A Pre-Christmas Ritual

7 December 2011


I love Christmas. I love a Christmas tradition. Today I bought the Christmas issue of the Radio Times. It is the only time during the whole year that I buy a television guide. I have no need to buy one: such guides come free with the weekend papers and to be honest I don't really watch that much TV.  No, this purchase was purely indulgent on my part. I love nothing better than sitting down on an evening in early December with a warming drink and a highlighter pen. I will read through the listings and highlight all that I would like to watch (though I know I'll barely watch a quarter of what I highlight).

There is something nostalgic about this particular publication: I wouldn't dream of buying any other at this time of year. As a child we always has a Radio Times and a TV Times in the house. I'm not sure why we had two. I'm guessing that back then, the BBC listed only their own channels in the Radio Times whilst ITV, and later channel 4, listed in the TV Times? Sounds rather antiquated now doesn't it?

So now I just need to find a free evening for my yearly ritual. But first, and most importantly, I will remove the 'summer holiday' supplement that is always stapled into the centre. That is just plainly wrong for the Christmas issue. I've always thought that.

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