Monday 15 December 2008

Zelda, the real one, not the computer game!

It's been a while since I last made an entry on this blog. But I've been very busy, and had a trip to Japan the land of toys. So it can't be helped.

I made another good Terrahawks purchase off ebay a few weeksn back. A nice carded Zelda figure by Popy. All for the price of 99p!

The blister was a bit cracked, but the figure is mint and complete, and overall the card is pretty damn good. I have seen these figures go for far more than this, and it really is all down to the photo. Look at the poor quality shot that was put up for this item.



Big isn't it!

Anyway, a bad listing is good for the buyer ; )

Tuesday 14 October 2008

Ewok-o-rama



This is my first go at doing a Diorama. My mate G has been working on a few and I'm always impressed by how good they look.

I'm a bit stretched for space these days, so thought I would start small and build something that would fit on my work desk shelves.

It was fairly simple to make, I'll go over the basics quickly now.

The trunk is made from a small piece of Apple tree ( I have and orchard, so it's the easiest wood for me to get. This was cut with a hand saw and screw to a thing piece of plywood that I had cut into a semicircle. Onto this I glued (using evostick as it's a slow to go off glue, and gives you time to move things around) small lengths of willow. I first did a row of full length twigs fanning out in a circle. In-between these I glued short lengths that I had sanded to a point, otherwise they would not fit in.

The next step was to leave it for a night to dry. While this was happening I got a length of fairly rough string and split it into is's core of three thinner bits of string.

String is pretty much always white, so I put this in a mug with a Tea bag in it and left it over night. Next day I was pleased to find it had turned a nice shade of brown ( and smelt of tea!).

After drying this out I then wound it through the end of the twigs to create a sort of tied on look. Not that complicated but looks the part.

And that's it. The end result looks pretty good, and fits perfectly on my shelf.

Next I need to build something for my Clone troopers and R2's!

Friday 3 October 2008

True Galactica fan



Seems that if you watch Battlestar Galactica while driving a truck, it's not that dangerous as you only get 225 hours of community service. They would have given him more if he had worked for a more up market company than poundstretcher!

Read the full story Here.

Saturday 27 September 2008

Battlestar Galactica Sleeping Bag



I was really chuffed to receive this in the post a few weeks back. I kind lady from the USA offered to send it over to me as she no longer wanted it. And what a great item. If I was a kid I would have loved to have had this to sleep in.

It's been a while but I have just updated my oldest site to feature this item and a few others. Go check them out: Battlestar Galactica Memorabilia

Wednesday 24 September 2008

AT-TE Review

It's here and I got it for a bargain price of £80 from Toys R Us.

Opening the box, this thing is a real beast! The legs and gun are separate, but the body is just in one big lump and it's huge. Attaching the legs and guns is easy so within a few minutes you have your AT-TE ready to go.



It does come with some stickers, but only a few. They almost seem like and after thought as they really don't add that much to it. The one thing I am a little surprised about is that it doesn't come with batteries. It requires 3x AA, which they could have easily slipped in the box considering the price tag!

And let's face it, you need to put the batteries in as the sounds are great. It has loads of phrases and a great walking sound. And it's very very loud.



There is also a light on the main gun which lights up the barrel and targeting screen. Again a few more lights inside would have been nice.

The figure that comes with it is just the standard Clone trooper, so nothing special.

Overall I am really pleased with this as I was in two minds about getting it. The detail is great, lots of little bits and bobs all over the shop. All the guns on the front move when you move a single gun which is nice. The sounds when you open the back hatch are really fantastic.



I'm not quite sure where I am going to put this though as it's about the size of a small dog.

Now all Hasbro need to make is a new republic gunship that is in scale with the AT-TE and can be used as the dropship for this. That would be fantastic!!!!

Tuesday 23 September 2008

AT-TE is here in the house!

I'm looking at the box now. I'm so excited! But I have to wait to open it as I have work to do : (

Saturday 20 September 2008

Grimlock @ The Natural History Museum

So I was up in London earlier this week and to kill sometime popped into The Natural History Museum.. It's a great place that I had not been to for years and years.

The first thing to do here is always go and check out the dinosaur section as this is by far the coolest place.

Right at the end of the Dino section there is a display cabinet showing toys that have Dinosaur shapes, and who do I see there but a nice little G1 grimlock. Sweet.



