Alle afleveringen

171 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962): Bette Davis, Joan Crawford & the Feud That Became Legend

3 november 2026 · 56 min
Afspelen

Click here to visit our YouTube Channel Lees meer

This week, we're heading into the wonderfully unsettling world of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), the psychological thriller that brought two of Hollywood's greatest stars together for a spectacularly uncomfortable family reunion.

With Bette Davis as the grotesquely theatrical former child star Baby Jane Hudson and Joan Crawford as her wheelchair-using sister Blanche, it's a film packed with jealousy, resentment, faded glamour and some truly extraordinary performances.

But is it really a story about two sisters who hate each other, or does it reveal something much more troubling about Hollywood's treatment of ageing women?

And, naturally, could you get away with it today?

First, we're travelling back to Britain in 1963 for our regular Culture Corner.

It's a year of scandal, satire and enormous social change.

The Profumo affair exposes the secrets of Britain's political establishment, the Duke and Duchess of Argyll's divorceprovides sensational headlines, and a new generation of satirists begins challenging the country's traditional deference to authority.

Meanwhile, Beatlemania is sweeping the nation, Dr Beeching's railway proposals threaten the future of Britain's branch lines, National Service is coming to an end, and nuclear anxieties continue to fuel the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

At the cinema, James Bond returns in From Russia with Love, while television prepares to introduce a mysterious traveller called Doctor Who.

And, of course, we'll be taking a look at what Britain was listening to as the pop revolution gathered pace.

Then it's time to enter the Hudson household.

We revisit the making of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, its extraordinary success, its Academy Award recognition and the performances that transformed two established Hollywood stars into icons of psychological horror.

But behind the famous make-up, costumes and deliciously theatrical dialogue lies a rather uncomfortable ques…
'Ghostwatch' REWATCHED! (1992): The Halloween TV Show That Terrified Britain

31 oktober 2026 · 52 min
Afspelen

Channel 5 is bringing Ghostwatch back into the spotlight this Halloween with a brand-new documentary, Ghostwatch: The Night That Terrified Britain, airing on Saturday 31 October at 9.15pm — exactly 34 years after the original BBC broadcast. Lees meer

To mark the occasion, we're reopening the archives at The Problematic Gaze and revisiting our own deep dive into one of the most extraordinary and controversial moments in British television history.

On Halloween night in 1992, millions of viewers settled down to watch what appeared to be a live BBC investigation into a haunted suburban home.

With Michael Parkinson in the studio, Sarah Greene inside the house, Craig Charles reporting from outside and Mike Smith taking viewers' calls, everything looked reassuringly familiar.

But something wasn't quite right.

There were strange noises, unexplained disturbances and a mysterious presence known only as Pipes.

And as the evening progressed, things became increasingly unsettling.

The problem? Many viewers believed it was all real.

In fact, Ghostwatch was an elaborately staged television drama, written by Stephen Volk and directed by Lesley Manning, which blurred the boundaries between fiction and reality with extraordinary results.

The broadcast prompted thousands of complaints, made national headlines and became so controversial that the BBC never repeated it on British television.

But was Ghostwatch a brilliantly innovative piece of television horror, or had the BBC taken its Halloween trick a little too far?

In this special Halloween reissue, Dr Lee Arnott and Dave Moor revisit the programme that frightened a generation.

We explore the familiar television faces that made the deception so convincing, the ingenious techniques used to create an atmosphere of mounting dread, the mystery of Pipes and the extraordinary public reaction.

We also consider the programme's lasting influence on horror, its transformation into a cult classic and why, more than three decades later, p…
Carrie (1976): Prom Night, Periods & the Horror of Being a Teenage Girl

27 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 9 min
Afspelen

Periods, pig's blood, religious repression and quite possibly the worst school prom in cinema history. Welcome to Carrie! Lees meer

Hello Gazers!

This week we're going back to 1976 for Brian De Palma's horror classic Carrie, starring Sissy Spacek as the painfully shy teenager whose schooldays are about to take a rather spectacular turn for the worse.

But is Carrie simply a terrifying tale of supernatural revenge, or is it really about the horrors of being a teenage girl?

And, more importantly, could you get away with it today?

We begin with one of cinema's most uncomfortable opening sequences, as Carrie's first period becomes a source of humiliation in the school changing rooms.

It's a scene that raises some interesting questions about the male gaze, the representation of teenage girls and why De Palma chooses to introduce his heroine in quite such an intimate way.

From there, we explore the relentless bullying Carrie endures, her emerging telekinetic powers and her deeply troubled relationship with her fanatically religious mother, Margaret White, played with extraordinary intensity by Piper Laurie.

Then, of course, there's the prom.

The dress. The date. The bucket. And one of the most memorable sequences in horror-film history.

We discuss how Carrie turns teenage cruelty into something genuinely disturbing, whether its portrayal of female anger can be read as empowering, and why the film seems determined to punish its heroine just as she begins to find a little happiness.

Is Carrie a monster, a victim, or simply an outsider pushed beyond her limits?

Along the way, we revisit the making of the film, Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie's Oscar-nominated performances, its box-office success and its extraordinary influence on popular culture.

We also look at the various attempts to revisit Stephen King's story, including the remakes and the forthcoming television adaptation.

And then it's time for Culture Corner!

Although Carrie was released in America in 1976, Britis…
Casino Royale (2006): Daniel Craig, Bond Girls & a Very Gay 007 Ranking

20 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
Afspelen

Daniel Craig in tiny swimming trunks, a very dangerous poker game, and the important question: which James Bond is actually the sexiest? Lees meer

Hello Gazers!

This week we're dusting off our tuxedos, ordering something shaken rather than stirred, and heading back to 2006 for Casino Royale, the film that reinvented James Bond for a new generation.

But was Daniel Craig's tougher, moodier and considerably more muscular 007 really a step forward? Or was he simply the same old Bond with a gym membership and a slightly more troubled expression?

First, we're revisiting the film itself, from Le Chiffre's high-stakes poker tournament and Bond's increasingly complicated relationship with Vesper Lynd, to some particularly uncomfortable encounters, spectacular action sequences and a memorable finale in Venice.

We explore how Casino Royale revitalised the franchise, the controversy surrounding Craig's casting, the film's critical and commercial success, and whether its grittier approach borrowed a little too enthusiastically from the Bourne films.

Then it's time for Culture Corner, where we're heading back to Britain in 2006.

It was the era of metrosexual men, lads' magazines, Top Gear and an increasingly confused national conversation about masculinity.

As traditional ideas about manhood collided with changing attitudes towards gender, class and sexuality, we ask whether Daniel Craig's more physically imposing but emotionally vulnerable Bond reflected a wider cultural shift.

And what better way to explore changing masculinity than by examining every James Bond?

From Sean Connery's unapologetic swagger and Roger Moore's raised eyebrow to Timothy Dalton's intensity, Pierce Brosnan's polished charm and Daniel Craig's brooding physicality, we're examining how each incarnation of 007 treated women, expressed masculinity and reflected the attitudes of his era.

Naturally, this leads to the most academically rigorous segment in the history of The Problematic Gays:

Our ranking of t…
THE GAZETTE: Carrie, Reform Exposed, Celebrity Traitors vs Big Brother & Listener Mail

16 oktober 2026 · 33 min
Afspelen

Click here to visit our YouTube Channel! Lees meer

We're back! After a week off, we're reunited in the cellar at PG Towers, accompanied by Fontaine the dog, a little background building noise and the usual complete inability to stay on one subject for more than five minutes.

And what a lot we've got to catch up on.

First, we're opening the mailbag for your reactions to The League of Gentlemen, including a surprising connection to Roy Chubby Brown and some excellent suggestions for future episodes.

Could The Mighty Boosh be heading for The Problematic Gaze? And have we been overlooking the deeply questionable world of Mr Men and Little Miss?

Then it's time for a little reality television.

We're discussing The Celebrity Traitors, which doesn't seem quite itself this year, and Big Brother, which might finally have rediscovered its mojo. There's also the small matter of housemate Rob, who apparently cannot stop singing.

But the week's most extraordinary controversy comes courtesy of Doctor Who.

Yes, apparently even a preschool cartoon can provoke an internet meltdown.

We examine the outrage surrounding the BBC's The TARDIS Crew, where some online commentators have managed to discover a supposed “bisexual agenda” lurking in the programme's colour palette.

Because obviously that's what children are thinking about when they see a brightly coloured cartoon spaceship.

Back in the mailbag, we're talking about the wonderfully unsettling In Fabric, revisiting Tales of the Unexpected and its particularly disturbing episode The Flypaper, and returning to two subjects that simply refuse to go away: Britain's rudest place names and the controversial merits of rum and raisin ice cream.

We also clear up a little Dynasty trivia involving Catherine Oxenberg and Princess Diana, before checking in with The Great British Bake Off and looking ahead to Mike Flanagan's forthcoming adaptation of Carrie.

There's also a brief detour into an ITV investigation involving Reform UK, because app…
Dynasty: The Moldavian Massacre (1985) Joan Collins & 80s Excess

13 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 11 min
Afspelen

Watch our 'Dynasty and the 80's' YouTube playlist! Click here Lees meer

Shoulder pads, champagne, catfights and a royal wedding that ends in a bloodbath.

Hello Gazers!

This week we're heading back to the gloriously excessive 1980s for Dynasty, the American primetime soap that gave us Joan Collins, spectacular wealth, magnificent bitchiness and one of the most outrageous cliffhangers in television history.

And naturally, we're asking: Could you get away with it today?

Created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, Dynasty ran from 1981 to 1989, turning the fabulously wealthy Carrington family into an international television phenomenon.

We revisit John Forsythe as Blake Carrington, Linda Evans as Krystle and the incomparable Joan Collins as Alexis, whose arrival helped transform the show's fortunes and made shoulder pads practically compulsory.

We also share our own memories of watching Dynasty, its extraordinary appeal to gay audiences and why all that glamour, melodrama and barely disguised hostility became such irresistible camp entertainment.

Over in Culture Corner, it's time to get rich.

We're exploring the world of Ronald Reagan's America, the rise of the yuppie, conspicuous consumption and the fascination with money, status and designer everything.

Was Dynasty celebrating the excesses of 1980s capitalism, or quietly revealing the greed, misery and dysfunction beneath all that fabulous wealth?

We also revisit the show's extraordinary commercial success, from merchandise and spin-offs to The Colbys.

Then it's time for our main event.

The Moldavian Massacre.

