December 2025 | James Durose-Rayner's website

DeCEMBER 2025

The A's

ALL IMAGES OPEN IN TECHNICOLOUR

31 December 2025

I was up at 6:15 am.

It is frosty out and it is New Year's Eve.

I had a cup of sweet tea and scrolled through yesterday's football before I took the hound out through the woods.

I may have mentioned this already, but the snowdrops are sprouting in and around the churchyard. Next it will be the daffodil's. All part of the seasonal changes.

When I got back in Julie knocked us both up some poached eggs on toast.

I don't particularly like New Year as it is basically the end of what is generally a lovely month.

We drive down the dreaded M1 to Luton tomorrow to catch the first flight of the year out to Larnaca.

More Déjà vu.

Yesterday, we nipped to both Scunthorpe and Doncaster - not the town or city centres but two retail parks - North Lincolnshire Retail Park - the other on the A630 Wheatley Hall Road (Wheatley Centre Shopping Park), where on the opposite side of the road and just before JCT 600 there is a Texaco Garage where petrol is £1.28.9 a litre.

That being the case I filled up and saved £20.

It's disgusting how other garages can charge over 10p more in rural areas and even more disgusting are the motorway garages where it can be well in excess of £1.60 per litre.

Later on we called in at The Red Lion and copped a shit curry at the Tandoori on the way home.

It is probably the last time we'll be going there for a few months as when we get back from Cyprus, we are on about looking after ourselves a bit better... and not drinking.

We did 74 days last year, so who knows.

As in the animation opposite - Happy New Year!

30 December 2025

I was up at 8:15 am.

Julie was out through the woods with the hound therefore it was more of the same for me - Déjà vu, if you like.

Julie is just cleaning up now.

When the floor dries I'll take The Beast - the dog's car down to the recycling centre and dump a load of rubbish. As it stands there are around eight sacks in it at the moment.

I also need to empty the cardboard bin and bag it up as from New Years Day 2026, we'll be out of the UK for eight days.

Cyprus.

Julie's mum's funeral has been organised for the 16th of January and all the phone calls to friends and relatives have been done.

Funerals are never good but as you get older you tend to accept them better.

Maturity? Maybe.

It is like anything in life. The more you do something; the easier it is to do it the next time.

Animation. I was going to chuck the Anthony N'Gonte animation up yesterday, but it kept getting extended as there is a story there.

In the end I edited it down.

Anthony is integral to Series 1 of the story and is an extremely interesting albeit complicated character, who as you can see in the animation - hates Mason Green with a passion.

Does Mason care?

"I care about a lot of things," Mason tells Gaynor. "He's just not one of them."

Anyway, that's me done for today.

This is a 3:41 minute animation of the Anthony N'Gonte character in Series 1 of The A's.

What he is speaking about actually happens in the series. I created the image, again using Nano Banana pro to get the rugby posts and field, along with Anthony's rugby shirt - although the original image of Anthony was done using Adobe Photoshop V27.2.

The animation itself was constructed from over 40 separate clips - each one of which was upscaled.

I don't particularly like upscaling as it doesn't make the image any better - just stretches it out with the same resolution - much the same as when you make an image twice the size in Photoshop.

Maybe, my best animation yet.

Possibly because it is a true reflection of the characters.

29 December 2025

I was up at 6:45 am.

I switched on the lights for both Christmas trees, cleared the debris from the lounge and kitchen; and cut up the remainder of the pork loin and lamb joint with a pair of scissors and chucked it in the dog bowl.

I then walked the hound through the woods whilst listening to some music on my headphones.

Yesterday was a day of upset.

Julie's mum has been on end-of-life-care since just before Christmas and passed away peacefully at 11:00 am.

Julie, our Jamie, along with her sister's two lads - Liam and Jordan were there to see her go.

Three of her four grandchildren.

Quite nice actually.

Julie got home and we went up to The Red Lion where the staff (and owner) were extremely nice.

"Are you sure?" I asked, about going for a drink, as sometimes alcohol and upset can be rather bad bed partners - especially if someone pisses you off.

And I'm talking from experience, here.

When Julie's mum lived with us after her father passed away, we often took her there for her dinner or tea. Same with The Curry Leaf; where we went to later on.

Whilst she lived with us, she went out more than she did over the past 10 years. However, Alzheimer's is a non-discriminatory disease, and once it takes hold of the body it doesn't let go.

It is very sad.

Today, I am working on the script.

28 December 2025

I was up at 7:40 am.

Julie was already out through the woods with the hound on what looks like it is going to be another rain-free day.

I could do with washing my car as some pigeon or crow has dropped me a couple of reminders the other day.

Bird shit and leaves. A major bugbear.

Julie is just mopping the floors of the lounge, both kitchens and hallway prior to her going down to see her mum in the care home.

It has been a stressful Christmas for her.

Yesterday, was another nothing day, but I got back into the smoothing out script and making it flow better as the beginning dictates the end so everything has to make sense.

In Series 1 there is another WOW character who I am hoping to give a bigger part but I'm not at that juncture yet. Det. Sgt Janine Thomas. In fact (and just like Dr. Salomėja Žukauskas yesterday), I've not even assigned her a character asset yet. I'll do that in a bit

As I've said before, females always make the best characters - and The A's is full of them.

So, that will be another animation I can create today.

My son - Jamie, bought me a few DVD's to ewatch including a six-part series titled The Bodyguard (2018) starring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes.

There was a lot to like about it. I fucking loved the part of the female suicide bomber played by Anjli Mohindra.

Just great acting and very well scripted.

I don't think in reality she would have coughed so easily but when she did she was a scary as hell.

As I said - great acting and very well scripted.

I did that in, on both Christmas night and Boxing Day night.

Last night I stuck on Behind Enemy Lines (2001) starring Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman; it's sort of precursor BAT 21 (1988) starring Gene Hackman and Danny Glover; and Hud (1963) starring Paul Newman.

27 December 2025

I was up at 7:30 am, Julie slamming the back door on the way out with the hound.

I walked her last night and it was getting frosty, but it must have mellowed throughout the night as there was no frost on any of the three cars.

It is one year today that I started this journal - my journey towards animating a two-part TV series from scratch.

Enjoyable?

More time consuming - although I totally enjoyed putting voices to the main characters, even though they are as frustrating as hell - as they keep changing.

It will not be for long as I'm hoping to do real voices and regenerate them to do the acting as opposed to having actors; the latter of which I definitely didn't want.

It's not just the expense, but the bullshit that would come with them - however, that is a conversation for another day.

Apart from the odd animation that I'll put on the website to fill The Story: Series 1 and Series 2, I'll not be doing any more. The reason being is that I am looking towards perfection and I rush to chuck the things up on here. And when you rush, you make mistakes. Therefore, the idea is not to.

