Dexter: Original Sin
1x04 Fender Bender
How I Met Your Mother
1x05 Okay Awesome [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x04 Week 1: Thursday
9x05 Week 1: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Saturday, 24 January 2026
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
While that All the Anime order I mentioned still hasn't arrived, a package from Australia turned up having only been dispatched at the end of last week. Really highlights the ridiculousness of whatever AtA have done to mismanage their Christmas sale orders. Anyway, it has finally been dispatched now and is due Monday.
Number of titles in collection: 3,660 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 977 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,683 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 502 [up 4]
Number of discs in collection: 8,794 [up 12]
Number of films: 4,697 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 483 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 10,188 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,280 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
While that All the Anime order I mentioned still hasn't arrived, a package from Australia turned up having only been dispatched at the end of last week. Really highlights the ridiculousness of whatever AtA have done to mismanage their Christmas sale orders. Anyway, it has finally been dispatched now and is due Monday.
Number of titles in collection: 3,660 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 977 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,683 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 502 [up 4]
Number of discs in collection: 8,794 [up 12]
Number of films: 4,697 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 483 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 10,188 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,280 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 23 January 2026
TV
Dexter: Original Sin
1x03 Miami Vice
Amazing restraint for this franchise to have got through 108 episodes, almost all of them set in Miami, before using this title.
How I Met Your Mother
1x04 Return of the Shirt [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x02 Week 1: Tuesday
9x03 Week 1: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
1x03 Miami Vice
Amazing restraint for this franchise to have got through 108 episodes, almost all of them set in Miami, before using this title.
How I Met Your Mother
1x04 Return of the Shirt [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x02 Week 1: Tuesday
9x03 Week 1: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Video Games
Hitman: World of Assassination Free Starter Pack
So, the developers of this have made the new James Bond game, First Light, which naturally I'm looking forward to; and this game is widely acclaimed (PC Gamer regularly include it in the top half of their annual top games list), even though I didn't think it was really my kind of thing; but it has a free demo on Steam, so I thought "why not? You never know."
Well, what Steam calls a "demo" the game calls a "starter pack" — it makes you install the full thing, all 60-something GB of it. I guess the idea is you'll love it soooo much you just have to upgrade immediately. I spent 10+ minutes trying to log in online, because you have to before you can actually play anything, and it's not implemented in a Steam Deck friendly way so it took undue effort. But I persevered. Then I had to work out where the hell the actual demo/starter content was — not as clear as you'd think, because you've installed the full game, which after years of support seems to have a tonne of stuff on offer (they're still releasing new content for it regularly). But I found where I had to go eventually.
And then I got killed trying to do the fucking training mission.
I could've had another go at it, of course, but I hadn't really been enjoying it up to that point anyway, so why bother? I was right the first time: this is not a game for me. I hope I enjoy First Light more.
So, the developers of this have made the new James Bond game, First Light, which naturally I'm looking forward to; and this game is widely acclaimed (PC Gamer regularly include it in the top half of their annual top games list), even though I didn't think it was really my kind of thing; but it has a free demo on Steam, so I thought "why not? You never know."
Well, what Steam calls a "demo" the game calls a "starter pack" — it makes you install the full thing, all 60-something GB of it. I guess the idea is you'll love it soooo much you just have to upgrade immediately. I spent 10+ minutes trying to log in online, because you have to before you can actually play anything, and it's not implemented in a Steam Deck friendly way so it took undue effort. But I persevered. Then I had to work out where the hell the actual demo/starter content was — not as clear as you'd think, because you've installed the full game, which after years of support seems to have a tonne of stuff on offer (they're still releasing new content for it regularly). But I found where I had to go eventually.
And then I got killed trying to do the fucking training mission.
I could've had another go at it, of course, but I hadn't really been enjoying it up to that point anyway, so why bother? I was right the first time: this is not a game for me. I hope I enjoy First Light more.
Tabletop Games
Daggerheart:
Dragon Heist in the City of Splendors
&
Curse of Strahd
So much for mentioning these every week! But they've both been continuing non-stop since I last remembered to specifically call them out (which was a month ago yesterday).
Dragon Heist in the City of Splendors
&
Curse of Strahd
So much for mentioning these every week! But they've both been continuing non-stop since I last remembered to specifically call them out (which was a month ago yesterday).
Thursday, 22 January 2026
TV
How I Met Your Mother
1x03 The Sweet Taste of Liberty [2nd watch]
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
32x07 Episode 7 [season finale]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x01 Week 1: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
1x03 The Sweet Taste of Liberty [2nd watch]
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
32x07 Episode 7 [season finale]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x01 Week 1: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Wednesday, 21 January 2026
TV
Dexter: Original Sin
1x02 Kid in a Candy Store
How I Met Your Mother
1x02 Purple Giraffe [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x99 Champions Week 2: Thursday
8x100 Champions Week 2: Friday [season finale]
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
1x02 Kid in a Candy Store
How I Met Your Mother
1x02 Purple Giraffe [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x99 Champions Week 2: Thursday
8x100 Champions Week 2: Friday [season finale]
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
TV
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x96 Champions Week 2: Monday
8x97 Champions Week 2: Tuesday
8x98 Champions Week 2: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
8x96 Champions Week 2: Monday
8x97 Champions Week 2: Tuesday
8x98 Champions Week 2: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
After yesterday's minor disaster, I almost didn't want to go back to Skyrim today — shocker, I know! I considered finding something else to play for a bit. After all, this is the only game I've really engaged with for months now, and I have hundreds of others in my backlog, dozens of which I'd class as "ones I really want to play" — why not finally make time for them? But I was worried it would end up souring me on Skyrim, so I decided I should get back on the metaphorical horse. And, of course, I love it still.
