TV & FilmHistorySociety & CultureExplicit

The Problematic Gaze

David Moor and Lee Arnott

Winner - ‘Best History Podcast’ - Independent Podcast Awards 2025

‘Top 30 Podcasts To Listen To Right Now’ - The Radio Times 2025

Direct from PG Towers, join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV, Film and Popular Culture of yesteryear that has since been considered problematic. Each week we focus on a different piece of pop culture, and put it into context by looking at the news events and cultural landscape of the year it was released. Out and proud, Dr Lee and Our Dave present a humorous take on life as LGBTQ+ men of a glorious age, and present a digestible mix of academic social commentary, unflinching life lessons, media analysis, and hot takes on feminism, race, politics and cancel culture.

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S4 · E170
Tuesday · 1 hr 4 min
Casino Royale (2006): Daniel Craig, Bond Girls & a Very Gay 007 Ranking
Daniel Craig in tiny swimming trunks, a very dangerous poker game, and the important question: which James Bond is actually the sexiest? Hello Gazers! This week we're dusting off our tuxedos, ordering something shaken rather than stirred, and heading back to 2006 for Casino Royale, the film that reinvented James Bond for a new generation. But was Daniel Craig's tougher, moodier and considerably more muscular 007 really a step forward? Or was he simply the same old Bond with a gym membership and a slightly more troubled expression? First, we're revisiting the film itself, from Le Chiffre's high-stakes poker tournament and Bond's increasingly complicated relationship with Vesper Lynd, to some particularly uncomfortable encounters, spectacular action sequences and a memorable finale in Venice. We explore how Casino Royale revitalised the franchise, the controversy surrounding Craig's casting, the film's critical and commercial success, and whether its grittier approach borrowed a little too enthusiastically from the Bourne films. Then it's time for Culture Corner, where we're heading back to Britain in 2006. It was the era of metrosexual men, lads' magazines, Top Gear and an increasingly confused national conversation about masculinity. As traditional ideas about manhood collided with changing attitudes towards gender, class and sexuality, we ask whether Daniel Craig's more physically imposing but emotionally vulnerable Bond reflected a wider cultural shift. And what better way to explore changing masculinity than by examining every James Bond? From Sean Connery's unapologetic swagger and Roger Moore's raised eyebrow to Timothy Dalton's intensity, Pierce Brosnan's polished charm and Daniel Craig's brooding physicality, we're examining how each incarnation of 007 treated women, expressed masculinity and reflected the attitudes of his era. Naturally, this leads to the most academically rigorous segment in the history of The Problematic Gays: Our ranking of the James Bonds by hotness. Yes, we're objectifying the world's most famous womaniser for a change. We also discuss Bond girls, exotic locations, racial stereotypes, the franchise's enthusiastic product placement, and that famous moment when Daniel Craig emerges from the sea and suddenly becomes the object of everyone's gaze. Has Bond genuinely evolved, or does Casino Royale simply package some very old-fashioned attitudes in a rather attractive new body? We finish with our ratings for the film, our thoughts on the wider Bond franchise and the usual question: Could you get away with it today? And next time, we're heading somewhere rather less glamorous as we revisit Carrie (1976). Subscribe to The Problematic Gaze for more classic film and television, cultural nostalgia, questionable attitudes and the occasional entirely unnecessary discussion about attractive men. The name's Gaze. Problematic Gaze. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E169
October 16 · 33 min
THE GAZETTE: Carrie, Reform Exposed, Celebrity Traitors vs Big Brother & Listener Mail
Click here to visit our YouTube Channel! We're back! After a week off, we're reunited in the cellar at PG Towers, accompanied by Fontaine the dog, a little background building noise and the usual complete inability to stay on one subject for more than five minutes. And what a lot we've got to catch up on. First, we're opening the mailbag for your reactions to The League of Gentlemen, including a surprising connection to Roy Chubby Brown and some excellent suggestions for future episodes. Could The Mighty Boosh be heading for The Problematic Gaze? And have we been overlooking the deeply questionable world of Mr Men and Little Miss? Then it's time for a little reality television. We're discussing The Celebrity Traitors, which doesn't seem quite itself this year, and Big Brother, which might finally have rediscovered its mojo. There's also the small matter of housemate Rob, who apparently cannot stop singing. But the week's most extraordinary controversy comes courtesy of Doctor Who. Yes, apparently even a preschool cartoon can provoke an internet meltdown. We examine the outrage surrounding the BBC's The TARDIS Crew, where some online commentators have managed to discover a supposed “bisexual agenda” lurking in the programme's colour palette. Because obviously that's what children are thinking about when they see a brightly coloured cartoon spaceship. Back in the mailbag, we're talking about the wonderfully unsettling In Fabric, revisiting Tales of the Unexpected and its particularly disturbing episode The Flypaper, and returning to two subjects that simply refuse to go away: Britain's rudest place names and the controversial merits of rum and raisin ice cream. We also clear up a little Dynasty trivia involving Catherine Oxenberg and Princess Diana, before checking in with The Great British Bake Off and looking ahead to Mike Flanagan's forthcoming adaptation of Carrie. There's also a brief detour into an ITV investigation involving Reform UK, because apparently the real world is determined to remain every bit as peculiar as the television programmes we cover. And there's plenty coming up at The Problematic Gaze. Our next main episode is Casino Royale (2006), as we revisit Daniel Craig's first James Bond film and examine Bond girls, masculinity, sexuality and what happens when 007 himself becomes the object of the gaze. Plus, there's more Dynasty on our YouTube channel, where we're celebrating the show's glorious camp appeal, outrageous glamour and magnificent shoulder pads. So make yourself comfortable, ignore the building work and join us for another thoroughly rambling visit to PG Towers. And don't forget to subscribe to The Problematic Gays for more Gazette catch-ups, listener correspondence, television recommendations and our weekly investigations into the films and programmes we once loved. Now, has anybody seen Fontaine? Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E168
October 13 · 1 hr 11 min
Dynasty: The Moldavian Massacre (1985) Joan Collins & 80s Excess
Watch our 'Dynasty and the 80's' YouTube playlist! Click here Shoulder pads, champagne, catfights and a royal wedding that ends in a bloodbath. Hello Gazers! This week we're heading back to the gloriously excessive 1980s for Dynasty, the American primetime soap that gave us Joan Collins, spectacular wealth, magnificent bitchiness and one of the most outrageous cliffhangers in television history. And naturally, we're asking: Could you get away with it today? Created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, Dynasty ran from 1981 to 1989, turning the fabulously wealthy Carrington family into an international television phenomenon. We revisit John Forsythe as Blake Carrington, Linda Evans as Krystle and the incomparable Joan Collins as Alexis, whose arrival helped transform the show's fortunes and made shoulder pads practically compulsory. We also share our own memories of watching Dynasty, its extraordinary appeal to gay audiences and why all that glamour, melodrama and barely disguised hostility became such irresistible camp entertainment. Over in Culture Corner, it's time to get rich. We're exploring the world of Ronald Reagan's America, the rise of the yuppie, conspicuous consumption and the fascination with money, status and designer everything. Was Dynasty celebrating the excesses of 1980s capitalism, or quietly revealing the greed, misery and dysfunction beneath all that fabulous wealth? We also revisit the show's extraordinary commercial success, from merchandise and spin-offs to The Colbys. Then it's time for our main event. The Moldavian Massacre. We're concentrating on the infamous 1985 royal wedding cliffhanger, when a celebration in the fictional kingdom of Moldavia takes a rather unexpected turn. It's one of the most memorable endings in soap history — but does the episode itself live up to its reputation? Along the way, we're discussing: Alexis versus Krystle: the catfights, rivalries and changing expectations of women on television. Steven Carrington: homosexuality in mainstream American television during the 1980s. Dominique Deveraux: Diahann Carroll's arrival and the significance of a powerful Black character in the Carrington universe. Mental illness and melodrama: the show's more questionable portrayals of psychological distress. Rock Hudson and AIDS: the controversy surrounding his appearance on Dynasty and the tabloid hysteria of the era. The Moldavian Massacre: a royal wedding, armed attackers and a cliffhanger that left audiences wondering who had survived. We also ask whether the show's endless displays of wealth, gender stereotypes and wildly implausible storylines make it hopelessly dated — or whether that's precisely why it's still so entertaining. Because underneath the diamonds, designer dresses and enormous hair, Dynasty tells us rather a lot about the decade that created it. And despite its many problematic moments, we both have enormous affection for this wonderfully ridiculous television institution. So pour yourself something expensive, adjust your shoulder pads and join us for a trip back to Denver. It's time to get Dynasty-fied. Subscribe to The Problematic Gays for more classic film and television, forgotten cultural history, nostalgic nonsense and our continuing investigation into whether the entertainment we once loved could get away with it today. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E167
October 6 · 55 min
The League of Gentlemen (2000): Could Royston Vasey Exist Today?
Watch our YouTube playlist to find out more aboutThe League of Gentlemen and life in 2000 Click here to watch our chosen episode of The League Of Gentlemen on I-Player Hello, Dave? You're our wife now. This week we're taking a local trip for local people as The Problematic Gays head to Royston Vasey for The League of Gentlemen. We're focusing on Series 2, Episode 2 — “Lust for Royston Vasey,” first broadcast on 21 January 2000 — and asking how one of Britain's darkest, strangest and most grotesque comedies looks more than 25 years later. We go back to the beginnings of Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson's creation, from Bretton Hall and the Perrier Award to BBC Radio 4 and television, and explore the influences behind Royston Vasey's peculiar mixture of Hammer Horror, The Wicker Man, British sitcom and pitch-black comedy. Then it's time to meet the locals. There's Herr Lipp and his deeply uncomfortable interest in Justin; Tubbs and Edward facing the horrors of the outside world; Alvin attempting to escape Sunny's increasingly elaborate sexual appetites; Pauline and Mickey at the Burger Me takeaway; the deeply unpleasant Pop and his sons; Mr Chinnery doing terrible things to another unfortunate animal; and Val and Harvey's spectacularly dysfunctional household. And then there are two characters who have become particularly complicated. We revisit Papa Lazarou, the grotesque circus master whose appearance became central to the controversy that saw episodes removed from Netflix in 2020, and ask what the character was intended to represent versus how that imagery reads today. We also discuss Babs, Royston Vasey's transgender taxi driver, and how a character that could once be defended as being in on the joke becomes considerably harder to defend when the programme returned in 2017. Over in Culture Corner, we're heading back to Britain in 2000: the Millennium Dome, New Labour optimism, devolution, changing ideas of Englishness and the arrival of a little reality show called Big Brother. And naturally, we check the charts — because nothing captures the dawn of a new millennium quite like discovering Bob the Builder at number one. So, was The League of Gentlemen simply pushing the boundaries of turn-of-the-millennium comedy? Which jokes and characters still work brilliantly? And which parts of Royston Vasey are now problematic for very different reasons? Despite everything, we're both giving the series a whopping 9/10. Because this may be a local show for local people... …but there's still nothing else quite like it. Next time: Dynasty! Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E166
October 2 · 26 min
THE GAZETTE: Celebrity Traitors is back!!
