On the topic of sitcoms can I give a dishonourable mention to Hey Dad!
Not sure if that took off in the UK? It was massive downunder when I lived there, like many shows had the issue of kids ageing out of the story. It finished incredibly bizarrely by everyone getting presumed killed by an exploding VCR bomb. But more disturbing was that it later turned out that the eponymous dad of the show was portrayed by a paedophile who was abusing his on-screen daughters while the show was being filmed.
Can't imagine that show ever getting repeated on air anywhere anymore, no matter how it may have aged.
Spaced and 'Two Pints of Lager' were excellent early-noughties sitcoms.
The latter especially, as friends used to refer to myself and Mrs J as 'Gaz and Donna', as we both looked a little like them. And (ahem), acted like them at times...
I loved the website TVGoHome from which Nathan Barley sprang. (This was roughly the moment at which the internet became funnier than TV: I also enjoyed from that era the Framley Examiner and Law of the Playground).
Has anyone come across any piccies of the Kakhovka Dam in the last few days, now that the waters have receded? It'd be interesting to see the damage. My Google-fu as failed as all the pictures seem to be of it whilst it is still draining.
Comedy doesn't always age terribly well. I thought the Two Ronnies was funny in the 80s, but watching reruns it doesn't really work as well. No criticism of them - they are both funny men - but the material we find funny changes. I don't know why that should be so, but it does. It's not even that different generations find different things funny: things which are funny then are often just not funny now. Nothing to do with woke - just our collective tastes change. I guess something to do with humour being a defying of expectations; if you know the sort of thing to expect, maybe that takes away some of the humour. I still find them enjoyably clever sometimes, though (which is almost, but not quite, the same thing), like the Mastermind 'answering the previous question' specialist subject. And I find Ronnie Corbett's monologues funnier now than I did then. Monty Python, OTOH, I think has aged very well indeed and is almost as good now as it was back then.
Dad’s Army is still good. (I think, I haven’t seen an episode in about 20 years).
I saw an episode of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum about ten years ago and I thought it was actually pretty good, all things considered.
Sitcoms date OK, the good ones anyway.
It's just as well since they don't seem to be making them any more.
One of the best ever, Curb Your Enthusiasm, still gets made. So does The Simpsons.
The first ten seasons or so of The Simpsons are great. Afterwards it's becomes terrible.
Although it took a good three series to get going.
That still leaves seven series when it was possibly funnier than anything else on telly. That's pretty remarkable, even if there was subsequently quite a long tail.
I know it is now seen as unwoke for many legitimate reasons but I think Friends was consistently funny for its entire 10 season run. Fantastic writing and not a few poignant narrative arcs. I happen to disagree with @BartholomewRoberts about the lesbian element as yes it was a gag at times but they were shown throughout as the smart, sensible ones in the face of Ross' mania.
I would laugh at Friends, but it was the laughter of an irritated man. It was very American - shiny characters living implausibly shiny lives. Which is different to Father Ted*, rather than wrong per se, but still set me up to resent it. And I always saw it as something of a girls' sitcom. Again, not wrong to have girls' sitcoms, but didn't put me in the mood to enjoy it. And of the six main characters, three were highly irritating (the female ones). I know they were meant to be, but it didn't predispose you to spend 30 minutes with them. And yet - if despite all of that I found myself in front of it, I would have to concede it was very funny. The writing was consistently excellent. Just about every joke landed. The acting was excellent. It was very good indeed. It's very strange that it should be seen as unwoke, because in its day it felt very modern in content and tone (which probably also predisposed me to be irritated by it).
*Father Ted! Why hasn't this been mentioned. My nomination for the funniest sitcom ever. I wonder, if Dermot Morgan had lived, whether the writers would have brought it to a satisfying narrative conclusion in the way that some other classics managed?
Although I don't find Father Ted as funny as Black Books, which I think has also aged a lot better - it's only 5 years younger
How to explain The Brittas Empire to future generations?
I didn't really find the Brittas Empire funny at the time. But those who did found it very funny indeed.
A relative of mine deals with a lot of comedy figures and reckons Chris Barrie by some way the nicest he has dealt with.
Appears to have had a really threadbare career post Brittas and Red Dwarf for a man of his talents ! But he was brilliant as both Rimmer and Brittas.
Yes, I always thought his problem was that he was brilliant at playing really dislikeable characters. If you play a likeable character, everyone wants you; I don't know how the industry works but I bet it's not the same for dislikeable characters. Not baddies as such - everyone wanted Alan Rickman - just irritants.
@RishiSunak A welcome distraction between meetings…
First day of an Ashes series is always a bit special.
Exciting first session - good luck to @benstokes38 and the team for this afternoon 🏏
Was it Attlee who was persuaded to have a ticker machine in Downing Street on the grounds it would show the cricket scores? Alec Douglas-Home played, of course, and both Major and May went to watch tests on being replaced.
Comedy doesn't always age terribly well. I thought the Two Ronnies was funny in the 80s, but watching reruns it doesn't really work as well. No criticism of them - they are both funny men - but the material we find funny changes. I don't know why that should be so, but it does. It's not even that different generations find different things funny: things which are funny then are often just not funny now. Nothing to do with woke - just our collective tastes change. I guess something to do with humour being a defying of expectations; if you know the sort of thing to expect, maybe that takes away some of the humour. I still find them enjoyably clever sometimes, though (which is almost, but not quite, the same thing), like the Mastermind 'answering the previous question' specialist subject. And I find Ronnie Corbett's monologues funnier now than I did then. Monty Python, OTOH, I think has aged very well indeed and is almost as good now as it was back then.
Dad’s Army is still good. (I think, I haven’t seen an episode in about 20 years).
I saw an episode of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum about ten years ago and I thought it was actually pretty good, all things considered.
Sitcoms date OK, the good ones anyway.
It Ain't Half Hot Mum isn't as bad as Curry & Chips. My god that was...something else
Sitcoms set in history hold up very well. Dad's Army is gentle humour, with affection for all of the cast. In real life you should hate the spiv, but here he's likeable. Mainwaring is a figure of fun, pompous, just assumes he should be in charge, but utterly brave and wants to do his duty. I have no doubt he would have given his life if required.
In recent times Upstart Crow has mined the same period as Blackadder 2, but in a very different way. Blackadder could be a lot more cruel, whereas Upstart Crow rarely is. And Upstart Crow has had pathos too, with the death of the son.
There was one episode, wasn't there, when the platoon believes the Germans have invaded and the platoon shoots at them from a couple of cottages (the joke being that Mainwaring and Wilson's sections are firing at each other) where Mainwaring, asking for volunteers to hold up the German army, says something like "it will mean the end for us, of course" or am I horribly misremembering?
Or the film, when the platoon retakes the church hall? Of course, the whole set-up was that most of the Home Guard were veterans of earlier wars. Some of the actors too.
From my grandfather's letters, the men in the Home Guard knew exactly what Churchill meant when he said "You can always take a German with you". They expected to hold every improvised strongpoint for as a long as possible, then *try* and escape. Being WWI soldiers they knew what that meant - and they seemed to be OK with that.
How to explain The Brittas Empire to future generations?
I didn't really find the Brittas Empire funny at the time. But those who did found it very funny indeed.
A relative of mine deals with a lot of comedy figures and reckons Chris Barrie by some way the nicest he has dealt with.
Appears to have had a really threadbare career post Brittas and Red Dwarf for a man of his talents ! But he was brilliant as both Rimmer and Brittas.
He was in a couple of 'Tomb Raider' films later on, and narrates a car crash program that can be quite cringingly funny.
My favourite Chris Barrie anecdote: during the filming of Red Dwarf, the other actors were mucking about as they were trying to do a scene. Barrie - dressed as Rimmer - got angry and said: "Can we have a bit of professionalism, gentlemen?"
The writers heard him say that, and wrote the line into an episode.
His popularity is strongest in the Midlands, so if he were thinking of that route back into frontline politics, going for Andy Street's job might be a better option.
