My con appearances are pretty limited this year, but next weekend I’ll be at Chaosium Con UK chatting all about the Rivers of London RPG. The following weekend, @benaaronovitch.bsky.social joins me on the Chaosium booth at UK Games Expo. It would be lovely to see you there!

Back at London Zoo to hear about Oyster bed restoration, saving Darwin’s Frogs and Mexican pupfish.

Yesterday’s Word Count = 683 683CHEF! (1993) w: Peter Tillbury Criminally overlooked sitcom starring Lenny Henry. youtu.be/YxVlULXAFSk?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 587 SURGICAL SPIRIT (1989) w: Annie Bruce, Raymond Dixon, Graeme Garden, Peter Learmouth, Paul McKenzie and Annie Wood. Based on the beautifully acid tongue of a real surgeon. youtu.be/N-sFwPejc7I?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 766 THE NEW STATESMAN (1987) w: Laurence Marks & Maurice Gran How could I have forgotten Alan B’Stard – biggest majority in the house. Pin up boy for the Heritage Foundation. youtu.be/MAFHFTzBTbA?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 702 KEEPING UIP APPEARANCES (1995) w: Roy Clarke. It’s pronounced Bouquet! youtu.be/dhlR_4GKElU?...

Finished draft zero of the latest book - now for some sleeeeeep

Yesterday’s Word Count = 1,583 --> so so very close.... THE VICAR OF DIBLEY (1994) w: Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer In 1993 the COE authorised the ordination of women – no, no, no. no. no, yes! youtu.be/p1B5_95qm8A?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 938 ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE (1990) w: David Renwick I don’t believe it! A traditional sitcom – sort of. youtu.be/3_vgOj8SQnc?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 836 NINGHTINGALES (1990) w: Paul Makin Channel Four, in the early days, had a remit to innovate – or at least unsettle. youtu.be/cg0HKJmZHa4?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 518 CHELMSFORD 123 (1988) w: Rory McGrath and Jimmy Mulville Famously starts with a scene in Latin with subtitles and a surprise (and totally unauthorised) character cameo. youtu.be/Oc_Mrp5glEs?... youtu.be/JuRkFpoJ50g?...

🔴 NEW: Reform UK's £4m crypto donor Ben Delo has dismissed his US conviction as a "non-crime" But we got the court docs - and found a different story US federal prosecutors said he "thumbed his nose at the law" and had led a "criminal enterprise" democracyforsale.substack.com/p/reforms-4m...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 1,142 BLACKADDER (1983) W: Richard Curtis, Rowan Atkinson and Ben Elton For you Baldrick the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people. youtu.be/RSpPuP5xwaQ?...

Any excuse will do to post the WHAT ABIGAIL DID THAT SUMMER video. youtu.be/euUH3ECqmbk?...

What's up with those foxes? What's the secret behind the missing kids in Hampstead? What's up with Abigail throwing her mobile in a pond? Find out with the May special offer on KINDLE of.... WHAT ABIGAIL DID THAT SUMMER - 99p

Yesterday’s Word Count = 760 AUF WEIDERSEHN PET (1983) w: Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais So now the sitcoms diverge, absurdist comedy goes one way, gritty observational comedy goes the other…The writers make adjustments…. youtu.be/BTY5G_4-Wns?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 766 ALLO ALLO (1982) w: David Croft & Jeremy Lloyd, The Nazi’s had always been figures of fun in British Comedy – even during the war. youtu.be/3eTaxXkH0_I?... Bonus Smith & Jones… youtu.be/U_Z6tv7cQmM?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 522 WHOOPS APOCOLYPSE (1982) w: Andrew Marshall & David Renwick If you can’t have a laugh in the face nuclear annihilation when can you? youtu.be/CMAFd1MEmd4?...

Alexandra Palace - on a clear day you can see Quatermass.

Yesterday’s Word Count = 1,055 THE YOUNG ONES (1982) w: Rik Mayall, Ben Elton, and Lise Mayer, And then everything changed… youtu.be/CtEbPOOu-Bw?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 751 ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES (1981) w: John Sullivan Cause where it all comes from is a mystery… youtu.be/yDea_Yu0NxM?...

In the post today - the Dutch edition of RIVERS OF LONDON - soon to be available in the Netherlands and beyond.