At the minute I'm going through the script again, as things in the future need explaining more without having to info-dump; which is a non-technical term used to never overelaborate; and just let the viewer fill in the dots.

That aside. Opposite is short animation and two images of the latest character Dr. Salomėja (Sally) Žukauskas who appears all the way through Series 1.

Sally is integral to the story.

I've just assigned a character asset to her.

As you can see, she's mid-thirties and quite pretty as in The A's and as my wife (Julie) keeps on saying, there aren't any ugly people.

There are, but I tend to just animate the main characters.

Sally comes over as very professional but what you see is not always what you get.

Anyway, I'm on to my fifth cup of coffee and I'm into the script.

26 December 2025

Good morning on this bright and crisp Boxing Day.

We were up at 8:30 am after what was a hectic Christmas Day.

We were supposed to be having friends around last night but did not.

Julie has just been on the phone to her sister who is having her Christmas in the Canary Islands, regarding the condition of their mum.

As she did yesterday morning, Julie is now on her way to the care home in the Dearne Valley.

Alzheimer's takes no prisoners and the deterioration over the past few weeks has been quick.

My grandma had it - my thoughts being that it was helped on by her solitude, as by choice, she'd lived on her own for well over 30 years.

So.

I'm not sure what is happening today, so I'll get on the laptop and work on the script a bit.

As you will see opposite, it is now a full-year since I started this blog / journal.

2027, I am hoping will be a massive year.

25 December 2025

Good morning and Merry Christmas.

We were up at 7:00 am after being awoken by a phone call from our Jamie's wife Lianne.

They were coming over to do the presents.

I took the dog out and up the sand path and around St Andrew's Church.

We unwrapped the presents and Julie left me with the cleaning up as she had to drive over into the Dearne Valley to see her mum in the care home.

Things aren't looking that well, which will make the Christmases Yet to Come even more sadder.

Yesterday was an interesting day as the traffic in and out of the house with friends visiting made it busier than normal.

I had run out of steam by 11:00 pm and went to bed leaving Julie to scatter the presents Father Christmas-style.

I had some nice messages on my phone this morning - my favourite being from Johnny Barnett who thanked us for his 12-year old daughter - Jorgie's present.

"She loves them," said.

Fred Perry training shoes.

We bought my mate Tim's 12-year old daughter the same and more - however, we haven't been thanked and I really don't expect to be.

Anyway, have a good one.

24 December 2025

Good morning on this Christmas Eve.

It was always my stepdad's favourite day of the year.

He left us in 1995.

I was up at 7:40 am and out through the woods with the hound and my ankle flared-up halfway through the walk.

I bought some Skechers waterproof walking boots the other day and they haven't helped as they are quite tight around my ankle - as are the (Chelsea) boots I wear when we go out. And we've been going out quite a lot - including last night.

This morning I stuck a pork loin and a Tesco's finest rolled leg of lamb in the oven. Just to slice up and make sandwiches or whatever later on.

Christmas Eve is generally an open house where we get friends calling in.

I also prepared the turkey for tomorrow.

Pork chestnut stuffing rammed up its arse and layered over with rashers of streaky bacon. It is basic but it works.

Julie is nipping to Marks & Spencer and will drop the bird in at our Jamie and Lianne's.

Right. That's me done.

In my mind, it is perhaps the best Christmas film ever made - but, that may be favouritism on my part as I love the old films.

Saying that, I like A Christmas Carol (1984) starring George C. Scott much more than the 1951 version with Alistair Sim, which is often cited as the best.

Yesterday, we got to Tesco and did yet another £350+ shop which included the turkey and three legs of lamb and a joint of Topside as they were on offer.

We must have done in £2,000 there in December alone.

We did, however - save over £150 with the Clubcard, which I think is wrong. It should be the same price for everyone.

What is right, was the price of the Christmas vegetables as All rounder potatoes, sprouts and broccoli were just 15p and cauliflower 65p. It has been the same for the past three or four years.

No one needs to starve or eat shit over Christmas - so well done to Tesco for that.

I'll prep the turkey tomorrow and Julie can take it down to our Jamie and Lianne's.

Julie has just nipped into work to exchange presents so I am here tapping away on the PC.

I'll make another coffee in a minute and create an animation. This time, Jenny Mellor.

I think we are having an hour out later.

22 December 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 7:30 am - Julie again slamming the door shut on her way out on the morning walk the the woods with the hound.

She now has the Dyson in her mitts and is vacuuming the lounge, hallways, and both the dining kitchen and the kitchen and complaining about me being sat on my arse in the study amongst other things.

We are out to Tesco in a bit to pick up the turkey and some other bits; as well as calling in Marks & Spencer for some deli stuff for Christmas Eve night.

All the presents have been bought and wrapped and we are just about set.

We had a few in The Red Lion yesterday afternoon and called in at The Curry Leaf and had our tea.

I had a natter with Immy - a kid who is a partner with Omar and someone who owned the vegetable shop and wholesalers next to the gym and fight club to the rear of Scunthorpe's Frodingham Road that I owned way back when.

Even Dean Bramhald the barber / boxer was in the restaurant sat hunched up at the bar with a short - and which is the first time I've ever seen him in there.

He was picking up a take-out.

My advice: eat in, as curries never travel well.

When we got in we watched Merry Friggin' Christmas (A Merry Christmas Miracle) (2014), which is a black comedy starring Robin Williams and Joel McHale.

Any good?

There are bits that are funny, but it's just a badly thought out idea.

Anyway. Tesco beckons.

21 December 2025

A very belated Good morning on the shortest day of the year.

I was up at 7:30 am - Julie slamming the door shut on her way out on the morning dog walk.

I had some Skechers waterproof walking boots delivered from M&M yesterday as I'm sick and tired coming in with my feet wet through as wearing trainers in this weather is rubbish.

Anyway, these boots flared up my left ankle a bit and I got out of bed with aches and pains down the right side of my hip.

It's par for the course.

Hurt your left side; struggle a bit; and when it goes your right side will ache as it's been taking the brunt of your weight.

My mate, Big Scott had the same with a shoulder injury. He got it fixed and the other wanted doing straight after.

Anyway, Julie came in to the coffee on and Disney's Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) playing on the DVD in the dining kitchen.

The kids had it on video when they were... well, kids.

Tomorrow we are nipping to Tesco to pick up the turkey.

I'll dress it Christmas Eve. You know, cover it with steaky bacon etc as 6.5-7 hours in the oven could dry it out.

We were having Christmas Day dinner at Jamie and Lianne's as that is what he has always wanted. Both sets of parents together. However, this year there is a slight venue change as there are two extra bodies from Lianne's side. Her gran and her mum's brother - therefore, we are having it at her parents'.

