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Dr Tom May

@dreamcargoes.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.9K following 466 posts

Television historian, writing a book about Play for Today (BBC1, 1970-84). Associate Lecturer, Northumbria University. Book Reviews Admin for Critical Studies in Television journal.

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Reposted by Dr Tom May
Mike D London @mikedlondon.bsky.social · 6h
Years of extremist media using phrases like 'Sadiq Khan's hated ULEZ cameras' in their headlines surely contributes to people like this becoming radicalised to commit terrorist acts?
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Dr Tom May @dreamcargoes.bsky.social · 5h
1986 TV drama end titles banger with extensive vocoder and orchestra hit action. #DeadHead #RichardHartley #HowardBrenton youtu.be/wSc4EJMnmSY?...
youtu.be
dead head theme - richard hartley
YouTube video by andrew buchanan
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Tom Hunter @onelifestand87.bsky.social · 8h
The fact an MP openly supporting terrorism is seen as a non story tells you how desperate they are for the far right to win
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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This can't be talked about enough. "President Donald Trump's move to cut most of the US funding towards foreign humanitarian aid could cause more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, according to research published in The Lancet medical journal." www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Trump's aid cut risks causing 14 million deaths, report finds
The figure from the Lancet, a leading medical journal, includes 700,000 child deaths globally a year.
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Duncan Deeznuts @parasocialista.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
"Some orgs have refused to switch to Palantir FDP, seeing it as a downgrade. Leeds Teaching Hospitals would ‘lose functionality’ if adopted. One source who uses Palantir FDP told us they had to wait 20 minutes for a dashboard to load only for the system to crash." www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
m.youtube.com
Palantir and the NHS: How a Silicon Valley Firm Took Over Britain's Health Data
YouTube video by London Review of Books (LRB)
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Chris Smith @ledredman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I remember the 1970's as a wonderful time because of course I was young and the world was my oyster. I remember the horrible lies the Tories told in the 1979 General Election about how they would reduce unemployment, when they knew their policies would triple it.
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folukeifejola @folukeifejola.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"the “celebration” of BHM in UKHE can be accurately described as a pseudo-celebration that only nods vaguely & imperceptibly at something considered nebulously to be “Black culture”. But this is not backed up by an entrenched study of African history or engagement with African-produced knowledges."
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DJ Punctum @djpunctum.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
If I remember Esther Rantzen it's primarily for things like this, one of the greatest moments on British television. R.I.P.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqqb...
youtube.com
Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton (That's Life - 1988)
YouTube video by Tops of the top
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Daniel Trilling @trillingual.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Some news... 1. If We Tolerate This sold just shy of 5,000 copies in its first two months. Thanks to everyone who has read, responded to or shared the book so far. 2. If you haven't yet, it's only 99p on kindle for the whole of October. Get involved! www.amazon.co.uk/If-We-Tolera...
The cover of "If We Tolerate This: How the British Establishment Made the Far Right Respectable", which features the title plus an illustration of a frog in boiling water.
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Dale Smith @dalesmithonline.com · 01/10/2026
But ultimately it's just a very, very sweet 80 mins where you fall in love with a plastic head on a massive cardboard box and a man who learns that being different doesn't mean you have to protect yourself in isolation. It's currently on Channel 4 www.channel4.com/programmes/b... so give it a go.
channel4.com
Brian and Charles
(2022) Heartwarming comedy. A lonely inventor creates an AI robot friend.
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Fergus Murray @oolong.co.uk · 01/10/2026
It's very important to Tories that people believe the 1970s were a disaster decade, because they were pretty much the only justification they ever had for the policy framework that's dominated the next 46 years. Here's a corrective from @redpeppermag.bsky.social www.redpepper.org.uk/political-pa...
redpepper.org.uk
The myth of the 1970s - Red Pepper
The myth is that in the 1970s, the dead lay unburied, unions held the country to ransom, and it was impossible to govern: was it so bad?
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Frank Collins @cathode-ray-tube.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Another great piece of blog research here to provide context to the podcast. www.patreon.com/WorldofTelly...
patreon.com
World of Telly Episode 23: Threads | World of Telly
Our latest episode is now available wherever you get your podcasts. A video version of this episode will be released later this weekend. A
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Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
There’s something that bothers me about BBC News changing the job title of its Technology Editor to Technology & AI Editor.
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 30/09/2026
‘Britain’s political class remains unified in its belief that energy infrastructure must be owned by the private sector. Since privatisation in the 1980s, successive leaders have rejected any suggestion of nationalisation.’ @arthurdowning.bsky.social: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Arthur Downing · Asset Sweating: Britain’s Energy Crisis
Britain has private ownership while making the state responsible for planning via subsidies. The result is a zombie...
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Albedo 0.12 @ukejay.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The people who convinced us that “we don’t want to be ruled by unelected [sic] bureaucrats in Brussels” are now telling us that we want to be owned by unnamed crypto fascists [sic], tax avoiders and brutal foreign kleptocracies.
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Catio Miles @catiomiles.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
And in his previous UKIP version of Farage Party, they were staunch defenders of the £. But now they promote crypto instead.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
It’s a mark of the corruption of our whole way of thinking about the world that trying to meet a planetary emergency is routinely described as “ideological”, while continuing to accelerate it is presented as “pragmatic” and “economic”.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 29/09/2026
Trial of live facial recognition in London stations ends with a false positive and no arrests
theguardian.com
Trial of live facial recognition in London stations ends with a false positive and no arrests
Freedom of information request finds six-month trial cost £320,000, used almost 100 police hours and led to just one – incorrect – alert A six-month trial of live facial recognition (LFR) technology in London’s railway stations that cost more than £320,000 and almost 100 hours of police officers’ time ended in one false match against a watchlist of suspects and no arrests. More than half a million faces were scanned between February and July this year in some of the capital’s busiest transport hubs during the British Transport Police (BTP) trial of the surveillance technology, which aimed to help catch offenders and people breaching court orders. Continue reading...
