Adam Tandy

Realising that NowTV (and Sky, owned by Comcast) will probably lose its deal with HBO (Max, owned by WB, now Netflix) implies a loss of subscription revenue. So if Comcast buys ITV would that bolster Now, possibly then to the detriment of ITVx/Britbox?

Nothing to see here. Move along.

This is sort of WB’s fault. Netflix wanting in on the majors’ libraries, then the majors deciding to muscle in on the streaming market, so Netflix diversifies into original content, which makes the whole sector over-supplied as platforms compete, leading to losses and eventual and inevitable M&A.

We’re doing a gig. January 15th. Camden. Come ye along and hark etc.

www.greennote.co.uk/production/c...

Complete change of plan this week! | Dave Borlace Get more from Dave Borlace on Patreon

www.patreon.com/posts/comple...

The white space around badly fitting headlines, bad fonts, misunderstanding house styles, relying on a single visual to do too much storytelling. Too little time to plan or proof. A prop turns up on the day and everyone can see it’s shit, but “it’ll have to do”. And… no-one notices the good ones.

Jumpers at NT in 1976 was where I fell in love with Tom Stoppard’s work. Did my O Level dissertation on his early stuff, obsessed over Professional Foul on the TV, and always thought he was the reason I’ve ended up making comedy for a living. A giant of his craft — RIP.

mmmm…. shortbread…

Hurrah! New COMFORT BLANKET out for paid subscribers…

@jayforeman.bsky.social talks COUNT DUCKULA!

This is genuinely exciting news for every Runner 5 out there. Watch out! They’re behind you!

You can tell the AI bubble’s going to pop - and they’ve known for a while - by checking the new titles / Smart Thinking display in a big bookshop. It’s all about the grift and the coming collapse (quite the reverse a year or so back). Since it’s all wild speculation anyway, that’s a fatal sign.

Do you know how long we spent making That Christmas movie? Four years. So many mince pies and turkey sandwiches I had to buy a new belt. Twice. But the festive pop music is the thing that stays with you forever…

It’s the anti-Narnia of Always Christmas but never getting to Twelfth Night.

Any how, a six ounce cup is by definition Not Enough. Cups are 8 US fl oz, but tea should always be measured in Mugs, which are 10 US fl oz, or half a proper pint of water plus a bit more for milk and sugar.

We had American maths books at my primary school, so although we learned Imperial AND metric (because it was the era of metrication), many of our exercises were in US pints and cups. And since my mum’s only recipe book was a pre-war Joy of Cooking (US Delia, basically) I got very good at converting.

That Christmas nominated for 3 Awards at the 2025 Children’s and Family Emmy Awards.

🎶 It’s beginning to look a lot like… Awards Season.

Delighted for all our nominees at the Children’s and Family Emmy Awards. So pleased to see the movie back on Netflix, and already a festive No. 3 in Kid’s Films.

YouTube video by BBC Archive 1969: Marty Feldman - What is Comedy? | One Pair of Eyes | Comedy Icons | BBC Archive

Extraordinary film from the BBC’s archive. Marvel at Marty Feldman as he chats to pretty much everyone working in comedy in 1969.

youtu.be/S0it6iARj64?...

CONGRATULATIONS. My copy still in transit to my local bookshop. Can’t wait!

The Moneypenny Adventures.

With Wishaw as a robot dog Q,
and M as a 1960s computer in the attic.

Cuts both ways though. Poppies a bit of a sensitive area for China/UK relations.

I decided not to watch, but played by putting myself in Studio Lambert’s shoes. From the off, I cast Ross (rather than Osman) as a “prince of darkness” character and Carr as “comic foil”. I didn’t pick a female “sweetie” character (because I didn’t know the celebs) but assumed there would be one.

Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how

Vital piece of investigative reporting from Sky. They've uncovered the X algorithm which feeds users extremist right wing material from the moment they join the site. It is a far-right radicalisation engine, by design.

news.sky.com/story/the-x-...

Their light switches still work the wrong way round, despite us pointing it out several times when we were still friends.

Not sure if ITC would have been covered by these blankets though.

ITV had a blanket too. But importantly, the blankets were only for UK&Eire. Initially. Then world rights could be picked up later, for a fee. Videogram was then later included for a standard royalty to keep things simple. I think. Once these agreements lapsed it became more complicated/expensive.

OUT NOW! ON THE BROKEN VEIL CHANNEL

NEW EPISODE!

Discomfort Blanket is not a number. It is a free podcast.

(Well, a free podcast if you support the Broken Veil channel on Patreon for as little as a couple of quid...)

patreon.com/BrokenVeil

I toured with him in theatre. Shy, reserved, but a great company member. Always offering to help with get-outs. Frightening driver of a Golf GTi though…

Edge of Darkness - Series 1: 1. Compassionate Leave Thriller set in a world of obsessive state security. Ronald Craven is haunted by the murder of his daughter and begins his own investigation into her death.

Great news - one of the best mini-series ever with a dazzling & eccentric screenplay by Troy Kennedy Martin & superb direction by Martin Campbell is back on iplayer.
If you haven’t seen it then you’re in for a real treat.
Come for Bob Peck, stay for Joe Don Baker.
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Apologies to anyone expecting us to be at the Tales Of The Weird event at the British Library this weekend, but in support of the PCS industrial action, we’ve decided not to cross the picket line. Will and I are both former librarians, and want to show support to the striking staff.

I think he’s been allowed to keep a photo of a crown to blu-tac onto the wall.

I think multi-channel signal paths in “surround sound” systems are the devil’s work.

Imagine a colour film that got converted to low-contrast PAL, then got switched to Black&White, then re-colorized for HDR and finally shown on a standard HD tv.

That’s what happens already with sound, pretty much.

Also: Can my music downloads be equalised for people playing on proper speakers and not through bluetooth earbuds please?