So another birthday month has rolled around. And while this time it’s not been quite as crazy as my big four-o last year, it’s still been busier than I expected, as I’ve been out for 3 enjoyable theatre shows and 2 nice meals, most of which have been free thanks to very kind friends of mine.
So I’ve got all of that to mention in this latest post and video, along with my PIP review decision, some films and TV shows I’ve been watching, and the sporting action in the Olympics and Paralympics.
As usual, none of this is sponsored to appear here, plus all opinions are my own, and I hope you enjoy. Let’s crack on with it!
Contents
PIP Review
Over a year ago now, I was told by the DWP that it was time for the review of my Personal Independence Payment (PIP) award. After all, my genetic, untreatable, incurable, lifelong sight impairment I’ve had since birth could have magically disappeared in the past 5 years, right? And, yes, they do actually call it an “award”, as if you’ve managed to scoop a major prize. You certainly have to fight to “win” it, that’s for sure!
There continues to be some misreporting from journalists who see PIP as a benefit for disabled people who are out of work. That’s false. Lots of people, including myself, get PIP while working, and what you do at work can be a factor in the assessment. It’s designed to cover the extra daily living and mobility costs that result from having a disability, irrespective of whether you work or not.
Of course, the whole PIP process is designed to put you off applying for that money in the first place, and especially to dissuade you from appealing any adverse decisions, because 70% of appeals are successful at independent tribunals. The DWP would deny that of course, but they know that we know how the psychology of it all works.
So anyway, I filled out the form, answering every question about how my disability affects me with a “see attached” note, which referred to the 13,300 words of typed information on 20 pages that I included with it. The text was based on the information I had included with my original application, which a very kind and knowledgeable friend had helped me to write in order to word it in the clearest way. I had kept a copy of it (as it’s vital to keep everything you send), so I was able to update it accordingly for this review. I also got a statement from a local support service to back it up, and included a copy of my medical record that proves I was diagnosed with my conditions since birth and they’re still active, both of which I’d also sent first time around.
I then sent it off, by taking it to the Post Office to ensure it went recorded delivery, as it was important to get proof that the DWP had received it. And then all I had to do was wait. And wait. And wait.
Once they eventually reached my application in their backlog a whole year later (and thankfully they continued paying me during that time), they decided that everything I had sent wasn’t enough, and told me I was to have a telephone assessment – which is standard practice, so I’d been expecting it. It’s another step designed to try and stress you out further, by having to talk openly about very personal subjects with a complete stranger who isn’t an expert in your condition, but it’s necessary to endure it unfortunately.
As soon as I was given the date and time – and following advice from the excellent Benefits and Work website on assessments – I called the company in question and asked for permission to record the assessment, which they granted. I was also allowed to use my own equipment. So when the day came, I was ready early in case they tried to catch me out by calling early (which they sometimes do if they have any no-shows before you). But the lady did actually ring when they said she would.
I had my phone on speaker on the desk, and resting next to it was the microphone part of my Apple earphones, which in turn were plugged into my iMac, with Audacity recording the audio. That meant I could see the waveform on the screen to ensure the audio was being picked up (and I had tested recording before their call, obviously). So the resulting audio file came out nice and clear. I also had a document of enlarged summary notes on the screen, with various points I wanted to get into the conversation.
At the start I explained this to the lady for transparency, and she did have a note that I had asked to record the session, plus I assured her the recording would be confidential and only used if necessary as evidence in an appeal. I said that just to drop the hint that I was comfortable going that far if necessary, and during the call I did discuss my close connections with various disability charities as well. Indeed, for me, knowing that I had places to go to for help if I did have to go to appeal helped me to feel a bit more relaxed about the process. Not totally by any means – I was still quite anxious about it – but having a good support network does take the edge off a bit.
The whole call lasted over 2¼ hours, I kid you not, as we talked about pretty much everything on my application and more besides. The lady was very nice, to be fair, and allowed me to say as much as I wanted to. It also became apparent that she had actually read the information I’d sent in, along with the notes from the face-to-face assessment I’d had to attend for my original application, which came as a surprise, but it was good to know that it was also being taken into consideration. All of which helped her to focus her questioning and meant I could refer to things that I knew she had read. So the fact that we both had our own notes to help us, and already had stuff in mind we wanted to say, meant that it was quite a fluid and extensive conversation, and she did seem keen to try and understand things as much as possible.
All that said, of course, there was still no guarantee that my claim would be successful. I had no idea what she was writing down and what she would tell the DWP. Even with my own recording of the call, that doesn’t mean they won’t try and lie about things I’ve said, you can’t put anything past them. But not long after, I received a letter from the DWP to say that they now had all the information to make a decision. And then a few weeks later I had a text message to say the decision had been reached – without actually saying what it was, just to ramp up the anxiety a little bit more! I had to wait for a physical letter to find out the details.
