Hey there! Following my very busy birthday month – and thank you again to everyone who sent good wishes for my 40th – September has unsurprisingly and deliberately been much quieter and more relaxed.
I did see an amazing theatre show and had a lovely afternoon tea though, which I’ll be talking about here, but otherwise my outings were either for health appointments or general walks. And at home I’ve been watching a few things on TV and working as usual.
So there isn’t a huge amount to cover in this month’s post and video, but I hope you enjoy what I do have to offer!
Contents
Out & About
Les Misérables
Better late than never, right? I hadn’t meant to leave it this long, but this month I finally got around to seeing what claims to be the world’s most popular musical – Les Misérables. And it’s not difficult to understand why everyone raves about it.
My day at the Sondheim Theatre started with a touch tour – the time of which had actually been confirmed to me earlier in the week, when a nice guy from the venue called to let me know, and to check if I needed any other assistance. So that was really kind and helpful. I wish more theatres would take a proactive approach in contacting disabled customers to confirm things like that, as it is reassuring, making you feel welcome and cared about before you arrive.
The touch tour wasn’t as extensive as some I’ve been on, as we didn’t get to go on the stage, and the amount of items presented to us was comparatively small, which is perhaps a bit of a shame given the scale and extravagance of the production. Nevertheless, we still had a nice variety of costumes and props passed around and described to our group as we sat in the front of the stalls, which gave us a good overview of the style, historical period and main characters in the show.
It’s also good that care was taken to avoid spoilers (as I’m also doing here), because I wasn’t the only person who hadn’t seen the show before. I’ve deliberately never read the story, seen the film and concert adaptations, or listened to the soundtrack (although I knew a few of the biggest songs already of course, as they’re impossible to avoid entirely). So thanks to the touch tour, and the descriptive audio introduction from VocalEyes, I went into the musical with the key information I needed to understand what was going on, without any major plot points being given away. And it certainly does hold a few surprises.
Briefly, therefore, the musical is based on the novel by Victor Hugo, and set in 19th-century France. The central character in the story is French peasant Jean Valjean, who is granted parole after 19 years on a prison ship for stealing some bread to feed his sister’s child. But he ends up breaking his parole in a desperate desire to start a new life, with police inspector Javert hot on his trail. Along the way he forms a close bond with a lady called Cosette (the face on the poster for the musical), meets some cruel innkeepers called the Thénardiers (who add some enjoyable humour to the show), and becomes involved with a group of young revolutionaries. And that’s just scratching the surface. It’s a busy plot, in an epic show that lasts nearly 3 hours, but it’s easy enough to follow, it keeps your interest throughout and it does get emotional at times.
The show is an incredible spectacle as well. It’s entirely and superbly sung-through, with just occasional pauses for well-deserved applause after the bigger numbers, and the words are always intelligible, even over the live music by the excellent orchestra in the pit. And it’s not an opera – indeed, we were told during the tour that some of the operatic aspects of the show had been dialled down in recent years to help attract a wider audience. Like all big productions, Les Mis has evolved over time, which I guess some purists may not approve of, but for me I didn’t have any prior knowledge or expectations, and so I didn’t have any issues with it.
The scene changes are also impressively fluid, with set pieces moving on and off the stage seamlessly, and the use of projections on the back screen helped to give the impression of either fixed locations or movement when travelling. The lighting is also very atmospheric and creatively incorporated, which also means it’s quite dim on several occasions, making the audio description we had all the more vital. The beautiful costumes and props also add to the visual splendour of it all of course.
So I loved the show, it was stunning and well worth the wait. I wouldn’t go quite as far as to say it’s the absolute best musical I’ve ever been to, purely because it’s up against some very stiff and equally amazing competition. But it’s certainly in the mix amongst my all-time favourites that I would gladly see again.
Richmond Afternoon Tea
My friend and colleague Emily from Fashioneyesta kindly invited me to join her for afternoon tea at the Richmond Hill Hotel this month, which was a complimentary offer from their restaurant 144 On The Hill for her to write a review about. Normally it would cost £40 per person, or £76 for two.
And it was very nice. First we had a good selection of sandwiches, including salted beef, coronation chicken and salmon varieties, of which the salted beef was my favourite. Then we had some lovely plain and raisin scones with jam and cream (and as a former Devonian I put the cream on first, because it just makes sense to me). And finally we had tasty patisserie cakes, including chocolate, pistachio, strawberry, raspberry and lemon flavours amongst them.
