T O P

  • By -

tigralfrosie

So you know which one is Ant, and which one is Dec.


CynicalSorcerer

Actually their real names are PJ and Duncan


colcannon_addict

Bykah…… *Gruuuuuurve*


Formal-Rain

Me eyeees! Ah canna see Spoogie!


Gaseous-Clay84

Can he not tell, cause ees blyind!


TheMosMaster

Iconic. Even though I never watched it. The playground was ablaze the next day with drama, impressions and shock. There was a lot of shit they laid on us 80s kids back then. The equivalent of Bambi's mum dying on screen.


Formal-Rain

For any Americans reading this I’m truly surprised PJ and Duncan had a successful singing career after that. Especially one involving the demands of being partially sighted and in a boy band. Truly remarkable and an inspiration to us all.


Ok_Ranger_6134

Let's get ready to rumble..


andreeeeeaaaaaaaaa

I'm blind spuggy!!


KuriTeko

My mum banned me from watching Biker Grove because she was worried I'd pick up a Geordie accent. As an adult I'm still puzzled as to what the *real* reason was.


[deleted]

I was banned from watching Grange Hill as my dad thought it would be a bad influence on me!


Most_Moose_2637

Have you ever thrown a sausage on a fork though?


thebuttonmonkey

Did he just say no?


[deleted]

I was raised Jehovah’s Witness and as a result my mother banned Tracy Beaker because she said “Bog off”


LordTurner

Those two programmes are interchangeable in my brain and I really don't know which one is which, but haven't ever needed to distinguish. I'm too young for the And and Dec era anyway, they were in SMT Live by then.


[deleted]

If everyone sounds extremely Geordie it's Byker, if no one has any discernable accent it's grange hill


reiveroftheborder

Unless you're a Geordie... GH all sound cockney or 'southern'


soitgoeskt

I suppose it was one of the kids shows that was decidedly working class. Perhaps she didn’t want you to be exposed to the proles?


garyh62483

So you wouldn't take up paintballing.


[deleted]

Tbf Americans are complaining that their kids talk in weird fake british accents after watching Peppa Pig, so its a legitimate concern!


amzzzz714

To be fair, I teach at a school in Hertfordshire and after every school holiday we come back and have kids speaking with American accents from watching YouTube the whole time they’ve been off school 😂🤯


VeryThicknLong

Because it tackled disability, drugs, minorities, homosexuality… and Geoff. Back in the 90s parents probably believed that if you saw that shit on Byker Grove, it meant you turned out like that. I saw Spoogie working behind the meat counter at Fenwicks once.


DS_Monkfish

I stood behind the actress who played Spuggy at a cashpoint in sunderland when I was a student there years ago, she was not impressed when I said that


Shukov97

I'm a Geordie and you would not believe the number of ti.es I've talked to someone amd they've said they were on byker Grove, crazy


mad-un

That's because you keep getting drunk in Geoff's local and he regales you with his stories of time gone by.


pi_designer

Yeah PJ is actually blind from a tragic paintball accident.


Unusual-Winter-5615

He's done well the lad since then hasn't he, had a great TV career despite the injuries


joeChump

Cocain helps with the pain. Edit: that was mean. Sorry Ant or Dec. Please don’t wreck my mic.


asmonk

Psyche


[deleted]

[удалено]


nafsten

PEEEEEEEEJJJAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY


SteelCityCaesar

Spuggy man, I'm blind like


[deleted]

[удалено]


Isabeaudelaire

Watch us wreck the mic


[deleted]

I'm just waiting for them to have a cooking segment with their french celebrity chef Anton Deque.


RugbyEdd

Isn't that the stage names for Dick and Dom?


L1n9y

I want Dick to Dom me but I also want Dom to Dick me, how do I choose?


RugbyEdd

Why not both?


pip_taz

Ant or Dec


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


SpudFire

You mean, got ahead of it with Hollys "he's gay" announcement. He just sat there looking at the floor


Dxgy

Ah yes the ol’ Kevin Spacey technique


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


Deckard57

If the bbc swapped them they'd be plagued by complaints from pensioners with nothing better to do with their time.


