Category: British

  • Heading A Seriously Funny Business
    Heading A Seriously Funny Business

    Here’s an interview with Geoffrey Perkins, from The Stage, after he was appointed Head Of BBC Comedy. I wonder how far things got with an Alf Garnett return. He appeared on TV screens once more, in September of 1998, but that was over on ITV. Maybe everyone got cold feet, and ITV picked it up.…

  • Richie, ADHD, And Me
    Richie, ADHD, And Me

    Why does Richie from Bottom resonate with me? It can’t just be the brilliant performance of Rik Mayall. Alan B’Stard, Rick, Micky Love, Drop Dead Fred are all brilliant characters, brilliantly realised, and I think about them a lot. But I think about Richie. Every. Single. Day. I’ve thought about Bottom so much over the…

  • When Giftbusters Invented NTV
    When Giftbusters Invented NTV

    Before his House Party, Noel did a Saturday Roadshow. It introduced a number of segments and items that would later be developed and refined in his Crinkley Bottom. The Gotchas, Wait Till I Get You Home, and the gunge tank all appeared on the Roadshow, and so did Giftbusters. This was clearly where the idea…

  • Could These Be Your Neighbours?
    Could These Be Your Neighbours?

    It’s hard to overstate the way Sylvania Waters changed the landscape of British television, so I won’t. What’s interesting is how the show was received in Australia compared to how it was received here in the UK. Sylvania Waters exploded on to Australian TV on 21 July 1992. The link to the fictional soap that…

  • Bite The Wax
    Bite The Wax

    If you imagine the phrase ‘Bite The Wax’ as spoken by Armando Iannucci, then your day will be all the better for it. But before we get to that, let’s talk about No’ The Archie Macpherson Show. It’s Wednesday 6th July 1988, and BBC Radio Scotland is about to debut a new youth oriented show…

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  • Proctology: A Bottom Examination
    Proctology: A Bottom Examination

    For a long time now I’ve been wanting to write an old-fashioned programme guide. One you can hold in your hand and thumb through, make notes on, spill coffee on. So I did. Proctology: A Bottom Examination is my deep dive into Bottom, the hit BBC Two sitcom starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson. That’s…

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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…

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