Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in East And Central London, Essex & Suffolk.
Week 389, Saturday 27th November until Friday 3rd December 2021.
Happy Bbay, MOZ, Hel and SAZ all on the same day.
If this is your first visit to this blog or ramble as I like to call it, you will notice at the bottom a list of entertainment I have enjoyed this last week. At the top of the list of TV and Film enjoyed over the last week, if only there were qualifications for watching TV I would be regarded as an expert. The current series/season of new Doctor Who is nearing its end (when this is published, the final episode will have been broadcast) this is a programme I love and always try to watch for the first time live. This is because I fool myself that my viewing counts towards the national ratings of how many people actually viewed the programme. Of course it doesn’t, sadly it makes no difference when I watch the episode, I have no influence at all.
Television ratings in the UK are collected by an organisation called BARB (Broadcaster’s Audience Research Board) which has been around since 1981. To collect information about what programme have been enjoyed over the past seven days BARB use a major market research company to speak to 1000 individuals asking them various questions about their recent viewing habits. They also speak to people in the Television industry asking their opinion about what they viewed. However the main way that numbers are collected is with the help of about 5000 members of the public who have a metre attached to their Television (there is also software that can be used to register when a programme is watched on a Computers and other mobile devices). These panel members also note if there is a visitor and if anyone leaves the room while the programme is being aired. The stats are then collated by a clever system and the figure is published, I am not going to look this up as I suspect I won’t be able to describe it very well for the process to make sense.
In all the years that I have watched TV, spoken to others who watch the magic box in the corner of the room I have never met a person that is part of the official ratings panel. This changed while sitting in a theatre waiting for a live comedy show to start, a friend I have known for years casually mentioned that there viewing habits are registered and are used as part of the official figures. How and why has this not come up in conversation before, they know I am obsessed with TV. There was so much I wanted to ask, but the comedy show which had been cancelled a couple of times over the last 20 months suddenly started. The 1500 strong audience probably wouldn’t be pleased if I stood up and asked the comedian in the middle of the stage if he could give me another few minutes to discuss TV with a friend.
It’s only now I realise that we didn’t discuss this issue further. But I promise the next time we speak in person or virtually I will bend there ear because I am extremely interested. The most important fact I did confirm is that they watch Doctor Who live, so there viewing does count towards the official overnight ratings. If they didn’t then the comedy gig wouldn’t have started, we would still be sitting in row H with every set of eyes in the auditorium turned towards us waiting for me to shut up.
I don’t do a lot of research; maybe I should have a look and see if I can become part of this very special but important club. I wonder if anyone has registered more than once to bump up the ratings of programmes they love, there is always a loophole.
By the way the show with Henning Wehn was very funny, I laughed a lot.
And Now For Something Completely Different…….
As mentioned at the very top of the ramble it was my best friend and sisters (twins) B’day on the same day last week. To celebrate I took my friend on a 120 mile (240 in total) road trip to my favourite place in England Southwold, a seaside town I know well. Sadly I didn’t think this through because normally the family and I visit end of October when the weather is still good, plus I am lucky and don’t really feel the cold. This of course was early December, it was dark and wet plus my friend really feels the cold. When we parked beside the Lighthouse it was hailing, a couple of people during the few hours we the town had snow early morning. I love the place and have raved each time I return to my friend, desperate for her to love it as much as I do. I can confirm that she did have a nice time, but it was just far to cold to just mooch around. In the future I have to plan these trips better and take her there when the yellow fiery ball in the sky makes one of its rare appearances.
I think the meal in the pub, and coffee and cake later on helped warm her up and pleased her the most during the day.
My Mid Life Crisis Conts……
This week I have watched:
“Aladdin”, (2019). “Alias”, (S1, ep 18). “Babylon 5”, (S1, ep 10). “Blake’s 7”, (SC, ep 7). “Click”, (TX: 27/11/21). “Cowboy Bebop”, (S1, ep 5). “Dads Army”, (S3, ep 10, “Menace From The Deep”, TX: 13/11/69). “Elves”, (S1, ep 1). “Flightplan”, (2005). “Fort Salaam”, (S2, ep 7). “Full Ride On The Shuttle (STS135) Booster”, (Facebook)(TX: 01/12/21). “Giant Whale Approaches Unsuspecting Paddle Boarder”, (Facebook)(TX: 07/10/21). “Hanna”, (S3, ep 3). “Have I Got News For You”, (S62, ep 7, TX: 26/11/21)(ep 8, TX: 03/12/21). “How ‘No Time To Die’ Pulled Off James Bond’s Opening Chase (Entertainment Insider)”, (Facebook)(TX: 01/11/21). “Lexx”, (S2, ep 9). “Lost In Space (2021)”, (S3, ep 1 & ep 2). “Miriam And Alan Lost In Scotland”, (S1, ep 3, TX: 30/11/21). “Spitting Image Crimbum 2021 Special”, (TX: 03/12/21). “Star Trek (Animated Series)”, (S2, ep 3). “The I – Land”, (S1, ep 1 & ep 2). “The Graham Norton Show”, (S29, ep 10, TX: 03/12/21). “The Jonathan Ross Show”, (S18, ep 6, TX: 27/11/21). “The Lakes With Simon Reeves”, (S1, ep 3, TX: 28/11/21). “The Last Leg”, (S23, ep 9, TX: 26/11/21)(ep 10, TX: 03/12/21). “The Lighthouse”, (2019). “The Orville”, (S2, ep 12). “The Vanishing”, (2018). “The Walking Dead: World Beyond”, (S2, ep 1). “The Wheel Of Time”, (Trailer). “Top Gear”, (S31, ep 3, TX: 28/11/21). “US Navy Railgun – Their Most Powerful Weapon”, (Facebook)(TX: 06/11/21). “Whose Line Is It Anyway”, (S2, ep 1, TX: 10/11/89)(ep 7, TX: 29/12/89)(ep 13, 16/02/90)(ep 15, TX: 02/03/90)(S8, ep 2, TX: 19/07/96)(ep 6, TX: 16/08/96)(ep 7, TX: 23/08/96)(ep 8, TX: 30/08/96)(ep 9, TX: 06/09/96)(ep 10, TX: 13/09/96)(ep 11, TX: 20/09/96).