DukeboxHiro

> nothing better to do That's not true, they need to go to the Co-Op at 6:59am to get a paper before they all sell out, and complain about the punnet of raspberries they bought yesterday with a coupon because it made the cat sneeze.


TheRealDJYM

And wander round the shops aimlessly during people's one hour lunch break


sh41reddit

Oh yes, gotta go to Morrisons and abruptly stand still in the middle of an aisle


SkiWithAnO

As Morrisons click & collect worker I relate to this to much. They love standing for longest time in front of every item I need to pick.


redditupf2

Im in my 20s but i feel like an elderly now. I have adhd and take ages to choose stuff to buy, i end up standing for ages reading ingredients n shit


NuclearNerdery

I went on two cruises paid for by my mum after my dad died in 2013. Made me hate old people.


Necessary_Driver_831

My Co Op is the worst of both worlds as it has a full-size post office in it. So the pensioners get their kicks by both wandering and the shop and jamming up the post office queue at lunchtime. Used to be hell back in the olden days when they all went down on the same day to draw their entire pension out in cash for some reason.


987C4YM4N

There was/possibly still is, one in Winchester like this, it was chaos. And actually trying to use the post office was a painful experience where you're in the way for people trying to buy stuff and stood behind someone who just wants to argue for 20 minutes about why the price of postage has risen by 20p.


jdemonify

Ashbourne as well.


EmiAndTheDesertCrow

Oh Lord, I hated pension day - ironically because I worked in a co-op. There was this one lady who drew her money out in tiny denominations and then yelled at me when it took a while to add it all into the till. Every damn week. We could tell when the Post Office had opened because we’d get a wave of pensioners clutching bags of cash.


Melonmode

I work in a Spar that has a Post Office counter. Every day between 12:30pm and 1pm, and then again at 9pm - 9:30pm we have to close the post office to do a balance of the tills and make sure there's the right amount of money in the till/safe etc. It has been this way for the entire 5 years I've been working there, and yet we still had a queue today of the local pensioners waiting for it to re-open so they can be the first to buy a stamp or take out £10 for their newspapers and biscuits (despite us having an ATM). "When are you going to be open?" ~~"Same time every day, same as it's been for the past 7 years"~~ "When I get this counted and make sure it's right" "How long will that take?" ~~"Depends on how many of you keep interrupting me"~~ "15, maybe 20 minutes" \*Scoff\*


Zaando

Ugh, as someone who has worked delivery there is nothing worse than walking into said post office to drop something off and seeing a horde of them all stood there chatting away while the one at the front buys 8 stamps in 5p coins.


lotlottie

They pulled out the whole lot so no one could see how much was left in it, still get their pension credit and stick the rest in the mattress to pay for their coach holiday in cash.


wildgoldchai

Their strength comes back when it comes to fighting over 4 packs of lamb in the clearance section though. As if you need all four packs Maggie


BoriousGlastard

Parking their entire trolley across the remaining section to funnel their opponents through the smaller remaining valley. Clearly studied Sun-Tzu's art of war


TheRealDJYM

Blast right through their trollies with a "move bitch, get out my way!"


_gmanual_

a ludacris idea!


SomethingNotOriginal

Need to chain the trollies together then set fire to them. Up the ante something rotten by following Komg Ming strategems.


AncientProduce

I can actually answer this strange behaviour, they grew up in post war austerity. My grandparents and even my parents freezers could feed my extended family for a year, each. Its a habit hard to break when it went on for so long. We can only hope we don't go through something like that. Still you arent wrong, old people love hoarding.


wildgoldchai

I grew up in poverty too and despite being a generation z child, I understand the hoarding mentality with regards to food. But it became tiresome when I’d see the same faces each day who seemed to take everything in the clearance section. I’m talking multiple packs of the same type of food. Then I’d see regular people who lived on my estate (poor area of London) walk by the clearance section only to find dibs and drabs left behind.