Saw a thread on Reddit today asking how long it takes to complete. Some replies were estimating times of 60–100 hours to do not just the main quest but also most major side quests. Well, I'm over 123 hours now and still haven't properly started the main quest, nor even begun most of those major side quests, nor even visited several major cities (yes, still — in fact, my tally is still three out of ten). Am I doing it wrong... or am I doing it right? I think the latter.
After yesterday's minor disaster, I almost didn't want to go back to Skyrim today — shocker, I know! I considered finding something else to play for a bit. After all, this is the only game I've really engaged with for months now, and I have hundreds of others in my backlog, dozens of which I'd class as "ones I really want to play" — why not finally make time for them? But I was worried it would end up souring me on Skyrim, so I decided I should get back on the metaphorical horse. And, of course, I love it still.
Saw a thread on Reddit today asking how long it takes to complete. Some replies were estimating times of 60–100 hours to do not just the main quest but also most major side quests. Well, I'm over 123 hours now and still haven't properly started the main quest, nor even begun most of those major side quests, nor even visited several major cities (yes, still — in fact, my tally is still three out of ten). Am I doing it wrong... or am I doing it right? I think the latter.
Monday, 19 January 2026
TV
Dexter: Original Sin
1x01 And in the Beginning...
Finally getting round to this third incarnation of Dexter. We considered skipping over it for Resurrection and coming back to it later, but... well, let's just say the opening mintues proved that would've been a poor decision!
How I Met Your Mother
1x01 Pilot [2nd watch]
Having finished Friends, this seemed like a good replacement. Plus, it's over 16 years since I watched it the first time (I wouldn't have said I'd watched it recently at all, but 16 years! Jesus!) Talking of time, what feels even more insane is that the 'far future year' of the framing device is now just a couple of years off in 2030. Eek.
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x95 Champions Week 1: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
1x01 And in the Beginning...
Finally getting round to this third incarnation of Dexter. We considered skipping over it for Resurrection and coming back to it later, but... well, let's just say the opening mintues proved that would've been a poor decision!
How I Met Your Mother
1x01 Pilot [2nd watch]
Having finished Friends, this seemed like a good replacement. Plus, it's over 16 years since I watched it the first time (I wouldn't have said I'd watched it recently at all, but 16 years! Jesus!) Talking of time, what feels even more insane is that the 'far future year' of the framing device is now just a couple of years off in 2030. Eek.
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x95 Champions Week 1: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
Despite months of play, and now over 120 hours in-game, today I forgot one of the cardinal rules of Skyrim — indeed, of most any game: save regularly. I died in a fight I didn't think was going that poorly, and lost a bunch of progress and some rare loot (at least, stuff I hadn't come across yet) loot. Bit annoying. On the bright side, my horse had also died slightly earlier, and I resigned myself to having to buy another one because it had been so long since my last save (and, yeah, I didn't think to save then! What an idiot), so I got that back for free. Swings and roundabouts, I guess.
Despite months of play, and now over 120 hours in-game, today I forgot one of the cardinal rules of Skyrim — indeed, of most any game: save regularly. I died in a fight I didn't think was going that poorly, and lost a bunch of progress and some rare loot (at least, stuff I hadn't come across yet) loot. Bit annoying. On the bright side, my horse had also died slightly earlier, and I resigned myself to having to buy another one because it had been so long since my last save (and, yeah, I didn't think to save then! What an idiot), so I got that back for free. Swings and roundabouts, I guess.
Sunday, 18 January 2026
TV
Agatha Christie's Seven Dials
Part 1 Bundle of Love
Part 2 Battle Commences
Part 3 The Finger Points [finale]
The latest Christie adaptation, this time on Netflix. Apparently reviews have been mixed, but I thought it was rather good overall, with several neat twists in the final episode.
Part 1 Bundle of Love
Part 2 Battle Commences
Part 3 The Finger Points [finale]
The latest Christie adaptation, this time on Netflix. Apparently reviews have been mixed, but I thought it was rather good overall, with several neat twists in the final episode.
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
Set out to do something specific today... then got distracted on the way, to the tune of over an hour's playtime. But where I left off, that's where I'd intended to get to — so, next time.
Ah, good old Skyrim.
Set out to do something specific today... then got distracted on the way, to the tune of over an hour's playtime. But where I left off, that's where I'd intended to get to — so, next time.
Ah, good old Skyrim.
Tabletop Games
Good Puppers!
A couple more rounds of this. Beginning to get the hang of it, I think.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Trick-Taking Game
The sequel's out now — need to get ahold of that.
A couple more rounds of this. Beginning to get the hang of it, I think.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Trick-Taking Game
The sequel's out now — need to get ahold of that.
this week on 100Films.co.uk
A trio of posts kicked off my 100 Films in a Year Challenge on 100Films.co.uk at the start of this week.
First, the overview of the structure for 2026's challenge — which is also my 20th time doing all this:
Then, two posts outlining specific 12-film categories. First up, Blindspot:
Finally, what this year I'm calling "What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen All the Best Sci-fi, Action, Adventure, Mystery, and Thriller Films?"
Now that 2025 is wrapped up and 2026 is begun, will there be anything to report next Sunday? Probably not. But you never know.
First, the overview of the structure for 2026's challenge — which is also my 20th time doing all this:
Then, two posts outlining specific 12-film categories. First up, Blindspot:
Finally, what this year I'm calling "What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen All the Best Sci-fi, Action, Adventure, Mystery, and Thriller Films?"
Now that 2025 is wrapped up and 2026 is begun, will there be anything to report next Sunday? Probably not. But you never know.
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