Recently, a very nice academic friend kindly asked me to talk to their television studies students about how to succeed with a career as a ‘television historian’. I explained that there hadn’t really been a ‘career’… it was just some stuff that happened when a hobby got out of control.
So I didn’t go. There was nothing to say.
Hmmm… That blog seems to have run shorter than I’d planned. Sorry for wasting your time.
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Andrew Pixley is a retired data developer. For the last 30 years he’s written about almost anything to do with television if people will pay him – and occasionally when they won’t. He started researching British telefantasy series while still at school and when he met a nice man called Stephen he started submitting articles and artwork for the Doctor Who (1963-∞) fanzine Steel Sky (1981-1983), and that developed into another fanzine about British telefantasy called TimeScreen (1984-1995) edited by a nice man called Paul and then another nice man called Anthony.
TimeScreen led to him getting to write on the Gerry Anderson fanzine SiG (1981-1989) run by a nice man called David, the BFI/WTVA magazine PrimeTime (1981-1991) edited by nice men called Dick and Tony, and then an offer from a nice man called Chris to be paid to write for a newsstand magazine called Vulcan (1987-1989). The BFI then staged Past Visions of the Future (1986) at the National Film Theatre, which Dick asked him to write programme notes for.
A nice man called John had been reading TimeScreen and phoned him to ask him if he would like to write for Marvel UK’s Doctor Who Magazine (1979-), and – for over 30 years – he has been documenting the show’s production history for nice men like Gary, Marcus, Gary (another one), Alan, Clayton, Tom and Peter. At Marvel, a nice woman called Louise offered him work on the magazine Fantasy Zone (1989-1990).
Gary (the first one) then recommended him to Virgin Books to write about Blake’s 7. Although the book was never published, he was contacted by a nice man called Kevin who was producing the documentary The Making of Blake’s 7 for BBC Enterprises and hired him as a consultant. When rights problems halted production, he and Kevin moved onto the BBC1 documentary 30 Years in the TARDIS (1993) made by The Late Show team.
Meanwhile, Marcus had moved to Titan and asked him to work on the magazine for The Avengers movie (1999) and then to write the book The Avengers Files (2004). And a nice woman called Caroline who had worked with The Late Show team then recommended him as a researcher/consultant to producers of BBC shows such as Before They Were Famous (1997-2000) and Britain’s Best Sitcom (2004).
The Doctor Who Magazine articles led to working with a nice man called David at the Doctor Who Appreciation Society on a project called The Doctor Who Production Guide (1997) which led him to meet a nice man called Jan who asked him if he’d like to write for a Visual Imagination magazine called TV Zone (1989-2008). At Visual Imagination, other nice men called John and Paul asked him if he would like to write for other magazines such as Starburst (1978-) and Cult Times (1995-2008), while a nice man called Mike from TimeScreen allowed him to have fun on the zine Action TV (1999-2007).
While researching for TV Zone, he contacted the DVD company Network for information about the Ripping Yarns (1976-1979) series. At Network, two nice men called Tim and Steve asked him if he would like to write a booklet for the Ripping Yarns set, and then further sets of DVD viewing notes for series like Public Eye (1965-1975) and Callan (1967-1972). Network branched out into soundtracks, so Steve offered him the chance to write CD notes for series like Man in a Suitcase (1967-1968). These soundtracks were noticed by a nice man called Ben who asked him to write the sleeve notes for the releases of his scores from Thunderbirds Are Go (2015-2020) for Silva Screen. Back at Network, Tim offered him the chance to expand into Blu-ray releases such as The Persuaders! (1971-1972) while Steve gave him a chance to write for the website, and diversify into writing about British films.
Gary (the other one) at Doctor Who Magazine recommended him to BBC Two as consultant on a Doctor Who Night (1999) working with nice men called Michael and Stephen. Stephen then tendered for BBC Two’s Return of the Goodies (2005) which he was asked to develop with Objective North, leading in turn to work on ITV1’s Raiders of the Lost Archives (2007) with a nice man called Chris and BBC One’s Blackadder Rides Again (2008) with a nice man called Adam and the book The Goodies: Super Chaps Three (2010) for Kaleidoscope with two nice men called Simon and Chris. Meanwhile, a nice man called Roger picked up on Doctor Who Night and offered him work on TVTimes (1968-).