“Doctor Who Watched This Week”……
“The Daleks“, (S1, Prod Code B). Ep 1, “The Dead Planet”, (TX: 21/12/63). Ep 2, “The Survivors”, (TX: 28/12/63). Ep 3, “The Escape “, (TX: 04/01/64). Ep4, “The Ambush”, (TX: 11/01/64). Ep 5, “The Expedition”, (TX: 18/01/64). Ep 6, “The Ordeal”, (TX: 25/01/64). Ep 7, “The Rescue”, (TX: 01/02/64).
“Flux: Survivors Of The Flux”, (13 (S39 since 1963), Chapter Five, TX: 28/11/21).
Live On Stage This Week:
“Henning When: It’ll All Come Out In The Wash”, (The Clifftown Theatre, Southend-on-Sea).
This week I have listening To:
“30 Animals That Made Us Smarter”, (BBC World Service/Sounds)(S2, ep 23, 29/11/21). “Coronavirus Global Update”, (BBC World Service/Sounds)(27/11/21) (28/11/21)(29/11/21) (30/11/21)(01/12/21)(02/12/21)(03/12/21). “Doctor Who: Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels – Happy Times And Places”, (27.1, “The Time Monster”, 29/11/21)(27.2, 03/12/21). “Griefcast”, (S8, ep 9 (157) 30/11/21). “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Buddha”, (ep 46, 03/12/21). “Maximum Power – A Blake’s 7 Podcast”, (SA, ep 10, 28/11/21). “Mystery Hour”, (02/12/21). “NASA Curious Universe”, (29/11/21). “NASA Gravity Assist”, (03/12/21). “NASA Houston We Have A Podcast”, (ep 223, 03/12/21). “Nick Abbot Whole Show”, (27/11/21)(28/11/21). “Rob Beckett And Josh Widdecombe Parenting Hell”, (S3, ep 41, 30/11/21)(ep 42, 03/12/21). “Radio Astronomy (The Sky At Night Magazine)”, (02/12/21). “Radio Times Doctor Who Podcast”, (28/11/21). “Smersh Pod – You only Live Twice“, (Pt 1, 01/03/21)(Pt 2, 02/03/21). “Space And Things”, (STP18, 31/12/20)(STP66, 02/12/21). “Space Soldiers Podcast – Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe”, (Chapter Ten,“The Death Mist”, 27/11/21). “Star Trek Universe”, (30/11/21). “The Doctor Who Show”, (29/11/21). “The Friendship Onion”, (S1, ep 29, 29/11/21). “The Froth With Rhod Gilbert And Sian Harries”, (S4, ep 10 (ep 46), 30/11/21). “The Nick Abbot Habit”, (29/11/21). “The Old Doctor Who Show”, (ep 121, 01/12/21). “The Skewer”, (BBC Radio 4/Sounds)(S5, ep 5, 01/12/21). “Tripodscast”, (ep 4, 27/11/21). “WTB”, (S3, ep 16 (ep 59), 03/12/21). “Wolf And Owl”, (ep 52, 01/12/21). “What’s Your Problem With Nick Abbot And Carol Mcgiffin”, (29/11/21).
Songs I Enjoyed This Week, Were By:
“Morrissey”, “ABC”, “Bebox Dulux”, “Berlinda Carlisle”, “Black Sabbath”, “Delia Derbyshire”, “Iron Maiden”, “My Life Story”, “Oasis”, “Queen”, St Etienne”, “Talking Heads”, “Terry, Blair And Anoushka”, “The Jackson 5”, “The Smiths”, “The Temptations”.
Misfits Mid-Life Crisis........ 