Tim Worthington's Newsround

Top Of The Box Vol. 2

From Play School Play On to Russell Grant’s Zodiac Jukebox, the story behind every album released by BBC Records And Tapes.

Between 1967 and 1991, BBC Records And Tapes released more than seven hundred albums. These featured everything from collections of theme tunes and full radio plays to sound effects, academic lectures, Radio 2 house bands being let loose on synthesisers, and an unlikely assortment of public figures being invited to express their love of flowers. Some are welcome reminders of some of the BBC’s most popular programmes ever. Others are valuable documents of programmes that came and went and which in some cases there is little else left of now. Others still it’s difficult to fathom why anyone believed that their potential audience might extend beyond double figures. Then there are the dozens and dozens of albums of birdsong; so many, in fact, that they could probably drive even the most patient of listeners to eat worms.

From records based on Doctor Who, EastEnders, The Magic Roundabout, Play School, Not The Nine O’Clock News, The Singing Detective, Fawlty Towers and Top Of The Pops to records based on Disc A Dawn, The Hot Shoe Show, Rubovia, Pebble Mill At One, The Paul Daniels Magic Show and Hold Tight – It’s Lena!, from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to Nick Berry, from Get Fit With The Green Goddess to John Peel’s Archive Things, from Let’s Have Another One! to Sound An Alarm!, Top Of The Box Vol 2. tells the story behind each of these albums and even a couple that weren’t released. Including all of the birdsong. So much birdsong…

Paperback – Kindle

Top Of The Box, the story behind every album released by BBC Records And Tapes, is available here.

Doctor Who - The Sensorites

To a certain kind of viewer and enthusiast of 'old stuff', there are few things more exciting than early black and white Doctor Who, particularly at the height of 'Dalekmania'. Unfortunately, there are also a handful of stories that for various aren't quite as exciting, and 1964's The Sensorites is one of them. After a spooky and atmospheric first episode, it never really gets going and I have to admit that, despite the fact that it's got pretty much everything I'm looking for in sixties television and I really, really want to like it, it fails to hold my attention to the extent that whenever I try to watch it, I usually end up forgetting which episode I'm up to and have to look it up; sometimes even when I start watching the same episode again by mistake, I don't even notice until halfway through.

There's Not An Ounce Of Curiosity In Me! is a light-hearted feature on my attempts to make it through The Sensorites without losing my place, and to find out if there are actually reasons worth persevering with it after all, which you can read on my site here or find in a longer form in my book Can't Help Thinking About Me here. If you're interested in early Doctor Who, you can also listen to me debating its supposed 'problematic' reputation with Emma Burnell and Steve Fielding on the politics-meets-pop-culture show The Zeitgeist Tapes here.

The Larks Ascending

The Larks Ascending is a complete guide to comedy, humour and downright oddness on BBC Radio 3, from Kenneth Williams’ archival documentaries about strolling players who never existed, through Rowan Atkinson’s academic profiles of public figures who never existed, right up to Armando Iannucci’s interval talks about composers who did exist, but they’re fitting around him and his using his ears whether they like it or not. There’s Chris Morris interviewing Peter Cook (and getting in trouble), BBC Radiophonic Workshop hi-jinks, the first ever proper staging of Joe Orton’s unused film script for The Beatles, some sitcoms that definitely wouldn’t appeal to viewers waiting for Coronation Street, satire, silliness, and a couple of plays about cricket. And if that’s just not highbrow enough for you, then you could always enrol at The Half-Open University…

Featuring in-depth looks at little-known and little-heard works by Peter Cook, Sue Townsend, Ivor Cutler, Kenneth Williams, N.F. Simpson, Peter Tinniswood, Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci, Malcolm Bradbury, John Sessions, Joe Orton, David Renwick And Andrew Marshall, Rowan Atkinson, Toby Hadoke, The National Theatre Of Brent, The BBC Radiophonic Workshop and more, The Larks Ascending is the full history of silliness and satire on the channel that Dr. Hans Keller called a 'daytime music station'. Priced at just a few pence*!

(*Please direct all complaints about actual price to Peter Weevil and John Throgmorton, Polyphonica Neasdeniensis)

Paperback - Kindle

You can hear me talking about the book and some of the shows featured in it here:

Box Set: Loungecore

A collection of some of my recent features on mid to late nineties loungey indie dance music...

