Hey Ma! I made the cover of the Radio Times (Radio Times)

Member Name: cata

Product:	Radio Times
Date:	11/01/02 (354 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Clear, Concise, Readable

Disadvantages: Cost, Soooo Many Adverts

I have to hold my hands up and admit I am rather a sad person; each week without fail I eagerly look forward to the new edition of the ‘Radio Times’. There is just something about it that reminds me of times gone by, a time when life was much simpler and television did not rule peoples lives the way it does now. Before I tell you what I get out of this magazine, I call it that rather than a listing mag due to its content, I had better let you have a brief synopsis of what you get for your money.

Firstly it is a television and radio programme-listing magazine that informs you when and where your television programmes can be found. Not only that but for those of us with video plus video machines it produces the relevant numbers required for the less technical minded to programme their video recorder. A sad fact that for most of us it is our children that know how our electrical gear works, mum and dad being caught up in a web of knobs and buttons that they can barely see let alone understand what they do.

Back to the magazine, it costs an enormous 85pence which when you consider the multiply television guides available puts it right at the top of the tree. What it does do is ooze class and a certain authority that lesser guides just do not match, however worthy they maybe.

To appear on the cover of the Radio Times used to be a sign that you had finally made the big time, however recently this no longer seems to be the case and it no longer carries the Kudos that it used to. Indeed many years ago I was the double of Eddie Shoestring the private investigator from radio West, his appearance on the cover of the radio Times is my mothers only photograph of me from that era. So I can have a small claim to fame that I have nearly appeared on the cover of the Radio Times, (not the Rolling Stone aka Dr Hook but nearly as good).

The magazine kicks off with Highlights of the week and a guide where the guides for Films, TV and Radio
start. Along with a brief listing of regular features or star interviews. Over the page once you are past the advertisements we come across the readers letters pages. These are fun as people can get very frothy over what they have watched or listened to. You also get here the editors comment, sometimes it can be thought provoking other times he merely points you to items that are in the current edition. Here you also get the many ways we can contact the magazine. These include Post, E-mail. Dictate a letter, a normal telephone number and finally a fax number. Surely apart from the provision of pigeon post an extensive list that most people should be able to contact the magazine. You also find in these pages requests from program makers for people to help with the making of certain shows, so if you fit the bill you may well find yourself ending up on television.

The next segment is dedicated to more advertisements and the features of the week. Not only do they have regular contributors, ‘John Peel’ being my personal favourite but they have features about either celebrities or new programmes. A weekly star questionnaire can provide some very revealing answers.
Delia Smith is currently providing a weekly recipe but there is a regular change of Chef so the weekly recipe is always worth a look at.

For soap lovers there is a review of what is going on in the soaps, for me that is all I need to keep up with what is going on in the various, Square ands Streets that seem to dominate our viewing pleasure.

More adverts but this time it is for the RT Shop this week it is for a health orientated person but they try to offer good value for money and quality merchandise. The Viners three-tier steamer and the Prima juicer looking the most interest to me.

Crosswords if you are like Binty you will be addicted to them, here the prize is a Collins dictionary linked with a word finder competition, here the prize is a copy of Trivial
Pursuit. For the less competitive there is also an easy version. My puzzle of choice however is the track-word where you have to make words out of the available letters and rate yourself accordingly.

Then we come across the film guide here you get a review of the Film of the Week, followed by a film planner; this lists the films that are on each day with a ratings guide beside them. I must admit I do not use this page other than to quickly scan to see if any film name jumps out at me.

The next few pages are dedicated to brief reviews of the films being shown that day on terrestrial channels. The reviews of other films broadcast on digital and cable have their own review page just after the terrestrial pages; this however is not fully comprehensive and could be improved by better coverage.
Also with the film pages is a brief summary of a films stars career and Barry Norman’s review of a film being shown sometime that week.
What you do get is a brief review of any pay per view films on offer and if you feel like hiring one it may well be worth checking the review if you have not heard of the movie before.
The section finishes with what’s hot at the cinema and on video, listing the current top five in each section.

This week it is page 58 before the programme guide kicks in; each day of the week is treated the same way with eight pages given over to each days viewing. Each day starts with Today’s choices the programmes that in the view of the magazine are the best on offer that day, along with a brief review of the best of the rest. The page finishes with the Pick of that days films giving you a rating, channel and time of viewing, along with a indication of what the films type is. The next page deals with morning and afternoon viewing on terrestrial channels, that is BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
The next two pages deal with the prime time television and nighttimes viewing here the programmes g
et usually a more in depth indication of what the show is about or type of programme. Films have their own sign to help them standout and choice programmes are also highlighted. On this page down the left-hand edge I also have a listing for the days SC4 programmes and at the bottom regional variations for the ITV channels.
The following pages deal with selected digital and cable programmes such as Sky 1, UK Gold and the various Sports channels, the listings are mainly restricted to time and programme name with a single sentence review. For many of the channels you are given video plus numbers but not for all but they do put them on for most of the listings printed.
The last two pages for each day are given over to digital and cable films, you get a planner by channel and a films guide by time.
The closing section is given over to a radio guide, here you get a national and local frequency listing for the various legal radio stations Along with that your own local radio station programmes are listed by day very briefly along with other local BBC stations that are covered by your regional copy of the Radio Times.
The day to day listing of the radio shows follow the style of the TV section very closely with choice section and then a listing of programme being broadcast for the following channels. BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio Two, BBC Radio Three, BBC Radio Four, BBC Radio 5 Live, Classic FM and the BBC World Service.
The magazine closes with ‘My kind of Day’ a brief review of a persons normal working day. This can offer a fascinating insight into a persons lifestyle and can be one of the most interesting parts of the magazine.

Overall in my opinion the Radio Times is the best TV guide available, yes it is expensive compared to other listing magazines but it is very comprehensive and an excellent read. It keeps me informed of the latest goings on in the world of soap enabling me to talk to Binty and Fluffy Slippers. Talking of Fluff
for those of you that are interested she is getting better and has decided to stay with me to continue her recuperation. That is part of the reason for my absence from dooyoo for the past two months, trying to work cook and run a home for two women takes it out of the best of people let alone poor old me.

Summary: