Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2022-06-20T12:39:06.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: What is the weirdest death Midsomer Murders has ever had? Scott Bryan investigates...
items: What is the weirdest daytime discussion show on television? Scott Bryan investigates...
items: What is the pettiest and most typically British complaint sent into Points of View? Scott Bryan investigates...
items: What's the weirdest ever celebrity segue on The One Show? Scott Bryan investigates…
items: Can TV show characters afford the houses they live in? Scott Bryan investigates…
items: How often does Ted Hastings say "Fella" in Line of Duty? And which Ted quote is the weirdest? Scott Bryan investigates…
items: Have you noticed the amazing burns by Victoria Coren Mitchell during Only Connect? And the eccentric contestant biographies? Scott Bryan investigates...
items: Can you watch the latest season of Game of Thrones without having seen the previous seven? Scott Bryan investigates….
items: Which soap character has the WORST life just from looking at their Wikipedia page? Scott Bryan Investigates...
items: How accurate are TV countdown shows? And why did we all get angry at Channel 5 over packets of crisps? Scott Bryan investigates...
items: Are the Line of Duty interviews getting longer? And which one is the most intense? Scott Bryan investigates…

What is the weirdest death Midsomer Murders has ever had? Scott Bryan investigates...
type: item
date: 2020-01-06T17:15:43.000Z
creator: Scott Bryan
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Are the deaths becoming more ridiculous?
encoded: There have been 350 deaths in Midsomer Murders since the show started in 1997, but are they getting ever more ridiculous? (*cough* yes *cough*) Are they running out of ideas? And are any of the residents concerned that where they live has the highest murder rate in Europe? Like the Barnabys before me, I decided it was time to investigate, in this case by counting and analysing every death in every episode. I’ve even made graphs! This is premium content detective work! When is Midsomer Murders back on TV? Midsomer Murders’ Neil Dudgeon: “I’m not that popular” Midsomer Murders' Weirdest Deaths First, let’s take a look at some of the most WTF deaths in Midsomer Murders history. View oEmbed on the source website It includes... Being crushed to death by tins of relish after a forklift truck chase: My nightmare. It’s like an episode of Inside the Factory where the factory itself takes revenge. Even the man who dies here looks a bit like Gregg Wallace. Being electrocuted whilst holding on to a microphone during a rock concert: The ironic thing is that nobody realised she had been electrocuted. They assumed she was just hitting a high note. Having a heart attack after being crushed by a mountain of newspapers: We should not be debating the death of print media. We should instead be debating death by print media. Being tied to a bullseye in the garden and catapulted with bottles of wine: This has to be, without a doubt, the most middle class murder ever seen on television. It’s like the Waitrose of death. Also, who wastes red wine like this? C’mon. Being bitten by snakes in a room full of snakes: Apparently after you get killed by a snake they like to wrap around you as if you are wearing a fancy new necklace. And yes, that is Hugh Dennis. Fun Fact: the original pilot for Outnumbered featured snakes instead of children. Strangled whilst attempting to fix some sabotaged automatic doors: If I lived in a Grand Designs house, I would be afraid to use my doors. Suffocated after b…