Jamie's not particularly happy about having to cook the dinner at theirs as half their utensils are going to have to be taken there.

Anyway, that's is then, this is now.

This morning Julie is going to the care home to see her mum - whose health has deteriorated badly since this time last year. It is now a case of Julie meeting her sister, so they can both go together as the conversation between mum and daughter has long since gone.

Alzheimer's is a lousy and unforgiving disease.

We are eating out at The Curry Leaf this evening.

20 December 2025

A very belated Good morning.

I was up at 6:30 am and took the hound through the woods.

That was after I had a cup of tea first as I got on with animating one of the many far eastern characters in The A's.

In this instance Kiki Dee.

She's not a massive character but an important one - as Gaynor was extremely wary of her.

Kiki Dee (real name Diao) - her father is Chinese, was older than Mason, and went to one of the universities in Cambridge and only came home on a weekend

Leoni went to university - but her placement was in London.

Kiki was / is very pretty and was an extremely popular girl and as the video tells you - she and Leoni were very close with Mason.

There is mention of Chrissy Kay who is the same age, but Chrissy never went to university that year, as she had to resit some A Levels at Hammersmith College.

No reason is given as to why.

Last night we ate out with Big Scott and Edyta in the Red Lion. Very average food but the company was good.

I saw Luke Platt - which was the first time since Halloween and I told him that Julie had got his kids some presents.

He said that he'll call in on Christmas Eve and pick them up.

No idea what tonight will bring.

19 December 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 8:00 am.

The swelling of my ankle has gone down and I'm now moving around with some normality - thank God.

Julie did the dog walking honours but this morning it is dry.

I came in with the dog last night and I was both pissed off and drenched.

The rain hadn't really let up in days.

I'm getting a right boring git talking about my health and weather so I'll stop.

The animation opposite has been built on yesterday's.

I was unhappy with the transition of clips around the 34 second mark and the Speedibar diner is never quiet - so I added Jenny Deal's favourite band playing on the jukebox in the background.

In Series 1 there is a scene where Leoni Middleton and Anita Pallenburg are speaking with the owner - Rod The Mod - the subject being Mason's dead girlfriend Jenny Deal.

It's an interesting scene as it gives some background to both the Jenny and Leoni characters. Mason's two girlfriend's: one sexual, the other platonic.

Leoni comes across as quite comical and maybe hard-faced.

She's older than Mason but grew up with him as their parents were good friends.

Leoni is territorial with him and of that there is no doubt - yet she got on with Jenny Deal and not so much Gaynor Mellor.

Why is that?

There are multiple flashbacks pre-Gaynor and where you will see the relationship between the two.

In Astrid Karcherr's history animation she tells the tale of Mason, Leoni and Gaynor quite well.

There is mention in Jenny Deal's animation of Kiki Dee.

Now, she is an interesting character that I needed to add into the story.

Anyway.

Last night we watched a bit of Father Goose (1964) starring Cary Grant and Leslie Caron, which is a very nice family film compared to one I had stuck on earlier which rather strangely had a similar theme.

The Flowers of War (2011) is a historical drama war film directed by Zhang Yimou, starring Christian Bale and Ni Ni, the latter of who is a Chinese actress that I have based the character Kiki Dee on.

The film is based on the 1937 Nanjing Massacre in the Second Sino-Japanese War - and as Jenny Mellor often says "History is a right mint subject."

It is - but it is also filled with terrible horrors.

18 December 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 7:40 am.

Julie had been out through the woods with the dog since 7:10 am. It is dark and getting more so as we move towards the shortest day of the year.

Yesterday was a god day.

I fought against the elements on the M62 on my wat to Kearsley, north of Manchester; the numerous traffic incidents and the heavy rain and made my meeting with both the tunnelling and contracts manager's of Bethell Utilities. They just completed an 1800 mm tunnel drive on a 600 m radius curve not too far from their offices.

I called into Tim's on the way back and did what I said in that dropped his daughter's Christmas presents and had an hour talking to him and his wife - Maggie.

I got back home and we went to the Red Lion - which was rammed as there had been a funeral in the town - and there was quite a few people in that we sort of knew.

We copped a shit curry from The Tandoori on the way down and finished watching The Shop Around The Corner (1940) - a romantic comedy-drama film starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan - the latter who was of course the Wizard of Oz.

It is a very good Christmassy film which is set in pre-war Budapest.

So - today.

I'll take the laptop into the kitchen and work on the script.

17 December 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 6:00 am.

Today I am supposed to be at a 10:00 am meeting in north Manchester. Radcliffe (Kearsley).

It's to do with my day job.

Last night my left ankle flared up and I was more fucking miserable than normal.

I'm hobbling about this morning but it's very uncomfortable.

It just clicked the other day when I was standing in the kitchen whilst Julie had been doing out the cupboards. No warning no nothing.

I got up this morning wanting nothing more than to cancel - however, I'm going to try to bear with it.

I said that I'd call in to my mate Tim's on the way back to drop in his daughter's Christmas presents.

Tim lives in Islamabad (Bradford), so it's just a case of getting off the M62 and a drive up the M606.

Last night we had the three fish. Cod loins. smoked salmon and smokes trout with new potatoes, green beans, sprouts and corn on the cob.

We also had two packs of Scottish mussels in garlic.

Moules marinière, I suppose.

The animation opposite was not something I wanted to put up, but seeing as it's coming up to a full year on the blog and me winding down chucking up animation on here, I put it up.

Jenny Deal's real name is Cecilia. You know - after the song.

The first thing Julie said when she saw her was: "She looks like the Gaynor Mellor character."

That is said in Series 1. And by a few people.

However, she hated it, and called herself after her mother - who at one time she loved. Her mother is Jennifer.

If you trawl though the old animation or characters page you will see her.

Jenny ended up hating her. There is a reason.

Jenny, just like Mason, was a gifted child and was one of The A's. The failed experiment by Dr Miriam Jones that the series is named after.

She, like Mason had a personality disorder(s) and as Rod The Mod said in Series 1 whilst reminiscing to Leoni Middleton and Anita Pallenburg: "She was as high as a kite."

Jenny had met Mason as a 12-year-old and a year later was in a relationship with him... you know; girlfriend and boyfriend.

The story: Jenny got pregnant and her mum stopped her seeing him and took away her mobile phone and laptop.

A few days later Mason was in a traffic accident that killed his parents.

Jenny's mum told her daughter that Mason had died with them. It was touch and go as Mason had fractured his skull, but he ended up surviving. Jennifer Deal lied and her daughter ended her life on 17 February 2022.

The date of Gaynor Mellor's (who Jenny never met in life) eighteenth birthday.

Jenny loved Mason's parent's and had a huge bond with his mum - Terri and had seen her steadily deteriorate with Parkinson's disease.

A sad story.

16 December 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 8:00 am.

It's pissing it down and I got drenched - even though I only did the short walk up the sand path and around the cemetery and St Andrew's Church.

Very depressing.

Julie's just nipped up the High Street for her hair done and I'm sat in the study with my left ankle throbbing like a bitch.

I thought I'd walked it off yesterday; I really did.

We went around to the Curry Leaf and it started aching. No idea why

Yesterday was another nothing day of just working on the script and giving it some realism.

The Gaynor Mellor character.

I'll be doing more of that today.

On getting in from the curry house and The Red Lion - as we nipped up there for a couple, we stuck Four Christmases (2008) on the DVD - starring Vince Vaughn and Reece Witherspoon.

The film received generally negative reviews from critics but earned $163 million worldwide.

It's always about the money!

I had some me-time the other night and watched Silent Enemy (1958) which is one of my favourite war films.

I always try to watch that and The Dam Busters (1955) before Christmas.

Animation. Opposite is more of Jenny.

Again, it's just me seeing how quick I can turn these around as I get more experienced with the software.

15 December 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 8:00 am.

Julie was already out through the woods with the dog and came in drenched as it's raining again.

Rain: It makes everyone feel miserable.

Yesterday, I did nothing apart from get more experienced with the animation.

I'm cutting 1,000 clips per day and I am taking the software to its absolute limits - so much so, the big PC that I set the magazine on is struggling.

This morning I cleared:

3.55 GB from my Recycle Bin

126 GB from my Temporary Files

502 MB from my Thumbnails

170 MB from my Delivery Optimisation Files.

It is like this everyday.

The files I create are monstrous - and even more so when I'm rendering an animation for the blog.

As I said yesterday, that is going to stop as I now have to be more professional in how I go about things.

At the moment, I am upscaling every clip, which is time consuming and still nowhere near good enough for TV.

Most TV shows, even high-budget ones in 2025, are primarily shot in 4K (3840 × 2160) or higher resolutions like 6K or 8K for future-proofing, but they are typically mastered and distributed in 4K UHD for streaming, broadcast, and physical media.

So 4K is the benchmark.

The software I'm running with is nowhere near - even when upscaled. 1080 x 720.

So, I need to make the jump to 3D and true professional software.

And that includes me, gaining absolute perfection for the voices.

Everything is do-able, it is just so time consuming.

Today, I'm on with firming up the script and that is how it will be until the New Year, I suspect.

Right. Have a great day.

Above. What a £20 leg of pork looks like.

Our stainless steel chip pan gets maybe used half a dozen times a year and it still looks like new.

When I was a kid ours was burnt to shit and had fat in it all year round.

In fact, Julie had her cleaning head on this morning and did out the utensil drawers and the pan cupboard, along with cleaning both ovens and the two sliding compartments either side.

I totally love watching her clean. It's very therapeutic.

As for me, I filled the cupboard with six bottles of white wine - Casillero Diablo - Sauvignon Blanc, I think - and stuck some more beer in the fridge.

I have to enjoy this month as from January 2026, I'll be going tee-total for a bit.

Animation. I'm sort of winding down this as I'll be moving on to the 3D and concentrating on the script - therefore the blog won't carry much in 2026.

Anyway, it is very time consuming and I need to concentrate on learning as much as I can before I go into production in 2027.

Also, The A's could be just a working title.

Not sure yet.

This is a 1:38 minute animation of Gaynor Mellor character modelling and posing - me trying to get her in 3D.

I created this from an image I did in Adobe Photoshop 2025 in early summer and from over 20 clips with transitions and no dialogue.

As I've said, she may not look it but the character is not just self-destructive, but explosive.

Hence the title - Venus Man Trap named after the song by Veruca Salt.

This is how she will most likely look at the beginning of the series.

Music. Fade Into You by Mazzy Star.

13 December 2025

Good morning.

My flu, Co-vid or whatever it is has broken.

I stayed in bed until 7:00 am and I've stopped coughing and that glue at the back of my throat has gone.

Now, I just feel like I've been kicked in the ribs with all the wrenching over the past few days.

I hate being badly.

Last night we went up to The Red Lion where it's starting to look a bit like Christmas with the start of all the parties.

Julie sent out all the Christmas cards and hand delivered those who live around us.

Since the cess pit that is social media took our grips off reality, the Christmas card numbers are dwindling.

"So and so has sent me a gif," Julie would say.

You can't blue tack a fucking gif around the window or stick it on the mantlepiece.

Fucking cheapskates.

We order our cards and have them personalised. We always have. It costs less than a quid a card and with a stamp it all comes to less than £2.

It costs literally nothing to tell someone that you're thinking about them over Christmas.

I managed to upload five albums by Doves on to the B2 - these are the indie rock band from Cheshire.

The albums were: Lost Souls (2000); The Last Broadcast (2002); Some Cities (2005); Kingdom of Rust (2009) and The Universal Want (2020)

I've not had a proper chance to listen to them yet, but they sound quite good.

Animation. The software has been doing my fucking head in. The voices, mainly.

It started with Anita Pallenburg's and now Gaynor Mellor's.

I know what I need to do and that is to make the jump on to 3D and start learning some new software and create an index for the voices. This means using the sound real peoples voices.

I was always going to do this.

Anyway. Opposite is Gaynor moaning.

A 1:32 minute animation of the Gaynor Mellor moaning about her slight character change in Series 1 and the fact that in Series 2 she'll be a bit "weightier".

I created this from a clip I made with Adobe Photoshop 2025 earlier on in the year. Er... Maybe spring.

As you can see. A persons hairstyle can completely alter that persons features. I just never realised how much until I started animating.

The Gaynor character is quite explosive.

This animation was made from around 15 clips although the voice software has been playing up quite a bit of late.

Very annoying.

12 December 2025

I'd say Good morning - but it isn't.

It is 3:15 am.

I went to bed at 9:00 pm and slept like a log until I didn't.

I awoke both thirsty and coughing my guts up.

It wasn't fair me waking the house so I got up, made myself a cup of sweet tea as coffee at the minute tastes like sludge and have come into the study - my thoughts being - to tweak the script a bit.

As I said the other week, the Gaynor Mellor character is explosive, more so in that I've added another dimension to her character with the additional Episode 25.

My thoughts were to use it as an ending - a possible explanation for what made her do what she did.

Then there was another thought.

You can throw all these Hollywood wankers up in the mix with their so-called blockbuster films and links to so-called great directors etc... It is basically a club of woke that is estranged of reality. They are what they are.

