My mistake on the ownership - it seems I misread an ambiguous comment about it elsewhere - but sorry I’m not buying that it’s a coincidence. Whoever first saw it thought it would be funny, and Clarkson would have agreed. They’d found similar stuff hilarious in relation to Germany on other shows but forgot how much…

“mental gymnastics”? Maybe a gentle mental forward roll. Knowing Clarkson, I believe the connection to the Falklands War had occurred to him years earlier, and when the trip to Argentina was planned, he thought it would be hilarious to take his old Porsche. And my guess is that you don’t have to be a Galtieri…

If you really wanted some credit you’d have taken pity on us and kept Piers Moron over there.  You’d have had our eternal gratitude.

Lots of people who really don’t like him have recommended the show to me, despite not liking him. We watched the very first episode, and didn’t hate it, but ultimately I don’t really want him in my lounge on a regular basis so won’t be bothering to watch a second.

I think plenty of stuff he does implies a certain level of racism, but I kind of agree with you that going with “because racism” as the overwhelming reason for the article is a huge reach. I’d also argue that the far more concerning element in the article was the staggering misogyny. Of course I haven’t actually read…

Yes, Britain does like a cosy cop show, ideally with a genius detective. Death in Paradise also benefits from scheduling - each Caribbean island-set new series (season) appearing in January when it’s cold and dark and everybody’s starting to think of where to go on holiday. After Death in Paradise ends next week, it…

Why would an article about queerbaiting immediately send your mind to Tom Cruise in Top Gun?

I remember the TV ad, but yes it was a different and shorter version.

This is basically a recycled ad (with additional star power) from one they did in the UK two years ago.

Jesus - I read this article knowing that there was an obvious omission but just not being able to place what it was.  Thank you.

If you liked that…

Counterpoint: The BBC presumably read the script of Hold the Sunset before giving it the go ahead, so there’s no script so dumb it can’t get green lit by the Beeb.

Where did you get your “u” from?

I think it was a forerunner to the kind of cringe comedy that later became so prevalent thanks (I think) to The Office and maybe Curb Your Enthusiasm. Back in the 70s in the UK we all had grandparents like that.

Cilla (the former cloakroom girl from the Cavern Club when The Beatles were starting out) at the height of her (singing) powers. The nose job she used her 60s income to pay for sadly ruined her singing voice but arguably gave her a 40 year TV career.

So many people mourning his death have been referencing his genius using Hal David’s lyrics.

Cilla Black’s Anyone Who Had a Heart should be here.

I caught Craig being interviewed while promoting Defiance on the radio. He was clearly completely disengaged until the interviewer commented that his football team (Liverpool) were going well. It was like somebody had flicked a switch. He spent the next 5 minutes breaking down in detail how certain tactical changes…

I suspect the part is a more natural fit for him now as he seems to have devolved into Basil in real life.

At the time that passed for satire