9 Comments

Laughing out loud. Thank you, Tom

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This is why I subscribe to your Substack, Tom. Delightful, as always.

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absolutely genius!

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Thank you!

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An internet stranger here on Substack turned me onto you, and I wish I could send her a Christmas gift as thanks. Your writing makes me laugh and feel, and this one in particular makes me want to attempt a short story with some Dateline elements

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Ah, thank you. And how nice of her. I have a few signed books here, in case you’d like to send her one (https://tom-cox.com/contact/).

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Yeah they massively missed a trick with the final scene of ‘Dragon ccottage’, because everyone knows horses were smaller, not bigger in the past. Which would have made her exit both hilarious, and more obviously metaphorical of the late 70’s fear of emasculation and the rise of second wave feminism. Enjoyed the bit where David suffocated that injured pigeon with an Eccles cake though. Highly thought provoking.

‘The Oyster boat’ was SO good, the original I mean, not the American remake where they ruined it by casting Angela Lansbury as the horny ghost that lives in his kettle.

‘Bonfire night’ was actually based on a true story apparently. Only Colin wasn’t a real boy, he was a deranged ventriloquist dummy. Turns out his ‘father’ Brian cooked up the whole story to deflect suspicion, just so he could set fire to the choir. He’d never recovered from his expulsion from the choir, after a particularly graphic dance routine he’d incorporated into a performance of Rasputin by Boney M, had gotten him kicked out. You can’t make this shit up!

‘Writers block’ was dreadful. You just can’t ever un-see that bit where she re-enacts the the red room scene from fifty shades of grey with the chihuahua. Apparently it was banned in 28 countries, but in the uk it was broadcast after Newsround.

I heard the scene in ‘Children of the edge’, where Natalie pushes the leader of the rival child gang, into a vat of molten steel, and then throws his treasured copy of Graham Hancocks ‘fingerprints of the gods’ in after him. That was filmed in a factory that was owned by Tommy Shelby. True story.

A stunt man actually died during the filming of ‘Nottingham rust’. They accidentally loaded the nail gun with live rounds instead of blanks in the canteen scene. Poor man ended up with his tongue stapled to a plastic tray of mashed potatoes that had been served with an ice cream scoop and bled out before the ambulance arrived. His family didn’t get any compensation, but Loach did send them a signed VHS of Kes.

I feel a 70’s British horror marathon coming on. They just don’t make them like they used to! 😂😂😂

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Now that's what I call an original writing prompt!

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Looks really good

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