Specifically, the Radio Times. I’m sure that many of you will have had a similar experience to me while you were growing up, of getting hold of the Christmas TV guide as soon as it came out and circling all of the programmes and films that you wanted to watch during the festive period. For me, this is one of my clearest childhood memories and, even now, buying a copy of the Radio Times gets me all excited about Christmas. When that TV guide hits the newsagents’ shelves, it’s officially the start of Christmas!
It even happened this year, when a little squeal of excitement was squeaked while waiting in a queue at the village shop. Yes, there it was… the Christmas Radio Times. A quick check of the dates “20 Dec – 2 Jan” confirmed that it was indeed the hallowed festive TV guide and it was swiftly snapped up and brought home. The coloured pens came out and a whole lot of circling commenced!
As a child I had to share my TV guide with two brothers so we each chose a different coloured fluorescent marker pen to make our selections of festive TV viewing. A double-circled film was guaranteed to be watched, while a single-circled show might be viewed on my 14 inch TV-and-VHS combi in the bedroom. And what about clashing programmes, when a fantastic BBC comedy was scheduled at the same time as a festive film on ITV? In those days, video-plus was the ultimate convenience and we typed the codes into the video recorder to ensure that not one moment of classic Morecambe and Wise was missed. Back in those days we couldn’t have imagined that we would now be able to watch something we’d missed online through a TV player app! I’ve already been keeping the festive films running continuously thanks to 5OD.
But all the advances in technology, TV recording and online catch-up still doesn’t stop me from wanting to pour over every page of the TV guide and circle my favourite in festive red pen. So that’s exactly what I’ll be doing this weekend, with a big mug of hot chocolate and a purring cat by my side. I’ll soon be ready for Christmas to come in all it’s programming glory!
Let me know if you did this as a child… or still do it now?! I’m sure I can’t be the only one still buying the Christmas Radio Times?! Leave me a comment below and tweet me @Cassiefairy with your top picks on TV for this Christmas!
