Speaking of TV, over Christmas I saw an episode of “Camilo e filho”, a Portuguese (from Portugal) scene-for-scene remake of Steptoe and Son, except with much much lower production values and totally lacking anything that was good about the original. It really was an identical clone, right down to the skeleton in the living room, and the British flag in the corner, which had become a Portuguese flag.

Has there ever been a remake of anything that didn’t utterly suck the life out of the original?

The BBC is completely broken as a branch of the government, but it consistently makes the worlds’ best TV by an astronomical margin.

At least 3 times a year for the last 4 years, the TV licensing company has sent me various letters warning me that they’re going to send the boys round to deliver a thousand pound fine and possibly a bit of a kicking.

The only way to tell them that I don’t have a TV is to write to them - yes, write, with actual honest to god pen and ink! - in Bristol. I will avoid ranting about the fact that they’re trying to force me to pay for cringeworthy trash like Click Online and simply ignore them. If they want to find out whether I have a TV or not they can come round here at their own expense, in their own time and find out.