Words Dept.: category

It all started on Sunday morning, when I began one of my usual rants on Twitter about the terribleness of deathly Tim Lovejoy vehicle Something for the Weekend, which culminated in this tweet:

Unpredictably, this comment led to direct contact from Nicky Campbell and, since I’m not one to pass up the chance of wringing a [...]

The growth of a beard obviously signifies a psychological problem within the wearer. Not my words, you understand, but those of former England football manager and beard expert Graham Taylor, who thinks people who “grow beards for no reason” are undergoing some kind of ongoing, possibly catastrophic, mood change.
Taylor was talking about Roy Keane, who [...]

It’s that time of year when a list of some sort becomes very much the order of the day. I also recently realised that virtually all people on television are deeply awful. Bearing these things in mind, I’ve come up with my top 10 most awful people on television 2009. In reverse order, natch.
10. Garth [...]

Britain’s cleverest man. Polymath. National treasure. All descriptions applied at various times to Mr Stephen Fry. To celebrate the first episode tonight of Fry’s new BBC2 series Last Chance To See, I’ve gone to the trouble of assembling some of this intellectual giant’s most illuminating quotes. There’s something here, I feel, for us all to [...]

I feel like I’ve sat through both episodes of ITV1’s The Duchess on the Estate, an unimaginative piece of factual entertainment in which the Duchess of York spends some time on a housing estate in south Manchester and jabbers poshly for a couple of hours about “broken Britain”.
I haven’t, of course. But helpfully the BBC [...]

Since the start of this week, I have been unemployed embarking on an exciting new freelance career, which means I’ve found myself watching daytime television. The programmes are dreadful but the adverts, which appeal to housewives, the retired and the out of work, are kind of fascinating for what they reveal about the UK’s socio-economic [...]

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen are my favourite commentators ever. As it’s July, I’m enjoying their voiceovers on the Tour de France coverage on ITV4 almost as much as the cycling itself. Unlike many commentary double-acts, the sporting pundit (Paul) seems to do as much talking as the broadcast journalist (Phil). Put them together and something quite [...]

For all BBC middle managers thinking of moving up north, of which there really aren’t that many, please be aware of these facts, all verifiable on Wikipedia:

The last known “art gallery” closed in 1987
The crime rate rose by 900% last year, driven by a shocking trade in aggravated pigeon theft
Jack Duckworth reads the ITV regional [...]

There’s something inescapably awful about the latest Conservative election broadcast, which essentially consists of David Cameron saying the words “Cameron Direct” a lot while prancing about, pointing a lot and occasionally sitting on a train. I’ve checked and it’s not a parody but I’ve still watched it about six times on YouTube since it was [...]

This must surely rank as one of the most remarkable and ridiculous moments in the short history of 24-hour news channels. Carrie Gracie, a presenter about whom I’ve had my doubts for a while thanks to her uncomfortable flirting with fellow anchor Simon McCoy every morning, gets completely flummoxed during an interview and admits to [...]