It looks as though some of you aren't aware that I now have a new website (which you can find here), and are still hanging around here wondering where all the new 'content' is. Well it's over there, obviously. To give you all some idea of where to start, though, I'm adding some new posts here with themed collections of links, and this time it's some of my recent features and podcasts about the long-forgotten Britpop spin-off Loungecore...

Come On And Love Me Now - the enduring appeal of Life by The Cardigans

Amongst Them Trevor The Sheep - what really happened when Chris Morris' Blue Jam got taken off-air halfway through a show?

I Love The Gentle People - how did a kitschy lounge/dance act come to be all over daytime television and 'lad' mags?

Food Processors Are Great! - why I still find Modern Life Is Rubbish by Blur inspiring and exciting, and why the nonsense about it 'inventing' Brexit should be slung into the nearest burning bin.

Looks Unfamiliar: Emma Burnell - Emma shares her memories of nineties Easy Listening radio station Melody Radio.

Looks Unfamiliar: Jenny Morrill - Jenny talks us through her attempts at looking like Justine from Elastica.

I'm Leaner, I'm Meaner, I Ain't No Inbetweener - late nineties Post-Diana moody trip-hop and the bewildeirng rise of unlikely chart star Jimmy Ray.

Je Suis Perdue Dans La Nuit, Dans Cette Ville Où Je Vis- how I discovered 1968 by France Gall.

Not On Your Telly is available in paperback here or from the Kindle Store here. And there's several other books to choose from here...

Box Set: Looks Unfamiliar Series One

The first six editions of my podcast Looks Unfamiliar...

It looks as though some of you aren't aware that I now have a new website (which you can find here), and are still hanging around here wondering where all the new 'content' is. Well it's over there, obviously. To give you all some idea of where to start, though, I'm adding some new posts here with themed collections of links, and this time it's the initial run of my podcast Looks Unfamiliar, the show that looks at all of the things that you remember that nobody else ever seems to. Have you missed any of them? Get them listened to now...

Phil Catterall
Podcaster and gamer Phil Catterall on on Madballs Comic, Channel 4 consumer advice show Wise Up!, animation Phantom 2040, the Platoon computer game, Birdseye Steakhouse Grills adverts, and Star Wars: Droids.

Garreth F. Hirons
Musician and writer Garreth F. Hirons on indie band The Bigger The God, action figure range Food Fighters, ZX Spectrum game Saboteur, wrestling tag team The Triangle Of Terror, Sizzlin’ Bacon Monster Munch, and BBC3 sitcom Fun At The Funeral Parlour.

Mark Thompson
Radio host and political pundit Mark Thompson on computer-driven action serial Whiz Kids, Crash ZX Spectrum, ITV filler Night Shift, Public Information Film family The Blunders, sci-fi drama The Last Train, and Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Drak Pack.

Stephen O'Brien
Writer Stephen O’Brien on Steven Moffatt's The Office, LM magazine, You Can Do The Cube by Patrick Bossert, Brilliant (the band), The Beachcombers and other last-minute ITV emergency schedule replacement standbys, and The Morecambe And Wise Board Game.

Ben Baker
Writer, broadcaster and quizmaster Ben Baker on early Chris Evans vehicle TV Mayhem, football comic The Onion Bag, novelty yoghurt range Fiendish Feet, the early internet craze for misidentifying every comedy song as ‘by’ Weird Al Yankovic, Betsy Byars' Bingo Brown novels, and the International Youth Service penpal scheme.

Emma Burnell
Journalist Emma Burnell on The Miners' Strike Tape Whose Side Are You On?, Sweet Valley High, playground craze Scoubidou, childrens' horror book The Patchwork Monkey, Rutger Hauer movie Split Second, and the Ever Ready ‘Power To The People’ advert.

Series One Compilation
Highlights from all the above plus Tim talking to Georgey Spanswick on BBC Radio York about seventies TV Tie-in board games.

Higher Than The Sun is the story of Screamadelica, Foxbase Alpha, Bandwagonesque and Loveless, and how, long before Britpop, Creation Records took on the world and nearly won. You can get it as a paperback here or from the Kindle Store here.

Box Set: TV Drama

A collection of some of my recent features on television drama...