If after all this he really still feels the need for public exposure, I'm afraid he's going to be in Rector of Stiffkey territory.
How to explain The Brittas Empire to future generations?
I didn't really find the Brittas Empire funny at the time. But those who did found it very funny indeed.
A relative of mine deals with a lot of comedy figures and reckons Chris Barrie by some way the nicest he has dealt with.
Appears to have had a really threadbare career post Brittas and Red Dwarf for a man of his talents ! But he was brilliant as both Rimmer and Brittas.
Yes, I always thought his problem was that he was brilliant at playing really dislikeable characters. If you play a likeable character, everyone wants you; I don't know how the industry works but I bet it's not the same for dislikeable characters. Not baddies as such - everyone wanted Alan Rickman - just irritants.
There are probably also fewer parts because dislikeable characters like that are harder to write. It's easier to make someone either sympathetic or a villain.
Has anyone come across any piccies of the Kakhovka Dam in the last few days, now that the waters have receded? It'd be interesting to see the damage. My Google-fu as failed as all the pictures seem to be of it whilst it is still draining.
On the topic of sitcoms can I give a dishonourable mention to Hey Dad!
Not sure if that took off in the UK? It was massive downunder when I lived there, like many shows had the issue of kids ageing out of the story. It finished incredibly bizarrely by everyone getting presumed killed by an exploding VCR bomb. But more disturbing was that it later turned out that the eponymous dad of the show was portrayed by a paedophile who was abusing his on-screen daughters while the show was being filmed.
Can't imagine that show ever getting repeated on air anywhere anymore, no matter how it may have aged.
Spaced and 'Two Pints of Lager' were excellent early-noughties sitcoms.
The latter especially, as friends used to refer to myself and Mrs J as 'Gaz and Donna', as we both looked a little like them. And (ahem), acted like them at times...
Coupling, written by the Dr Who bloke and superficially similar to Friends, was the best from that era imo.
How to explain The Brittas Empire to future generations?
I didn't really find the Brittas Empire funny at the time. But those who did found it very funny indeed.
A relative of mine deals with a lot of comedy figures and reckons Chris Barrie by some way the nicest he has dealt with.
Appears to have had a really threadbare career post Brittas and Red Dwarf for a man of his talents ! But he was brilliant as both Rimmer and Brittas.
Yes, I always thought his problem was that he was brilliant at playing really dislikeable characters. If you play a likeable character, everyone wants you; I don't know how the industry works but I bet it's not the same for dislikeable characters. Not baddies as such - everyone wanted Alan Rickman - just irritants.
There are probably also fewer parts because dislikeable characters like that are harder to write. It's easier to make someone either sympathetic or a villain.
Wasn't the Ace Rimmer storyline created in part because Chris Barrie commented that he would never get to play a hero?
On the topic of sitcoms can I give a dishonourable mention to Hey Dad!
Not sure if that took off in the UK? It was massive downunder when I lived there, like many shows had the issue of kids ageing out of the story. It finished incredibly bizarrely by everyone getting presumed killed by an exploding VCR bomb. But more disturbing was that it later turned out that the eponymous dad of the show was portrayed by a paedophile who was abusing his on-screen daughters while the show was being filmed.
Can't imagine that show ever getting repeated on air anywhere anymore, no matter how it may have aged.
Spaced and 'Two Pints of Lager' were excellent early-noughties sitcoms.
The latter especially, as friends used to refer to myself and Mrs J as 'Gaz and Donna', as we both looked a little like them. And (ahem), acted like them at times...
Coupling, written by the Dr Who bloke and superficially similar to Friends, was the best from that era imo.
This is going well. That was unlucky. It is a good job that England bat deep. - We are here.
This is going well. That was unlucky. It is a good job that England bat deep. We'll get them when we field Well 1-0 is recoverable We've lost but we've got two tests to avoid the whitewash It'll be a different story in Australia
(repeat)
How could you miss this one out?
We'll get them when we field It looks like its going to rain, that will save us. Well 1-0 is recoverable
This is going well. That was unlucky. It is a good job that England bat deep. We are here.
Somethings never change.....Boris Johnson telling porkies and getting rewarded with an extremely well paid writing gig (so much for rise of the AI writers), and England collapso in the Ashes.
I always remember that Boris story about how he thought it was very funny to direct one of his new, young colleagues at the Telegraph to the wrong airport , for her first assignment on a story, and thought that was all very amusing up to not offering an apology later.
A performance and funny wheeze at other people's expense, with no particular awareness of anything moral.
Oh get over yourself he isn't the first person to play a practical joke on someone or initiate someone in such a way.
I believe there was some workplace where one of the workers put a colleague's stapler in some jelly for heaven's sake.
It's not an initiation, more a kind of mockery unawares.
I'm not sure what you find in his character that is particularly worth defending.
As a PM? Precisely nothing. But he is entertaining as a columnist and I bet his columns will be fun to read and engaging. And yes he is a liar and a cheat and lazy and whatnot but that is priced in.
Johnson is a poor writer. He is not particularly entertaining unless you like obvious, cheap, schoolboy slapstick journalism. Like these from the Telegraph.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes” or,
“It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies”.
If you want a real fluency and musicality in your writing, look no further than Sports Correspondents. My favourite was the Observer's Hugh McIllvanney;
"But our reactions are bound to be complicated by the knowledge that it was boxing that gave Johnny Owen his one positive means of self-expression. Outside the ring he was an inaudible and almost invisible personality. Inside, he became astonishingly positive and self-assured. He seemed to be more at home there than anywhere else. It is his tragedy that he found himself articulate in such a dangerous language".
On the topic of sitcoms can I give a dishonourable mention to Hey Dad!
Not sure if that took off in the UK? It was massive downunder when I lived there, like many shows had the issue of kids ageing out of the story. It finished incredibly bizarrely by everyone getting presumed killed by an exploding VCR bomb. But more disturbing was that it later turned out that the eponymous dad of the show was portrayed by a paedophile who was abusing his on-screen daughters while the show was being filmed.
Can't imagine that show ever getting repeated on air anywhere anymore, no matter how it may have aged.
Spaced and 'Two Pints of Lager' were excellent early-noughties sitcoms.
The latter especially, as friends used to refer to myself and Mrs J as 'Gaz and Donna', as we both looked a little like them. And (ahem), acted like them at times...
Coupling, written by the Dr Who bloke and superficially similar to Friends, was the best from that era imo.
The scene from Coupling where he freaks out at a dinner party over the toilet door is one of the funniest bits of television I've seen.
On the topic of sitcoms can I give a dishonourable mention to Hey Dad!
Not sure if that took off in the UK? It was massive downunder when I lived there, like many shows had the issue of kids ageing out of the story. It finished incredibly bizarrely by everyone getting presumed killed by an exploding VCR bomb. But more disturbing was that it later turned out that the eponymous dad of the show was portrayed by a paedophile who was abusing his on-screen daughters while the show was being filmed.
Can't imagine that show ever getting repeated on air anywhere anymore, no matter how it may have aged.
Spaced and 'Two Pints of Lager' were excellent early-noughties sitcoms.
The latter especially, as friends used to refer to myself and Mrs J as 'Gaz and Donna', as we both looked a little like them. And (ahem), acted like them at times...
Coupling, written by the Dr Who bloke and superficially similar to Friends, was the best from that era imo.
Comedy doesn't always age terribly well. I thought the Two Ronnies was funny in the 80s, but watching reruns it doesn't really work as well. No criticism of them - they are both funny men - but the material we find funny changes. I don't know why that should be so, but it does. It's not even that different generations find different things funny: things which are funny then are often just not funny now. Nothing to do with woke - just our collective tastes change. I guess something to do with humour being a defying of expectations; if you know the sort of thing to expect, maybe that takes away some of the humour. I still find them enjoyably clever sometimes, though (which is almost, but not quite, the same thing), like the Mastermind 'answering the previous question' specialist subject. And I find Ronnie Corbett's monologues funnier now than I did then. Monty Python, OTOH, I think has aged very well indeed and is almost as good now as it was back then.
