Severin

Yeah my top score was no-brainer, after the top three it was really very tight and could've gone almost any order on a different day. Just happy to see some people liking Spacehog too. I always thought it was a cracking track that inexplicably got ignored at the time.

I could see Merc being an option. Toto is still very much involved with him and a short term deal in the likely event of missing out on Verstappen or Sainz leaves him as an option until Antonelli is ready

That's my favourite Mansun track and I agree about Bis improving with time

Thank you Dandy* for explaining it in more clarity than I managed, you've clearly understood my point. Personally, I think the Doctor's reaction and response is exactly the sort of storyline and scene they should have done years ago with Ryan, or Mickey or Martha. It's a companion type response as they're the audience surrogate.

If you say so. I know people paid a lot of money to proof read scripts for continuity and it can break immersion if the writer's are not careful. Wasn't me that made that claim. He's been discriminated for his race before, if he didn't expect it for his skin colour, well... I wasn't making it a big deal, it was one of a number of elements I thought weakly written and I was asked to clarify. Some will, some won't. Depends on your expectations.

That's not exactly what I said though is it?. The Doctor HAS been discriminated against before for several reasons but his surprise and seeming lack of recollection of this and many other well established character traits marks a significant change in how the character is being portrayed now, and something no previous regeneration has been dealt with.

But The Doctor has more than just been witness to prejudice in the past. They have been on the receiving end before, for their race, their gender and for their age. I agree this is the first instance we've seen where the Doctor's skin colour alone is a factor but we're talking about a society/species that although they look human, clearly aren't as their blood is a blueish-green colour, so even though they work as the allegory for the viewers for an in-universe Doctor, you're asking us to believe that a centuries old time travelling alien has never visited a world where he looks different to all the inhabitants and been treated badly as a result. I know this series is being treated as a soft reboot but it's starting to look more like a complete re-write of the whole character's past as and when it suits the writer's message for the story. The reason I mentioned previous episodes is because the latest one has exactly the same character problems previous one have had the year - a pick n mix attitude to the character whose only emerging through line seems to be that it's consistenyl inconsistent with previously established knowledge. It's always been well established that The Doctor was academically poor and considered a bit of a fool in Timelord society but had enough about him to just about get by, and sure he'd look a genius next to humans, which is why , since Romana and Nyssa he's not been given a smart companion. It can still work character wise if the bi-regeneration thing is used to explain away a lot of the inconsistencies but I'm not convinced RTD cares that much. It feels like he's using the character to make statements and messages around the issues he wants to see addressed on TV - which is fine - but quite happy to ignore the show's past to do so - which is fine for new and casual fans but is beginning to slowly infuriate more and more of the older audience, by which I mean those who began watching anytime between 1963 and the last five or ten years

I get why they went for the shock and disbelief angle and that's not my main issue with the scene but it rather ignores the details that The Doctor is a centuries old individual who remembers his own history (at least Hartnell onwards) and has had numerous instances of humans and other species being too arogant, prejudiced, stupid or whatever to accept a helping hand when offered. I'd expect more resignation or cynicism in line with someone he's seen ot all before. It's happened in the show many times for many different Doctors and whilst each one has their own personality traits, the current incarnation is being written as incredibly clumsy and stupid, literally putting his foot in it in the last two episodes and generally being all round naive and lacking in situational awareness or critical thought. He'slike the guy who keeps telling how brilliant he is without ever really showing it. Frankly, Ruby seems smarter most of the time. Maybe its an intentional part of the overall plan for the character related to the bi-generation - perhaps 14 kept all the brains during the split - but it's not making me warm to the character or the current scripts.

Well, after last weeks almost outstanding episode, we're back to familiar territory. In its premise the story certainly had a number of interesting threads to pull on but in every case it fell short of really tackling them, preferring to lightly reference them with giving any depth or nuance to the ideas in play. Not to mention a number of plot inconsistentcies and some ridiculously stupid ideas (not walking without the bubble for example, was really pushing the idea beyond believable) Every single character in the episode was a thinly veiled sketch - they're rich = they're shallow and obnoxious, and I know it was the point but they were so hateful that the slugs (I too hoped they were relatives of the Tractators) were the actual heroes of the story, which probably wasn't the intention... but actually would have been a better idea than what we were given. And Gatwa's big moment really wasn't anywhere near the level of Capaldi's war speech, and still very short of the best of Smith, Tennant or Eccleston. It kind of just was... and I lay the blame not so much in the delivery but the script, editing and direction were all off pitch for the moment. Not only that the audience by now wants the idiots dead anyway.

I think it's just a varying interpretation of how people use the language. I wouldn't think twice about calling somebody psychotic in lieu of saying ridiculous, just to make a point but it wouldn't be meant in a purely literal way and not as an insult at all, but then I'm from a generation where that kind of use of language is commonplace and accepted. Younger generations tend to be a lot more sensitive to that kind of thing, I think Billie has a attitude more akin to the way the older generations talk and wouldn't have expected this much of a reaction at all.

Billie hasn't shamed anyone though. Think you're taking the quote far too literally

Seems rather harsh on Avril. Her show runs to an hour and a half which is perfectly normal, even if she could probably squeeze in a few more songs if she wanted. I guess because Swift and Beyonce have gone for the 3 hour length people are starting to feel entitled to it, when in reality shows of that kind of length are normally very rare and few artists could really pull it off. And as McCartney said, it's all Springsteen's fault.

Sent my votes

Obviously, I am up for the Rolling Stones one and I would do a Blondie one. Not sure how Fleetwood Mac would pan out, beyond the obvious (Self titled, Rumours, Mirage, Tusk, Tango), I'm not sure how many people are familiar with the older Peter Green period but I'd be up for it. Can't say I'd be that excited about doing an Abba one, as brilliant as they were, certain acts (like Abba, Queen, Elton John, George Michael, Jacko) have these kind of lists all the time and everybody already knows all the songs pretty much. Things like The Nations Favourite Abba Song have been TV shows before, whereas other brilliant acts like the Rolling Stones, Prince, even U2 never seem to get quite the same amount of attention, yet have brilliant catalogues of songs and deserve to be recognised more.

Definitely this

You can only give someone a pass or benefit of the doubt for so long. Patience always runs out eventually

Thanks for doing this Julian. Really enjoyed the countdown and a worthy winner regardless of my preferences. Anyone for the Rolling Stones next?

If it were an isolated incident I'd think it was very harsh but Ocon has been colliding unnecessarily with teammates (Alonso, Perez, Gasly) and rivals (Verstappen in Brazil springs to mind) for years without learning anything by his mistakes. He disobeyed explicit team instructions on Sunday, as he has done frequently before and has a 5 place grid penalty for his next race, effectively ruining their chances of a decent result in Canada before the weekend has started. He's only been marginally better than Gasly in the races this year and very much looks like he's the destabilising influence in the team. You have to wonder whether he was a factor in the loss of both Alonso and Piastri, I'm not convinced but it's a possibility. Alpine have understandably lost patience with him and decided he needs to sit on the naughty step for a while. He's not a team player and he's not a good enough driver to get away with it forever. On balance I say it's a reasonable decision. Frankly, I'd like to see more teams take a harder line with errant drivers. There's plenty of potential talent waiting for a chance and too many on the grid that are there because they're seen as a safe option, benching him for a race with demonstrate Alpine's disappointment in him and allow them to test another driver under race conditions. It's a win for Alpine all round. But at the moment it remains a rumour and that may be enough for Alpine to make their point.

Perhaps it's time Monaco was returned to a full length race these days it can be completed in the 2 hour mandate (assuming no delays). It's been shortened for over 50 years but that no longer seems necessary. Removing Monaco's exemption may well remove the dedication to a one stop strategy. Pirelli could supply only the highest deg tyres. Because concentration levels are so high the driver's are more likely to make an error. the longer the race continues.