We're concentrating on the infamous 1985 royal wedding cliffhanger, when a celebration in the fictional kingdom of Moldavia takes a rather unexpected turn.

It's one of the most memorable endings in soap history — but does the episode itself live up to its reputation?

Along the way, we're discussing:

Alexis versus Krystle: the catfights, rivalries and changing expectations of wom…
The League of Gentlemen (2000): Could Royston Vasey Exist Today?

6 oktober 2026 · 56 min
Afspelen

Watch our YouTube playlist to find out more aboutThe League of Gentlemen and life in 2000 Lees meer

Click here to watch our chosen episode of The League Of Gentlemen on I-Player

Hello, Dave? You're our wife now.

This week we're taking a local trip for local people as The Problematic Gays head to Royston Vasey for The League of Gentlemen.

We're focusing on Series 2, Episode 2 — “Lust for Royston Vasey,” first broadcast on 21 January 2000 — and asking how one of Britain's darkest, strangest and most grotesque comedies looks more than 25 years later.

We go back to the beginnings of Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson's creation, from Bretton Hall and the Perrier Award to BBC Radio 4 and television, and explore the influences behind Royston Vasey's peculiar mixture of Hammer Horror, The Wicker Man, British sitcom and pitch-black comedy.

Then it's time to meet the locals.

There's Herr Lipp and his deeply uncomfortable interest in Justin; Tubbs and Edward facing the horrors of the outside world; Alvin attempting to escape Sunny's increasingly elaborate sexual appetites; Pauline and Mickey at the Burger Me takeaway; the deeply unpleasant Pop and his sons; Mr Chinnery doing terrible things to another unfortunate animal; and Val and Harvey's spectacularly dysfunctional household.

And then there are two characters who have become particularly complicated.

We revisit Papa Lazarou, the grotesque circus master whose appearance became central to the controversy that saw episodes removed from Netflix in 2020, and ask what the character was intended to represent versus how that imagery reads today.

We also discuss Babs, Royston Vasey's transgender taxi driver, and how a character that could once be defended as being in on the joke becomes considerably harder to defend when the programme returned in 2017.

Over in Culture Corner, we're heading back to Britain in 2000: the Millennium Dome, New Labour optimism, devolution, changing ideas of Englishness and…
THE GAZETTE: Celebrity Traitors is back!!

2 oktober 2026 · 26 min
Afspelen

Hello Gazers! Welcome to our weekly Gazette! Lees meer

We're still circling Jaws (1975) this week — although apparently the most contentious part of our entire discussion isn't the shark. It's coffee ice cream.

After our latest Jaws episode, we're debating whether Spielberg's classic really counts as a horror film and tackling the important culinary questions nobody else was brave enough to ask: is coffee a legitimate ice cream flavour? Does anyone still eat rum and raisin? And whatever happened to tutti frutti?

Our Jaws adventures also lead us into the glamorous world of copyright takedowns. We reminisce about previous encounters with the social-media copyright police and discover that apparently even 50-year-old mechanical sharks have lawyers.

Then it's time for a tour of Britain's rudest place names and the surprisingly innocent history behind some extremely unfortunate-sounding villages, roads and landmarks.

There's also a glorious Les Dennis story involving someone mistaking him for Amanda Holden's father before we get thoroughly overexcited about Celebrity Traitors. Richard E. Grant accidentally announces that he's a traitor, Ross Kemp reaches previously unexplored levels of suspicion, and we pick through the latest treachery, paranoia and questionable detective work.

We also check in on Big Brother and its latest eviction drama before taking time to remember Esther Rantzen and an extraordinary broadcasting career that stretched far beyond That's Life!. We reflect on her campaigning work and the lasting importance of Childline and The Silver Line.

Plus, listener mail takes us all the way to Australia for a brilliant Jaws memory.

And next week, we're going somewhere that makes Amity Island look positively welcoming...

Welcome to Royston Vasey.

Yes, The League of Gentlemen is coming to The Problematic Gaze.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for ea…
Jaws (1975): The Blockbuster That Made Us Afraid of Sharks

29 september 2026 · 53 min
Afspelen

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… Lees meer

This week we're heading to Amity Island for Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) — the film that terrified a generation, transformed the Hollywood blockbuster and did absolutely nothing for the shark's public image.

We revisit Spielberg's troubled ocean shoot, the notoriously temperamental mechanical shark and John Williams' iconic Oscar-winning score, before diving into the moments that made Jaws one of the most effective thrillers ever made: Chrissie's terrifying opening swim, severed body parts, Ben Gardner's surprise appearance, a doomed dog, a horrifying attack on a child and, eventually, three men heading out to sea to hunt a very big fish.

But underneath the shark movie is something rather interesting.

We look at Mayor Vaughn's determination to keep Amity's beaches open, asking what Jaws has to say about money, tourism, political denial and managing a crisis when acknowledging the problem might be bad for business.

Then there's the men.

Brody, Hooper and Quint offer three very different versions of 1970s masculinity, culminating in Robert Shaw's extraordinary USS Indianapolis monologue and the increasingly claustrophobic battle aboard the Orca.

Over in Culture Corner, we cross the Atlantic to Britain in 1975, where inflation was running at extraordinary levels and everyday prices were soaring. What did the world outside the cinema look like when audiences first heard those two ominous notes?

We also examine the uncomfortable legacy of Jaws. Did Hollywood's most famous shark help turn a vulnerable animal into a monster in the public imagination? We discuss shark hunting, changing attitudes towards the species and the later reflections of author Peter Benchley and Spielberg himself.

And next week, we're off to Royston Vasey as we tackle The League of Gentlemen.

You're our wife now.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTu…
THE GAZETTE: Furious, Last Seen, Strictly Shake-Ups & Streaming Annoyances

25 september 2026 · 28 min
Afspelen

Hello Gazers! Lees meer

The postbag is open and A Taste of Honey has got you talking.

Listener John Bishop—not that one—gives the film a whopping 9/10, remembers a Welsh stage production that relocated the story to Cardiff after the Manchester accent proved something of a stumbling block, and somehow takes us on a detour to seeing Jaws at the IMAX.

Then Johannes joins us from Norway with his thoughts on why A Taste of Honey still feels so remarkable: a British New Wave film centred on a young woman while giving unusual prominence for the period to a Black character and a gay man.

From kitchen-sink realism, we make the entirely natural transition to sequins as we discuss Strictly Come Dancing's new three-presenter line-up—and a newspaper's rather enthusiastic attempt to turn the show's ratings into a "flop" narrative.

We're also mourning the loss of Ride or Die, the Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham series cancelled by Prime, before diving into our latest television recommendations.

Dr Lee's been watching Furious, the new crime thriller starring Emmy Rossum as an FBI agent hunting a female serial killer, while we also get stuck into Last Seen.

Elsewhere, apparently iPods are becoming desirable again, which is excellent news for anybody with a drawer full of obsolete Apple products and the patience to find the correct cable.

We also have a moan about the increasingly peculiar experience of paying for streaming services and then being shown adverts anyway, discuss a new version of The War Game involving politicians, and disappear down a nostalgic Blue Peter rabbit hole involving Peter Duncan, terrifying stunts and that unforgettable green-and-white checked suit.

Listener mail, television recommendations, streaming grumbles, nostalgia and several subjects that really shouldn't fit together in the same podcast.

In other words, a fairly standard week at PG Manor.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcas…
A Taste of Honey (1961): Interracial Romance, Queer Britain & Kitchen Sink Realism

22 september 2026 · 52 min
Afspelen

Visit our YouTube playlist to find out more about "A Taste Of Honey" and the cultural landscape of Britain in 1961 Lees meer

Interracial romance. Teenage pregnancy. Homosexuality. An unmarried mother. In 1961, A Taste of Honey put subjects British cinema usually kept firmly out of sight right at the centre of the screen.

This week we're revisiting A Taste of Honey (1961), Tony Richardson's landmark British New Wave drama starring Rita Tushingham, Dora Bryan, Murray Melvin and Paul Danquah.

Adapted from Shelagh Delaney's groundbreaking play, the film follows Jo, a Salford teenager living with her neglectful mother Helen. When Jo becomes pregnant by Jimmy, a Black sailor, she forms an unconventional household with Geoffrey, her gay friend—until Helen's return threatens the little family they've created.

But to understand why A Taste of Honey caused such a stir, we're going back to the Britain that produced it.

We look at the respectable world of post-war “consensual cinema”, the arrival of the Angry Young Men, Free Cinema and kitchen-sink realism, and the changing representation of working-class life that was also appearing on television in Coronation Street.

Then there are the subjects the film dared to tackle.

We're discussing interracial relationships and racism in 1960s Britain, the stigma surrounding unmarried pregnancy and “illegitimacy”, and Geoffrey's remarkably sympathetic portrayal at a time when sex between men was still criminalised in England and Wales. We also look at the Wolfenden Report and the political debate that would eventually lead to partial decriminalisation in 1967.

We explore the film's depiction of Salford and working-class Northern England, its music and performances, its international controversy and censorship, and the major recognition it received at the BAFTA Awards.

And, more than six decades later, we ask the question at the heart of The Problematic Gaze: how does A Taste of Honey hold up today?

Is it an uncomfortable relic of 1961—o…
THE GAZETTE: Doctor Who’s Future, Coma Song Nightmares and Film Star Crushes!

18 september 2026 · 31 min
Afspelen

Click here to check out our new YouTube playlists, this week it accompanies our last main episode on UK sitcom 'Bread' from 1986 Lees meer

Click here to watch the documentary on Shelagh Delaney (writer of A Taste Of Honey from next weeks main show)

Click here to watch 'A Taste Of Honey', the topic of next weeks main episode

This week at PG Manor, we're recovering from a rather busy weekend. We've been entertaining Hungarian actress Sonya, seeing Ricky Gervais and Jack Whitehall, preparing for a mammoth upcoming recording session—and issuing an important correction after apparently relocating Aqua to Sweden. They're Danish-Norwegian. We apologise to Scandinavia.

Following our trip back to the world of Bread, the Boswell family and 1980s Liverpool, Dr Lee has also been investigating the mysterious “cotton mill whisper” and whether workers really developed a special way of communicating above the deafening machinery.

Then it's over to the Gazers.

Listener mail takes us from biodegradable bowel-screening test paper in Australia to a sanitised version of Saturday Night Fever and a spider of frankly unacceptable proportions.

There's also some actual news to discuss. We look at the BBC's tender process for the future of Doctor Who and what its emphasis on character-driven, distinctly British storytelling might tell us about the programme's next incarnation.

