Pete

All of the 20th century empires were paper tigers - they weren't really very powerful and a lot of it was show. So it meant if any part of an Empire rose up it had to be crushed otherwise the whole thing would come down. The French were fighting a bitter war in Algeria too and there was a strong colonial force within French politics, which I think Charles De Gaulle was fully behind. Of course after WW2 it was clear to all colonies that the time of western Europe was over. Had people like Churchill had his way I'm sure the British might have found themselves in similar situations.

No one at my primary school was as mean as Broker.

It's astonishing as the conflict amounts to a real life conspiracy that covered generations and multiple presidents. I lived in Vietnam for two years, it's hard to imagine that history is about the country I lived in. A beautiful place with wonderful people, I know that's a cliche so I'll give you an example. My mate ran of petrol one time, so a stranger went to the petrol station half a mile away and collected some in a plastic bag (!) and brought it back to him. Refused to take money. I never spoke to locals about the war, it never felt appropriate to bring it up but I know it's a sensitive subject still.

Mike's adventures in DIY please. I bet Mike can plaster like an absolute pro.

I did play videogames obsessively until 2013, so I know that much!

Why the Xbox over the PlayStation? I just assumed it was a much of a muchness and live pisses me off. I did have a 360 though and enjoyed it.

So I haven't played a console videogame since 2013 and was thinking of getting a PS4 just to play this. I loved the original. I love games like GTA this, just messing around and the occasional acts of random violence. Now I'm considering a switch but why is everything so expensive? It's pretty hard to justify it all.

It's a bloodbath! Almost seems cruel. Really excited about Curran, especially given how well he bowled at Egbaston. I would fancy my chances bowling in these conditions though! India's lowest ever was 42 apparently in 1932, so could be worse.

Oh god don't start

I'm rewatching BB right now and was thinking of your screen shots. It really only starts in season four and in the fifth season they go to town. It's very different the second time through, still great but you realise how much it relies on the characters to drive the story. Walt is such a cunt, and Skylar isn't annoying.

Well I got lucky with the cricket I saw! Incredible. Perfectly balanced really, these first few overs are huge for the whole series. I love test cricket.

England's 1000th test, I'm going tomorrow and Friday! It's started well should be an interesting test

So the bad guy has similar/same powers and has personal beef with he main protagonist? Thrilling idea.

I watched MM2, primed by mark's experience and really enjoyed it. Not seen the first one but the whole thing was hilarious and very fun. You need to see with an audience though. I strongly disagree he needs to be more sophisticated, the whole point of the mamma Mia review is that the film broke down his critical faculties by getting him emotionally. That is the whole point of film! That's why he's a great critic, because he's passionate and he gets that. He acknowledges that he loves abba, and that he cries all the time. He's got no reason to like MM2 from a sophiscated critical perspective, the film is ridiculous. It's full of terrible exposition, bizarre dialogue and plot holes. But Cher turns up... And... Just... see it

I never got why Film [insert year here] ran as a series of 12 episodes a year. Bizarre. I agree some debates would be good, the heredity debate with Collins was brilliant, definitely sided with Mark there even though the exorcist comparison had clearly got to him. The in jokes are shit though aren't they, they are supposed to be. It's a bit like I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue, shit jokes repeated so much they go full circle into funny.