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What is the weirdest daytime discussion show on television? Scott Bryan investigates...
type: item
date: 2019-06-14T11:00:38.000Z
creator: Scott Bryan
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: TV
description: From pet ghosts to evil hot cross buns, what is the weirdest caption ever seen on daytime television?
encoded: None of us actually need to watch daytime television. All we need to do is look at the screen with the sound off every thirty minutes and stare at the WTF discussion caption that comes up on the screen. In fact, you don’t even need to turn the television on. Chances are, someone has already taken an image of it and shoved it on Twitter. But what is the weirdest caption daytime television has ever had? I’ve dipped through the archives to find some favourites along with the show they came from (thank you to the excellent Twitter account @daytimesnaps for being a good starting point). What this investigation has created is a wonderful and slightly unhinged stream of consciousness. And before you ask. Yes, all of these discussions are completely 100% real. What’s the weirdest ever celebrity segue on The One Show? Can TV show characters afford the houses they live in? How accurate are TV countdown shows? And why did we all get angry at Channel 5 over packets of crisps? “Is calpol like ‘heroin’ to children?” (This Morning) “Does your doorbell scare you?” (Loose Women) “Should Love Island be screened in schools?” (Loose Women) “Should Prince William be allowed to go bald?” (This Morning) “Do ghosts exist?” (Loose Women) “Is my dog gay?” (This Morning) View oEmbed on the source website “Do animals have souls?” (Loose Women) “Should firefighters stop rescuing people’s pets?” (Jeremy Vine) “Would you clone your pet?” (Loose Women) "Have you ever been visited by the ghost of a former pet?" (Loose Women) “Should a sandwich be politically correct?” (This Morning) “How many sprouts should you have?” (Loose Women) “Are hot cross buns evil?” (The Wright Stuff) “Is communism evil?” (Jeremy Vine) “Should tickling children be made illegal?” (This Morning) "Would you choose the porn your kids watch?" (Loose Women) “Are you addicted to kitchen porn?” (Loose Women) “What is your favourite crisp?” (This Morning) “Would you let your three-year-old try wine?” (Loose Women) “The big loo roll…

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What is the pettiest and most typically British complaint sent into Points of View? Scott Bryan investigates...
type: item
date: 2019-05-31T11:00:19.000Z
creator: Scott Bryan
subject: Documentaries
subject: News
subject: TV
description: "Dreadful. Rotten host. Rotten concept. Rotten set. Apart from that it was terrible"
encoded: I love Points of View, the BBC TV show that airs feedback and complaints about BBC programmes. Part of the reason is how wonderfully meta it is (“we contacted the BBC and the BBC told us that the BBC had no comment etc etc”), part of it is to spot any faithful viewer shouting something like “I LOVE THE LICENCE FEE AND I WANT TO GIVE YOU ALL MY MONEY” and part of it is because, when you think about it, the premise of this show is so damn loopy. Scott Bryan also investigates... What's the weirdest ever celebrity segue on The One Show? Can TV show characters afford the houses they live in? How accurate are TV countdown shows? And why did we all get angry at Channel 5 over packets of crisps? I only came to this conclusion after I asked some American colleagues in my old job to watch an episode of Points of View (don’t ask) and tell me what they thought about it: “Wait wait wait. You all have an entire TV show about people's phoned-in complaints about TV shows?” asked one colleague. “The customer complaints department is a TV show in England?” asked another. “Is this the most British thing I've ever seen?!” That third question stuck with me. It is the most British thing they've ever seen. But how British and petty can the complaints be? I decided to investigate. Every time a peak Point of View complaint happened I made a note of it and lo and behold, (I am single) here are some of my favourite petty ones. This complaint about the innuendos during The Great British Bake Off: This complaint about a new version of Porridge starring Kevin Bishop: “I felt Fletcher chewing gum was ugly and not necessary and he spoke very, very fast. It put me on edge.” This complaint about Question Time not answering the questions: "I enjoy Question Time but I find it a bit infuriating because it is called Question Time but doesn't seem to answer the questions." This complaint about hot beverages on EastEnders: This complaint about the World Cup, which was watched by more than 20 million viewe…