The troubled 2000 film American Psycho blends psychological horror and black comedy to satirise 1980s yuppie culture and consumerism, which is more than exemplified by the main character - who is Christian Bale.

Read up on him.

Christian Bale is without doubt a fantastic actor.

He could put is mind to play absolutely anyone - even Mason Green.

The reason I mentioned American Psycho, however - is that the upshot of the film is that the main character is uncertain if his crimes were real or imagined... you know - just in his head.

I am hoping that the Episode 25 gives you this feeling - so much so I was thinking about producing an Episode 25A and a 25B to give the viewer a choice of ending.

However, that is miles away... but the tweaking that I am doing in Series 1 opens the door to some plausibility of why what happened - happened and could give Episode 25 another edge.

So. That's what I'm doing now.

Looking at the computer screen along with the dark outside.

On to other things and with it being the run up to Christmas, we've done in a bit of Christmas viewing.

At the moment we are eating our tea / dinner to the Worst Christmas of My Life (2006) mini series starring Ben Miller and Sarah Alexander - which is very Fawlty Towers-like.

We have watched Nothing Like the Holidays (2008) starring Alfred Molina; Christmas with the Kranks (2004) starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis; and Emma Thompson's woke-fuelled extravaganza - Last Christmas (2019) with it's interracial relationships, DEI casting, anti-Brexit themes and white male hatred.

These Hollywood types just can't fucking help themselves.

Why not just make a nice film without ramming an agenda down your throat?

Last night we stuck on Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) starring Steve Martin and John Candy but I ran out of steam and went to bed three-quarters of the way through.

It's your typical 1980s comedy starring two generational comedic talents - the only downside, being the casting of Laila Robins as Steve Martins whiny horse-faced wife.

If you want a great film with John Candy, try Only the Lonely (1991) where he co-stars with... Maureen O'Hara... who I have based Gaynor and Angie's mum - Maureen Mellor on.

A non speaking collection of around 10 clips of a part in between the two series, where Jenny is christened.

I was going to break up the clips with Jenny Mellor the baby in the animation, narrating the fact that she found the DVD of her christening in her Granny Maureen's loft - however, the software for the voices has been down since 5:00 am (GMT) 11 December 2025 - and is still not back up 4:33 am (GMT) 12 December 2025.

Highly frustrating.

Anyway, this is Gaynor Mellor and Mason Green's last ever kiss.

11 December 2025

I'd say Good morning - but it isn't.

It is 5:38 am and I've been up since 3:10 am.

I have what I think is bronchitis - the after effect of all those fucking Co-vid injections.

It is like I have glue at the back of my throat.

I hope I am wrong. I really do.

However, I have gone through this before.

I found the remainder of my stash of under-the-counter antibiotics from Cyprus and I've just popped the first.

I was taking Lem-Sip capsules which are as as useful as uselessness. I must have eaten about 10 of them.

They are fucking rubbish. They don't work.

Yesterday, we did what we set out to do. The cemeteries at Conisbrough, Wombwell and Barnby Dun - the latter of which is the resting place of my dad.

He's been dead 40 years tomorrow. He died quite young. Stomach and liver cancer.

No one goes apart from us. Not his other son, nor daughter.

He had to wait near-on 10 years for a headstone, which me and Julie paid for. October 1995, if I rightly recall.

He'd paid off his house before he died and left his wife quite well provided for.

There are women that are no good. And she is one of them.

Loud and fat, or fat and loud is the only description I could give.

Christmas. A good time; a sad time.

In The A's. There are two Christmases. Series 1 with Gaynor and Mason; and Series 2 where there is the additional bonus of Jenny and Anita.

The Series 2 Christmas hasn't been firmed up yet - however, Series 1 certainly has.

Gaynor is happy and Angie miserable.

Angie's only been married a few weeks and even though she lives less than 500 yards away - she misses home.

She also didn't realise how hard it was trying to pay bills and make the monthly mortgage payments.

Mason has been in their lives since September and it's on Christmas Eve (I think) where he fully connects with John Mellor - Angie and Gaynor's dad.

Mason wants to talk - which is most unlike Mason.

He has had words with his gran - Ana Reung; which is to do with his mum and dad... and his mum's father... who is someone that he'd not spoken to in months.

Now, this IS the story.

John is at work when Mason drops in with a sausage and egg sarnie - Mason's (and Jenny's) favourite food.

"What did you call in to see dad for?" Gaynor asked.

"Probably because I've not got one," Mason replied.

This was a watershed moment for John.

He felt needed.

"Hey, lad," John said.

John always referred to Mason as lad in Series 1.

"I'll put the kettle on. Why don't you stay and have a cup of tea with me."

It's probably not word for word!

"What did he want?" an ever-inquisitive Maureen asked afterwards.

"There's something there that he wanted to say but didn't. I think it's to do with his mam and dad."

10 December 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 8:00 am.

I was going to get up four hours earlier as I was wide awake but persevered and dropped off... eventually.

I still have a cold and I'm bunged up. And the left side of my face has started hurting again, which tells me that it wasn't an infection a month or so back when it was giving me gip - if that's even how you spell it.

I am partial to wine gums so I thought that could have been the problem; but I've not had any since just after Halloween.

Anyway - enough of that.

Yesterday, was a busy day.

It was decided to put the two Christmas Trees up, which meant climbing the 10-foot ladder into the loft to get all the stuff out.

The reason being, is that today we are on the cemetery run where we lay the wreaths. Both sets of Julie's grandparents - and her dad; and my dad

So - from 11:00 am to 3:20 pm it took us to erect and decorate both trees - and then another couple of hours to clean up.

Hard work!

Saying that, I managed to bake a steak and mushroom pie later on - which was made from five rump steaks which I had already trimmed and cooked in red wine early on in the morning.

Animation. I'm still having problems with the Anita Pallenburg asset, as she won't do as I ask when in colour. Not just the asset - but the voice. It is highly annoying.

You get it spot on, then bang! It does what it wants.

I know when I go to 3D it will correct itself and more so when I go to full production as every voice will be indexed to work with the character asset.

So. At the moment, my Brigette Bardot-esque character - Anita Pallenburg will keep on being shot in monochrome until I rectify the problem.

This is a 1:40 minute animation of the frustrating Anita Pallenburg asset.

When in colour the animation does what the hell it wants no matter what direction you give it.

I thought it was the Bardot hairstyle confusing the algorithms. It is a problem, but it's not solely that as I changed the hair - but again it was taking me up to a dozen takes to not just get the animation right but her voice.

I got the animation working okay - then the voice went weird.

Getting them to run in tandem in colour IS a nightmare.

Anyway.

I made this from a series of around 18 clips from an image that I created in Adobe Photoshop 2025 V27.2.

