The Griper's Times

Second one of these, only four weeks or so late. Ah well. Was pretty chuffed to get into double-figures for views on my first outing - roughly equivalent to the long-reads I used to produce on the climate crisis. NOW WATCHING (TV): How Are You? It's Alan Partridge A few years ago Partridge had once again returned to the dizzy heights of prime-time presenting, as co-host of spoof magazine show This Time . After a perhaps inevitable on-screen meltdown, the Norfolk broadcaster is once again scraping a living in this latest series - perhaps his funniest since the I'm Alan Partridge heyday. Nominally a self-funded documentary on mental health, we're also offered glimpses of Partridge's crumbling personal life. His horrid girlfriend is clearly having an affair, while the man himself grubs up money filming Cameo greetings and presenting gigs on Saudi Arabian radio. There is some comfort to be taken from the fact that, in TV comedy at least, those selling themselves to the lo...

IN Solihull just six years ago the Conservative-run council passed a motion to declare a climate emergency. The then leader of the local authority applauded the consensus the chamber had come to, with all parties present having voted in favour. In a direct swipe at the suggestion that the UK needn't fret about its comparatively lowly contribution to global emissions, he insisted  "we all have a responsibility to take action." The borough's environmentalists were, as it turned out, lucky to have a Green Party in opposition and a green party in power. One was probably fonder of lentils than the other, but there was enough agreement to get on with. In partnership with the region's Tory Mayor, another strong supporter of net zero, the council set about various schemes to cut pollution. A district heat network, to provide low-carbon electricity to key buildings around the town centre, started construction. Electric car charging started to arrive alongside parking bays....