Off The Telly - Summer Special: Comfort Telly Part 2

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

In this Summer Special they get a chance to hear more voicenotes from listeners about their favourite comfort telly. They discuss shows including Drunk History, Motherland, Friends and The Kardashians. Plus Jo tells us about what it was like reading the Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special script for the first time.In Off the Telly, Natalie and Joanna talk about what they can’t stop watching, what they definitely aren’t going to bother with, and what you’re all watching at home. From new shows to comfort telly to guilty pleasures, there’s no judgement here. What’s kept us all glued to our screens this week?Self-confessed TV addicts and stars of two of the biggest shows on our screens, EastEnders and Gavin and Stacey, Natalie and Joanna are the perfect companions to your weekly viewing habits.Get in touch by sending us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to 03306 784704.Hosts: Natalie Cassidy and Joanna Page Producer: Georgia Keating Executive Producer: Pete Strauss Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Unit Manager: Lucy Bannister Sounds Editor: Arlie Adlington Music by MCassoOff The Telly is a BBC Studios Audio Production for BBC Sounds.

BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts. Hello and welcome to Off The Telly from BBC Sounds. I'm Natalie Cassidy. And I'm Joanna Page. And this is the podcast where we have a good old meta about something everybody loves, the telly. Yay! Swearing and spoilers warning because we get quite passionate. This is the first of our summer specials where we're revisiting old themes from What Shall We Watch? So we can hear more from you guys at home.

And the first theme we're revisiting is Com telly so what do you think this is comfort telly part two or comfort telly hashtag two oh i'm boring though so i'd say comfort telly part two i think that's all right comfort telly the sequel like it yeah yeah i think that's pretty good well i gotta say this was probably our most popular theme. We had so many of you sending voice notes about what your favourite comfort telly was. We were full of what our favourite comfort telly was. I mean, you really can't beat a show that you love to sit down, comfort watch. You got your crisps.

You got your wine. It just makes you feel good. What's your comfort telly at the moment? I really don't know. I don't know. I was thinking this was coming in. Yeah. What is my favouritey at the moment? I really don't know. I don't know. I was thinking this was coming in. What is my favourite comfort at the moment? I think my favourite comfort telly at the moment is Dairy Girls.

I mean, it's like I'm enjoying it because I'm finding it funny. I'm finding it relaxing. It's something new to me. So it's my new comfort telly. It's something I've carried on watching from, you know, our main podcast. Yes. And I'm loving the music. Do you know what I'm going to say?

What? Cooking with the stars on ITV. Oh, are you? Yeah. You know, I tuned in the other day because I wanted to know who Michael Caine's, who I will consider as always my chef, who, you know, he was with and it was Abby Clancy. And then I was like oh my god where are they has she gone is she still in what's going on i hope that everything's fine with michael

and as she was in the cook-off but she stayed but i think it's lovely to just i love a cooking show oh you can't beat it yeah absolutely brilliant done one have you done a cooking show no you need to do a cooking show i've always said i'd love to do a cooking show? No. You need to do a cooking show. I've always said I'd love to do a cooking show. But I need to do it well. Yeah. You need time. Yeah. And there's nothing more annoying than when you go into something

and you just know that you haven't done the best of your ability. Exactly. Yeah. So, yeah, watch this space. I'd love to do it. Maybe when the kids are a bit older. Well, speaking of comfort telly,

one of my mates, Mr. Wynne Evans, has just been announced is going on Strictly. Absolutely brilliant. All that fun you had with him in those wetsuits. Now you're going to see him

in a tuxedo. I'm going to see him all dolled up doing his samba. Is he excited? Oh my gosh, he's really excited. He's over the moon, but I don't think he knows what's going to hit him. I mean, he's a good mover.

And he said he's been walking around lifting, what are they called? Not dumbbells. You know the big... I know. Keg weight. Now what is it? Yeah, now I know. I want to say keg.

