Looks Unfamiliar: Mark Thompson – It’s Great For Your Gel Pen Needs

Lenny Henry's Smiths Square Crisps adverts - listen to Mark Thompson and Tim Worthington talking about them in Looks Unfamiliar.

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.

Joining Tim this time is political commentator Mark Thompson, who’s hoping that it’s not too weird remembering Lenny Henry’s Smiths Square Crisps adverts, the ‘Allied Lyons – A Great British Company’ campaign, The Quiet Earth, Steve Jackson Games’ Illuminati, early Channel 4 sitcoms The Optimist and Father’s Day and a variety of just about legal payphone ‘workarounds’. Along the way we’ll be predicting which would prove most profitable out of Findus Crisps and Golden Wonder Shark Jumps, explaining how Roy Jay was too weird for ‘It’s Weird…;, revealing how to repel adolescent phone box miscreants armed only with Red Red Wine by UB40 and considering whether Channel 4 could actually have happened without John Alderton’s old shirts.

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The Allied Lyons - A Great British Company campaign - listen to Mark Thompson and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

The Quiet Earth (1985) - listen to Mark Thompson and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

Illuminati (Steve Jackson Games, 1982) - listen to Mark Thompson and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

The Optimist (Channel 4/New Century Films/Charisma, 1983-85) - listen to Mark Thompson and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

Father's Day (Channel 4/Picture Partnership Productions, 1983-84) - listen to Mark Thompson and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

Smiths Square Crisps - listen to Mark Thompson and Tim Worthington talking about them in Looks Unfamiliar.

About Mark

Mark Thompson is a political commentator, radio host and poker enthusiast. You can find his blog Mark Reckons here and his Substack Political Sandbox here and follow him on Bluesky at @markreckons.bsky.social.

Buy A Book!

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. Don’t bother with the Lyons website though. The more you read it, the more confused you’ll get over whether it’s actually available or not.

Further Listening

You can also find Mark on Looks Unfamiliar talking about Whiz Kids, Crash ZX Spectrum, Night Shift, Public Information Film family The Blunders, The Last Train, and The Drak Pack here, Libby’s Moonshine, A. Mazing Monsters, Agony, Being Erica, Hawkeye Collins And Amy Adams – Can You Solve The Mystery? and We Know Where You Live here, V: The Series, Dirty Dick, The Giftie, The Mad Death, The Different Story (World Of Lust And Crime) by Peter Schilling and Space Shuttle here, and Twiggy Twiggy (Twiggy Vs. James Bond) by Pizzicato Five, Your Party Needs You, Jasper Carrott’s I’ve Got This Mole, Society, Lost In Austen, Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo and Shadow Chasers here, as well as Running Scared on The Golden Age Of Children’s TV here.

Mark has also appeared on Tim’s Marvel Cinematic Universe podcast It’s Good, Except It Sucks talking about Iron Man 2, which you can find here.