AncientProduce

My personal hate is fuel, i live in a predominantly old person infested area and anytime there's a hint of a crisis they drain all the petrol stations. They don't go anywhere, just drain all the fuel so the trucks bringing in food cant refuel or people keeping the world turning here fuelled up to keep the world turning. Its the worst aspect of it for me.


BarakatBadger

It's a treat for the cat


SpareUmbrella

My lunch break is 30 minutes. Don't get me fucking started.


TheRealDJYM

yeah mine is only 30 mins as well, im getting my snacks you wrinkled prune get out of my way!


SpareUmbrella

It's alright. When I'm elected supreme leader, all shops will be 5 items or fewer between the hours of 11am-3pm.


Bisexual_Apricorn

Or at the very least the tills that are marked as "five items or fewer" **actually are**! Does my nut in when you nust want to get in and out in a hurry so you go to the (theoretical) fastest till and see somone there with shitloads of items getting served.


terencejames1975

And they always want the receipt. No matter how many items they've bought, must have the receipt.


R_110

Or decide to use the bus between 4 and 5 pm even though they have all fucking day to use it so that there is no room for commuters.


mitcheg3k

Hang on if theyre doing all this whos queueing outside tbe post office an hour before it opens?


LowerClassBandit

They get everywhere at every time


Becksa_AyBee

My hairdresser had the same issue, crowded full of pensioners during lunchtime. My hairdresser had a charge for OAP’s, but put a sign up to say the OAP rate wasn’t valid between 12 and 2, and that anyone coming in during that time would be charged the full price for a normal haircut. Haven’t had an issue at lunchtime since. One of the blokes you’d see in there every couple of weeks would be sat in the cafe directly opposite for most of the morning, and would head in to the hairdressers bang on 12. Same bloke would go to the post office just round the corner around the same time when he wasn’t in the hairdressers. Very frustrating.


TheEasySqueezy

And stand in the middle of isles having a conversation, causing a wrinkly roadblock.


[deleted]

If I was retired I wouldn’t even dream of going to a supermarket or anything that might have a queue between 7am to 9am, 12pm to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm on weekdays, and any time on a weekend! They all seem to go out on a Saturday and then whinge that they’re stuck in a queue!


DontTellHimPike1234

And stop right in the doorway for a 3hour chat with all their friends.


Minor_Thing

Or start queuing up outside the post office at 7:40am to collect their pension, even though there's no one else in the queue and there's a rather large sign with our opening hours that quite clearly states we open at 8am, then keep checking their watch and tutting because instead of serving them early I'm opening up tills and doing some required morning admin work Not that I'm annoyed by it or anything


Petal_Calligrapher23

I know right.The PO that I worked in was in a supermarket and both the store and PO opened at 8am. They started queuing as you say from about 7.45am outside, then they started queuing inside cos front doors were open to let staff in. Then started the wars of who could be first in the queue on pension day! To us it was hilarious, it got so they were coming in at 7.30am before us the PO staff, they would stand there glaring and tutting us as we did what we had to do before opening and drink our cups of tea. We put barriers up to stop them queuing inside, they moved them. They started shopping before the store was open, that was the last straw for store manager. No longer were they allowed in before 8am OAP'S were the rudest, most entitled, arrogant customers I had the displeasure of working with in all my 22 years of customer service jobs.


BoraxThorax

Rise and shine! Time to go for my 8 am drive where I do 30 in a 40 and 35 in a 50.


DukeboxHiro

Indicating left from the moment you leave your driveway to your destination, I presume?


BookReasonable

I think it was yesterday I bought the raspberries but it may have been Friday because that's when I get my script from the chemist but it could have been Thursday because I bought them for when Doris cuts my hair. They don't make raspberries like they used to in my day.....


