Ben Aaronovitch's Blog, page 28

The Much Delayed and Definately Last BBC News Regional Bias Report

I actually stopped this project at the end of January. I believe my point, that London is not unduly favoured by the BBC 6 O' Clock News, has been made and that my research protocol is really not sophisticated enough to glean much information beyond that.
In terms of raw minutes of coverage London and the North-West remained neck and neck through out the monitoring period.
Total Mins September October November December January Total London        18.31        18.99        28.22        17.04        29.39     111.95 North West        42.66        18.76        15.70        12.89        20.52     110.53 Wales        14.55        24.46        26.59          1.37        14.01       80.98 Yorkshire +        19.76        11.08        23.41          4.34        15.04       73.63 South-West          5.60        22.88        16.19        16.44        11.93       73.04 South-East        24.07          9.91          7.85          9.08        10.86       61.77 Scotland        13.59        21.35          6.08          3.71        14.37       59.10 West Midlands          0.92        10.57        13.48          9.30        14.12       48.39 Northern Ireland          7.37          2.88          6.32        10.67          3.04       30.28 East          3.43        13.81          6.30          1.29          1.37       26.20 East Midlands          1.97          1.72          6.36          7.05          1.69       18.79 North East          6.55              -            1.13          0.23          5.16       13.07
If we adjust for population, so that 1.00 means that a region gets exactly the same percentage coverage as it has percentage of the UK population, we find that London comes 6th in the table. There is also a dramatic bias towards the so-called Celtic Fringe and that it is the Eastern parts of the UK that are the most neglected.
  September October November December January Total Wales          1.89          3.22          3.48          0.30          2.04         2.36 Northern Ireland          1.62          0.64          1.40          3.98          0.75         1.49 North West          2.41          1.07          0.89          1.24          1.30         1.40 Yorkshire +          1.49          0.85          1.77          0.56          1.27         1.24 South-West          0.42          1.75          1.23          2.10          1.01         1.23 London          0.89          0.94          1.38          1.41          1.60         1.22 Scotland          1.03          1.64          0.46          0.48          1.22         1.00 West Midlands          0.07          0.76          0.96          1.12          1.12         0.77 South-East          1.11          0.46          0.36          0.71          0.56         0.64 North East          1.00              -            0.17          0.06          0.89         0.45 East          0.23          0.95          0.43          0.15          0.10         0.40 East Midlands          0.17          0.15          0.56          1.05          0.17         0.37

Next Week: the 50th Anniversery Sign Off!

Who? Me..... and Dan Abnett, Terrence Dicks and Gary Russell!

When? The 9th of March!

Where? At the Forbidden London Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR!

What? Massively signing our 50th Anniversary Doctor Who Books AND anything else you want us to sign!

Why?  Because we live to sign BOOKS!

Character Songs: Lesley May

Police Constable Lesley MayYou climbed on the ladder
And you know how it feels
To get too high
Too far too soon.

Currently Reading: The Best Of All Possible Worlds

The Best of All Possible Worlds
By Karen Lord
The Sadiri were once the galaxy’s ruling élite, but now their home planet has been rendered unlivable and most of the population destroyed. The few groups living on other worlds are desperately short of Sadiri women, and their extinction is all but certain. 
Civil servant Grace Delarua is assigned to work with Councillor Dllenahkh, a Sadiri, on his mission to visit distant communities, looking for possible mates. Delarua is impulsive, garrulous and fully immersed in the single life; Dllenahkh is controlled, taciturn and responsible for keeping his community together. They both have a lot to learn.

Films That I Like: Outland

I've decided to write a few blogs about films that I like. They're not reviews they're just the things that I like about a particular films. 
Outland (1981)
Written and Directed by Peter Hyam

O'NIELThere's a whole machine that works because everybody does what they're supposed to. I found out I was supposed to be something I didn't like. That's what's in the program, that's my rotten little part in the rotten machine. I don't like it so I'm going to find out if they're right.
You can pick as many holes in this film as you like but the script and the performances are amongst the best of any I've ever watched. All the actors portray their characters in a low key, naturalistic manner. I'm particularly fond of Nicolas Barnes's portrayal of O'Niel's wonderfully unattractive son Paul. A lumpen blob of a boy who could only be loved by his parents and has been cursed with the pet name of Paulie. He, along with Kika Markham who plays O'Niel's pusillanimous wife, help demythologise Sean Connery to the point where we accept him as being an ordinary bloke who decides to do something extraordinary.
I've mentioned the script; watch how all the characters are differentiated not just by their performances but also in their dialogue. When Frances Sternhagen, as Dr Lazerus engages in witty banter with O'Niel note how that while she's equipped with a ready wit O'Niel's responses are stilted and clichéd. James B. Sikking's character, Montone, speaks in hesitant half sentences and questions - a man desperate to avoid committing himself. None of this is accidental and is one of the signs of a proper professional writer.

The art direction is another stand out. As O'Niel chases a suspect through the complex see how each area has been carefully thought out and made to look authentically functional. I particularly like the line of pipes where workers, dressed in their pressure suits, plug themselves in to recharge their air supply.