It felt a bit like opening my exam results when the decision letter finally arrived, and I was fully expecting the worst. But to my relief they’ve given me the same marks as before and will therefore continue to pay me at the same rate. And it will be for a slightly longer period of 6 years, until 2030.
They should just make it a lifetime award, and then I’ll tell them if I need extra support anytime, and if they did that for all lifelong conditions it would save them an awful lot of time and money in processing applications. But still, I’ll take the 6 years for now, because it’s nice that the review’s done and I can finally relax!
Theatre
Stranger Things: The First Shadow
The sci-fi horror series Stranger Things has been a huge hit on Netflix since it launched 8 years ago, with 4 seasons released so far (which I binged on last year), and they’re currently shooting the fifth and final season for release next year.
Set in the 1980s, with appropriate music and fashions from the time, it transports us to a fictional town called Hawkins in Indiana, which finds itself terrorised by unearthly beings from an alternate dimension called the Upside Down, after a portal is opened in a local laboratory. A local group of children find themselves at the heart of the action, when one of them is imprisoned in the Upside Down and they meet a girl from the lab with telepathic abilities identified solely by the number 11. But their families, some school friends and a local policeman also get roped in as events escalate. So there’s lots of action, drama, tension and scares, but also a fair amount of humour as well.
And now the creators of the show, the Duffer Brothers, have produced a new West End play that serves as a prequel to the series. Stranger Things: The First Shadow launched at the Phoenix Theatre, just a short walk down the street from Tottenham Court Road station, in December last year, and I finally got around to seeing the show with audio description in August. I paid for my ticket myself, as it’s not one of the free shows I’ve attended recently, and it was well worth it.
We started with a touch tour, which was a brilliant experience, not least because we got to meet a few of the most important cast members –
Louis McCartney (making his West End debut as Henry Creel), Patrick Vaill (who plays Dr Brenner at the laboratory) and Christopher Buckley (also on his debut in the West End as a young Bob Newby). For fans of the series, their characters are easily recognisable and very faithful to their older counterparts, as are the younger versions of Joyce Maldonado and Jim Hopper we encounter here (played by Isabella Pappas and Oscar Lloyd respectively).
So it was wonderful to hear from a few of the actors, and very kind of them to take the time to introduce themselves and their characters to us. Louis and Patrick couldn’t stay for too long as they had to get ready, but Christopher graciously stuck around for the whole tour, so that he could show us his trolley full of equipment and related paraphernalia that Bob uses for his amateur radio station. It was a lot of fun to chat to him, and fascinating to see just how much detail there was that the audience never sees, from the intricacies of the equipment to little comic books!
I was also able to handle lots of beautiful costumes, along with impressive chest and claw sections of the Demogorgon outfit, and I got close-up to set pieces including the lab, the diner, a desk from the police station and various elements of the high school like the lockers, the bathroom and the stage that the students use for a play they’re putting on.
It all helped me to visualise and understand things later during the show, for which audio description was absolutely vital in general. By its nature it’s often a dark story, both tonally and visually, so there were lots of crucial details I would have missed had I not been told about them. Miranda Yates and Willie Elliott were excellent describers as usual, and even when things got loud – as they regularly did – I was able to turn up the headset and still hear them clearly.
The show itself I obviously can’t say too much about, in order to avoid spoilers. But what I can safely say is that it’s set in Hawkins in 1959, when Joyce, Jim and Bob are at high school, along with Bob’s sister Patty. And there’s a shy and awkward new student called Henry who holds a dark secret (which is already known to devotees of the series, but here we see its origins and development).
And it’s an amazing experience, it really does feel like an episode of the show brought to life. It is long, clocking in at 3 hours (including an interval), but it doesn’t feel like it. From the surprisingly immersive opening prologue to the powerful ending that directly connects us with Season 1 of the Netflix show, it’s a thrilling spectacle with superb acting, incredible visuals, clever use of lighting, atmospheric music and sound, scary moments, explosions and some genuinely mind-blowing special effects.
If you’re a fan of the Netflix series, then it’s a must-see – and for those of you in the United States, I’m pleased to say that it will be launching on Broadway in March 2025. However, if you’ve never seen the series then a lot of the references will completely pass you by, obviously. Watching Season 1 at the very least would be a wise move, to decide if you like the style, to learn the basics about the Upside Down, and to meet some of the central characters. But if you just want to dive in without any prior knowledge, the play does still work as a stand-alone story and a fascinating piece of theatre in its own right, especially if you like tense horror stories. It may well even tempt you to watch the series afterwards, as it’s written by the same people.