9 December 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 3:40 am.

I have a cold and I'm bunged up.

I'm sat in my study looking out of the window and all I can see is the dark. It is also wet as it's been raining all through the night.

I can't actually see hit - just hear the early morning traffic splash through it.

As I've maybe said before. I don't mind it being freezing cold; but I cannot stand the rain.

Another couple of hours and I'll be trawling through the sludge with the hound.

I made the order for the new computer system yesterday, with me moving to 3D in the New Year.

I now need to refine the script as mastering the animation has taken up a lot of my time over the last couple of months; and the animation is absolutely no good without the story.

Opposite (If you are on a laptop or PC) is a clip of Anita Pallenburg in her Series 1 attire.

What she says is absolutely true to the story.

Mason had 27 A Levels and she had a crush on him all the way through the Upper Sixth, which is seen during the story when she confides this to her mum - Louisa.

You also see how the Pallenburg sisters are: Fucking horrible.

At this juncture in the story Gaynor is full of her own self-importance as she and Mason's lives are like some rollercoaster ride, and she doesn't see that Anita is watching her every move and hoping for her to make that mistake.

Is Anita manipulative?

Leoni Middleton obviously thought so, but Leoni was a huge friend of Mason and loved him just as much as she disliked Gaynor. And when it came to Mason - Leoni was very territorial.

When Mason first arrived at 40 Martyrs, Anita was the first person to welcome him - and Gaynor the second.

Anita asked Mason in Series 2: "You had the pick of us all - and you chose Gaynor. She was nothing. Why?"

Without looking back at the script it's not word for word but it gives you an idea.

"She needed me," he told her.

And she did. She really did. But he soon found out that the Mellor's needed him even more - and he them.

It's quite heart breaking really. I just hope I can put that over in the series as there is a hell of a lot that I'm not telling you. A hell of a lot.

And if you thought Leoni was territorial. That is nothing at the side of Maureen; and when Gaynor makes that mistake, Maureen is absolutely devastated.

8 December 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 6:45 am and out through the woods with the hound and got into the house with no-one up.

It's 7:40 am and I'm in the study with a cup of strong coffee.

I am looking out the window and it's still quite dark as we head towards the shortest day of the year on the 21st.

I think we are going round to the garden centre this morning to buy the real Christmas tree for the dining room.

We have two: The 7ft artificial one that we've had since we moved out to the Isle of Axholme many years ago and which we call our New York tree as there's no real uniformity about the style of wassail cups / baubles - some of which are over 40 years old; and the real one - the English tree, with the red and white baubles.

It generally takes about five hours - the hardest job being taking everything out of the loft.

Christ knows what we'd do without it - the loft that is.

All the kids toys are still up there along with around 20 electric guitars (wrapped in bubble wrap) that our Jamie has no room for at their house.

Yesterday, was a long day in front of the computer as I set about doing something I had no intention of doing - but once I started, I had to complete it.

I have done what I can in 2D for the moment - and all it is, is a case of me getting quicker and more professional with stitching the clips together with the Adobe software, so it's not completely useless.

3D is around the corner as is Photogrammetry.

Photogrammetry is where I go to London with a high-end camera - Canon EOS, and stick it on a tripod and take up to 200 shots in a 180° circle and throw it through the software to generate the 3D asset. Mainly the Hammersmith and Ravenscourt Park locations.

However, that is early days as I am not going to production on The A's until 2027.

There are also interiors that I need one of which is my local curry house which I will use as fictitious Delhi Belly in Hammersmith.

For me, it's a massive learning curve, but the technology is there to be learned.

Anita Pallenburg animates fantastic in monochrome, but not so in colour.

I had a similar problem with the Series 1 Angie Mellor asset - her hair being the problem as it's wispiness was confusing the algorithms.

At the moment, Anita's hair stays the same throughout both series - as does her appearance. However, that can change.

As Jenny stated in a few animations - most notably her animation the other day - Anita is small. Standing at just 5'2.

Gaynor, Angie, Joanne Lynskey etc, are all taller at 5'5.

When you are putting a series together, these are the things that you have to think about as consistency is key.

7 December 2025

A very Good morning to you.

I was up at 7:50 am and out through the woods with the hound.

I could have easily got around 4:00 am as I was awake and restless, but I persevered.

I'm now back in my study in front of the big PC with a cup of coffee - the carols on the B2 knocking out Hark the Herald Angel's in the kitchen.

Julie is off the Sheffield's Meadowhall with our Jamie this morning - and calling at the care home to see her mum on the way back.

Her mum isn't doing so good and is in bed most of the time.

Yesterday, was one of those regular run up to Christmas kind of days.

We went to the retail park on Doncaster's Wheatley Hall Road and called in at Marks & Spencer as Julie wanted a big poinsettia plant for the hearth in the room.

And I fancied some food off the delicatessen shelves - three for £8.

We bought some Thermador prawns in like some scallop shells, which look the bollocks, but they will no doubt disappoint. We also bought £70 worth of cheese which had the New Year sell by date stamped on the back.

We then called into Boots where a pair of skanky looking women were holding up the queue pontificating about how to get some money back - or off. Not sure which.

I'd noticed them earlier - sort of walking around as though they were going to rob the place.

They were really tall - sort six foot-ish and dressed like shit.

You definitely won't get that in The A's as I don't do DAI hires; and tall women with big feet and shit clothes are definitely out.

We also called in TK Maxx which is a shop that I maybe go in once a year.

The Doncaster one is better than the Scunthorpe one, but to be honest, it's nothing like it used to be.

On to The A's.

I got in touch with the tech guys that I use, and asked them to quote me for the new computer system for the 3D animation.

---

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU

64gb DDR5 Team T-Force Delta RGB 6400MHZ Ram

Gigabyte RTX 5080 16GB GDDR7

2TB Samsung 990 pro NVME

4TB Samsung 990 pro NVME

ASUS ROG Strix Z890-E motherboard

Asus Prime LC 360 lcd AIO water cooler

Antec 850w Pro Platinum PSU

Antec C5 Constellation Case with 7 Fans

Windows 11 Home.

I think there are 15+ USBc points in that as well.

---

The monitor is a separate entity - a 43" DELL UltraSharp U4323QE.

I could get bigger but after 50" you're in no man's land with the resolution - and curved monitors? Don't even go there - they are wank.

So, I'll be getting one of the most powerful units there is and it is now on order.

Right.

I'm in the process of putting up another animation.

This time it will be upscaled - so it will be a big file.

6 December 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 4:00 am and out through the woods with the hound.

My body clock is still on Cyprus time.

I got back in the house at 12:00 pm yesterday after an uneventful drive up the M1 - me having to refuel at Toddington Services where the petrol was a staggering £1.60 a litre.

