Even though we re still a few years away from the 50th anniversary of Fawlty Towers (September 2025), I thought it would fun to take a look back at how the greatest situation comedy of all-time made the leap to German broadcaster RTL. The first ever non-English adaptation of the John Cleese/Connie Booth bit of brilliance occurred […]
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Red Nose Day has to be the single most brilliant example known to man and/or woman of how an entire country demonstrates the ability to rally around a charitable cause. To label Red Nose Day in the UK as a cultural phenomenon is doing it an injustice. It’s an institution. The entire country gets involved. The entire British […]
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Peter Bowles, most notably known for his role opposite Dame Penelope Keith as the self-made businessman Richard DeVere in To The Manor Born, has died at the age of 85. Airing from 1979-1981, the series was reprised for a one-off special in 2007 celebrating Audrey and Richard’s 25th wedding anniversary with a party at Grantleigh Manor. To the Manor […]
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Best known for her role as Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in Open All Hours, Lynda Baron has passed away at the age of 82. Created and written by the great Roy Clarke (Keeping Up Appearances, Still Open All Hours), the iconic British situation comedy starring Ronnie Barker, David Jason and Stephanie Cole ran for four series and […]
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One of the few upsides of another year living under a pandemic cloud is the opportunity to send good wishes for a very happy birthday to the brilliant Dame Patricia Routledge, who turns 93 today. Given Hyacinth would have been appalled at the possibility that I might forget to drop a card in the post […]
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Red Nose Day has to be the single most brilliant example known to man and/or woman of how an entire country demonstrates the ability to rally around a charitable cause. To label Red Nose Day in the UK as a cultural phenomenon is doing it an injustice. It’s an institution. The entire country gets involved.
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Terry Jones passed away two years ago on January 21 from a rare form of dementia. Take a look back at his brilliant life, career — and his 1970s connection to a public TV station in Dallas, Texas called KERA.
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Gary Waldhorn, the actor best known for his role of Councillor David Horton in the Dawn French comedy, Vicar of Dibley, has died at the age of 78. Waldhorn’s son Josh confirmed to BBC News that his father died on Monday, saying in a statement: “Classically trained, it was the theatre where he truly flourished and he leaves a legacy […]
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It seems that watching television on New Year’s Eve in Germany is right up there with the tradition of watching the Queen’s Christmas Day message in the UK. Dinner for One is a particularly crucial part of Germany’s festive programming, where it has been broadcast on Das Erste, a public television channel, since 1972. Around half the population still tunes in on New Year’s Eve to watch it with some Germans even recreating the meal served in the skit.
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It was 42 years ago this month where the literary world learned the answer to life, the universe and everything. While the face of radio comedy changed forever back in March of 1978, it was October of 1979 that Douglas Adams unleashed Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, as a book, on the world. While, as a society, we tend to celebrate anniversaries like 40th or 50th such as high school reunions commonplace, I prefer a 42nd anniversary of H2G2 for obvious reasons. Until next time, so long and thanks for all the fish.
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