It looks as though some of you aren't aware that I now have a new website (which you can find here), and are still hanging around here wondering where all the new 'content' is. Well it's over there, obviously. To give you all some idea of where to start, though, I'm adding some new posts here with themed collections of links, and this time it's some of my recent features and podcast chats about television drama, some of which had the temerity to exist before The Sopranos and Buffy The Vampire Slayer had even been thought of...

That Was This Life That Was - some thoughts on rewatching mid-nineties drama sensation This Life; this is a reworked version of the feature that originally appeared on this blog, with a new section looking at the experience of watching This Life on original transmission.

Doctor Who And The Rosa - a review of the standout episode of Jodie Whittaker's first series, which started out simply as a celebration of Sunday Television but eventually had to tackle the too politacaly correct NOT MY DOCTOR!!!!!! idiots as well...

Accidental Death Of An Anarchist - Channel 4's mid-eighties presentation of Dario Fo's satirical play is one of journalist Emma Burnell's choices on Looks Unfamiliar.

Dr. Pod - I join Emma Burnell and Steve Fielding on The Zeitgeist Tapes, the podcast looking at where politics and pop culture collide, to talk about politics in Doctor Who old and new and whether it really has got 'too politically correct' (clue: it hasn't).

Body Contact - BBC1's 1987 rock musical misfire is one of animator Phil Norman's choices in Looks Unfamiliar.

Top Of The Box - The Complete Guide To BBC Records And Tapes Singles is available as a paperback here or from the Kindle Store here.

Box Set: Book Reviews

A collection of some of my recent book reviews...

It looks as though some of you aren't aware that I now have a new website (which you can find here), and are still hanging around here wondering where all the new 'content' is. Well it's over there, obviously. To give you all some idea of where to start, though, I'm adding some new posts here with themed collections of links, and this time it's some of my recent book reviews and a couple of other related bits and pieces...

Ashes To Ashes - The Songs Of David Bowie 1976-2016 by Chris O'Leary

How Does It Feel? - A Life Of Musical Misadventures by Mark Kermode

Psychedelia And Other Colours by Rob Chapman

I'm Not With The Band by Sylvia Patterson

1966 - The Year The Decade Exploded by Jon Savage

The Books I Couldn't Help Thinking About - a look at some of the writers that have had the most significant influence on me, including Richard Herring, Caitlin Moran, Andrew Collins, Nicholas Pegg, Stuart Maconie and more.

You can find more not especially highbrow literary criticism in The Camberwick Green Procrastination Society, available in paperback here, from the Kindle Store here, or as a full-colour eBook here.

Box Set: Sounds Of The 60s

A collection of some of my recent features on sixties pop music...

It looks as though some of you aren't aware that I now have a new website (which you can find here), and are still hanging around here wondering where all the new 'content' is. Well it's over there, obviously. To give you all some idea of where to start, though, I'm going to be adding some new posts here with themed collections of links, starting with some of my more recent writing on sixties pop music...

Sounds Of The 60s - a look back at Radio 2's Sounds Of The 60s and some of the records I discovered through it.

Funny Ha Ha And Funny Peculiar - a look at the hidden beat, psych, funk and soul highlights in sixties comedy records.

The Wind Cries Mickey Murphy - what was Jimi Hendrix really listening to when he wrote The Wind Cries Mary? This is a new version of the article originally published on this blog, with a brand new introduction.

All Its Wonder To Know - why has the original version of I Was Made To Love Magic by Nick Drake disappeared from history? This is also discussed in Looks Unfamiliar #25: Tim Worthington - People Don't Really Go On About Psychedelic Blue Peter.

You Can't See To Find How You Got There, So Just Blow Your Mind - a review of Psychedelia And Other Colours by Rob Chapman.

Je Suis Perdue Dans La Nuit, Dans Cette Ville Où Je Vis - how I discovered 1968 by France Gall.

All That I Can See With My Mind's Eye - a review of 1966 - The Year The Decade Exploded by Jon Savage.

All Fall Down And Lost In The Mystery - a look at SMiLE by The Beach Boys, and why I preferred it before somebody worked out how all the unreleased bits and pieces joined together.

Can't Help Thinking About Me includes expanded versions of the Jimi Hendrix, Beach Boys and France Gall features, as well as pieces on The Monkees, The Beatles and David Bowie's early television appearances, and you can get it in paperback here or from the Kindle store here.

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.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE - SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES - RSS

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.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE - SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES - RSS

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.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE - SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES - RSS

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’!.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE - SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES - RSS

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.