On Being A Telly Addict

As mentioned yesterday, I've once again pissed my wages up the wall. At least February is a short month, so I don't have to wait too long for my payslip. Roll on next Friday...

This does mean, however, that I've been under self-imposed house arrest all weekend. You see if I'd gone out, I think I would have used the credit card to fund some sort of frivolous debauchery or drunken rave up. So I locked the doors, barred the windows and made sure my food stocks were adequate, before settling down on to the sofa, from which I've barely moved. On Friday we had fish and chips - I'm not 100% sure why but I think it's something to with my mum being Catholic. I was too, once upon a time, and I'm sure that the night before Lent you were supposed to eat fish. Is that right? Even if that is why we had it, I failed, because I had a battered sausage. Yum.

And this sausage was consumed in front of the telly - the first Eastenders episode to be broadcast live in fact! Eastenders is one of my guilty pleasures - I don't follow it religously but I do have a soft spot for it (perhaps we share a common bond as we're the same age). And the 25th anniversary live episode was much fun. I particularly liked it when Jack Branning fluffed his lines and told Bradley "You've got a motive. You've...you've held it against the public!" What now? What's the public done? Sort it, Branning. The acting from everyone else was pretty much top notch if you ask me, except when Max, on seeing Bradley's body, stuck his fingers down his throat to make himself sick. Actually stuck his fingers down his front. Live. In front of 16million people. Great stuff. In all honesty though, I was well into it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I also used this enforced alone time to catch up on some of the episodes of Skins and Shameless that my drink-fuelled antics in the first two weeks of the month made me miss. It's been a bit like spring cleaning, a clearing of the backlog of TV programmes that I want to watch but never have time. It's something that I have to do now and then, and will continue to do so until I find a happy balance between my social life and my telly addiction (I want to avoid a repeat of the night I stayed up watching Waterloo Road until half three, then went to work feeling hungover despite not having touched a drop).

So in honour of my reunion with television, here are my top 5 moments:

5. The bit in Goodnight Mr Tom when when the kid calls John Thaw 'dad'. Weep...I believe I've mentioned this before, but in case I haven't, I have a friend who invented a drinking game involving Goodnight Mr Tom - basically you have to drink every time you're impressed with John Thaw's acting. Needless to say, as he was such a high quality actor, much booze was consumed!

4. Tim and Dawn finally get together in The Office. I can't hear Only You by the Flying Pickets without thinking of it. Finally. In fact, I might watch both series again, just so I can experience the build-up, the frustration and the elation all over again.

3. "YOU AINT MY MOTHER!" "YES I AM!" This period was, for me, an Eastenders golden age. Probably because I was still at school I think, so actually watched it when it was on. I thought Kat Slater was an excellent character, although Zoe got on my wick, and even though everyone new this was coming, when she shouted it it was still a shock.

2. John Sergeant on Strictly Come Dancing. Best example of people power EVER. He couldn't dance, and didn't care, and for that the Great British public voted him back in week after week. Classic.

1. Delboy and Rodney dressed as Batman and Robin in an Only Fools and Horses Christmas special. This is my favourite programme ever - I've never watched anything that's quite as capable of making you laugh in one scene, and then tugging on your heartstrings the next. I think it's fantastically written and acted and never get bored of watching repeats - which says something, as I must have seen a hundred chandelier crashes by now...

And on that note, I must dash - I reached a personal record of 5 late mornings last week and am going to get in early to avoid the chop!

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

tbr