Tim Worthington's Newsround: 2018

Looks Unfamiliar Christmas Extra: “The Meaning Of Christmas Is No Boris Gardiner”

Christmas In Hollis by Run DMC, as discussed by Tim Worthington and writer Stephen O'Brien in Looks Unfamiliar.

Looks Unfamiliar Christmas Extra: “The Meaning Of Christmas Is No Boris Gardiner”

Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to. Joining Tim for a special Christmas edition is writer Stephen O’Brien, who’s brought along some little-heard eighties Christmas Singles including Hokey Cokey by The Snowmen, Jingle Bells Laughing All The Way by The Hysterics, What Are We Gonna Get ‘Er Indoors by Dennis Waterman and George Cole, Oh Blimey It’s Christmas by Frank Sidebottom, Christmas In Hollis by Run DMC, Old Fashioned Christmas by Anne Charleston And Ian Smith, and Do They Know It’s Christmas? by Band Aid II, not to mention Bing Crosby and David Bowie’s stilted stately home natter, Boris Gardiner’s mercifully forgotten third single, and the thorny question of whether Keeping The Dream Alive by Freiheit is a Christmas Single or a load of old twaddle. Along the way we’ll be hearing the World’s Worst Jane Leeves Impression, revealing who wrote and sang the theme tune for The Quatermass Experiment, narrowly avoiding giving the actual official worst Christmas Present possible in the entirety of all history, and finding out how to get accidentally mistaken for an extra in Neighbours.

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You can hear Stephen's other appearance on Looks Unfamiliar here.

You can find more regular editions of Looks Unfamiliar here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

Support Looks Unfamiliar by buying one of Tim's books! Can't Help Thinking About Me is brand new and features loads of brand new material, and you can get it in paperback here or from the Kindle store here.

Can’t Help Thinking About Christmas

Can’t Help Thinking About Christmas is a special stocking-filling companion to the year’s best-selling book about obscure radio shows and films nobody remembers Can’t Help Thinking About Me, and includes the following seasonal trimmings:

– A collection of reviews of some of the worst sitcom Christmas Specials ever made (and a couple of good ones too!)

– A Christmas Party Medley of nonsense about carol services, BBC Records And Tapes, mind-hurtingly strange Christmas Films, and when some Brookdale kids tried to steal ‘the disco’ in Grange Hill

– The story behind BBC Schools programme Music Time‘s adaptation of Lieutenant Kije

– Features on Saint Etienne Presents Songs For A London Winter and Santa Claus Is On The Dole by Spitting Image

– The ultimate guide to Denys Fisher’s TV tie-in board games

– And a brand new feature on the little-seen Rising Damp Christmas Special!

All of the previously-seen pieces are updated with new footnotes, introductions and extra detail – yes, we finally know who wrote the theme to George And The Dragon! – and there are a couple of extra Yuletide surprises too. It’s probably only going to be available during December, so grab your copy now!

Can’t Help Thinking About Christmas is available in paperback here or from the Kindle store here.

And if you still haven't got it, Can't Help Thinking About Me is available in paperback here or from the Kindle store here.

Looks Unfamiliar #32: Vikki Gregorich And Jeff Lewis – No It’s Just A Radio That’s Been Left On

Looks Unfamiliar 32: Vikki Gregorich And Jeff Lewis

Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to. Joining Tim this time are Game Developer Jeff Lewis and Board Game Collector Vikki Gregorich, who are going back three spaces in the hope of finding anyone else who remembers Animalympics, Conrad’s War, The Last American, the books of Paul Biegel, Harry Harrison’s Deathworld series and The Secret Cabaret. Along the way we’ll be evaluating the lack of viable life choices for anyone named ‘Ulysses S. Pilgrim’, debating the identity of ‘soft lad who stood on a pole’, and perusing adverts for Genuine One Hundred Percent Legal Generic Seeds.

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You can find more editions of Looks Unfamiliar here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

Looks Unfamiliar #31: Mark Thompson - Libby's Difficult Second Carton Drink

A. Mazing Monsters - Webfoot, as discussed by Tim Worthington and political commentator Mark Thompson in Looks Unfamiliar.

