Words About Things

Most people’s television screens are about as big as the cinema in my hometown these days. Gone are the days when you had to sit with your nose pressed against the glass for transformers to fill your entire field of vision. Some people even have televisions so big that they have to stand outside their living room and watch them through the doorway.

Now you can go away for the weekend without leaving your flatscreen behind. A company called Hama from Germany are selling a modified Volkswagen Mini Van which come complete with a 42 inch flatscreen TV, a Nintendo Wii and a PS3. The Van, which also features a television in the boot, is for sale for 100,000 Euros. If you can’t afford that you could alsways buy a used van and stick your old TV in the back.

I was walking to work the other day when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a tatty looking yellow van. It was a Robin Reliant (three wheeler) with something written on the side. It wasn’t until about 10 minutes later that I realized why this car had caught my attention, it was Del boy Trotter’s car from Only Fools and Horses!

Now you too can own a piece of British comedy history in motoring form. A garage in Hampshire is selling a used van it claims was used in the television series for just under £7000. It is one of six models used in the 10 years the series was on the air and even has the company name painted on the side.

‘Inside, the car needs a good vacuuming. It has a 700cc engine and you can get up to about 55mph before you endanger your life. But it’s fully roadworthy with a current MOT certificate.’

As you can imagine there aren’t many of these iconic vans for sale. Boxer Ricky Hatton is said to own a version of the van although he hasn’t been seen driving it around yet. It even comes complete with the website delboysvan.com so that you can continues the previous owner’s van hire business. I’m sure there are plenty of people who would want to arrive at their wedding in the back of a Reliant.

Aardman Animation’s most popular characters will be returning to our screens this Christmas. The fourth short film to feature Wallace and Gromit is called “A Matter of Loaf and Death”. In the new feature (co-written by Bob Baker who also co-wrote The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave) our intrepid stop-motion heroes become Bakers.

Nick Park has said that he is pleased to be making a film for the British market:

I don’t feel like I’m making a film for a kid in some suburb of America — and being told they’re not going to understand a joke, or a northern saying.

The film, which at half an hour is shorter than The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, will be broadcast on the BBC. Park has described the latest adventure as a classic ‘who-doughnut’ mystery [groan]. Wallace’s new love interest is called Piella Bakewell and is played by Coronation Street star Sally Lindsay.