The Problematic Gaze

We kick off Sex Month on The Problematic Gaze by diving headfirst into Alfie, the swaggering, unsettling snapshot of 1960s masculinity that still raises eyebrows today.

We explore how Michael Caine’s charismatic performance—paired with that infamous fourth-wall-breaking narration—pulls us into Alfie’s world, even as his misogyny and emotional detachment push us away. We unpack the film’s origins in Bill Naughton’s play and Lewis Gilbert’s direction, while confronting its most jarring elements: the casual disposability of women, the cutting language, and the harrowing illegal abortion sequence that still lands with force.

But we don’t stop at the screen. We place Alfie squarely in the contradictions of 1966 Britain—Swinging London’s promise of liberation colliding with the realities of Harold Wilson’s Britain, economic uncertainty, the shadow of the Aberfan disaster, and the ongoing shifts of decolonization. Against a backdrop of chart-topping music and cultural change, we ask whether Alfie reflects this moment in time—or critiques it.

By the end, we’re left wrestling with a film that is as compelling as it is uncomfortable: bold, bleak, and still deeply problematic.

You can watch Alfie on YouTube. Click here

GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we turn our lens to 1974's sec comedy 'Confessions Of A Window Cleaner'. Click here to watch on YouTube

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

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And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!

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We record a live, unedited “Problematic Gazette” update from PG Manor while planning upcoming episodes that launch our “sex season,” starting with Alfie and continuing with films from later decades. We swap stories about accidentally overhearing loud sex through an open bungalow window, along with past experiences of disruptive noise in shared spaces.

We also dive into what we’ve been watching lately, including Hacks, The Comeback (and its AI-written sitcom plotline), Netflix’s The Unchosen (a cult thriller), and ITV’s Secret Service (a modern spy drama). Along the way, we share our interest in The Devil Wears Prada sequel, unpack the origin and meaning of “jumping the shark,” and read listeners E-Mails.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!

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For the first time ever, we visit 1991 on The Problematic Gaze to focus on class comedy caper Keeping Up Appearances. Hyacinth’s number is mistaken for a Chinese takeaway, she prepares for a church concert, Richard fears early retirement, Rose considers becoming a nun, and the farce culminates with Hyacinth fainting after discovering Rose and the vicar in a cupboard.

We place the sitcom within its wider historical and cultural moment, reflecting on 1991’s defining events—from the Gulf War and recession to rising unemployment, the death of Freddie Mercury, an IRA mortar attack on Downing Street, the birth of the World Wide Web, early steps toward the Premier League, the Maxwell scandal, and the launch of The Big Issue, alongside charts and TV ratings of the time.

Our discussion centers on British class anxiety, accents, and aspiration, exploring how the show both mocks and reinforces class stereotypes. We also highlight the standout performance of Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth and delve into trivia surrounding the rest of the cast too!

Watch our chosen episode of Keeping Up Appearances on Youtube

GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we kick off our SEX season with Alfie from 1966

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Gazette, we banter about a new haircut and Vin Diesel’s twin brother before one of us shares a story about accidentally "having tea and scones" with both members of an identical twin pair—who, thanks to different hair and facial hair, didn’t look identical at all. We get into how Sweet Transvestite has become a full-blown earworm, and talk through generational gaps and Madonna at Coachella, where audiences seem more focused on filming than watching.

That spirals into a broader chat about “two-screen” viewing and whether streaming TV is being simplified for increasingly distracted audiences. We also put out a call for your ideas and messages ahead of our 100th main episode and second birthday, and catch up on Hacks season five.

Elsewhere, we touch on a new Netflix gender-role comedy, the questionable quality of Carry On Emmanuelle, a Daily Mail piece about “tacky” watches, and our outrage that Karen Carpenter’s 1979–80 solo album was shelved—with the cost unfairly deducted from her royalties.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we return—after a battle with some truly on-brand technical “gremlins”—to tackle The Rocky Horror Picture Show, separating the film from its 1973 stage origins and digging into what makes it endure. We share our own very different relationships with Rocky Horror, unpack its production history, and explore how it evolved into a midnight-movie phenomenon with a fiercely devoted cult following, eventually earning preservation in the National Film Registry.

We walk through the plot—from Brad and Janet’s ill-fated car trouble to their surreal encounter with Dr. Frank-N-Furterand the unforgettable Time Warp—while placing the film in the context of early-1970s UK theatre, glam rock aesthetics, and a moment of shifting queer visibility. Along the way, we touch on 1975’s pop landscape and how it intersects with the film’s sound and sensibility.

We also grapple with the more complicated aspects of Rocky Horror: questions of language, consent, and the “queer villain” trope, balancing critique with an appreciation of its lasting impact. Ultimately, we explore why this strange, campy, audience-participation spectacle continues to resonate as a story about freedom, identity, and the joy of not fitting neatly into any category.

GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we cast our Gaze on the classic UK TV sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. Click here to watch our chosen episode on YouTube

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re back in the Problematic Gazette saddle — no plan, no structure, just vibes (and mild chaos). This week, we kick off by comparing ailments like it’s an Olympic sport: one of us is fresh off a greatest hits run of gastroenteritis, a colitis flare, and recent COVID (thriving!), while the other is living vicariously through a husband who’s just attended a very hush-hush celebrity wedding 👀

From there, we spiral — naturally — into TV chat. We debrief the The Apprentice UK final, confess our soft spot for Race Across the World, and get genuinely giddy over Madonna teasing Confessions 2 (Coachella rumors! a possible sample! we’re unwell).

There’s also pre-holiday anxiety as we eye our upcoming Dubrovnik trip while nervously refreshing headlines about a looming jet fuel shortage — what could possibly go wrong?

On the telly front, we’re dipping into Things You Should Have Done, celebrating the return of Taskmaster, checking in on Rivals season two, and gently mourning Only Murders in the Building losing its way a bit.

Elsewhere, we get unexpectedly academic about the decline of late-era Carry On films, name-drop the diaries of Kenneth Williams, and issue a heartfelt apology for out lost episode (Riverside, we will never forgive you).

We round things off with a quick dip into the exhausting whirlpool of MAGA/Donald Trump-adjacent chaos, reflect on our collective doomscrolling fatigue and — as ever — plug where you can find us next.

Come for the chat, stay for the spirals.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we are taking a break from our regular scheduling this week, we're giving Gazer new and old a treat from the past. This was the episode that won us Best History Podcast at the 2025 Independent Podcast Awards. Normal service will resume next week with The Rocky Horror Picture Show!

Greetings from PG Towers! Join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV Producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV, Film and Popular Culture from yesteryear. February marks LGBT+ History month in the UK. To celebrate we focus our Gaze on the landmark film 'The Naked Civil Servant' from 1975. Starring John Hurt in his BAFTA winning title role, this was a pioneering film, charting the life of the bold, courageous and unapologetic LGBT trailblazer Quentin Crisp. We also chart the progression of gay rights throughout the 1970's in Britain. 

Click here to watch 'The Naked Civil Servant' on YouTube and join in with our conversation!

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And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The Gazette, we kick things off with a cozy chat about UK gardening and wildlife—blue tits nesting in the eaves, wasps causing chaos, and the latest updates from our bee hotel—before diving into listener emails about our Tootsie episode, reactions to America’s Next Top Model, and some Star Trek recommendations.

We talk about nearing the end of a full Carry On film watch (and the disappointing drop in quality), plus a new 2026 satirical series about organizing the FIFA World Cup, and what we’ve been watching lately, including The Studio. Then things take a turn into the unexpected with YouTube reaction videos praising Cilla Black.

From there, we get into heavier territory: concerns about Trump, shifting narratives among right-wing pundits and grifters, and the wave of online misogyny targeting Artemis 2 astronaut Christina Koch—plus bizarre flat-earther conspiracy reactions.

We wrap up with highlights from an interview with former Bananarama member Jacquie O’Sullivan and a look at the Paley Center reunion celebrating the 50th anniversary of Charlie’s Angels.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Problematic Gaze podcast we dive into the 1982 cross dressing classic Tootsie, and we're thrilled to be joined by our Down Under correspondent, TV historian, host of TV Gold Podcast, and former TV VJ Andrew Mercado!

Andrew joins us in “Culture Corner,” where we unpack what 1982 looked like in both the US and Australia.

We cover key cultural moments and trends—from Brisbane’s Commonwealth Games and political repression under Joh Bjelke-Petersen to E.T., the rise of MTV, early home computing, teen sex comedies, the Lindy Chamberlain case, Men at Work, and Cold War nuclear anxiety.

Andrew breaks down the golden age of US daytime soap operas, highlighting major shows and some of the more bonkers storylines, and we connect that directly to Tootsie’s soap setting.

We also critically analyse the film’s satire of sexism, Michael’s toxic behaviour, the ethics of deception, its relatively non-homophobic approach for the time, underdeveloped supporting characters, and its romantic comedy ending—asking whether Tootsie still holds up today.

Find Andrew on his own podcast TV Gold here

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This weekend on the Gazette, we chat through an Easter bank holiday weekend filled with solo parenting, noisy dogs, and even planting tomatoes and cucumbers—alongside deep dives into culture past and present.

We recap our latest main episode on Bo’ Selecta! and Britney Spears, correct the truth about Fergie’s one-handed cartwheel, and explore Madonna’s resurgence as Into the Groove trends again on TikTok. We also discuss reports of Madonna filming in London and a possible cameo with Seth Rogen and Julia Garner.

Plus: Jane McDonald topping the charts, Denise Welch’s viral tweet, Last One Laughing, Daily Mail headlines, looksmaxxing discourse, a preview with Andrew Mercado, and excitement over newly discovered Doctor Who episodes.

If you love pop culture commentary, TV history, music throwbacks, and sharp but funny conversation, this is for you.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.