This could so easily have been some cheap and inferior cash-in based on the series, with no real importance. But thankfully the Duffer Brothers and the rest of the team have made a substantial effort to bring the show to life on the stage, using every trick in the theatrical book, in a way that is truly impactful and very satisfying. So I’m delighted that I finally got to see it.
The Hot Wing King
I was very kindly gifted a ticket to this audio described show, and it was a lot of fun.
The Hot Wing King, a Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy play by Katori Hall (who wrote the Tina Turner musical I saw last year) has been running at the Dorfman Theatre, an intimate venue that has its own entrance around the back of the National Theatre building, but has since finished its run on 14 September.
It’s set in Memphis, Tennessee, where a guy called Cordell (Kadiff Kirwan) is preparing to enter a prestigious contest to see who makes the best hot chicken wings, with the help and support of his partner and friends. But there are other issues at hand that threaten to derail his chances in the competition.
So to describe the play as a comedy isn’t fully accurate. There are lots of funny moments, sure, and even occasional scenes involving a bit of music and dancing, but there are also more dramatic moments about the relationships and connections between the guys, and a few revelations about their backstories. So it has a few layers that are woven together nicely to create a very entertaining show, and it didn’t drag despite being quite long, at 2 hours 50 minutes (with an interval).
Before we saw the performance there was a great touch tour as well, led by Roz Chalmers and Willie Elliott (the latter having also been one of the describers at the Stranger Things show I mentioned above). The 6 actors from the play all came on stage first of all, to introduce themselves and demonstrate their characters’ voices, which was lovely of them. And we also met our audio describer for the evening, actress Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo, who delivered the narration in a Mississippi accent to fit in with the setting of the play, which made it feel more immersive.
After those introductions, Roz and Willie described the set to us. It was laid out like a house with its exterior walls removed, so we could see the kitchen on the ground floor and the bedroom on the first floor. There was also a yard area nearest to the audience, as well as a living room tucked away behind the pantry wall on stage where guys would occasionally go to watch sports on the TV.
We were then invited to come up on stage and explore the set ourselves, which was very cool and very useful. In the kitchen there were real spices racked up in the pantry, so there was a lovely smell when the door was opened, and some other elements of the set were real including taps that produced water, a working hob, an air fryer, a piano and the TV. The chicken wings we saw weren’t real though, instead being very realistic-looking props, but there was real cooked chicken used during the show for the guys to eat, which we got a slight whiff of during the performance. The chicken didn’t smell as strongly as I hoped it might, but then that’s probably a good thing, as I felt hungry enough after the show as it was!
There were a lot of other little details in the set that the audience would never have noticed as well, so it was great to get up close to it all. Likewise, there was a whole rack of costumes that we were able to handle and look at closely, including the orange shirts decorated with chicken drumsticks and wings covered in sauce that the guys wore for the contest.
I was assisted during the tour by a member of staff from the theatre called Isabella, who was wonderfully friendly and attentive throughout my entire evening at the venue, helping me to find my way around, explaining and describing things during the tour, fetching an ice cream and a drink that I ordered for the interval, and gathering my feedback to see where things might need to be improved. Many thanks to her for giving up so much of her time to make my experience so easy and comfortable!
The Grapes Of Wrath
The day after The Hot Wing King I was back at the National Theatre again, this time in their main Lyttelton Theatre, to see The Grapes Of Wrath with my friend Claire, who had kindly booked the show for my birthday. We didn’t have audio description for this one, as the AD performance was on a date we couldn’t get to, but that was fine in this instance, as we had a good seat and the action was easy enough to follow for the most part.
It’s based on the novel by John Steinbeck (which I’ve never read) and is set in America during the Great Depression, where the Joad family are forced to pack up and leave their home, driving all the way to California in the hope of a new life. The first half of the play focuses on their long and difficult journey, while the second act shows the challenges and discrimination they face after their arrival. There are tough decisions, dangerous incidents and heartbreaking losses along the way, but at its heart it’s a story about determination, dreams, family and the human spirit. Its themes of migration, mental wellbeing and the desperate need to earn a living hold a lot of relevance today as well.
It’s very well acted too, in a way that helps you to engage with the characters, so you do feel sad about the losses that occur, but there also uplifting moments of hope and positivity amongst the hardships, and even occasional bits of humour. There’s also a small group of musicians who provide acoustics for scene transitions and even perform as part of a scene in the second half. The sets are minimal in design but used to great effect, and the lighting is also creatively used to set the scene at various points, while also emphasising particular incidents in frozen time or slow motion, which are very impactful.