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What's the weirdest ever celebrity segue on The One Show? Scott Bryan investigates…
type: item
date: 2019-05-24T11:41:02.000Z
creator: Scott Bryan
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: TV
description: From asking James Franco about cricket, to handing Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul a live chicken, Scott Bryan rounds up The One Show's strangest celebrity interview encounters...
encoded: You, a Hollywood A-list actor, have been invited onto The One Show to plug whatever TV show/film/play you have got on in London. You have never watched The One Show before. Your agent set it up. You are tired. You’ve done 92 junket interviews today and this is the last one, yet somehow it's also the longest. Plugging your show/film/play should only take five minutes, but you’re here for 30? What the hell are they setting up outside? A dog obstacle course?! The loudest and shortest theme music on TV is blasted out. The presenters don’t say their own names but say each others for some reason. You’re introduced. The answers you’ve delivered all day are ready to be repeated, but then, wait… they're now talking about bin collections in Stevenage? OK. They’ve gone to a film about this project now?! You check your watch. Why are there 40 people in this studio with you? How are they going to get from this to your thing? OK they're back now. Who is this expert you're sitting next to? Wait, they're asking you about fortnightly bin collections in Stevenage and what time you take bins out in Los Angeles??!! The One Show's Alex Jones bids a teary farewell to co-host Matt Baker before maternity leave Alex Jones reveals pay gap with One Show co-host Matt Baker has been “addressed” How often does Ted Hastings say "Fella" in Line of Duty? And which Ted quote is the weirdest? I’ve delved through The One Show archives to find two things: the maddest segues and weirdest questions The One Show has ever asked during a celebrity interview... When Cat Deeley was a guest and they had to get from a feature about a caterpillar making weird noises to a new singing show hosted by Cat Deeley To Cat Deeley: “From a singing caterpillar to a singing a-capella…” When Jason Bateman was a guest and they had to segue from a feature about dragonflies to an interview with Jason Bateman To Jason Bateman: “From the transformation of the dragonfly to the transformation of Jason Bateman.” When Boy George was…

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Can TV show characters afford the houses they live in? Scott Bryan investigates…
type: item
date: 2019-05-14T10:53:55.000Z
creator: Scott Bryan
subject: EastEnders
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: Soaps
subject: TV
description: From Albert Square to Outnumbered, Midsomer to Dibley, where are they really filmed - and how realistic is that anyway?
encoded: Nothing seems to unite people more than trying to find errors in a TV show. Why? So we can completely undermine it, even though we know that TV being fictional is what makes it so appealing in the first place. In the week when we mocked Game of Thrones over the appearance of a coffee cup, what if we looked at bigger mistakes. Like the biggest. The homes characters live in and whether they would actually be able to afford them. How often does Ted Hastings say "Fella" in Line of Duty? And which Ted quote is the weirdest? Have you noticed the amazing burns by Victoria Coren Mitchell during Only Connect? And the eccentric contestant biographies? How accurate are TV countdown shows? And why did we all get angry at Channel 5 over packets of crisps? Why? Content. So hold on to your mortgage applications, we’re going for a ride through television house prices... EastEnders EastEnders’ Albert Square is based on the layout of a real street called Fassett Square, in Dalston, East London. Whilst never used for filming for the show, the houses, the square, feel eerily familiar if you ever happen to visit. It is quieter than the real Albert Square too, with no pubs, cafes or shops nearby. There is however, a Tesco Metro five minutes away, which at one time was so bad an East Londoner made a Tumblr about it. The Tesco Tumblr soon went viral and was reported on national news. Yes, that sentence is the most East London thing you will read today. Property value: A four bedroom house on Fassett Square recently went for £950,000. Larger properties on the estate have gone for £1,500,000(!!) Can they afford to live there? Well, probably not now. But look at it like this: a flat valued at £120,000 in 1999 was sold for £690,000 in 2018. If you were in the soap from the 1990s (and you haven’t been murdered) you would have made a tidy investment. Outnumbered Outnumbered is set in Chiswick, but outside shots (such as the one above) were filmed in Dempster Road in Wandsworth, so I’m basing my …

