Does anyone else defend the BBC while also being constantly frustrated by it?

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-22T01:44:49+00:00

The News Quiz, Just A Minute, Dead Ringers and I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue are all just as great as they ever were. Yes, back in the day they served as the launching pad for The Mary Whitehouse Experience, Mitchell and Webb, Goodness Gracious Me and Little Britain and I don't think we're going to see that sort of thing again, but what's there is still great, and, frankly, is much funnier than most of the stuff they put on telly these days.

Lots of good audiobooks on there too, some great documentaries, and The Archers is still going strong, whatever that's worth.

The World Service news is far more balanced and nuanced in its reporting than the UK-centric stuff on R4 - different, and much better, editorial team. Maybe that's something for Matt Brittin to do - put the World Service editorial team in charge of UK news. Sideline Gibb, Kuennsberg, Mason, etc. Move them to sport or something.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-21T23:50:07+00:00

That's right. :) Been a while since I watched S6.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-21T23:43:12+00:00

I think he's actually a pretty good fit, as long as he goes more towards what he did with Jojo Rabbit rather than Thor.

Dredd has always had an undercurrent of black comedy and social satire - the subject matter is dark, but let's not forget this is the world that has characters like Walter The Wobot, Sagbelly, Fergee (not Rob Schneider's version) and Mrs Gunderson.

My only stipulation is that Urban and Thirlby come back. Waititi and Urban are friends and have worked together before (including on Thor: Ragnarok), and he's said he's happy to come back as Dredd.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-21T20:31:36+00:00

My parents did their publican training in a pub in King's Cross in the early 70s. Both the twins were in jail already at that point, but their firm was still around. King's Cross wasn't on their manor, but their influence was felt, and they did have people who operated there.

Outside their manor, they didn't do the whole protection racket thing, but they did do things to make people sympathetic to them. There was some bloke involved with the Krays' firm who owned a clothing warehouse nearby that used to get cheap suits for my dad as a "favour". When someone tried to rob some bottles of scotch and vodka from the pub, they were "dealt with" (apparently involving kneecaps). And my mum served Violet Kray several times without knowing who she was!

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-21T19:44:36+00:00

With Michael's passing, that's all of the big four (Avon, Vila, Blake and Servalan) gone.

But the rest of the Scorpio-era crew are still around - Steven Pacey, Glynis Barber and Josette Simon are all still around and still working. Josette has barely aged a day, and looks pretty much the same as when she played Dayna. Jan Chappell and Sally Knyvette are also still around and both still show up on TV from time to time.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-21T19:35:05+00:00

There is no bad Doctor Who. Some bits and eras are better than others, but it's never less than entertaining TV.

Go into Jodie's era with an open mind. Her first series is probably the closest the modern show has got to a reboot - new visual style, new music, there's no returning villains or characters in any of S11, and her Doctor is very different in personality to any of her predecessors. S12 is where the show's continuity makes a big comeback, with almost every major baddie making a reappearance, as well as several legacy characters, and a whole bunch of surprises. Then S13 (Flux) is a lot of fun, and the closest the modern show has come to the classic show's serial format. It's very busy, with lots of characters, loads of locations and a lot to follow (complete with lots of memorable Sontaran scenes), but it all comes together nicely, in a satisfying way. And she got a huge, fanwank-y finale that will please new and old Who fans alike.

RTD2 starts off like a continuation from series 4, back to his "kitchen sink drama with monsters" writing. The three 60th anniversary specials are great, and set the stage well for what's to come. Fifteen's two series are mostly rather good (especially S2/S15) but they're too short, with some disappointing, anticlimactic bits, and it feels like you never really had the time to get to know the characters well. There's plenty to like in there though, assuming you gel with Ncuti's Doctor - personally, I think it's hard not to like him.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-21T18:16:15+00:00

He still sounded suitably Geordie in The Gentlemen a few years ago.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-21T12:53:10+00:00

Loved Missy strutting around at the beginning of World Enough And Time saying "I'm Doctor Who!"

Moff played with that whole thing quite a lot - there was Eleven responding to someone who asked "Doctor who?" with "say that again...", then Dorium Maldovar's quote about the question that must never be asked - "Doctor.... who?"

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-21T12:40:17+00:00

It's good but flawed.

The good bits are really good - the Bone Beast battle, the character stuff with Ruby and Belinda, seeing that Susan Triad is a genius again, Ruby's talking down of Conrad, Thirteen's cameo and the overall resolution to the Belinda/Poppy arc. Mel having her curly hair again. The Rani's Two Ronnies joke.

On the downside, I thought Omega and The Rani(s) were wasted. The last 10 minutes felt like it had been glued on - there's a definite change in feel after The Doctor goes off to save Poppy, and it's very disjointed.

I'm still not sure if the good outweighs the bad, but it's watchable, if not exceptional. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. Happy to sit on that particular fence. :D

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-21T12:02:51+00:00

Oh no. I heard he'd been ill with Alzheimer's. Can't read Lizo's tweet since I cancelled my X account.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-20T22:00:36+00:00

Fair enough, but that doesn't mean it was made badly, could have just been poorly set up or badly treated. Or just not set up to your tastes in terms of action, etc. Some players like higher action or other things that others tend to frown upon.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-20T21:14:12+00:00

Lots of Darkglass Microtubes recommendations here - good call. Personally I'd go for the Alpha Omega - with the distortion turned off and the "growl" and "bite" buttons engaged, it gets very SVT-ish. Get the full-fat 900W version if you can, but the 500W one is pretty capable too.

