After watching Foyle's War and enjoying Michael Kitchen's acting talents, I began to think "I wonder if he realizes how much he is appreciated as an actor." I know he is in retirement (according to my Google searches) so I did some research, found the talent agency that he's registered with, and sent an email to his agent asking if I could send him a note through her to Michael. She replied that she would be happy to. I sent him this note:

"Dear Mr. Kitchen,

Greetings from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

I just wanted to send you a short note to say ‘Thank you’. This might sound somewhat odd, but please allow me to explain.

I enjoy watching British television series, and eagerly await new series as they arrive. I subscribe to several streaming services including Acorn, BritBox and Masterpiece. I find the writing and acting in British series generally tend to be of much higher quality than American series (or even Canadian series, for that matter).

I’ve seen you in films such as Goldeneye and The World is Not Enough but I have to say you were truly phenomenal in Foyle’s War. I was so taken with the series that I purchased all of the DVDs, something I don't normally do. So, that should tell you something.

A few weeks ago, I came across my Foyle’s War DVDs and thought “Oh, hey, I should really watch these again”, and I did. And once again, I was truly impressed with your acting skills.

Now, I know a series isn’t the result of one person’s acting skills and that there are a lot of facets to a production such as this, including exceptional writing and producing.

But this drove me down a rabbit hole on the internet and I found out that there are quite a lot of fans of Foyle’s War, and that the general consensus is that Michael Kitchen is an exceptional actor. So, congratulations: you still have a lot of fans around the world.

I understand that you have stepped back from acting and are living quietly in retirement. This is well deserved and I hope that you are enjoying your retirement. Still, I think I can speak for many viewers when I say that you are and will be missed. The way you can manipulate a scene through simple facial expressions speaks volumes.

Finally, here is the ‘Thank You’: thank you sir, for being such a terrific actor and thank you for the many hours of exceptional entertainment. It has truly been a pleasure."

I received a reply today through his agent:

"I can’t not reply to such a very kind and generous ‘note’.  

It’s been received, read and greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

My very best regards to yourself and Toronto.

Michael K"

I've watched a lot of social media clips of Bob Mortimer spinning his tales on Would I Lie to You.

In pretty much all those I can remember, he fills the tale with madness and implausibility, the other team guesses lie, and he declares it was true.

Did he ever tell a straight up lie?

I’m rewatching Alma’s not normal and once again I’m obsessing over Lin’s art. Even though the ‘everyone is fed up of Lin’s wacky art’ arc is super funny, I always thought her art was amazing and really impressive haha. I looked into the background of the art in the show, and it turns out it was all created by the art department hired for the show, and there isn’t a specific person credited. Anyone else really like her art and think her family should’ve appreciated them more?

The Christmas special is missing though - which is a shame, that's one of my favourite episodes.

Great writing and acting, highly recommended!

I’m honestly really unsure if any of them have been cancelled. Does anyone know of anyone from the UK version who has?

Two great British tv series airing at the same time this evening. Which one will you be watching Vigil or Trigger Point?

Does anyone remember the edition of this show, which had Slash as the musical guest, where they appeared to video a full dress rehearsal, and put that out as the broadcast?

I've searched YouTube, but haven't found a saved version of it so far...

Help required please. We recently rediscovered 90s Saturday night “sensation” Man O Man and watched out of morbid curiosity. The bit I remember from the time is when a muscleman came on and started popping his pecs to a particular song and made the poor saps in trunks try to flex along. Can anyone identify the song? I still remembered it from the time so surely it existed outside of this abomination somewhere? It’s around 52 minutes in:

https://youtu.be/NlcMdNuG-Ek?is=owXbZG9DzxqG2bqe

We tried Shazamming it but there’s a lot of crowd noise and I think it was played by a live band.

Apologies in advance to anyone clicking that link…

No 50. ChuckleVision (BBC One, 1987-2009)
No 49. The Tomorrow People (ITV, 1973-1979)

No 48. How (ITV, 1966-1981)

1. Postman Pat (BBC One, 1981-1997)

2. Teletubbies (BBC Two/One, 1997-2001)

3. Pob’s Programme (Channel 4, 1985-1990)

4. John Craven’s Newsround/Newsround (BBC One, 1972-ongoing)

5. Knightmare (ITV, 1987-1994)

6. In the Night Garden… (BBC Two, 2007-2009)

7. Rainbow (ITV, 1972-1992)

8. The Adventures of Black Beauty (ITV, 1972-1974)

9. Andy Pandy (BBC One, 1950-1970)

10. Crackerjack (BBC One, 1955-1984)

11. The Basil Brush Show (BBC One, 1968-1980)

12. Danger Mouse (ITV, 1981-1992)

13. Byker Grove (BBC One, 1989-2006)

14. Thunderbirds (ITV, 1965-1966)

15. Rentaghost (BBC One, 1976-1984)

16. Maid Marian and Her Merry Men (BBC One, 1989-1994)

17. The Demon Headmaster (BBC One, 1996-1998)

18. Dick and Dom in da Bungalow (CBBC, 2002-2006)

19. Press Gang (ITV, 1989-1993)

20. Inigo Pipkin/Pipkins (ITV, 1973-1981)

21. The Adventure Game (BBC One/Two, 1980-1986)

22. Ivor the Engine (BBC One, 1959-1963, 1975-1977)

23. Vision On (BBC One, 1964-1976)

24. Captain Pugwash (BBC One, 1957-1975)

25. Sesame Street (PBS, 1969-ongoing)

26. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon, 1999-ongoing)

