I was in central London on Thursday. In the British Library, doing some family research. Anyway, while I waited in the lobby, I heard a very familiar voice. A voice I would hear, on a daily basis, but this time, it was coming from a few feet away. As the voice, and it’s owner came up the stairs, I noticed it was Jeremy Paxman, of BBC University Challenge and Newsnight fame. I resisted the temptation of asking for a autograph, and just enjoyed the moment. As expected, my brief encounter with fame, was brief. Within a few minutes, his conversation ended and he rushed to the exit.

I was watching Football Focus on BBC One, this lunchtime. At the end of the programme, Ray Stubbs contemplated, with the final stage of European Championship qualification a month away, the last time three home nations competed in a international tournament. It was the World Cup, with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland in contention. It was 1986. As they should the clips from Mexico, there was only one song they could use as a soundtrack, a-ha‘s – The Sun Always Shines On TV. Breath taking, absolutely breath taking. Seeing some the magical moments from the tournament and even that, “Hand of God”.

When you talk about television for the ‘teens’, there are many shows that instantly come to mind. If you can over look the fact that the majority of the programming is from the US, you note that some of the best shows that you watched as a teenager, are still in some shape or form on the box today. On my quest to discover more information on these shows and the entire Engel Productions empire, I stumbled upon a great site. Now many sites, tend to be more show than ‘go’. But with the site I found, content is indeed king. Ian Ball’s TV Page provided detailed episode guides, production notes and background information on all the big teenage shows from the past ten years or so. Everything is there, from classics like Saved By The Bell and California Dreams, to recent shows such as USA High and Hang Time. Ian has spent a considerable amount of time and dedication amassing a huge FAQ on every single show and detailing every episode and when it was first aired in the US and then subsequently in Europe and the UK on satellite. This is a great resource, if you are looking for the little bit of information on a particular episode or show. Some of the information provided on Ian’s site, is more detailed than on the Internet Movie Database.

I have been busy looking at my Links page and sorting out all the hyperlinks. Broken links have been removed and all links have been checked.

I am back in Leicester next week and hope to get my new website ‘live’ by the end of next week. Until then, hope you all have a great weekend.