I didn't have my camera but see some other people have pics posted of him on the web. The one above came from here.

Thursday 18 September 2008

Build-a-droid

Now I am a massive Astromech fan so when I saw that the next few waves of Star Wars figures were going to include lots of droids I was really happy. But now the waves are out I'm finding it pretty frustrating. To get each droid you have to buy 4 figures, normally not a problem as I like to have good collection of figures. But this time there are very few figures I actually want to buy. But I do want the droid!

So what am I to do. I have bought the figures I like, but that was only two. So I now have a r4-m6 head and body (you can work out which figures I bought from that ; ).



I always keep my eye out on ebay and have so far managed to get a single leg from the R7-Z0. Which is a little disappointing. But at least the hunt keeps me off the streets.

I wish Hasbro wouldn't do this though as It really makes collecting hard.

Thursday 14 August 2008

AT-TE - to buy, or not to buy?

I'm really struggling with this one. I've always liked this vehicle and now that they have made it into a toy it's a very tempting item. The AT-AT was always my favorite toy from the original trilogy, mainly because Empire was the best film! And the AT-TE reminds me a lot of that. But at nearly a hundred quid (or 90 if you look at my last post) it is an awful lot of money.

So the question is, should I buy one?

Do I need one, no :(

Do I want one, yes : )

I know if I do get one I will sit and look at if for a while, press all the buttons to make the cool noises, apply the stickers. Then after a few weeks of it gathering dust it will end up going back in the box and put up in the loft. And that would seem a waste.

So has anyone out there bought one? What's it like? Is it worth the money?

I'll give myself another week before I make my final choice.

Monday 4 August 2008

I never thought I would say this!

But Forbidden Planet is actually selling something at a reasonable price!

They have the AT-TE for £89.99! and only £2.50 postage.

And that is actually cheaper than most places except Play which has it is £89.99 with free postage.

I must say I am impressed as I thought they would try an flog this for at least £130.

Maybe they have worked out that people can get these things much cheaper on the internet.

Tuesday 1 July 2008

A-Wing Pilot - Tycho Celchu

Just picked up one these figures from the 30th Anniversary line of figures. On the card this figure really looks great. The sculpt for the body and clothing is one of the best to date. The wrinkles and folds in the fabric look really real, and there are some nice paint details.

That is until you take his helmet off. The figure comes with the helmet in place so you only really get to see this when you take him out of the packet.

What's the hell is wrong with his eyes!



I've discussed this topic before about how mint a figure can be as even when you get a brand new figure out of the box there is always something that's not quite right. But this figure takes it to another level. I've had a look at some over versions of this figure and they all seem to suffer from the same problem. I'm guessing this maybe why the figure comes with his helmet on so you can't see the face until you've paid for it.

Saturday 28 June 2008

Dr Who series 4 - Almost over

Thank god. This series really has been pretty hard going. It has contained a couple of good episodes, but on the whole has been the worst so far.

Every week they seem to pick a weak idea, wrap it with up over dramatic sentimental scenes that bore the socks off me, dull the ears with constant thumping background music, and solve all the worlds problems with the sonic screwdriver. OR failing that psychic paper!

And if you have time make one of the characters either gay, lesbian, bisexual, or if that fails they must fancy the doctor. I wouldn't mind if it added something to the plot, but this is never the case. The sex of the character makes know difference to what they do or how they act, so why mention it at all?

Donna has also been the worst assistant. Tate only seems capable of pulling silly faces and doing one of her 'hilarious' voices or catch phrases.

I do want to like it I really do. But there has been so much going against it this series. I'm going to fight on and watch the last episode, but I expect to very disappointed.

Monday 2 June 2008

Chewbacca - visits Clarks part 2

Well he did visit, but I missed it : ( I got there about half twelve, saw him in the distance but thought I would get a coffee. When I returned he had already gone. Even though it said he would be there until four.

Next time I'll know to go straight there and get my coffee later.

Tuesday 27 May 2008

Chewbacca - visits Clarks

Click Here to read more.

Clarks did this last year and it was really good fun. You can check out some of older Star Wars posts to see photos of when I met Dave Prowse and Kenny Baker.

I'll be off again this year if I get time.

Poll Results - How bad is the new Dr Who series?

