Not that the News Channel are getting carried away at all...

I don't remember there being that many Jaws films...?

There's a picture up in my parents' house which appears to have The Watcher in it.

Trains to London are shafted, so I am trapped in Chelmsford for the foreseeable future. But it's quite nice sitting listening to the World Cup in the evening sunshine.

50 years ago today, during his F1 title-winning season, James Hunt went rallying in Norfolk... and crashed into a tree. I've been hearing the story from his co-driver that day - who was, of all people, Noel Edmonds...

Oooooo, another lovely review of Star Flight has popped up!

50 years ago today, during his F1 title-winning season, James Hunt went rallying in Norfolk... and crashed into a tree. I've been hearing the story from his co-driver that day - who was, of all people, Noel Edmonds...

"Barabara Wright! Can you hear me? Your boys took one hell of a beating!"

ITV what are you doing!!!??? Useless. Absolutely useless. Thank goodness for 5 Live.

Impressive that Matt Brittin can control the weather in Mexico.

A new blog entry, about an article was has been an unexpected online hit:

Story - summery here.

Applause to the Netherlands Institute of Sound & Vision, who have just opened a huge online archive called The Treasury - including their 1963 version of Flight into Danger, which is how I came across it. schatkamer.beeldengeluid.nl/verhaal/wat_...

In news which may not excite anyone else, but does me - the Dutch version of Flight into Danger has been released into the wild...!

Those "Hello campers!"-type chimes whenever a goalflash from the other game comes up on the stadium screens are quite irritating.

In its 30th anniversary year, BBC Four are starting a repeat run of Our Friends in the North tonight. Here's a piece I wrote for the BBC website for the 30th anniversary in January:

I know this sort of thing shouldn't surprise me, but I've just stumbled across a random Doctor Who website which has copied and pasted this whole piece, with some of the images, and added the most tenuous of wafer-thin Who links.

Is someone around here about to announce they're standing down...?

We've made the cover design of our new book You Are Not Alone: A Gay History of Doctor Who available as a swish t-shirt. Treat your wardrobe. www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/180532997?ref=studio-promote

I've done a little tie-in piece for News Online off the back of my Mr Pastry Sounds feature:

I've done a little tie-in piece for News Online off the back of my Mr Pastry Sounds feature:

Because I am a fanatical completist, I have been looking through the issue of Life magazine which James Doohan's character reads in Flight into Danger, and... I'm sorry, what...!?

The Beatles on ToTPs Film is Fabulous! is delighted to confirm the 35mm negative presented to John Franklin at the recent film convention in Oxted, contains the The Beatles first appearance on Top of the Tops.

Here we go, then. The familiar rollercoaster starts up again. Up and down and around it goes, where it stops, nobody knows… (Although probably in the quarter-finals)

I like that sky...

The first four employees of the BBC: Burrows, Lewis, Anderson, Reith. Others were offered jobs - eg RH White as Engineer, turning it down as he thought broadcasting was going nowhere. Reith was at least 3rd choice, with a journalist + business leader offered it first, saying no for similar reasons.

I am pleased to say one of my own personal major tournament traditions has finally arrived at World Cup 2026...

I got asked to do a little piece about Mr Pastry for work... www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Someone from the CBC just phoned up and had the grave misfortune to have me answer the phone, so of course I started droning on about Flight into Danger.

Things That Surprise An Ignorant Brit: Buying an old US TV Guide for research, and being surprised by how teeny-tiny it is.

It seems appropriate to give this piece I did for the 30th anniversary another plug, then! www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthe...

To steal a tigress's cubs, throw down a mirror when she pursues you and she will stop to look at it, according to the 13th Century bestiary, although clearly East Anglian carvers did not know what a tiger looked like! here's a 15th Century bench end at Wendens Ambo, Essex.

Breaking news on the wires...

A new blog entry, with some musing on what makes the early days of television at Alexandra Palace feel special...

The Sunday dozen Tech problems meant that I missed last week, but I hope this rich (I think) selection makes up, including Kane Parsons + Yasujirō Ozu; Hannah Höch + Zadie Smith; Paul McCartney + Patti LuPone; Gramsci, the Holy Father, Yung Lean + more. www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/the-sunday-d...

It's 80 years today since the return of BBC Television after the Second World War. The re-opening show is of course lost to history - gone forever, live as it was broadcast. But a few minutes of sound recordings of it *do* survive. Here's a piece I made from them for BBC Local Radio this week:

Two interesting things about this: 1) It was shot silent - the bit of the surviving sound recording was dubbed on later, which is why it's well out of sync. 2) The BBC weren't going to shoot it at all - we can thank ABC in the US for their request for it.

Sunday will be the 80th anniversary of TV's post-war return, so I've written a piece for the History of the BBC site. If you're a BBC Local Radio listener you may also get to hear some bits of the comeback show today, as I've done a package for CNS which some stations are running.

Sunday will be the 80th anniversary of TV's post-war return, so I've written a piece for the History of the BBC site. If you're a BBC Local Radio listener you may also get to hear some bits of the comeback show today, as I've done a package for CNS which some stations are running.

So looking forward to this: Fri Jun 26th tickets here: secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...

Doing nothing to dispel the national stereotype of them all being very nice people, the Canadian national archives have given me something for free as compensation for a recent digital outage by which my particular order was not in the slightest bit affected.

Beatles 35mm Negative Donated At the British Film Collectors’ Convention, on Saturday 30th May, John Franklin of Film is Fabulous was presented with a 35mm BBC negative of The Beatles, recorded on the 19th March 1964, in the original BBC film can.

In May last year, Alan Yentob died. Five years before that, I was fortunate to have the chance to interview him for my book The Long Game. Now, I've been able to use much more of that interview in a piece for the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine. Here are some thoughts on all of that:

Listen to this... www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

What a great cover! And a cover line for my piece, too, which is nice!

2/2 Turning the tables II. On the lively c1500 screen at Suffield, Norfolk, two geese attack a fox who is so surprised he defecates. Meanwhile, an ape in a cope examines his own urine in a flask. Medieval humour for #Woodensday. More from Suffield: www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/suffield/suf...

Just had someone phone up asking for the number of the BBC shop which used to be opposite our studios, and which closed nearly 20 years ago. There *is* admittedly a shop in the same place which sells DVDs, cult show merchandise, etc - people don't notice anything!

Fabulous clarification in today's Observer. Stonehenge!

A very happy 97th birthday to Corinne Conley, a star of North American stage and screen for decades, who co-starred in the original Flight into Danger and kindly spent an hour in December talking to me about it via Zoom for my documentary, which couldn't have been anywhere near as good without her!

I don't know if I'm reading too much into this, but it's *just* possible that Phil Jagielka thinks Ivan Toney is only being taken with penalties in mind...