For a long time, I didn't watch much television. I'd generally be so busy that I didn't find myself sitting in front of it until 8pm and I'd go to bed about 10pm, so a couple of hours a day would be about it.
When I first moved to Cambridgeshire, I didn't even have an aerial on the fist home I stayed in, so what I did watch was old DVD box sets or films that I bought.
When we moved into this house, for a long time, we did much the same, 2 hours at night and it was either a DVD or Netflix, which we'd signed up to.
But the start of the Pandemic and lockdown pretty much changed everything. With not much else to do with our lives, we started putting the TV on earlier and instead of just watching anything, I started buying Box Sets of TV series I'd loved in the past and fancied rewatching.
I started off by buying the 1980s series 'Howard's Way.' I'd only ever seen the first series which was back in 1986. It was on in the summer and we were open at St Osyth in Essex in an arcade, and I'd nip into the back room and have this hour to relax and take a break. After that first series, I'd never watched it again.
I decided to go and buy it. £30 invested for 5 series of a series. I hoped it wasn't a waste of money. Invariably, I always see life through rose-coloured glasses and so I always think that the programmes I used to watch were better than anything today.
'Howard's Way' wasn't, but it was still a fairly decent watch. I know nothing about the 'boating set and I imagine the series was just one big cliche, although an enjoyable one. 78 episodes for £30 wasn't bad value and it was well worth the money.
I progressed from there buying complete sets of '24', 'Miami Vice,' 'Monarch Of The Glen,' 'Quantum Leap,' 'Man In A Suitcase,' 'Land Of The Giants,' 'McCloud,' 'Sharpe,' 'Lovejoy,' 'Sunday Night At The London Palladium' and others. As well as that I started to rewatch series that I'd loved such as, 'Friday Night Lights,' 'Around The World In 80 Days with Michael Palin,' 'The West Wing,' 'Inspector Morse,' and 'Minder.'
So as you can tell, I haven't had much time for too many new series. And best of all, it's meant I've been available to totally miss out on watching the News and any other input of the unrest that's occurred in the last year.
Did I watch all of the series I bought? Not all. But I had enough variety and still have plenty to watch.
I know that nobody thinks about buying DVDs anymore and most watch Netflix or Prime, but I've found it joyous to go back over those old shows and enjoy the innocence of a lot of them.
Then, back in November, I decided to buy one of those hard drive recorders to get some of the shows from the Freeview Channels. I've indulged in 'The Fugitive,' 'Tales Of The Unexpected,' re-runs of 'DIY SOS,' 'Grand Designs' and many more. I've stored loads of 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' and 'Hairy Bikers' shows and numerous murder and crime documentaries. Sky Arts have some great documentaries as well.
So all in all, I've become 'Retro TV Man' and I've loved it.
At Christmas, I watched all the classics that remind me of the telly when I was a kid. All those wonderful Musicals of the past. The Bing Crosby films, James Stewart and all those that still get a viewing (but without the adverts). And of course, what would Christmas be without 'Calamity Jane;?
So yes, I've had plenty of opportunities to watch telly over the last year. but I've mostly used my DBD collection.
Most of today's telly doesn't do much for me, sadly. And of the programmes I do watch, they tend to be what I class as 'Sunday Night TV', Dramas with a hint of comedy, stuff that can border on the nostalgic and then things like 'The Antiques Roadshow' and the wonderful, 'Repair Shop'
I suppose the thing is, I like to be entertained. Much of today's TV to me, seems dark, overtly political and heartless. And to be honest, I don't want to spend my downtime not enjoying what I'm watching.
Luckily for me though, I've still got complete, 'Frasier' and 'Gray's Anatomy' and 'The Sweeny' box-sets sat waiting for my attention.
So although I've slowly been drawn back to the telly, it's on my terms. If I'm going to watch it, at least it won't be interspersed with the agendas of the BBC, ITV and all. The thought of sitting through the news turns my stomach these days. And there's about as much chance of me sitting through 'Question Time' as there is of me running the next London Marathon, whenever that happens!
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