To drink, as I’m not a fan of regular tea or coffee, I opted for the Golden Camomile herbal tea, which was alright. It’s not the sort of thing I’d drink at home, but it’s nice as something different for an outing like this. We were also given a complimentary glass of champagne, which was very nice indeed, and also some water. Emily’s guide dog Rosie was also given some water and treats, with Emily’s permission of course.
So we had a nice couple of hours there, taking our time to enjoy it all, and you can read Emily’s article for a more detailed review. Thank you to Emily for inviting me along!
Health Check
A few medical appointments seem to have come all at once lately, and thankfully for good reasons, all about reducing risks for the future.
Firstly, my mother had both her Covid and flu jabs to protect her over the autumn and winter. And I’ve also had a flu jab, due to my eligibility as a carer for her, so I’m hoping I might be in line for a Covid booster later on as well, but we’ll have to wait and see. It was much more important for Mum to get her vaccinations, especially as the latest Covid variant is clearly doing the rounds at the moment. My friend and colleague Emily from Fashioneyesta was hit hard by it in the last week of the month, from which she is recovering well and has been back at work full time since the start of October.
But the main thing for me was that I had a free health check, as the NHS offer you one every 5 years when you turn 40. A lot of people don’t bother with it, but I was perfectly happy to take up a free opportunity for some personalised advice to be a bit more healthy, as it’ll help to reduce my risks of certain illnesses and problems in the future.
So I had a blood test – which can highlight risk factors you could be completely unaware of, even if you feel healthy – followed by an appointment with a lovely nurse a couple of weeks later, which only lasted about 15 minutes. She measured my weight, pulse and blood pressure, and then asked me some questions about my physical lifestyle and mental health, so it was all pretty simple.
And everything was fine. I’m a little bit overweight, which I already knew, and I’m a tiny bit over the healthy limit for cholesterol, but that’s it, so she wasn’t concerned about anything. I already take long walks at least once a week, do little bits and bobs around the house to help Mum out, and eat pretty healthily on the whole, all of which is good.
The only thing I was advised to look at is reducing the amount of saturated fats in my diet a bit, which will naturally bring down my weight and cholesterol. So my mother and I have both started to work on that, as well as cutting back on little treats we’d got into the habit of snacking on. Having never looked into it before, it’s quite an eye-opener when you discover how much saturated fat there is in things like butter and cheese for starters, and how easy it is to find lighter variations or alternatives that still taste nice. We don’t have to go mad and have a big crash diet, and we can still have occasional things that are relatively unhealthy. It’s just a case of everything in moderation, tipping the metaphorical scales in a slightly more healthy direction, so that our weight on the bathroom scales will start to come down bit by bit. So we’ll see how it goes.
TV & Radio
Good Omens
Good Omens has finally returned for a second season on Amazon Prime, following on from the first season I wrote about 4 years ago (which I rewatched before seeing the new episodes of course). It’s quite a weird fantasy series created by Neil Gaiman, based on the book he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett, and on balance I do prefer the two lead actors together in the sitcom Staged because of its realism and simplicity. But Good Omens is still fun, precisely because it’s so different and original. Thankfully it comes with audio description as well, otherwise it would be very difficult to follow sometimes.
This time around, angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) are surprised by the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm) in Aziraphale’s bookshop in London, seemingly with no memory of who he is. Yet there are people who are clearly after him. So our two heroes have to try and keep him hidden until they figure out what’s going on. But in attempting to do so, they actually end up drawing attention to themselves.
In addition to that, 3 of the episodes also have an extended flashback story embedded within them, in which we see how Aziraphale and Crowley’s unlikely friendship developed over time, through a series of historical meetings. There were aspects of that in Season 1 as well, but here it takes up much more time and depth. As well as being enjoyable and interesting, and adding some nice variety to the series, these ‘minisodes’ also make the finale all the more impactful.
The cast list is pretty impressive again as well. A few names I particularly recognise and like include Miranda Richardson as a demon called Shax, Mark Gatiss & Steve Pemberton as Nazi agents, and another former Doctor Who in the form of Peter Davison as the prophet Job (with his son Ennon played by David Tennant’s adopted son Ty Tennant).
Visually it’s also stunning, with lots of cool transitions and special effects. And I also really like the music. There’s a soundtrack album by David Arnold, just like there was for the first season, and the theme tune once again accompanies a beautifully animated title sequence. There are surprising variations of the end credits music as well. Various songs by Queen – both original recordings and interesting reinterpretations – also continue to feature, which is very cool, but the Buddy Holly track Everyday also plays a significant role this season.