And the results are:

I like it. 0%
Watchable, just. 0%
Make it stop. 25%
Arrrggh, my eyes. 25%
Cathrine Tate makes me feel sick. 50%

Total votes cast 4

Check back soon for our new poll.

Wednesday 14 May 2008

The BBC in knots

Seems like the BBC are sinking to a new low with Dr Who. So far this series has been as bad as ever. I really want to enjoy watching it, but every week is like torture! I feel like I am having my brain kicked in for 50 minutes while someone shits in my eyes.

Now they are taking a woman to court for knitting versions of the monsters.

Click Here to read

You can read her site here

Seems like wasting the License fee on making more Dr Whos isn't enough, now they want to stop people having a bit of fun.

You can still download Knitting patterns for the Old Tom Baker scarf here

The Old Dr Who Logo here

Friday 9 May 2008

Buck Rogers back in the 25th Century



According to Variety Buck Rogers is to be made into a movie Again! Not another one I hear you all cry.

Why can't the film companies come up with something new rather than going over the same old movies every few years.

Monday 28 April 2008

Ammo/Gonk Droid

Just picked myself up the Ammo droid from the Battlefront Droid Figure set.
I had to get it as it goes really nicely with my other Gonk droids and R2 collection that I am building.



Essentially this is just a repaint of the Saga Gonk droid, but without the had thing, or the cables around it's middle. It's a really cheap figure as they have not even bother to fill in the holes were the cable would plug in. But as I got it for 99p I'm not disappointed.

Monday 7 April 2008

Cylons - What went wrong?

Diamond Select Toys have been creating figures based on the new Battlestar Galactica for a while now. I've seen a few of them and they are ok, but lack the charm of the old figures. They are more of a statue that an action figure in my mind.

I have just been reading up on the next wave that they are brining out, which this time includes a 'classic' Cylon. But what have they done to it!!!!



They have managed to take a classic design and turn it into something that just looks plain wrong.

Gone are the sleek curves and 70's chrome effect, to be replaced with and ill fitting Robocop pair of legs. None of it seems to fit together, as though they have just found some old molds and tried to make something new out of it.

I don't my the modern way of re-imagining old shows, but if something works, it should be left alone.

Poll results - Which of the new Sci-fi shows are you enjoying the most?

And the results are:

Flash Gordon 0%
Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles 75%
The Bionic Woman 50%

Total votes cast 4

Yes I know they don't add up, but that's what the Blogger poll worked it out as!!!.

Thursday 27 March 2008

Contains intense bloody violence



I've worked in the computer games industry for a long time now, it's actually over 15 years, so a real long time. And for as long as I can remember there have been warnings on the back of games clearly giving an age rating and some info on what is contained.

And example from a recent game I worked was this subtle piece of text placed next to the 18 logo:

"Contains intense bloody violence"


Now you would have to be pretty stupid not to understand what that means.

But it seems that the government thinks that some people find this a little too complicated to understand so are looking into making it more obvious. You can read some of that here BBC News.

It makes me really angry when things like this happen. When I was a child I wasn't allowed to watch movies that had 18 ratings, so what has changed. If it says 18 on it, the shops shouldn't sell it to the kids, and the parents shouldn't buy or let them play them. It's just lazy parents not paying attention to what there kids are doing. It does my nut!

Saturday 22 March 2008

Demise of Grievous



The entertainer have been selling these off pretty cheap for a while so I picked up a couple. They come in a plastic case (the main reason I bought them as I needed one for another figure) and are a limited edition figure.

I've taken one off the card just to see what it was like. It's a fairly cheap figure overall. But the paint job is quite good. The orange effect works pretty well with the plastic flames.

The downside of this figure is the badly sculpted hands. They are just to small that both the gun and stick he comes with easily fall out of his hands. You just have to tap the figure and they drop out. You would have though it would have been easy to get this right as they do with most of the other figures.

Otherwise, I think this is a nice figure. But don't pay much for it as they seem to be easily found at this moment in time.

Poll Results - Are you enjoying The Sarah Conner Chronicles?

And the results are:

Yes - It's a good show 50%
Sort of - but it's not really got going yet 33%
No - they shouldn't have bothered! 16%

Total votes cast 6

Check back soon for our new poll.

Monday 10 March 2008

Transformers - Deluxe Brawl



I finally found this figure. Picked it up in Sainsburys of all places for a good price of £9.99.