Dad’s Army is still good. (I think, I haven’t seen an episode in about 20 years).
I saw an episode of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum about ten years ago and I thought it was actually pretty good, all things considered.
Sitcoms date OK, the good ones anyway.
It's just as well since they don't seem to be making them any more.
One of the best ever, Curb Your Enthusiasm, still gets made. So does The Simpsons.
The first ten seasons or so of The Simpsons are great. Afterwards it's becomes terrible.
Although it took a good three series to get going.
That still leaves seven series when it was possibly funnier than anything else on telly. That's pretty remarkable, even if there was subsequently quite a long tail.
I know it is now seen as unwoke for many legitimate reasons but I think Friends was consistently funny for its entire 10 season run. Fantastic writing and not a few poignant narrative arcs. I happen to disagree with @BartholomewRoberts about the lesbian element as yes it was a gag at times but they were shown throughout as the smart, sensible ones in the face of Ross' mania.
I would laugh at Friends, but it was the laughter of an irritated man. It was very American - shiny characters living implausibly shiny lives. Which is different to Father Ted*, rather than wrong per se, but still set me up to resent it. And I always saw it as something of a girls' sitcom. Again, not wrong to have girls' sitcoms, but didn't put me in the mood to enjoy it. And of the six main characters, three were highly irritating (the female ones). I know they were meant to be, but it didn't predispose you to spend 30 minutes with them. And yet - if despite all of that I found myself in front of it, I would have to concede it was very funny. The writing was consistently excellent. Just about every joke landed. The acting was excellent. It was very good indeed. It's very strange that it should be seen as unwoke, because in its day it felt very modern in content and tone (which probably also predisposed me to be irritated by it).
*Father Ted! Why hasn't this been mentioned. My nomination for the funniest sitcom ever. I wonder, if Dermot Morgan had lived, whether the writers would have brought it to a satisfying narrative conclusion in the way that some other classics managed?
Although I don't find Father Ted as funny as Black Books, which I think has also aged a lot better - it's only 5 years younger
Which is funnier? That would be an ecumenical matter.
On the topic of sitcoms can I give a dishonourable mention to Hey Dad!
Not sure if that took off in the UK? It was massive downunder when I lived there, like many shows had the issue of kids ageing out of the story. It finished incredibly bizarrely by everyone getting presumed killed by an exploding VCR bomb. But more disturbing was that it later turned out that the eponymous dad of the show was portrayed by a paedophile who was abusing his on-screen daughters while the show was being filmed.
Can't imagine that show ever getting repeated on air anywhere anymore, no matter how it may have aged.
Spaced and 'Two Pints of Lager' were excellent early-noughties sitcoms.
The latter especially, as friends used to refer to myself and Mrs J as 'Gaz and Donna', as we both looked a little like them. And (ahem), acted like them at times...
Coupling, written by the Dr Who bloke and superficially similar to Friends, was the best from that era imo.
The scene from Coupling where he freaks out at a dinner party over the toilet door is one of the funniest bits of television I've seen.
Tbh I do not remember that scene. Time to rewatch, perhaps.
On the topic of sitcoms can I give a dishonourable mention to Hey Dad!
Not sure if that took off in the UK? It was massive downunder when I lived there, like many shows had the issue of kids ageing out of the story. It finished incredibly bizarrely by everyone getting presumed killed by an exploding VCR bomb. But more disturbing was that it later turned out that the eponymous dad of the show was portrayed by a paedophile who was abusing his on-screen daughters while the show was being filmed.
Can't imagine that show ever getting repeated on air anywhere anymore, no matter how it may have aged.
Spaced and 'Two Pints of Lager' were excellent early-noughties sitcoms.
The latter especially, as friends used to refer to myself and Mrs J as 'Gaz and Donna', as we both looked a little like them. And (ahem), acted like them at times...
I rather liked TPOLAAPOC, but I've not come across anyone else before now who did. It was quite north-western humour and I'm not sure it necessarily travelled well.
I liked it for several reasons; for one, it reminded me of my time at uni in London, when I'd do silly things with a bunch of non-students. The musical episode is particularly funny...
I always remember that Boris story about how he thought it was very funny to direct one of his new, young colleagues at the Telegraph to the wrong airport , for her first assignment on a story, and thought that was all very amusing up to not offering an apology later.
A performance and funny wheeze at other people's expense, with no particular awareness of anything moral.
Oh get over yourself he isn't the first person to play a practical joke on someone or initiate someone in such a way.
I believe there was some workplace where one of the workers put a colleague's stapler in some jelly for heaven's sake.
It's not an initiation, more a kind of mockery unawares.
I'm not sure what you find in his character that is particularly worth defending.
As a PM? Precisely nothing. But he is entertaining as a columnist and I bet his columns will be fun to read and engaging. And yes he is a liar and a cheat and lazy and whatnot but that is priced in.
Johnson is a poor writer. He is not particularly entertaining unless you like obvious, cheap, schoolboy slapstick journalism.
I have in the past asked ChatGPT to write a column in the style of Boris Johnson and it does an extremely good impression. Daily Mail could have saved a fortune by just doing this.
I always remember that Boris story about how he thought it was very funny to direct one of his new, young colleagues at the Telegraph to the wrong airport , for her first assignment on a story, and thought that was all very amusing up to not offering an apology later.
A performance and funny wheeze at other people's expense, with no particular awareness of anything moral.
Oh get over yourself he isn't the first person to play a practical joke on someone or initiate someone in such a way.
I believe there was some workplace where one of the workers put a colleague's stapler in some jelly for heaven's sake.
It's not an initiation, more a kind of mockery unawares.
I'm not sure what you find in his character that is particularly worth defending.
As a PM? Precisely nothing. But he is entertaining as a columnist and I bet his columns will be fun to read and engaging. And yes he is a liar and a cheat and lazy and whatnot but that is priced in.
Johnson is a poor writer. He is not particularly entertaining unless you like obvious, cheap, schoolboy slapstick journalism. Like these from the Telegraph.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes” or,
“It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies”.
If you want a real fluency and musicality in your writing, look no further than Sports Correspondents. My favourite was the Observer's Hugh McIllvanney;
"But our reactions are bound to be complicated by the knowledge that it was boxing that gave Johnny Owen his one positive means of self-expression. Outside the ring he was an inaudible and almost invisible personality. Inside, he became astonishingly positive and self-assured. He seemed to be more at home there than anywhere else. It is his tragedy that he found himself articulate in such a dangerous language".
Son of Ayrshire and brother of the very fine novelist William McIlvanney btw.
On the topic of sitcoms can I give a dishonourable mention to Hey Dad!
Not sure if that took off in the UK? It was massive downunder when I lived there, like many shows had the issue of kids ageing out of the story. It finished incredibly bizarrely by everyone getting presumed killed by an exploding VCR bomb. But more disturbing was that it later turned out that the eponymous dad of the show was portrayed by a paedophile who was abusing his on-screen daughters while the show was being filmed.
Can't imagine that show ever getting repeated on air anywhere anymore, no matter how it may have aged.
Spaced and 'Two Pints of Lager' were excellent early-noughties sitcoms.
The latter especially, as friends used to refer to myself and Mrs J as 'Gaz and Donna', as we both looked a little like them. And (ahem), acted like them at times...
I always remember that Boris story about how he thought it was very funny to direct one of his new, young colleagues at the Telegraph to the wrong airport , for her first assignment on a story, and thought that was all very amusing up to not offering an apology later.
A performance and funny wheeze at other people's expense, with no particular awareness of anything moral.
Oh get over yourself he isn't the first person to play a practical joke on someone or initiate someone in such a way.
I believe there was some workplace where one of the workers put a colleague's stapler in some jelly for heaven's sake.
It's not an initiation, more a kind of mockery unawares.
I'm not sure what you find in his character that is particularly worth defending.
As a PM? Precisely nothing. But he is entertaining as a columnist and I bet his columns will be fun to read and engaging. And yes he is a liar and a cheat and lazy and whatnot but that is priced in.