So it’s a moving and thought-provoking play which holds your interest throughout, despite its nearly 3-hour duration. Like Hot Wing King, it’s also now finished its run as of 14 September, but is worth looking out for if it pops up again anywhere. Thank you to Claire for inviting me to join her for that, it was well worth seeing.
Food
Korean Grill Kensington
Once again my friend and colleague Emily kindly invited me to join her for a couple of meals she was reviewing, the first of which was at the Korean Grill Kensington, a lovely venue just around the corner from Gloucester Road tube station, with friendly staff who made us feel very welcome. Sure, they knew she was reviewing it, but the place had a nice vibe to it in general.
I’ve never had Korean cuisine before, and even for Emily it’s been a rarity, but we got a thorough taste of it here. We had their Chef’s Feast menu, and it certainly lived up to the name, as our table was completely – and I do mean completely – filled with a wide variety of food for us to sample.
There were lots of sides for a start, including Namul, Bibim Noodles, Jeon, Japchae, Yuzu Salad and Kimchi, along with appetisers including beef & onion soup and steamed rice. I’m getting those names from the menu of course – we were told what they were at the time, but there was so much it was impossible to remember it all. So we just tried a bit of everything and it was all very nice. I particularly liked the noodles. Apart from a spoon for the soup, we had the option of chopsticks or pincer-like utensils to pick up the other items, and it’s safe to say we went for the latter, as we have no idea how to use chopsticks!
We were also given a Ssam platter, consisting of large lettuce leaves which you basically use like tacos, putting meat, toppings and sauces into them and then folding them over like a wrap to eat them. So that was a different way of doing things, but it worked very well, as all the random combinations I tried were tasty.
But it’s the meat that’s the star of the show, quite literally, because they grill it right there in front of you, on a circular grate in the centre of the table. It’s an unusual but cool experience to watch the meat being cooked, with the occasional flame jumping up in dramatic yet safe fashion. And the results were delicious, my favourites being the lovely succulent rib eye steak and their signature King Kalbi dish (diamond-cut beef short rib marinated with a special sauce). Plus there were tiger prawns for people who like seafood, which I tried but I preferred the meat.
To drink I had a bottle of Jinro Grapefruit Soju, a drink made with rice which had a refreshing flavour, plus we had small bowls we could pour water into and drink from as well. And for dessert we had a nice scoop of red bean paste ice cream to cleanse the palette.
So all in all it was a different type of restaurant experience, in the enjoyable sense, and we came out feeling pleasantly stuffed! You can also read Emily’s review for her perspective on it.
Ekstedt At The Yard
A week after the Korean Grill above, Emily invited me along to Ekstedt At The Yard, located in the Great Scotland Yard Hotel around the corner from the south side of Trafalgar Square. The restaurant is the first to be opened outside of Stockholm by Niklas Ekstedt, a Michelin-starred chef, and we were there to try their 5-course tasting menu, with seasonal British ingredients prepared using Scandinavian cooking techniques.
The first course was a trilogy of small dishes, namely:
- Flambadou Oyster with beurre blanc sauce.
- Aged Beef Tartar with vendace roe and smoked mayonnaise.
- Ember Baked Scallop with sugar kelp and roe emulsion.
The oysters were particularly interesting, because we were invited into the kitchen to see them being prepared under the flames, followed by the addition of the sauce, and then we ate them in front of the chef, pouring them from the shells into our mouths. This is something they offer to all their customers, it wasn’t just for us, and you can see a clip of the chef preparing it in my video accompanying this post. They do it because they’re proud of their food, and rightly so. I’ve never had an oyster before, but I had no hesitation in trying it, and it was nice – not the sort of thing I’d go out of my way to order in a restaurant in general, sure, but alright to try in this scenario. The beef tartar and the baked scallop that followed were good as well.
Next up was some Wood Oven Baked Sourdough Bread, with some butter that our server prepared in front of us by adding smoked whey and pine oil to it. And again it was nice. I liked the crunchiness of the crust juxtaposed with the softness of the bread itself, and the butter had a nice flavour to it.
The remaining three courses then consisted of:
- Hay Fired Summer Peas with charcoal cream, lardo and caviar.
- Pine Smoked Wild Duck Breast with grilled apple pureé, pickled gooseberries and juniper brioche.
- Cep Mushroom Soufflé with woodruff ice cream and blueberries.
The duck was my favourite out of these, as again it had a nice taste to it. It was interesting to try a bit of caviar for the first time as well – like oysters, it’s not something I’d choose if I had a free selection from a full menu, but it was alright and worked well in this context. As for dessert, flavouring a soufflé with mushrooms is an unusual choice, but it was better than I was expecting it to be, and the ice cream accompanying it was refreshing.
