 television channels. We now have countless television channels on multi-channel-channel platforms such as Sky, Virgin and Freeview. BBC 1, BBC2, ITV and much later Channel 4. We didn't have colour television in our home until well into the 1970's. My father didn't want a set until the system was well established. People who had colour television tended to show off that they had a set by having their television positioned so that if the curtains at the window were drawn people who walked past the house could see in and see the television when it was on. Not in our house, as the television wasn't positioned in such a way. We had a black-and-white set and you couldn't record anything as you could when V.H.S. and Betamax recorders came in in the 1980's. We didn't have ITV in our house until around 1964-5 as far as I can remember, probably because we had to have a new television arial put up.  Anglia was the ITV company serving the East Of England where we lived. We didn't have BBC2 because you needed a set which had the higher definition signal which gave 625 lines for the picture. BBC1 and ITV were on the old system which had 405 lines. Colour didn't come in until the early 1970's, but BBC2 introduced colour in the late 1960's and I remember going on a trip to Robinson Rentals, which later got taken over and became Granada Television Rentals in Bedford when I was at school and they showed colour television pictures of Wimbledon tennis which I think was a sort of experimental broadcast.

More Niggles: Television- Part 2

What's next on my list of niggles regarding television? How about the over-abundance of similar shows, such as antiques and cookery? One or two would be fine, but why do schedulers think that the viewer is going to relish the possibility of a rash of the same sort of show? Crazy. All the fuss about Great British Bake Off transferring to Channel 4 was totally over-the-top. I can't honestly see how it can be worth £75 million or thereabout, even if it's for five years. There are a couple of antique shows we watch and enjoy, such as Bargain Hunt and Flog It! Well, they just happen to be on at the right time, when we have lunch or tea and at least you learn something about antiques. Then there's 'lifestyle' shows, doing up houses, 'Escape To The Country' as well as 'Homes Under The Hammer.' Why do the people who go on something like 'Escape To The Country' want to move to the middle of nowhere, North Yorkshire or somewhere in Cornwall, miles from anywhere, a long drive to the nearest supermarket or a hospital or doctor? They generally have more money than sense and they want a huge house with more bedrooms than they really need. If you're going to move once you retire, why not just down-size and spend the money you have left over because you've gone for a smaller, more economical house? It's just so you can invite your friends and family and impress them with your new, huge home.

Day-time television is awash with selling things. Virtually every programme has some aspect of selling, such as houses to antiques. It's the same thing as I've already mentioned. Once a show is found to be a success with an audience they seem to think that we'll want more and more of the same.

Why do these shows have the same music on their soundtracks? I can't understand why, when they make some programmes, usually documentaries, they have to use the SAME music which gets recycled endlessly. Perhaps the budgets for these shows don't allow for original scores and they use royalty-free library music. It's the most likely reason, but the same rather clichéd music seems to do the rounds of such shows as 'Antiques Road Trip.'

Not just antiques and cooking, but during the afternoon there seem to be endless gameshows. There's nothing wrong with a really good gameshow. 'The Chase' is currently a huge hit on I.T.V. at teatime. It's main selling-point would be that Bradley Walsh is the questionmaster. He has a good repport with the contestants and can, occasionally, corpse when a rather risqué answer comes up on the three answers the contestants have to select. Then there's The Chasers, who are usually good value for money. Then the questions are quite difficult. I hate those gameshows which have questions that are, frankly, an insult to one's intelligence. The worst offender in that department is 'Tipping Point.' We've watched this addictive show, but some of the questions are, to be honest, an insult. Such questions as 'What month is Christmas?', 'What colour is the sky?' Doh! Who really thought that a gameshow that is really a version of those machines that you'd find at the fair or on a seaside pier, where you put a few pennies in a slot and the machine has different shelves or 'layers' that move backwards and forward and you have to get the coins to fall over the edge to win? Crazy.

Day-time television is awash with selling things. Virtually every programme has some aspect of selling, such as houses to antiques. It's the same thing as I've already mentioned. Once a show is found to be a success with an audience they seem to think that we'll want more and more of the same.

Why do these shows have the same music on their soundtracks? I can't understand why, when they make some programmes, usually documentaries, they have to use the SAME music which gets recycled endlessly. Perhaps the budgets for these shows don't allow for original scores and they use royalty-free library music. It's the most likely reason, but the same rather clichéd music seems to do the rounds of such shows as 'Antiques Road Trip.'

Something that really gets on my nerve and that's the need for producers of television shows to have 'what's coming next' at the beginning of a show. 'Bargain Hunt' does this. I quite like this show, but why do I need to get a glimpse of what's going to happen? I'm quite capable of staying with a programme to find out. I don't need this stupid element. It's taking up valuable running-time. Then, most drama series have to have 'Next time . . .' and you get a glimpse of the next episode. Totally unnecessary. Something pinched from American television which is best off being ditched. I know that a lot of our shows are either sold to American television or are co-productions, but it's as if you're not going to stick with a long-running series (or 'season' as we have to call a long-running drama series, also pinched from America.) And a great deal of fuss is made out of the final episode of a run of shows, or 'series' or 'season.' Now called 'Finale.' Which sort of separates it from the rest of the run of shows.

Spring is in the Air!

It's a bright and sunny morning. We walked with Alfie, our Yorkie, to the Academy. It might be sunny, but it's very deceptive as there is quite a chill in the air. There is a definite sign of spring all along the Redway, trees beginning to show signs of buds, blossom on the trees opposite our house and the grass at the back of the house is growing to such a length that I'm going to have to get the mower out and cut it, which, at the moment, I am reluctant to do, as you can imagine. Carol has put some fresh food on the bird feeder and we're getting a good variety of birds who come and use it.

A little later . . .

I have made the most of the sunshine and started mowing the lawn. I did the first 'shift' (for want of a better term) during the morning and then did the second bit around midday. It was just as well I did it when I did because the grass was long and the mower was having a real struggle to do it's job properly. I hd to use my G.T.N. spray as I was beginning to get some slight angina pain in my chest, but I'm not letting that get in the way of what I'm doing. I always have a few puffs of this before I go swimming as I am prone to slight twinges of angina pain when I have swum in the past.

I am currently watching the Channel Four documentary series 'Mutiny.' It's a recreation of the epic journey the sailors who were cast adrift after the 'Mutiny on The Bounty' incident in 1789. This documentary series pits 9 relative novices against the full force of the Pacific Ocean as they make the 4000-mile journey from Tonga to Timor. It's about how they manage to not only survive the ocean, but also the confines of the re-created 23-foot long boat, open entirely to the elements, as well as managing to take on board instructions from a 'captain' and manage with the most basic of essentials such as water and food. They follow Captain William Bligh's log which he managed to keep during the voyage. This is definitely 'must see' television, making so-called 'reality' television shows such as 'Big Brother' or 'I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here' look really tame in comparison. As I enjoy anything with a history element to it, then this is perfect viewing. I enjoy those programmes which put modern people within a historic environment, such as 'Victorian Pharmacy' or 'The Victorian Slum.' 