Johnson is a poor writer. He is not particularly entertaining unless you like obvious, cheap, schoolboy slapstick journalism. Like these from the Telegraph.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes” or,
“It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies”.
If you want a real fluency and musicality in your writing, look no further than Sports Correspondents. My favourite was the Observer's Hugh McIllvanney;
"But our reactions are bound to be complicated by the knowledge that it was boxing that gave Johnny Owen his one positive means of self-expression. Outside the ring he was an inaudible and almost invisible personality. Inside, he became astonishingly positive and self-assured. He seemed to be more at home there than anywhere else. It is his tragedy that he found himself articulate in such a dangerous language".
Son of Ayrshire and brother of the very fine novelist William McIlvanney btw.
On the topic of sitcoms can I give a dishonourable mention to Hey Dad!
Not sure if that took off in the UK? It was massive downunder when I lived there, like many shows had the issue of kids ageing out of the story. It finished incredibly bizarrely by everyone getting presumed killed by an exploding VCR bomb. But more disturbing was that it later turned out that the eponymous dad of the show was portrayed by a paedophile who was abusing his on-screen daughters while the show was being filmed.
Can't imagine that show ever getting repeated on air anywhere anymore, no matter how it may have aged.
Spaced and 'Two Pints of Lager' were excellent early-noughties sitcoms.
The latter especially, as friends used to refer to myself and Mrs J as 'Gaz and Donna', as we both looked a little like them. And (ahem), acted like them at times...
Coupling, written by the Dr Who bloke and superficially similar to Friends, was the best from that era imo.
The scene from Coupling where he freaks out at a dinner party over the toilet door is one of the funniest bits of television I've seen.
Tbh I do not remember that scene. Time to rewatch, perhaps.
I haven't seen it in ages, will have to see if its on a streaming service I have for a rewatch too I think.
The episode from memory is centred around the fact that she removed the lock from the toilet door, which really annoyed him, building up to this monologue.
While most sitcom humour is based upon absurd situations I think its the remarkable trivialness of this issue, combined with the total relatability of it that makes it so funny for me.
I always remember that Boris story about how he thought it was very funny to direct one of his new, young colleagues at the Telegraph to the wrong airport , for her first assignment on a story, and thought that was all very amusing up to not offering an apology later.
A performance and funny wheeze at other people's expense, with no particular awareness of anything moral.
Oh get over yourself he isn't the first person to play a practical joke on someone or initiate someone in such a way.
I believe there was some workplace where one of the workers put a colleague's stapler in some jelly for heaven's sake.
It's not an initiation, more a kind of mockery unawares.
I'm not sure what you find in his character that is particularly worth defending.
As a PM? Precisely nothing. But he is entertaining as a columnist and I bet his columns will be fun to read and engaging. And yes he is a liar and a cheat and lazy and whatnot but that is priced in.
Johnson is a poor writer. He is not particularly entertaining unless you like obvious, cheap, schoolboy slapstick journalism.
I have in the past asked ChatGPT to write a column in the style of Boris Johnson and it does an extremely good impression. Daily Mail could have saved a fortune by just doing this.
Given Johnson's laziness, I think there's a fair chance they will in fact get the ChatGPT version.
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
I always remember that Boris story about how he thought it was very funny to direct one of his new, young colleagues at the Telegraph to the wrong airport , for her first assignment on a story, and thought that was all very amusing up to not offering an apology later.
A performance and funny wheeze at other people's expense, with no particular awareness of anything moral.
Oh get over yourself he isn't the first person to play a practical joke on someone or initiate someone in such a way.
I believe there was some workplace where one of the workers put a colleague's stapler in some jelly for heaven's sake.
It's not an initiation, more a kind of mockery unawares.
I'm not sure what you find in his character that is particularly worth defending.
As a PM? Precisely nothing. But he is entertaining as a columnist and I bet his columns will be fun to read and engaging. And yes he is a liar and a cheat and lazy and whatnot but that is priced in.
Johnson is a poor writer. He is not particularly entertaining unless you like obvious, cheap, schoolboy slapstick journalism. Like these from the Telegraph.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes” or,
“It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies”.
If you want a real fluency and musicality in your writing, look no further than Sports Correspondents. My favourite was the Observer's Hugh McIllvanney;
"But our reactions are bound to be complicated by the knowledge that it was boxing that gave Johnny Owen his one positive means of self-expression. Outside the ring he was an inaudible and almost invisible personality. Inside, he became astonishingly positive and self-assured. He seemed to be more at home there than anywhere else. It is his tragedy that he found himself articulate in such a dangerous language".
Son of Ayrshire and brother of the very fine novelist William McIlvanney btw.
I remember reading and enjoying Laidlaw in English at school.
(Vladimir Lenin. On the Left-Wing Childishness. May 1918)
..."We, the party of the proletariat, have no other way of acquiring the ability to organise large-scale production ... except by acquiring it from the first-class capitalist experts"
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
The Mail is a successful commercial organisation and presumably knows their audience, but still one wonders what kind of eedjit would want to hear another word from Johnson.
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
Boris has long been a hollow mockery. And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.
Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
You would think Bad Al would have been finished after his time in government, now he is never off the bloody telly. I think Boris being Boris is still a draw for certain demographic, maybe more so, now that his musings are just that, musings.
Jim TRUSTY, who dropped off of Trump's criminal defense team last week, is now withdrawing from Trump's lawsuit against CNN, citing "irreconcilable differences" with his client. https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1669707102120558597
(Vladimir Lenin. On the Left-Wing Childishness. May 1918)
..."We, the party of the proletariat, have no other way of acquiring the ability to organise large-scale production ... except by acquiring it from the first-class capitalist experts"
The later led directly to the Ukrainian Famine - the headlong drive for exports to pay for the (largely) American building of entire factory complexes on a vast scale.
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
The Mail is a successful commercial organisation and presumably knows their audience, but still one wonders what kind of eedjit would want to hear another word from Johnson.
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
Boris has long been a hollow mockery. And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.
Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
TalkTV @TalkTV · 13m BREAKING: Boris Johnson committed a “clear breach” of the rules by only informing the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments of becoming a columnist at the Daily Mail half an hour before the public announcement, the watchdog has said.
How much do we reckon Bozza is getting for spaffing out 500-1000 words a week for the Daily Mail?
£100-200k
He used to get £250k from Telegraph, I imagine its more than that, especially as Mail has a massive online footprint and I imagine they hope to get the likes of US clicking to read the "Eccentric" British posh bloke ramblings.
Boris Johnson has committed a "clear breach" of the rules surrounding jobs outside parliament after only informing a key watchdog of his new Daily Mail column half an hour before it was publicly announced.
Whitehall's anti-corruption watchdog said the former prime minister - who has vowed to offer uncensored views - had not sought its advice on the matter within an appropriate timeframe.
Former ministers are meant to apply to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) before taking up a new appointment or role for up to two years after leaving government.
An Acoba spokesperson said: "The Ministerial Code states that ministers must ensure that no new appointments are announced, or taken up, before the committee has been able to provide its advice.
"An application received 30 mins before an appointment is announced is a clear breach.
TalkTV @TalkTV · 13m BREAKING: Boris Johnson committed a “clear breach” of the rules by only informing the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments of becoming a columnist at the Daily Mail half an hour before the public announcement, the watchdog has said.
Boris Johnson ... clear breach of the rules ... anyone else getting deja vu?
Jim TRUSTY, who dropped off of Trump's criminal defense team last week, is now withdrawing from Trump's lawsuit against CNN, citing "irreconcilable differences" with his client. https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1669707102120558597
When people lose lawyers like this, it isn't normally payment related.
It's normally the case that the client wishes to pursue an argument that the lawyer doesn't just suspect but knows to be untrue. In those circumstances, it becomes impossible to reconcile the duty of candor to the court with duty to the client, and they have to withdraw.
Of course, some lawyers would continue in those circumstances for the pay. But it's a pretty big professional ethics risk and, if you're caught out, career-ending.
