What TV show did you last watch?

Holiday of My Lifetime
Len Goodman takes Jasper Carrott back to Barry Island to reminisce about a childhood trip back in 1958. They play snooker, they make pastry, they play on the dodgems, they play hook-a-duck, and Len tells jokes.

Legends of Tomorrow Ep 5 “Mortal Khanbat” Season 5.

The Golden Hind - Drake's Royal Voyager 2018 Channel 5



In 1588 Francis Drake won the gold medal for triathlon (bowls, sailing and shooting) when he thrashed the Spanish Armada in the English Channel, but ten years before this he made his name by becoming the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world.

The aim of the voyage (1577-1580) was to raid spanish ships and colonies in the eastern Pacific and return with the booty. Along the way he beheaded one of his commanders for witchcraft and mutiny, sailed through the treacherous Straits of Magellan, raided a spanish treasure ship loaded with gold and silver, went on a jolly to California and claimed it for the Crown (Nova Albion), sailed across the Pacific to the Spice Islands where he loaded up with cloves (said to be as valuable as gold at the time) and then returned to England. The value of the cargo was apparently several hundred million pounds in today's money and with it Elizabeth I was able to pay off the entire national debt.

Rob Bell is a competent presenter and you can't really go wrong with a story as interesting as this but he's not a historian and it would have been better if he had delved a bit deeper into some of the more hazy aspects of the voyage. Large parts of the itinerary were kept secret to avoid helping the Spanish and although Bell said that Drake was planning to try and sail back to England via the hypothetical North-West Passage he doesn't explain why he stopped at california and then headed West. Some historians believe he did continue North and became the first Western European to reach Alaska but others say he never got beyond Mexico.

It's an intriguing yarn anyway and a good book on the subject might be in order if I can find one.

Batwoman Ep 13 “Drink Me” Season 1

Lost In Space Ep 10 “Ninety-Seven” Season 2 Finale.

Mackintosh: Glasgow's Neglected Genius
Lachlan Goudie told the tale of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, designer extraordinaire.

Smallville Ep 18 “Visitor” Season 2

(27-02-2020 21:40 )Doddle Wrote:  Hairy Bikers' Chocolate Challenge ep 3
This week's tasks were to make one of those sharing bars, then a grab bag. Some of the ideas were a bit duff, and the names don't seem to improve. But the skills are largely undeniable.

ep 4
They made their own easter egg and their own 3-layer choc bar. One bloke burnt his hand but still made it to the final.

Alan Bennett's Diaries
A repeat from 2016 when his last set was released. Nice stuff about his respect for libraries, his wrath at changing times and governments, and stuff from his appearance on R3's Private Passions.

Aircraft Carriers 2000 Eagle Rock Entertainment shown on Movies4Men




It does what it says on the tin. Basically a potted history of aircraft carriers stitched together from stock footage with a voiceover.

One interesting fact that was new to me was that the Swordfish torpedo bomber, which was already obsolete when it entered service in 1936, helped to sink more enemy shipping than any other allied aircraft type.

The voiceover is by the late Don Durbridge who was a continuity announcer on Radio 2 and filled in on "Friday Night is Music Night" when Richard Baker was out on the piss.

Star Trek Picard Ep 7 “Nepenthe” Season 1