Doctor Who Magazine led to a nice man called Justin asking him to work on Doctor Who – The Scripts (2001) at BBC Books. Meanwhile, nice people at BBC Enterprises who offered him work on Doctor Who DVD releases, and then viewing notes for titles such as the Quatermass serials (1953-1959).
The Doctor Who Magazine work was updated in Doctor Who Special Edition magazines (2002-) which caught the attention of a nice man called Michael at BBC Audiobooks who asked him to help with archival Doctor Who releases. Michael then started extensive CD releases of comedy strands such as The Goon Show (1952-1960) and offered a chance to work on these, and classic SF such as Journey into Space (1953-1958,1981).
As a tangent to the Doctor Who Magazine work, the spin-off series resulted in a nice man called Simon at Titan offering him a chance to do more of the same on Torchwood Magazine (2008-2011). Subsequently, his material from Doctor Who Magazine and Doctor Who Special Edition was combined in a uniform edition 90 volume work: Doctor Who – The Complete History (2015-2019), produced by nice men called John and Mark. Also working on Doctor Who Magazine was a nice man called Graham, who asked him to come and join in the fun on the Bauer magazine TV Years (2018-).
Then some e-mails from a nice woman called Kim via the MECCSA feed led to him being offered a chance to do some blogging at CSTonline, presented by a nice man called Tobias.
His boringly bland 20th Century middle-class sensibilities make him abhor self-promotion. And if he was ever to write a piece of prose as repulsively self-centred as this one, he would do so to demonstrate the importance of people who give you opportunities to develop and progress. He strongly values all the nice people whom he has met in his life who have offered him these (and more) amazing opportunities, and knows that without them – and an extremely nice woman called Julie – he’d never have achieved anything.
Hello, I’d like to contact Andrew Pixley if possible, to ask if he would be interested in, or can help put me in touch with anyone regarding a proposal for a project, to do with lost sketches from Monty Python episode 36 (and other related material). As he wrote the books for the recent blu ray release, I thought he would be a good person to try and talk to. Are you able to contact him at all to see if he might respond?
Regards
Hello Chris 🙂
This is me responding. How can I help in a Python-wise fashion?
All the best
Andrew
Hi Andrew, thanks for your response, and please excuse my severe delay.
Regarding episode 36, and other instances of lost material, I was wondering if it would be possible to get the lost parts filmed from the surviving scripts – like UKTV did with Dad’s Army last year. I have contacted them, but there has been no sign they would consider it.
They could even be animated, in a python-esque style.
It would just be good to recreate what might have been. I don’t know if there’s any chance of getting the Pythons on board with such a proposal.
It would also be great to have versions of the episodes with the found deleted and censored footage reinstated, rather than just as extras on the blu ray, but I know this would be unlikely, as they’ve only just released the versions reconstructed to broadcast length. So, the main thing is, getting the lost scenes filmed, and then, ideally, having them added in to the episodes they were planned for, in reconstructed versions.
This is a big ask, but if there’s anything, anyone, it would be great to discuss it with you.
If not, I understand, and thanks.
Regards
Chris
I’ll answer this below Chris, because – as you can see – it’s all got a bit narrow up here. Meet you down the foot of the screen…
All the best
Andrew
Hi Andrew.
My name is John Gilder.
I am an author of several books, mainly about Ravenglass.
The booklet you wrote for the ‘The Intruder’ DVD was absolutely amazing. I am a massive fan of that TV serial, a serial that opened my universe in so many ways. And thanks for the comment in the booklet.
It was said that there was a chance of a sequel, but it never materialised. However, I am a quarter of the way through writing my version of the sequel ‘Arnold’s Life’ and wondered if you thought this to be feasible . I am aware of copyright issues and things and would welcome your advice.
Kind regards
John.
I am seeking advice
Hello John 🙂
Thank you for your kind words. “The Intruder” *was* such a striking serial wasn’t it – I had vague memories of it from the 1970s and was then impressed when I saw the opening episode on the “Look-Back” volume, so when Network offered me the chance to write some viewing notes, I leapt at it. And I’m so glad I did. A very stylish, very challenging piece of television. And the book was rather impressive too – ‘YA’ before people knew what ‘YA’ was in the UK…?