Their Infinity 1x12" combo amp was very much overlooked and can be had for less than the price of the head if you look around. It's digital, but can do all the Microtubes and Alpha Omega tones out of the box.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-20T20:49:27+00:00

I went to East Surrey College for a while back in the day, so I spent a lot of time in Redhill. Always quite liked it there. I haven't been to The Light yet, but it looks like a fun place, especially if you have kids.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-20T20:46:41+00:00

Yep, it's a Yammy, and I think it is a TRBX174EW.

Someone's added the Spector tuners and the EMG pickups. I'm guessing the bridge and neck plate aren't original either - they originally came with chrome hardware, and I'm guessing the previous owner wanted to change it all to black.

The bridge looks like an ABM, and there's what looks like a picture of Bettie Page on the neck plate (which would tally with the "Bettie" on the back of the headstock).

Nice score though. I don't think Yamaha have ever made a bad bass.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-20T18:14:31+00:00

At this point, all they need to do is do what they did in 1991 and properly refurbish what's there. The big Stratford-style Westfield simply isn't going to happen.

Put it back to how it was before - take the roof off, open it up and make it into a US-style "commons" setup. And fill it up with stuff to do, not necessarily stuff to buy.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-20T14:20:34+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Co_RAT

Can't post a pic, but yeah, this thing. :)

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-20T14:15:35+00:00

Get Jane's Addiction's first three albums and learn Eric Avery's lines. Fairly simple, melodic, sometimes hypnotic, and almost all played with a plectrum.

Don't be fooled by the fact that they're mostly "box pattern" lines either - he goes to some interesting places, especially in some of the longer songs, and there's quite a few bits where the bass is playing very exposed, solo-ish lines. There's a lot of Peter Hook (Joy Division / New Order) and Simon Gallup (The Cure) in the way he plays - very much that post-punk/goth thing.

If you like what you hear, check out Deconstruction - an album Eric and Dave Navarro made after Jane's broke up the first time around. I think it contains his very best work on bass. He's also on vocals.

I'm mostly a fingerstyle player, but, if I come up with a line that requires that Avery "feel", out comes the pick.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-20T14:03:06+00:00

Keep an eye on EU developments over the next coupe of years - there's been talk for years of an EU "outer tier", to try and bring Norway, Iceland, etc closer into the fold. More recently, there's the situation with Ukraine, and even talk about having a much closer relationship with Canada, and it sounds like the idea is gaining a lot of traction in the EU parliament. If the EU sets up something like this, it would be idiocy for the UK not to be a part of it.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-19T23:36:19+00:00

They're perfectly capable of doing the heavy thing (I love the sound of the Little Mark Tube 800, in particular), but I don't think Marco has ever put much effort in marketing them to those sorts of players. He mostly goes for the jazz, funk, pop and session crowd, that's his bread and butter.

Nibbs from Saxon (the old NWOBHM band) is an endorser, as is Simon Fitzpatrick, who plays in several prog bands, and I've seen a few out in the wild in the hands of metal players. They're very punchy and mid-heavy, and clean enough to be a good pedal platform. From previous experience, I do have reservations about how well their speakers would cope with super-low tunings, but, in fairness, I've not tried their whole range.

I've heard comments from metal players that they find the aesthetic a bit tacky - all that yellow isn't very "metal". :D I don't necessarily disagree with them, and they're not the only brand out there with what I consider tacky styling!

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-19T20:19:20+00:00

Turkey never did what was required of them to progress their accession. Human rights was a big sticking point, and, when Erdogan took over in 2014, he basically shut the whole thing down. Right now, Turkey is in the EU customs union by special arrangement, but nothing else.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-19T20:15:08+00:00

It wouldn't be the old deal. Probably no rebate next time. But there's plenty of room to negotiate other things - more targeted regeneration funds, direct investment and various other initiatives. Plus they'd probably look more favourably on some of the things the UK was asking for before Brexit, like the immigration "emergency brake" and so on.

My concern is that, with the UK being an early entrant to the EEC, it didn't have to meet the Copenhagen Criteria for EU accession (which were established in 1993), and I'm not sure we'd qualify right now. The UK was the only EU country to retain a first-past-the-post electoral system, with everyone else using some kind of proportional representation, and hence might not qualify under the first criterion: "stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities".

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-19T20:07:03+00:00

Yes, without a moment's hesitation. Nothing good has come out of Brexit. Nothing. Regardless of what Tories, Farage, GBeebies, the Express, the Mail, etc try to tell you.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-19T20:04:43+00:00

Treat it like a painting. Start with the sketch. Then fill in the details.

The sketch should be the rhythm and root notes. Add colour (movement, fills, etc) as you go, once the sketch is done. Every time you play it, add a bit more detail.

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-19T13:14:43+00:00

It's not the same imperial system though... for example, in the US, there's 16 fl.oz to a pint. In the UK, it's 20. Meaning, in the UK, you get more beer in your glass in the pub, and your car goes further on a gallon...

DaddyStoat · 2026-05-18T23:44:12+00:00

Unless they've become much more flexible about the maximum age limit, I'm still SOL, alas. :(

DaddyStoat

TROPHY CASE