Hello Gazers! Welcome to our weekly Gazette! We're still circling Jaws (1975) this week — although apparently the most contentious part of our entire discussion isn't the shark. It's coffee ice cream. After our latest Jaws episode, we're debating whether Spielberg's classic really counts as a horror film and tackling the important culinary questions nobody else was brave enough to ask: is coffee a legitimate ice cream flavour? Does anyone still eat rum and raisin? And whatever happened to tutti frutti? Our Jaws adventures also lead us into the glamorous world of copyright takedowns. We reminisce about previous encounters with the social-media copyright police and discover that apparently even 50-year-old mechanical sharks have lawyers. Then it's time for a tour of Britain's rudest place names and the surprisingly innocent history behind some extremely unfortunate-sounding villages, roads and landmarks. There's also a glorious Les Dennis story involving someone mistaking him for Amanda Holden's father before we get thoroughly overexcited about Celebrity Traitors. Richard E. Grant accidentally announces that he's a traitor, Ross Kemp reaches previously unexplored levels of suspicion, and we pick through the latest treachery, paranoia and questionable detective work. We also check in on Big Brother and its latest eviction drama before taking time to remember Esther Rantzen and an extraordinary broadcasting career that stretched far beyond That's Life!. We reflect on her campaigning work and the lasting importance of Childline and The Silver Line. Plus, listener mail takes us all the way to Australia for a brilliant Jaws memory. And next week, we're going somewhere that makes Amity Island look positively welcoming... Welcome to Royston Vasey. Yes, The League of Gentlemen is coming to The Problematic Gaze. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E165
September 29 · 53 min
Jaws (1975): The Blockbuster That Made Us Afraid of Sharks
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… This week we're heading to Amity Island for Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) — the film that terrified a generation, transformed the Hollywood blockbuster and did absolutely nothing for the shark's public image. We revisit Spielberg's troubled ocean shoot, the notoriously temperamental mechanical shark and John Williams' iconic Oscar-winning score, before diving into the moments that made Jaws one of the most effective thrillers ever made: Chrissie's terrifying opening swim, severed body parts, Ben Gardner's surprise appearance, a doomed dog, a horrifying attack on a child and, eventually, three men heading out to sea to hunt a very big fish. But underneath the shark movie is something rather interesting. We look at Mayor Vaughn's determination to keep Amity's beaches open, asking what Jaws has to say about money, tourism, political denial and managing a crisis when acknowledging the problem might be bad for business. Then there's the men. Brody, Hooper and Quint offer three very different versions of 1970s masculinity, culminating in Robert Shaw's extraordinary USS Indianapolis monologue and the increasingly claustrophobic battle aboard the Orca. Over in Culture Corner, we cross the Atlantic to Britain in 1975, where inflation was running at extraordinary levels and everyday prices were soaring. What did the world outside the cinema look like when audiences first heard those two ominous notes? We also examine the uncomfortable legacy of Jaws. Did Hollywood's most famous shark help turn a vulnerable animal into a monster in the public imagination? We discuss shark hunting, changing attitudes towards the species and the later reflections of author Peter Benchley and Spielberg himself. And next week, we're off to Royston Vasey as we tackle The League of Gentlemen. You're our wife now. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E164
September 25 · 28 min
THE GAZETTE: Furious, Last Seen, Strictly Shake-Ups & Streaming Annoyances
Hello Gazers! The postbag is open and A Taste of Honey has got you talking. Listener John Bishop—not that one—gives the film a whopping 9/10, remembers a Welsh stage production that relocated the story to Cardiff after the Manchester accent proved something of a stumbling block, and somehow takes us on a detour to seeing Jaws at the IMAX. Then Johannes joins us from Norway with his thoughts on why A Taste of Honey still feels so remarkable: a British New Wave film centred on a young woman while giving unusual prominence for the period to a Black character and a gay man. From kitchen-sink realism, we make the entirely natural transition to sequins as we discuss Strictly Come Dancing's new three-presenter line-up—and a newspaper's rather enthusiastic attempt to turn the show's ratings into a "flop" narrative. We're also mourning the loss of Ride or Die, the Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham series cancelled by Prime, before diving into our latest television recommendations. Dr Lee's been watching Furious, the new crime thriller starring Emmy Rossum as an FBI agent hunting a female serial killer, while we also get stuck into Last Seen. Elsewhere, apparently iPods are becoming desirable again, which is excellent news for anybody with a drawer full of obsolete Apple products and the patience to find the correct cable. We also have a moan about the increasingly peculiar experience of paying for streaming services and then being shown adverts anyway, discuss a new version of The War Game involving politicians, and disappear down a nostalgic Blue Peter rabbit hole involving Peter Duncan, terrifying stunts and that unforgettable green-and-white checked suit. Listener mail, television recommendations, streaming grumbles, nostalgia and several subjects that really shouldn't fit together in the same podcast. In other words, a fairly standard week at PG Manor. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E163
September 22 · 51 min
A Taste of Honey (1961): Interracial Romance, Queer Britain & Kitchen Sink Realism
Visit our YouTube playlist to find out more about "A Taste Of Honey" and the cultural landscape of Britain in 1961 Interracial romance. Teenage pregnancy. Homosexuality. An unmarried mother. In 1961, A Taste of Honey put subjects British cinema usually kept firmly out of sight right at the centre of the screen. This week we're revisiting A Taste of Honey (1961), Tony Richardson's landmark British New Wave drama starring Rita Tushingham, Dora Bryan, Murray Melvin and Paul Danquah. Adapted from Shelagh Delaney's groundbreaking play, the film follows Jo, a Salford teenager living with her neglectful mother Helen. When Jo becomes pregnant by Jimmy, a Black sailor, she forms an unconventional household with Geoffrey, her gay friend—until Helen's return threatens the little family they've created. But to understand why A Taste of Honey caused such a stir, we're going back to the Britain that produced it. We look at the respectable world of post-war “consensual cinema”, the arrival of the Angry Young Men, Free Cinema and kitchen-sink realism, and the changing representation of working-class life that was also appearing on television in Coronation Street. Then there are the subjects the film dared to tackle. We're discussing interracial relationships and racism in 1960s Britain, the stigma surrounding unmarried pregnancy and “illegitimacy”, and Geoffrey's remarkably sympathetic portrayal at a time when sex between men was still criminalised in England and Wales. We also look at the Wolfenden Report and the political debate that would eventually lead to partial decriminalisation in 1967. We explore the film's depiction of Salford and working-class Northern England, its music and performances, its international controversy and censorship, and the major recognition it received at the BAFTA Awards. And, more than six decades later, we ask the question at the heart of The Problematic Gaze: how does A Taste of Honey hold up today? Is it an uncomfortable relic of 1961—or does Jo and Geoffrey's makeshift little family still feel surprisingly modern? Grab yourself a taste of honey and join us as we head back to the beginning of the Swinging Sixties… before Britain had actually started swinging. Click here to watch A Taste Of Honey on YouTube Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E162
September 18 · 30 min
THE GAZETTE: Doctor Who’s Future, Coma Song Nightmares and Film Star Crushes!
Click here to check out our new YouTube playlists, this week it accompanies our last main episode on UK sitcom 'Bread' from 1986 Click here to watch the documentary on Shelagh Delaney (writer of A Taste Of Honey from next weeks main show) Click here to watch 'A Taste Of Honey', the topic of next weeks main episode This week at PG Manor, we're recovering from a rather busy weekend. We've been entertaining Hungarian actress Sonya, seeing Ricky Gervais and Jack Whitehall, preparing for a mammoth upcoming recording session—and issuing an important correction after apparently relocating Aqua to Sweden. They're Danish-Norwegian. We apologise to Scandinavia. Following our trip back to the world of Bread, the Boswell family and 1980s Liverpool, Dr Lee has also been investigating the mysterious “cotton mill whisper” and whether workers really developed a special way of communicating above the deafening machinery. Then it's over to the Gazers. Listener mail takes us from biodegradable bowel-screening test paper in Australia to a sanitised version of Saturday Night Fever and a spider of frankly unacceptable proportions. There's also some actual news to discuss. We look at the BBC's tender process for the future of Doctor Who and what its emphasis on character-driven, distinctly British storytelling might tell us about the programme's next incarnation. Then we discover why the United Nations has backed a move away from distorted world maps that make Africa appear far smaller than it really is. The UN General Assembly has encouraged the use of equal-area projections when relative size matters, following an African-led campaign against the distortions associated with the Mercator projection. We also learn about purple poppies commemorating animals lost in war before encountering possibly the week's most horrifying story: a woman who says that while she was in a coma, she could hear the same song her family was playing to her over and over again for a month. She later described the experience as torture. Plus, we've started creating new YouTube companion playlists to take you even further into the films, television, music and culture we're discussing each week. And next week we're heading back to 1961 for A Taste of Honey, Tony Richardson's landmark British New Wave film starring Rita Tushingham and Dora Bryan. Expect pregnancy, class, race, sexuality, Salford—and presumably considerably less Bread. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E161
September 15 · 56 min
Bread (1986): The Boswells, Benefit Fraud & Life in 80s Liverpool
Click here to watch the episode of Bread discussed in this show on YouTube This week we're heading to Liverpool to revisit Bread, Carla Lane's hugely popular BBC sitcom about the Boswell family. First broadcast in 1986, Bread became one of the defining British sitcoms of the decade, following formidable matriarch Nellie Boswell and her Catholic, working-class Liverpool family as they navigated love, money, unemployment and an impressively creative relationship with the DHSS. We're focusing on Series 1, Episode 6, first broadcast on 15 June 1986, and there's an extraordinary amount going on. Joey is dealing with his father's gambling debts—and some men with a suspicious interest in fur coats—while Adrian loses his job, Jack handles stolen goods and Billy discovers that his girlfriend Julie is pregnant. Their discussions about abortion, marriage and finding somewhere to live give us a glimpse of some very real pressures facing young couples in 1980s Britain. Meanwhile, Aveline gets her topless photographs published, Grandad struggles with depression and the Boswells continue their elaborate attempts to stay one step ahead of the benefits system. We look at the sitcom's portrayal of working-class Liverpool, Catholicism, unemployment, benefit fraud and petty crime, and ask whether the Boswells are affectionate comic creations or part of a much less comfortable tradition of stereotypes about people living on benefits. Has Bread aged surprisingly well—or does its politics look very different nearly 40 years later? Then it's off to Culture Corner, and this time we're going properly 1986. We're flicking through an original Smash Hits to discover the pop gossip, celebrity nonsense and surprisingly serious nuclear-war debate occupying British teenagers that year. We revisit the UK Top 10 singles from the week this episode aired and then take a dangerous trip into the 1986 Argos catalogue to see what Britain apparently considered the height of domestic sophistication. Come for the Boswells, stay for the 1980s home furnishings. On with the show, la! GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we focus on the film 'A Taste Of Honey' from 1961. Click here to watch on YouTube Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E160