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Mark Follman @markfollman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I spoke with @nbcnews.com’s Gadi Schwartz about my new investigation uncovering how ChatGPT fueled the violent fantasies and planning of a school shooter who killed eight people and injured dozens of others www.nbcnews.com/video/lawsui...
nbcnews.com
Lawsuits alleges ChatGPT helped mass shooter plan attack
A lawsuit against OpenAI is alleging that an AI chatbot helped a mass shooter plan an attack at a school in Canada. NBC News' Gadi Schwartz talks to Mother Jones National Affairs Editor Mark Follman a...
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lhur.bsky.social @lhur.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Yes again, @carolecadwalla.bsky.social way ahead of everyone else. Today the DG, Matt Brittin, announced he would be happy for the BBC to make programmes and have them presented entirely by AI "within guardrails". See link below bsky.app/profile/caro...
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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Are Reform UK *sure* they want to yoke themselves to people like Daniel “Danny Tommo” Thomas? Nigel Farage was adamant for years that most voters instantly recognise and intensely dislike football thug types like him and Tommy Robinson.
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waltydunlop @waltydunlop.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
10:35 tomorrow morning on BBC2 - "The LIfe and Death of Colonel Blimp". One of a seemingly endless run of beautiful, elegant, poetic, downright *wonderful* Powell and Pressburger films. Roger Livesey never better (and he's always great). Walbrook, Kerr et al match him note for note.
bbc.co.uk
BBC Two - The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Classic epic about the life and loves of a reactionary army officer, with Roger Livesey.
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Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
That's because the anti-intellectualism of the populists and Far Right is in direct contradiction to the basic foundations of any civilisation
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Dr Tom May @dreamcargoes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
An extract from the new version of my book's Index. This took much careful thought to limit it to these particular Inside No. 9s here, but they are the ones which form my account of its incisive, subtle cumulative storytelling. Richard Ingrams: well, the opposite to Reece & Steve, creatures of TV.
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Dr Tom May @dreamcargoes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I'm also glad that my review of Ian Greaves's fantastic, absolutely comprehensive book PENDA'S FEN: SCENE BY SCENE has been published today online, before its appearance in a CRITICAL STUDIES IN TELEVISION journal issue: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... #Pendasfen #Rudkinmania
journals.sagepub.com
Book review: Penda’s Fen: Scene by Scene - Tom May, 2026
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Dr Tom May @dreamcargoes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My Index for my book is done (barring minor amendments), finally! A shame that only around 55 per cent of these kaleidoscopic entries now remain after the culling that was necessary to ensure the thing, still fairly mammoth as it is, wasn't a "concordance"!
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Andrew Orton @andreworton.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Recently listened to the audiobook of Jon Ronson’s The Castle. Remarkable book, and the chapter on Linehan was fascinating. I think there’s a full book to be written on the subject of well-regarded people poisoned by radical ideas to the extent their legacy or life is ruined.
The cover of the audiobook of The Castle. It shows the silhouette of a modern grand folly at the end of a suburban American street.
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Peter Smith @redpeter99.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Anyone who deliberately puts the life of an RNLI volunteer in danger or damages an RNLI vessel should face a prison sentence.
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Paul Whitelaw @paulwhitelaw.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Here's something: Dennis Potter's rarely seen Play for Today from 1974, Schmoedipus, will be repeated on BBC Four on Wednesday 7th October at 10pm. It's their tribute to Tim Curry, who stars alongside Anna Cropper and Bob Hoskins. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
bbc.co.uk
BBC One - Play for Today, Series 4, Schmoedipus
A strange young man turns up on Elizabeth’s doorstep and makes a frightening claim.
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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
‘This has been a glimpse of Britain’s future.’ #70Up www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGbA...
youtube.com
Saint Etienne - Avenue (Butlins Mix)
YouTube video by Rodrigo Valenzuela
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Neil Norman And His Cosmic Orchestra @fubsyshabaroon.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Currently revisiting this, as it’s a quite frankly superb analysis of a superb series.
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Murmuration @murmeration.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
If we won’t take a stand on RNLI attackers, you’ve got to ask what are British Values actually for?
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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I like how Dave managed to squeeze these protests into his not at all made up hours.
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Jim Johnson @jamesmcneile.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Sooner than later a massive tragedy will occur in the Channel. It’s utterly madness trying to propel a dingy probably overloaded across that part of the Channel. These fools who are interfering with RNLI ops are a malevolent force and need arresting.
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John O'Connell @jdpoc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
More on this. Tommo is going to jail. If Hampshire Police DO THEIR JOB.
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Alan Sepinwall @sepinwall.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
We're one month out from the publication of Serling: A Journey Into the Twilight Zone with TV's First Visionary. Every day from now until October 13, I'll be counting down the 31 best Twilight Zone episodes, in this thread. Preorder the book: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/alan-...
Rod Serling stands in front of a glowing door on the cover of my Serling bio
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Andrew Sharpe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿|🇪🇺 @andrew.sharpe.scot · 21/09/2026
Why doesn't the British media do this with Farage, instead of all the free promotion?
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"People of Britain! Let a bunch of tax exiles run your country like Man United" is such a daring slogan I think Reform UK should adopt it at once.
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We Own It @weownit.org.uk · 20/09/2026
This is such a powerful speech from Chris Hinchliff There are many reasons why we must bring our water into public ownership. NATIONAL SECURITY and DEMOCRACY are not mentioned enough
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Hagen Blix @hagenblix.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Stupid AI usage almost started WW3 Cool. Boy, am I glad that we're totally talking about the right kind of existential risk, like escalating interimperial rivalries, or climate change, and not this "AI will go rogue" stuff... right? www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p...
 The intelligence report, circulated across the US military this spring in the midst of the war with Iran, immediately set off alarm bells: A Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program.

