I obviously watch too much television. This will be apparent from a glance through the posts However, I have been given a sign by Charlie Brooker – patron saint of quality television.
Charlie Brooker’s Screen wipe last night had a brief feature called “Famous for 40 seconds” with people desperate to appear on television. I recognised one of the people (purporting to be an obsessive cleaner ) from Big Brother’s Big Mouth. To recognise him was bad enough. But
Last week there was a feature involving Charlie in the gutter. I recognised the man next to Mr B from a BBC4 programme called “Under the spotlight” which was a 3 x 40 minute documentary series about warm-up men (very good value); children’s entertainers; and extras. This bloke appeared in the latter and spoek about being cast in Eastenders as a beggar. Poor lad’s been typecast. And
Earlier in the year I recognised an extra in Doctor Who from his picture as a contributor to the tachyon TV blog.
You know you are watching too much television when you’re starting to recognise the extras.
I think you need to sell the television. Now. Before Bad Things happen to you.
But then I might have to speak to people, read, listen to the radio, and get out more. I mean what sort of life is that?
> I think you need to sell the television. Now. Before Bad Things happen to you.
When accompanied by a picture of a man holding a gun, one is inclined to take this seriously.
But the worst of it is, I am recognising people from BBC4 shows appearing in other BBC4 shows. Is this a good thing? Some of these shows don’t even register in BARB statistics. Am I the person keeping BBC 4 afloat? and if that is the case surely would it be easier for the Beeb to hypothecate the proportion of the licence fee relevant to BBC 4 directly to me to allow me to purchase and commission my own entertainment?