Showing 11 - 17 of 17
Theme tune that lasts the test of time
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 17/05/2020
» Watching the BBC World Service's Panorama documentary on the coronavirus situation, it struck me that it is one of the few TV offerings in which the theme music is just right. You wouldn't want to hear it too often, but its distinctive authoritative tones with a hint of foreboding, suggests the show is of some substance, which it usually is. It was surprising to discover that this serious music was adapted by Francis Lai from the soundtrack of the 1966 hit film, Un Homme et Une Femme (A Man and a Woman), basically a love story. The music, which has introduced Panorama for nearly 50 years, is called Aujordhi C'est Toi (Today it's You). Well, that's enough French for one day.
Enjoying a cuppa with Harold the milkman
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 26/05/2019
» When I was a teenager in the late 1950s/early 60s, we had a milkman called Harold whose son Gordon Neate was a professional footballer with our hometown team Reading who played in the Third Division. Every Saturday morning, on his rounds, Harold was invited into our kitchen for a cup of tea and he would relate all the behind-the-scenes gossip about the club.
When shortwave radio was my best friend
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 12/03/2017
» After 20 years the BBC is ending its foreign-language shortwave transmissions from Nakhon Sawan after failing to renegotiate its agreement with the Thai authorities. The transmissions were directed mainly at places like Afghanistan and Pakistan where radios are sometimes still the only source of news.
Steady now, just 'keep calm and carry on'
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 03/07/2016
» For something that sounds a bit like a second-rate breakfast cereal, Brexit has created the most monumental commotion in Britain since David Beckham damaged his precious metatarsal.
Well, somebody has to write the headlines
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 08/02/2015
» Last week’s column featuring memorable headlines prompted a number of readers to recall their personal favourites. It seems that everyone has a headline tucked away in their memory cells.
Postscript: No longer British, but still the 'brown stuff'
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 08/12/2013
» It was pleasing to see recent Bangkok Post letters praising that most noble of institutions, HP Sauce. One reader even called it "the best condiment ever produced", although one suspects the French might have something to say about that. Perhaps more realistically, the Daily Mail calls it "a sticky brown liquid".
You simply can't beat a good cup of tea
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 03/03/2013
» In a letter to ''Postbag'' during the week a reader attributed his mother's longevity partly to having a taste for ''expensive tea''. This is encouraging news, as I can't get started in the morning without a couple of cups _ OK, mugs _ of English breakfast tea, which definitely isn't cheap.