Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 6: The Interstellar Song Contest As per normal these days, I plan to watch this ahead of tonight’s transmission, courtesy of iPlayer. I won’t post my comments until AFTER tonight’s prime-time showing. Written by Juno Dawson, directed by Ben A. Williams, and with only two more episodes to go …
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Boys’ Day Out
D’you know, I’ve never been as busy as I’ve been lately – and I’m retired! So, today, was a special treat! I took the short drive over to techy-mate Chris and we motored on to Gtechnic’s HQ in Upper Heyford, The reason? A half-day ‘hands-on’ Car Detailing Workshop organised by Alex, one of their experienced …
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Return to the Tollemache Arms
Tonight was a welcome return to The Tollemache Arms. The last time I was here was in June 2019, and since then, it’s had a makeover through a crowdfunding campaign where they smashed their target of raising 30k by amassing 33k in just 4 days! We picked up Bev & Jules for 7pm and headed …
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Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 5: The Story and the Engine
Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 5: The Story and the Engine Over halfway through the series now, and things are looking good! Viewer numbers might be down, but the general consensus about this series is that pretty much all aspects are infinitely better than the previous series! As usual, I’m watching this on iPlayer …
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Liverpool and North Wales: Day 9 (Last Day)
Friday, 9th May It’s our last full day today in North Wales – tomorrow we’re heading home bright and early. On our itinerary today, we’re going to explore the nearby town of Porthmadog and then travel the short distance to Portmeirion – 4 miles, around 15 minutes away! – somewhere I’ve always wanted to see, …
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Liverpool and North Wales: Day 8
Thursday, 8th May Welcome back! It’s our third day in cosy Borth-y-Gest, North Wales. It’s a very quiet spot close to the town of Porthmadog. After breakfast, we made plans for today and decided to head West! We’re heading for another Castle, a famous Museum and some photo opportunities of the gorgeous Welsh beaches. The …
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Liverpool and North Wales: Day 7
Wednesday, 7th May Morning all! Thanks for your readership so far and your comments 👍 It’s another fine day forecast! 😎☀️😎☀️. That’s two in a row here in Borth-y-Gest near Porthmadog where we’re staying in a snug two-bedroom holiday cottage👍. We’re here until Saturday and are spending time exploring the surrounding area. The weather is …
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Liverpool and North Wales: Day 6
Tuesday, 6th May Morning all! We said goodbye to Liverpool yesterday and we’re now staying in a two-bedroom cottage in the Welsh village of Borth-y-Gest. Today, we’re off for a trip on the local Heritage Railway. 9.45am: After breakfast, we took the short drive into Porthmadog. It looked like it was going to be a …
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Liverpool and North Wales: Day 5
Monday, 5th May After breakfast, we said goodbye to the Premier Inn in Childer Thornton in the Wirral and headed for the final leg of our stay – a two-bedroom cottage in the village of, Borth-y-Gest, in North Wales (more about our new temporary home, later). 9.58am: But first, we had to get there! It …
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Liverpool and North Wales: Day 4
Sunday, 4th May Morning all! A late night last night, so I’m a bit later posting this one! There’s a distinct absence of sunshine this morning here in the Wirral – in fact, as I write this, it’s started to rain! It’s our last full day before heading for Wales after breakfast tomorrow. It looked …
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Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 4: Lucky Day
Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 4: Lucky Day Slightly unusually, we’re away from home, so I’m watching this in our room at the Premier Inn, Wirral on day 3 of our ten-day getaway. The Internet has been a nightmare, but thankfully, I did manage to coax the iPlayer into action! I now know what …
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Liverpool and North Wales: Day 3
Saturday, 3rd May We’re off to Chester today. The City Walls, the Cathedral, a Boat Trip and the Roman Amphitheatre are on the list. However, the biting wind was to make the day feel a lot chillier than the above chart suggests and so we limited our explorations! 9.35am: We left just after 9.30 and …
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Liverpool and North Wales: Day 2
Friday, 2nd May Morning all! A slightly cooler day today than yesterday, but based on the crappy Internet speed here, today’s Post might take a couple of hours to actually post (if at all!)! To give the Blog the best chance to cope with the appalling internet speeds here, I’ve restricted the number of photographs. …
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Liverpool and North Wales: Day 1
Getting there… We’re spending nine nights split 50/50 between Liverpool and North Wales. We set off from home just before 9.30 taking the A14, M6, M56, M53 and finally the A41 on our 147-mile trip. We estimated around two hours in total to get our first stop – the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port …
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Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 3: The Well
Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 3: The Well Morning! I’m continuing to take advantage of watching DW on iPLayer (from 8am, UK). I was a little later to the screen today, mainly due to picking some sort of ‘cold-but-not-Covid’ earlier this week (from goodness knows where). I’m only really now coming out the other …
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Handel’s Messiah at the Citadel
It’s Easter Saturday, and we’re off to the Salvation Army’s Citadel in Kettering to see the 7pm performance of Handel’s Messiah. Composed in 1741, there had also been a TV programme on recently featuring Gareth Malone coaching eight amateur singers to take on this monumental piece. Yes, it’s definitely Easter, and the TV programme reminded …
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Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 2: Lux
Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 2: Lux Overnight viewing figures for last week’s debut episode came in at 2 million (actually, the second most watched show on BBC 1 behind Gladiators at 2.9 million). The number will increase once streaming/catchup viewers are added in, but 2 million isn’t that good! 😬. The full numbers …
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Every Doggett’s Has Its Day!