Fucking disgraceful.

I have a 5.0 litre car which makes it even more so.

I missed my breakfast in the priority lounge as they shouted the gate number just as they were fetching the eggs, bacon and mushrooms out so I had a cheese croissant on the plane.

In Series 1 of The A's, Gaynor is often seen in the bakers in the fictitious Little Brittany area of Hammersmith buying almond croissants.

When I got in we nipped over to The Range and Home Bargains over on the Skippingdale Industrial Park off the A1077 Phoenix Parkway, which is the sort of Scunthorpe ring round.

Julie had used all the wrapping paper while I'd been away and therefore needed some more. I bought two 5L cartons of windscreen wash - and as I did the other day, every Vileda Flat Head Mop refill off the shelf. I thhink there was maybe seven or eight.

These are like rocking horse shit and The Range (and Wilko's when it was open) is the only place you can get them. We have around 20 in the cupboard now, which should see us into the summer... I think.

I think bar our Jamie and Lianne - all the presents are bought.

Anyway, we got in from shopping and I took the hound out for her teatime walk and we ended up in The Red Lion until 7:00 pm and copped a shit curry from The Tandoori on the way down High Street.

And today, my Christmas officially starts.

The carols are playing on the B2 and I am sat at the breakfast bar on my laptop with a strong coffee.

Both snowmen are out and Julie's bought two poinsettia plants (only one in the photo) from Marks & Spencer whilst I was away and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

We'll go and buy the real tree for the dining room on Sunday and put both trees up on the 10th which is what we've always done.

Julie is helping out with the Christmas fayre at the care home where her mum is today.

That should be fun (sic).

A 2:28 minute animation of Jenny Mellor talking about her maths homework and her mum's kind of obsession with her dad's wife.

I created this using 25 clips and from an image I did using Adobe Photoshop 2025 V27.2 in the priority lounge of Larnaca Airport yesterday morning.

Little Jenny Mellor knew her dad purely as Mason up until the day her Granny Maureen decided it was time to flex her muscles, so to speak. The date: Sunday 15th September.

By the time this video was shot Mason was "Dad" and Jenny's world had completely changed... as had her mum, Gaynor's.

Gaynor says it quite regularly in Series 2: "I made a mistake and for that I ruined a huge part of my life."

That statement, however - doesn't even start to scratch the surface.

5 December 2025

Kaliméra. Or is it.

It is 1:20 am (GMT+2).

I have put the immersion heater on for some hot water and I am sat with a cup of sweet tea.

It is dark outside and I am leaving a place I never thought I'd be back at in December.

Things happen. It's part and parcel of life.

20 days to go to the big day, and I've missed five of them while I've been over here.

Still. The FTO is running brilliantly and I even took the scooter out for a couple of spins.

Good fun but dangerous as hell.

I had 90 km/h out of it the last time I was over here.

It's okay to nip to the bakers or up to the bank. But outside of that...

I chalked fuck on using Tony the Barber's son for the taxi ride into Larnaca Airport.

I'd gone up to Fosis in Vrysoulles on Wednesday specificly to drop him off written details and neither he nor Tony were knocking about.

"Just drop the details in with my father - he'll be at the shop," he said.

No, he wasn't - he was shut.

I ended up calling Alex Luxury Taxi Services who dropped us off here during summer. It is €20 more than I generally pay, but at least I know I'll get home.

Another thing is, is that WizzAir have changed my seat to 34D due to an "aircraft change" as they put it.

It obviously can't have any seats at the front.

Any further back and I'll be in the toilets.

Right.

The car and scooter are up the drive - the latter with the cover over it, and both with their batteries uncoupled.

I've printed out my new boarding pass and chalked the car park booking confirmation reference number in big letters in felt pen on the front of the brown C4 envelope I carry all my shit in, as if I didn't the barriers at Luton Airport's Mid Stay Car Park don't open, I can shout it through the Tannoy.

(This annoys Julie to death).

Half the time the automatic barriers don't work and the writing on the booking confirmation is miniscule in that you need a fucking magnifying glass to see it.

Earlier on in the year this happened, and there was no-one to lift the barrier and there was a right fucking backlog of traffic.

The lazy bastard wasn't answering the Tannoy.

I'd be considered a racist if I said he was a Pakistani, so I won't. But he was a Pakistani. According to the guy who ended up opening the barrier - his boss; he'd nipped for a shit. He didn't actually tell me that, I heard their conversation during the bollocking he was giving him over hands-free.

I can't believe I'm actually writing this!

So. Passport, keys, tickets, wallet and mobile phone. Laptop, external hard drive and jobs-to-do list from Julie - the purchase of three lots of Duty Free perfume after shave off the plane as there's a 30% WizzAir discount on (Christmas presents).

Main job. Domestos down both toilets and every plug hole, and emptying the bin.

I definitely have to empty the bin.

That's me done.

I might see you in Larnaca Airport.

4 December 2025

Kaliméra.

I was up at 7:45 am (GMT+2).

I wouldn't say that I had a lie in, as I was up until 1:00 am animating, whilst watching the football results come in.

In Cyprus every Premier League match is shown in the bars - however, night matches don't finish until midnight - which for me, is far too late.

Therefore, I am happy enough just to watch the scores come in on my laptop.

We obviously have a TV, but it's something I never watch, bar sticking a DVD on.

The back door is open but there's no sun out. Yet.

I can hear the gardeners up the street with either their chainsaws or blowers.

Our garden is much tidier since we had the guys round to trim the palm trees. The biggest job we have now is pouring weed killer around the periphery and shifting the cat shit.

Yesterday, I went up to Fosis Coffee Shop hoping that I'd drop on Tony who has the barber's next door.

Wednesday innit?

In the Cypriot villages, Wednesday is a nice excuse to have a day off - especially in winter.

Even the petrol stations close and you need a degree to operate the automated self-service machines as they all tend to be in Greek.

Last night I ate in again, but I made the mistake of putting Balsamic vinegar on my salad - which had strips of smoked salmon in it.

All I could taste was the vinegar. I won't be doing that again.

Animation. Opposite is something that I'd wanted to do since I firmed up the story as far back as last year, and when I started learning the animation process.

Not Tonight Santa was something that I really enjoyed doing.

I obviously looked at the Girl's Aloud video way back and thought it would look better with the girl's more active on a stage rather than sped up in corny clips.

Plus the girl's in The A's are much better looking than Girl's Aloud!

There are a couple of times where the Angie character is mentioned dancing. In one instance, by Mason who is talking to a 12/13 year-old Marvin Marshall (M&M) - Angie's nephew (Series 1), and ends up giving him the sex talk.

