I have long been an admirer of Danny Baker, admittedly he has (by his own admission) done some pretty low-rent television shows over the years yet he retains his credibility. He is one of the best radio presenters this country has, yet he is woefully underused by the medium, having been booted off his afternoon show on BBC London and reduced to the Saturday morning shift on Five Live. I say 'reduced', it is a weekly masterclass in how to do radio. On the subject of masterclass, he also re-wrote the rules on how to behave on your last day at work in a legendary broadcast in 2012.

As a storyteller he is up there with Kenneth Williams or Peter Ustinov and would have been a wonderful asset to the old LWT An Audience With... format, you can hear his voice in your head when reading his two volumes of memoir and can picture him not changing his delivery whether on stage or down the pub. A running theme in his anecdotal outpourings is money, or rather lack of it. As soon as he carries out a job of work, be it a documentary or a voice over, he apparently spends the money on making sure he and his family enjoy themselves. This is on the surface a perfect philosophy; make it, spend it, make some more. What could possibly go wrong? There aren't many people who have this confidence in the ability to throw caution to the wind with regards the bills landing on the doormat when there's a party to be held. 

When Danny Baker was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 he borrowed a large sum of money from Chris Evans to tide him over, which he mentioned on Desert Island Discs with the postscript that he had paid it back. He's probably made a dent in the bunce he received for his two books and the adaptation Cradle to Grave and three hours of radio isn't going to keep the wolf from the door. I suppose that the promise of a good payday was the incentive for lowering himself (as much as the presenter of Pets Win Prizes can lower himself) by agreeing to appear as a contestant on I'm A Celebrity. I didn't even know that this was still going and while I won't be swayed by Baker enough to start watching, I am sure there will be the odd clip circulated on social media to see how he is getting on. I'm sure he will be popular with the fellow contestants but I can't see a mainstream ITV audience even knowing who he is. 

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 This week's edition of The Sunday Alternative is here. 

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Picture from Trip Advisor

I don't mention this as much as I used to but those who have been reading this daily waffle for a long time will remember that I am not a fan of corporate chains. Give me a cafe over Starbucks, give me a greengrocer over a supermarket, and give me a hardware shop over B&Q any day, I just prefer the more intimate approach and level of service that the big guns don't provide. Premier Inn is a place I have never been before nor have I ever stayed at a Travelodge or Ibis hotel simply because they have a reputation that puts people off. I yearn for the hotels of old where you gathered for breakfast and dinner, the bar stayed open until the last person had gone to bed, before dinner you would gather in the television room to watch the news, and you came and went as you pleased because for the duration of your holiday this was your home and the staff made it feel that way. Nowadays the restaurant is owned by a franchise, there are conference rooms, there are vending machines rather than room service, and they don't even have their own stationary in your room. This is certainly the case at the Premier Inn at Doncaster - how do I know? I am staying here. 

Mandi chose the hotel for convenience and price firstly and secondly because there aren't a great deal of hotels to choose from. I never thought I would say this but I am impressed by what I have experienced so far. We are on the fifth floor in a nice big clean room with a comfy bed, which is pretty much all you need. The staff have had to contend with a few of my requests with patience and attentiveness; more teabags in the room (I always pop out for milk because I can't stand those minging UHT monstrosities), more towels, and last night we went out for a drink or two and on the way out mentioned that the telly wasn't working. By the time we got back it was working. Thanks to the travelling we were both pretty tired but wanted to watch Cradle to Grave last night and Eastenders on BBC3 and went to sleep fairly early, or extremely early for me. This morning I went out for a cafe breakfast (Mandi didn't want a fry up and wanted to get ready for the wedding) and on the way out I asked the cleaner for an iron which was delivered to the room with an ironing board while I was away. Perhaps Premier Inn is a magical place where things get done by elves who work to please you while you are out, try it if you ever find yourself in one of their hotels. 

One problem I have with Premier Inn is of course their racism. Lenny Henry is a knight but they make him sleep outside. 

The Sunday Alternative #56 is available from here.

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September housekeeping

Please consider making a donation using the PayPal button to help finance ongoing projects such as podcasts, short films, documentaries, comedy sketches and other entertainment that I will make available online free of charge.

Any money made by the sale of products on my shop page also goes into the fund, ideal Christmas presents!

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@SteveOliver76

Picture from Mirror

It is very easy to dislike Peter Kay for his exploitation of fans by releasing three seperate DVDs of the same act word for word, or for his arrogance on chat shows and especially for his sarcastic 'don't get up' acceptance speech when he was inexplicably given the Outstanding Contribution to Comedy prize at the 2009 British Comedy Awards. However I do begrudgingly admit that Kay's talent as a writer who manages to capture real life is remarkable; That Peter Kay Thing contained characters that we all seemed to know, portraying the North West mannerisms in a way not seen since Victoria Wood's television heyday. The crowning glory was Phoenix Nights, especially as I have worked in Northern Working Man Clubs and could pick out every single character and give them a real life name. As a huge admirer of Danny Baker I was looking forward to his autobiographies being turned into a television series, but my heart sank when I read Peter Kay's name being bandied about to play Fred 'Spud' Baker, the undisputed star of the books.

A lot of the time an adaptation has little resemblance to the book as the author has no input once the contract has been signed, but in this case Danny Baker co-wrote the series and has been on set as an advisor so what you see on screen is genuine. Of course a sitcom adaptation is going to be hard to pull off, especially given that the main character is a South London wheeler-dealer which brings with it the burden of comparisons with Only Fools and Horses, yet this works, even with Peter Kay's involvement. In fact, although the cock-er-nee accent wavers from time to time, you soon forget that it is Kay playing the part. If you've read the books then you know that the series isn't exactly going along in chronological order, rather they have pulled out the funniest stories and worked with them making it less a biopic and more a series of recollections from a master storyteller. 

In the publicity for Cradle to Grave Danny Baker has defended his choice of Peter Kay in the role by focussing on his talent as an actor rather than a comedian, mentioning Ronnie Barker in the same breath which might seem a bit grand until you see him in action. There are currently two books of Baker's life with another one on the way so this series should hopefully run and run. Best of all, there isn't a single mention of garlic bread.

The Sunday Alternative #54 is available from here.

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September housekeeping

Please consider making a donation using the PayPal button to help finance ongoing projects such as podcasts, short films, documentaries, comedy sketches and other entertainment that I will make available online free of charge.

Any money made by the sale of products on my shop page also goes into the fund, ideal Christmas presents!

steveEoliver@gmail.com

@SteveOliver76