I remember that Doctor Who episode. I couldn't stop laughing at how horribly the perspective was out of whack. It was called "Time-Flight" according to Outpost Gallifrey.
In Australia the ABC repeated all the available Doctor Who episodes right from the beginning of the series. So the new generation got to see it in all its low-budget glory.
I'd never heard of Ant & Dec before, so I clicked on that link you gave: "Get your mistletoe at the ready as Robbie Williams will be adding oodles of Christmas cheer when he joins the boys under the Takeaway Christmas tree." Bright gods.
I can't help wondering what you think about Doctor Who would "irritate sci-fi purists". Most of the stories have been fairly decent, by TV SF standards. Okay, real SF purists have any number of things to cavil at, but real SF purists pretty much scorn TV SF anyway.
(Okay: there is the fact that Russell T Davies has less comprehension of the phrase "five billion years" than the proverbial concussed bee, and has spent two full episodes demonstrating it. OTHER than that.)
The most entertaining thing about ITV1 is flicking to saturday night in the Radio Times and seeing what they're using to attempt to draw viewers from Doctor Who this week. 
The other day I realised two things - 1. That I can't recall the last time I actually watched anything on ITV1, and 2. That I watch more Channel bloody 5 than I do any ITV channel. Admittedly that's usually just for TV comfort food "House" but still.
The odd thing about Dennis Norden is that he can actually do decent stuff when he isn't being pigeon-holed into "Whoops, a cock-up" programs. The one I particularly remember is "Pick of the Pilots", where he went through a bunch of pilot episodes that never actually became TV series, and showed some interesting clips from them. E.g. "Who was the President, and why do I have his brain?" Ironically, there was only ever one episode of that...
When DID I last watch ITV...? Probably an episode of X-FACTOR, come to think of it. God, that's depressing.
"I'd never heard of Ant & Dec before, so I clicked on that link you gave: "Get your mistletoe at the ready as Robbie Williams will be adding oodles of Christmas cheer when he joins the boys under the Takeaway Christmas tree." Bright gods."
Don't be fooled. Ant & Dec have incredible chemistry as a double act, and an uncanny ability to make any ropey format better than it has any right to be. ANT & DEC'S GAMESHOW MARATHON should, on paper, have been unwatchable - minor celebrities re-enact 1970s gameshows. Somehow, it worked out quite well.
It's difficult to imagine anyone saying "Ooh, Dennis Norden's All New 13th Laughter File - let's turn over and watch that."
Egads!!! That happened in our house, I am so so so ashamed. I think the other ITV channels are far better than the first, Quantum Leap, Due South, Sherlock Holmes, Jeeves and Wooster and some quite good (though admittedly blokey) films on 4. Admittedly all repeats, but all far better than most stuff on terrestrial tv.
ps, I've just remembered why we watched Denis Norden, I'm ruddy sick of the Da Vinci Code, so anything but the documentary was going to be watched on my tv.
ITV3 and 4 really aren't bad.
> ITV3 and 4 really aren't bad.
No, but - again - they're mostly or wholly repeats of stuff that was either made under a regime that had some taste (not an "all TV today" condemnation, just an "ITV today" condemnation) or are bought-in repeats of stuff that already has a fanbase and you may have some affection for (e.g. Quantum Leap).
And on the "when did you last watch ITV" test...apart from news, I saw half an ep of the latest revival of the Price is Right (having exhumed the *exact same set* used for the previous attempt), which was even worse than when Bruce Forsyth did it, and... ummm... apart from news, I can't recall. I don't even like Ant'n'Dec.
Last time I watched ITV? Probably some trashy true crime documentary. Is there really not a channel that shows nothing else? I'd like to see one.
I think that nowadays a difference is developing between watching broadcast TV and DVDs, like that between listening to the radio and having your own record (or CD) collection. For stuff you REALLY want to watch, you'll get the DVD (or, increasingly, the download). For passing entertainment you'll look at what happens to be on. The only real advantage of broadcast is when there's an event: hence ever-greater hyping of genuine events and increasingly blatant attempts to manufacture spurious ones.
Hey, you never did the Eurovision post you promised... :/
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