Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to.

This time, in a special festive edition, Tim, Bob Fischer and Georgy Jamieson are all crowding into a paper chain-strewn local radio studio ready to take your calls and chat about some of the signs that Christmas was coming that you just don’t seem to get any more. So that’s Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson being used to back every single local news feature, School Christmas Fairs, weird decorations that were still in use long past their cultural sell-by date, Advent Calendars with no chocolate but plenty of pictures of Shepherds sort of leaning sideways a bit, the toy pages in ‘The Catalogue’, the bitter rivalry between the Christmas double issues of Radio Times and TV Times, Channel 4 flinging out angular festive fare like Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, festive replacements for the BBC Globe, The Middlesborough Methodist Tableau and much more besides. In a crammed Christmas Cracker of chat we’ll be debating the physics of those big televisions with shutters on them, stressing the need for a Loose Cannon reconstruction of Bob’s drawing of a Lord ‘a’Leaping’, attempting to beat Carol Vorderman at Yuletide Maths, deploring the steady stream of one-shoed shoplifters hopping out of Bobby Cannon’s, refuting any and every suggestion that clowns have any business being anywhere near anything to do with Christmas, exploring the financial potential of an Advent Calendar with Willie Rushton behind every single door and querying the value of using Rentaghost as a sort of all-purpose philosophical yardstick. Call in and donate some ‘Canned Goods’ now!

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About Bob And Georgy

Bob Fischer is a broadcaster and writer. You can find Bob’s website The Haunted Generation here and follow him on Bluesky at @bobfscher.bsky.social. Georgy Jamieson is a broadcaster and writer. You can follow Georgy on Bluesky – and find out more about what she’s up to next – at @georgyjamieson.bsky.social.

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If you’ve enjoyed this, you’ll enjoy Tim’s book Can’t Help Thinking About Me, a collection of columns and features with a personal twist. Can’t Help Thinking About Me is available in paperback here or from the Kindle Store here.

Alternately, if you’re just feeling generous, you can buy me a coffee here. If the ‘Chocolate Train’ calls at your stop you get a Mocha. Sorry, it’s the rules.

Further Listening

Bob and Georgy joined me for a similarly seasonal chat about the rain-lashed joys of the Great British Summertime here and some more Halloween and Bonfire Night-adjacent ‘traditions’ here. You can also find Bob on Looks Unfamiliar chatting about The Tom O’Connor Roadshow, Giant Hogweed, Can’t Get A Ticket (For The World Cup) by Peter Dean, Glee Bars, J. Edward Oliver’s ‘Abolish Tuesdays’ and How To Be A Wally here, Eighties ‘Tabloid Celebrities’, Accidentally Kelly Street by Frente!, The Two Ronnies’ ‘Mileaway’, Rude Food, Suggs On Saturday and School Folk Songs here and Tucker’s Luck, Pookiesnackenburger, We Wanna Be Famous by Buster Gobsmack And Eats Filth’, game show contestants’ occupations being booed by the studio audience and the lost ancient art of the paper plate and shaving foam Custard Pie here, and Georgy on Indoor League, Re-Joyce!, the The Animals In The Box sketch, the Paul Squire Fan Club, Pippa Dolls, Pig In The Middle and Good Winter Telly here and Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, Go For Broke!, Last Chance Lottery, Fry’s Five Centres and Vesta Ready Meals here. You can also find Georgy on The Golden Age Of Children’s TV talking about Bod here and Bob on The Owl Service here.

Bob and Georgy also appear in The Best Of Looks Unfamiliar alongside Lydia Mizon on Smashie And Nicey – The End Of An Era, Katy Brent on Global Hypercolor, Tim Worthington on Wonderwall by The Mike Flowers Pops and the BBC Pinocchio, Ricardo Autobahn on the Panther 6, Mitch Benn on BusyBodies, Joanne Sheppard on The Water Babies and Spine Chillers and Phil Norman on Spy Trap, which you can find here.

Further Reading

…And That’s Christmas – On BBC1! takes a somewhat less than reverential look at the BBC’s festive globe replacements from the seventies and eighties; you can find it here.

Looks Unfamiliar is hosted by Podnose. You can help Podnose to continue providing quality podcasts for free by donating to their GoFundMe here.

© Tim Worthington.
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