Bwah, Ha, Ha

Spooky season is nearly upon on us and this TV spin-off movie will be out in cinemas, just at the right time. 

Tickets booked for the opening night; should be spook-tacular LOL.

Ho Ho No

I've just been subject to my first Christmas advert on TV of the year GRRR.

We've not got past Halloween, Guy Fawkes Night or even the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales!

True

Found long, long ago, somewhere on the WWW.

Ramshead Manor

Nice to see the antipodean version of BBC's Ghosts has made it to these shores, joining the US version and of course the original on the BBC iplayer. The narrative is broadly the same but with tweaking of characters and local references. Establishing exterior shots, do naturally showcase the beauty of Australia, what's not to like?

Lots of fun.

Day Of...

The Triffid-like Fig is definitely trying to get inside LOL.

 

50 Years Of Amazing Adventures

I don't quite know what it is but to me there's something very special about the plasticine characters of Aardman Animations. 

I have fond memories of children's arts show Vison On, featuring the marvellous Tony Hart, and of course the ever so naughty Morph.

Needless to say the madcap exploits of cheese obsessed inventor Wallace and his ever faithful dog Gromit have to get a mention. They are the stuff of legend, at least to me. Who could possibly forget evil genius penguin Feathers McGraw, the dastardly robo-dog Preston or indeed the Were-Rabbit LOL?

Together with Shaun the Sheep and Chicken Run plus a host of other creations, the wacky adventures have bridged television, cinema, books and (oddly) audio. 

It doesn't seen true the company celebrates half a century this year. After all this time they're still making stop motion animation, one frame at a time, when everyone else seems to have moved to computer generated output. It's rather charming and somehow very real.

Oh look: just in time there's a lovely celebration 50p coin from the Royal Mint.

This Is The Way

Nice trip out to the big screen.

Not So Special

At last the BBC have seen sense.

Today the BBC have announced the end of the woeful RTD2 era of Doctor Who. Not a moment too soon. 

The promised Christmas 2026 Special has been cancelled, with showrunner Russell T Davies and his enablers at Bad Wolf Studios departing the franchise. They must accept full responsibility for the abomination they offered the public since 2023; RTD chose to sacrifice compelling narrative and character development in favour of DEI talking points and lecturing the audience. And noone within the production company Bad Wolf stopped him. 

Is it any wonder British viewing figures for this once great sci-fi series dropped to a record breaking low?

Well done to the BBC for finally accepting what many have known for a good long while: the show was not working. Some have claimed it was no longer even watchable. The corporation have said they will now take time to seek a new production partner for the tv franchise, and by implication this could take a good while. A pause of a few years may not be a bad thing.

Original?

Interesting. Could be promising but will it ever rack up the episode count of the original..?

T800..?

Came across a contractor using one of these on a steep bank in the park this morning. It definitely brought out the inner child in me; it was like watching Robot Wars but on steroids LOL.

The guy very generously asked if I wanted to try operating it.

Island Sleuth

The first season of the reimagined Bergerac was obviously enough of a success, it will be promptly returning to our screens. Great drama.

Tie Me Up

Life, both professional and social, is much more relaxed and casual these days. Dressed down if you will. As such I probably don't need the appropriately 50 ties I currently own. A few were ditched a couple of years ago during a mini-purge, bytheway.

In fact, with not many more neck adornments, I could probably rent a bespoke small retail unit and resurrect the now defunct British retailer Tie Rack. Not to be confused with Thailand LOL.

Anyway, it's time to have a serious clear out; keeping only a few faves for weddings, funerals, christenings and other formal settings. You know the sort of thing.

As depicted, a great many of my ties were cartoon in nature, with Wallace and Gromit featuring quite heavily.

The Tube

Just a run-of-the-mill, ordinary day on the London Underground LOL..?

Potion

Another mash-up of two favourites from my youth. Promise I'll stop now LOL.

Children's Classic

Having grown up reading Enid Blyton's Famous Five (and Secret Seven) and being an avid viewer of Doctor Who, this made me chuckle.

 

Meme

Really loving the ultra patriotic AI generated Amelia meme doing the rounds, in all her differing guises. Here's a few examples.

 

Again?

 

The Bill

Revisiting the hits of Sting and The Police at a local venue.

Micro

Definitely not trying to compete with that Bake Off show but I've made a tasty looking batch of ANZAC biscuits. 

Much to my dismay these are no longer readily available to purchase in UK shops and recently had a request from ym if I could dig out my trusty recipe. My intent was to make some mini biscuits- however I over estimated how much they would spread- and have ended up with mico-sized biscuits. Literal bite sized LOL.

Hope they taste as good as they smell.

Nautical Crime Fighters

Some here will be aware I love the US series NCIS, and it's franchaised spin-offs. Perhaps one of the best children of the parent show is the one set DownUnder, NCIS:Sydney. Thankfully they don't restrict themselves just to NSW but do occasionally venture into different states.

After an enforced break (my doing) I've blitzed the second season and can finally move to the third, yea!

One thing I can't quite get my head around is the lead character. Nothing wrong as such. It's just I find it somewhat odd a British actress (Olivia Swann) playing an American character in a show set exclusively in Australia. Could they not find an Aussie who could manage a passable American accent or even, heaven forbid, an actual American actress LOL..?

Still great drama though.