Good game, good game.....

You get to know when Christmas is sneaking up on you. The television running order begins to be dominated by programmes, the format of which is decided by viewers preference.

The X -Factor must be the market leader in this particular category, so it is difficult for other networks to pitch against it and expect to do well. As a best effort, the BBC put their own celebrity tomfoolery fest, Strictly Come Dancing, on a tad earlier in the hope of maintaining the audience later into the evening. I doubt it works, and i do wonder how they continue to pay homage to the doddering old fool who comperes it.

Many years ago Bruce Forsyth was a marvellous performer in the old Victorian music hall traditions. He was multifaceted and as a result got many major roles in theatre and television.
He is best known for hosting Saturday Night at the London Palladium in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and hosting high profile game shows like The Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right and The Price is Right. All in all he had a long and successful career.

Not satisfied with that, however, he suddenly decided he should be Sir Bruce Forsyth, and started a very public and, to my mind, distasteful campaign to obtain his ultimate goal. He is a fairly ruthless individual on the golf course, where he takes the attitude that if he is playing everybody else should get out of his way, and he brought the same attitude to his knighthood campaign. He solicited the help of high profile friends and colleagues, and eventually in the 2011 Birthday honours list he achieved his aim.

Personally I think it stinks. I have always thought the award of an honour by the Queen should be something which surprises as much as rewards, and to be blatant about such a thing would immediately disqualify the person from ever receiving it.

Sir Bruce, however, got his award and he continues to crack puerile jokes and struggle to read his q- card every Saturday night, so at least those watching Strictly can see at first hand what a bumbling buffoon he has become. Didn't he do well!