(Vladimir Lenin. On the Left-Wing Childishness. May 1918)
..."We, the party of the proletariat, have no other way of acquiring the ability to organise large-scale production ... except by acquiring it from the first-class capitalist experts"
...and then making the proletariat do the same shitty jobs for the same shitty pay, while we get to enjoy the trappings of wealth.
The FT theme tune was taken from a really rather lovely Divine Comedy song called Songs of Love, b-side to the splendid Something for the Weekend. Redolent of me enjoying TFI Friday, A levels, pints of John Smiths for £1.05 and twenty Regal for £3.50. Simpler times.
How much do we reckon Bozza is getting for spaffing out 500-1000 words a week for the Daily Mail?
£100-200k
He used to get £250k from Telegraph, I imagine its more than that, especially as Mail has a massive online footprint and I imagine they hope to get the likes of US clicking to read the "Eccentric" British posh bloke ramblings.
If they hope for that, they are deluded.
Boris’s “writing” really doesn’t travel beyond a certain niche of British society, one that is largely ageing and provincial.
He makes sense for the Telegraph, and perhaps even for the Mail, in terms of appealing to their existing audience, but not in attracting new ones and certainly none outside a rather claustrophobic culture which finds the word, “japes”, inherently amusing.
TalkTV @TalkTV · 13m BREAKING: Boris Johnson committed a “clear breach” of the rules by only informing the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments of becoming a columnist at the Daily Mail half an hour before the public announcement, the watchdog has said.
Boris Johnson ... clear breach of the rules ... anyone else getting deja vu?
This sort of thing has happened in the past. ACOBA are toothless, so nothing will really happen.
Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.
Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.
The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.
Boris Johnson has committed a "clear breach" of the rules surrounding jobs outside parliament after only informing a key watchdog of his new Daily Mail column half an hour before it was publicly announced.
Whitehall's anti-corruption watchdog said the former prime minister - who has vowed to offer uncensored views - had not sought its advice on the matter within an appropriate timeframe.
Former ministers are meant to apply to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) before taking up a new appointment or role for up to two years after leaving government.
An Acoba spokesperson said: "The Ministerial Code states that ministers must ensure that no new appointments are announced, or taken up, before the committee has been able to provide its advice.
"An application received 30 mins before an appointment is announced is a clear breach.
I must unequivocally declare that I have never, to the best of my knowledge, intentionally transgressed any regulations. It is my firm belief that an unfortunate entanglement occurred within the intricate labyrinth of the interweb pipes, leading to a regrettable predicament where my electronic correspondence failed to reach its intended recipients. This peculiar predicament reminds me of the inexplicable blockage that occasionally afflicts the drainage pipes of my esteemed colleague, Eric Pickles, particularly after indulging in a sumptuous evening repast.
Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.
Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.
The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
Boris has long been a hollow mockery. And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.
Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
Boris has long been a hollow mockery. And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.
Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
The Daily Mail is the most influential British newspaper in America because
1. It’s huge online
2. It’s brilliant at breaking stories and stirring up controversy
It really isn’t “just gossip”. It IS good at gossip but it is good at much other stuff, too
Boris Johnson has committed a "clear breach" of the rules surrounding jobs outside parliament after only informing a key watchdog of his new Daily Mail column half an hour before it was publicly announced.
Whitehall's anti-corruption watchdog said the former prime minister - who has vowed to offer uncensored views - had not sought its advice on the matter within an appropriate timeframe.
Former ministers are meant to apply to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) before taking up a new appointment or role for up to two years after leaving government.
An Acoba spokesperson said: "The Ministerial Code states that ministers must ensure that no new appointments are announced, or taken up, before the committee has been able to provide its advice.
"An application received 30 mins before an appointment is announced is a clear breach.
Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.
Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.
The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.
One of my rare opportunities to declare that I think railway stations should be in the hands of the relevant local authorities.
They are critical contributors to a “sense of place”. Plus, notwithstanding various safety requirements etc, there’s enough doddering folks about who would love the chance to volunteer at the local station, in a not dissimilar way to the way they do at the National Trust.
Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.
Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.
The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.
Motorway service stations and entertainment locations could also do with a prod.
I had to remortgage the house when the family and I went to the cinema to watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and we got some pick'n'mix and drinks.
He'll probably lob in weekly nuisances to Sunak, but it will only have much effect if the Tories really want to go down to an even greater defeat than otherwise.
Who are the great Borisovian names, to revive him, except Rees-Mogg, Nadine and M'Lord Frosties ? There aren't really any, because he was a partly comical, partly Trumpite cult of personality.
Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.
Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.
The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.
How much do we reckon Bozza is getting for spaffing out 500-1000 words a week for the Daily Mail?
£100-200k
He used to get £250k from Telegraph, I imagine its more than that, especially as Mail has a massive online footprint and I imagine they hope to get the likes of US clicking to read the "Eccentric" British posh bloke ramblings.
If they hope for that, they are deluded.
Boris’s “writing” really doesn’t travel beyond a certain niche of British society, one that is largely ageing and provincial.
He makes sense for the Telegraph, and perhaps even for the Mail, in terms of appealing to their existing audience, but not in attracting new ones and certainly none outside a rather claustrophobic culture which finds the word, “japes”, inherently amusing.
I agree. I don’t think he’ll be a major pull for US readers. Which is one reason I don’t think he’s gonna be getting crazy money
The mail doesn’t need him to do that. It’s online presence in America is huge
Little known fact: the Sun is also fast and successfully expanding online in America (and worldwide). YouTube is one of their main portals
British tabloids are good at what they do and they’re now - belatedly - mastering social media and the Net
Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.
Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.
The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.
That's been known for donkey's years. I doubt there's a London commuter who did not know you'd pay more at (say) M&S at Liverpool St than 200 yards down the road at Moorgate.
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
The more important thing is will the Telegraph remain on team Boris now he's fucked off to the Mail?
What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
Haven't Telegraph got bigger worries at the moment i.e. they are bust and who will actually want to buy them.
No, they are profitable, the owners are just bust, hence LBG seized the assets.
I didn't know they actually made money. Have they really managed to convert people to the online subscription model? I genuinely thought they were losing readers / money like basically every paper other than the Mail and (I think) the Times.
This is going well. That was unlucky. It is a good job that England bat deep. We are here.
Somethings never change.....Boris Johnson telling porkies and getting rewarded with an extremely well paid writing gig (so much for rise of the AI writers), and England collapso in the Ashes.
I love a collapso - I like drinking the orangey melted bit at the bottom.
A senior Goldman Sachs banker allegedly agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with a more junior female employee after he accidentally sent her a sexually explicit clip.
Adam Dell, 53, who is the brother of the billionaire computer tycoon Michael Dell, was recording himself for a work project while working remotely in 2020 but left the camera on by accident, according to Bloomberg.
He is said to have sent the entire video file, including footage of explicit activity, to a junior colleague who subsequently hired a lawyer who sought $30 million for her, Bloomberg said. Dell agreed to a settlement for a lower amount, it alleged.
The incident was said to have been so serious that it led to an internal review that involved David Solomon, the boss of the New York-based Goldman and one of the most powerful executives on Wall Street.
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
The more important thing is will the Telegraph remain on team Boris now he's fucked off to the Mail?
What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
Haven't Telegraph got bigger worries at the moment i.e. they are bust and who will actually want to buy them.
Completely wrong. The Telegraph is notably profitable (as is the Spectator). It’s the owners - the Barclay brothers - who have a dispute about debt with their bankers who are being forced to sell
“Telegraph hits a record 740,000 subscribers as profits surge Telegraph Media Group continues transformation to a subscription-led digital business”
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
Rishi's "destruction" is assured at the hands of the electorate in Election 24. Until then he'll remain PM as the Tories can't change leader again.
Boris might use his column as a platform to try and get back into Parliament at the next election and/or another high profile job (London Mayoralty for example) or to generally cause trouble for whoever follows Rish as Con leader and LOTO.
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
Boris has long been a hollow mockery. And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.
Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
Boris has long been a hollow mockery. And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.
Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
The Daily Mail is the most influential British newspaper in America because
1. It’s huge online
2. It’s brilliant at breaking stories and stirring up controversy
It really isn’t “just gossip”. It IS good at gossip but it is good at much other stuff, too
We should be proud of it. A great UK export
Have you been drinking again . So you’re proud of a paper that just peddles hate .
This is going well. That was unlucky. It is a good job that England bat deep. We are here.
Somethings never change.....Boris Johnson telling porkies and getting rewarded with an extremely well paid writing gig (so much for rise of the AI writers), and England collapso in the Ashes.
I love a collapso - I like drinking the orangey melted bit at the bottom.
Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.
Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.
The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
The more important thing is will the Telegraph remain on team Boris now he's fucked off to the Mail?
What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
Haven't Telegraph got bigger worries at the moment i.e. they are bust and who will actually want to buy them.
No, they are profitable, the owners are just bust, hence LBG seized the assets.
I didn't know they actually made money. Have they really managed to convert people to the online subscription model? I genuinely thought they were losing readers / money like basically every paper other than the Mail and (I think) the Times.
Pre-tax profits at Telegraph Media Group were up by a third in 2021 as its subscription-first strategy continues to drive growth.
Digital subscription revenues grew by 40% to £44.1m, which the company said was ahead of expectations. Overall revenue was up by 4% to £245m.
The Telegraph introduced a subscription-first strategy several years ago and is targeting one million paying subscribers and ten million registered users by the end of 2023.
The Telegraph first adopted an online paywall in 2013.
The title reached 720,000 subscribers in December and has since topped 744,000 (made up of 577,720 digital and 167,000 print). Registered users were at seven million in December 2021, up from 6.6 million a year earlier.
In a report of its financial results for the year ending December 2021, published on Wednesday, TMG said its pre-tax profits had reached £29.6m, up from £22m in 2020 and £6.2m in 2019.
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
The more important thing is will the Telegraph remain on team Boris now he's fucked off to the Mail?
What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
Haven't Telegraph got bigger worries at the moment i.e. they are bust and who will actually want to buy them.
Completely wrong. The Telegraph is notably profitable (as is the Spectator). It’s the owners - the Barclay brothers - who have a dispute about debt with their bankers who are being forced to sell
“Telegraph hits a record 740,000 subscribers as profits surge Telegraph Media Group continues transformation to a subscription-led digital business”
I stand corrected. Who the bloody hell is subscribing to the Telegraph these days, its absolutely shit offering these days. Other than the genius Matt cartoon (which you can get for free), we were only saying the other week how clickbaity a lot of their articles are now and they lost most of their big name columnists.
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
Boris has long been a hollow mockery. And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.
Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
Boris has long been a hollow mockery. And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.
Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
The Daily Mail is the most influential British newspaper in America because
1. It’s huge online
2. It’s brilliant at breaking stories and stirring up controversy
It really isn’t “just gossip”. It IS good at gossip but it is good at much other stuff, too
We should be proud of it. A great UK export
Have you been drinking again . So you’re proud of a paper that just peddles hate .
Using the slavery principle, it's the people that purchase the hate who should be blamed, not those who peddle it.
NB Quite a few British papers are now making healthy profits. The idea they are all in total and terminal decline is highly outdated. Multiple titles have mastered the digital output and the paywall (or the side boob of shame)
This is a good thing. We have a healthy media ecosystem. The BBC being told to rein in its website has helped
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
The more important thing is will the Telegraph remain on team Boris now he's fucked off to the Mail?
What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
Haven't Telegraph got bigger worries at the moment i.e. they are bust and who will actually want to buy them.
Completely wrong. The Telegraph is notably profitable (as is the Spectator). It’s the owners - the Barclay brothers - who have a dispute about debt with their bankers who are being forced to sell
“Telegraph hits a record 740,000 subscribers as profits surge Telegraph Media Group continues transformation to a subscription-led digital business”
I stand corrected. Who the bloody hell is subscribing to the Telegraph these days, its absolutely shit offering these days. Other than the genius Matt cartoon (which you can get for free), we were only saying the other week how clickbaity a lot of their articles are now and they lost most of their big name columnists.
They offered me a year long subscription for £29 which then became £19.
Reluctantly I took the subscription for PB thread headers.
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
Rishi's "destruction" is assured at the hands of the electorate in Election 24. Until then he'll remain PM as the Tories can't change leader again.
Boris might use his column as a platform to try and get back into Parliament at the next election and/or another high profile job (London Mayoralty for example) or to generally cause trouble for whoever follows Rish as Con leader and LOTO.
Colour me naive, but I suspect the nation as a whole would just like him to **** off forever!
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
The Mail is a successful commercial organisation and presumably knows their audience, but still one wonders what kind of eedjit would want to hear another word from Johnson.
I’m sure to the Mail their money is as good as anyone else’s.
A senior Goldman Sachs banker allegedly agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with a more junior female employee after he accidentally sent her a sexually explicit clip.
Adam Dell, 53, who is the brother of the billionaire computer tycoon Michael Dell, was recording himself for a work project while working remotely in 2020 but left the camera on by accident, according to Bloomberg.
He is said to have sent the entire video file, including footage of explicit activity, to a junior colleague who subsequently hired a lawyer who sought $30 million for her, Bloomberg said. Dell agreed to a settlement for a lower amount, it alleged.
The incident was said to have been so serious that it led to an internal review that involved David Solomon, the boss of the New York-based Goldman and one of the most powerful executives on Wall Street.
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
The more important thing is will the Telegraph remain on team Boris now he's fucked off to the Mail?
What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
Haven't Telegraph got bigger worries at the moment i.e. they are bust and who will actually want to buy them.
Completely wrong. The Telegraph is notably profitable (as is the Spectator). It’s the owners - the Barclay brothers - who have a dispute about debt with their bankers who are being forced to sell
“Telegraph hits a record 740,000 subscribers as profits surge Telegraph Media Group continues transformation to a subscription-led digital business”
I stand corrected. Who the bloody hell is subscribing to the Telegraph these days, its absolutely shit offering these days. Other than the genius Matt cartoon (which you can get for free), we were only saying the other week how clickbaity a lot of their articles are now and they lost most of their big name columnists.
They offered me a year long subscription for £29 which then became £19.
Reluctantly I took the subscription for PB thread headers.
Is that for paper copies? You must be drowning in a broadsheet tsunami. I gave up the Spectator because I was finding the weekly mags too much.
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
The more important thing is will the Telegraph remain on team Boris now he's fucked off to the Mail?
What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
Haven't Telegraph got bigger worries at the moment i.e. they are bust and who will actually want to buy them.
Completely wrong. The Telegraph is notably profitable (as is the Spectator). It’s the owners - the Barclay brothers - who have a dispute about debt with their bankers who are being forced to sell
“Telegraph hits a record 740,000 subscribers as profits surge Telegraph Media Group continues transformation to a subscription-led digital business”
I stand corrected. Who the bloody hell is subscribing to the Telegraph these days, its absolutely shit offering these days. Other than the genius Matt cartoon (which you can get for free), we were only saying the other week how clickbaity a lot of their articles are now and they lost most of their big name columnists.
I subscribe to the digital edition. Coz it’s really cheap (if you catch one of their special offers) and they have just enough clicky articles that make me want to read
I think I’m paying £2 a week. I probably read 20 telegraph articles a week. That’s 10p an article. That’s fine. I am happy to support journalism and I’m hardly being robbed in daylight
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
The more important thing is will the Telegraph remain on team Boris now he's fucked off to the Mail?
What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
Haven't Telegraph got bigger worries at the moment i.e. they are bust and who will actually want to buy them.
Completely wrong. The Telegraph is notably profitable (as is the Spectator). It’s the owners - the Barclay brothers - who have a dispute about debt with their bankers who are being forced to sell
“Telegraph hits a record 740,000 subscribers as profits surge Telegraph Media Group continues transformation to a subscription-led digital business”
I stand corrected. Who the bloody hell is subscribing to the Telegraph these days, its absolutely shit offering these days. Other than the genius Matt cartoon (which you can get for free), we were only saying the other week how clickbaity a lot of their articles are now and they lost most of their big name columnists.