The viewing notes were about a week’s work two years ago, and I’m afraid that I can’t remember much of the detail, but, yes, I remember reading about your creative collection inspired by the story.
As to your sequel being feasible… I’m afraid I’d have no idea whatsoever. I’m basically a hobbyist-researcher, and if a publisher hires me to take on a job that interests me, I’ll take it on. But it’s always all research on the production side and I would have no interests or talents at all in deploying towards something fictional of a creative nature. As such, I’d suggest that you maybe contact other authors who have “continued” the story of established characters. I’m vaguely guessing that if you use another writer’s characters, settings or concepts in your own creative work then you need the permission of the original writer or their estate… so I think your best bet is to consult a publisher of a literary agent who can advise you of the legal position.
But definitely *not* my area I’m afraid. I really just catalogue filming and recording dates in spreadsheets…
… but good luck with it. And nice to know that people still have fun with these old bits of television! Having fun is the main thing… 🙂
All the best
Andrew
Andrew, been a big admirer of your research work ever since I bought the very first issue of ‘Time Screen’ in summer 1984. Did I read somewhere that you had extensive documentation of the production of the radio classic, ‘The Goon Show’?
Hello Marcus 🙂
Sorry… don’t get to visit as much in recent weeks; wish that this site had a mechanism to ping an e-mail to say that somebody kind like yourself had left a comment… But, you can’t have everything. Where would you put it all?
Gosh! “TImeScreen” Issue 1! Ha-ha! That was a *lot* of fun. Desperately quaint now… but that lovely feeling of just saying “Hey – shall we give this a go and see if anyone else likes this stuff to?” And they did! And it led me to meeting so many people who have become important in my life – people I still work with to this day. Indeed, last Saturday I was chatting to an old friend who I started working with *because* of “TimeScreen” Issue 1… and now we’re both writing pieces for a new zine which really has the same “Hey – shall we give this a go and see if anyone else likes this stuff to?” vibe as we had 36 years ago! A lot of fun!
Ah! Yes! “The Goon Show”! Okay… I *have* written a history of it… but it’s not a single volume. Between 2008 and 2018, BBC Audiobooks/Worldwide and AudioGO issued 14 volumes of “The Goon Show Compendium” on CD – 112 discs with all the existing material that we could clear and cram on, all brilliantly restored by the amazing Ted Kendall. And for these releases, I was able to write a couple of booklets each giving context to the shows in that set as well as various technical details of the original production. I do have a lot more notes and keep thinking that I might do more extensive volumes on both “The Goon Show” and “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” in the coming decades when I have the time… but, yes, I’m afraid that my currently available notes are spread across 14 CD sets. Sorry…
Thank you for your kind words – much appreciated! 🙂
All the best
Andrew
Andrew, I have just been catching up with what you’ve been up to since we were at University together. I’m pleased to read that you’ve been able to follow you passion. BTW my sons are keen Dr Who fans and I presented them with your history of Dalek book recently. For myself I’ve been enjoying Public Eye of late which is another series that has fallen under the Pixley radar I see. ‘Be seeing you’ – as you were fond of saying back then. Regards Jim
Jim! Hello! What a joyous start to the morning! Sorry – I check these blogs less often than I should… and how very lovely to find your comment! Bless you!
So… what have I been up to since we were at uni… well, as you can see, making *considerably* less use of my BEng and MEng in my chosen field than you did! But that’s fine because I’ve had a string of entirely adequate tech jobs with some lovely people which let me go home on time to my wife and allow me plenty of time to catalogue Frank Marker’s casebook and the like. Not the life I expected… but a rather lucky one.
How brilliant that your sons are loving “Doctor Who” – bless them! And, don’t worry, they’ll grow out of it soon. I mean, I remember when I finally grew out of it when I was … ummm… around…. Okay, so, I admit that I may have missed that *particular* exit off the freeway, but it’s been a fun route to remain on.
“Public Eye”. Yes – what a magnificent series. Eclectic scripts of brilliant with a massively engaging central character played with deft delight by a superb actor. It’s one of my very great favourites – I couldn’t even get to see an episode when we were at uni, and now I’ve had the chance to see all that exist and read the scripts for those that don’t. What a marvellous time we live in (apart from pandemics … natually).