I really liked the look of this figure both in the film and from the shots I have seen of it. I'm not really sure why they have called it Brawl as and action figure when he is clearly called Devastator in the film.

The figure looks great in vehicle mode, nice amounts of detail and a reasonable paint job. The trans formation is pretty straight forward until you get to the arms which have possibly the worst shoulder joint I have ever seen. It's really un-clear in the instructions how you are supposed to lock it in place, and it seems no matter what you do it just won't stay put. Any amount of movement causes the shoulders to pop out which is pretty poor.

Maybe I have not set it up properly, let me know if you have worked it out. But this is aimed at kids so I think I should be able to master it.

The only other downsides to this figure are the really silly bright red missile, and the cheap plastic they have used (which could be the cause of the shoulder problem). This is the same kind of hard plastic they have used on the Rescue version of Ratchet. It just feels very brittle.

If you can get him into Robot mode he does look really great. Loads of details and really mean looking. I'd say it was worth getting if you want him on display, but if you plan playing with him he'll just keeping falling apart.

Wednesday 5 March 2008

Who buys this crap????

Whilst doing a search around ebay I can across this seller:

Atlantic trading

They sell prints of home made CGi images based on Star Wars, Star trek, etc. And they are really bad. I know they are only 4 or 5 quid a print, but who on earth would buy one of these images. They are very badly done using some really basic models. The backgrounds look like they have been created by a novice in Bryce 3D or similar.



Good luck to the seller. I would love to know if they have actually sold any.

Transformers - Ratchet Voyager



I've now managed to pick up both version of the Voyager version of Ratchet. And there are big differences between the two. The original version is a really nice figure, looks great in both Robot and vehicle mode and is built really well. There is a nice amount of detail overall, better than some of the other figures. I know the green colour is not to everyones liking, but I don't mind it.

Now, the rescue version. I got this as in my mind it has a more traditional paint job that matches the G1 version of the figure. But I was a little disappointed when I got it out of the box. The have used mainly white for all the plastic parts so it just looks very dull compared to the green version which has black areas all over the arms and legs. I'm not really sure why they have done this, except I guess to save money.

The plastic that has been used also seems a lot cheaper than the green version. It looks very brittle and is easily marked, especially stress marks. because the plastic is cheap the arms keep popping out of there sockets which is not good. This can be fixed by loosening the screw on the elbow joint, but it shouldn't happen at all.

Both these figures are on sale (if you can find them) for £19.99. But in my mind the rescue version should be cheaper as it really isn't that well made.

Shame.

RIP - Gary Gygax



Gary Gygax one of the founders of the RPG Dungeons and Dragons has died.

I never really got into the whole RPG thing, but I did love the cartoon that was a spin off from this scene.

Trash Gordon



I was quite excited that there was a new Sci-fi show starting this week. But what a disappointment. I didn't even make it to the end of the first show. The acting was very poor, as was the script. There was no chemistry between Dale and Flash, they just had a glazed look to there faces.

The effects I saw in the first part were some of the worst I have seen in years, bad CGi, or worse still men in very cheap alien outfits. It's a shame as they could have done a lot with this show.

And there was no hot hail to be seen anywhere.

Let's hope that the Bionic Woman (which starts next week) is better.

Monday 3 March 2008

Poll Results - Which is better?

And the results are, Dr who 13% - Primeval 86%

Total votes cast 15

Check back soon for our new poll.

Monday 25 February 2008

Boobaloo!



I'm sure it's not just me, but I find Helen Cutters Boobs (Juliet Aubrey) very distracting!

I sit down all ready to watch the latest episode of Primeval, and the great CGi monsters, but I'm forced to stare at her cleavage for most of the show. The image above is not the best for illustrating this, but it seems that there are very few images of her offending chest out there on the web at the moment.

While she is traveling through the anomalies you would have thought she could have picked up a new shirt. Or at least a less push up bra! It could be her boobs are a great way of distracting the many prehistoric creatures she meets, but I very much doubt it.

Just put them away please!

Sunday 17 February 2008

Spotted - Ben Miller

How weird is this! I was getting some cash out at the weekend, and how happened to be in front of me at the cash machine but none other than Ben Miller (primeval, armstrong and miller, Moving wallpaper). In London I would expect this sort of thing, but I live down in the countryside.