Looks Unfamiliar 31: Mark Thompson

Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to. Joining Tim this time is political commentator Mark Thompson, who's offering his polling predictions for the chances of people remembering hillbilly-themed soft drink Moonshine, the A. Mazing Monsters books, L!ve TV's Agony, Being Erica, Hawkeye Collins And Amy Adams, and Channel 5 sketch show We Know Where You Live. Along the way we'll be revisiting the forgotten link between Rupert And The Frog Song and Cannibal Holocaust, speculating on how many hours of L!ve TV Richard Herring might have watched, and learning the terrible fate of The Sheep That Knew Too Much.

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You can find some extra chat with Mark about watching television on holiday, looking at ropey old American anthology series, French dubbed versions of The Professionals, and whatever NUTS! actually was here.

You can find Mark's previous appearance on Looks Unfamiliar here, and more episodes of the show here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

Wake Up And Look At This Thing That I Bring...

A look through Emily's shop window at a couple of things you might have missed if you haven't been following my main site (which you can find here)...

And You And I Would Call Them Dragonflies

The story of my long search for the original recordings of the music from Bagpuss, with all manner of diversions about 'Acid Folk' and making tapes from off-air VHS recordings of Cable TV repeats, and a look at the new Bagpuss soundtrack CD. Which is handy. You can read it here.

Shindig! Issue #85

I've got a feature in the latest issue of Shindig! about the hidden beat, psych and folk highlights in the BBC Records And Tapes catalogue, featuring everyone from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to the Play Away team, and even TV 'Girl' and 'Clown' (Test Card). Find out more about it here.

I've Heard Of Politics, But This Is Ridiculous

Now that charity shops are better organised and make more money for charity with sensible prices, it's a lot less fun rooting through them. Although they do smell slightly less of damp cardboard.
Back in the days when everything was stacked together in haphazard piles without any thought for genre, media or even size, though, you could chance upon something that literally changed the way you thought about everything. Well, that or fifteen copies of that The Adriatic Formula book.
This is the story of how I found an early sixties book based on a then long-forgotten television satire show, and how that changed everything for me. Read all about it here.

You can find more tales of record collecting in dingy charity shops and hunting for obscure television soundtrack music in my book Can’t Help Thinking About Me, available in paperback here or from the Kindle Store here.

Looks Unfamiliar Halloween Extra: "Last Play School House On The Left"

BBC Test Card F, as discussed by Tim Worthington, Ben Baker and Phil Catterall in the Halloween Special of Looks Unfamiliar.

Looks Unfamiliar Halloween Extra: “Last Play School House On The Left”

It’s time for a creepy treat from the archives as Tim Worthington, Ben Baker and Phil Catterall count down the Top Twenty Five Things That You Were Scared Of As A Youngster That Weren’t Supposed To Be Scary! Yes, it’s time to hide behind the sofa from Camberwick Green, Return To Oz, Test Card F, Picture Box, Raggerty, World In Action, Professor Yaffle, The Open University, Angie Baby, Ode To Billie Joe, Spitting Image, Vrillon Of Ashtar Galactic Command, The Blue Peter Boat and much, much, terrifyingly more. Along the way we’ll be waving cheerfully to some Video Nasties to avoid looking at the Children’s section, meeting Parky The Lion, learning why The Muppets aren’t frightening but their eyes are, finding out which family friendly cinematic icon was really a man who exploded and went inside out, and in a lighter moment recalling the classic scene where Terry Scott falls through a chair. And right at the end, there’s our very own scary broadcast intrusion featuring a dog dressed as an elephant… stitch that, ‘Pipes’!.

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You can hear Phil on Looks Unfamiliar here, and Ben here and here. There's also a special with Ben looking at Looks Familiar, the show that gave Looks Unfamiliar its name, here.