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How often does Ted Hastings say "Fella" in Line of Duty? And which Ted quote is the weirdest? Scott Bryan investigates…
type: item
date: 2019-05-03T11:00:37.000Z
creator: Scott Bryan
subject: Drama
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Also starring "Mother of God" and "bent coppers"
encoded: Is Ted Hastings 'H'? Sorry, I haven’t the foggiest. I can, though, let you know how many times Ted Hastings in Line of Duty has said “Mother of God” or “Fella”, phrases so beloved I have dubbed them Tedisms. There are memes about Tedisms, drinking games about Tedisms. Adrian Dunbar himself, who plays Hastings, is also aware of Tedisms, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: “A woman came up and gave me an envelope with a load of bent coppers in it." But which quote has been said the most? I decided to find out, by going through every Line of Duty script, finding the footage and making this montage. View oEmbed on the source website Yes making this video took absolutely forever and I now have a headache. Thanks for asking. How often does Hastings say… “Fella”? Amazingly, you only hear Hastings say “fella” once before series three. The next “fellas” are introduced in quick succession (“three shots, fella” / “You shot that fella in cold blood while your wee mates stood by and watched” / “Why did you keep firing? Were you losing it out there, fella?”) From that point onwards it’s basically “fella” o’clock’. Halfway through the third series, we practically get to fellamageddon (a word that Microsoft Word tells me 'does not exist' and is part of a sentence that I ‘should consider revising.’). You might wonder why Ted says “fella.” From my analysis, it is primarily because the situation he finds himself in is quite bad. Not Urgent Exit Required bad, but A Chief Superintendent takes Ted out for a dinner and casually tells him to stop bad. He also says "fella" to people who have done something bad, the exception being Dot, until he realises Dot has done something bad. Is this a clue to what might happen next in Line of Duty? Probably. I’ve wasted so much time on this I’m just going to say yes. Here is a graph. I just want to take this opportunity to say I hate Microsoft Excel. How many times has Hastings said “Mother of God”? Hastings has said “Mother of God” nine times. Nearly every sin…

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Have you noticed the amazing burns by Victoria Coren Mitchell during Only Connect? And the eccentric contestant biographies? Scott Bryan investigates...
type: item
date: 2019-04-26T11:01:32.000Z
creator: Scott Bryan
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Celebrating the quirky joy of the BBC2 quiz show...
encoded: If you think University Challenge is the quiz show that best reflects Britain, you would be wrong. There is, of course, nothing wrong with University Challenge (apart from the lack of gender equality and the fact that the only thing I regularly get right, the popular music round, is often shafted for classical music). No, the show that best reflects our country is the show that directly precedes (but used to follow) it, the pattern puzzle quiz Only Connect, fronted by Victoria Coren Mitchell. Upstart Crow's David Mitchell on Shakespeare – and watching Only Connect with his wife Why Only Connect just doesn't work on Fridays Only Connect sheds close to a third of its viewers after move from Mondays to Fridays Why? Have you seen this show? It is so quirky. SO quirky. Nothing reflects our country’s eccentric and rather daft personality more. Take the contestant biographies mentioned at the top of the show for instance (all of these are real): “Mark Oxley, a physiotherapist who was once asked to play Patrick Swayze’s stunt double, but declined the opportunity.” “Michael Cannon, a French and History graduate who once hosted Angela Lansbury’s 90th birthday party, which was not attended by Angela Lansbury.” “Tom West, a solicitor who recently spent the entire day on a train, in order to attend a meeting at which only he was present.” “Tom Mead, a mortgage consultant who was nearly run over by Janet Street-Porter when he was at Leeds Bradford Airport and she had her leg in plaster.” “Anne Miller, a politics and sociology graduate who ran the tango society at the University of Edinburgh, and knows more about puffins than anyone else.” “Sarah Lister, a fund administrator who once prepared escape routes from her home in case of a zombie attack.” “Chris Pendleton, an artist and picture framer who is commissioned annually to paint a picture of a pig for Britain’s leading sausage manufacturer.” “Colin Daffern, a sociology and women’s studies graduate, who played the part of a cook…

