I went away to Cardiff for the Easter weekend. Lovely place, but it turns out there’s a fair degree of TV-related mentalism in and around town.
First off, we went to Barry Island! Yes, Gavin & Stacey land. Turns out the funfair only starts at 12.30, even on bank holidays. That’s mental. We did at least get to play pirate mini-golf along the seafront though.
But Barry Island is keen to cash in on the popularity of Gavin & Stacey. Look:
Yes, it’s the Oh! What’s Occurrin’? gift shop. Enterprising.
Meanwhile, back in Cardiff, we went along Mermaid Quay and had a look at what used to be Torchwood‘s back entrance (ho, ho).
Yes, it’s the Ianto Jones memorial, complete with little flowers. FFS, you mentals, he’s a fictional character.
I’m Rob Buckley, a journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of although you might have heard me on the podcast Lockdown Land or Radio 5 Live’s Saturday Edition or Afternoon Edition. I’ve edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for TV producers magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and was regularly sarcastic about television on the blink-and-you-missed-it “web site for urban hedonists” The Tribe. Since going freelance, I've contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly, Action Network, TV Scoop and The Custard TV.