So it was nice to try something different again. It wasn’t as filling as the huge Korean feast of course, which I’d say was my favourite of the two experiences, but it still satisfied our hunger nicely. And we also had a bottle of wine with the meal that had been expertly chosen by the sommelier to complement the courses.
I know the restaurant may sound a bit posh after all that, but it actually wasn’t really. It’s a well-kept environment in a historic building, we wore smart casual attire, and the food’s a little bit fancy, sure. But the venue has a nice relaxing atmosphere, the staff were friendly and welcoming, and the music playing quietly in the background for light ambience was quite a decent playlist from what I picked up on, including tracks by Queen, the Rolling Stones, the Stranglers and more, much to my surprise!
So it was another pleasant meal, and again you can find out more by reading Emily’s review.
Films
The Menu
The Menu is a comedy horror film from 2022 that was recommended to me by Emily, so I rented it online and watched it before our recent meals. It’s all about a group of people who travel to a remote island for a fancy dinner, but it becomes increasingly apparent that it’s no ordinary restaurant, as Chef Slowik (perfectly played by Ralph Fiennes) comes up with elaborate explanations for his increasingly strange courses, and then there are big twists that make the guests realise they’re in serious danger.
We see all of this from the perspective of Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy), who has been invited along by her date Tyler (Nicholas Hoult). She’s bewildered by how obsessed he and some of the other guests are when it comes to the food, analysing every detail like it’s a fine work of art and swooning over the chef’s eccentricities, even happily accepting a course that is practically nothing. In that respect the film is a great parody of pretentious food critics, and even when the first shocking turn of events happens, some of the guests are still convinced that it’s a valid part of the experience. But they eventually realise what they’ve been tricked into being a part of.
I won’t give away any more than that, but it’s a fun movie that has a nice mixture of scary and amusing moments. It’s not one of the best horror or comedy films ever made, but it is a good way to kill an hour and a half.
Coraline & Laika Exhibition
Coraline is a stop-motion animated film from 2009, based on a Neil Gaiman story from 2002. It’s all about an 11-year-old girl called Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning), who has moved to a new house with her parents (played by Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman), but quickly becomes very bored of her new environment and the way her mother and father don’t particularly seem to care about how she feels. She does also meet a young guy called Wyborn (Robert Bailey Jr.), a couple of nice old ladies (Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders), and an eccentric entertainer (Ian McShane), but they still don’t relieve the tedium for her.
However, she then discovers a passageway behind a special door that takes her to a parallel world, which seems to be perfect at first, including alternative versions of her mum and dad who fuss over her and are happy to provide everything she wants.
But all is not quite normal, not least the fact that her ‘Other Mother’ and ‘Other Father’ have buttons for eyes, and want to convert her to be just like them and live with them forever. And when Coraline refuses to stay, she quickly discovers that her parents from this ‘Other World’ aren’t so friendly any more. From there on, the film takes a dark turn, becoming very creepy and scary as Coraline tries to escape – which is entertaining if you like that kind of thing, as I do, but anyone fooled into thinking this was a cute children’s animation will get a bit of a shock!
Indeed, the Japanese-infused style of animation is really impressive. The fact that it’s all stop motion is absolutely incredible, as you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s CGI. A huge amount of work went into it, and that’s celebrated in an exhibition about the Laika animation studio that’s currently on at the BFI Southbank until the 1st of October.
Emily and I had a look around the exhibition after our meal at Ekstedt At The Yard, as you can book slots until the unusually late time of 9pm, with the exhibition closing at 9:30pm. This is why I watched Coraline in the first place, because Emily wanted to see the exhibition and recommended the film, so I watched it for context before tagging along with her.
And it was very interesting to see models, sketches, artwork and more from that movie along with Laika’s other titles, namely ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo And The Two Strings, Missing Link and their upcoming release Wildwood. I don’t plan to watch any of those other films as well, but the exhibition shows the dedication the artists have to their craft and their amazing expertise at bringing the various characters and worlds to life. So it was a bit difficult to find in the maze that is the BFI building, but it was worth it.
Mrs Doubtfire
Having seen the Mrs Doubtfire musical earlier this year, it was only right that I revisit the original movie from 1993, having not seen it since I was a kid. So I rented it online, and it still holds up really well, because of course it’s led by the much-missed Robin Williams, who we lost 10 years ago in August (hence my decision to watch the film then in tribute to him).