It's not keg. Oh my goodness. It's not a kegel, is it? That's something else. It's not a kegel. I want to say keg. It's not keg. It's a... Oh, my goodness. It's not a kegel, is it? That's something else. It's not a kegel. I want to say keg. It's a... Oh, so near.

It's a kettlebell. Kettlebell. Kettlebell. Kettlebell. I think we have both just shown how much we know about lifting weights he said he's been lifting like a kettlebell weight up with his arms like this and walking around and just holding it up like that and then he swaps over and he walks around and holds it up like that to build up his arms to start lifting the women oh that's brilliant good good bit of homework there win i hope he can get

to teach me something. That is fantastic. Oh, my gosh. He's going to have the best time of his life. I think he's going to have a whale of a time. It was one of my favourite jobs. Oh, what was it like when you were on it? I loved every single minute of it. Did you?

Yeah. Who were you with? Vincenzo. Oh, I loved him. He was lovely, wasn't he? Brilliant. He was brilliant. And I just love watching it every year.

We love it, me and the girls when it starts we can't wait for it yeah we write out little numbers yeah sometimes

yeah you know and we all we pause it and go what number you know we do the judging and all that

we love it you just know though as soon as it starts that you're on the road to Christmas you're on the road it's coming Christmas is coming

and you've got your first big sit down really good, you know, evening telly show. Saturday night telly. Oh, it's cracking. It's good. It's brilliant. So I'm hoping, I said to him, I'm coming to see you and make sure I come quite soon because I don't know if you'll be shit or if you'll be good. So I

want to get there before you get thrown out. So I'm hoping he'll stay in for a while but just in case he's not, I'm going right from the start. Oh, you're going to get in there quick? Yes. Well, have I got news for you. What?

One of my best friends from EastEnders is also doing Strictly this year. No way. Who? The lovely Jamie Balswick. Oh, my God. Who is a dear, dear friend of mine. I love him to pieces. He's over the moon, and he, too, is dancing this year and competing.

Oh my gosh. Well, how is this going to affect our relationship? Well, I'll tell you something. Jamie's going to smash through Wynne. Oh, those are war words. Wynne's got the Welsh fire and so have I. He's a lovely little cockney charmer. Oh, my God.

Lovely little cockney charmer with a little bit of Jean Jay going on. I really hope his personality shines on the show as well, because obviously, as an actor, he doesn't get to show himself. And he's a very, very funny young man. And I think he's going to do really, really well. He did last year's christmas special and won it oh he's got good dancing feet then he's got the moves he's got the moves he's got the grooves we are going to be majorly invested oh what i do hope is we go the same week to watch them god we've got to go at the same time they're very very stingy on tickets are they yeah i said to I said to Jamie, please, can I come?

He said, of course you can. I said, but you say that now. Oh my God, we've got to go. We have got to go. I know, but the thing is, it's like two, honestly, two a week. Oh my God.

You get two and then obviously their closest family want to be there. No, I think that's out of order expecting their family to go before us. I tell you what,

when is my number one and Jamie is my number two? And I'm going to go Jamie for number one and Jamie is my number two and I'm going to go Jamie for number one and Wyn's my number two oh it's going to be fun it's going to be a great autumn

they're going to be fighting on the dance floor we will be fighting I'll tell you something now I bet they get a house on fire as well I bet they do because they're nice chaps yeah

yeah up for a laugh oh yeah wow brilliant watch this space. Exciting. Well, I can't wait to get stuck into more voice notes,

so let's get on with it. Yeah, let's get on with it. Hi, Nat and Jo. The show I love to comfort watch is Drunk History. It is hilarious. I'd love to see you two do a drunk off the telly it would make my day oh lovely drunk history i've only seen like a really small bit of that i've never seen it what is it it's kind of the same slant as like horrible history yeah and then so there's actors and

everybody and they act out um you know the different you different parts and characters, kings and queens and everything, but they're all drunk when they do it. So it's like a comedian actually gets properly drunk and then tells the story of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn. What channel is this on? It's on Comedy Central. And then you've got actors who are acting out the story as the comedian is telling the story of the story

as they're getting more and more drunk it's really funny oh i think you would and they are properly drunk but saying that right i think that we should do a late night christmas version of this podcast and we should have a good old thing of like irish cream on the table yeah and let just just drink it and do a podcast i'm very up for a late night drunk off the telly. That would be good. Especially at Christmas. I'd love it. Let's do that. I think we should.