Mason explains that his auntie is a lovely dancer and whilst Angie and Marvin's mum are in earshot.

There's a reason for this but one I cannot tell you as it's all part of the story.

In Series 2, Marvin is seven years older and is lazy and disinterested and just wants to bum around at his parents house with his girlfriend.

Cue: Mason Green.

3 December 2025

Kaliméra.

I was up at 7:00 am (GMT+2).

I ran out of steam last night and tiredness caught up with me and I ended up in bed just after 8:00 pm (GMT+2).

I'd made my tea. A Capsicums-Green pepper salad with Tuna and sweetcorn in mayonnaise along with a couple of jacket potatoes. Very healthy apart from the two bottles of Estrella that I knocked back whilst doing so.

Eating alone is very fucking sad; and washing up afterwards even more so.

I'd set out my stall to watch a bit of Dad's Army - the late 1960's Series 2, as I'd been thinking about about my stepdad. He always loved the runup to Christmas and that was one of his favourite programmes.

Sentimentality, eh?

I only managed 20 minutes and ended up going to bed only to wake up at around 11:00 pm (GMT+2).

It had been a busy day. Sort of.

Christ - I sound like the Gaynor character in The A's now as "Sort of" and "And that" are her favourite words when she's not swearing.

I got up and worked for a few hours and had a couple of cups of sweet tea and then tried another shot at going to bed. It worked, thank God.

Yesterday, I picked up the FTO and it is running like a dream - with all its new red cooling system piping beneath the bonnet, water pump, thermostat et al.

Only €250 as there were no parts for him (Kleitos) to buy - and that included the two-year MOT.

So, I got home, washed and waxed it as it was filthy, and did the hike back into Paralimni to retrieve the scooter. Three miles and all up hill.

Later on, I drove over to Vrysoulles to see Fosis at his coffee shop.

I had a couple of Keo's and a beefed-up Cyprus coffee and sought out Tony the Barber's son, as he runs a taxi service.

I need an early morning ride into Larnaca Airport very early Friday morning - and Chris from Empire Taxi's along with all his family are going to Disneyland Paris.

So.

This morning I've washed two loads of darks and hung them out in the sun.

Hopefully they should be dry by Friday!

Animation. I have cut and rendered loads - however, the time consuming part - as none of what I chuck up on here is to script; is very time consuming.

Opposite, is me just playing around.

2 December 2025

Kaliméra apó tin Kýpro.

Good morning from Cyprus.

I was up at 8:00 am (GMT+2)

The back door is open and the sun is out.

For now.

These are short days and the old boy tends to put his hat on in the afternoon.

I've just been out and recoupled the battery to the scooter. I will have my second coffee and call at the bank before shooting down to April Avenue, where I hope to finally retrieve the FTO.

The car has had much TLC this year - the majority of it being my fault, as in hindsight, I should have never had the new radio CD put in.

That said. Why ever not?

I'll hopefully bring the car back and then walk back or catch a bus into Paralimni to retrieve the scooter.

It sounds a bit of an arsehole around tit way of doing things, as I could have just walked the three miles, but if the car isn't to snuff - then I've walked twice - and for nothing.

Trivialities aside.

The flight over was very good.

Seat 1A.

You can't get better than that. I managed to drop off for around 20 minutes but my mind - when I'm coming over here is always active.

I may have been up at 3:00 am but, I got stuck into some animation last night and it eats up my time like you wouldn't believe.

I wasn't bothered about going out, so whilst doing it, I knocked back the rest of a bottle of red wine that was on the side and a couple of tins of fish in oil.

Not sure what. Either squid or octopus; and mussels.

I'll eat properly tonight.

Opposite is an animation that has some dark history in the series.

At 22, Anthony N'Gonte is a mature student at 40 Martyrs and is a keen cyclist - and a semi-pro rugby player - who is on the books at The Harlequins down in Twickenham.

He is after getting is last A Levels to go to university to study to be a P.E teacher.

Where as most students parents pay for the privilege of going to the college - Anthony gets a free ride.

As you will see, the unfairness of the so-called levelling up process drives Gaynor to despair as in Series 1, she is very much into politics. And Anthony N'Gonte, often feels rather over-entitled, in that he tends to do whatever he wants.

Hence the storeroom.

In reality, he has only been let stay on at college as he captained England Under-17's Rugby Seven's a few years prior; and he is the so-called star of the 40 Martyrs rugby team.

Mason isn't one to be easily impressed and just goes to college the two days a week to complete the A Levels he missed after his recuperation from the death of his parents and of course the accident.

In fact, Mason only ever speaks to him the one time.

Very good though!

1 December 2025

It is 3:05 am and I am up.

I'm in the study with a coffee, and have just checked my emails to make sure that my flight is still on.

It is.

I'm heading down to Luton in a bit, to catch the first flight out to Larnaca.

It's my twelfth journey out to Cyprus this year and one that I hadn't planned.

However, what is different about this flight is that I'll be travelling out there on my own. It is the first time I've done this since I went to Bahrain last September.

Regardless of what Julie thinks I think; travelling alone is shit.

December is generally a month in which I never go anywhere. All year is a slog, so the run up to Christmas I generally try and savior. There has been exceptions through the years, but it is without doubt my favourite month.

I never try to overdo Christmas as it's never something I ever want to get sick off.

Julie brought the snowmen down last night - the countdown chalkboard which hangs on the kitchen window and the biscuit barrel. She filled up the main advent calendar's drawers with Quality Street - not for us, but the dog; and got the Dairy Milk and the Terry's chocolate orange calendars out too.

Today would have seen Radio Caroline put on hiatus for 25 days as the Carol's and Christmas songs would be getting played - however, I'll be out of the UK until Friday.

Again, it was not something that I'd planned.

So, with that I'll log off until I get in the Departure Lounge of Luton Airport.

---

I am in Luton Airport - not the Priority Lounge, as Julie as the Priority Pass, and the Stasi at the desk check every miniscule detail, so I have got plonked in Nolito's restaurant and just thrown £28 at Scrambled egg, fresh salmon, mushrooms, two Italian sausage and a Macchiato that tastes sort of like a Macchiato.

Nor am I being force-fed shit music into my earholes at volume and nor am I eating and typing in the dark.

The drive down was rubbish.

Very dark and it hounded it down all the way here.

And the M1 on a Monday morning is never good!

The animation opposite is of Dottie West.

I absolutely loved doing it as I was out of my comfort zone and it is like a test to see how quick I can turn them around.

A 46 second video took me less than 60 minutes to create from scratch. Upscaled too.

Anyway, onwards and upwards..

NO PART OF THIS WEBSITE MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS.

© JAMES DUROSE-RAYNER 2025