You can find more regular editions of Looks Unfamiliar here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

Looks Unfamiliar #30: John Rain – They Probably Made Mick Fleetwood And Samantha Fox Look Like The Hitman And Her

Looks Unfamiliar 30: John Rain

Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to. Joining Tim this time is John Rain, host of SMERSH Pod, who’s querying the lack of public recognition for Your Mother Wouldn’t Like It, E.T. Cola Creams, flop one-off charity event Trading Places Day, TV phone vote thriller Murder In Space, BBC2 sketch show Hello Mum and Oink! comic. Along the way we’ll be finding out what Jaws’ favourite crisp flavour is, enduring a sleep deprivation-derived Showaddywaddy hallucination, learning how to keep Doctor Who on the air by eating crisps, and witnessing the single worst attempt at asking Catherine Tate on a date ever.

You can get Tim's new book, Can’t Help Thinking About Me, from here.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE - SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES - RSS

You can find more editions of Looks Unfamiliar here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

Looks Unfamiliar #29: Phil Norman - Salvador Dali's Scalextric Set

Looks Unfamiliar 29 - Phil Norman

Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to. Joining Tim this time is animator and writer Phil Norman, who’s fairly confident that very few people will recall S-S-S-Single Bed by Fox, terrifying ITV schools show Leapfrog, The Country Life Christmas Box, Humrush by KMD, rock musical drama Body Contact, Oscar The Rabbit In Rubbidge, Erasmus Microman and jaw-dropping Anthony Newley film Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humpe And Find True Happiness?. Along the way we’ll also be speculating on what went on in the Chock-A-Block factory, revealing Fred Harris’ secret Video Nasty links, chronicling the rival warring factions of the ‘puppets on a black background’ phenomenon (none of whom were responsible for an Off-The-Peg Ian Paisley), and trying our hardest to avoid talking about a cannibalistic emulsified cross between Last Tango In Paris and Straw Dogs. And if you can help in finding three seconds of Sylvester McCoy being hit with planks of wood, please let us know!

You can get Tim's new book, Can’t Help Thinking About Me, from here.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE - SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES - RSS

You can find more editions of Looks Unfamiliar here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

Looks Unfamiliar #28: Jenny Morrill - I Just Get Pictures Of Actual Boots

Looks Unfamiliar 28 - Jenny Morrill

Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to. Joining Tim this time is writer Jenny Morrill, who’s rifling through an eighties teenager’s diary in search of any evidence of Boots Global Collection, the Just Seventeen Yearbook, a P&O Advert using La Mer, an Eastern European animation about a bird that gets turned into a bat, Melody Maker column Diary Of A Manic Street Preachers Fan, and a film her dad remembers about some sheep. Along the way we’ll also be finding out which face mask Oasis fans favoured, who ‘Andrew’ was in Rainbow, and which is the most animated out of Thom Yorke and a poster of Thom Yorke, not to mention examining the evidence of The Snowman’s sinister culture-jamming agenda.

You can get Tim's new book, Can’t Help Thinking About Me, from here.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE - SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES - RSS

You can find more editions of Looks Unfamiliar here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

Support Looks Unfamiliar by buying one of Tim's books! Can't Help Thinking About Me is brand new and features loads of brand new material, and you can get it in paperback here or from the Kindle store here.

Looks Unfamiliar Looks Familiar Extra: “If You’re One Of Those People Who Sells Crack…”

In a special edition of Looks Unfamiliar, Tim Worthington and Ben Baker take a look back at the show that gave this show its name – Looks Familiar. ITV’s light-hearted Denis Norden-fronted nostalgia show is itself the stuff of hazy dust-caked photo-pages-falling-out-of-library-book recollections now, but how does it stand up in a world where irony is more important than accuracy when it comes to ‘remembering’ things? Tim and Ben watch a couple of editions and have a bit of a chat about the comic potential of endless clips of men dressed as women falling into some water, Richard Murdoch’s cameo in The Wire, and the cinematic careers of Alan Cowboy and ‘Britain’s Rin Tin Tin’ Ian The Dog. Plus - find out who we’d book for a revival of Looks Familiar!