And you should check out Drunk History. It's really good. Oh, brilliant. I certainly will. Yeah. Right, let's have another one. Hi, Nat and Jo. Absolutely love the podcast.

Listen to it every Friday when I go to the gym after I drop my daughter off at school. Motherland. Oh my God. I can relate to it so I drop my daughter off at school. Motherland. Oh my god, I can relate to it so much and it's so funny. I am the one in the episode where she falls into the swimming pool. Love the show. Bye. Motherland is one of my favourite shows. I love it. It's so flipping true, you know, and it's so hard, isn't it? When you've got kids and then when you've got to take them swimming and you've got to get in the swimming costume. You're busy and it's so hard isn't it when you've got kids and then when you've got to take them swimming and you've got to get in the swimming costume you're busy and it's just it is completely

it's so realistic the whole thing perfect mum there's the flipping perfect mum she's got perfect hair perfect clothes the kids are perfect everything is great in her life and you are there flailing nobody's had a proper breakfast they've've got, you know, like a shirt on, which has got really grubby cuffs because I've not been able to clean them. You've got a clean uniform on. Then they've cleaned their teeth. They've got toothpaste down the front.

I mean, you're struggling like mad with everything. You've also got to do all the shopping, cook all the food, look after everything else. The dog's done a poo on the floor. I mean, oh my God, I love it. I just love it. It is brilliant. It's one of the best things. I love Kevin. Oh, he's so good. I love God, I love it. I just love it. It is brilliant. It's one of the best things.

I love Kevin. Oh, he's so good. I love Liz. I love Kevin. They're all brilliant. Anna Maxwell Martin is brilliant. Yeah. My favourite line is a Christmas special, which is Jeff is there.

Her in-laws are around and Jeff says, what's for dinner? Is there any dinner? And she says, it's Christmas Eve, Jeff. Peel an orange, crack a nut. But it's that thing of being so busy and everyone wants to be waited on because it's Christmas and she's got a thousand things to do. But she ends up going out with half an onion.

Do you remember when they go over to Amanda's, what party is it it a Christmas party? Or is it like a... And they're there in the daughter's completely white bedroom. It's a Christmas party. Is it? And then why do they bleed? Why does...

Does she hit him in the face or something? She hits him in the face because she's pissed. And they seem to be taking drugs up there. Yeah. They put the talcum powder on and they're all just there. Oh, God, it's good. It's really good. I love it.

It's fantastic. But but yeah that is something that in my house absolute comfort telly i will put that on at any time any episode and i just absolutely adore it should we have another one hi joe and that um i am the crazy lady who left you a message um about my comfort watches being all about Christmas. And you're right. You're totally right. I am a Christmas crazy lady. Christmas all year round for me.

I don't have my tree up until December. There's no decorations up. It's just the every so often little Christmas playlist goes on to cheer me up in the car on the way to work um and my last name is Merrilee so um yeah Christmas all year round um I just find it really joyous and wonderful and lovely and it's for it's just about the music and the colours and the lights and just that feeling of wonderfulness. And I like to keep the spirit of Christmas all year round.

So Merry Christmas. Not long to go. Oh. I'm with her. I'm with her as well. I just love it. I've decided I'm going to do Christmas from October. Yeah, you said this.

I love it, but I feel like bonfire night, November the 5th. Once that's done, then we're off. Yeah. Do you know what? I might do that and wait for November the 5th. Only because Halloween. Yeah. Like October, you've got the 31st, you've got Halloween.

Then you've only got six days. You have. Five, six days. Five days. And then you do your bonfire night, enjoy your fireworks, have a little sausage roll, have a little summit in the garden do your fireworks and your sparklers and then bang you're in yeah straight into it yeah i'm already getting excited can't wait yeah i i follow i love christmas on instagram or you know christmas is the best and every day you'll get a... And it'll go...

186 days to go or there's 12 Fridays and it always makes me feel very warm. I'm going to start following that to copy you now. It's nice. Count down to Christmas or we love Christmas and then they'll just have little bits saying, look, however many hours, you know, 40,000 hours. I'm already getting excited.

It's not far away. It's not far away, is it? I know, but it's still hot and we should still enjoy the summer we should because some people can't bear it i can't understand that i think um we have to remember sometimes not being too serious i think it brings a lot of stress and pressure to people yes financially especially and you know your heating bill and everything you know it gets colder it gets darker so i do think for some people that sort of time of year can be very very stressful we're just very very lucky that we don't see that side to it yeah so it is it's lovely to get excited about

but you do have to remember it's a very good time to help people as well yes that's so true yeah that's brilliant should Shall we hear another? Yes. Hiya both, it's Mel here from Burgend in South Wales. I just got to say, first of all, I absolutely love the podcast. And today I caught up and I wanted to let you know what my favourite comfort television is. And I have to say it is France. It always has been and I think it always

will be like those days when you don't really want to sit down and watch it like intently but you want it on in the background it's like having your friends around you know what's going on you know you're safe and you know you love it so that's my favorite comfort TV. Oh, I understand it. Do you remember when Friends first came out? Yes, because I'd been watching Cheers with my mum. And Cheers finished. And I remember mum said, oh, there's this new thing starting called Friends. Should we give it a go?

And I was like, all right, then it's not going to be the same as Cheers, is it? And we started watching it. And then that was just it. We just, I mean, my God, it was, we just watched Friends all the time. I've got the DVD box set. Have you got the one with the doors? No. It's a little black one and they're really thin DVDs

and then it's got, it's like a wardrobe. Oh my God. And you open it and I've got them all and I've still got it. I've still kept quite a lot of my DVDs, you know. Have you? Yeah. I had a massive clear out, not that long ago. I've got like two massive kind of big things of them. But some some of them i don't want to throw them away yeah they've got sentimental

value a few of them have i have to say yeah and i've got quite a lot of foreign films and stuff like that which i've bought in the kind of artificial eye ones from the bfi or you're not gonna you can't get them on the telly but certain things i've got a lauren hardy box set dvds and friends and then I've got a lot of comedy a lot of comedy do you remember the episode when Ross put the

leather trousers on and he had to put talcum powder in them and then he got them up and then the episode as well was it the same one with the teeth one

oh god it was so good wasn't it I like watching the outtakes on Instagram I'm an eight they're brilliant oh god they're so good you can just watch it and watch it and watch it can't you yeah let's have another one are you joe are you nap absolutely loving the podcast so your question was what are your comfort watches so for me me, there's two. There's daytime comfort and there's nighttime comfort to get you to sleep

because I have to watch telly at night in order to switch off. So the daytime comfort for me is this country because it is one of the funniest, funniest telly programmes that's been made in a long time, in my humble opinion. Also, it's filmed not too far from where i live in swindon so i know the areas i can identify with the characters and it's relatable so the night time is the complete opposite so escapism from far removed from the world that i live in and the lifestyle that I lead. And that is Trashy Telly, Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

Absolutely love it. And it gets me straight off to sleep. 20 minutes, I'm done. So there you have it. This country, daytime, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, nighttime. Well, I love how specific she was. Yeah, I do. That's very good that it only takes her 20 minutes and, boom, she's out cold.

Oh, it doesn't take me that long. What? To go to sleep. Yeah, two minutes, I'm finished. Are you? Yeah. Yeah. I have never, ever seen 30 seconds of the Kardashians.

