Classic comedy from the days when the Civil Service had a sense of humour. The Men from the Ministry were the hilarious radio forerunners of TV’s Yes Minister – bungling bureaucrats who bungled for 15 glorious years from 1962 to 1977.
Muddling through were Wilfrid Hyde White, as the first head of the ubiquitous General Assistance Department, and the imperturbable Deryck Guyler, who followed him in 1966. Richard Murdoch was their faithfully incompetent Number Two. Together they created absolute chaos – and an enduring and influential Whitehall spoof. Here, with the help of guests like Warren Mitchell and Roy Dotrice, they mismanage a new road scheme, upset Britain’s space programme, confuse the export drive, and attempt to rescue a forgotten army unit.
Their potty exploits remain (in the inimitable words of the BBC announcer) “a tribute to the men of our Government service, those men who are sometimes compared to tea bags: they always stick together when they get into hot water”
Midnight Mystery: P.D.James – Cover Her Face – Adam Dalgleish mystery – with Roy Marsden – #6/6
Great cast in this 1985 series – Bill Fraser, Phyllis Calvert, Mel Martin
Chief Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh investigates the death of Alice Liddell who ran a home for unwed mothers. One of those residents is Sally Jupp who was a witness in a drugs smuggling and murder investigation in London. Sally works at the local manor house for the Maxies and it is apparent that eldest son Stephen has more than just a passing interest in her. The night after they announce their engagement, Sally is found strangled in her bed. The question is whether her death is related to the London investigation or a completely different reason altogether. Her engagement created a good deal of ill feeling among the Maxies and several guests in the house with any one of them having a motive to kill her.
Classic Comedy: French Fields – #11 – S02 E05 – Sale or Return – Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers
Sam looks into the death of Maggie Collins who died of a heroin overdose. Sadly, her body was not discovered for several days and in that time, her infant daughter died of dehydration. Soon after Maggie’s death Stephen Jackson, a small-time dealer and addict, is killed in an explosion in his home. The autopsy reveals that both of them died of overdoses from the same batch of heroin and Sam begins to doubt that their deaths were accidental. When another small-time dealer is killed, the police think they have either vigilantes or a turf war on their hands. What they have is something far more complex that involves one of their own.
About this podcast
Silent Witness is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squad detective based in Nottingham. Twenty-five series of Silent Witness have been broadcast since 1996.[1]
Amanda Burton starred as primary character Dr. Sam Ryan before leaving the show during the eighth series. Since her departure the series has featured an ensemble cast, which initially consisted of William Gaminara, Tom Ward and Emilia Fox, and later on David Caves, Liz Carr and Richard Lintern alongside Emilia Fox. At the end of series 23 Carr and Lintern both departed. The cast was joined by Genesis Lynea from series 24.
Justice (1971 – 1974) – Margaret Lockwood – #12 – S01E12 – A License To Build Your Own Money
1 The Admirable Crichton (1957) – Kenneth More, Cecil Parker, Diane Cilento, Sally Ann Howes
2 North West Frontier (1959) – Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall, Herbert Lom
3 Sink the Bismarck (1960) – Kenneth More, Dana Wynter
Heartbeat – #51 – S05E05 – Vacant Possession
Red Dwarf – #15 – S03E03: Polymorph
The crew become radically different people after they encounter a polymorph, a genetically engineered shape-changing mutant that feeds on negative emotions – in the crew’s case vanity, guilt, anger and fear. They decide that there are only two options against the polymorph, one: take it on, or two: run away. Two has always been the Cat’s favourite number anyway.
The team follow a lead all the way to London in order to track down some suspects, after the captain of a boat is found dead under mysterious circumstances.
NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter (Andrew Desiderio of Punchbowl News for Amy Walter discuss with Geoff Bennett the latest political news
Saturday Matinee: Caravans (1978) Anthony Quinn, Michael Sarrazin, Jennifer O’Neill, Christopher Lee
Caravans is a 1978 Iranian-American adventure drama film directed by James Fargo based on the 1963 novel by James A. Michener.
Nancy Voyles Crawford wrote the screenplay.
This film represents people of Afghanistan and their tradition in Qandahar, Badakhshan cities in that time and the Kochi people of Afghanistan.
The film was shot in Afghanistan and Iran and starred Anthony Quinn, Jennifer O’Neill, and Michael Sarrazin.
Plot The story is set in the fictional Middle Eastern country of Zadestan in 1948.
Mark Miller is stationed at the American Embassy in the fictional city of Kashkhan and is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a young woman, Ellen Jasper, the daughter of a United States senator, who vanished after her marriage to Colonel Nazrullah several months previously.
Nazrullah is desperate to find her and becomes defensive when Miller asks about her. By law, Ellen has given up her rights as a US citizen by becoming his wife. Miller traces her to a band of nomads led by Zulffiqar who are illegal gun-runners.
She doesn’t want to leave, being estranged from both her parents and her husband. Miller doesn’t want to return without proof she’s alive and well, which she refuses to give.
Nazrullah lures the gun-runners into a trap. He separates Miller from the nomads and asks his wife to return to him but she refuses. Ellen at last gives Miller a note for her family. As the nomads leave, Nazrullah orders his troops to fire on them and Ellen is killed trying to rescue a child. A heartbroken Nazrullah carries away the body of his dead wife.
Classic TV Comedy: The Thin Blue Line – #7 – S01 E07 – Rowan Atkinson, David Haig – Yuletide Spirit
Great cast, written by Ben Elton
Good cast – pokes fun at pretentious people
The Inquiring Mind 
The Platform: Michael Laws – Nick Ryan on the Doubtless Bay Fishing Competition
well worth a listen
January 25,2024
Here is an extract
Here is the link to the full report
https://theplatform.kiwi/podcasts/episode/nick-ryan-on-the-doubtless-bay-fishing-event-contested-by-local-iwi
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