Agreed. It is a broadsheet version of the Daily Express. I used to regularly read it, but I wouldn't trust any of it's reporting now
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
Boris has long been a hollow mockery. And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.
Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
Not sure that Boris will really work as a columnist any more. His entire approach revolved around 'Oh Boris! Well said! Boris for prime minister!' For him to start putting the world to rights with his 'common sense' musings now would seem a hollow mockery.
Boris has long been a hollow mockery. And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.
Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
One of the most read websites in the world...I don't think all of them are as you describe. A bit like the sidebar of shame, I imagine there are people who enjoy the word salad nonsense, safe in the knowledge its nonsense, in the same way when I worked in academia I used to chuckle how many people you would catch having a sneaky look at all the gossip on there (despite I imagine never agreeing with the news agenda).
The Daily Mail is the most influential British newspaper in America because
1. It’s huge online
2. It’s brilliant at breaking stories and stirring up controversy
It really isn’t “just gossip”. It IS good at gossip but it is good at much other stuff, too
We should be proud of it. A great UK export
The only time I've ever found the Mail useful was recently, when it's less frightened than other major outlets to report the UFO claims, partly because it's been less worried about its prestige. It was also good on the Stephen Lawrence scandal because his Dad had worked for Dacre, on one occasion.
On the other hand, it's still mainly a steaming pile of toxic waste, alternately hypocritically prurient and hypocrtically moralistic, thoughtlessly reactionary and almost feudally obsequious, which is somehow incarnated in the backwardly Gothic script on its masthead.
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
The more important thing is will the Telegraph remain on team Boris now he's fucked off to the Mail?
What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
Haven't Telegraph got bigger worries at the moment i.e. they are bust and who will actually want to buy them.
Completely wrong. The Telegraph is notably profitable (as is the Spectator). It’s the owners - the Barclay brothers - who have a dispute about debt with their bankers who are being forced to sell
“Telegraph hits a record 740,000 subscribers as profits surge Telegraph Media Group continues transformation to a subscription-led digital business”
I stand corrected. Who the bloody hell is subscribing to the Telegraph these days, its absolutely shit offering these days. Other than the genius Matt cartoon (which you can get for free), we were only saying the other week how clickbaity a lot of their articles are now and they lost most of their big name columnists.
They offered me a year long subscription for £29 which then became £19.
Reluctantly I took the subscription for PB thread headers.
Is that for paper copies? You must be drowning in a broadsheet tsunami. I gave up the Spectator because I was finding the weekly mags too much.
Comedy doesn't always age terribly well. I thought the Two Ronnies was funny in the 80s, but watching reruns it doesn't really work as well. No criticism of them - they are both funny men - but the material we find funny changes. I don't know why that should be so, but it does. It's not even that different generations find different things funny: things which are funny then are often just not funny now. Nothing to do with woke - just our collective tastes change. I guess something to do with humour being a defying of expectations; if you know the sort of thing to expect, maybe that takes away some of the humour. I still find them enjoyably clever sometimes, though (which is almost, but not quite, the same thing), like the Mastermind 'answering the previous question' specialist subject. And I find Ronnie Corbett's monologues funnier now than I did then. Monty Python, OTOH, I think has aged very well indeed and is almost as good now as it was back then.
Dad’s Army is still good. (I think, I haven’t seen an episode in about 20 years).
I saw an episode of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum about ten years ago and I thought it was actually pretty good, all things considered.
Sitcoms date OK, the good ones anyway.
It Ain't Half Hot Mum isn't as bad as Curry & Chips. My god that was...something else
Sitcoms set in history hold up very well. Dad's Army is gentle humour, with affection for all of the cast. In real life you should hate the spiv, but here he's likeable. Mainwaring is a figure of fun, pompous, just assumes he should be in charge, but utterly brave and wants to do his duty. I have no doubt he would have given his life if required.
In recent times Upstart Crow has mined the same period as Blackadder 2, but in a very different way. Blackadder could be a lot more cruel, whereas Upstart Crow rarely is. And Upstart Crow has had pathos too, with the death of the son.
There was one episode, wasn't there, when the platoon believes the Germans have invaded and the platoon shoots at them from a couple of cottages (the joke being that Mainwaring and Wilson's sections are firing at each other) where Mainwaring, asking for volunteers to hold up the German army, says something like "it will mean the end for us, of course" or am I horribly misremembering?
Or the film, when the platoon retakes the church hall? Of course, the whole set-up was that most of the Home Guard were veterans of earlier wars. Some of the actors too.
There was a fab episode where they found out Godfrey was a conscientious objector in WW1 and the platoon, especially Mainwaring, gave him a really hard time about it. It turned out he was in the RAMC and won honours for rescuing people from No Mans Land which left Mainwaring somewhat embarrassed and Wilson feeling a little self satisfied at not being so judgemental.
In real life Arnold Ridley had been a world war 1 soldier and a rather accomplished one too.
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
Rishi's "destruction" is assured at the hands of the electorate in Election 24. Until then he'll remain PM as the Tories can't change leader again.
Boris might use his column as a platform to try and get back into Parliament at the next election and/or another high profile job (London Mayoralty for example) or to generally cause trouble for whoever follows Rish as Con leader and LOTO.
I think any thought of Johnson returning as London Mayor is absolute fantasy. Remember, he somehow contrived to present himself as liberal and anti-xenophobic when he was mayor. Nobody's going to fall for that now.
Will Boris primarily use his column as a platform from which to bring about Rishi's destruction? That's what we need to establish.
The more important thing is will the Telegraph remain on team Boris now he's fucked off to the Mail?
What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
Haven't Telegraph got bigger worries at the moment i.e. they are bust and who will actually want to buy them.
Completely wrong. The Telegraph is notably profitable (as is the Spectator). It’s the owners - the Barclay brothers - who have a dispute about debt with their bankers who are being forced to sell
“Telegraph hits a record 740,000 subscribers as profits surge Telegraph Media Group continues transformation to a subscription-led digital business”
I stand corrected. Who the bloody hell is subscribing to the Telegraph these days, its absolutely shit offering these days. Other than the genius Matt cartoon (which you can get for free), we were only saying the other week how clickbaity a lot of their articles are now and they lost most of their big name columnists.
I subscribe to the digital edition. Coz it’s really cheap (if you catch one of their special offers) and they have just enough clicky articles that make me want to read
I think I’m paying £2 a week. I probably read 20 telegraph articles a week. That’s 10p an article. That’s fine. I am happy to support journalism and I’m hardly being robbed in daylight
I am fascinated that this actually ends up profitable for the Telegraph.
The Athletic has basically the same "the price is never really the price" model, where you can always get your yearly sub for £10-20, and they were burning through venture capital money until they sold to NYT. The long term plan was always become the go to sports outlet, get everybody used to paying a bit for it, then charge £5-10 a month for it.
Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.
Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.
The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.
A senior Goldman Sachs banker allegedly agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with a more junior female employee after he accidentally sent her a sexually explicit clip.
Adam Dell, 53, who is the brother of the billionaire computer tycoon Michael Dell, was recording himself for a work project while working remotely in 2020 but left the camera on by accident, according to Bloomberg.
He is said to have sent the entire video file, including footage of explicit activity, to a junior colleague who subsequently hired a lawyer who sought $30 million for her, Bloomberg said. Dell agreed to a settlement for a lower amount, it alleged.
The incident was said to have been so serious that it led to an internal review that involved David Solomon, the boss of the New York-based Goldman and one of the most powerful executives on Wall Street.
Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.
Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.
The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.
Comments
vs
https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1669659376854941703/photo/2
??
My favourite Chris Barrie anecdote: during the filming of Red Dwarf, the other actors were mucking about as they were trying to do a scene. Barrie - dressed as Rimmer - got angry and said: "Can we have a bit of professionalism, gentlemen?"