Then we discover why the United Nations has backed a move away from distorted world maps that make Africa appear far smaller than it really is. The UN General Assembly has encouraged the use of equal-area projections when relative size matters, following an African-led campaign against the distortions associated with the Mercator projection.

We also learn about purple poppies commemorating animals lost in war before encountering possibly the week's most horrifying story: a woman who says that while she was in a coma, she could hear the same song her family was playing to her over and over again for a month. She later de…
Bread (1986): The Boswells, Benefit Fraud & Life in 80s Liverpool

15 september 2026 · 57 min
Afspelen

Click here to watch the episode of Bread discussed in this show on YouTube Lees meer

This week we're heading to Liverpool to revisit Bread, Carla Lane's hugely popular BBC sitcom about the Boswell family. First broadcast in 1986, Bread became one of the defining British sitcoms of the decade, following formidable matriarch Nellie Boswell and her Catholic, working-class Liverpool family as they navigated love, money, unemployment and an impressively creative relationship with the DHSS.

We're focusing on Series 1, Episode 6, first broadcast on 15 June 1986, and there's an extraordinary amount going on.

Joey is dealing with his father's gambling debts—and some men with a suspicious interest in fur coats—while Adrian loses his job, Jack handles stolen goods and Billy discovers that his girlfriend Julie is pregnant. Their discussions about abortion, marriage and finding somewhere to live give us a glimpse of some very real pressures facing young couples in 1980s Britain.

Meanwhile, Aveline gets her topless photographs published, Grandad struggles with depression and the Boswells continue their elaborate attempts to stay one step ahead of the benefits system.

We look at the sitcom's portrayal of working-class Liverpool, Catholicism, unemployment, benefit fraud and petty crime, and ask whether the Boswells are affectionate comic creations or part of a much less comfortable tradition of stereotypes about people living on benefits.

Has Bread aged surprisingly well—or does its politics look very different nearly 40 years later?

Then it's off to Culture Corner, and this time we're going properly 1986.

We're flicking through an original Smash Hits to discover the pop gossip, celebrity nonsense and surprisingly serious nuclear-war debate occupying British teenagers that year. We revisit the UK Top 10 singles from the week this episode aired and then take a dangerous trip into the 1986 Argos catalogue to see what Britain apparently considered the height of domestic sophistication.…
THE GAZETTE: Dam Busters Backlash, Star Wars & a Very Important Poo Stick

11 september 2026 · 23 min
Afspelen

Welcome Gazers to this weeks Gazette! This week we're dealing with some of the social-media reaction to our Dam Busters episodes. We're also returning to The Dam Busters' extraordinary influence on Star Wars, including just how closely George Lucas's climactic Death Star attack echoes moments from the 1955 film. Once you start spotting the similarities, they're rather difficult to unsee. Click here to watch Star Wars Vs The Dam Busters on Youtube Lees meer

Listener Ruth then introduces us to the world of white poppies, the Peace Pledge Union and the UK Peace Museum, which leads us into the perennial British tradition of the "poppy wars" and the arguments over what different coloured poppies actually represent.

Elsewhere, Dave encounters a director whose treatment of runners and PAs leaves rather a lot to be desired, and we somehow end up discussing the military drinking game known as the Dance of the Flaming Arseholes. We promise these two subjects seemed connected at the time.

Then comes a genuinely important public-service announcement: if that bowel cancer screening kit drops through your letterbox, do it. We discuss why the NHS test matters, what it involves and why embarrassment is a considerably worse reason for avoiding potentially life-saving screening than you might think.

We're also recommending the extraordinary Naudet brothers' 9/11 documentary, filmed alongside New York firefighters as the attacks unfolded. Click here to watch the 9/11 documentary on YouTube

Plus: a wonderfully strange story involving the Ghostbusters theme, schoolgirls who apparently didn't receive quite the credit they deserved, British weather performing its traditional overnight transition from drought to deluge, questionable vocal warm-ups and all the usual nonsense from PG Manor.

GAZER HOMEWORK: In our nest main episode we look at Bread, a UK sitcom from 1986. Click here to watch our chosen episode on YouTube

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watc…
The Dam Busters (1955): Bouncing Bombs, British Heroes & the Truth Behind the Legend

8 september 2026 · 57 min
Afspelen

This week we're heading back to 1955 for bouncing bombs, stiff upper lips and one of the most famous pieces of music in British cinema as we revisit The Dam Busters. Lees meer

Based on the true story of Operation Chastise, the film follows engineer Barnes Wallis as he develops his extraordinary bouncing bomb and Wing Commander Guy Gibson as he leads 617 Squadron on the daring 1943 raid against Germany's Ruhr dams. But more than 70 years after the film was released, how much of The Dam Busters is history—and how much is British myth-making?

We explore why the film became such a national institution, from its famous Dam Busters March and innovative special effects to its portrait of heroism, masculinity, class and that quintessentially British determination to face potentially catastrophic situations while displaying approximately three-and-a-half emotions.

We also look beyond the legend to the reality of Operation Chastise: the aircrew who never returned, the civilians killed by the resulting floods, and the continuing historical debate over how strategically successful the raid actually was.

And then there's the dog.

We discuss the racial slur used as the name of Guy Gibson's black Labrador, how later television broadcasts and releases have attempted to deal with it, and the difficulties it presents when showing a much-loved 1950s film to modern audiences. We also look at the long-discussed Peter Jackson remake and the extraordinary influence The Dam Busters had on later filmmakers—including some very familiar moments in Star Wars.

In Culture Corner, we're exploring Britain in 1955, a year in which Winston Churchill resigned, Anthony Eden became Prime Minister, ITV arrived to challenge the BBC, television advertising began, Dixon of Dock Green hit our screens, the first Guinness Book of Records appeared and Birdseye introduced Britain to the fish finger.

We also revisit Ruth Ellis becoming the last woman executed in Britain, the Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend co…
THE GAZETTE: Dolly, Gloria Steinem, Wentworth & Dogs Behaving Strangely

4 september 2026 · 24 min
Afspelen

Click this link to watch the Dolly Parton documentary on YouTube discussed in this episode Lees meer

Click here to visit our YouTube Channel

This week at PG Manor we're feeling slightly ill, not sleeping properly and discussing pensions, so naturally we've decided we're entering the third quarter of life. Apparently this is what passes for optimism now.

Fortunately, there's plenty to cheer us up, starting with your fantastic response to our Grange Hill episodes and some very exciting movement over on YouTube—including one of our Molly House videos creeping towards 20,000 views. We also hear from Paulina in Slovakia, who's returning to teaching and has some thoughts on what Grange Hill tells us about life in the classroom.

Then we turn our attention to an important scientific question: can dogs emotionally manipulate their owners? After a suspicious bout of canine illness coincides with a change in routine, we investigate whether dogs can sense when you're going away—and whether they might be quite capable of laying on the guilt when you do.

There's plenty to watch this week too. Lee recommends the brilliant Be Kind Rewind and its documentary exploring Dolly Parton's film career, while Dave has been watching How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, the comic murder mystery from Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee.

We also celebrate the extraordinary Gloria Steinem, looking back at her journalism, activism and famous undercover investigation working as a Playboy Bunny before she became one of the defining figures of the modern feminist movement.

Meanwhile, there's potentially exciting news for Wentworth fans, with a new spin-off on the horizon and Rachel Griffiths joining the cast. We also discover the increasingly depressing signs that you've finally become a proper adult, recount a yin yoga session that didn't go entirely according to plan, and discuss a new documentary connected to the controversial 1980 film Cruising.

And next week we're travelling all the way back to 1955 fo…
'Grange Hill': Racism, Heroin & Why Mary Whitehouse Hated It

1 september 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
Afspelen

Hello Gazers! We watched three episodes of Grange Hill discussed in this podcast: Lees meer

Click here to watch the Racism episode from 1983 on YouTube

Click here to watch the first Zammo Heroin episode from 1983 on YouTube

Click here to watch the second Zammo Heroin episode from 1983 on YouTube

Get your school bags ready because this week we're going back to Grange Hill—the BBC children's drama. Created by Phil Redmond and first broadcast in 1978, Grange Hill broke new ground by putting ordinary comprehensive-school pupils at the centre of children's television. We explore its 30-year history, its changing filming locations, its commitment to working-class and multicultural characters, and the controversy that followed its determination to tackle subjects other children's programmes often avoided.

Then we're revisiting three episodes from the show's classic era.

First, we head to 1983, where notorious school bully Gripper Stebson targets Sikh pupil Randhir Singh in a disturbing storyline about racism. More than 40 years later, we ask how well it holds up and consider just how unusual it was for children's television to confront racial prejudice so directly.

Then it's 1986 and arguably the most famous Grange Hill storyline of them all: Zammo's heroin addiction. We revisit two episodes depicting his increasingly desperate behaviour, the damage his addiction causes to the people around him, and the moments that shocked a generation of young viewers.

We also look at what happened when the storyline escaped the television screen. Just Say No became a real-life anti-drugs campaign and Grange Hill cast single, eventually taking its young stars all the way to America and the White House.

Along the way we discuss the programme's battles with critics including Mary Whitehouse, the sometimes astonishingly harsh school discipline, classic characters and behind-the-scenes stories from three decades of Grange Hill.

And in Culture Corner, we're investigating that peculiar period…
THE GAZETTE: Tim Curry & Dolly Parton, Storm Chaos and Grange Hill

28 augustus 2026 · 24 min
Afspelen

It's been quite a week. We've survived biblical weather, failed to see The Human League and said goodbye to two absolute legends: Tim Curry and Dolly Parton. Lees meer

We begin back at PG Manor with the tale of the concert that never was. Plans to see The Human League, Toyah and Roland Gift were scuppered by a spectacular storm and eventual cancellation, leaving us with no synth-pop whatsoever but at least a reasonably dramatic story to tell.

We also catch up on your reactions to our Saturday Night Fever episode. It turns out quite a few of us had remembered John Travolta, the white suit and the Bee Gees while somehow forgetting just how extraordinarily bleak the rest of the film is.

Then we remember two much-loved stars we've sadly lost this week.

First, Tim Curry, whose extraordinary career gave us Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Pennywise in It and a wonderfully scene-stealing Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island. We celebrate his unique talent, his resilience following his stroke, and why so many of his performances became permanently lodged in popular culture.