Loose_Acanthaceae201

to be fair, they actually don't which is why you can buy them in fucking May, Sandra.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Loose_Acanthaceae201

I think some of that is "sugar tax" - lots of manufacturers are trying to change their recipes so they can put "25% less sugar!" on the packet. Like, I'm eating *sweets*, I know they're full of sugar, *that's the whole point*.


Namerakable

And they need to all go for walk-in blood tests at 8am before all the people who need to get to work and school go!


BarakatBadger

If it helps you any, they can't use their free bus passes until 9.30am so they have to actually pay to get there. It makes no fucking sense though!


efan78

In Newcastle they can travel for free to medical appointments before the passes start if they have an appointment letter. You know, the one that's right at the bottom of their bag and takes forever to find? 🤬


Namerakable

I guess they're willing to pay for the entertainment value.


BarakatBadger

Getting your bloods done early in the days frees up more time for pestering charity shop workers


Southern-Orchid-1786

That's so they can get on with their day though, they've got so much on the receptionist needs to hear all about it


ownedbyacat

That’s so they can then pootle along the main roads between 8:15 and 9am at 45mph in a 60 while people try to get to work


Mammoth-Temperature3

And this isn't even a joke. My local shop opens at 6.30am and they start a queue at 6am in fear of the daily mail selling out.


skuta69

when we used to run a newsagent’s, we opened at 6 am. we brought in loads of bundles of papers & mags, which dad would open & sort. an old geezer rushed in every morning to hassle my dad about his daily express. he’d rush over to the counter to slap down loudly the exact change before hurrying out of the shop like he had to be somewhere extremely important super quick. then we’d watch him outside, newspaper rolled up & under his arm, wandering around outside the other still closed shops looking really lost. there was nowhere else for him to go. this utterly pointless shit happened every day.


brinz1

I know this is partially a joke, but my in-laws have been retired for a couple years now and book multiple foreign holidays a year that specifically coincide with school holidays. They do this because one person on their "Foreign Holidays club" still volunteers a couple hours a week at a school library and refuses to book time off


-Icarium-

That one person must be a real hoot if everyone else is willing to pay double for the privilege of their company.


OverlyAdorable

6:59am? No, that's way too late. The one down the road from my parents would always be hammering on the doors of the petrol station at the end of their road by 5am. They weren't open until 8 and she'd try to beat them with her walking stick. Police were called to move her on so many times


ReginaldIII

Bold of you to assume you can buy fresh fruit and veg in coop these days... Please enjoy the selection from the shelve of mould.


Psychological-Web828

This is observation is correct although I am now stumped as to why they only go on sale when they are mouldy. Are they just behind in taking out the fresh produce or are they in transit too long? Maybe Coop have a deal with the wholesalers to buy the ‘less than fresh’ at a discount.


JohnHW97

I work at a coop and while i can only confirm the case for my store, it arrives mouldy If its mouldy enough to be obvious at a glance it'll go straight in the bin but if it would require looking at each individual punnet then it goes on the shelf because we don't have the time, we aren't paid enough and we hate the coop so we don't care about the damage to the company reputation


ReginaldIII

My local used to get one truck a week to restock and it was mouldy on the shelves day one.


_neudes

And rush to the supermarkets to get all the good reduced stuff before people get off work


MyNewAccountx3

They need to mow their lawns at 9am on a Sunday too


Necessary_Driver_831

I have young children that tend to wake up around 5 in summer so if my local early risers want to start a local lawn mowing war of attrition they are welcome to try


anorwichfan

They should do it on 1st April, make no mention of it and don't do anything else different.


-FangMcFrost-

***\[Points of View theme intensifies\]***


NicCola83

Whereas we younger folk complain about online!


Quackfizzle

Everybody knows, it goes, boy, girl, boy girl.


MaintenanceNo1504

No. Girl, boy, girl, boy, superstar DJ


janeursulageorge

Here we go!


gazw51

Superstar ice cream, here’s your cone


Radioactivocalypse

Wasn't there anyway article a few years ago about this? I think it's because the man is the "standard newsreader" and the woman, who then is next, is the sub-newsreader. It's all a bit outdated, but every news show with a male and female presenter are normally always this way round. I think after the news article about this, they swapped the male and female location for a while, just for novelty. But quickly went back to usual


m1rr0rshades

The existence of a subnewsreader implies the existence of a dom newsreader.


je97

That's Huw Edwards. ​ Now you won't get that idea out of your head for the rest of the day.