Hope that all is well with you and your family and that life has been every bit as opportunity-packed and full of kind people for yourself. I barely hear from anyone on the course now (still rather shocked about Penny – an amazing, vibrant personality) so this is a lovely suprise.
Be Seeing You.
Andrew
Andrew, I have just been catching up with what you’ve been up to since we were at University together. I’m pleased to read that you’ve been able to follow you passion. BTW my sons are keen Dr Who fans and I presented them with your history of Dalek book recently. For myself I’ve been enjoying Public Eye of late which is another series that has fallen under the Pixley radar I see. ‘Be seeing you’ – as you were fond of saying back then. Regards Jim
Hi Andrew
Thanks for your reply. Ironically as someone who has managed to eek some sort of a career out out electronics I’m (also?) somewhat of a technophobe. Nevertheless you’re spot on that we can enjoy these superb pieces for the 60s and 70s on regular terrestrial TV these days (not so much available on the B&W sets we used to rent for £7 a month back then..).
I’m mostly out of touch with uni contemporaries but I do keep in touch with Mike Darby (in Australia) and occasionally Bernie. I was also surprised by an invite to Andy B’s 50th where there were quite a few old faces. I wasn’t aware of any news of Penny but from your tone it doesn’t sound good…
Life hasn’t been mostly good (the inevitable ups and downs and missed opportunities – but hey) Take care lets’ hope for some more contact when this palaver winds down.
Cheers
Jim
PS As I write the boys are watching a Dr Who critique on YouTube!
Hello Jim 🙂
Hope you and the family are safe and well.
Oddly enough… just been doing some stuff about the slow spread of colour sets across the UK and how the switch from b/w wasn’t quite as instantaneous as one might think…
Good to hear you’re in touch with Mike and Bernie (both always – to my mind – far funnier than the Winters brothers!). And glad you met up with some of the others at Andy’s gig.
Penny – I’m afraid – was involved in a diving tragedy over a decade ago.
Sorry that life hasn’t necessarily turned out to be “as advertised”. Mine certainly hasn’t – and for every opportunity taken, about another three were lost. But, overall, I think it’s the ones that worked that I cherish over the ones that didn’t. Strange how so many of the values I believed in so strongly while at university I’m now skeptical of – and how other (hopefully better ones) have crept in to take their place.
YouTube is a source of all manner of “Doctor Who” wonderfulness much of which I don’t still quite understand. Hope it’s a decent critique! You know… somebody who loves the gags in a Dennis Spooner script or somebody like that. There is *so* much to enjoy in that series. Delighted that your boys have discovered that. But – don’t worry – they’ll grow out of it soon. Honest! Any minute now!
Take care – stay safe.
Andrew
Hi Andy
Ha Mike and Bernie! For a while (after uni) I played rugby with a chap nick-named Bernie due to his uncanny resemblance to Winters minor… no dog though.
The B&W TV thing was principally for economy. Since the rental company was obliged to inform the licensing bureau we would have been liable for a colour licence – not good on student funds. B&W licence was about 1/4 of the cost! Also we could get B&W on a 6 month contract rather than 12. That said even by 1984 it must have been the last set of it’s type on rental!
Sad to hear about Penny, A couple of the rugby guys have also gone since then..
All the best
Jim
Rugby! Yes! Of course! Gosh! All far too energetic and physical and dangerous for me. “The ITV Encyclopedia of Adventure” by Dave Rogers was more my hammer…
All the best
Andrew
Hello Chris! Ah! You made it! Okay – bit more room to breathe here isn’t there?
And sorry about my own delayed reply. I hadn’t realised that there were fresh comments here,
So, Episode 36. Is this the one that’s generally called “E. Henry Thripshaw’s Disease”? That’s the show that I know as Series C Episode 13 (https://cstonline.net/the-numbers-game-by-andrew-pixley/).
I guess that if the proper permissions were obtained then the existing material could be remade or animated or whatever. But I have to admit that that’s an area which wouldn’t really be within my remit. Certainly, your best bet would be to suggest it to the Python team themselves and see what they reckoned… and it sounds like you’ve done this already with with no joy.
Ultimately – as with things like the amazing “Thunderbirds 1965” – it sounds like the kind of venture where somebody with a real passion and expertise in rights negotiation and programme making would need to get a team together and present a serious business proposal to the rights holds. And that *can* happen – as we’ve seen with other popular brandings. So, you have a good idea there – could you get a team together? It could be worth a shot. I don’t know. Recreations of missing material isn’t really an area that I get involved with beyond a very vague discussion or two because actual production and rights negotiation isn’t my territory at all.