We also pay tribute to Dolly Parton—singer, songwriter, actress, philanthropist, businesswoman and owner of perhaps the most recognisable hair in showbusiness. Beyond Jolene, 9 to 5 and I Will Always Love You, we look at some of the stories that made us love Dolly quite so much and celebrate the extraordinary generosity that accompanied her extraordinary career.

There's plenty of listener mail too, including a recommendation for the gloriously gender-bending Goodbye Charlie, one listener's determination never to watch Crocodile Dundee, and the suggestion that we turn our attention to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert instead.

Plus, we're watching Widow's Bay, discovering that apparently crows can hold grudges, discussing The Traitors: Canada, Reacher, Channel 5's Number 1 Fan and some intriguing casting news from Only Murders in the Building.

And finally, sharpen your pencils, straig…
Saturday Night Fever (1978 UK): The Disco Classic Is Much Darker Than You Remember

25 augustus 2026 · 52 min
Afspelen

Pull on your flares, practise that pointing pose and dust off that Bee Gees soundtrack because this week we're revisiting Saturday Night Fever—although the film we actually watched is a lot less glittery than popular culture would have us believe. Lees meer

Released in America in 1977 and arriving in UK cinemas in March 1978, Saturday Night Fever gave us John Travolta in the white suit, one of the biggest-selling soundtracks of all time and some of the most iconic dancing ever put on film. But strip away the disco lights and this is a surprisingly bleak story about working-class young people who don't see much of a future ahead of them.

We follow Tony Manero through the streets of Brooklyn, where his dead-end job, troubled family life and deeply troubled group of friends contrast dramatically with the glamorous world of the 2001 Odyssey nightclub. On Saturday night, Tony can become somebody—and Travolta's extraordinary dancing shows us exactly why.

But then there's everything else.

We tackle the film's toxic masculinity, misogyny, casual racism and homophobia, as well as its treatment of women, sexual violence, teen pregnancy and tragic deaths. We also discuss the dance competition and the moment Tony himself begins to recognise that the world he inhabits—and some of his own behaviour within it—isn't quite as straightforward as he thought.

In Culture Corner, we're heading to Britain in 1978, when disco was everywhere. We revisit the year's chart hits and youth culture while digging beneath the mainstream disco explosion to explore the Black musical traditions and Black, Latino and queer communities that helped create the culture—roots that Saturday Night Fever's overwhelmingly white version of disco largely leaves out.

And yet, despite everything that's difficult about the film, there's plenty to celebrate. Travolta gives a remarkable performance, the dance sequences remain electrifying, the soundtrack became a cultural phenomenon, and beneath Tony's swagger is a young…
Prime Suspect (1991): Helen Mirren, Sexism & the Drama That Changed TV Crime

18 augustus 2026 · 43 min
Afspelen

To watch the first series of Prime Suspect discussed in this episode, click here to watch on YouTube Lees meer

Grab your notebook, light another cigarette and prepare for some extremely grim early-90s police station décor, because this week we're investigating one of the most acclaimed British crime dramas ever made: Prime Suspect.

First broadcast on ITV in 1991, Prime Suspect gave Helen Mirren one of her defining roles as DCI Jane Tennison, an ambitious, formidable detective trying to solve a brutal murder while surrounded by male colleagues who seem almost as determined to undermine her as they are to catch the killer.

We revisit the first series, where Tennison finally gets her chance to lead a major murder investigation after the original senior detective suddenly dies. Unfortunately, inheriting the case also means inheriting a squad of deeply unimpressed men, led by DS Ottley, who respond to having a female boss with sexism, obstruction and some good old-fashioned workplace sabotage.

At the centre of the investigation is George Marlowe, an apparently respectable family man whose private life brings him into contact with sex workers. As the evidence mounts, we explore how the drama plays with the idea of the seemingly harmless "nice guy" while also examining the appalling attitudes faced by the women involved in the case.

But Prime Suspect isn't simply a murder mystery. We look at the sexism surrounding Tennison, the misogyny directed towards sex workers, the pressures her career places on her relationship, and the extraordinary forensic detail that helped make the programme feel so different from the cosy television detective dramas that had come before.

In Culture Corner, we're travelling back to 1991 to revisit the year's biggest-selling albums and look at the women who had already been solving crimes on British television—from Juliet Bravo and The Gentle Touch to the wonderfully glossy C.A.T.S. Eyes. So just how revolutionary was Jane Tennison?

We also explore…
THE GAZETTE: Funny-Tasting Water, Ingrid Pitt’s Incredible Escape & Eclipse Disappointment

14 augustus 2026 · 18 min
Afspelen

Something strange is happening to the water, Ingrid Pitt may have had an even more extraordinary life than we realised, and Lee has travelled all the way to Tooting Common to stare at... some clouds. It can only be another Problematic Gazette. Lees meer

We begin with the important question of the week: why does the tap water suddenly taste sweet? With drought conditions, a hosepipe ban, Victorian cast-iron pipes and two very visible bursts on the road, we investigate what might be going on underground. We also discover that people secretly watering their gardens at night aren't just being naughty—they can apparently make it harder for water companies to detect leaks. Who knew hydrology could be so scandalous?

Then we return to The Vampire Lovers and the extraordinary life of its star, Ingrid Pitt. Lee has been digging through contemporary interviews and uncovers Pitt's remarkable accounts of escaping with her mother from Nazi persecution as a child and, years later, fleeing East Germany by swimming across the River Spree—an adventure that eventually led to meeting the American serviceman whose surname she would keep throughout her career.

Back in considerably less dramatic circumstances, we report on our eclipse expedition to Tooting Common. Expectations were high. Nature had other ideas. We also cast an eye over this year's Strictly lineup and discover that our excitement levels may need professional resuscitation.

There's a more serious moment as we mark World Humanitarian Day, looking back at the 2003 bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad that led to its creation and remembering the aid workers who continue to lose their lives while helping others around the world.

Plus: we tease our next main episode, when we're heading into considerably darker territory with Prime Suspect.

The Gazette is taking next week off while Dave goes on holiday, so enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video ve…
The Vampire Lovers (1970): Hammer Horror, Ingrid Pitt & The Lesbian Vampire craze

11 augustus 2026 · 44 min
Afspelen

Sharpen your stakes and protect your daughters because this week we're entering the wonderfully gothic, increasingly racy world of Hammer Horror with 1970's The Vampire Lovers. Lees meer

By the dawn of the 1970s, Hammer's familiar formula of castles, cleavage and Christopher Lee was facing competition from a new generation of increasingly explicit cinema. The answer? More blood, more nudity and, in The Vampire Lovers, one of horror cinema's most enduring figures: the lesbian vampire.

Directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing and Kate O'Mara, the film was adapted from Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, a vampire story that actually predates Bram Stoker's Dracula. We explore how Hammer transformed it into the first instalment of its Karnstein trilogy and helped launch a cycle of lesbian vampire films that became a distinctly provocative corner of 1970s horror.

But who exactly was The Vampire Lovers made for? We dig into the film's complicated legacy, asking whether its lesbian relationships offered rare queer visibility at a time when that was almost nonexistent—or whether they were primarily designed for the heterosexual male gaze. And when female desire is ultimately destroyed by men restoring the traditional order, is Hammer reinforcing the status quo or accidentally giving queer audiences someone far more interesting to root for?

We also celebrate the extraordinary life of Ingrid Pitt, whose journey to becoming one of Hammer's greatest icons was every bit as remarkable as her screen career.

And in Culture Corner, we're travelling back to Britain in 1970: the news stories, television and chart hits—including the inescapable "In the Summertime"—plus major changes to British film censorship that allowed filmmakers like Hammer to push sex, nudity and horror further than they had before.

Sexy, camp, gothic and dripping with subtext, The Vampire Lovers captures Hammer at a fascinating crossroads: an old studio trying to survive a new decade by discoverin…
THE GAZETTE: Widow's Bay, Ann Droid and Gazer E-Mails

7 augustus 2026 · 25 min
Afspelen

We're back! After a short summer break, our bonus episode, The Problematic Gazette returns with plenty to catch up on, including holidays, television recommendations, listener emails, and a sneak peek at the gloriously gothic world we'll be exploring next week. Lees meer

We start by looking back at our recent recording with special guest Andrew Mercado, where we revisited Crocodile Dundee, before swapping holiday stories. Dave headed to the South of France, where a blocked ear became an unexpected travelling companion, while Lee escaped London's heat with a trip to Northumberland in search of cooler weather—and found it!

Naturally, the Great British Weather makes an appearance. We chat about the latest heatwave, hosepipe bans, and the strange moment when you've become so desperate for rain that you find yourself listening to a YouTube thunderstorm just to remember what it sounds like.

We've also got plenty of television recommendations. From Apple TV's eerie Widow's Bay and ITV's atmospheric Highlands mystery The Dark to Prime's Ride or Die with Hannah Waddingham, plus the wonderfully bittersweet comedy Ann Droid, starring Diane Morgan and Sue Johnson, we share the shows that have kept us entertained over the summer—and a few that might deserve a place on your watchlist.

Elsewhere, we welcome new listeners who discovered us through our posts about the remarkable Rent Boys documentary, give an update on our new website and recent photoshoot, and open the postbag to read your emails, corrections and recommendations.

And finally, we look ahead to next week's deep dive into one of Hammer Horror's most influential—and controversial—films: The Vampire Lovers. Expect gothic castles, vampires, and plenty to sink our teeth into.

So grab a cold drink, settle in, and join us for another relaxed catch-up packed with pop culture, recommendations, and the usual amount of delightful nonsense. Summer may be ending... but we're just getting warmed up.

Click here to visit our YouTube s…
Crocodile Dundee (1986): Paul Hogan & the Movie That Changed Australia (with Andrew Mercado)

4 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
Afspelen

This week we're heading into the Australian Outback—and the streets of New York—to revisit one of the biggest global movie sensations of the 1980s: Crocodile Dundee. Lees meer

Joining us is Australian author and co-host of the TV Gold Podcast Andrew Mercado, who brings first-hand insight into the remarkable phenomenon that turned Paul Hogan from a household name in Australia into one of the world's biggest movie stars almost overnight.

Together we explore how Crocodile Dundee became an international box-office sensation, the story behind its production, its different theatrical cuts, its enduring popularity, and why, nearly forty years later, it's still one of Australia's most recognisable cultural exports. We also discuss the 40th anniversary 4K restoration and the film's lasting place in cinema history.

Andrew explains Paul Hogan's extraordinary television career before Dundee, Australia's famous tourism campaigns, and how one low-budget comedy helped reshape the world's image of Australia for an entire generation.