September 11 · 23 min
THE GAZETTE: Dam Busters Backlash, Star Wars & a Very Important Poo Stick
Welcome Gazers to this weeks Gazette! This week we're dealing with some of the social-media reaction to our Dam Busters episodes. We're also returning to The Dam Busters' extraordinary influence on Star Wars, including just how closely George Lucas's climactic Death Star attack echoes moments from the 1955 film. Once you start spotting the similarities, they're rather difficult to unsee. Click here to watch Star Wars Vs The Dam Busters on Youtube Listener Ruth then introduces us to the world of white poppies, the Peace Pledge Union and the UK Peace Museum, which leads us into the perennial British tradition of the "poppy wars" and the arguments over what different coloured poppies actually represent. Elsewhere, Dave encounters a director whose treatment of runners and PAs leaves rather a lot to be desired, and we somehow end up discussing the military drinking game known as the Dance of the Flaming Arseholes. We promise these two subjects seemed connected at the time. Then comes a genuinely important public-service announcement: if that bowel cancer screening kit drops through your letterbox, do it. We discuss why the NHS test matters, what it involves and why embarrassment is a considerably worse reason for avoiding potentially life-saving screening than you might think. We're also recommending the extraordinary Naudet brothers' 9/11 documentary, filmed alongside New York firefighters as the attacks unfolded. Click here to watch the 9/11 documentary on YouTube Plus: a wonderfully strange story involving the Ghostbusters theme, schoolgirls who apparently didn't receive quite the credit they deserved, British weather performing its traditional overnight transition from drought to deluge, questionable vocal warm-ups and all the usual nonsense from PG Manor. GAZER HOMEWORK: In our nest main episode we look at Bread, a UK sitcom from 1986. Click here to watch our chosen episode on YouTube Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E159
September 8 · 56 min
The Dam Busters (1955): Bouncing Bombs, British Heroes & the Truth Behind the Legend
This week we're heading back to 1955 for bouncing bombs, stiff upper lips and one of the most famous pieces of music in British cinema as we revisit The Dam Busters. Based on the true story of Operation Chastise, the film follows engineer Barnes Wallis as he develops his extraordinary bouncing bomb and Wing Commander Guy Gibson as he leads 617 Squadron on the daring 1943 raid against Germany's Ruhr dams. But more than 70 years after the film was released, how much of The Dam Busters is history—and how much is British myth-making? We explore why the film became such a national institution, from its famous Dam Busters March and innovative special effects to its portrait of heroism, masculinity, class and that quintessentially British determination to face potentially catastrophic situations while displaying approximately three-and-a-half emotions. We also look beyond the legend to the reality of Operation Chastise: the aircrew who never returned, the civilians killed by the resulting floods, and the continuing historical debate over how strategically successful the raid actually was. And then there's the dog. We discuss the racial slur used as the name of Guy Gibson's black Labrador, how later television broadcasts and releases have attempted to deal with it, and the difficulties it presents when showing a much-loved 1950s film to modern audiences. We also look at the long-discussed Peter Jackson remake and the extraordinary influence The Dam Busters had on later filmmakers—including some very familiar moments in Star Wars. In Culture Corner, we're exploring Britain in 1955, a year in which Winston Churchill resigned, Anthony Eden became Prime Minister, ITV arrived to challenge the BBC, television advertising began, Dixon of Dock Green hit our screens, the first Guinness Book of Records appeared and Birdseye introduced Britain to the fish finger. We also revisit Ruth Ellis becoming the last woman executed in Britain, the Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend controversy, the suspiciously well-timed demise of Grace Archer, Cardiff becoming the capital of Wales, and some of the biggest films of the year. And next week we're making quite a leap: from bouncing bombs and Barnes Wallis to Bread (1986). Now that's what we call range. Next week we deep dive into Bread, a UK TV sitcom from 1986. Click here to watch our chosen episode on YouTube Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E158
September 4 · 24 min
THE GAZETTE: Dolly, Gloria Steinem, Wentworth & Dogs Behaving Strangely
Click this link to watch the Dolly Parton documentary on YouTube discussed in this episode Click here to visit our YouTube Channel This week at PG Manor we're feeling slightly ill, not sleeping properly and discussing pensions, so naturally we've decided we're entering the third quarter of life. Apparently this is what passes for optimism now. Fortunately, there's plenty to cheer us up, starting with your fantastic response to our Grange Hill episodes and some very exciting movement over on YouTube—including one of our Molly House videos creeping towards 20,000 views. We also hear from Paulina in Slovakia, who's returning to teaching and has some thoughts on what Grange Hill tells us about life in the classroom. Then we turn our attention to an important scientific question: can dogs emotionally manipulate their owners? After a suspicious bout of canine illness coincides with a change in routine, we investigate whether dogs can sense when you're going away—and whether they might be quite capable of laying on the guilt when you do. There's plenty to watch this week too. Lee recommends the brilliant Be Kind Rewind and its documentary exploring Dolly Parton's film career, while Dave has been watching How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, the comic murder mystery from Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee. We also celebrate the extraordinary Gloria Steinem, looking back at her journalism, activism and famous undercover investigation working as a Playboy Bunny before she became one of the defining figures of the modern feminist movement. Meanwhile, there's potentially exciting news for Wentworth fans, with a new spin-off on the horizon and Rachel Griffiths joining the cast. We also discover the increasingly depressing signs that you've finally become a proper adult, recount a yin yoga session that didn't go entirely according to plan, and discuss a new documentary connected to the controversial 1980 film Cruising. And next week we're travelling all the way back to 1955 for one of Britain's most famous war films: The Dam Busters. From Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem to bouncing bombs. Just another perfectly logical week at The Problematic Gazette. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E157
September 1 · 1 hr 2 min
'Grange Hill': Racism, Heroin & Why Mary Whitehouse Hated It
Hello Gazers! We watched three episodes of Grange Hill discussed in this podcast: Click here to watch the Racism episode from 1983 on YouTube Click here to watch the first Zammo Heroin episode from 1983 on YouTube Click here to watch the second Zammo Heroin episode from 1983 on YouTube Get your school bags ready because this week we're going back to Grange Hill—the BBC children's drama. Created by Phil Redmond and first broadcast in 1978, Grange Hill broke new ground by putting ordinary comprehensive-school pupils at the centre of children's television. We explore its 30-year history, its changing filming locations, its commitment to working-class and multicultural characters, and the controversy that followed its determination to tackle subjects other children's programmes often avoided. Then we're revisiting three episodes from the show's classic era. First, we head to 1983, where notorious school bully Gripper Stebson targets Sikh pupil Randhir Singh in a disturbing storyline about racism. More than 40 years later, we ask how well it holds up and consider just how unusual it was for children's television to confront racial prejudice so directly. Then it's 1986 and arguably the most famous Grange Hill storyline of them all: Zammo's heroin addiction. We revisit two episodes depicting his increasingly desperate behaviour, the damage his addiction causes to the people around him, and the moments that shocked a generation of young viewers. We also look at what happened when the storyline escaped the television screen. Just Say No became a real-life anti-drugs campaign and Grange Hill cast single, eventually taking its young stars all the way to America and the White House. Along the way we discuss the programme's battles with critics including Mary Whitehouse, the sometimes astonishingly harsh school discipline, classic characters and behind-the-scenes stories from three decades of Grange Hill. And in Culture Corner, we're investigating that peculiar period in pop history when children's choirs kept appearing on enormous hit singles. Who were all these singing children, and why were they apparently everywhere? Nostalgic, funny and occasionally much darker than we remembered, Grange Hill wasn't afraid to tackle racism, drugs, class and social inequality while still being unmistakably children's television. More than 45 years after those famous school gates first opened, we're asking what made Grange Hill so groundbreaking—and whether today's children's television would dare to do the same. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E156
August 28 · 24 min
THE GAZETTE: Tim Curry & Dolly Parton, Storm Chaos and Grange Hill
It's been quite a week. We've survived biblical weather, failed to see The Human League and said goodbye to two absolute legends: Tim Curry and Dolly Parton. We begin back at PG Manor with the tale of the concert that never was. Plans to see The Human League, Toyah and Roland Gift were scuppered by a spectacular storm and eventual cancellation, leaving us with no synth-pop whatsoever but at least a reasonably dramatic story to tell. We also catch up on your reactions to our Saturday Night Fever episode. It turns out quite a few of us had remembered John Travolta, the white suit and the Bee Gees while somehow forgetting just how extraordinarily bleak the rest of the film is. Then we remember two much-loved stars we've sadly lost this week. First, Tim Curry, whose extraordinary career gave us Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Pennywise in It and a wonderfully scene-stealing Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island. We celebrate his unique talent, his resilience following his stroke, and why so many of his performances became permanently lodged in popular culture. We also pay tribute to Dolly Parton—singer, songwriter, actress, philanthropist, businesswoman and owner of perhaps the most recognisable hair in showbusiness. Beyond Jolene, 9 to 5 and I Will Always Love You, we look at some of the stories that made us love Dolly quite so much and celebrate the extraordinary generosity that accompanied her extraordinary career. There's plenty of listener mail too, including a recommendation for the gloriously gender-bending Goodbye Charlie, one listener's determination never to watch Crocodile Dundee, and the suggestion that we turn our attention to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert instead. Plus, we're watching Widow's Bay, discovering that apparently crows can hold grudges, discussing The Traitors: Canada, Reacher, Channel 5's Number 1 Fan and some intriguing casting news from Only Murders in the Building. And finally, sharpen your pencils, straighten your tie and try not to get sent to Mr Bronson because we're going back to school. Next time we're taking a nostalgic trip to Grange Hill to discover just how much trouble there really was at that particular comprehensive. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E155
