Gary Barlow Says BBC Presenters are Going Native
On this morning’s BBC Breakfast, Gary Barlow accused Louise Minchin of picking up a Mancunian accent. He should know after all as he comes from Frodsham.
She in turn admitted, she does slip occasionally.
Now you can understand, why they didn’t move the program to Glasgow.
A friend of mine has told me, that since Radio 5 has moved to Manchester, he’s not been on the program. Apparently, he was told, his phone number was lost in the move to Manchester. I think though, it’s because his accent is not even South London, but North.
The Dictator
I went to see this film yesterday. I didn’t find it particularly good. Or even that funny! In fact the cinema was rather quiet.
Monty Python would have done the story much better!
Top Cat Returns
It would appear that the latest film is a remake of the kids’ cartoon, Top Cat. It’s so old, I used to watch it as a child. Although, they had to call it Boss Cat to avoid conflict with a tinned cat food of the same name.
Top Cat Returns
Judging by the number of buses, they’re advertising it on, it isn’t going to do very well.
More Sherlocks Than Hamlet
According to the Guinness Book of Records, there have been 254 film and television versions of Sherlock Holmes, but only 206 of Hamlet.
Ian Fleming Would Have Been Amused
It is being reported in the Evening Standard tonight, that James Bond will be knighted by the Queen and then will help to launch the Olympic Games. No doubt, Danny Boyle’s short film that shows this, will of course be narrated by Henry Blofield, who is the son of Ian’s friend, Tom Blofield, who is often said to have lent his surname to Bond’s arch-enemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
C used to appear in front of Henry Blofield’s brother, John, who used to be a judge in Norwich. He was one of her favourite judges.
We also bought a house from Daniel Craig’s stepfather, Maxwell Blond.
But all this is just a typical Fleming plot!
BBC Breakfast Has Been Dumbed Down
Whether this is because of the move to Manchester, I do not know, but BBC Breakfast isn’t the program it was when it was in London. Obviously, the move cost it two of its best presenters; Sian Williams and Chris Hollins, but the rapport and banter between the presenters seems to have gone too.
I think too, that the regular guests, like Dr. Rosemary Leonard, have not been replaced with others of the of the same quality. I know that it’s early days yet, but some have been absolutely dire, when talking about serious subjects.
And then there are many more segments about pop music and people struggling with horrendous injuries. Today, there was only three serious stories. One about plastic bottle recycling, another about MOT bias and another about goal-line technology.
The sooner the program returns to its natural home in London, the better. Incidentally, one of the stories on BBC London; about children in care in Hackney and how long it takes them to be settled, should have been covered nationally.
But what illustrates the dumbing down and lack of quality most, is the story about the grooming of young girls in Rochdale. That didn’t get much coverage at all in the last few days. Why not?
And what is the phone-in on Radio 5 about this morning? Celebrities!
The United States Censors The Thick of It.
According to this report, the American version of The Thick of It has been censored for bad language.
What does it say for a country, where you can’t say “Fuck” on television, but you keep the death penalty?
A Fiesty Debate In Paris
It would appear that it was a feisty debate in Paris between President Sarkozy and his challenger, Francois Hollande. But no one got in a knock out blow.
Now there’s an idea!
Perhaps the two of them, should meet in the boxing ring!
It would be a world-wide TV hit!
Angels of Mersey
I missed Angels of Mersey about the work of chaplains in Liverpool and caught up with the first episode last night on the iPlayer.
It showed the University in Freshers Week and in some respects it hasn’t changed much since I went to my Freshers Week in 1965.
We often talk about bad building in the 1960s, but Liverpool University seems to have avoided some of the worst examples.
The First Northern BBC Breakfast
I watched it all the way through and there wasn’t one politician. Some will say that’s a good thing, but the quality of the guests wasn’t good and they were very local to the studio.
If it doesn’t improve, I’ll be switching to Radio 5 or perhaps even Radio 4.
Perhaps this is what the BBC wants as radio must be much cheaper to make than television.
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The Anonymous Widower 