Robin plays Daniel, who is devastated when he loses custody of his children, because his efforts to entertain them in silly ways have gone too far for his wife Miranda (Sally Field) to cope with. But he finds a way to continue being with them when, with the help of his makeup artist brother Frank (Harvey Fierstein) and his partner Jack (Scott Capurro), he takes on the persona of Mrs Doubtfire, who manages to get hired as the new nanny for the family. And she’s a hit, becoming very popular with Miranda and the children. But, of course, the lie becomes increasingly difficult to sustain, and there’s the added complication of a dashingly handsome guy called Stu (Pierce Brosnan) who is winning Miranda’s affections in Daniel’s absence.
Robin Williams really demonstrates what a versatile actor he is here, with his excellent vocal impressions and funny visual gags bringing lots of humour to the role, while also stirring the emotions with both heartbreaking and heartwarming moments. You really do feel Daniel’s anguish and you’re willing for him to be welcomed back into the family properly. Everyone else in the film is great too, naturally, and the music score suits it perfectly, especially the Aerosmith song Dude Looks Like A Lady of course.
So it’s a classic 90s family movie that’s witty and warm, and still lovely to watch after all these years. And it reminds you just how deeply missed Robin will always be. It’s hard to believe it’s a decade already since he passed away.
Guest House Paradiso: Blu-ray
Guest House Paradiso is the 1999 movie spin-off from the brilliantly immature, violent and crude sitcom Bottom starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson (the latter also being the director). I wrote about being a fan of Bottom when I reviewed the Exposed documentary earlier this year, and while this 90-minute film isn’t quite as good as their TV shows or live tours, it’s still got some pretty funny moments in it.
It’s basically about Richie and Eddie running the worst hotel in England, making Basil Fawlty look like a total saint with their extreme rudeness towards the long-suffering guests, played by Fenella Fielding, Simon Pegg and Bill Nighy, among others. But they attempt to turn on the charm when sexy Italian film star Gina Carbonara (Hélène Mahieu) arrives to try and hide away from her angry fiancé Gino Bolognese (Vincent Cassel).
The loose plot is really just a vehicle to get Richie and Eddie into funny slapstick situations that are absurd, violent and disgusting, including Eddie’s drunken ride to the hotel on a motorbike, an elaborate kitchen fight, Richie getting stuck in a female guest’s rubber underwear, a man being hauled up to the ceiling by a fishing hook caught on his nipple ring, and the guests projectile vomiting all over the landing after eating some radioactive fish.
The special effects are nicely done, considering it’s a low-budget flick, and the music score by Colin Towns suits it well, as does the choice of song for the closing credits – Jazz, Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band – during which there’s a bonus scene to look out for. So while it’s not an amazing film by any means, it’s still good in its own surreal way. It just comes down to expectations really – if you like Rik & Ade then you’ll know what you’re getting into, and chances are you’ll enjoy it much more than someone who comes in unprepared.
I revisited the film in August because I got the new Limited Edition Blu-ray, for which only 6,000 copies have been produced for the UK, so I pre-ordered it when it was first announced earlier this year to ensure I got one. Issued by Powerhouse Films under their Indicator label, it’s a new 4K restoration with 5.1 surround sound and stereo audio tracks, and “new and improved” English subtitles. I’m not in a position to judge how much better those aspects are compared to the old DVD release I had, but it looks and sounds pretty good to me at least.
More interestingly, it has an array of extra features, some of which were specially produced for this new edition:
- ‘Making Of’ Documentary (36 mins) – A great behind-the-scenes feature from 1999 that was on the old DVD, in which we’re shown how the various stunts were done, footage from location shooting on the Isle Of Wight, insights from Rik and Ade along with producer Phil McIntyre, and interviews with guest stars Simon Pegg, Fenella Fielding and Hélène Mahieu.
- New Interviews (55 mins) – Nearly an hour of very interesting recollections about the film, recorded in 2023 and 2024, with guest actor Simon Pegg, composer Colin Towns, editor Sean Barton and production designer Tom Brown. As well as giving lots of nice insights into the making of the film, it’s lovely to hear them talking about working with Rik & Ade with such fondness, as they clearly loved being part of the movie and meeting such comedy legends.
- Outtakes (9 mins) – There are some very amusing bloopers in this uncensored compilation, which was on the original DVD.
- Theatrical Trailers (3 mins) – 3 trailers for the movie, which are of mild interest.
- Image Gallery – 33 promotional images from the shooting of the film, plus a couple of variations of the movie poster.
In addition, the set also includes a special 40-page booklet with a new essay by Jon Robertson, an archival on-set report, an old interview with Rik and Ade, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits.
TV
Doctor Who: Season 1 Blu-ray & Prom
I received the Blu-ray steelbook for the latest series of Doctor Who in August, having pre-ordered it when it was first announced some time ago. The exterior artwork of the Doctor and Ruby looks really nice, and as usual there’s audio navigation and audio description on the discs, which is fantastic for accessibility.
Plus, in addition to the Christmas special and all 8 episodes of the main series, the discs are packed with 12 hours of extra content by my reckoning, including 3 in-vision commentaries, 10 full-length episodes of the Unleashed documentary series, all of the behind-the-scenes clips from Youtube plus some exclusive new ones, and the new Tales Of The Tardis episode featuring Sutekh in Pyramids Of Mars. Most of that has already been posted by the BBC on iPlayer and Youtube of course, but it’s great to have it all on the physical release too.
I also listened to the Doctor Who Prom on BBC Radio 3, as I was unable to attend in person unfortunately. It was one of 2 performances that took place on Monday 26 August, and is available on BBC Sounds until around 13 October. It will also be televised over the Christmas period, according to presenter Georgia Mann, probably edited down from its 2-hour running time.
Hosted by Catherine Tate, who played Donna in the show and is very funny here, along with the BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, the London Philharmonic Choir, soprano Aida Garifullina and other vocalists all conducted by Alastair King, it had a great selection of music. We got to hear several of Murray Gold’s compositions from the recent series and the 60th anniversary specials, plus a few classic tracks from his previous tenure on the show, and a medley from Segun Akinola’s era for Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor. So there was a nice variety in this first Doctor Who Prom for 11 years (the previous concerts can be watched on iPlayer).
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I’ve updated my extensive review post about Season 1 to add new sections reviewing the Blu-ray box set and the Prom in depth, so do go and check that out if you want more details.
Secrets Of The London Underground
I’m delighted that this fascinating show about London’s Tube network has been back for a 4th series, because Siddy Holloway and Tim Dunn have such wonderful enthusiasm and expertise as they show you many areas of stations and other places that are off-limits to the general public (unless you’re lucky enough to see some in person on the London Transport Museum’s Hidden London Tours, of which some are now being offered with British Sign Language).
In this series I particularly enjoyed learning what was under the mainline platforms at Paddington, having used that beautiful station countless times to travel to and from the Westcountry. So we got to see the old Mail Rail, the storeroom for the Great Western band, and disused elements of the Heathrow Express (from the days when passengers could check in their luggage at the station and pick it up again at their flight’s destination, a service that was abandoned in 2003 due to security concerns after 9/11 as well as financial considerations).
That same episode also included a look at Tottenham Court Road, another station I’ve used a lot, so it was great to learn a bit about the artworks covering the walls there, which the public walk past every day without giving them a second thought, as well as hidden parts of the station.
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Other stations that Tim and Siddy took us around included:
- Earl’s Court, which mixes the old with the new very nicely.
- Alperton, with the last remaining wooden escalator on the network hidden away.
- Waterloo, looking under the main concourse plus uncovering secrets of the Bakerloo and Jubilee lines.
- Marble Arch, including an interview with the lady who made the colourful platform artworks.
- South Kentish Town, a disused station that closed 100 years ago, where Tim and Siddy were able to get very close to the trains passing.
- Lambeth North, where staff used to be trained, and the proposals to extend the Bakerloo line to Lewisham.
- Warren Street, including the maze-like artwork on the platforms.
- Finsbury Park, with a fascinating tunnel walk to explore the history of the line.
- Stockwell, with its old lift shafts and deep-level shelters.
- Gloucester Road, including the history of the Museum Quarter it serves and a disused platform now used for art.
- Old Street, which is undergoing a big upgrade and has an underground mainline station.
- Hampstead, the deepest station from surface level, where Siddy got to ride on top of the lift car during an inspection!
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Plus we got to learn about:
- The Underground’s control centre in its top secret location, including an interview with TFL Commissioner Andy Lord.
- The Docklands Light Railway, including its history, its impressive control centre in Beckton, and the nice new trains it’s getting later this year.
- The Thames Tunnel, significant for being the world’s first underwater tunnel, and the first engineering project of Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
- The huge maintenance depots in Ruislip (for the Central line) and Northumberland Park (for the Victoria line), revealing a lot of the unseen work that goes on every single day to keep the Tube running.
- The Siemens facility in Yorkshire where the new Piccadilly line trains are being built.
- Cultural highlights of the Tube, including interviews with singer Charlotte Campbell about being a busker and author Seni Seneviratne about the Poems On The Underground scheme. There’s also plenty of chat about station artworks, posters, signage, etc.
- Lots of fascinating finds at the London Transport Museum and its huge depot as usual.
So it’s been another really interesting series, which I hope returns again in the future, as there’s still so much for them to look at. And if you want to dig even deeper into the Underground’s secrets, you can watch the Hidden London Hangouts series on Youtube as well, which Siddy co-hosts with her colleagues from the museum. I’m not obsessed enough to spend many hours of my time watching those lengthy outings myself, as fascinating as they probably are, but it is very popular.
Olympics & Paralympics
Finally, it’s been a glorious summer of sport with the Olympics and Paralympics from Paris, with so many exciting, dramatic and moving moments, so I’ve been quite obsessed with it all! It helped that there was only a slight time difference as well, making it easy to see a lot of the events live, and anything I missed I was able to catch up with online easily enough.
The BBC had limited coverage of the Olympics, given that Discovery+ hold all the rights, but they did a reasonable job despite their restrictions, giving us quite a lot of sporting action across 2 live streams every day, along with highlights programmes and online clips. And in the end Team GB won 65 medals, which was very good going. We deserved more really, as there were some we narrowly missed out on, but it’s still a very respectable tally. I particularly enjoyed the swimming, diving, cycling, athletics and gymnastics, but it was all good.
My top 20 athletes from these Games, if forced to choose, would include Yasmin Harper & Scarlett Mew Jensen and Tom Daley & Noah Williams in the synchronised diving, Kate Shortman & Izzy Thorpe in artistic swimming, France’s Léon Marchand in the swimming races, Joe Clarke & Kimberley Woods in the new kayak cross event, Lola Anderson in the rowing due to the sweet story about her diary note, Bryony Page, the retiring Max Whitlock and the USA’s Simone Biles in gymnastics, Andy Murray & Dan Evans in the doubles tennis, Alex Yee in triathlon, Sky Brown in skateboarding, Tom Pidcock in Mountain Biking, and Keely Hodgkinson & Katarina Johnson-Thompson in athletics.
Channel 4, meanwhile, had exclusive rights to the Paralympics and really went to town on it. They filled their schedules with live sport every day on their main station and More4 (including some audio description and BSL, and with several disabled people on the presenting team), then gave us highlights programmes and episodes of The Last Leg to wrap things up each evening. Plus they had uninterrupted live streams of every event and audio described highlights on their Youtube channel.
So there was plenty of opportunity to watch our spectacular ParalympicsGB team as they won 124 medals, including 49 golds! I got engrossed in a huge amount of it, but especially the swimming, cycling and athletics, because they had so many events between them.
If I had to pick my top 20 athletes in the Paralympics – and it’s not an easy choice to make, but I’ve tried to divide it fairly amongst the sports – I’d go for Poppy Maskill, Alice Tai & Stephen Clegg in the pool, Sarah Storey & Sophie Unwin in cycling, Hannah Cockroft, Sammi Kinghorn & Ben Sandilands on the track, Dan Pembroke in javelin, Dave Ellis in the triathlon, Charlotte Henshaw & Hope Gordon in canoeing, Amy Truesdale & Matt Bush in taekwondo, Jodie Grinham and the USA’s Matt Stutzman in archery, Liam McGarry in powerlifting, Bly Twomey in table tennis, and Alfie Hewett & Gordon Reid in wheelchair tennis.
But every single one of our athletes were amazing, and when they returned home they were invited to the ParalympicsGB Homecoming, which celebrated their amazing achievements in front of a huge crowd, and it was also shown on Channel 4 of course. It was hosted by Adam Hills, Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe from The Last Leg, who interviewed several of our medal winners, and there was also a look at the development of the Paralympics over the years. But the event also showcased disabled performers including Extraordinary Bodies, Propel Dance and the blind pianist Lucy Illingworth from The Piano, alongside big music stars like Craig David, Aitch, Caity Baser and the Sugababes. So it was a great way of welcoming our sporting heroes back from France.
If you want to find out more, I’ve written in-depth review posts about the Olympics and Paralympics, talking about all of our medal winners and other highlights, so they’ll keep you busy for a while!
Conclusion
And that’s it, that covers my birthday month of August, including the Paralympics which carried us into mid-September. So I hope you found things of interest in there as usual.
Apart from another meal for Emily to review, and getting a much-needed haircut, I don’t currently have anything special booked for the last couple of weeks of September or for the month of October. That’s likely to change of course as I continue getting out and about, plus there are plenty of things I intend to watch or listen to that have been gifted or recommended to me or are on my to-do list. But there’s not likely to be a huge amount to report for the last couple of weeks of September on their own.
So if nothing much else happens before September ends, I might just do a joint September & October Favourites in early November for my next roundup, which isn’t far away anyway. And there are bound to be one or two other posts in the meantime, as there’s an ongoing conveyer belt of bits and pieces I want to do reviews of. We’ll see what happens though.
But that’s all for this post. So I hope you’re doing well and having fun, whatever you’re getting up to, and I’ll see you next time!
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