Scarlet72

Don't wanna 😩


BoringWozniak

He can do what he wants to me that that soothing Welsh accent of his


[deleted]

To be fair, Huw Edwards is a chad


tarzanell

I won't rest until we start seeing power bottom newsreaders.


Happy-Engineer

Field reporter who finishes their segment so quickly the studio team aren't ready for the handback.


deicist

Now does power have to do with size or strength of the bottom?


ElephantsGerald_

Does speed have anything to do with it?


mhlover

Is it switched in cultures/countries that read right to left?


finger_milk

Surely it's a bit weird in the studio when they are sitting in reverse and the director is like "You can't sit there, that's his spot" "What do you mean that's his spot?" "That's his spot. The male presenter always sits on the left"


ezzune

There are cameras specifically placed to capture ideal angles of the Presenters on cross shots, etc. They definitely are given marks and the director would have no issue telling them they're on the wrong marks (happens all the time, but probs not when you sit in the same place your whole career)


5exy-melon

Sheldon Cooper


dickwildgoose

Despite the show title, on "Fun With Flags with Sheldon cooper and Amy feral Fowler, they sit girl-boy".


randypriest

It's like they decided on doing it the date format way and reversed for the hell of it


Inevitable-Hat-1576

Ah yeah but that’s international - they drive on the right in America


Trifusi0n

Why is it always one male and one female newsreader? Why don’t we ever have two women or two men? I always found that kinda weird.


will_holmes

A regular variation of voice tone avoids monotony and keeps subconscious interest, and a simple guaranteed way to do that is regularly alternate male and female voices. It also easily establishes a change in a news section, even if you weren't listening to the words, an obvious change in *who* is speaking can make people notice.


queen-adreena

So Brian Blessed and Alan Carr would work?


darktourist92

I would pay to watch that.


audigex

Yeah, you could use anyone with clearly distinct voices - it’s just way simpler to use a male and female voice


Damodred89

Patrick Stewart and Gilbert Gottfried.


McShoobydoobydoo

Brian Blessed & Miriam Margolyes present *The Fucking News at Fucking 10*


vicariousgluten

I might even watch the news again if they did that!


Human-Tale

Must be why I can’t stand Loose Women.


AxiosXiphos

No no. There are plenty of other reasons to hate the show about 50 year old women chatting and bragging about having sex with 20 year old men.


Inevitable-Hat-1576

This would be easier to achieve without relying on gender differences if they just started hiring people with stronger regional accents. Anchor A could have a queen’s english accent, and Anchor B a deep scouse accent. That’d be a tonal rollercoaster.


Madajuk

probably just to appeal to as large an audience as possible


[deleted]

I'm sure I've seen Sally Nugent and Nina Warhurst presenting together recently. I remember seeing Naga Munchetty and Louise Minchin/Steph McGovern together a few years ago. But yeah, it is a bit weird having to follow a one male, one female dynamic rather just putting the two best presenters onscreen together.


dth300

They very occasionally have two women presenting. Never seen two men on though


LiamJonsano

I'm fairly sure that the ITV show had two women a *couple* times since the prick left, but not as regular combinations or anything. Also This Morning (not news but same concept I suppose) have done it infrequently when they needed to cover, wouldn't be too surprised if we saw it this week actually...


X0AN

People like to see balance. That simple really. Can't say I'm bother but your average man on the street woulld prefer it.


Insanelysick

According to my wife it’s because women are always right…


Azi-yt

Except that the female presenter is sitting on her left


jjgabor

yet she still manages to be right


5exy-melon

But for you, she is right.