I tuned in to watch a series and you you've got to give it to them right they like it i mean i can see why she goes to sleep because it also it's kind of like being put in a trance because they all talk and it's just all the same and it's they sort of like stretch everything out and everything's so there's quite a lot of them isn't there yeah and they're all just talking in detail about like you know this and they're always eating a salad from like some, you know, plastic box thing because it seems like it's all been ordered in. I haven't seen them making any food or whatever. And I watched a series and was really quite fascinated by all of it.

It's fascinating. Really? Yeah. I would like to put it on. Yeah. I can see why it would send it to sleep though because they're quite monotonous in the way that they talk. It's all, like, on the same tone,

and it's all sort of kind of drawn out, and they're talking about stuff which is just really, like, boring, but they get really, like, you know, into it. Riveting. Yeah. Let's have another one. Hi, Natalie and Jo. I'm Lucy from Cardiff.

I love the podcast and just heard you talking about your comfort tv um my daughter and i watch gilmore girls for comfort um i watched it when i was when my daughter was days old it was lent to me by my sister um and just this mum and daughter relationship was really beautiful um and then when she was old enough, she's 14 now, and when she was old enough, we watched it together. And now she watches it constantly. So that's my comfort watch. Love the podcast.

Love hearing you girls chat. It's just really comforting. Oh, that is so lovely. That's so sweet. Full circle, isn't it? It is. That's amazing. I mean, that will always just have sentimental value. I bet it'll really, you know when you get a real pang in your gut?

I mean, the fact that she watched it when her daughter was just days old and they will watch it together now. That's beautiful. Really, really lovely. Really lovely. Aww. Let's have another one. Hi, Natalie and Jo.

This is Jo. I can binge watch grey's anatomy and of course gavin and stacy i can get lost a whole day watching both of them um two days if i watch one all day one day and one all day the next day love what you're both doing keep it up you make my Wednesdays bye aww that's lovely I've never seen Grey's Anatomy

I watched 14 series of it that's a lot of telly 14 series I bloody loved it I loved Grey's Anatomy yeah loved it I might go back to the beginning

and watch it all over again you haven't got time it was brilliant in the early days you haven't got time Jo I can't allow you to do that so good I wanted to be Meredith and watch it all over again. You haven't got time. It was brilliant in the early days. You haven't got time, Jo. I can't allow you to do that. So good. I wanted to be Meredith Grey.

I loved her hair. Ellen Pompeo, I can't pronounce her last name. She was lovely. She still is. I loved it. I'm with you there on that one. Let's have another one. Hello, girls. I literally found this podcast yesterday and I

binged it all um I've got a week off from work so I just literally all of them loved it my comfort telly and I know everyone else is going to say this is Gavin and Stacey I absolutely love it and on a very personal note last year I was really poorly and I had to have an eye operation and I couldn't watch anything I had to just listen to it and so I listened to the shows that were familiar to me so I like knew what was happening if that makes sense about seeing it and Gavin and Stacey was one of them along with Only Fools so thank you so much I love it I do love EastEnders too but um yeah that isn't really a comfort at the moment sorry about that but you with all the stuff that's going on,

I'm sure you can understand why. Oh, that's so lovely. It is lovely. And I have to say, Jo, it's a comfort watch. Do you know, right, I've said before, I've only ever really watched it about once. I never really sat down and watched it. But I am now because I'm watching it with Eva.

And it's now become our thing. I mean, we're now on about episode three, season three. I don't like saying season. It's a series. Series three, episode three. And we were watching it and then the boys came and sat down and they were going, Mummy, that's you. That's you.

And then Kit kept going, who's that baby? Who does he belong to? And in the end, I had to go, boys, will you be quiet? And then Eva slammed because we were watching it on a computer. computer she slammed it down and went I'm not watching it with you mummy it's our thing and so I so it's a joy to me now right because I'm just watching it for the first time and genuinely laughing yeah it is so funny yeah I mean I was watching I remember filming on series three when I do the robot yeah and I'd never really seen myself doing that before and I was laughing because I thought it was funny.

