Snap, Crackle and Pop - - it's Coronation Street!
Now look, I work a lot. I don't have a lot of time to relax, but when I do, one of the things I like to do is to watch television.
Of recent weeks, however, I have been slightly thwarted in this plan. The reason is Emley Moor Transmitter.
It's a big tall thing out in the Wilds of West Yorkshire and it sends out television all round about. I could of course give you a far more technical explanation but am choosing not to, okay?
Recently, however, there have been problems with it. Some of its nuts and bolts have got loose, or something, and they've been mending it, and it's taken them ages and ages.
Unfortunately, whilst they've been mending it, they've been sending out television at a reduced signal.
Not for BBC programmes, oh no. It's ITV that's suffering. Most particularly, they seem to have the lowest signal at the times when Coronation Street is shown.
If you don't watch it, you'll probably be going down the line of "I've never seen it and I don't want to because all soaps are terribly written and badly acted blah blah".
However, although all soaps go through good and bad periods, the writing is frequently excellent, and the acting is often excellent too. And I enjoy it - - - relaxing, enjoyable television and great after a tiring day.
But gradually, the low signal has totally changed my Corrie experience. First of all there was the odd crackle or squeak. Then after a week or two, there were little jumps in the dialogue, so that when characters said things like "We need to talk" - a favourite expression in soaps - it would come out as "Nee tk".
Then from time to time the characters' faces would dissolve and reform again. Strange ghostly people would appear in the background, and nobody would notice.
At first I found this infuriating - - - and then, gradually, I found that I was getting used to it. I had no problems following the plot at all.
Ken Barlow's son would dissolve and pop up as Deirdre, whilst remarking "Clt Pb Tnt" or something similar and I would know from this that Ken's grandson was moving to Thailand and that Ken had decided to marry a pole-dancer from Luton. I don't understand why Norris and Emily are planning to build a space rocket in their yard but I expect it will become clear to me.
Apparently the work on Emley Moor Transmitter is supposed to be nearly finished. I will continue to enjoy Coronation Street but I think the plots may perhaps become a bit less surreal in the coming months.
Of recent weeks, however, I have been slightly thwarted in this plan. The reason is Emley Moor Transmitter.
It's a big tall thing out in the Wilds of West Yorkshire and it sends out television all round about. I could of course give you a far more technical explanation but am choosing not to, okay?
Recently, however, there have been problems with it. Some of its nuts and bolts have got loose, or something, and they've been mending it, and it's taken them ages and ages.
Unfortunately, whilst they've been mending it, they've been sending out television at a reduced signal.
Not for BBC programmes, oh no. It's ITV that's suffering. Most particularly, they seem to have the lowest signal at the times when Coronation Street is shown.
If you don't watch it, you'll probably be going down the line of "I've never seen it and I don't want to because all soaps are terribly written and badly acted blah blah".
However, although all soaps go through good and bad periods, the writing is frequently excellent, and the acting is often excellent too. And I enjoy it - - - relaxing, enjoyable television and great after a tiring day.
But gradually, the low signal has totally changed my Corrie experience. First of all there was the odd crackle or squeak. Then after a week or two, there were little jumps in the dialogue, so that when characters said things like "We need to talk" - a favourite expression in soaps - it would come out as "Nee tk".
Then from time to time the characters' faces would dissolve and reform again. Strange ghostly people would appear in the background, and nobody would notice.
At first I found this infuriating - - - and then, gradually, I found that I was getting used to it. I had no problems following the plot at all.
Ken Barlow's son would dissolve and pop up as Deirdre, whilst remarking "Clt Pb Tnt" or something similar and I would know from this that Ken's grandson was moving to Thailand and that Ken had decided to marry a pole-dancer from Luton. I don't understand why Norris and Emily are planning to build a space rocket in their yard but I expect it will become clear to me.
Apparently the work on Emley Moor Transmitter is supposed to be nearly finished. I will continue to enjoy Coronation Street but I think the plots may perhaps become a bit less surreal in the coming months.
posted by Daphne at 9:32 pm
7 Comments:
I had no idea the BBC sents its transmitter repair folks over to our shores to work their magic on our U.S. transmitters. But it crystal clear that they do, either that or our guys and your guys went to the same transmitter repair school, because I know exactly what you are talking about. Sometimes we get a slide show, sometimes we get the ghostly dissolve/reform/sputter phenomenon, and sometimes we just shut down altogether. I had no idea we got our signal from Emley Moor.
Hail, Brittania! Britannia rules the [air]waves!
Emily Moore? Didn't she work in the knicker factory after her affair with Albert Tatlock? If you were an EastEnders fan like me you'd not be suffering these technical issues.
You were lucky. The Oxford transmitter was faulty for about six months or more. That was six months of Freeview going from BBC1 & 2 straight to BBC3 and 4, no ITV channels, no Channel 4, no Five, also no More 4, E4 etc not even a surreal semblance of those channels. SIX MONTHS.
Okay I know it only affected freeview not terrestrial or cable but still... SIX MONTHS. Anyone would think it was tricky to fix a transmitter.
Yes, I am referring to your From up high blog post.
We have that problem here sometimes on BT Replay - very annoying it is. Since the digital revolution though, we no longer get Wales local news, but North West and people in Chester, only 12 miles away, are equally frustrated because their best signal for local TV is - yes you've guessed - Wales!
you could watch it on itv catch up website?
Ian and i thought we had a similar problem until we found out that the cats liked to curl up on th receiver box because it is warm...
I've heard that the transmitter is coming down once the switch over to digital is complete. Speaking of one who lives in the shadow of the transmitter, I'll be sad to see it demolished as it's a familiar landmark and a marker to show I'm getting near to home when I've been away!
Well, I shall be jolly glad when that Emley Moor transmitter comes down. Whenever I see it, standing tall and proud, it reminds me of my ex. And he was a bit of a pillock. But I miss him. You may imagine why
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