August 25 · 52 min
Saturday Night Fever (1978 UK): The Disco Classic Is Much Darker Than You Remember
Pull on your flares, practise that pointing pose and dust off that Bee Gees soundtrack because this week we're revisiting Saturday Night Fever—although the film we actually watched is a lot less glittery than popular culture would have us believe. Released in America in 1977 and arriving in UK cinemas in March 1978, Saturday Night Fever gave us John Travolta in the white suit, one of the biggest-selling soundtracks of all time and some of the most iconic dancing ever put on film. But strip away the disco lights and this is a surprisingly bleak story about working-class young people who don't see much of a future ahead of them. We follow Tony Manero through the streets of Brooklyn, where his dead-end job, troubled family life and deeply troubled group of friends contrast dramatically with the glamorous world of the 2001 Odyssey nightclub. On Saturday night, Tony can become somebody—and Travolta's extraordinary dancing shows us exactly why. But then there's everything else. We tackle the film's toxic masculinity, misogyny, casual racism and homophobia, as well as its treatment of women, sexual violence, teen pregnancy and tragic deaths. We also discuss the dance competition and the moment Tony himself begins to recognise that the world he inhabits—and some of his own behaviour within it—isn't quite as straightforward as he thought. In Culture Corner, we're heading to Britain in 1978, when disco was everywhere. We revisit the year's chart hits and youth culture while digging beneath the mainstream disco explosion to explore the Black musical traditions and Black, Latino and queer communities that helped create the culture—roots that Saturday Night Fever's overwhelmingly white version of disco largely leaves out. And yet, despite everything that's difficult about the film, there's plenty to celebrate. Travolta gives a remarkable performance, the dance sequences remain electrifying, the soundtrack became a cultural phenomenon, and beneath Tony's swagger is a young man desperately trying to work out whether life might offer him something more. So forget the fancy-dress version of Saturday Night Fever. It's angry, uncomfortable, occasionally shocking and far darker than its glitterball reputation suggests. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E154
August 18 · 42 min
Prime Suspect (1991): Helen Mirren, Sexism & the Drama That Changed TV Crime
To watch the first series of Prime Suspect discussed in this episode, click here to watch on YouTube Grab your notebook, light another cigarette and prepare for some extremely grim early-90s police station décor, because this week we're investigating one of the most acclaimed British crime dramas ever made: Prime Suspect. First broadcast on ITV in 1991, Prime Suspect gave Helen Mirren one of her defining roles as DCI Jane Tennison, an ambitious, formidable detective trying to solve a brutal murder while surrounded by male colleagues who seem almost as determined to undermine her as they are to catch the killer. We revisit the first series, where Tennison finally gets her chance to lead a major murder investigation after the original senior detective suddenly dies. Unfortunately, inheriting the case also means inheriting a squad of deeply unimpressed men, led by DS Ottley, who respond to having a female boss with sexism, obstruction and some good old-fashioned workplace sabotage. At the centre of the investigation is George Marlowe, an apparently respectable family man whose private life brings him into contact with sex workers. As the evidence mounts, we explore how the drama plays with the idea of the seemingly harmless "nice guy" while also examining the appalling attitudes faced by the women involved in the case. But Prime Suspect isn't simply a murder mystery. We look at the sexism surrounding Tennison, the misogyny directed towards sex workers, the pressures her career places on her relationship, and the extraordinary forensic detail that helped make the programme feel so different from the cosy television detective dramas that had come before. In Culture Corner, we're travelling back to 1991 to revisit the year's biggest-selling albums and look at the women who had already been solving crimes on British television—from Juliet Bravo and The Gentle Touch to the wonderfully glossy C.A.T.S. Eyes. So just how revolutionary was Jane Tennison? We also explore Prime Suspect's extraordinary legacy, its awards and reputation for realism, and the influence it had on the crime dramas that followed. More than 30 years later, Helen Mirren's Tennison remains complicated, difficult, brilliant and utterly compelling. The hairstyles may have changed, the offices are considerably less smoky, but some of the workplace politics feel rather less historical than we'd like. Join us as we reopen the case and discover why Prime Suspect still deserves its place among the great British television dramas. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E153
August 14 · 18 min
THE GAZETTE: Funny-Tasting Water, Ingrid Pitt’s Incredible Escape & Eclipse Disappointment