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Can you watch the latest season of Game of Thrones without having seen the previous seven? Scott Bryan investigates….
type: item
date: 2019-04-21T11:08:19.000Z
creator: Scott Bryan
subject: Fantasy
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Want to blag your way through a conversation about the most talked about show on TV? Step this way...
encoded: We are all in either category a) or a category b) right now. a) You are watching the new Game of Thrones every week, usually around 6am on Mondays (“oh my that’s a lot of blood *chews porridge*). You do this to avoid spoilers and to enjoy memes. b) You do not watch Game of Thrones. Episodes are currently on series record but are unwatched on your DVR, currently alongside unwatched highlights of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. People in the second category are going to feel a bit left out, particularly when they admit to anyone in category a) that they haven’t got round to watching Game of Thrones yet. So what if there was a category c)? People who don’t watch Game of Thrones, but want to know everything that has happened in each episode so they don’t feel left out. Essentially, blagging it. That’s where I come in. I’ve watched every Thrones for work and I can say, hand on heart, that I understand 60% of it. Here’s the most basic guide possible, which will no doubt absolutely infuriate and alienate core fans (in which case a small message: “hello, do not @ me on Twitter”). This post contains spoilers. I mean, that’s the point. Game of Thrones stars tease "truly brutal" Red Wedding-style scenes in season 8 Game of Thrones season 8 episode 1 live blog 9 burning questions we have after Game of Thrones series 8 episode 1 The basics What is Game of Thrones? It is a show about a different families and alliances fighting to take control of an Iron Throne and potentially rule the Seven Kingdoms. The story is complicated, but you needn’t worry as none of that really seems to matter any more. Why? An army of White Walkers, an army of the dead, are attacking from the North. Why is this important? Because they they are just about invincible. Why “just about” invincible? They can be killed by Valyrian steel, a type of metal found in some swords. These swords appear to be quite hard to come by, rarer than owning an iPhone (or seeing one on public transport) that hasn’t been …

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Which soap character has the WORST life just from looking at their Wikipedia page? Scott Bryan Investigates...
type: item
date: 2019-04-12T11:00:08.000Z
creator: Scott Bryan
subject: EastEnders
subject: News
subject: Soaps
subject: TV
description: Think life isn't fair? Don't move to Albert Square...
encoded: Don’t ask me how I fell into this. I think I was bored, or I wanted to see whether Harold Bishop is still in Neighbours and still plays the tuba. It turns out that soap star Wikipedia pages are some of the most depressing pages on the internet and are, for some reason, so extensively written. Are the Line of Duty interviews getting longer? And which one is the most intense? Scott Bryan investigates… You think you’re having a rubbish day? Trust me, you’re having the best day of your life compared to some of these people. View oEmbed on the source website Neighbours Let’s start with Susan Kennedy, one of the show’s most well-known characters. Susan once slipped on spilt milk, banged her head, got amnesia and, as a result, thought it was 1972 and that she was 15. This was a storyline that lasted about six months. Next, there’s Harold. Harold famously was swept out to sea and came back five years later not remembering why. The love of his life, Madge, then died, then came back in an episode as a ghost. Still, could have been worse. Toadfish accidentally drove his car off a cliff into the sea with his partner Dee on their wedding night, only for Dee to turn up at his house 14 years later. Only for it not to be Dee, but a lookalike pretending to be Dee, even though both characters were played by the same actor. All of this is nothing compared to Neighbours baddie Paul Robinson. Known for his evil schemes, he once found it impossible to be evil because of a brain tumour. This was after he had his leg amputated after falling off a cliff. He was then held hostage in a mineshaft by his estranged son, who was responsible for a plane crash that killed half of his neighbours. I asked people for their favourite WTF soap storylines and this one came up. It was very dramatic. View oEmbed on the source website Then some good news: Paul gets married! Oh, wait... he gets shot at the wedding. When I eventually scrolled down to a section of his Wikipedia about him being pushed off a bal…