As always, we also step back into 1986 in our Culture Corner, revisiting the television, music and headlines that surrounded the film's release. From Wham! calling it a day and Madonna's True Blue era to chart hits from EastEnders, Grange Hill, The Young Ones, Spitting Image, and more, it's a nostalgic return to one of pop culture's most memorable years.

Finally, we ask how Crocodile Dundee looks through modern eyes. We discuss its ideas about masculinity, its affectionate send-up of New York culture, Linda Kozlowski's role, the film's portrayal of First Nations Australians, and the removal of one scene in later releases that has become increasingly controversial.

Funny, charming and packed with behind-the-scenes stories, this episode revisits a film that became far more than a box-office hit—it became part of Australia's national identity and one of the defining movies of the 1980s.

So grab your hat, watch out for crocodiles... and remember, that's not a…
Queer as Folk (1999): The TV Series That Changed Britain

28 juli 2026 · 52 min
Afspelen

This week we're heading back to Canal Street in 1999 to revisit one of the most influential British television dramas ever made: Queer as Folk. Lees meer

Created by Russell T Davies, the groundbreaking Channel 4 series exploded onto British television with an honesty and confidence rarely seen before. Funny, provocative, explicit and unapologetically gay, it introduced millions of viewers to a world that had seldom been portrayed so openly on mainstream television.

We focus on the unforgettable first episode, meeting the confident and charismatic Stuart, his best friend Vince, and fifteen-year-old Nathan, whose arrival on Manchester's Canal Street sets the story in motion. Along the way we revisit the moments that made headlines—from explicit sex scenes and frank discussions of gay relationships to Stuart fathering a child through sperm donation, Vince's endearing Doctor Who obsession, and some wonderfully memorable comic moments that remind us why the series became such a phenomenon.

In our Pride Corner, we step back into Britain at the end of the 1990s to explore just how much the country was changing. We discuss shifting public attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people, media representation, advertising, the growing visibility of trans people, and how newspapers such as The Sun gradually changed their approach to outing and reporting on LGBTQ+ lives. We also revisit the television, music and popular culture that formed the backdrop to one of the most talked-about dramas of the decade.

Of course, we also examine the controversies that surrounded Queer as Folk. Was the reaction driven by genuine concerns or by lingering prejudice? How does the series look through modern eyes? We discuss its handling of age, sex and consent, while also considering criticisms of its relatively narrow portrayal of gay life, including its overwhelmingly white cast, limited representation of lesbians, and the notable absence of HIV and AIDS from a story set at the end of the twentieth century.

More t…
Tales of the City (1993): The Queer Classic That Changed Television

21 juli 2026 · 46 min
Afspelen

To watch the episode of 'Tales Of The City" discussed in this episode on YouTube: Click here Lees meer

Pack your bags because this week we're moving to 28 Barbary Lane as our Pride series takes us to one of television's most beloved LGBTQ+ classics: Tales of the City.

First broadcast in the UK on Channel 4 in 1993 and adapted from Armistead Maupin's novels, the series transports us back to San Francisco in 1976—a city of sexual liberation, social change and people arriving from across America hoping to reinvent themselves.

At the centre of it all is Mary Ann Singleton, a wonderfully naïve newcomer from Cleveland who visits San Francisco on holiday and promptly decides never to leave. She finds a home at the gloriously bohemian 28 Barbary Lane, presided over by the mysterious and endlessly fabulous Anna Madrigal, and meets a new chosen family including Mona, Mouse and Brian.

Meanwhile, across town, the wealthy Halcyon family introduces us to a very different San Francisco, complete with money, marriage, infidelity and enough secrets to keep several soap operas running for years.

But this episode is about much more than what happens at Barbary Lane.

In our Pride Corner, we explore how San Francisco became one of the world's great LGBTQ+ centres—from the impact of the Second World War and the growth of queer communities to the rise of the Castro and the political breakthrough of Harvey Milk. We also look at the very different world into which the television adaptation arrived in 1993, when LGBTQ+ visibility was growing even as the AIDS crisis continued to cast an enormous shadow.

We discuss why the idea of found family sits at the heart of Tales of the City and why that message resonated so powerfully with generations of LGBTQ+ viewers. We also revisit Anna Madrigal's groundbreaking trans identity and ask how remarkably progressive her portrayal was for mainstream television in the early 1990s, while examining elements that feel more complicated through modern eyes—inclu…
Rent Boys (1984): Britain's Forgotten LGBTQ Documentary

14 juli 2026 · 48 min
Afspelen

Watch the '40 Minutes: Rent Boys' documentary on YouTube here Lees meer

This week, as our Pride series continues, we're discussing one of the most powerful—and perhaps least remembered—BBC documentaries ever broadcast Rent Boys, first shown as part of BBC2's acclaimed 40 Minutes strand in December 1984.

Unlike many of the films we've covered, this isn't entertainment. It's an unflinching documentary that quietly observes the lives of vulnerable young male sex workers without narration, judgement or sensationalism, allowing their own voices to tell a story that remains as shocking today as it was forty years ago.

Before exploring the documentary itself, we return to 1984 in our Culture Corner, looking at the music, television and major events shaping Britain during one of the country's most turbulent decades. Against the backdrop of Thatcher's Britain, high unemployment, industrial decline and the emerging AIDS crisis, we consider what life was like for LGBTQ+ people at a time when fear, prejudice and misunderstanding were becoming increasingly widespread.

The documentary introduces us to teenagers and young men whose lives have been shaped by abuse, family rejection, poverty, time spent in care, homelessness and the struggle simply to survive. It also explores the complex realities of selling sex, including questions of identity, shame, survival, and the blurred lines between sexuality and circumstance. Alongside the young men themselves, we hear from a conflicted client wrestling with guilt and secrecy, and from one mother whose compassion offers a rare glimpse of hope.

Throughout the episode we reflect on why Rent Boys remains such an extraordinary piece of documentary filmmaking. Rather than exploiting its subjects, it asks viewers to confront the human stories behind the headlines and to consider how society failed so many vulnerable young people.

It's a difficult watch, but also a deeply compassionate one—an essential document of a forgotten chapter in British LGB…
The Killing of Sister George (1968): Pride, Censorship & Britain's Forgotten LGBTQ Classic

7 juli 2026 · 58 min
Afspelen

This week we kick off our Pride Month curation. OK, OK so we thought Pride Month was in July instead of June. Be we are taking ownership of our clanger and calling this 'Milking Pride Month'!!! Lees meer

We start by revisiting one of the most controversial LGBTQ+ films ever released: The Killing of Sister George (1968). Part psychological drama, part soap-industry satire, and part time capsule of queer Britain, it's a film that was groundbreaking, provocative, and deeply problematic all at once.

Click here to watch the film on YouTube

We explore the remarkable journey from Frank Marcus's hit stage play to Robert Aldrich's uncompromising film adaptation, starring the incomparable Beryl Reid alongside Susannah York. At its heart is June "George" Buckridge, the hard-drinking star of a popular BBC soap whose personal life begins to unravel as rumours spread that her character is about to be written out. As her career collapses, so too does her volatile relationship with her much younger partner, Childie, while television executive Mercy Croft quietly orchestrates events from the sidelines.

But this episode is about much more than the film itself.

In our Pride Corner, we travel back to Britain in the late 1960s to explore what life was really like for LGBTQ+ people. We discuss the limited and often stereotyped representation of lesbians on screen, the social and legal landscape following the partial decriminalisation of sex between men in 1967, and the extraordinary importance of London's legendary Gateways Club, one of the few places where lesbian women could meet openly. The film's scenes inside the club now serve as a rare and fascinating record of a community that was seldom seen on screen.

We also ask whether The Killing of Sister George deserves its reputation. Does it simply recycle harmful stereotypes of predatory, unhappy lesbians, or was it reflecting the harsh realities and prejudices of its time? We unpack the film's voyeuristic additions, controversial seductio…
Abigail's Party (1977): Britain's Most Awkward Dinner Party Ever?

30 juni 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
Afspelen

Pour yourself a Gin and Tonic, grab the olives, and dust off your Demis Roussos LP', because this week we're stepping inside one of the most gloriously awkward evenings in British television history: Abigail's Party. Lees meer

Originally broadcast as part of the BBC's Play for Today in 1977, Mike Leigh's masterpiece of social discomfort has become one of Britain's defining television dramas. But what makes a play about drinks, small talk and endless passive aggression so endlessly watchable nearly fifty years later?

We explore the remarkable improvisational process that created the production, the unforgettable performances—especially Alison Steadman's iconic Beverly—and the fascinating story behind the music, including why some of the original songs had to be replaced from the original stage production.

We revisit Beverly and Lawrence's disastrous drinks evening, where every refill of gin, every cigarette, and every painfully polite conversation nudges the guests closer to complete emotional collapse. Along the way we ask whether the play's attitudes to class, gender, race, smoking, drinking and marriage feel dated today—or whether Mike Leigh was cleverly exposing these behaviours rather than celebrating them.

As always, we also travel back to the year itself. Our Culture Corner revisits Britain in 1977, from the Silver Jubilee and the rise of punk to disco, Northern Soul, inflation, trade unions, televisions with three channels, and a time when having a telephone at home was still something of a luxury. We also look back at the biggest chart hits, the programmes everyone was watching, and the events shaping everyday British life.

It's funny, painfully recognisable, occasionally tragic, and proof that sometimes the most gripping drama comes from simply putting five people in a suburban living room and letting them slowly destroy one another with cheese and pineapple sticks.

Just don't mention Abigail... she's having a much better party than this one.

GAZER HOMEWORK: …
THE GAZETTE: Heatwave sweats, Farage and The Fizz

27 juni 2026 · 29 min
Afspelen

Hello Gazers! Lees meer

We're recording this week's Gazette bright and early this week because the UK has once again transformed into a country completely unprepared for temperatures above "pleasant." If you hear the occasional background noise, blame the open windows—we're choosing fresh air over melting.

With everyone reminiscing about the legendary summer of 1976, we decide to put nostalgia under the microscope. Was it really Britain's golden summer, or have we collectively edited out the hosepipe bans, wildfires, crop failures, water shortages and thousands of heat-related deaths? We take a look at the facts, chat about why every generation thinks theirweather was different, and ask whether climate change has made "once-in-a-lifetime" summers far more common than we'd like.

There's also plenty of postbag to get through as we read your thoughts on our recent Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?episode and reveal what's coming next: the gloriously awkward world of Abigail's Party.