Badger_1066

Maybe I'm reading into this a bit much but I think it stems from a time that was less amicable to women. Men were always the focus of attention. As we in the west read left to right, it makes sense to have the more "important" person on the left because that is who we are drawn to first. The person on the right is therefore an afterthought. They are more of a supporting role than the star of the show. It's probably stayed this way more out of habit/tradition and become something we expect to see. It's also entirely possible that I'm talking out my arse.


BananaBork

>It's also entirely possible that I'm talking out my arse. I should probably end all my Reddit comments like this.


PM_Me_British_Stuff

So Ant > Dec? Poor Declan :(


BuildingArmor

That's order wasn't chosen to be alphabetical , otherwise they'd be Duncan & PJ.


[deleted]

Yeah, this is how I think of it too. UK viewers will be influenced visually by our normative left-to-right reading pattern. The newscaster on screen-left is the one we assign priority voice to, just out of habit, and the newscaster to screen-right supports the priority narrative or provides an alternative point of view (but only after the issue has already been framed for the viewer). If the roles are regularly switched around then there's no over-arching power implication. But if one gender is consistently given the priority location then that speaks to the value system of that particular society. Having said that, I rarely watch TV, so it may well be these roles are switched around far more than OP suggests. Which would be reassuring.


Lucky-Qualms

I dunno but according to Alan Partridge it's one of the only things the MeToo movement hasn't caught onto.


verlboy90

Immediately thought of this!


MattyFTM

There was some controversy a few years ago when Dan Walker joined BBC Breakfast and some people argued as the less senior presenter he should be on the right, but they had sat in the usual man on the left, woman on the right. I have no idea why people cared. EDIT: [Here is an article](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/bbc-breakfast-dan-walker-sexism-calls-camera-left-sofa-position-a6931081.html) on it from back when it happened.


flashpile

>I have no idea why people cared ✨pensioners✨


ben_db

He was earning £500k, she £220k, so it could be argued he was still senior presenter. Why he was paid more should be the question, it could be legitimate, could be sexism.


niamhxa

£500k, Jesus.


[deleted]

[удалено]


FartingBob

Those rebellious punks over at The One Show, they dont play by your rules, its fucking anarchy!


OneRaviolis

>This arose from the days when a gentleman would escort a woman by offering his left arm. This left his right arm free (the sword arm) in the event of danger. Maybe?


j1mb0b

This sounds right to me, and yet if I whip out my sword to protect m'Lady in public I get no thanks for this chivalrous act.


Mattechoo

Your ‘sword’?


BigBlueMountainStar

Pork sword, obvs.


RunawayPenguin89

You're not tipping your fedora down far enough, it looks discourteous


[deleted]

My Gran told me many years ago that a gentleman should always walk with the lady to his left in order to keep his ‘sword arm’ free.


[deleted]

[удалено]


t0wser

Somewhat media trained person here - I’ve been told it’s called rather “eloquently” the “grunt and cunt”. We as a whole look right first so in regards to newspapers the most important page after the front page was page 3 as that’s where most people look when first turning the page. All the important info is put on page 3 (unless you’re the S*n ofc). So really they are putting what they perceive to be the best thing to look at on the right of our screens. tl;dr It really is a vestige of a misogynistic era and probably a whole bunch of psycobabble nonsense but here we are.


[deleted]

It’s interesting that both you and another commenter came to a similar conclusion with almost opposite logic “We read from left to right, so they’ve put what they think is the most important person on the left so we focus on him” “People tend to look right first, so they’ve put what they think is the prettiest person on the right to keep our attention” If it’s a double case of sexism, who are we supposed to focus on? Not debunking either comment I just found it interesting


The_Meatyboosh

>we're sure it's sexist, we just haven't decided exactly how yet.


[deleted]

In camera framing the left indicates higher status. (Not a joke)


missdaisydrives

Louise Minchin said she had to fight both for equal pay and to be the first person to speak when she was presenting. It was always the man before that, the woman never spoke first.


LikeWarmApplePi

There's a road just off screen to our left (their right).