An apple; some cheese
The first appearance in any comic since the 1980s of legendary UK TV host, Michael Parkinson. Parkinson’s career as a chat show host began when he was elevated from regional journalism due to the abject failure of a Peter Cook chat show vehicle. Parkinson was put in the chair instead and what followed was a multi-decade carnival of bonhomie with the great and good.
In the third panel, was the piece of cheese Sir Robert brought with him cut from that right-hand picture on the wall? And did he slice it with the sharp flint?
I was noticing the convenient cheese picture there, and therefore wondering if the picture hanging on the left is a landscape in the peak district.
It’s a chalk cliff a la Dover.
Chalk and Cheese?
Well spotted
The question that occurs to me, John: Did Michael Parkinson appear in comics during or before the 1980s?
I would be astonished if he didn’t have cameos in several British comics in the 70s and 80s.
I’m sure he must have interviewed Nipper Lawrence or Blake Edmonds at some point, if not Hot Shot Hamish.
He was, of course, a regular villain in Judge Dredd*
* this is not true
I bet he appeared in Look-in at some point.
So the father had actually said it somewhere, sort of… Now I almost justified him for not telling his kids at the end of his life, almost. I wonder how many autobiographies the great explorer has written. Great, well done Lottie for investigating well.
There are still 9 more installments to this story- has Lottie really solved the problem already? Are there additional complications that may arise? Answers may be forthcoming in future installments, same chibi-time, same chibi-channel!
Yeah, this seems too easy.
Wow, she really did get homework! For how flighty she can be, I admit, I did not expect this.
I’m impressed. The girl knows her way around a presentation! That last panel went *BOOM* on me.
And that’s a keen eye for the key solution. Not quite a needle in the haystack, but that took some effort to dig.
Look at that last slide. Disgraceful.
Am I supposed to believe that powerpoint enthusiast Glemt Glemmerson ended his pitch in a purple comic sans on a blank background, sans punctuation?
Or are we seeing a thoughtless TLDR slapped on a masterpiece by a purple coded collaborator? I know what I believe.
Sir! I must respectfully disagree. Ygln knew that Lottie would be standing in front of it, so he crafted it as if to allow her to say, without her having to say it aloud, the final hook of that presentation. I say, without any irony or snide asides, that the last panel really “popped” for me.
At least it’s not written in emoji..
This makes so much more sense than my interpretation that Lottie did the research.
Poor Comic Sans. Nobody loves you.
Comic Sans knows what it did.
To be fair, some part of the blame should go to Comic Sans’ partner-in-crime, Papyrus.
For what it’s worth, David Malki! wrote about someone who was a font of knowledge about typefaces well before a certain game made Papyrus more well-known.
I love that!
(Papyrus is acceptable if it’s on the sandwich board for a cheap mediterranean restaurant. But if the buffet is going to cost me a penny more than 15£, I’m going to demand better typography!
Des loves it. For what that’s worth.
Sir, I must respectfully disagree! Ygln knew well how Lottie would look standing in front of that slide! I know that the last panel really “popped” for me!
Oops! Sorry! There was a crash, and I did not know that my comment actually landed when I reposted!
User name checks out.
(did I do that right?)
🙂
This is why this site needs to allow posters to delete and edit their comments!
Regardless whether Hetty and Steven get the message or not, gotta love Lottie at the last panel having totally rocked this presentation (with Glym’s help of course).
Also is the interviewer supposed to be some illustrious old BBC staple?
That’s Parkie! And it’s good to see him.
What was the real title of the autobiography, though? Is the book Lottie is holding a later version, or did she embellish the title while speaking? Either way, whether “A Knife” or “A Stick”, words cannot hurt the late explorer now.
I think mayhap Lottie has “Glom”ed the title of the late Mapplethorpe’s première autobio. She appears to have done the same with Stephen’s name, too… Is this part of her plan?
Re: Abject failure of Peter Cook chat show. For some reason, I’m imagining a cage match between “Bedazzled” Peter Cook and “Princess Bride” Peter Cook.
Cook (bless his memory) had a strong net deficit of filters. It could have been hilarious as a one-off, after the watershed, with guests who could give as good as they got: a sort of travelling roast. But it sounds like some planner’s idea who did not know what, or who, they were dealing with. I presume the tapes have been wiped…?
I read Harry Thompson’s biography of Peter Cook, the tragic arc he plots out is that from the minute he left university, Cook was in creative decline. “Where Do i Sit” managed three hopeless episodes, all wiped now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Do_I_Sit
MULTIPLE autobiographies, people.
I was going to be an insufferable pedant and point out that I have a mid-2000s Beano with a Parky cameo, but then I remembered that it was the entirely unrelated Michael Parkingzone so I must presume this is indeed Parkinson’s first post ’89 comics appearance.
Insufferable!!!
Stanage Edge! Been there. A day hike in 2018 while I and the American Travelling Morrice were staying at Hathersage. A nice place, if you like millstones. Millstones everywhere.
I remember reading that Richard Branson as a surprisingly small child was taught to be enterprising and independent through his parents dropping him off in the middle of nowhere with very little in the way of supplies, driving off and making him find his own way home. Did this inspire the story of Sir Rob’s early adventures?
Also, this summer I read the novel ‘Climbers’ by M John Harrison, another Yorkshire staple, can highly recommend, I think it would make a nice companion piece to the misty moors segment of this story and almost certainly mentions Stanage Edge.
Excellent Parky cameo!
I don’t recall him popping up in Paul Cornell’s Captain Britain and MI13 but if he would have appeared anywhere since the 80s, it would have been there. Or maybe Hellblazer.
Comic Sans? Really Lottie? I don’t actually have a problem with it in the grand scheme. It’s just a font, who cares, this righteous indignation over a simple ugly font is more energy than I’m willing to give for something so inconsequential. But right now it’s inappropriate.
… Wait. Shoot, it’s in character for her, isn’t it…
Yes. Also, Gemn did the slides, remember? He’s the comic sans culprit.
I dunno. Glenn created it, but it was more-or-less an assignment given to him by Lottie. I could easily imagine Lottie saying “it must use Comic Sans” as one of the requirements. (Not because she actually cares about the font, but just because she seems to have made a sport of keeping him slightly off-guard at all times)
For the curious, here’s a great read on Peter Cook’s “Where Do I Sit?” mentioned in a previous comment:
https://www.comedy.co.uk/features/comedy_chronicles/where-do-i-sit/
Not sure where to click to get there, but these folk will sell you a mug with his mug on it. https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoon?searchID=CS364236
An ersatz Hirschfeld Parky!
I love how professional these two are. Off camera, they have been doing research and putting all this together. I would love to see a panel of Lottie in a library doing research. (So I can selfishly use it as phone wallpaper? Perhaps.)
Indeed, though I think she may not have read too many books if she so far has not wrecked her eyes.
She’s barred from the Tackleford library on account of being a blight on silence. Sheffield might not know her yet, but it’s only a matter of time.