Elsewhere, we swap television and film recommendations—including The Boys in the Band, Galaxy Quest, and Silkwood—pay tribute to legendary music executive Clive Davis and the extraordinary artists whose careers he helped shape, and catch up with the latest news from The Fizz.

As always, the conversation wanders delightfully off course, taking in politics, skincare, Madonna ticket plans, and the sort of random tangents that seem to happen whenever two middle-aged gay men start with the weather and refuse to stop talking.

Grab something cold to drink, find the nearest fan, and join us for another week of nostalgia, news, pop culture and mildly overheated opinions.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or…
'Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' (1966): Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton at Their Most Explosive!

23 juni 2026 · 52 min
Afspelen

Click here to watch Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf on YouTube Lees meer

Hello Gazers!

Pour yourself something strong because this week we're spending an evening with cinema's most gloriously dysfunctional couple: George and Martha in 1966's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Fresh from a faculty party, the pair invite younger couple Nick and Honey back for what should be a quiet nightcap. Instead, everyone embarks on a marathon session of drinking, bickering, psychological warfare, emotional oversharing, and the sort of relationship dynamics that would have a modern therapist quietly reaching for the emergency exit.

Before diving into the chaos, we take a trip back to 1966 with a Culture Corner packed with the news stories, television, music, and cultural moments that surrounded the film's release. We also explore the remarkable production itself: Mike Nichols' directorial debut, its astonishing 13 Oscar nominations, five wins, and its lasting place in film history.

Naturally, we can't discuss the movie without talking about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, whose famously turbulent real-life romance was almost as dramatic as anything happening on screen. The result is a pair of performances so convincing you'll occasionally forget they're acting and wonder whether the cameras simply happened to capture a real domestic argument.

As the evening unfolds, we unpack George and Martha's increasingly cruel "games," the mystery surrounding their invented child, and the collateral damage inflicted upon poor Nick and Honey, who really should have left after the first drink. We discuss gender roles, ambition, academic snobbery, middle-class anxieties, and whether anyone in this film has ever experienced a healthy conversation.

Surprisingly, despite all the emotional carnage, we find the film far less problematic than many of the titles we've covered. Instead, it's a sharp, uncomfortable, often funny examination of marriage, illusion, and the stories people tell themselves to ge…
THE GAZETTE: Heatwaves, Hero Beavers and World Cup Trump Chants

20 juni 2026 · 31 min
Afspelen

Hello Gazers! Lees meer

This week we're recording remotely because Britain has once again entered its annual tradition of becoming completely incapable of coping with weather. As temperatures soar, we compare heatwave survival strategies, including tinfoil-covered windows, strategic fan placement, and the increasingly tempting idea of simply lying on a cold kitchen floor until September.

The conversation quickly drifts from sweaty complaints into climate change, extreme weather, and the surprising possibility that Britain's future may depend on one unlikely hero: the beaver. Yes, beavers. We discover how these industrious little rodents have helped reduce flooding in Scotland and discuss the possibility that they could one day be hard at work around Greater London. Frankly, they've got a better public-relations team than most politicians.

Elsewhere, we celebrate 75 years of The Archers, discuss one particularly dramatic storyline, and wander into a conversation about BBC budget cuts, public broadcasting, and why everyone seems to have very strong opinions about the licence fee.

There's also the usual collection of things that caught our attention during the week, including political nonsense, social media surprises, and the unexpected success of a nostalgic Generation Game clip that clearly struck a chord with viewers. Meanwhile, Lee Dr Lee prepares a second date at The Black Cap, proving that not everything in modern life is doom and gloom.

Plus: recommendations for Young Offenders, the podcast Empathy for the Devil, Apple TV's Your Friends and Neighbors, and a preview of next week's episode on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?—a film featuring almost as much shouting as a British social media comment section.

Stay cool, stay hydrated, and remember: if the beavers can keep working through a heatwave, so can we.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each ep…
Ugly Betty (2006): The Devil Wears Prada's Kinder, Stranger Cousin

16 juni 2026 · 40 min
Afspelen

Hello Gazers! This week we're heading back to 2006, a magical time when low-rise jeans were a public menace, reality television ruled the schedules, and everyone seemed to have very strong opinions about eyebrows. Our destination is the pilot episode of Ugly Betty, the comedy-drama that asked an important question: what happens when a genuinely decent person wanders into one of the worlds most ruthless industries? Lees meer

Before entering the glossy chaos of Mode magazine, we stop off for a Fashion Corner packed with 2006 nostalgia, revisiting the television shows, headlines, and chart hits that shaped the world into which Betty Suarez first appeared.

We then dive into the pilot itself, following Betty, an intelligent and ambitious young woman from Queens whose lack of conventional fashion-magazine glamour unexpectedly lands her a job assisting Daniel Meade. Officially she's hired for her skills. Unofficially she's hired because Daniel's father believes she's the one woman in New York his notoriously distracted son won't try to seduce.

As the episode unfolds, we explore how Ugly Betty simultaneously challenges and reinforces beauty standards. The series deserves credit for questioning superficial ideas of attractiveness, yet it also relies heavily on jokes about Betty's appearance, braces, clothes, and supposed "ugliness." Nearly twenty years later, we ask whether the show's approach still works and whether audiences would embrace it in quite the same way today.

Along the way we discuss the contrast between Betty's loving, working-class Latina family and the cold, competitive world of high fashion, examine the sexism and nepotism surrounding Wilhelmina's treatment at Mode, and look at how the series intersected with emerging conversations around body positivity and campaigns such as Dove's Real Beauty initiative.

Plus: comparisons with The Devil Wears Prada, memories of 2006 pop culture, workplace politics, impossible beauty expectations, and a reminder that fashion ma…
THE GAZETTE: Doctor Who, Cult Leaders & Swimming for Survival

13 juni 2026 · 18 min
Afspelen

Hello Gazers! In this week's Gazette we're checking in from the worlds of fitness, fandom, and television uncertainty as Dave embarks on a new health journey involving a gym membership, swimming, and the shocking revelation that exercise may actually be good for you. Whether his back agrees remains an ongoing investigation. Lees meer

Elsewhere, we discuss our recent Star Trek social media clips and uncover some fascinating audience preferences. It turns out that Leonard Nimoy and Nichelle Nichols can still command attention across the internet, while poor William Shatner discovers that not every captain can win every battle.

On the viewing front, Lee recommends Traitors India, while Dave takes us into the strange and unsettling world of Bring Me The Beauties, the HBO/Sky documentary exploring former male model Hoyt Richards, the mysterious Eternal Values movement, and the kind of cult story that leaves you repeatedly asking, "How did this happen?"

Our listener mailbag is also overflowing. We hear from Bill in San Francisco about an AI-generated Karen Carpenter-style song, while Rocky in Australia continues our ongoing voyage through Star Trek and Doctor Who history, touching on Galaxy Quest, and the joys of classic science fiction. Another listener shares memories of the moon landing and thoughts Ugly Betty, proving once again that Problematic Gays listeners have collectively experienced absolutely everything.

And then there's Doctor Who. With news that there will be no Christmas special, that Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf are stepping away from the BBC partnership, and that the series is heading out to tender, we discuss what might come next for Britain's most famous Time Lord. Could a new format breathe fresh life into the show? Should the series reinvent itself? And is fandom ever truly prepared for change?

Plus: cults, swimming, science fiction, AI music, and the usual amount of completely unqualified television commissioning advice. Just another week at PG Towers.
…
Star Trek: TOS (1969): The Final Frontier of Gender Inequality

9 juni 2026 · 57 min
Afspelen

Hello Gazers! This week we're boldly going where we've occasionally gone before: into the wonderfully strange universe of Star Trek. Following a recommendation from listener Fiona, we beam aboard the final episode of the original series, 1969's Turnabout Intruder, a story featuring body-swapping technology, interstellar jealousy, and gender politics that have aged about as well as a pint of milk left on the bridge of the Enterprise. Lees meer

Before tackling the episode itself, we explore Star Trek's fascinating journey from ratings disappointment to cultural phenomenon. Cancelled after just three seasons, the series found new life through syndication, conventions, devoted fandom, and enough influence to inspire everything from mobile phones to space exploration dreams.

We then dive into Turnabout Intruder, in which Captain Kirk and former lover Dr. Janice Lester exchange bodies through a mysterious "life energy transfer." Janice's motivation? Her bitterness at being excluded from command opportunities in Starfleet because she is a woman. What follows is part science-fiction thriller, part gender commentary, and part accidental time capsule of late-1960s attitudes.

Along the way, we discuss the episode's portrayal of female ambition, the persistence of the "hysterical woman" stereotype, echoes of the "mad woman in the attic" trope, and William Shatner's memorable performance choices once Kirk finds himself inhabiting Janice's body. We also ask whether the episode is critiquing sexism or simply reproducing it, sometimes in the very same scene.

Thankfully, the conversation also celebrates Star Trek's wider legacy: its diverse casting, progressive social allegories, technological predictions, and enduring ability to inspire generations of fans. Because for every baffling decision made in Turnabout Intruder, there are a million reasons why Star Trek remains one of the most influential and beloved television franchises ever created.

Set phasers to analysis. This one's a fasc…
THE GAZETTE: Pride, Shame & Survival: Why We Still Need Pride in 2026

6 juni 2026 · 16 min
Afspelen

Click here to listen to Dr Lee and Dave on the Everyone's A Little Queer Podcast Lees meer

Hello Gazers! This week’s Problematic Gazette begins in the traditional fashion: with unexpected background noise, minor technical chaos, and the startling discovery that we had somehow planned our Pride Month content for July!!

After owning our spectacular scheduling error, we discuss why Pride still matters in 2025. From rising homophobia and online "straight pride" arguments to the quieter burdens of shame that many LGBTQ+ people continue to carry, we reflect on why visibility, community and celebration remain as important as ever. Along the way, Lee shares a moving diary entry from Kenneth Williams written in 1966, whose observations about loneliness, identity and being reduced to a joke still feel painfully relevant today.

Elsewhere, we discuss Russell T Davies' increasingly unsettling drama Tip Toe and explain why it feels less like fiction and more like a warning siren with a production budget. We also chat about our recent appearance on the Everyone's a Little Queer podcast and the conversations that followed.

There are listener messages, fascinating chart trivia involving Abba Gold's seemingly immortal presence in the UK Top 100, and considerable excitement over Madonna launching Pride Month with a free Times Square performance and new music. Plus: more love for Rivals, an unexpected It's a Royal Knockout reference, and yet more evidence that popular culture is far stranger than either of us remembers.