27. Children of the Stones (ITV, 1977)

28. Grange Hill (BBC One, 1978-2008)

29. Hartbeat (BBC One, 1984-1993)

30. Bod (BBC One, 1975-1976)

31. The Changes (BBC One, 1975)

16. Jackanory (BBC One, 1965-1996)

1. The Magic Roundabout (BBC One, 1965-1977)

2. The Muppet Show (ITV, 1976-1981)

3. Paddington (BBC One, 1976-1980)

4. Play School (BBC Two, 1964-1988)

5. Blue Peter (BBC One/CBBC, 1958-ongoing)

6. The Wombles (BBC One, 1973-1975)

7. Peppa Pig (Channel 5, 2004-ongoing)

8. Pingu (CBeebies, 1980-2000)

7. Tiswas (ITV, 1974-1982)

1. Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley (1966, 1967 and 1969)

2. Bluey (BBC One, 2018-ongoing)

3. Clangers (BBC One, 1969-1974)

4. Horrible Histories (CBBC, 2009-ongoing)

5. Mr Benn (BBC One, 1971-1972)

6. Bagpuss (BBC One, 1974)

For Americans, Breaking Bad is often seen as one of those iconic, almost essential TV shows hugely influential, critically acclaimed, and something that became part of the culture.
What’s the British series that has that same status in the UK? Not necessarily the same genre, but the show where you’d say, “If you’re British, you really should watch this at least once.”
Interested to hear what comes closest.

Just watched Hit List and we never got to hear this track, so I looked into who it was - Google image search is letting me down, I think, as it says it is Laura Branigan and Anne Wilson (it was adamant the picture as a whole was Heart), but it can't be as see below.

I struggle with faces so I've zero chance of recognising any of them even if I find more pictures, does anyone recognise this group - the category means they are a super group, but neither Laura Branigan nor Anne Wilson were ever in super groups according to Wikipedia.

Help? 😄

Really enjoying the first series of Cooper and Fry…but this is a mistake right? 911 is not a thing in the UK?

Was anyone else scared witless by Chocky and Chockys children but still kept watching? I also loved being scared by Into the Labyrinth.

Any others scare you?

Weird wording but for example mine is Grand Designs! Every SINGLE time these rich people plan huge ridiculous builds with at most 2 kids with them and EVERY time it rains and there’s some kind of complication that almost bankrupts them 😆 they never properly plan ahead it’s great tv!!

I love how repetitive British show formulas can be, so comforting!

Also would kitchen nightmares be British? I deem it as so, love Gordon (unless he’s done something..)

Obviously these are probably exacerbated for entertainments sake but who’s to say you can’t enjoy it anyway!

Hello fellow lovers of British comedy!

Recently I've been very nostaligic for that period of time 20-30 years ago when we all sat down infront of the tv and watched the same thing. Whether that was with our families or with friends. I wanted to recreate some of the tv nights that I remember like Channel 4 Friday night comedy, or BBC weekday evenings, or maybe even Sunday nights watching wholesome tv like Ballykissangel or Monarch of the Glen.

I have created something which is some sort of a homeage to that era. I'm not entirely sure what it is if I'm really honest - other than an idea. It essentially looks like a ceefax tv guide, with links to many of the shows I remember; a lot of which are still available on Channel 4 or BBC iplayer!

I wanted to share it here and see if anyone else enjoys it, or shares my nostaglia for that period.

Please take a look if you think it might interest you!

[www.tvnights.co.uk\](tvnights.co.uk)

P.s - I have had mod approval. I don't make any money from this and, for the sake of transparency, I did use AI to help me with some of this - I'm a financial adviser, not a natural creative!!

"Apple TV has picked up a new comedy series, Small Prophets, for its streaming service in an atypical fashion for the streamer. Rather than commission the project upfront, Apple has bought out the worldwide rights for the series a few months after the show debuted in the UK to record ratings.

Small Prophets was the biggest new scripted series launch for the BBC this year, and Apple will be hoping to replicate its success around the world. It streams on Apple TV starting October 7."

Been working on a bit of a passion project to map out TV and Movie scenes to the real locations they were filmed at. The plan is to mainly start out with British TV shows and expand out into others. As I've reached the point where I have a few titles in there, I figured I would open it up. Hopefully fellow TV/Movie nerds will appreciate 😆

https://www.scenefound.com/locations/tv-shows

If you know of any that are missing or shows that would like to be added, please let me know, and I can update.

I think it was late 00s/early 2010s. There was a couple being interviewed. I think they were American. The man was recording the strange things the woman said in her sleep and putting it them on Youtube. They had quite a following. Graham thought it was all bollocks and told them so. He accused them of faking it. The couple were taken by surprise and the whole interview was deliciously awkward and cringey.

I can't be the only one that remembers this.

This would have been circa 20 years ago I think, it was one of those typical ‘best xyz moments’ shows with talking heads etc. I think it was presented by Graham Norton, that famous sports commentator 🙂.

The thing about it was, of course you were waiting for Kenneth Wolstenholme as the No. 1, and as they introduced the winner, they started showing clips of the World Cup in 1966, Sir Alf etc…

However….the top sports commentary moment was not KW, it was some other bit of commentary on Sir Geoffs goal, from the radio. Anyone have any idea what I’m dribbling about?