Today was an opportunity to meet up with some of the Old Croydonians Association Committee from my days as their Chair (2010 until 2016). It was one of those increasingly rare occasions when I took the train to London from Kettering to St Pancras International (I don’t get out much these days!). Roger met me …
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Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 1: The Robot Revolution
It’s back! 🤔 The first episode of eight begins tonight. Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 1: The Robot Revolution Transmitted at 6:50pm on BBC1, I watched it on iPlayer earlier in the day. How so? Beginning with this series, here in the UK, it’s available to stream from 8am, so you can guess where …
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Carrington Arms – Nutters Assemble!
The good weather continues! So, it was a drive over to The Carrington Arms for an assembly of the Northants Nutters aka Paul & Sue, Geoff & Rhonda, Rich & Nicki and us two. I recall visiting this watering hole ‘back in the day’ when I was working. It was a central(ish) location to meet …
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Pig and Waffle
Pig and Waffle? No, not the opening paragraph on my LinkedIn profile, but the name of one of our many nearby eateries! The Pig and Waffle is in Grafton Underwood, and only a 15-minute drive away. We booked a lunchtime table with long-time friends and neighbours Paul & Karen on what was the hottest day …
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Doctor Who Returns (almost!)
Season Series 2 (under the new global marketing numbering scheme) returns NEXT Saturday. It’s season series 15 in ‘old money’ or season series 41 if you’ve been following it since the beginning in November, 1963. I have!!🤔 This long-running series is set to return to Disney+ and BBC/BBC iPlayer on April 12, picking up after …
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Winner, Winner! TV Dinner! – Paddington in Peru
It’s another of our ‘Winner Winner, TV Dinner’ Nights. Jo & Janet joined us for 2024’s ‘Paddington in Peru‘. On the ‘Dinner, Dinner’ front, a rare evening off (pretty much) for Ann as J&J supplied the Mains and the Dessert – all we needed to do was prepare the veg and the custard!! 😀 When …
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The Olde Victoria
Today, a welcome return to the Olde Victoria – our local – to meet up for lunch with long-time friends, Richard & Pauline. The last time we four got together was June last year (also at the Olde Vic!), and it was good to catch up. For the first time EVER (20+ years!) we couldn’t …
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Birthday Girl 2025!
Day 1 – Sunday, 23rd Last year, it was (only) Olney, this year, we’re further afield, heading for Stoke-on-Trent. 👍 We left around 9.15 for the straightforward journey to our destination: A14 > M1 > A50. We arrived just before 10.45, so we grabbed a quick coffee, making the best use of the time before …
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Film: Black Bag (2025)
This afternoon we joined Jo & Janet on a trip to the Corby’s Savoy Cinema (our new ‘go-to’ picture house) to see the new film: Black Bag for its early evening performance. It was only our third visit here since our local Odeon closed down – and it’s been worth the extra miles, in every …
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The Countryman, Staverton
Today, we caught up with long-time friends Ian & Ann and Alan & Margaret. Our eatery of choice today? The Countryman in Staverton Village. Last time we were here was in November, 2022 with Ian & Ann, celebrating their Golden Wedding. After a slightly mystifying route to the Pub (Sat Nav took us the LONG …
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Film: Captain America – Brave New World (2025)
I’m back into my ‘Marvel Movie Phase’. 👍 Actually, I never went away, but I think Marvel Films itself (who are desperate to rekindle their past box-office successes) have drastically reduced their output of late – so there hasn’t been much to go and see! 🤔 Our destination? My second visit to the Savoy Cinema …
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Winner, Winner! TV Dinner! – Avatar, The Way of Water
We haven’t done one of these for a while – it’s another of our ‘Winner Winner, TV Dinner’ Nights. Jo & Janet joined us and with Ann on cooking duties and me in charge of the DVD remote control tonight – on the menu was a fish dish, a couple of puds and 2022’s ‘Avatar …
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Film: Bridget Jones – Mad About The Boy (2025)
This wouldn’t usually be my first choice of film — I’m more into ones in ‘spandex’! However, we had an ulterior motive! With the local Odeon recently closing its doors for good, we wanted to see what ‘The Savoy’ was like in nearby Corby. Apart from CineWorld at Rushden Lakes, this one is now probably …
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