Happy Pride Month, everyone. Even if it took us a little longer than expected to realise it had already started.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics,…
100th Episode Special (2026): Mixtapes, Madness & Two Years of Problematic Gaze

2 juni 2026 · 1 uur 10 min
Afspelen

Click here to watch along to our YouTube Party Playlist featured in this episode! Lees meer

Hello Gazers! Break out the bunting, inflate the balloons, and check the expiry date on the party snacks — The Problematic Gaze has officially reached its second birthday and 100th episode of our main show!

Broadcasting live from the grand ballroom of PG Manor (capacity: two hosts and a worrying number of themed playlists), we celebrate the milestone with listener questions, musical memories, and a journey through a YouTube mixtape that quickly reminds us just how strange popular culture used to be. Along the way we revisit songs that somehow made it onto the radio despite lyrics about underage romance, obsessive surveillance masquerading as love, and enough cultural appropriation to keep a university seminar busy for a fortnight.

The celebrations continue with a deep dive into controversial adverts from decades past, including chocolate campaigns that definitely wouldn't survive today's focus groups, aftershave commercials fuelled entirely by misplaced confidence, and drinks adverts that somehow became embedded in the national consciousness. As ever, nostalgia proves to be a dangerous place.

We also answer Gazers questions about how we choose topics, our favourite and least favourite episodes, standout performers from the films and television we've covered, dream movie-night selections, and what our lives look like away from the microphones. There are quick-fire dilemmas, unexpected revelations, reflections on coming out across different generations, and a heartfelt discussion about why we started the podcast and the wonderful community that has grown around it.

Plus: laughter, memories, occasional emotional sincerity, and enough birthday chaos to power us through the next hundred episodes. Thank you for listening, thank you for your support, and thank you for proving that being problematic is always better together.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where…
THE GAZETTE: Hangovers, Caffeine Highs & Bunting Emergencies

30 mei 2026 · 25 min
Afspelen

Hello Gazers! With our 100th main episode and second birthday approaching faster than Dave can buy unnecessary items in Soho, this week’s Problematic Gazette is a gloriously unedited soundcheck special from PG Manor. Lees meer

As bunting plans reach critical levels, we dive into Netflix’s three-part Kylie Minogue documentary, covering everything from her Neighbours beginnings and chart domination to health battles, heartbreaks, reinventions, and the ongoing Tension Tour. Naturally, this leads to the sort of intense cultural analysis you’ve come to expect from two men who could happily spend an hour discussing Kylie’s catalogue.

Elsewhere, we recount a lovely Soho catch-up with Matt Baume and an LGBT history tour, while Dave reports from the front lines of retail confusion and Dr Lee shares details of a late-night date followed by the inevitable consequences of being no longer twenty-five.

We also reflect on the passing of Michael Keating and Judith Chalmers, discuss the indignities of approaching fifty, and compare notes on surviving a British heatwave armed only with caffeine and misplaced confidence.

Plus: upcoming viewing plans including Star City, Ponies and SNL UK, praise for Race Across the World champions Joe and Kush, frustration at reports surrounding the Southport riots, and increasingly frantic preparations for the centenary celebrations. Will there be cake? Will there be bunting? Will either of us remember what happened in episode one? Tune in and find out.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Basic Instinct (1992): Ice Picks, Erotic Thrillers & Sex Month Climax

26 mei 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
Afspelen

Hello Gazers! As a heatwave hits the UK, we're getting HOT HOT HOT! We conclude Sex Month by sliding dramatically across the interrogation-room floor into 1992’s Basic Instinct — a film containing ice picks, cigarette smoke, deeply suspicious therapy ethics, and more uncrossed legs than Brighton Pride! Lees meer

This week we unpack Paul Verhoeven’s gloriously trashy erotic thriller, from its Hitchcock and noir inspirations to the infamous Sharon Stone interrogation scene that launched a thousand paused VHS tapes and at least three decades of cultural arguments. Along the way we discuss Michael Douglas once again playing a man who absolutely should not be trusted with police authority, the spectacularly chaotic sexual politics of the early 90s, GLAAD protests, and whether the film is genuinely subversive or simply what happens when several powerful men are left unsupervised with cocaine and studio money.

There’s also a nostalgic Culture Corner dive into 1992 Britain, chart hits, and the end-of-series exhaustion that comes from spending four weeks analysing the male gaze while slowly becoming victims of it ourselves. Plus: ratings, disagreements, existential dread, and a tease for our upcoming 100th-episode birthday spectacular.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
THE GAZETTE: Heatwave, Soapy Car washes, Rivals and Kylie

23 mei 2026 · 25 min
Afspelen

We return from the luxurious broadcasting hubs of PG Towers and PG Manor to survive a British heatwave that has left us sweaty, confused, and emotionally fragile. Dr. Lee has a spiritual encounter with a dragonfly in the garden, while Dave nearly proposes marriage to a dishy car-wash attendant after a deeply awkward tipping incident. Lees meer

We revisit the national trauma caused by our Porky’s episode, discuss Britain’s endless obsession with class after a Guardian survey revealed everyone now identifies as “polyclass,” and somehow connect it all back to our episode on Keeping Up Appearances because of course we do.

There’s also talk of our upcoming collaboration with Bernard from Everyone’s A Little Queer Podcast, including a surprisingly thoughtful debate about reclaiming the word “queer”.

Plus: Rivals is peak 80's perfection, murder-marriage documentaries, Strictly gossip involving Josh Widdicombe, listener letters, Kylie Minogue praise bordering on religious devotion, and ominous teasing of next week’s Basic Instinct episode.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Porky’s (1981): “Boys Will Be Boys” Locker-Room Laughs & Voyeurism, in the Reagan-Era

19 mei 2026 · 39 min
Afspelen

In this episode, we revisit Porky’s (1981), the hugely successful teen sex comedy set in 1954 Florida, to ask the important question: was this ever actually funny, and could it possibly be made today? Lees meer

Alongside the film, we take a trip through 1981 in our Culture Corner, covering everything from Charles and Diana’s wedding and the UK inner-city riots to the Scarman Report, the devastating tornado outbreak, and a year packed with cultural milestones including “Ghost Town,” “Don’t You Want Me,” Bucks Fizz, Cats, Only Fools and Horses, Brideshead Revisited, Chariots of Fire, and the first London Marathon.

We break down the Porky's obsession with sex, voyeurism, revenge plots, and locker-room humour while unpacking its male gaze, racism, antisemitic subplot, fat jokes, and deeply juvenile tone—ultimately finding it far duller, and strangely tamer, than its scandalous reputation suggests.

To watch Porkies on YouTube Click Here

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
THE GAZETTE: Eurovision, Passport Warnings & AI Panic at the Disco

16 mei 2026 · 28 min
Afspelen

We are back after a week away and apparently the world survived without our opinions on Eurovision, AI, and 1970s sex comedies — though only just. This week we answer listener letters, discuss Cilla Black’s fifty-seven emotional interpretations of “Alfie,”, defend Confessions of a Window Cleaner as the cinematic equivalent of finding chips on the floor and still eating them, and prepare emotionally for Eurovision. Lees meer

Our Dave (AKA Judith Chalmers) reports from Dubrovnik with urgent passport warnings for the middle-aged and disorganised, while Dr. Lee worries that AI will destroy the planet, steal everyone’s jobs, and probably start writing this podcast description.

Plus: George Michael, Freddie Mercury, Rocky Horror memories, Emma Willis rumours, Star Trek teasing, and preview our next Sex Month episode with Porky’s looming on the horizon like a grubby cultural comet.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974): Bawdy Comedy in the Age of the Three-Day Week

13 mei 2026 · 57 min
Afspelen

In the second week of our Sex Season, we pull on our nylon overalls and climb the ladders of 1970s British cinema to revisit Confessions of a Window Cleaner — the cheeky box-office phenomenon that somehow became the biggest British hit of 1974. We unpack Timmy Lea’s endlessly episodic adventures in window cleaning, accidental voyeurism, and improbable seduction while asking: what exactly made these “saucy” comedies so wildly popular before home video and internet porn? Lees meer

Along the way we discuss Robin Askwith, censorship, class aspiration, sexism, consent, the male gaze, and why the film is simultaneously tame, uncomfortable, ridiculous, and fascinating as a cultural time capsule.

In Culture Corner: the three-day week, Lord Lucan’s disappearance, IRA bombings, ABBA winning Eurovision, Britain’s biggest singles, children’s TV landmarks, Tom Baker becoming Doctor Who, Princess Anne’s kidnapping attempt, publishing highlights, and the Miss World scandal that shook the crown.

To watch Confessions Of A Window Cleaner on YouTube: Click Here

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Alfie (1966): Sex, Swagger, and the Swinging Sixties

5 mei 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
Afspelen

We kick off Sex Month on The Problematic Gaze by diving headfirst into Alfie, the swaggering, unsettling snapshot of 1960s masculinity that still raises eyebrows today. Lees meer

We explore how Michael Caine’s charismatic performance—paired with that infamous fourth-wall-breaking narration—pulls us into Alfie’s world, even as his misogyny and emotional detachment push us away. We unpack the film’s origins in Bill Naughton’s play and Lewis Gilbert’s direction, while confronting its most jarring elements: the casual disposability of women, the cutting language, and the harrowing illegal abortion sequence that still lands with force.

But we don’t stop at the screen. We place Alfie squarely in the contradictions of 1966 Britain—Swinging London’s promise of liberation colliding with the realities of Harold Wilson’s Britain, economic uncertainty, the shadow of the Aberfan disaster, and the ongoing shifts of decolonization. Against a backdrop of chart-topping music and cultural change, we ask whether Alfie reflects this moment in time—or critiques it.

By the end, we’re left wrestling with a film that is as compelling as it is uncomfortable: bold, bleak, and still deeply problematic.

You can watch Alfie on YouTube. Click here

GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we turn our lens to 1974's sec comedy 'Confessions Of A Window Cleaner'. Click here to watch on YouTube

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
THE GAZETTE: Sex Season Prep, Shark Jumps & Streaming Picks

1 mei 2026 · 36 min
Afspelen

We record a live, unedited “Problematic Gazette” update from PG Manor while planning upcoming episodes that launch our “sex season,” starting with Alfie and continuing with films from later decades. We swap stories about accidentally overhearing loud sex through an open bungalow window, along with past experiences of disruptive noise in shared spaces. Lees meer

We also dive into what we’ve been watching lately, including Hacks, The Comeback (and its AI-written sitcom plotline), Netflix’s The Unchosen (a cult thriller), and ITV’s Secret Service (a modern spy drama). Along the way, we share our interest in The Devil Wears Prada sequel, unpack the origin and meaning of “jumping the shark,” and read listeners E-Mails.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
'Keeping Up Appearances' (1991) Class Anxiety in Bucket loads!