He was at the Barclays in Taunton, somerset. And he got out considerably more cash than me!!

Friday 15 February 2008

Am I seeing things?



I know this is a little off topic compared to the rest of the blog, but hey, it's my blog and I will comment on what I like.

You know how sometimes you see and image and you can't help but see another side to it.
Well I get this all the time, and one of the recent things I always see is the Mr Kipling pie boxes. To me, it just looks like the pies are being sick. I have made a nice little picture above so you can see what I mean.

And if that's what the pie thinks of his insides, there is no way I am going to buy it!

So does anyone else see things like this? Or is it just me?

Thursday 14 February 2008

Primeval Wallpaper



Just thought I would do another quick post today. My Girlfriend wanted a Primeval wallpaper for her desktop but couldn't find anything good. So I quickly knocked this together using images from the web.

Not a bad job for 20 minutes.

Enjoy.

Starscream: Legends



Just picked up a few more of the legends line of figures (Bumblebee, Optimus, Megatron, Blackout and Starscream). And I thought I had better make a comment on Starscream straight away.

The other four figures are not bad, the look pretty reasonable in both vehicle and robot mode. But Starscream just stands out like a saw thumb. To put it mildly, it's Shit! It's made of the cheapest bendy plastic you can possibly get, but that is nothing compared to how bad it looks. In robot (I use that term loosely) mode it looks like it was designed by a 2 years old. It's like a big triangle with legs and arms stuck on. This really is probably the worst figure I have ever seen. It's the sort of thing you would expect to find in a Christmas Cracker.

I know these are meant to be cheap figures that kids can buy with their pocket money. But if you only had £2.99 I would recommend buying some sweets instead!

Tuesday 12 February 2008

Movie Legends Barricade


Another of the recent figures I picked up is the Movie Legends Barricade:

These cost £2.99, and I have to say it's really nice for that price. The transformation is simple, but they seem to be built to last. Nice thick plastic with very few joints.

They are never going to be the best figures, but for the price, they are really worth getting! Barricade stands a little strangely as his knees won't straighten fully, but I can forgive that.

The only thing that would have made it better would have been an old fashioned rub sign.

Monday 4 February 2008

Barry Morse - RIP


I was very sad to hear that Barry Morse Died over the weekend. I'm just in the process of re-watching Space 1999 on ITV4 and he really was very good in that show. A little over the top, but then they all were on that show.

June 10, 1918 - February 2, 2008

Monday 28 January 2008

Terrahawks - Battlehawk

Just received a nice package in the post with the two Battlehawks I won on ebay.

I've never had one of these before, and I am more than a little impressed. To start with, it's big, and very heavy! A large chunk of the toy is Die cast which you don't often get with toys like this. I have the large Hawkwing as well and this is completely made out of plastic.



(These are the images from the Auction, I will add some better ones soon.)

It also has lots of things you can do, buttons to press, access ramps, doors, vehicles that drop out. Press a button on the side and a small battletank drops out. Another on the top fires a battlehawk (sadly missing). And a final button opens a hatch on the back. There is also and access ramp on the nose section.

I think I was pretty lucky to get two in one auction as they seem to go for quite a price. And it has also meant that I have been able to take the best bits from each and create a near mint toy. That's what I like about old toys, they are always screwed together so you can easily get them apart. Transformers are another line that are easily repaired this way.

It would have been nice with this range if the ships were a little more to scale with each other, but I guess that would have meant having a much larger battlehawk. And I would have had no where to display that!

Tuesday 15 January 2008

Blackout - Voyager version


I had to get a few of the new Movie figures and thought I would do some reviews of the ones I get. As quite often with transformers, there not always great.

Blackout - Voyager version, bought for £19.99 from woolworths. You get a free radio when you spend more the £10 on Tf's so not bad.

This figure is pretty good, looks great as a vehicle and not at all bad in robot mode. My only gripe in robot mode is the large backpack he ends up with. It's made of all the bits they didn't use for the robot, and is rather large. You can remove it, but then what do you do with it.

He also comes with a small scorponok that fits in the tail section of the helicopter.

The figure has lots of panels and detail so looks much more advanced than it is. It's a fairly hard one to transform as the head section is spring loaded and just won't sit in place without a lot of fiddling.