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How accurate are TV countdown shows? And why did we all get angry at Channel 5 over packets of crisps? Scott Bryan investigates...
type: item
date: 2019-04-05T12:54:16.000Z
creator: Scott Bryan
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: TV
description: From chocolate bars to biscuits to royals, we analyse Channel 5's countdown programmes - and, of course, rank them...
encoded: It’s been a week since we all collectively lost it over this Channel 5 meme. That’s right, of all of the things to be angry at right now, it was a meme from a Channel 5 Twitter account revealing the results of a two hour countdown of Britain’s Favourite Crisps, that tipped us over the edge. Why? There’s no Discos, Skips or Space Rangers. The winner? Pringles, the crisp equivalent of dust. And look at the meme. LOOK AT IT. Not only are your choices at the bottom, the words “don’t come anywhere near me with these” are alongside them, even though they made the Top 20. Are the Line of Duty interviews getting longer? And which one is the most intense? Scott Bryan investigates… Countdown shows have always been a successful television format. Why? They’re cheap. The contributors are paid something like £400 to talk about crisps (and who would say no to being paid £400 to talk about crisps?). And you watch at home because you’re drunk or because, in a weird way, it generates a nostalgia hole from the topic being discussed, which in turn results in you talking all over the celebrities who were paid something like £400 to talk about crisps. Next, Channel 5 are ranking Britain’s favourite takeaways (no, really). There’s speculation that they are soon going to be ranking cleaning products. But after the crisp outrage, it makes me wonder. Are they always this inaccurate? Are they literally out to troll us? So, I decided to re-watch every recent Channel 5 countdown show to work it all out (in case you're wondering, the shows have recently either been about snacks or the Royal Family for some reason). FIRST: BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE CHOCOLATE I’ve noticed that these shows contain Olympic levels of padding. How long are these shows? Two hours. How long did they take to talk about Mars Bars? 10 minutes. “I’m speechless” said one of the celebrities when Toblerone came 18th, followed by a discussion on why they are available in bigger sizes at airports (spoiler: no explanation was ever giv…

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Are the Line of Duty interviews getting longer? And which one is the most intense? Scott Bryan investigates…
type: item
date: 2019-03-31T08:10:00.000Z
creator: Scott Bryan
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: TV
description: RadioTimes.com's new weekly TV columnist goes undercover at the heart of AC-12 (by staying at home and watching A LOT of iPlayer)
encoded: There is nothing like a Line of Duty police interrogation scene. The anxiety, the catchphrases, the fact that everything in the interrogation room looks beige. It’s the only scene on television that is accompanied with a cassette tape and the sound of an airhorn kicking off an interview. But which AC-12 interview is the most intense? When did we hear our first airhorn? Has Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) always worn a waistcoat? I re-watched every single AC-12 interrogation scene to work it all out. Not that you’ve asked mind, but that hasn’t stopped me... Line of Duty series 5 spoiler-free preview What happened at the end of Line of Duty series four? INTERVIEW ONE AND TWO - (S1: Episode 1) Length: 2 minutes in total. Intensity: 1/10. Cassette: No beeping yet. This interview is in regards to DCI Tony Gates not declaring in his expenses his free breakfast at the Sunflower Cafe. That’s it. I mean, as a matter of contrasts here [ahem, spoiler alert], the interview scene at the end of series three ended with a gun fight followed by Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) following someone whilst clinging onto the side of a lorry. However, we should note that Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) plants his first catchphrase (“like the battle”) and says “interview terminated” when he presses stop on a police tape. At the end of the interview, he issues Gates a document referred to as a "yellow notice." Personally speaking, I am now tempted to end any interview I will ever conduct by shouting “INTERVIEW TERMINATED” at the interviewee. I also want to hand out "yellow notices” to friends if they are ever late to something like brunch. As a result I won’t ever be offered any interviews, nor will I have any friends, but in the meantime I’ll have a lot of fun. INTERVIEWS THREE TO SIX - (S1: Episode 2-5) Length: 13 minutes in total. Intensity: 4/10. Cassette: No beeping yet. The investigation into Tony has now been widened. We see a police federation representative, who is there to represent and de…

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