Yesterday’s Word Count = 1,229 BUTTERFLIES (1978) w: Carla Lane Couldn’t find a proper titled sequence. youtu.be/8LP6-2lAlvs?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 789 CITIZEN SMITH (1977) w: John Sullivan Long live the People’s Republic of Tooting! Remember the episode with the tank! youtu.be/4eabA4rz6hU?...

Oops forgot the picture

Jim Henson lived just up the road from Keats and the OG Goldfinger.

Trend Research - 2020 - aspiring young teen influencers - YouTube, TikTok or something else that granddad here has never heard of?

Yesterday’s Word Count = 787 THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN (1976) w: David Nobbs I didn’t get where I am today without watching Leonard Rossiter… Great! Super! youtu.be/XS7VWQfelyM?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 801 FAWLTY TOWERS (1975) w: John Cleese and Connie Booth I actually find this painfully funny. I can’t help it – I just feel sorry for Basil. youtu.be/Tu33t09V7ws?...

After an enforced hiatus I’m back with Brokenwood and I love the fact that Frodo nearly always finds the victim 🤣

Serious research question - 2020, "shopping" at Primak mid twenties woman, slim - briefs or mini-briefs?

Yesterday’s Word Count = 683 THE GOOD LIFE (1975) – w: John Esmonde & Bob Larbey I actually felt for Marge and Jerry who stayed good friends with the Goods through thick and thin. youtu.be/EdcyQuDz98M?...

Had a fun evening at Uxbridge Library

More Uxbridge

End of the line 😎

Yesterday’s Word Count = 537 PORRIDGE (1974) – w: Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais If you ever wondered where the use of “naff” as an expletive came from… youtu.be/dXwJvu36c38?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 615 RISING DAMP (1974) - w: Eric Chapell Leonard Rossiter what an actor. He’ll be back further down the list. youtu.be/Wp-8xNaXu-A?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 559 IT AIN’T HALF HOT MUM (1974) w: Jimmy Perry & David Croft Back then your sets were not required to even aspire to verisimilitude. (I couldn’t find a decent quality opening title video so…) youtu.be/Hc437Q_dPH8?...

Emergency Research - wjere did Henry Nock, gunsmith, have his workshop. I need a town or city.

Yesterday’s Word Count = 789 LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE (1973) w: Roy Clarke This is one of those series that always seemed to be there – a bit like QI is today. It also starred Peter Sallis of WALLACE AND GROMIT fame. youtu.be/c46oB1Pvoow?...

American Research - does West Virginia use the American style dumpsters we see in US films or is there some eccentric local variation.

Yesterday’s Word Count = 622 MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE (1973) w. Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer Had two spin offs and an American conversion as THREE’S COMPANY youtu.be/tQRgBYsmAMQ?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 914 OPEN ALL HOURS (1973) w: Roy Clarke 1973 seems to have been a good year for classic sitcoms. youtu.be/XThIHwxc1nY?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 820 SOME MOTHERS DO ‘AVE ‘EM (1973) w: Raymond Allen Betty! I’ve been articulated! youtu.be/tduNoff-GHE?...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 1,065 WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE LIKELY LADS (1973) w: Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais This was a weird one for me because I’d didn’t know who the likely lads were. We didn’t have videos in those days… youtu.be/Xv3bIKGhnDk?...

DEAL OF THE DAY: Jimmy's Last Dance, a case file for @benaaronovitch.bsky.social's Rivers of London #TTRPG, is 80% off today at @drivethrurpg.com! www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...

Yesterday’s Word Count = 550 ARE YOU BEING SERVED (1972) w: Jeremy Lloyd & David Croft I didn’t understand Mrs Slocum’s Pussy until at least 1976. youtu.be/Mz6wvKUsP6M?...

An amazing evening chatting to @benaaronovitch.bsky.social at the @britishlibrary.bsky.social — a big thank you to everyone who came, the amazing organisers and team at the library, and to @pddoling.bsky.social for this photo! Let’s do it again sometime. 😁

Yesterday’s Word Count = 519 UP POMPEII (1969) W: Talbot Rothwell Rothwell wrote for the Carry On films and Frankie Howard starred in the London stage version of A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. I think the lineage is clear. youtu.be/brsmsh-6SSo?...

Emergency Research - Norwegian - I need a Norwegian title for an imaginary painting in the style of Odd Nerdrum - called something like - 'The Longing' encapsulated loneliness and despair.