The writers heard him say that, and wrote the line into an episode.
We'll get them when we field
It looks like its going to rain, that will save us.
Well 1-0 is recoverable
“It is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes” or,
“It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies”.
If you want a real fluency and musicality in your writing, look no further than Sports Correspondents. My favourite was the Observer's Hugh McIllvanney;
"But our reactions are bound to be complicated by the knowledge that it was boxing that gave Johnny Owen his one positive means of self-expression. Outside the ring he was an inaudible and almost invisible personality. Inside, he became astonishingly positive and self-assured. He seemed to be more at home there than anywhere else. It is his tragedy that he found himself articulate in such a dangerous language".
Including this classic (NSFW): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFUgjFDWLNc&list=PLYHyBc4ASMxI7_lG-A0akzKwX_uvN4S21&index=3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H_hL1SS6fE
The episode from memory is centred around the fact that she removed the lock from the toilet door, which really annoyed him, building up to this monologue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IezFzsZwxwE
While most sitcom humour is based upon absurd situations I think its the remarkable trivialness of this issue, combined with the total relatability of it that makes it so funny for me.
https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1669692408991236096
"Only those deserve to be called Communists who understand that it is impossible to build or implement socialism without learning from the [corporate] trust founders"
(Vladimir Lenin. On the Left-Wing Childishness. May 1918)
..."We, the party of the proletariat, have no other way of acquiring the ability to organise large-scale production ... except by acquiring it from the first-class capitalist experts"
And the more you know about Boris, the more hollow he is.
Luckily, the readers of the Daily Mail are as thick as pig-shit and have the memory of a brain damaged goldfish.
https://youtu.be/5-ManI1H9vA
Jim TRUSTY, who dropped off of Trump's criminal defense team last week, is now withdrawing from Trump's lawsuit against CNN, citing "irreconcilable differences" with his client.
https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1669707102120558597
@TalkTV
·
13m
BREAKING: Boris Johnson committed a “clear breach” of the rules by only informing the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments of becoming a columnist at the Daily Mail half an hour before the public announcement, the watchdog has said.
Whitehall's anti-corruption watchdog said the former prime minister - who has vowed to offer uncensored views - had not sought its advice on the matter within an appropriate timeframe.
Former ministers are meant to apply to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) before taking up a new appointment or role for up to two years after leaving government.
An Acoba spokesperson said: "The Ministerial Code states that ministers must ensure that no new appointments are announced, or taken up, before the committee has been able to provide its advice.
"An application received 30 mins before an appointment is announced is a clear breach.
https://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-in-clear-breach-of-rules-after-daily-mail-job-announced-says-mp-watchdog-12903648
It's normally the case that the client wishes to pursue an argument that the lawyer doesn't just suspect but knows to be untrue. In those circumstances, it becomes impossible to reconcile the duty of candor to the court with duty to the client, and they have to withdraw.
Of course, some lawyers would continue in those circumstances for the pay. But it's a pretty big professional ethics risk and, if you're caught out, career-ending.
He’s now an ex PM, at the other end of his career and influence; it’s only a short column, I don’t think he’ll get insane money (£1m is ridic)
And I rightly predicted he would get many millions for the memoir
But remember he could easily write for other papers as well (this doesn’t sound exclusive); he’ll be on TV; his speeches will make £££££
He’s going to be earning 7 figures a year, so there’s no need for PB-ers to worry about Boris’ welfare, as they often do
Boris’s “writing” really doesn’t travel beyond a certain niche of British society, one that is largely ageing and provincial.
He makes sense for the Telegraph, and perhaps even for the Mail, in terms of appealing to their existing audience, but not in attracting new ones and certainly none outside a rather claustrophobic culture which finds the word, “japes”, inherently amusing.
Rip-off food and drink prices at railway stations are being investigated by regulators amid fears retailers are forcing passengers to pay extortionate amounts for everyday essentials.
Rail passengers, already suffering after a year of disruption from strikes, are spending more than £1bn every year on everything from bottled water to burgers.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that “preliminary research and investigations” had identified significantly higher prices in stations compared to the high street.
The regulator has now launched a full investigation into how passengers are paying over the odds.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/06/16/rail-station-prices-investigated-food-drink-ripoff/
1. It’s huge online
2. It’s brilliant at breaking stories and stirring up controversy
It really isn’t “just gossip”. It IS good at gossip but it is good at much other stuff, too
We should be proud of it. A great UK export
They are critical contributors to a “sense of place”.
Plus, notwithstanding various safety requirements etc, there’s enough doddering folks about who would love the chance to volunteer at the local station, in a not dissimilar way to the way they do at the National Trust.
Who are the great Borisovian names, to revive him, except Rees-Mogg, Nadine and M'Lord Frosties ? There aren't really any, because he was a partly comical, partly Trumpite cult of personality.
amid fears amid fears
'as' is the word they're looking for.
What's the point of pimping for the Mail's columnist?
The mail doesn’t need him to do that. It’s online presence in America is huge
Little known fact: the Sun is also fast and successfully expanding online in America (and worldwide). YouTube is one of their main portals
British tabloids are good at what they do and they’re now - belatedly - mastering social media and the Net
A senior Goldman Sachs banker allegedly agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with a more junior female employee after he accidentally sent her a sexually explicit clip.
Adam Dell, 53, who is the brother of the billionaire computer tycoon Michael Dell, was recording himself for a work project while working remotely in 2020 but left the camera on by accident, according to Bloomberg.
He is said to have sent the entire video file, including footage of explicit activity, to a junior colleague who subsequently hired a lawyer who sought $30 million for her, Bloomberg said. Dell agreed to a settlement for a lower amount, it alleged.
The incident was said to have been so serious that it led to an internal review that involved David Solomon, the boss of the New York-based Goldman and one of the most powerful executives on Wall Street.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/goldman-sachs-banker-adam-dell-sent-explicit-tape-to-junior-colleague-d8bgjtsqk
“Telegraph hits a record 740,000 subscribers as profits surge
Telegraph Media Group continues transformation to
a subscription-led digital business”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/05/25/telegraph-hits-record-740000-subscribers-profits-surge/
Boris might use his column as a platform to try and get back into Parliament at the next election and/or another high profile job (London Mayoralty for example) or to generally cause trouble for whoever follows Rish as Con leader and LOTO.
It’s probably to recoup the cost of the charge for the space by the station/airport etc etc.
Digital subscription revenues grew by 40% to £44.1m, which the company said was ahead of expectations. Overall revenue was up by 4% to £245m.
The Telegraph introduced a subscription-first strategy several years ago and is targeting one million paying subscribers and ten million registered users by the end of 2023.
The Telegraph first adopted an online paywall in 2013.
The title reached 720,000 subscribers in December and has since topped 744,000 (made up of 577,720 digital and 167,000 print). Registered users were at seven million in December 2021, up from 6.6 million a year earlier.
In a report of its financial results for the year ending December 2021, published on Wednesday, TMG said its pre-tax profits had reached £29.6m, up from £22m in 2020 and £6.2m in 2019.
https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/telegraph-2021-profit/
This is a good thing. We have a healthy media ecosystem. The BBC being told to rein in its website has helped
Reluctantly I took the subscription for PB thread headers.
I think I’m paying £2 a week. I probably read 20 telegraph articles a week. That’s 10p an article. That’s fine. I am happy to support journalism and I’m hardly being robbed in daylight
On the other hand, it's still mainly a steaming pile of toxic waste, alternately hypocritically prurient and hypocrtically moralistic, thoughtlessly reactionary and almost feudally obsequious, which is somehow incarnated in the backwardly Gothic script on its masthead.
In real life Arnold Ridley had been a world war 1 soldier and a rather accomplished one too.
The Athletic has basically the same "the price is never really the price" model, where you can always get your yearly sub for £10-20, and they were burning through venture capital money until they sold to NYT. The long term plan was always become the go to sports outlet, get everybody used to paying a bit for it, then charge £5-10 a month for it.