What TV show did you last watch?

The Bottom Line
The BBC picking on the wrong mug, and the perilous rise of AI slop.

The Daily Show w/Jon Stewart
Comparing Epstein with Pizzagate, then Christiane Amanpour tries to defend the BBC and slag off GB News.

Global Public Square
FZ talks to Bill Maher after appearing on his show, making about as much sense as his other guests.

Real Time, with Bill Maher
FZ guests, and sometimes gets a word in when Bill remembers that a talk show involves other people talking too.

Talking Pictures: Julie Andrews
Mostly a chat with Parky which reiterates the idea how pedestrian he really was, but not as bad as Sue Lawley who dismisses a variety show of JA's that won 7 Emmys because it got crap ratings here (!). The final chat, with Andre Previn, was much the best.

The Richard Burton Diaries
A short advertorial from the BBC in 2012, with old pal Robert Hardy and biographer Melvyn Bragg enthusing at the release of said volume, which looked like a right doorstop.

(15-11-2025 22:12 )Doddle Wrote:  Classic Movies: The Railway Children
In a handy coincidence, a look at the film version, which moves the action from Kent to YORKSHIRE, and given the political overtones, it was a competitor for the same year's Kes. The ending has everybody cheering when Iain Cuthbertson turns up. Damn right.

CM: Escape From New York
The 4th series ends with an obligatory look at a sci-fi film (actually, they did Highlander, to be fair). The days of a budget to send presenter Iain Nathan to a country involved are clearly long gone too. Probably easier to make these shows than the "Discovering/Producers" ones.

(04-11-2025 22:12 )Doddle Wrote:  In My Own Words: Frederick Forsyth
Another year, another series (and another writer I've not read). He was bemused by some of his old clips, but tight-lipped on MI6. He denied ever claiming to have retired, despite the clips. He was supposedly planning his first book for 7 years at the time of filming, but he's dead now. I was surprised that following his first short marriage, his second lasted 36 years.

IMOW: Val McDermid
Another writer I've never read, despite her having apparently tried several different series. Being attacked by Big Daddy seemed to rank with Lockerbie, Robert Maxwell and Hillsborough for reasons to leave journalism and pursue writing.

Global Public Square
FZ took a break from worrying about AI, Venezuela and conspiracies to talk to Salman "new book out" Rushdie. He seemed surprised that SR should have returned to writing fiction, even though he's been doing it, rightly or wrongly, for decades.

Talking Movies - Set Jetting
Tom Brook, in an attempt to find some new themes, checks out film location tourism, joining a Bond-themed jaunt in London, trekking to Salzburg to understand the Sound of Music's fans (the locals don't care), and a film festival in Brittany, and Brighton Beach nr New York. It's not all work, work, work.

(17-11-2025 22:15 )Doddle Wrote:  Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing
8.4 To Herefordshire to catch a big perch, which they supposedly haven't done ever before (?) An exclusive spot at a 12th century lake (pond, really) produces a carp, but a later visit to the river Wye leads to a chub and a small perch. And Ted gets a massage. Whilst Bob sees a future in self-help.

M&W: GF
8.5 To Ceredigion in Wales, firstly to a safe little place where they both catch well, before heading to the coast to try shark-fishing (or tope, anyway), with less success.

Chris McCausland: Seeing into the Future
He does have a computing degree, so got to visit San Francisco, and Boston/MIT to check out driverless cars, AI specs, and robot ankle supports. A more plausibly positive advocate than some I could think of.