Don’t know if that helps at all. But I do know that in the past when there’s been something I’ve wanted to read and it hasn’t been there to read myself, I’ve generally decided to have a go at writing it myself… and it’s been a *lot* of fun to learn. So – great idea! Go for it! 🙂
All the best
Andrew
Hi Andrew, thanks for your response, and sorry for another delay.
Yes, I was refering to Thripshaw.
Thanks, some good suggestions there.
I haven’t suggested it directly to the Pythons. Only to UK TV. My only hope of directly talking to the Pythons about it would be emailing any addresses I’ve found for their official site, that aren’t customer services – (I’ve found one).
Sure, I figured it’s not really your area, but I wondered whether, as someone involved in researching and writing about Python, you might be able to talk to someone you know, suggest the idea, see what they say…?
Otherwise, sure, I could try and get a team together. Might not be easy, but I can but try, of course.
I’ll be in a position to check more regularly for any response now!
Regards
Chris
Hello Chris 🙂
Good to hear from you.
I’m afraid I can’t offer you a suggestion of a direct name to contact. My work last year on the Blu-ray release from Network involved research which was effectively undertaken with Network acting as an intermediary with the Python organization. So, not really able to help much I’m afraid.
As I say this is *way* out of my area – but there’s been similar projects (some crowd-funded) which have resulted in some lovely items. If you’ve got the right people with the required skills who can put the time in, it may well come together.
Have fun with it. 🙂
All the best
Andrew
Hi Andrew
Ok, fair enough, thanks.
Just thought it was worth asking, just in case!
*Always* worth at least asking Chris… even if, 50% of the time, the answer will be “No”. But you don’t want to miss out on the 50% of the time when the answer *might* be “Yes”.
Good luck with it! 🙂
All the best
Andrew
Dear Andrew,
Thank you so much for your work on RTD’s CBBC serial, Dark Season. Thank you for being a historian for what otherwise (I am sure) would vanish.
By the way, have you read Andrew K. Shenton’s “Unique, but similar: The Prisoner Compared?”
Also…I’m a fan of all things nuclear-related, especially BBC programming. There’s a little gem I haven’t been able to trace from c. 1987. One listing has it titled “The Shepard’s Boy”, but aside from that – nothing. Have you come across it in your travels in TV History?
With many thanks for everything you’ve done for the fandoms, the fans and most importantly – the series themselves. You are a unique treasure.
Dear Naomi,
Thank you for your kind and generous comments. Wasn’t “Dark Season” brilliant? I was *well* beyond the age of the target audience when it went out but I made sure that I set the VHS for it while I was it work…
I *hate* to think of shows vanishing… but they do. They fall down the cracks in history. That’s why I so often like to champion some of the less-prominent series airing both now and from the past. The “Spyder’s Web”s. The “The Sentimental Agent”s. The “Naked City”s. The “Virtual Murder”s. If just one or two people read something about them and say “Hey! Sounds cool! Might check that out!” then it’s all worthwhile.
I haven’t read “Unique But Similar”… but thanks for your recommendation. I have to admit that I stopped acquiring books on “The Prisoner” as automatically as I used to; I’ve been focusing more of late on books about production rather than analysis, but I’ve just been taking a look at the remit of Andrew’s work and it does look like it might be rather interesting! Bless you!
Not come across the item you’re referring to from the 1980s… but then that was a time when I was at uni with limited access to TV. What do you know about the programme – i.e. plot, content, actors, writer, style, channel? Then we might be able to give you some pointers.
Glad you’ve found the site to be of interest. Kim and Tobias curate some terrific piece on here – and I’ve learnt about all manner of new shows and been in touch with all sorts of people. Also – it’s a wonderfully fun place to post a variety of pieces with a very great degree of freedom. Give it a go if you get chance! 🙂
All the best
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
It’s a small world and funny what you end up thinking about from time to time as you get older. For some reason I was reflecting on days gone by and the people I knew from school and your name came to mind. You were in my class (E) with Mr Williams and I recall at school that you were always that very intelligent, polite guy that other people often appeared to be jealous of if you understand what I mean. I recall that you were fantastic at Art and Craft and remember you had an avid interest in Doctor Who with your mate Mark whom I’m still in contact with. Anyway, for some reason, I decided to see what became of you?
