Sitting in front of the screen became a safety blanket during the pandemic. But I can’t keep existing within the confines of my flat
For two years, I watched a minimum of 24 TV shows every week. From Strictly Come Dancing to The Crown, BBC Four documentaries on canals and the latest ITV crime thrillers – I would park myself in front of my screen daily, sit back and consume it all.
More than just an obsessive hobby, this was my job on the Guardian’s TV desk as one of their preview writers. It had all the trappings of a childhood fantasy: I was getting paid to watch shows all day, weeks before they came out to the public, then writing up pithy summaries for the paper. My younger self would have been stunned by the prospect of his favourite pastime being turned into work – perhaps all those years he spent watching Neighbours after school and Eastenders in the evening were finally paying off. With the telly for company, work could be more fun than shuffling paper in an office, collecting your paycheck and living for the weekend.
