Bursting with… what? I’ll pass, thanks.

From the final issue of TV Action as they try to get you to buy TV Comic next week. What a bizarre choice of photo. Where does it even come from @nothinglane.bsky.social?

Also, who would even want to look at this, let alone pin it on their wall? They’re straight out of Royston Vasey.

The past - in this case 1973 - truly is a foreign country.

This remake of The Saint from 1980 was rubbish. Simon Templar drove an Austin Maxi and had a hub cap for a halo.

Fooled you.

Some more Thames stuff I’ve acquired recently. I’m guessing the logo plate would have been on the wall at Teddington or Euston. Does anyone have any photos of it in situ at the time?

[2/2] How do I know? Because I’ve now acquired that very paintbox and here it is. It’s very big and very lovely. Now I just need to work out what I’m going to do with it! @transdiffusion.org @tvark.bsky.social

[1/2] Back in 1988 when this promo was made, computer graphics were in their infancy. There was still a need for physical props and rostrum cameras. The paintbox seen here, for example, was a real, specially made object.

Picked this up in a charity shop for £30. I thought why not because I very much enjoyed the series, it’s a nice piece of art and the signatures are genuine. It’ll go up in value, I thought. So on that note, I casually looked it up on eBay and… bloody hell! #DesperateHousewives

And then there was this character. OK, so he’s a paedophile, but on the other hand, he’s a great accountant and he’s always got a smile on his face. Different times. #Crossroads

These days, soap operas have serial killers, exploding pubs, planes falling out of the sky… you name it. Back in the 1970s, though, this was Crossroads’ idea of high drama. Imagine the cliff hanger!

@jazwiseman.bsky.social Hi Jaz. I’ve just acquired a couple of ITC catalogues. The first is from 1960. Do you have these? I don’t think they’re mentioned in your book.

Happy Easter. Remember, the Easter Bunny knows if you’ve been good or not.

Director: We need to make Nigel look like the Easter bunny. Make Up Artist: OK, I’ll paint some whiskers on his cheeks. Director: They won’t look like a pair of bollocks, will they? Make Up Artist: Definitely not. #eastenders @vizcomic.bsky.social

Bit aggressive.

Tell that to Michael Barrymore.

If anyone’s looking for the Thames News logo that used to hang on the wall in the Euston Road studios in the 1980s, it’s at my house now.

“Meal Deals with Joe Swash.”

In all my years of buying books both new and old, I’ve never come across this before: instructions on how to handle a book. Parts of this might be overkill (a pillow?!) but most people don’t treat books with care and respect and that’s why I never let anyone borrow mine!

@transdiffusion.org Phwoar! Look at this beauty! When was it in use?

Two of my comedy heroes in one photograph.

I think somewhere along the line this lorry driver has upset someone… @vizcomic.bsky.social

We had two foxes sleeping in our garden for most of today. I left them alone because they were cute. The best description of foxes I’ve ever seen goes as follows: “cat software running on dog hardware”.

I know Simon Templar was a bit of a ladies man but what possessed the makers of Return of the Saint to give him a number plate that implied he had a Sexually Transmitted Infection?

I guess this stuff just increased in value then. #LondonLive

Well this is a shame but the channel is now a far cry from the one I launched a decade ago. And let’s face it, this was always going to be the outcome.

I’ve just put my foot through this chocolate and sent M&S the bill. Disgusting. @vizcomic.bsky.social

The toast today, as always on New Year’s Day, is “absent friends”. To Rory, to Ollie and to others who are no longer here… cheers. x

Like a live-action version of the old board game “Guess Who?”

Tonight’s episode of Police Woman on @rewindtv.bsky.social sounds bonkers.

I’ve waited 6 years to have a use for this photo. #morrisons

From January, my migration from Twitter (I refuse to call it X because it’s a stupid name) will be complete and then this place will be home to my posts about old TV and general silliness. In the meantime, Merry Christmas!

Talking of clocks, I also have this. Unlike the BBC clock, though, this isn’t a reproduction. This is an original and now approximately 35 years old.

Look at this thing of beauty from @hiddenbritain.bsky.social! BBC2 will be arriving in January to keep it company…

If anyone needed any proof that a railway line used to run through the car park at the old Southern/TVS/Meridian studios at Northam in Southampton…

One of my earliest memories of being terrified by a television programme.

Who’s going to tell him?

Right then, Sparks on Tiswas. This gets silly. Very very silly. youtu.be/U_5pB09eEAI

This makes the collapse of Network Distributing last year even harder to bear: www.itv.com/news/2024-07...

@transdiffusion.bsky.social Quiz time! What’s going on here, then?

I am now the proud owner of a large piece of plastic that was pulled off the side of a camera in Teddington in the 1980s. @transdiffusion.bsky.social

Colin Baker in The Man Outside (BBC, 1972), looking very Doctorish over a decade before he became The Doctor…