Reading and Viewing- Part 1

We have been spoilt recently by the number and quality of television drama. I have mentioned in earlier posts how I enjoyed the Channel 4 series 'Humans' (about 'synths' which are in actual fact robots which look like humans). The second series finished a week before Christmas and, as yet, it's not clear whether a third series will be commissioned. The finale episode did more or less tie up many of the story threads quite nicely, there again, a third series could carry things further. I started watching the Sky drama series 'Westworld' which has a similar theme as 'Humans' but set in an American Wild West theme park and based on a novel by Michael Crichton which was made into a 1973 science fiction movie.  He was responsible for the original novel, Jurassic Park, which has spawned four movies. The more recent one, Jurassic World, was very week, although the special effects are as good, if not better, than the original. I recall seeing the earlier movie of Westworld. . The television version is good, up to a point, but for me it was far too violent. It's worth seeing if just for the performance of Anthony Hopkins. It shows how actors of his calibre are turning to television instead of Hollywood movies. It seems that, at the moment, all we have to offer in the movie world is remakes and sequels. Endless superhero revamps. Television drama seems to be able to come up with far more in-depth storytelling. You are able to tell your story in one-hour episodes and over ten segments and then continue in further seasons. As we have Sky and Sky Movies, we can download movies to our Sky Q box and watch movies once they reach Sky a couple of months after cinema release. The Sky Q box has a far bigger capacity for storage than the old Sky+ box and also allows up to 4 programmes to be recorded which are broadcast at the same time. 'Downton Abbey' has come to an end. ITV came up with 'Victoria' as a replacement. It's a fairly faithful telling of the story of Queen Victoria from her youth and on to her ascending the throne in 1837 and eventual marriage to Prince Albert. Very lavish and quite watchable but not particularly ground breaking. Meanwhile Netflix, the streaming television service, has 'The Crown' which is another royal saga, following the true story of Elizabeth 11's life story. As it's on-line and streaming it means you have all 10 episodes and can watch whenever you like and back-to-back if you so wish, instead of waiting for the next episode the following week. We have not signed up to Netflix and as a result cannot see this series, but I have a feeling it will be shown on Sky eventually, because their other series, 'House of Cards' is on Sky for downloading as a box set. (This is based on the BBC series and starred Ian Richardson.) We enjoy 'Father Brown' which is based loosely on the G.K.Chesterton character. It's now in it's 5th series and is shown on BBC1 in an afternoon slot. It's very much tongue-in-cheek and has a sense of humour. We also like 'Last Tango In Halifax' which is set in an area of Yorkshire we know well and have spent a couple of holidays there. It's real. The characters are good and the acting is good. It stars Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid as 70-somethings, Alan Buttershaw and Celia Dawon, who reignite a romance after several decades and the effect this has on both their families and friends. It had a two-part Christmas special and returns for a full season in January 2017. On Amazon I have been more than impressed by 'The Man In The High Castle' which is based on a novel by Philip K. Dick (who wrote 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" which was filmed as 'Blade Runner' and directed by Ridley Scott (who Executive Produces 'High Castle.) It is set in an imagined world where the Nazis won the Second World War and America has been divided up by the Nazis and Japanese. Very convincing and well made and it has now gone to a second series and I hear that a third has been commissioned.

As for reading, I have just completed 'Gilliamesque", the autobiography of one of my favourite directors, former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, who did the animation for that comedy show and directed 'Monty Python and The Holy Grail,' 'Brazil', 'Jabberwocky,' 'Time Bandits' and 'Baron Munchausen', all of which have now become cult classics. I like his off-the-wall approach and he certainly doesn't make films which fit the 'Hollywood' mould in any way shape or form.

Hair Cut, Story Development and Grass Mowing

I went to get my hair cut this morning at Essential Barbers in Monkston Park. As they open at 9.30 I always try to get there as early as possible so I don't have to wait. There was another prospective customer waiting outside and the same sign on the door saying that their chip-and-pin machine was out of order as it was the last time I had my hair cut around a month ago. So I went into the next-door  Co-Operative store and used their cashpoint to withdraw £10. As soon as they opened I was in the chair and having my hair cut by the nice lady who usually does my hair and I was surprised when I only had to pay £6 which is the O.A.P rate (not officially 65 until October.) which was a nice surprise.  As I was driving past Waitrose in Oak Grove, just off Chaffron Way, I decided to go in and buy a few items such as bread and things for our meal tonight. Always very friendly staff in there and excellent customer service.

I am continuing to watch the Channel Four drama series "Humans." It's at episode 6, so there's just two more episodes remaining. A lot of the 'loose threads' are being tied up and it continues to be a very thought provoking series and has definitely got me hooked. No news, as yet, as to whether there's to be a second series. There should be as apparently the ratings have been the highest for a new Channel Four series since they did "The Chamomile Lawn" in 1992. I remember watching it, a somewhat racy series adapted from a novel by Mary Wesley and starring Paul Eddington and Felicity Kendal.