Broken Homes: The Cover

Since my publishers have this strange idea that I should actually finish the books I've started there will be very little in blog activity for the next month or so. To keep space occupied until normal service is resumed here is the final version of the cover of Broken Homes and below that the blurb.

A mutilated body in Crawley. Another killer on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil; an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man? Or just a common or garden serial killer?
Before PC Peter Grant can get his head round the case a town planner going under a tube train and a stolen grimoire are adding to his case-load.
So far so London.
But then Peter gets word of something very odd happening in Elephant and Castle, on a housing estate designed by a nutter, built by charlatans and inhabited by the truly desperate.
Is there a connection?
And if there is, why oh why did it have to be South of the River?

Signing in Edinburrrrrrgh! 10th January 6:00 PM

I shall be heading north to Edinburgh to sign books and meet people next week.

Who? 
Me... Ben Aaronovitch writing person...

Where?
Waterstones Edinburgh West
Waterstones Edinburgh,
128 Princes Street,
Edinburgh
EH2 4AD

When?
The 10th of January at 6:00 PM
Tickets are free and available from here.

Why?
Because I've never been to Edinburgh.


But....?
Don't worry  Glasgow - it's only a matter of time.

What the [deleted] is a Ford Asbo?

Ford Focus ST (2006) aka a Ford Asbo
I recently got a request to stick a glossary at the end of my books. Now I'll do that when they start putting them in Ed McBain's books but I'm not totally heartless.
If you're not British and you want an explanation for a term or a word that you've read in one of my books then ask in a comment below. I'll see about setting up a page with the explanations.
The management reserve the right to be sarcastic - you have been warned.

The Very Last BBC 6 O'Clock News Regional Bias Report of 2012....

Well you probably know the drill by now but if you don't you can check here, here and here...
Done? Then let's get down to it.
Well trends continued much as they have before but with London creeping up the minutes per million population chart and the South West getting a lot of flood coverage.

Total Mins. September October November December Total North West        42.66        18.76        15.70        12.89        90.01 London        18.31        18.99        28.22        17.04        82.56 Wales        14.55        24.46        26.59          1.37        66.97 South-West          5.60        22.88        16.19        16.44        61.11 Yorkshire +        19.76        11.08        23.41          4.34        58.59 South-East        24.07          9.91          7.85          9.08        50.91 Scotland        13.59        21.35          6.08          3.71        44.73 West Midlands          0.92        10.57        13.48          9.30        34.27 Northern Ireland          7.37          2.88          6.32        10.67        27.24 East          3.43        13.81          6.30          1.29        24.83 East Midlands          1.97          1.72          6.36          7.05        17.10 North East          6.55              -            1.13          0.23          7.91
There's a definite bias towards the so-called Celtic Fringe at the expense of the East of the country (nobody likes those Danes do they) but the coverage is still primarily following natural disasters and juicy murders.

Mins/Mpop September October November December Total Wales          4.75          7.98          8.68          0.45        21.86 Northern Ireland          4.07          1.59          3.49          5.89        15.04 North West          6.05          2.66          2.23          1.83        12.76 South-West          1.06          4.33          3.06          3.11        11.55 Yorkshire +          3.74          2.10          4.43          0.82        11.09 London          2.24          2.32          3.45          2.08        10.10 Scotland          2.59          4.06          1.16          0.71          8.51 West Midlands          0.16          1.89          2.41          1.66          6.12 South-East          2.79          1.15          0.91          1.05          5.90 East          0.59          2.36          1.08          0.22          4.25 East Midlands          0.43          0.38          1.40          1.56          3.77 North East          2.52              -            0.44          0.09          3.05
Given how the regions bop up and down the rankings we're still a long from proving my hypothesis (that Northerners are wrong to moan about being neglected by a London centric media in case you've forgotten) is far from proven to my satisfaction.


Ranking September October November December Scotland 6 3 9 9 Wales 2 1 1 10 Northern Ireland 3 9 3 1 North East 7 12 12 12 North West 1 4 7 4 Yorkshire + 4 7 2 8 East Midlands 11 11 8 6 West Midlands 12 8 6 5 East 10 5 10 11 London 8 6 4 3 South-East 5 10 11 7 South-West 9 2 5 2

Currently Reading: A Crown of Lights

A Crown of Lights
By Phil Rickman
'This receptacle was found in the wall beside the fireplace. It has been suggested you may wish to restore it to its proper place.'

When a redundant church is bought by a young pagan couple, the local fundamentalist minister reacts with fury. In an isolated community on the Welsh border, a modern witch hunt begins. Diocesan exorcist Merrily Watkins is expected to keep the lid on the cauldron... but what she finds out will seriously test her beliefs.

Also, there's the problem of the country solicitor who won't be parted from his dead wife. The mystery of five ancient churches all dedicated to St Michael, slayer of dragons.

And a killer with an old tradition to guard...
 I really like these books. I particularly like the way the heroine careens through her life like the a ball in a game of pinball.