It was so nice to see that you’ve been able to follow your hobby and your heart and make a full career in your life with something that you have always been so passionate about …. not many people can say that and it’s so nice to come a across a past friend who has succeeded in that. Just reading about what you have been involved with and what you have achieved has brought some really nice memories for me so THANK YOU!. I’m thrilled to bits for you my friend and wish you further prosperity and every success in any endeavours ahead of you now.
All the very best Andrew and although we were never close friends at school, if you wanted to get in touch any time, please feel free.
Kind Regards
Jason (Class E)
Hello Jason 🙂
Oh… you kind, thoughtful man. Sorry that I’m not checking these older blog entries as much as I used to. I do hope that you and yours are safe and healthy and well and getting by in whatever situation you’ve found yourself in, particularly given recent global events.
Yes – absolutely – Baz Williams… an amazing modeller with a fantastic eye for caricature! Very, very happy days in that wonderfully light art room at the far corner of the Upper School. How brilliant! And you also being massively talented, particularly when it came to sketching as I recall. I do hope that you’ve had some opportunities to keep the artistic skills up in some manner of another.
“Very intelligent, polite guy”? Hmmm… doesn’t sound like me does it? Most likely David. Or Matthew. Or Pete. Or Tim. Or – indeed – Mark, to whom I hope you’ll pass my best wishes; he was such a terrific friend to spend so much time with, and his family were also deeply kind to me. Do hope that he’s had a brilliant time in the intetrvening years – he very much deserved them!
Yes… the “Doctor Who” fascination. I’ve consulted various medical professionals, and I’m afraid they’ve told me that there’s no known cure. Anyway, it’s all been a lot of fun to fill in the gaps in real life with. So, yes, I’ve been *very* fortunate to have been able to indulge in all this sillyness alongside the dull-but-adequate job in IT. But – no – not really a career. Not a thing you can live off.
I mean – not like you. I remember your aspirations for taking on a truly useful and socially responsible role in life even when we chatted across the art tables… and I’m so thrilled that you followed them and have ended up doing so much amazing and useful stuff as a result. How brilliant is that? That’s proper stuff that’s had a proper positive impact on people’s lives! Hoorah! How wonderful to see your CV with all that worthwhile stuff on it.
I’m so pleased that some of this has brought back happy memories for you – my own memories of you were that you a nice, talented, dependable, friendly fella, and so if anyone deserves happy memories I reckon that it should be you. And I hope that there’s been many many happy memories from life events across the years.
Take care and have fun! And a big thank you to you and all your colleagues in keeping us safe all these years. Deeply appreciated! 🙂
All the best
Andrew
Hi Chris- There’s a question on a Led Zeppelin forum that people are trying to answer and I was wondering if you could please help? What Zep track went out as prt of the 1999 Spearhead from Space trailer?
Many thanks
Roy
Andrew not Chris-sorry! Roy
Like others, I’m using this comment board in an attempt to make contact with Andrew Pixley – not sure if Andrew or anyone else is still checking here, but if so perhaps you could drop me an email.
My interest is in The Human Jungle, following on from Andrew’s splendid essay and notes in the DVD box set.
Hello Mike 🙂
Thank you for your kind words on the viewing notes (the word “essay” is very generous indeed for something which comprises a series of facts arranged into chronological order) for “The Human Jungle”. Nice to know that people are still watching this show – they’re cracking little melodramas (even if the psychiatry was utter hokum created for the purposes of television); my wife and I even caught part of “The Quick and the Dead” on TalkingPicturesTV the other day.
I’m afraid that the work on “The Human Jungle” was all done over a decade ago and is probably very creaky and out-of-date now… particularly at a time when even more digital archives are being made available. But if you’ve got a question, please, flag it up here and if I can answer it, then I will, but the answer may well be ‘I’m afraid that the work on “The Human Jungle” was all done over a decade ago and I can’t remember’.
Hope this finds you and yours safe and well.
All the best
Andrew
Hi Andrew, I meant to say that this sequel to ‘The Intruder’ would be in book format. And you never know, it could well be on telly at some time!!!!