Showing 1 - 4 of 4
News bulletins are going 'off-ramp'
Roger Crutchley, Published on 22/03/2026
» An expression that is being used with increasing frequency in recent news reports, particularly concerning the goings on in the Middle East, is "off-ramp". Switch on the TV and it won't be long before a "talking head" will be authoritatively discussing "off-ramp" opportunities.
The girl who was all 'eyelashes and legs'
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 25/07/2021
» I was rightly admonished by a reader for not mentioning model Twiggy in last week's column concerning the "Swinging Sixties" in London. After all Twiggy was dubbed "The Face of 66" in a huge spread in the Daily Express.
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.
The girl from the Black Country
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/03/2020
» My thanks to readers who pointed out that Janice Nicholls, who featured in last week's column, did not have a Brummie accent at all, but a Black Country lilt, hailing from Wednesbury, just west of Birmingham.