So I’m glad that the series has returned after so long, it’s been good to see David and Michael playing those characters again. Neil Gaiman does have a plotline ready for Season 3, so it’s possible that it will return, if Amazon have any sense given the show’s clear popularity. But that might take another few years, and if it does get produced then it’ll be the end, as he’s also said there won’t be a 4th season. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Secrets Of The London Underground
I’m delighted that we’ve had an extensive third series of Secrets Of The London Underground over the past couple of months. It’s always really interesting to see Tim Dunn & Siddy Holloway exploring disused stations, secret parts of working stations, exhibits in the London Transport Museum’s Depot, and other hidden aspects of the Tube network. It might sound nerdy, but they do actually make it accessible and fun, and there are lots of eye-opening discoveries about things that we all take for granted when travelling around the city.
So in this series I particularly enjoyed their explorations of South Kensington station (having used it so many times myself), the disused and very well-hidden British Museum station, the fake houses in Leinster Gardens, the training centre at Ashfield House and the maintenance facilities at Acton Works. It was also nice to see them highlighting the labyrinth artworks that were installed in 270 stations for the Tube’s 150th anniversary, and the work of brilliant photographer Luke Agbaimoni for his Tube Mapper project that I’ve already been following on social media for quite a while.
And those are just a few examples of the many delights that Tim and Siddy shared with us. So I hope they have more in the pipeline… or Tube line I should say… in the future. With so many stations and facilities on the network still hiding countless secrets, it wouldn’t surprise me if it returns again.
But in the meantime, if you’re really obsessed and want to go even more in depth with Siddy and her team from the London Transport Museum, you can always watch Hidden London Hangouts on Youtube, which now has over 120 episodes and counting. I haven’t been watching all of them, as I’m not particularly interested in the level of detail they go into during their lengthy discussions, hence I prefer the TV series. But I do look at occasional episodes for stations that really interest me, because they are very friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable hosts. They also do Hidden London Tours in person as well, which I keep meaning to try out one day, but they do sell out quite quickly and I don’t know how accessible they would be. So there’s plenty out there for big Tube aficionados to get stuck into, as well as the wonderful London Transport Museum itself of course.
Taskmaster
Series 16 of Taskmaster is now underway, which is always a big TV highlight. It doesn’t feature anybody that I’m a huge fan of this time, but Julian Clary and Sue Perkins are the contestants I’m most familiar with, and I’m enjoying their contributions so far. Away from the programme, Sue is doing a good job hosting Just A Minute on Radio 4, on which Julian has also been a guest many times over the years, and I’m looking forward to seeing him in the upcoming Palladium pantomime, which he’s been a regular star in every year since 2016. But otherwise I’ve never got into their other shows particularly.
Beyond that, Lucy Beaumont and Sam Campbell‘s comedic personas don’t appeal to me much, as they can get a bit boring, but Sam is already proving to be cleverly creative with some of the tasks, so he’s won me over a little bit. Lucy, meanwhile, is the wife of comedian Jon Richardson, who appeared on the show way back in Series 2. I do find him more entertaining, but Lucy’s struggles to complete some of the tasks are still amusing, as is the case for most contestants of course. As for Susan Wokoma, I’d never heard of her before, and I’m not interested in checking out her other shows, but she’s fun here so far too.
So it may not be the most exciting group of participants for me on this occasion, but it’s still shaping up to be another enjoyable series after just a couple of episodes, because they all have unique personalities and take different approaches to the tasks. It’s that variety which always makes the show so entertaining, so it never matters if I know everyone involved or have any interest in their other work.
That’s why I’m also enjoying the New Zealand version of the show, which Channel 4 have added to their online catch-up service, despite not knowing anybody on it. The first 3 seasons are online at the moment, and we’ll hopefully soon get the 4th season that was recently shown over there. Hosted by Jeremy Wells, with assistance from Paul Williams, it’s widely regarded as the best of the international versions, so I’m glad we can finally watch it properly, having had to rely on dodgy Youtube uploads for seasons 1 & 2 that I’ve seen before.
The first season is fairly good, although it naturally takes a little while for Jeremy to really settle into his hosting role, and contestant Guy Williams gets rather irritating with his constantly over-enthusiastic attempts to make the audience cheer for him over the slightest little thing. But it’s still fun on the whole, and even Greg Davies makes a cameo appearance in one episode. The second season is where it really kicks into gear though, so I’m looking forward to seeing that again, as well as watching Seasons 3 & 4 for the first time after that.
