John Benson tell us what the instant sale is this time. Nicholas Parsons with a lucky Sale of the Century contestant.
And now, from Norwich, it's the interactive DVD of the week...
It's November - what do you mean you haven't got all your Christmas presents yet? Of course, what you'll have wanted was the new Eamonn Holmes interactive (and educational) game 'Spell', but fears are that stocks will be low after the first 10,000 DVD covers had to be scrapped - due to a spelling error. Well, Eamonn's a difficult word, isn't it? Amon, sorry. No, hang on, Eamen. Oh whatever.
For the those last-minute panicking about what to get for that difficult-to-buy-for East Anglican elderly relative with a nostalgia for quiz shows, low personal standards in the area of interactive entertainment, a DVD player going dusty and the horn for Nicholas Parsons (and I think we've all got a relation like that, haven't we?) I've discovered the perfect solution.
The new interactive Sale of Century DVD is exactly what you need. Not sure whether this new packaging and release was inspired by Ant and Dec's Gameshow Marathon, or by a late-night conversation involving desperate marketeers, tv-nostalgic hookers and class A drugs, but whatever it was, it is indeed inspired.
Just in case you don't remember Sale of the Century it was a game show filmed in Norwich, based on some complex shopping premise and very much starring Nicholas Parsons, now mainly better known for Radio 4's Just a Minute, for his annual Edinburgh Fringe outings, and for just Being Nicholas Parsons (now there's a Spike Jonze film waiting to be made - like Malkovitz, but with more tea).
You don't have to remember the quiz show to play the DVD game, though, in fact, perhaps it's better if you don't. It's something for all the family, as long as you do it loud - the whole thing seems to be designed to be played at maximum volume; even when played quietly, Parsons seems like he's shouting, and it's only when you hoik the volume right up to all-age, post-Christmas-lunch-Queen's-Speech level that he looks comfortable. Answer questions and you'll be rewarded imaginary money, get to the end of each round and you'll swap money for an imaginary toaster, or some imaginary towels. The imaginary fun never ends.
If you do remember it, though, you'll be overcome by a sensation that you've been transported into the past - the familiar garish brown and yellow graphics, the comforting clunkiness of the concept, the fact that Nicholas Parsons doesn't seem to have changed in the slightest - except with modern questions.
"In 2006, which politician stated..." "What? But how would you know that anyway, Nicholas? How is that possible?! You're in the PAST!"
It's a game designed to freak out your grandmother.
While all your senses are abused with the tepid salty air of the late 70s (which smells vaguely of homebrew and finger food, since you ask), your brain is expected to function at 21st century cognitive levels. It has yet to be tested, but scientists are at present unsure if this will prove just too confusing for a Christmas Day afternoon, and may lead to imploding brains the length and breadth of East Anglia (and possibly other places too).
Never mind, though. Should the shock send nan over the edge, there is no upset to be had; she won't be missing out on anything at all - this is exactly the kind of thing they will provide as entertainment in purgatory.
I recommend it highly.
