Fairy Liquid

Quite simply, it's for washing dishes. In fact for around forty-five years in the United Kingdom the words 'Fairy Liquid' and 'washing-up liquid' have been nigh-on synonymous. A series of adverts starring Nanette Newman firmly established the brand, so much so that the original advertising slogan is well-remembered: 'Now hands that do dishes can be as soft as your face, with mild green Fairy Liquid'. Blue Peter, too, did its part - almost every week an empty washing up liquid bottle would be required during the construction part of the show. They never mentioned Fairy Liquid by name, of course, but if you wanted quality, that's what you'd use. (This was back when the bottles were simple cylinders, of course, and it seemed to take weeks and weeks of waiting to procure an empty bottle.)

Fairy Liquid is now produced by Procter and Gamble and remains a highly-recognised brand of washing up detergent in the UK. It's also available across Europe, although the names inevitably vary slightly in different countries. The fairy brand also extends to dishwashing detergent and a gentle, non-biological laundry detergent.

You can even get differently fragranced versions now, and there's the usual 2010 options of antibacterial, lemon, orange and other bizarre hybrids that make choosing washing up liquid like a visit to a cut-price gourmet restaurant. Do you really believe the lavender-and-octopus or the anti-bacterial-twine-and-magic-sausage varieties are really making any difference? In my day we had lemon or original and liked it... eucalyptus and garden mint extracts... tsk!

Janine Duvitski

Janine Duvitski was born in 1952 and is an English actress. She had an English mother and a Polish father; her original name of Drzewicki was probably abandoned as a stage name because the British public are still too lazy to figure out how to pronounce Polish. Duvitski moved to London early in life to train as an actress, and made her first forays into success with a couple of small television drama roles. Her first 'proper' role came about after she placed an advertisement and photograph in Spotlight magazine, and was invited to audition for a short play about incest. Although twenty years old, her audition was apparently convincing enough for her to win the role of the 13 year old girl. Further success followed, and after a few stage roles Mike Leigh spotted her and offered her the part of Angela in Abigail's Party - first the stage version, then the later television version.

That first role, with the incest and so on, is something of an oddity, being rather more serious than Duvitski's later roles. You see, over the years, beginning with Abigail's Party, Duvitski has cultivated a kind of dopey, naive charm and turned it into an art form. I've no doubt that in real life she's as sharp as a button but the character in Abigail's Party is a perfect example of Duvitski's metier. Mike Leigh's playscript calls for a meek and mundane character, and Duvitski plays it perfectly: she sits, completely out of place admidst the hostess, Beverly's, 'finery', and certainly is no match for the sophistication of the Sue character. 'I have very beautiful lips,' she goofily drools at Beverly, on command, while for most of the play her husband regards her with an expression of utter contempt. If you haven't seen Abigail's Party, of course, you have no idea what I'm talking about, so let's move swiftly on to Dennis Potter's 'Blue Remembered Hills'.

This excellent, deceptively cheerful play offers another chance for Duvitski to shine. Here she plays Audrey, a young girl clutching a dolly who is clearly as bright as a box of hair. Brilliant performances all round, of course, for the cast of this one; do try and see it.

Duvitski is also famous for her roles in Waiting For God, where she plays a rather dull-witted and simple woman, as Pippa Tench in One Foot In The Grave where she plays - wait for it - a rather dull-witted and simple woman. But please, don't be put off - she's brilliant at it. In fact, it would be a mistake to assume that Duvitski can only perform as a simple, dull-witted woman; her roles in the recent English National Opera production of On The Town and in Alan Bleasdale's Boys From The Black Stuff prove her versatility. The possibility of becoming typecast must always be a risk for any actor or actress... Duvitski flirts with it perhaps a little more than most, having accepted roles in The Madness Of King George and the 1979 version of Dracula, both of which involved playing mad women. But really, she's so good at it! There probably ought to be a separate category in the BAFTAs.

Duvitski is currently married to the actor Paul Bentall, with whom she has four children. That's not him in the picture; that's taken from the comedy series 'Benidorm', and she's standing next to actor Kenny Ireland.

Charlie Dimmock

Charlie Dimmock is a gardening expert and television presenter, who rose to fame in 1997 when she joined Alan Titchmarsh (already well respected), Tommy Walsh and Will Shanahan on the BBC television programme Ground Force. Since then, she has gone on to present her own programmes, including Charlie's Garden Army, The Joy Of Gardening and River Walks.

Charlie has also published several gardening reference books, aimed squarely at the popular market, has presented the BBC's coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show, and has even managed to get herself on Celebrity Masterchef. She currently enjoys some success with work for American TV company CBS with a small section of The Early Show, and writes a gardening column for the Mail On Sunday.

(Oh, okay - I was hoping to get away without mentioning it... er, them. Besides her expert gardening skills, her friendly and no-nonsense approach to water features and a good knowledge of all manner of flora, you won't be able to get through a single conversation with almost anyone on the subject of Charlie Dimmock without her penchant for not wearing a bra bursting into the conversation at some point. That's right... all that intelligence, skill and earthy knowledge pales into insignificance when compared to the sight of her dimmocks slapping together as she lifts an old railway sleeper into position. Deep breath, and... move along now.)

Radio Times

The Radio Times (casually, if alarmingly, subtitled 'The Offical Organ Of The BBC'), first published on the 28th of September, 1923 was the BBC's own radio and television listings magazine. Until 1955 it enjoyed a hallowed status as the only listings magazine, ultimately due to the fact that independent television did not exist in the UK. Even when Associated Rediffusion and ATV arrived on the seen it was immediately established that each channel produce its own listings magazine. The BBC stuck with its own two channels, staunchly against the independents' publication: TV Times. Alternately, the daily newspapers also carried the television listings, but only a day at a time; the big advantage of the TV and Radio Times was being able to view the whole week.

We are familiar, nowadays, with a range of television magazines, each holding a week or more of listings. Even the newspapers come with their own seven-day listings. This change came about, for the Radio Times, in March of 1991, when it began to list the other commercial channels alongside its own offerings; undoubtedly a survival-based move in what was becoming an increasingly competitive market.

Radio Times is nevertheless a continuing success, containing listings for terrestrial channels, satellite (or cable) and radio, relying on its reputation and quality to maintain a healthy readership. It reached its four thousandth issue in 2002 and continues to offer seven day's worth of forward planning for the eager telly addict.