Mark Simpson

Hello new followers. Just in case there's any confusion... I'm not the TV reporter of the same name. I look after the tech and operational things that keep a number of TV channels on air.

www.borntoengineer.com/duct-tape-fl...

Woof. Trump getting smacked down by the judge in his defamation case against the BBC over failure to turn over discovery. Judge Lett threatens him with sanctions that could include the dismissal of his case.

UK communications regulator Ofcom has said there is no single technical or regulatory solution to the issue of Republic of Ireland television content being blocked in Northern Ireland.

America, 2026

Mystery solved at last. It appears that the Humpty Dumpty costume worn by Mr Perkins in the 1982 Rentaghost Christmas special is a repurposed version of the one worn by Mr Grainger in the 1975 Are You Being Served Christmas special. Don’t say I never do anything for you lot.

The rule against making loud noise in a library is officially known as the Dewey Decibel System.

I've had this in my head for days so now you can too. youtu.be/59cxuFEzGQc?...

#Countryfile is showing some of the brilliant work #ChildrenInNeed does, bringing people all over the UK together to do positive, caring, human things. That’s *BBC* Children In Need. Another thing to be proud of.

Hi, dictator expert here! this is not funny, dictators only do this when they’re in extreme distress

“How much time do you think this defense secretary spends looking in the mirror in the morning? These are not serious people” — Obama’s audience in Ohio is hanging on every word as he skewers Trump and Hegseth

The Simpsons looks to be leaving Sky One permanently as of November. I wrote about it briefly here: wesleymead.wordpress.com/2026/10/24/r... @cwickham.bsky.social

youtu.be/P6Q57p-qTpU?...

youtu.be/8FgyNgIgVjw?...

Fun fact ... they used Jose Feliciano in the original stage production of Abigail's Party. Changed to Demis Roussos for the TV version for music rights reasons. Now that line is so famous that they use Demis in the stage version too #totp

youtu.be/ppRfgODZkNQ?...

The Belfast Beer and Cider Festival is run entirely by volunteers. Over the course of a week the biggest bar in Belfast is assembled, stocked, poured and disassembled again, and all by people just like you. No experience necessary! belfastbeerfestival.co.uk/volunteering/ for more info. Cheers!

My unshakable conviction is that America could fix its politics by importing a dozen British journalists to sit in events like this laughing loudly.

Well, this is a thing. Overnight in the UK, the BBC World Service will come... from Sydney. Goodness. james.cridland.net/blog/2026/bb...

I know this sounds wank, but I don’t want to have to choose everything I watch and listen to. I want someone to curate things, I want to just have something on in the background, I want to accidentally find things cos they are on. How many hours have been wasted deciding what to watch?

In troubled times Trump’s attempt to sue the BBC ... which is backfiring on him quite spectacularly... brings both hope and amusement newrepublic.com/post/216805/...

This is my new assistant Yogi. 🙂

Donald Trump canceled his scheduled Oct. 16 deposition in his lawsuit against the BBC because of "matters of national importance." The BBC alerts the judge that those matters were: a rally in Dalton, Ga. and a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.

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Looking forward to hearing some Kneecap on there given that they qualify under this music policy.

"Trump should fear the BBC. Instead he’s picked a fight – and he seems to be losing." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Rifkind says what everyone else is thinking - the Emperor is naked.

Oh that's sad. Generations of BBC tv channel playout were born there too. And the food was pretty legendary.

SCOOP: 'Tommy' from the now-viral exchange with Abdul El-Sayed is Thomas Teepell, a former staffer for Republican Senator Josh Hawley with close ties to Christian Nationalist Sean Feucht. He's the son of a former Bobby Jindal staffer whose consultant work was instrumental in getting Hawley elected.

"Mrs Hains's lavatory is on the main road near the bus stop." youtu.be/SK2MAymSeCY?...

Outstanding

The demolition of Quantel’s site on Turnpike Road in Newbury is underway.. Paintbox, Mirage, Harry, Henry, Picturebox & the sQ edit platform were all created and manufactured here. It was an incredible place to visit in its heyday..

Stunning revelations reach the Mike newsdesk this evening, as I can exclusively reveal that the Pope is, in fact, a Catholic.

Sad. But at least she can go back to not being a lawyer.

How to pay for parking.

I see the "migrants taking all the new jobs" nonsense is back, in the Mail, Telegraph and Times. Reminder that this is BS, and IPSO ruled repeatedly that this is not what the data says. I expect corrections from all of them (Times has already agreed to correct) www.ipso.co.uk/rulings/1183...

Trump has tonight posted video of the incident at Yorkshire Wildlife Park last weekend where a man climbed into a tiger pen, advising people never to "mess with nature". There is absolutely no floor, no self control, no maturity, no decency, no responsibility and increasingly limited sanity.

Well said. How many of Tommy Robinson’s Sport’s Direct paramilitary division go and help or worship at the churches they claim they want to protect. It’s much easier to don a balaclava and shout at the RNLI. #HopeNotHate

BLIMEY! www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

You can be sure that every single right wing commentator, along with every market analyst, will suddenly remember the existence of this deficit as soon as a Democrat is in the Oval.

Anthropic has said its experiments suggested small AI models may be months away from being capable enough to self-replicate on commercial Internet-of-Things ⁠(IoT) devices, such as smart ovens and off-brand Android TV boxes.

We have lost the art of scriptwriting. Minnie “Travel broadens the mind!” Ena “It doesn’t broaden the minds of some I know. Beattie Gibson for one. She’s been abroad for her holidays for the last dozen years and she still eats all her meals with a spoon.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBon...