Phil Norman
@mrphilnorman.bsky.social
The Year of Listing Dangerously: https://historyoftv.substack.com
The most unChristmassy Christmas objects of all: those grey funnels used to wrap Christmas trees.
December 6, 2025 at 3:36 PM
The most unChristmassy Christmas objects of all: those grey funnels used to wrap Christmas trees.
Nancy Banks-Smith on the joy, or otherwise, of live TV.
December 4, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Nancy Banks-Smith on the joy, or otherwise, of live TV.
Hands up who's looking forward to next year's Fifty Years of Paaaahnk celebrations.
December 2, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Hands up who's looking forward to next year's Fifty Years of Paaaahnk celebrations.
Hmm, should've done these as an advent calendar. Never mind.
December 2, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Hmm, should've done these as an advent calendar. Never mind.
There's not enough attention paid to Matta's early '70s "cartoony" phase, where his work resembled an unholy collaboration between Claes Oldenburg and popular '80s poster artist Mordillo.
December 1, 2025 at 11:01 PM
There's not enough attention paid to Matta's early '70s "cartoony" phase, where his work resembled an unholy collaboration between Claes Oldenburg and popular '80s poster artist Mordillo.
Not to give the impression that me watching Say Nothing is a case of pearls before swine, but I couldn't help thinking how the bloke who plays the young Gerry Adams would make a cracking Ernie Bishop.
December 1, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Not to give the impression that me watching Say Nothing is a case of pearls before swine, but I couldn't help thinking how the bloke who plays the young Gerry Adams would make a cracking Ernie Bishop.
While looking for something else entirely I came across a book I strangely don't remember buying, a German coffee-table book of Matta paintings. It's the most beautiful thing.
December 1, 2025 at 6:26 PM
While looking for something else entirely I came across a book I strangely don't remember buying, a German coffee-table book of Matta paintings. It's the most beautiful thing.
I'd never have had Tom Stoppard down as a Zardoz fan.
December 1, 2025 at 5:01 PM
I'd never have had Tom Stoppard down as a Zardoz fan.
I remember making jokes about The Point being listed in the early nineties. Always a fan of their staff's obligingly lax attitude to age restriction.
December 1, 2025 at 9:56 AM
I remember making jokes about The Point being listed in the early nineties. Always a fan of their staff's obligingly lax attitude to age restriction.
Jack Shepherd. Utterly magnificent in some of the best TV plays ever made. And, for that matter, pretty damn good in some of the very worst.
November 26, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Jack Shepherd. Utterly magnificent in some of the best TV plays ever made. And, for that matter, pretty damn good in some of the very worst.
Looks like I'm not alone. From a review of the 1957 ITV Play of the Week production.
November 25, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Looks like I'm not alone. From a review of the 1957 ITV Play of the Week production.
If we're to have more of these dramatisations of Great Moments in Rock, there should be one of the weekend when Captain Sensible was radicalised in the Crass commune.
November 24, 2025 at 9:51 PM
If we're to have more of these dramatisations of Great Moments in Rock, there should be one of the weekend when Captain Sensible was radicalised in the Crass commune.
The Galloping Gourmet - Graham Kerr triangulates a path between cosmopolitan sophisticate, down to earth bloke and "muggins here" culinary bluffer as he whips up full-fat continental treats and leaps over random bits of G-Plan.
open.substack.com/pub/historyo...
open.substack.com/pub/historyo...
November 24, 2025 at 7:36 PM
The Galloping Gourmet - Graham Kerr triangulates a path between cosmopolitan sophisticate, down to earth bloke and "muggins here" culinary bluffer as he whips up full-fat continental treats and leaps over random bits of G-Plan.
open.substack.com/pub/historyo...
open.substack.com/pub/historyo...
Another scene worth learning by heart.
November 23, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Another scene worth learning by heart.
I'll have to work this line into casual conversation somehow.
November 23, 2025 at 11:40 AM
I'll have to work this line into casual conversation somehow.
It's not all talk, though. Here's a pivotal moment of action.
November 23, 2025 at 11:32 AM
It's not all talk, though. Here's a pivotal moment of action.
And then, out of nowhere, you get stage directions like this.
November 23, 2025 at 11:24 AM
And then, out of nowhere, you get stage directions like this.
And it goes *on* like this...
November 23, 2025 at 11:13 AM
And it goes *on* like this...
Venus Observed was garlanded with awards at the time. The first production was put on by Olivier. So there's a chance I may just be too thick to appreciate its finer qualities. But this, for instance, is the opening exchange of the whole play.
November 23, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Venus Observed was garlanded with awards at the time. The first production was put on by Olivier. So there's a chance I may just be too thick to appreciate its finer qualities. But this, for instance, is the opening exchange of the whole play.
I'm mildly obsessed with Venus Observed by Christopher Fry. Fry was the biggest name in British drama just after WWII, until John Osborne & the Royal Court tore theatre a new arsehole. So this is the Tales from Topographic Oceans to Osborne's Anarchy in the UK, to make a totally spurious comparison.
November 23, 2025 at 10:52 AM
I'm mildly obsessed with Venus Observed by Christopher Fry. Fry was the biggest name in British drama just after WWII, until John Osborne & the Royal Court tore theatre a new arsehole. So this is the Tales from Topographic Oceans to Osborne's Anarchy in the UK, to make a totally spurious comparison.
Simon Callow's TV debut as a cockney Teddy boy about to duff up Robert Lindsay in National Service sitcom Get Some In. If this had taken place a couple of years later, he'd have been dressed in full punk gear.
November 22, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Simon Callow's TV debut as a cockney Teddy boy about to duff up Robert Lindsay in National Service sitcom Get Some In. If this had taken place a couple of years later, he'd have been dressed in full punk gear.
I was reminded today of Varoomshka, the Guardian's 1970s satirical newspaper comic strip in monumentally dubious taste.
November 20, 2025 at 7:25 PM
I was reminded today of Varoomshka, the Guardian's 1970s satirical newspaper comic strip in monumentally dubious taste.
Seems like the appropriate time for this - a compendium of arcane Glaswegian slang from Roddy McMillan's 1974 Play for Today, The Bevellers.
November 18, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Seems like the appropriate time for this - a compendium of arcane Glaswegian slang from Roddy McMillan's 1974 Play for Today, The Bevellers.
And, inevitably...
November 17, 2025 at 10:03 PM
And, inevitably...