You can get my new book, Can’t Help Thinking About Me, from here.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE - SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES - RSS

You can hear Ben on Looks Unfamiliar here and here. You can find more regular editions of Looks Unfamiliar here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

Support Looks Unfamiliar by buying one of Tim's books! Can't Help Thinking About Me is brand new and features loads of brand new material, and you can get it in paperback here or from the Kindle store here.

Looks Unfamiliar #27: Jack Kibble-White – You’ll Never Silence Paul Coia

Looks Unfamiliar 27 - Jack Kibble-White

Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to. Joining Tim this time is writer Jack Kibble-White, who’s turning up the trademark TV Cream Lazy Uncritical Nostalgia for a look at Don’t Give Up Your Day Job by Richard Digance, Games World, United Kingdom: Working For The Enemy, comics fanzine Arken Sword, Children’s ITV filler Who’s Next, and the Compose A New Theme Tune For This Morning competition. Along the way we’ll also be finding out why there are no jesters in Star Wars, which videos Morrissey sneaked from the top shelf, and why an interview with Pat Mills is more exciting than a night on the town with Angelina Jolie. Plus there’s a bit of natter about a theatre troupe who came to Jack’s school and stole some cheese…

You can get my new book, Can’t Help Thinking About Me, from here.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE - SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES - RSS

You can find more editions of Looks Unfamiliar here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

The Best Of Looks Unfamiliar #4: The Real Bowie Says To The Imagined Bowie

Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to. This is a collection of highlights from shows nineteen to twenty four, featuring Paul Kirkley on The Kids From Fame Again, Garreth F. Hirons on Sweet 75, Darrell Maclaine on The Brennan JB7, James Gent on When The Wind Blows by David Bowie, Ros Ballinger on Microsoft Explorapedia, and Jonny Morris on Jesta Giggle by The Barron Knights. Along the way we’ll be finding out why The Barron Knights should have covered T.V.O.D., where the whistling from Never Let Me Down was ‘borrowed’ from, which CDs you should never trust your car with, and which former member of Nirvana really loves accordions. Plus there’s also something you may not have heard before – Tim on Betamax Video Club talking about Absolute Beginners, and an extra downhill slaloming surprise at the end…

You can get Tim’s new book, Can’t Help Thinking About Me, here.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE - SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES - RSS

You can also find the full version of each show here...

Paul - Garreth - Darrell - James - Ros - Jonny

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

Support Looks Unfamiliar by buying one of Tim's books! Can't Help Thinking About Me is brand new and features loads of brand new material, including plenty about Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley, and you can get it in paperback here or from the Kindle store here.

Looks Unfamiliar #26: Martin Belam – It’s Not Funny Having A Piano Fall On Your Head If Someone’s Just Drawn It

Looks Unfamiliar 26 - Martin Belam

Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to. Joining Tim this time is journalist Martin Belam, who’s searching hard for historical evidence of the Laurel And Hardy cartoon, Faith No More being censored by Top Of The Pops, a scene that may or may not have gone missing since the original cinema release of Flash Gordon, a space shuttle touring air shows, a radio documentary on the making of Dr. Mabuse by Propaganda, and when New Order couldn’t work out how to play Your Silent Face live. Along the way we’ll be finding out how to be mistaken for a monarchist by watching the Red Arrows, why Nik Kershaw asked his fans to come and have a go if they thought they were hard enough, and why the science in Iron Man 2 was ‘wrong’.

You can get my new book, Can’t Help Thinking About Me, from here.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE - SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES - RSS

You can find more editions of Looks Unfamiliar here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

Support Looks Unfamiliar by buying one of Tim's books! Can't Help Thinking About Me is brand new and features loads of brand new material, including plenty about half-remembered animated children's television shows, and you can get it in paperback here or from the Kindle store here.

