Spit on me! Not sure how I missed this, but the movie edit of Blackeyes - cut back-to-back with the serial, but never released - has been on Amazon Prime for just over a year. What a time to be alive. Will it be better? Probably not, but it finishes sooner. www.amazon.com/Blackeyes-Gi...
The cover of 'Margaret Calvert: Woman At Work,'
Such a handsome book about such a brilliant designer.
This begs so many questions. Were snacks available? How many loo breaks? Did the first audience member to crack come at Gerrard with a chair or a bottle of sparkling Highland Spring?
Reading a book about Aston Villa's journey from relegation to the Champions League and have learned that before being appointed manager, Gerrard put together a presentation on his plans for the club that lasted FIVE HOURS.
Like Fidel Castro in his prime.
I’ve just shouted “fuck you Alvar Liddel!” at the television, which I wasn’t expecting to do today, but it felt GOOD.
Another look ahead at Wednesday's episode of Through the Square Window in which @samiraahmeduk.bsky.social and @gkw.bsky.social are talking about shows from March 1979. And that includes...
The Sunday dozen
Jan Lievens, Kenith Trodd, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Giorgia Meloni; Eugène Atget, Michael Heizer, Jonathan Meades and Benjamin Millepied; Iran, AI, history, Rosalía and more.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/the-sunday-d...
I've just finished the three novelisations. If I never read another Martin-written sex scene it will be too soon.
This is an important thread about the BBC Written Archives.
The BBC’s job is to “inform, educate, and entertain”? Let’s talk about the middle word.
What follows is the story of what we found in an FOI request (per the Observer) about the Corporation killing off plans to launch an online catalogue and failing to deliver ‘learning for people of all ages’. 🧵
Photo from the early 1970s of a man on horseback negotiating the Birmingham inner ring road at Holloway Head
I’m searching for the original and/or rights owner of this fabulous picture of Birmingham in the early 1970s. It popped up on my Instagram feed, but I’ve been unable to track it down.
Any leads? I’m really hoping to use it in a book.
(And would much appreciate a RT please)
Ken Trodd was such a huge force in TV drama. He’ll be forever missed. Here he is about to tackle a Knickerbocker Glory at The Delaunay in May 2019.
Ha!
Indebted to @simoncoward.bsky.social for pointing out that the Humphrey Burton celebrations continue on Monday with his appearance on a 1977 Call My Bluff. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
An excellent tribute by Ian to the great Kenith Trodd.
We lost Kenith Trodd last weekend, a brilliant producer and forward-thinking man who believed deeply in television and the British screen. He was ahead of his time in many ways. "A film is a film is a film."
My tribute is now up on the BFI website: www.bfi.org.uk/news/kenith-...
It’s definitely a bit of a mess and Anderson was at war with the director which no doubt didn’t help. But it was a terrific film to watch on a Bank Holiday when you’re nine because it fills you full of existential dread for the rest of your life.
I’ve had a quick shufti in the newspaper archive and found a matching story on the front pages from a year earlier which was almost certainly what the writer picked up on to use in the drama that the BBC Exec Desmond Wilcox thought was far fetched. So thanks Des.
Researching stuff can be fun. I’ve been reading some old BBC minutes of a review meeting and one senior manager picks up on something in a drama and says “that’s a bit far fetched isn’t it?” Another guy says “actually I think something like that might have happened.”
I don't know but he's quite critical of the Bush and Royal Court in the late 80s/90s and that the writers and plays weren't breaking through to a wider public, so that would fit with Kane not liking it.
The title page of Peter Ansorge's book Disrupting the Spectacle.
I also enjoyed his 1975 book Disrupting the Spectacle, although the title does now sound like a euphemism "I've just disrupted the spectacle, I'd give it 10 minutes, etc..."
Extract from Ansorge's book putting the boot into Jon Amiel and Mick Jackson.
Extract from Ansorge's book putting the boot into Jon Amiel and Mick Jackson AGAIN.
I'm reading Peter Ansorge's 1997 book From Liverpool to Los Angeles as recommended by @greavesian.bsky.social It's a good overview of the development of TV drama up to that point, and it's enjoyably waspish as well.
We covered Supertrain a bit in one of the WoT newsletters www.patreon.com/posts/146780...
Confirmation of receipt of the script of Brimstone and Treacle at the BBC. Both title and description are in red ink. "The devil arrives in a suburban home."
Reflecting on Kenith Trodd's death (my online obit will follow at some point tomorrow), I realised that he left us just one day shy of the 50th anniversary of the studio recording of Brimstone and Treacle - that wild stylistic challenge to the senses, full of provocation and unease.
I'll be interested to hear what you think about it.
It's not really a cheese, it's a residue, but a residue that's good for you. As I relentlessly say every time we buy cottage cheese - which is often.
This is very sad news. Ken Trodd was a titan of television drama and an incredible character. RIP.
Very sad to hear from his wife that Kenith Trodd passed away on Sunday. A brilliant, fearless maker of tv and film, including a long and lively partnership with Dennis Potter. It was an honour to know him and interview him about his illustrious career. www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/14...
I was at Ken's bedside last week. He gave me some life-changing television (Singing Detective, Leeds United among them) and loved nothing more than a gossip over a long lunch. I also admired his positive forward-thinking attitude to new work, rather than getting cynical in his years. A one-off.