There are a couple of clips that hold the sides in place in vehicle mode that already had stress marks on them when I took this figure out of the box. So I'm guessing for most kids they will snap off quite quickly. The blades of the copter also come off very easily.

Overall, not bad for the price.

Monday 14 January 2008

Transformers Real Gear Speed Dial 800




Transformers Real Gear Speed Dial 800 bought for £6.75 from Asda.

I think this is the first time Hasbro have done figures that are the correct size to be real world objects. My girlfriend thought this was a phone.

Overall this is the cheapest looking of the figures I bought, and a little over priced for what it is. It has very few parts and is a very simple figure to transform, but it does look kinda cool.

It would have been very simple for Hasbro to improve this figure, just by replacing the 2 really cheap looking screen stickers with lenticular ones, the ones that change when you tilt them. The stickers they have put on just make it look cheap. And at £6.75, it's not that cheap. Considering you can get the deluxe figures for £9.99.

It also has a small camera lens, which they could have made work like in the old six million dollar man. Hasbro should have asked me before making this!! ; )

Scorponock - Not really a Transformer


I picked up one of the new Transformers Scorponock figures from the movie the other week. Mainly because I thought it worked really well in the film and it looks like a pretty detailed toy, which it is.

But the transformation of the toy is a real disappointment. It's almost as though the toy designers couldn't be bothered to think of anything for him to do. Fold his arms down, that'll be enough to keep people happy.


I guess they didn't have much to go on from the film as you only ever see him in scorpion mode. But when you are paying £10 for a 'Transformer' The least you can expect is that in actually transforms.

Overall the toy is actually pretty neat. The sculpt is really nice and detailed and looks very accurate to the film. The tail has a firing missile of sorts as the missile is not able to leave the body, it just fires forward. There is also a mechanism that makes the claws spin when you push the figure forward.

Not the best figure, but a nice addition to my collection.

Primeval - Back for seconds

The second second series of Primeval started on ITV this weekend, and already it was so much better than Dr. Who. There is just something about the pace of the show that keeps you on the edge of your seat, unlike 'Who' were I struggle to stay awake.

The stories are still not the best in the world, but they work well enough. And the characters are more likable and believable than Dr Who. And as there are four main characters, if you don't like one, you know they will cut to one of the others quick enough.

You also don't have to put up with the constant Gay overtones that Russel T Davis puts in. There is a bit of sexual tension going on, but only in a childish way.

I was quite amused by this first episode as it was mainly filmed in the Bental's Centre in Kingston. I've not been there for many years, but used to hand out there when I was at college. It is easily recognisable by the bridge that runs from the shopping centre to the car park.

Unfortunately there were no shots of Abby's Bum this week, so I thought I would post a classic from the last series. Enjoy!

Saturday 5 January 2008

Dr Poo



Were do I start. Boy did the Christmas Dr Who suck big time. The BBC and Russel T Davis seem hell bent on taking Dr Who and making it the biggest pile of S**t on TV. I know it was never a really top class show, but it did have a certain quality to it. The BBC do like to turn everything the have into unwatchable drivel. They normally manage this by messing around with the schedule and replacing whatever you were waiting to watch with Darts or Snooker. But this time they are taking it to a new level.

Dr Who has very quickly gone from a quite entertaining Sci-fi show to a dumbed down parody of itself.

Every assistant has to fall in love with the Dr. Why? Can't they think of something else for them to do. It's just a very lazy thing to do.

The Stories, I think that may be an over statement, are so basic you might as well not have them. The Tardis gets hit by the Titanic in space? What the hell is that all about.

It has also become a very Gay orientated show. This is the only reason I can see for having Kylie in it as it certainly wasn't for her acting ability. She was as wooden as the backdrops. If she had had less Botox in her face she might have been able bring the script to life! And in the new series they have Catherine Tate which is only going to make it even more unwatchable.

I doubt I will bother watching any of the next series as the trailer at the end really didn't show anything that looked good. But maybe this is what the BBC has been planning for. Once they have lost all there viewers they can stop making them again for another ten years until they run out of Strictly Dancing spin offs to waste the license fee on then bring it out again for another ever so brief outing. Let's face it, it's all they have.

On the other hand ITV have got a new series of Primeval coming soon and that looks great. The trailers they have been showing are looking really cool. Itv always seem to do this sort of thing much better than the BBC.