Can't Help Thinking About Me

Can’t Help Thinking About Me is a new book by me, full of old features given a new twist. It’s part autobiography, part cultural history, part bewildering manifestos about ridiculous sixties pop records and terrifying television puppets. Inside its massive page count you’ll find…

– An introduction from Samira Ahmed

– Over a hundred pages – and over three hundred footnotes – with all new material on how and why I came to end up writing about such obscure and absurd subjects

– Previously unseen features on Sound Of The 60s, Michael Caine films, The Ghosts Of Motley Hall, Chorlton And The Wheelies, and why I prefer forgettable cinematic rubbish to ‘landmark’ movies

– Previously little-seen features on Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, Chigley, A Clockwork Orange and David Bowie’s lost early television appearances, as well as a series of philosophical meditations on the para-cerebral properties of dubbed television bear Barnaby

– New and updated versions of the features on The Beatles’ Carnival Of Light and the 1970 Christmas Eve edition of Play School, with newly-discovered extra behind-the-scenes detail; yes, I do know what presents Brian and Julie gave each other now…

– What happened after I found some lost episodes of a late seventies BBC children’s programme

- At long last, the full version of the epic tale of my spiritual quest to find a copy of Music From BBC Children’s Programmes

– features on Radio Times, Jimi Hendrix, That Was The Week That Was, Camberwick Green, Trumpton, Chigley, The Beatles, BBC Test Card F, The Stone Roses, Blur, The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Smash Hits, Battle Of The Planets, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons, The Mersey Pirate, Hardwicke House, Blue Jam, Elvis Presley, Doctor Who, 1986’s Top Christmas Present Wish List, why I really hated Play Chess, and much much more. Yes, including Skiboy!

You can get Can’t Help Thinking About Me in paperback here or from the Kindle Store here.

Can't Help Thinking About Me is available in paperback here or from the Kindle store here.

Looks Unfamiliar #25: Tim Worthington – People Don’t Really Go On About Psychedelic Blue Peter

Looks Unfamiliar 25 - Tim Worthington

Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to. This time the guest is Tim himself, who talks to Stephen O’Brien about the fact that almost literally nobody he has ever met has heard of The Only Way by Lisa Stansfield, sixties crime caper movie The Brain, Jackanory‘s adaptation of Starstormers by Nicholas Fisk, the ‘There Were Three Of Them, In A Boat…’ Public Information Film, the original version of I Was Made To Love Magic by Nick Drake, trashy teen novel Secrets From The School Underground, early Mark Radcliffe vehicle Skyman, and forgotten ‘fourth’ Trumptonshire series Rubovia. Not to mention a certain less than reputable film that used to show up on German cable channels late on Saturday Night. Along the way we’ll be finding out whether Kim Wilde Doing Abba is preferable to Abba Doing Kim Wilde, watching the Welsh Brass Eye, hearing about when Billy Elliot exploded (and even then wasn’t as good as Musical Youth), and getting annoyed at a fictional schoolboy’s opinions on Monty Python’s Flying Circus. And if you’re listening, Ian Radio 4 Extra, sort those repeats out!

You can get my new book, Can’t Help Thinking About Me, from here.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE - SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES - RSS

You can find more editions of Looks Unfamiliar here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

Looks Unfamiliar #24: Garreth F. Hirons – I Backed The Betamax Of Nirvana Spinoffs

Looks Unfamiliar 24 – Garreth F. Hirons

Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to. Joining Tim for a second time is musician and writer Garreth F. Hirons, who’s getting puzzled looks whenever he mentions The Yellow Album by The Simpsons, the Frankie Goes To Hollywood computer game, post-Nirvana outfit Sweet 75, sitcom Linc’s, the Transformers ‘Action Masters’ range, The Way Of The Tiger gaming books, and high-concept soft drink Quatro. Along the way we’ll be finding out why Ian Amblin took exception to E.T.’s Rugby League, how marketable a Richard Stilgoe Action Figure would be, the correct angle for Ped Gill’s head, and more than you would ever rationally want to know about what happened on 24th November 1998. Plus there’s an update on the Piers Morgan/Monster Munch debacle!

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You can find Garreth's previous appearance on Looks Unfamiliar here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose.

Support Looks Unfamiliar by buying one of Tim's books! There's more about Rubik's Magic in The Camberwick Green Procrastination Society, available in paperback here, from the Kindle Store here, or as a full-colour eBook here. And there's several other books to choose from here...