Something strange is happening to the water, Ingrid Pitt may have had an even more extraordinary life than we realised, and Lee has travelled all the way to Tooting Common to stare at... some clouds. It can only be another Problematic Gazette. We begin with the important question of the week: why does the tap water suddenly taste sweet? With drought conditions, a hosepipe ban, Victorian cast-iron pipes and two very visible bursts on the road, we investigate what might be going on underground. We also discover that people secretly watering their gardens at night aren't just being naughty—they can apparently make it harder for water companies to detect leaks. Who knew hydrology could be so scandalous? Then we return to The Vampire Lovers and the extraordinary life of its star, Ingrid Pitt. Lee has been digging through contemporary interviews and uncovers Pitt's remarkable accounts of escaping with her mother from Nazi persecution as a child and, years later, fleeing East Germany by swimming across the River Spree—an adventure that eventually led to meeting the American serviceman whose surname she would keep throughout her career. Back in considerably less dramatic circumstances, we report on our eclipse expedition to Tooting Common. Expectations were high. Nature had other ideas. We also cast an eye over this year's Strictly lineup and discover that our excitement levels may need professional resuscitation. There's a more serious moment as we mark World Humanitarian Day, looking back at the 2003 bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad that led to its creation and remembering the aid workers who continue to lose their lives while helping others around the world. Plus: we tease our next main episode, when we're heading into considerably darker territory with Prime Suspect. The Gazette is taking next week off while Dave goes on holiday, so enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E152
August 11 · 43 min
The Vampire Lovers (1970): Hammer Horror, Ingrid Pitt & The Lesbian Vampire craze
Sharpen your stakes and protect your daughters because this week we're entering the wonderfully gothic, increasingly racy world of Hammer Horror with 1970's The Vampire Lovers. By the dawn of the 1970s, Hammer's familiar formula of castles, cleavage and Christopher Lee was facing competition from a new generation of increasingly explicit cinema. The answer? More blood, more nudity and, in The Vampire Lovers, one of horror cinema's most enduring figures: the lesbian vampire. Directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing and Kate O'Mara, the film was adapted from Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, a vampire story that actually predates Bram Stoker's Dracula. We explore how Hammer transformed it into the first instalment of its Karnstein trilogy and helped launch a cycle of lesbian vampire films that became a distinctly provocative corner of 1970s horror. But who exactly was The Vampire Lovers made for? We dig into the film's complicated legacy, asking whether its lesbian relationships offered rare queer visibility at a time when that was almost nonexistent—or whether they were primarily designed for the heterosexual male gaze. And when female desire is ultimately destroyed by men restoring the traditional order, is Hammer reinforcing the status quo or accidentally giving queer audiences someone far more interesting to root for? We also celebrate the extraordinary life of Ingrid Pitt, whose journey to becoming one of Hammer's greatest icons was every bit as remarkable as her screen career. And in Culture Corner, we're travelling back to Britain in 1970: the news stories, television and chart hits—including the inescapable "In the Summertime"—plus major changes to British film censorship that allowed filmmakers like Hammer to push sex, nudity and horror further than they had before. Sexy, camp, gothic and dripping with subtext, The Vampire Lovers captures Hammer at a fascinating crossroads: an old studio trying to survive a new decade by discovering that apparently the answer to everything was more vampires and fewer nightdresses. Join us as we sink our teeth into one of Hammer Horror's most fascinating cult classics. We watched The Vampire Lovers on Amazon Prime Video. Click here Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E151
August 7 · 25 min
THE GAZETTE: Widow's Bay, Ann Droid and Gazer E-Mails
We're back! After a short summer break, our bonus episode, The Problematic Gazette returns with plenty to catch up on, including holidays, television recommendations, listener emails, and a sneak peek at the gloriously gothic world we'll be exploring next week. We start by looking back at our recent recording with special guest Andrew Mercado, where we revisited Crocodile Dundee, before swapping holiday stories. Dave headed to the South of France, where a blocked ear became an unexpected travelling companion, while Lee escaped London's heat with a trip to Northumberland in search of cooler weather—and found it! Naturally, the Great British Weather makes an appearance. We chat about the latest heatwave, hosepipe bans, and the strange moment when you've become so desperate for rain that you find yourself listening to a YouTube thunderstorm just to remember what it sounds like. We've also got plenty of television recommendations. From Apple TV's eerie Widow's Bay and ITV's atmospheric Highlands mystery The Dark to Prime's Ride or Die with Hannah Waddingham, plus the wonderfully bittersweet comedy Ann Droid, starring Diane Morgan and Sue Johnson, we share the shows that have kept us entertained over the summer—and a few that might deserve a place on your watchlist. Elsewhere, we welcome new listeners who discovered us through our posts about the remarkable Rent Boys documentary, give an update on our new website and recent photoshoot, and open the postbag to read your emails, corrections and recommendations. And finally, we look ahead to next week's deep dive into one of Hammer Horror's most influential—and controversial—films: The Vampire Lovers. Expect gothic castles, vampires, and plenty to sink our teeth into. So grab a cold drink, settle in, and join us for another relaxed catch-up packed with pop culture, recommendations, and the usual amount of delightful nonsense. Summer may be ending... but we're just getting warmed up. Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast. Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode. Click here to follow us on all our socials And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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