TV Gold

As a woman whose tv isn’t actually connected, I don’t tend to watch a lot of tv shows at home, preferring to pick and choose the odd boxed set when I’m in the mood (who knew Allo Allo was so hilarious?!). But soon there’s tv gold to be had, and my laptop will be downloading a few gems from the BBC.

First off there’s Strictly: a fabulous plethora of sequins, inappropriate outfits, and lashings of fake tan. The gang has already agreed that Sunday nights will be reserved for communal watching sessions.

Secondly, there’s The Apprentice. I’m not a big fan of reality tv shows, but there’s something about the combination of deluded freaks that they put on the show, combined with Suralan’s caustic wit that has always had me in hysterics.

Some of my favourite comments from the lunatics they’ve lined up:

• I'm Stuart Baggs 'The Brand' - I've got a certain type of charisma’
My first word wasn't Mummy. It was money.
• I'm ruthless, even in Monopoly.
• I've read all your CVs and on paper you all look very good. But then again so does fish and chips.
Obviously that last one was from Suralan.

And of course, it’s always oh so easy to watch the hapless mugs try to complete a task from your own sofa, wine in hand, passing judgement on their terrible skills and brainpower, meaning that you, of course, are the next Richard Branson in comparison. It will be the first season that I’ve watched since moving to the Twilight Zone. I wonder if I’ll have any more sympathy for the contestants and if my retard-tolerance level will render watching the show easier or more difficult?

Loving Strictly!

I know I'm not the only one watching Strictly, but it's still a bit embarrassing to admit how much I'm going to miss it when it ends this month. Quite aside from the over the top camp glamour of it all, and the wonder that is Ricky Whittle in a shirt slashed to the naval, it's a really great way to still feel connected to the UK and people back home.

My BBC iplayer stopped working last week which meant I temporarily missed my UK tv fix. I don't have much spare time to watch tv, so when I do have the odd hour, I want to watch something decent (now there's a challenge when living in Dubai!) After a few days of IT hell, I managed to fix it. After a very enjoyable romp through Strictly, I then worked my way through Gavin and Stacey, Jonathan Ross, and......Delia Smith's Christmas. Note to self: you're turning into your mother....

A Joyous Day – Strictly Come Dancing!

You can’t get any decent UK TV here in Dubai (I will expand on this later. I now know most celebrities’ True Hollywood Stories, but there is very little to tickle the old brainbox apart from this)

You can watch tv on the BBC website. BUT the BBC website doesn’t work outside of the UK.

This has led to me having to purchase a complicated piece of equipment (do not ask me to explain, suffice to say it has taken me 4 long months to work it out) which will allow me to get around this and watch it anyway. I finally got it to work yesterday!
You can imagine my excitement as I sat glued to my laptop for four hours watching the main Strictly shows and also ‘It Takes Two’ from BBC 2. What a treat! I howled with laughter for most of it – WHAT IS WRONG WITH GARY RHODES he is a complete idiot!
A good old fashioned family show, great outfits, make-up and fake tan everywhere. I was genuinely in heaven for an hour and a half.