28 april 2026 · 53 min
Afspelen

For the first time ever, we visit 1991 on The Problematic Gaze to focus on class comedy caper Keeping Up Appearances. Hyacinth’s number is mistaken for a Chinese takeaway, she prepares for a church concert, Richard fears early retirement, Rose considers becoming a nun, and the farce culminates with Hyacinth fainting after discovering Rose and the vicar in a cupboard. Lees meer

We place the sitcom within its wider historical and cultural moment, reflecting on 1991’s defining events—from the Gulf War and recession to rising unemployment, the death of Freddie Mercury, an IRA mortar attack on Downing Street, the birth of the World Wide Web, early steps toward the Premier League, the Maxwell scandal, and the launch of The Big Issue, alongside charts and TV ratings of the time.

Our discussion centers on British class anxiety, accents, and aspiration, exploring how the show both mocks and reinforces class stereotypes. We also highlight the standout performance of Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth and delve into trivia surrounding the rest of the cast too!

Watch our chosen episode of Keeping Up Appearances on Youtube

GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we kick off our SEX season with Alfie from 1966

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
THE GAZETTE: Haircuts, Hookups & Pop Culture Chaos

24 april 2026 · 30 min
Afspelen

In this episode of The Gazette, we banter about a new haircut and Vin Diesel’s twin brother before one of us shares a story about accidentally "having tea and scones" with both members of an identical twin pair—who, thanks to different hair and facial hair, didn’t look identical at all. We get into how Sweet Transvestite has become a full-blown earworm, and talk through generational gaps and Madonna at Coachella, where audiences seem more focused on filming than watching. Lees meer

That spirals into a broader chat about “two-screen” viewing and whether streaming TV is being simplified for increasingly distracted audiences. We also put out a call for your ideas and messages ahead of our 100th main episode and second birthday, and catch up on Hacks season five.

Elsewhere, we touch on a new Netflix gender-role comedy, the questionable quality of Carry On Emmanuelle, a Daily Mail piece about “tacky” watches, and our outrage that Karen Carpenter’s 1979–80 solo album was shelved—with the cost unfairly deducted from her royalties.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): Dammit Janet: Queerness and Controversy

21 april 2026 · 57 min
Afspelen

In this episode, we return—after a battle with some truly on-brand technical “gremlins”—to tackle The Rocky Horror Picture Show, separating the film from its 1973 stage origins and digging into what makes it endure. We share our own very different relationships with Rocky Horror, unpack its production history, and explore how it evolved into a midnight-movie phenomenon with a fiercely devoted cult following, eventually earning preservation in the National Film Registry. Lees meer

We walk through the plot—from Brad and Janet’s ill-fated car trouble to their surreal encounter with Dr. Frank-N-Furterand the unforgettable Time Warp—while placing the film in the context of early-1970s UK theatre, glam rock aesthetics, and a moment of shifting queer visibility. Along the way, we touch on 1975’s pop landscape and how it intersects with the film’s sound and sensibility.

We also grapple with the more complicated aspects of Rocky Horror: questions of language, consent, and the “queer villain” trope, balancing critique with an appreciation of its lasting impact. Ultimately, we explore why this strange, campy, audience-participation spectacle continues to resonate as a story about freedom, identity, and the joy of not fitting neatly into any category.

GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we cast our Gaze on the classic UK TV sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. Click here to watch our chosen episode on YouTube

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
THE GAZETTE: Confessions 2, MAGA meltdowns & please stop Carrying On!!

17 april 2026 · 30 min
Afspelen

We’re back in the Problematic Gazette saddle — no plan, no structure, just vibes (and mild chaos). This week, we kick off by comparing ailments like it’s an Olympic sport: one of us is fresh off a greatest hits run of gastroenteritis, a colitis flare, and recent COVID (thriving!), while the other is living vicariously through a husband who’s just attended a very hush-hush celebrity wedding 👀 Lees meer

From there, we spiral — naturally — into TV chat. We debrief the The Apprentice UK final, confess our soft spot for Race Across the World, and get genuinely giddy over Madonna teasing Confessions 2 (Coachella rumors! a possible sample! we’re unwell).

There’s also pre-holiday anxiety as we eye our upcoming Dubrovnik trip while nervously refreshing headlines about a looming jet fuel shortage — what could possibly go wrong?

On the telly front, we’re dipping into Things You Should Have Done, celebrating the return of Taskmaster, checking in on Rivals season two, and gently mourning Only Murders in the Building losing its way a bit.

Elsewhere, we get unexpectedly academic about the decline of late-era Carry On films, name-drop the diaries of Kenneth Williams, and issue a heartfelt apology for out lost episode (Riverside, we will never forgive you).

We round things off with a quick dip into the exhausting whirlpool of MAGA/Donald Trump-adjacent chaos, reflect on our collective doomscrolling fatigue and — as ever — plug where you can find us next.

Come for the chat, stay for the spirals.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio…
FROM THE GAZER VAULT: 'The Naked Civil Servant' from 1975

14 april 2026 · 59 min
Afspelen

As we are taking a break from our regular scheduling this week, we're giving Gazer new and old a treat from the past. This was the episode that won us Best History Podcast at the 2025 Independent Podcast Awards. Normal service will resume next week with The Rocky Horror Picture Show! Lees meer

Greetings from PG Towers! Join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV Producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV, Film and Popular Culture from yesteryear. February marks LGBT+ History month in the UK. To celebrate we focus our Gaze on the landmark film 'The Naked Civil Servant' from 1975. Starring John Hurt in his BAFTA winning title role, this was a pioneering film, charting the life of the bold, courageous and unapologetic LGBT trailblazer Quentin Crisp. We also chart the progression of gay rights throughout the 1970's in Britain.

Click here to watch 'The Naked Civil Servant' on YouTube and join in with our conversation!

Click here to follow us on all our socials

Please leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. They really help to spread the word of The Problematic Gaze.

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alle afleveringen

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962): Bette Davis, Joan Crawford & the Feud That Became Legend

'Ghostwatch' REWATCHED! (1992): The Halloween TV Show That Terrified Britain

Carrie (1976): Prom Night, Periods & the Horror of Being a Teenage Girl

Casino Royale (2006): Daniel Craig, Bond Girls & a Very Gay 007 Ranking

THE GAZETTE: Carrie, Reform Exposed, Celebrity Traitors vs Big Brother & Listener Mail

Dynasty: The Moldavian Massacre (1985) Joan Collins & 80s Excess

The League of Gentlemen (2000): Could Royston Vasey Exist Today?

THE GAZETTE: Celebrity Traitors is back!!

Jaws (1975): The Blockbuster That Made Us Afraid of Sharks

THE GAZETTE: Furious, Last Seen, Strictly Shake-Ups & Streaming Annoyances

A Taste of Honey (1961): Interracial Romance, Queer Britain & Kitchen Sink Realism

THE GAZETTE: Doctor Who’s Future, Coma Song Nightmares and Film Star Crushes!

Bread (1986): The Boswells, Benefit Fraud & Life in 80s Liverpool

THE GAZETTE: Dam Busters Backlash, Star Wars & a Very Important Poo Stick

The Dam Busters (1955): Bouncing Bombs, British Heroes & the Truth Behind the Legend

THE GAZETTE: Dolly, Gloria Steinem, Wentworth & Dogs Behaving Strangely

'Grange Hill': Racism, Heroin & Why Mary Whitehouse Hated It

THE GAZETTE: Tim Curry & Dolly Parton, Storm Chaos and Grange Hill

Saturday Night Fever (1978 UK): The Disco Classic Is Much Darker Than You Remember

Prime Suspect (1991): Helen Mirren, Sexism & the Drama That Changed TV Crime

THE GAZETTE: Funny-Tasting Water, Ingrid Pitt’s Incredible Escape & Eclipse Disappointment

The Vampire Lovers (1970): Hammer Horror, Ingrid Pitt & The Lesbian Vampire craze

THE GAZETTE: Widow's Bay, Ann Droid and Gazer E-Mails

Crocodile Dundee (1986): Paul Hogan & the Movie That Changed Australia (with Andrew Mercado)

Queer as Folk (1999): The TV Series That Changed Britain

Tales of the City (1993): The Queer Classic That Changed Television

Rent Boys (1984): Britain's Forgotten LGBTQ Documentary

The Killing of Sister George (1968): Pride, Censorship & Britain's Forgotten LGBTQ Classic

Abigail's Party (1977): Britain's Most Awkward Dinner Party Ever?

THE GAZETTE: Heatwave sweats, Farage and The Fizz

'Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' (1966): Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton at Their Most Explosive!

THE GAZETTE: Heatwaves, Hero Beavers and World Cup Trump Chants

Ugly Betty (2006): The Devil Wears Prada's Kinder, Stranger Cousin

THE GAZETTE: Doctor Who, Cult Leaders & Swimming for Survival

Star Trek: TOS (1969): The Final Frontier of Gender Inequality

THE GAZETTE: Pride, Shame & Survival: Why We Still Need Pride in 2026

100th Episode Special (2026): Mixtapes, Madness & Two Years of Problematic Gaze

THE GAZETTE: Hangovers, Caffeine Highs & Bunting Emergencies

Basic Instinct (1992): Ice Picks, Erotic Thrillers & Sex Month Climax

THE GAZETTE: Heatwave, Soapy Car washes, Rivals and Kylie

Porky’s (1981): “Boys Will Be Boys” Locker-Room Laughs & Voyeurism, in the Reagan-Era

THE GAZETTE: Eurovision, Passport Warnings & AI Panic at the Disco

Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974): Bawdy Comedy in the Age of the Three-Day Week

Alfie (1966): Sex, Swagger, and the Swinging Sixties

THE GAZETTE: Sex Season Prep, Shark Jumps & Streaming Picks

'Keeping Up Appearances' (1991) Class Anxiety in Bucket loads!

THE GAZETTE: Haircuts, Hookups & Pop Culture Chaos

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): Dammit Janet: Queerness and Controversy

THE GAZETTE: Confessions 2, MAGA meltdowns & please stop Carrying On!!

FROM THE GAZER VAULT: 'The Naked Civil Servant' from 1975