The first 2 seasons of the Swedish version are also on Channel 4’s website, but it’s not in English and I can’t read subtitles easily, so I won’t be watching that. It doesn’t bother me though, as I’m more than happy with the British and New Zealand versions, they’re enough for me.
Doctor Who
I recently published a very in-depth review of the third series from the modern era of Doctor Who, as the latest part of my 60th anniversary celebrations. It’s another very enjoyable series, because I love David Tennant in the show, hence I’m looking forward to his brief return very soon, and Freema Agyeman is brilliant as companion Martha Jones. It’s a great selection of adventures too, particularly the solid second half of the series, with a fascinating 2-parter about the Doctor becoming human, the classic Doctor-lite story Blink that fans often vote as one of the very best stories in the entire history of the show, and a tremendous trilogy for the finale with the return of the Master.
I’ve also started work on Series 4, as I want to try and get that and David’s final specials out of the way before the upcoming anniversary episodes (which I’ve been successfully avoiding details and spoilers about, and I hope to keep it that way).
The 60th anniversary is also being marked by a new release of all 60 episodes from Series 1-4, in a new Blu-ray box set on 13 November, going from Christopher Eccleston’s arrival in 2005 up to the last of David Tennant’s specials in 2010. I’m not sure if I’ll get it though. The episodes have apparently been newly upscaled to HD using the latest technology, but it’s unclear if they’ll be much better than the existing Blu-rays. If the picture and sound quality is significantly better, with the episodes running at the right speed (as the current editions of Series 1 to 4 have the episodes running 4% slower because of the way they were converted), then that might sway me. But, like many people, I’ve never noticed the slowdown or had any other major problems with the existing sets, as the episodes already look and sound great to me. And the only new extra is a retrospective feature called A Look Back Through Time and Space, with David Tennant and Russell T Davies, which doesn’t sound particularly exciting or essential.
So I think it’s really more of interest to newer fans who don’t yet own the first 4 series and want to pick them up at a bargain price, plus I’m already very happy with my steelbooks as it is. I would certainly never get rid of those – at most, I would just take out the old discs and put in the improved ones, if they did turn out to be that much better. But I’ll see what the reviews are like after this new set comes out before I decide for sure.
Adrian Edmondson
I very rarely tune in to Desert Island Discs, unless it features someone who really interests me. But online this month I listened to the extended edition of the episode featuring comedian, actor and musician Adrian Edmondson, best known as the comedy partner of the still very sorely missed Rik Mayall.
It was really interesting to hear him talk openly about his life, including his relationship with his parents, his complicated childhood spent in different countries and schools, his comedy influences like Laurel & Hardy and The Goons, meeting Rik at university, becoming an alternative comedian, his wife Jennifer Saunders, The Young Ones, The Comic Strip, Bottom, why he and Rik stopped touring, Rik’s death (it was heartbreaking when he got so understandably tearful at this point), taking on straight acting roles, changing his philosophy on life and how he feels about his career today.
He had an interesting variety of musical choices as well. The only songs I knew were Downtown by Petula Clark, Sugar, Sugar by The Archies and On My Radio by The Selecter, all of which are good. I wasn’t familiar with Saturday Gigs by Mott The Hoople, as I only know a couple of their big hits, but that’s not a bad song either. I wasn’t so struck on the others though – the strange comedy songs A Song Of The Weather by Flanders & Swann and I’m Bored by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, plus the country tracks Jole Blon by Vin Bruce and Wide Open Spaces by The Chicks – but it was still nice to hear what they all meant to him. And for his other items on the fantasy island he opted to take the play text of Waiting For Godot and a tab of acid to try out.
The reason he was talking about his life on Desert Island Discs, and has been doing other interviews elsewhere, is because he’s just released his autobiography Berserker!, which is also available as an audiobook narrated by him. I don’t find the time to read books very often, but I will certainly get around to this one at some point (along with the latest instalment of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series, The Last Devil To Die, that I’ve also bought this month).
Conclusion
And that’s it for this month. I hope you enjoyed that little selection as usual, and I hope you’ve been having fun too. I don’t have any major plans for October, but I always have things in mind that I might want to do. So we’ll see what transpires and I’ll see you soon for my next little update!
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Well Eye Never 
Looks like a busy month. Thanks for sharing.
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