please give it a go . Brilliant serious imho . We love it , but as it’s radio , goes un noticed usually . Elven Quest is another one .
Watching Harry’s Heroes. Bunch of old kids on a jolly. Paul Merson showing genuine concern for Razor Ruddock’s health. Someone needs to get through to him, or he won’t make it through too many more years, looking at this.
Not seen tonight's episode, but used to dislike Merson (as he was a Skate), but the last series I warmed to him and realised he is quite a nice bloke. I fear though for Razor there is no hope as you can't help those who won't help themselves ....
Saw this before and was so saddened by Merson’s breakdown over his addictions, scary to see how bad people can get. Haven’t heard how or if he managed to get out of it, but hope he did
A fellow radio comedy fan. There is a lot of good stuff on BBC Sounds depending on availability. Old Harry’s Game, Bleak Expectations and John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme are all excellent. My other favourites are The Consultants and Cabin Pressure but they are not available at the moment.
I have just finished watching Picard, a treat I had been saving up until I had recapped with all 182 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as the 3 films which conclude the TNG story: Generations, First Contact, and Nemesis. I was completely blown away by Picard, well written, an exceptional cast headed by the 80 year old Patrick Stewart, and CGI to die for. Some lovely nods to other sagas too, I spotted Star Wars, Firefly, and even the Lord of the Rings movies, but I’m guessing there are other references I missed. I might have to watch it again! Apparently it was renewed for Season 2 before even being released on Prime, which is great news. I just hope they don’t tax Old Baldy’s strength too much!
I think that a lot of the comedy on Radio 4 is often better than on television. I always liked "I haven't a clue" even though it was stupid. It amazed me just how much they could get away with, especially with reference to the lovely Samantha. I was really saddened to hear of the death of Tim Brooke-Taylor who was a stalwart of this programme. My two favourite comedies are "Mark Steel's in town" and "Ed Reardon's week." I think Mark Steel's stand up routine which is centred around a particular town each week is not only simple but extremely effective. It is consistently funny and he has the knack of coming up with some terrific stories which he knits together is a clever fashion. I love the fact that is a bit anti-establishment. With regard to Ed Reardon, I gave to say that I am constantly shocked that this programme is not better known. I suppose that a lot of the appeal comes from being familiar with the side stories and characters but I think that it's use of the English language marks this out as one of the smartest comedies on any platform on the BBC over the last twenty years. The cast is incredibly strong and the writing always seems to have a sly dig at current fashions or topical news which makes me smile. I suppose that Ed Reardon is like a literary version of Victor Meldrew although the cultural references are the icing on the cake. The titles of his ghost-written books are always a source of amusement.
I had been told that the last series was really good and watching for the first time last night, it held my attention for the first hour. Without being partisan, I would have to say that Matt Le Tissier came across as the most sensible. What interested me was that the highlights of the game against Metz showed that they still had the technique even if a number of the players found it difficult to move up and down the pitch. I have to admit that I turned it off when Ruddock's wife materialised in the French hotel as you could sense that the programme format was being set up even more than had initially appeared. There is always something fascinating about seeing what happened to old footballers once their playing careers had ended. The problem with the ITV format was the players they selected as it almost felt that the team was destined to fail. I was disappointed to see that the mix largely excluded players who had made a success of themselves post-football and how quickly they gravitated towards the English stereotype. I found some of Redknapp's remarks unacceptable and the rather predictable conclusion of the match against Metz belied the earlier comments that it was unacceptable to lose to foreign competition. It was not taken too seriously and some of the players seemed quite savvy yet the behaviour towards their hosts last night left a lot to be desired. Shame that the TV producers felt it necessary to have the players all traipse off to the local curry house and down a load of beers. John Barnes struck me as seemingly totally out of place and too sensible to be involved with this malarkey.
