Here in the LOVEFiLM office, I’m surrounded by extremely fit people. Content Manager Jen Trevorrow ran a half-marathon last weekend. Digital Assistant Rich Turner is doing the London Marathon in April. And Senior Commercial Manager Rob Hanlon has decided it would be fun to cycle from London to Paris. Madness!
So I am embarking on a marathon of my own: a Blackadder marathon!
I know – what AM I thinking?! Can any man really survive 12 gruelling hours of searing put-downs, cunning plans, Melchett BAAAAAs, Queenie beheadings? Why would anyone even attempt such a thing? Well, because they’re there – all four series of Blackadder, plus, as a warmdown, Blackadder’s Christmas Carol, are available on LOVEFiLM Instant right now.
These running types will tell you marathons are infectious, addictive even. Which apparently explains why some crazy individuals can’t leave it at just 26 miles. They do it again and again. And then up the ante with a coast-to-coast, or the full length of the Ridgeway in 24 hours, or the Thames path from source to barrier in a week.
Perhaps I’ll begin to feel the same as I go through my training- starting with Wallace and Gromit’s Cracking Contraptions. Surely anyone can breeze through all 10 two minute episodes without breaking a sweat? All being well, it’ll be straight on into the 13 ten minute episodes of The Morph Files.
And then, time to get serious. Ploughing through Derren Brown’s Mind Control and Trick of the Mind episodes should help in hurdling those mental barriers to come. Then, to instil in myself of the power of mankind’s potential, all of Human Planet. If we’ve come this far over thousands of years, that Blackadder marathon is just another step along the way.
But, if the marathoner’s ‘addiction’ does indeed take hold, what then?
Jeeves and Wooster is, in my opinion, TV perfection. Sitting through all 22 episodes on LOVEFiLM Instant will last 18 and a half hours or so.
After that, Inspector Morse. All 33 mysteries, at an hour and a quarter per episode, will take nearly two and a half days. Without wee breaks.
And finally, the do or die challenge. The Everest. The Pole (I am just watching TV and may be some time)… Lost.
121 episodes. At least 40 minutes each. With feature-length specials. That’s about 90 hours. Or nearly four days, non-stop, from start to finish.
I’m going for it. Time to open a JustGiving account…
Rob Holloway, Senior Content Manager – Devices
Excuse me, but what about 8 series of 24 episodes plus mid season mini-movie?
Well yes, that would be a good one but I restricted myself to series available on LOVEFiLM Instant. Delving into the DVD catalogue would have been a bit too much for me. And I don’t think I could take that much Bauer “DAMMIT!” either!