But I remember filming it and really being embarrassed and mortified having to go like that. Because I was like, oh, my God, I'm literally using the same arm as leg that I'm doing. Because I genuinely couldn't do it. And I felt really embarrassed. But it's just really funny. It is really funny. Oh, it's brilliant. Can't wait for the Christmas special.

So excited. I got the script the other day. No, you haven't. Yeah. Because it's been ages Can't wait for the Christmas special. So excited. I got the script the other day. No, you haven't. Yeah, because it's been ages I've not seen the script. I've no idea what happened. And I was coming back from filming and I was in the services, in the local service station. And I knew that the script was going to be coming.

I didn't know if it was going to be, you know, in about three days time or whatever. And I was standing and waiting for a burger. I was about half seven at night and I was exhausted and I started going through my phone and suddenly it came up and it was in my phone and I was like, oh, my God, I'm excited. And, you know, when you're excited

and you don't know whether it's going to go right, OK, or I'm going to leave myself excited for a bit. So I did and then I got my burger and then I sat in the car and read it. Oh, my God. Is it excellent? I'm not telling it. Oh my God. Is it excellent? I'm not telling you. No, I'm not.

Oh, that is brilliant. I do know what that's like because when I've got EastEnders scripts, I can't tell anyone anything. Well, I know. But it's mad, yeah. And I'm scared that I'll just like it when it's just best

if I just keep my mouth shut. Oh, I can't wait. Are you excited? I'm very excited. Just to get back together with the team and all be together. Just to have a laugh. Are you all together a lot in it? No, I'm not.

You're on your own a lot? I'm not excited. Are you in Bury? Are you in London? Are you at Palms? No. But you know what? It was mad just being like oh my god

I've got something here on my phone mad they're like because now because I'm now going back and watching it and I never really did

in the beginning I'm just like everybody else because I was like oh my god I want to know you know what's going to happen

I want to know you know what's what's happening because I am watching it right now with my daughter and we're loving it together she's seen it

for the first time I'm practically seen it for the first time. I'm practically seen it for the first time because I don't remember it the first time round. And so I'm just like, oh, my God, what's going to happen? Well, now I know. Oh, my goodness me. I can't cope with this. Oh, God.

It's brilliant, though. Yeah. I can't wait for you to start filming and everything and watching it on Christmas. I just can't wait. Well, it'll be Christmas, Lynette. I'm excited. Our favourite time?

Yes, definitely. Aww. Well, I think that's probably it for our first summer special. What do you think? Yeah, I think that's a lovely summer special. And I love these episodes. I love them so much. And we love hearing from all you listeners.

I think these are my favourite ones. Well, yeah, absolutely. And thank you all so much we and we love hearing from all you listen i think these are my favorite ones well yeah absolutely and thank you all so much because we couldn't do these without you no we couldn't we hear from you you give us recommendations there's all sentimental things i love it i love hearing what you're all listening to it's fab keep sending us voice notes on whatsapp about the telly and we might play one of them in one of our episodes. The number is 03306 784 704. Thank you so much again for listening and we'll be back next Wednesday with another Voice Notes special all about your favourite TV detectives.

Keep an eye out for Super Sleuths Part 2 next Wednesday on BBC Sounds. Bye! Off the Telly is hosted by Natalie Cassidy and Joanna Page. Bye! The Life of Mary Anning, the famous paleontologist of the 19th century with Sarah Pascoe. Then it's off to Germany in the 1920s for an episode on LGBTQ life in Weimar, Germany with Jordan Gray. And then we'll hop on a ship all the way back to Bronze Age Crete to learn about the ancient Minoans with Josie Long. Plus loads more. So if that sounds like fun, listen and subscribe to You're Dead to Me on BBC Sounds.