There's no definitive answer for this. 3 hours of Springsteen or Prince works because they have the breadth and diversity in their catalogue of great songs to justify it and keep the interest up for fans, but a 3 hour show by someone like Slaughter to Prevail wouldn't work as the intensity of the performance would be unsustainable and the singers voice would be destroyed very quickly. The only 3+ hour concert I've ever seen was on The Cure's Disintegration tour in 1989. They played 19 tracks, they left, returning for a 4 song encore before departing again. They returned for a further 3 encores totalling 12 more songs in all. Now, I've never been the biggest Cure fan but they were on top form that night and clearly enjoying it. The audience lapped it up and even I have to admit it felt pretty special when they dug out pretty much every song I could have expected them to play and a whole bunch of the more niche favourites of mine.

But in 92 Senna's exceptional skill was the real difference though. There were a number of overtakes in the race. This is a count of all genuine overtakes in the Monaco GP over the last 40 years. From the following post from the overtaking database - https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/...2020/?rdt=33171 I don't include overtakes on the first lap (or on standing starts after a red flag) as it would misrepresent the total figure for race and also be a nightmare to calculate. The focus is on on-track overtakes for position so I don't include overtakes made while someone is in the pits, when someone has spun or is off track, when someone has a severe reliability problem, lapping and unlapping or through team orders. 1984 Monaco 22 1985 Monaco 22 1986 Monaco 21 1987 Monaco 16 1988 Monaco 11 1989 Monaco 20 1990 Monaco 11 1991 Monaco 9 1992 Monaco 7 1993 Monaco 31 1994 Monaco 9 1995 Monaco 9 1996 Monaco 6 1997 Monaco 31 1998 Monaco 2 1999 Monaco 5 2000 Monaco 1 2001 Monaco 7 2002 Monaco 10 2003 Monaco 0 2004 Monaco 5 2005 Monaco 16 2006 Monaco 19 2007 Monaco 2 2008 Monaco 33 2009 Monaco 8 2010 Monaco 6 2011 Monaco 28 2012 Monaco 13 2013 Monaco 17 2014 Monaco 10 2015 Monaco 10 2016 Monaco 14 2017 Monaco 3 2018 Monaco 4 2019 Monaco 2 2021 Monaco 0 2022 Monaco 13 2023 Monaco 22 2024 Monaco 4 As you can see from the data, the circuit is nowhere near as bad as people like to make out, although the last 10 years have really begun to see the number of on-track passes drop. As for the red flag, yes I agree teams should not be able to touch the car or change tyres due to a stoppage. The red flag is supposed to neutralise the race but allowing teams to make changes means it breaks the race in to two separate smaller races, which I'm not in favour of.

Monaco was never always a procession. Look at 1982 where 5 different cars lead the race in the final few laps or 1996 where only 3 cars completed the race. 1933 had 21 lead changes and the races from 1961, 70, 81, 92, 08 and 16 are all pretty damn good or classics. The circuit itself is not the problem. The size and weight of the cars is the real issue. It looks the worst at Monaco but it's slowly killing other tracks too (Imola, Hungary, Spain, Singapore leap to mind). Thankfully from 2026 the cars will start to be reduced in size and weight so things should improve there.

Why single out Verstappen? Hamilton, Russell, Albon, Piastri certainly all voiced similar opinions. I expect others did too but we just haven't heard those reports. Lewis was more critical if anything. At least Max and George made a joke out of it. And to be honest they're right. I love the challenge of Monaco but when they all changed their tyres on lap one and could just manage them to the end it destroyed the possibility of anything (bar a driver mistake) changing the order. Charles did what he had to do and drove at a pace often slower than an F2 car. Job done. If changing tyres and repairs under a red flag were prohibited, it would have kept the interest alive. At least the Indy 500 was brilliant though, when it finally got going. Magnussen got lucky and escaped punishment because Perez looked in his mirrors and should have known he was there. Magnussen's positioning was stupid but both drivers to blame in some part and so a racing incident. If Perez didn't make the obvious glance in his mirror I suspect he would have had a penalty and therefore a ban.

I sent my list in. It turned out to be much more retro than I expected. There's loads of modern bands I wanted in but I couldn't find one that had a hit more recently than about 20 years ago and so many that didn't have one at all!

Yep, like Popchartfreak, you've got me there. Only managed to catch - Manics (x11), Suede, (x2), Boo Radleys, Pulp, SFA and Mansun. Used to see haf of Elastica in the pub but can't really count that.