The US military swung into action with plans to intercept the vessel, according to four sources familiar with the episode. According to two of the sources, armed members of the US military were preparing to board the ship. Military planes were in the air, one of those sources and another source familiar with the incident said.

It was only just before the planned operation that officials dug deeper into the report put together by a special operations command analyst and found it had been generated with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) — and that a chatbot the analyst had used inaccurately identified the material the ship was carrying. CNN was not able to learn what the misidentified cargo was.

The report, according to one of the sources, was “entirely false.” But it also “almost started a war,” the source said. Any US operation against a Chinese vessel could have risked spiraling into an armed conflict between the two nations.
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Lance Parkin @lanceparkin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
An important reminder that a lot of the AI loons are a very specific type of loon who hold the position that they are (a) far more rational than the rest of us, (b) faithful servants of a merciless future god made from computers. In Dr Who money, 'the Brotherhood of Logicians'.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
“I am acutely aware that our changing climate is a major concern for many Britons... I am determined that we meet the commitment on which Labour was elected and reach net zero by 2050" Great to see this from Andy Burnham. (Next: don't approve new oilfields.) www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Andy Burnham: UK must fully commit to reaching net zero by 2050
Exclusive: PM, who is facing pressure over whether to approve North Sea oil and gasfields, makes strongest comments yet on issue
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Jonathan Calder @lordbonkers.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Piddington is a reminder that great swathes of prosperous Southern England voted Leave. (The large Northern cities voted Remain.)
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REwadent Evil @ewacat.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
i tell you: when i first heard it, before i could look up the lyrics, i thought it was a track about a man who was a king who saw the poison of his own rule so force quit, and i loved that narrative. then i got to listen properly. didn't lose a single ounce of awesome for me, it's just neat
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Jane @localnotail.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Solidarity with this Piddington resident ♥️✊ #Newsnight
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Andrew Orton @andreworton.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
As a little bit of context of the passage of time in #70Up / #UpSeries, here's an overview of some of the television programmes that were around the time each one was broadcast. Seven Up! (5/5/64) was shown in the week of the penultimate ep of #DoctorWho's Keys of Marinus: Sentence of Death.
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Centre for Research in Autism and Education @craeioe.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
#CRAEisReading A Delightful Embodiment of Dichotomies Pearson et al. (2026) For “autistic people *developing comfort* was prevented by perceived social power dynamics and consequences of not following social norms.”
journals.sagepub.com
“A Delightful Embodiment of Dichotomies”: A Qualitative Exploration of Self-Concept and Identity Among Autistic and Non-Autistic People - Amy Pearson, Helen Knight, Ray Winter, Kieran Rose, Jon Rees, 2026
Background: There is a growing focus on a positive autistic identity; however, we know very little about self-defined autistic self-concept beyond what it means...
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It takes a special skill to make your first contribution on an actual "culture" issue in 11 months and have it be defending Ed Sheeran.
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