I spent some time around midday mowing the grass. I shall continue to refrain from referring to it as a lawn, as it has as much resemblance to a lawn as it is possible to get. Very uneven piece of ground and the grass is more like the sort of grass you'd find in the average meadow. It would be gratefully eaten by a cow or two or even a goat. I haven't completed it as it's a really exhausting job but will hopefully complete it tomorrow, that is, if it doesn't rain, as it looks at the moment as if it might as there are dark clouds over-head.

Later . . . I was pondering whether I should wait and finish cutting the grass tomorrow, when I was overcome with the idea of finishing it this afternoon. So I plugged the cable back in and got the mower out of the shed and had the job completed within ten minutes or so. It's always with a certain feeling of 'job well done' when this sort of task is finished. I'm not over-keen on the job, but leaving it and just thinking about it isn't my normal mode of action. So, that job is now out of the way for a month or two at least.

I'm beginning to find how I might finish the story I began a couple of weeks ago. It now might possibly have more of an 'arc' to it and hopefully with a bit more work on it and a few more pages of notes I can continue with it once the summer holiday is over at the beginning of September. I must say I'm very pleased with what I've come up with but I'm certainly not revealing anything on here.

Watching Channel 4 Drama Series "Humans"

I'm currently watching the new Channel 4  sci-fi drama series "Humans." I'm really enjoying this.  At last something to really get your teeth into. It certainly has the 'can't-wait-to-see-the-next-episode' element to it. If you don't know what it's about, it's set in a sort of parallel 'now' where 'synths' or robots, which are incredibly life-like, are used to do the dirty-work that humans don't like doing. It's got an element of "Blade Runner" about it, with a police force on-hand to deal with rogue 'synths' when they go wrong. It does pose the question, how do we interact with technology and how do we allow it to control our lives? It is actually based on a Swedish television series and hopefully it will be re-commissioned for a second series. It deserves it. It has a real scary feel to it, and at several points in the last episode you are left asking, which are the humans, and which are the 'synths'?' Good to see Colin Morgan, who played Merlin in the BBC1 show "Merlin." It seems to allow him more depth of character than he was allowed in the earlier show, which was cancelled.

Writing and Sunshine

It's turning out to be a particularly fine and sunny morning. Trying in vain to prevent our dogs seeing either of the two cats who live next door who seem to take real pleasure in teasing Alfie and Poppy, by appearing on the shed roof which can be seen clearly through the lounge window. They slink in and stare into the room and this makes both dogs mad and they rush to the window and stand on their hind legs to peer out, barking like crazy. If the sliding door is open from the kitchen into the garden they bound out, making so much noise it must be heard by all our neighbours on both sides. Alfie rushed out yesterday evening when we were attempting to watch 'Pointless,' which we watch every evening and stood looking up at the cat which was perched on top of the shed. I think it was enjoying the sun and sleeping peacefully until the dogs came out noisily. The cats know full well that they can't be reached by either dog, which is why they have this somewhat arrogant air about them as they sit on either the shed or the fence, such as it is. 'Fence' is a rather inappropriate word as the state of the pile of wood which once formed our boundary fence is really quite poor. Still no sign or it being repaired by our landlord, by the way.

I've done a bit more work on the new piece of writing I mentioned in the previous post. I think I've managed to write about one side of an A4 sheet, which I suppose is around 2-300 words or there about. I know that when word-processed, you can, on average, get around 500 words on an A4 sheet of paper, obviously depending on the size of the font you use.

I've started watching a new Channel Four drama series which began on Sunday called "Humans" which is about 'synths' or robotic 'helpers.' Good to have some science fiction drama that is intelligent and well developed for once. It leaves you  really pondering all sorts of things such as how robots could, and probably already do, get used in our lives, and most likely when we don't even realise, but obviously not as realistically 'human' as those portrayed here. Well worth a try if you haven't already seen it,  and is available to watch through Channel Four's catch-up service. Just to warn you: Contains  adult issues and themes, although fairly mild. Not suitable for children.