Well, my fellow nostalgia travellers, we have clung onto the wreckage and here we are together once more. I hope you are all well but if not please don't contact me as a problem shared is a problem doubled and I like only flattering letters and emails. I must thank reader Sharman for your kind comments and it is nice to quote you: "Reading your column is always preceded by making a hot drink."

Well, that is certainly a contrast to me writing it, which is always preceded by a large glass containing a hint of vodka or single malt whisky. Now that is between you and me as my doctor is not happy with the odd sips I take. The other day I moved him almost to tears of joy when I said I had gone for 30 days without alcohol. I did not have the heart to admit those days are spread over 50 years.

At the time of writing I have just watched part of the first X Factor show but got so bored I put on a video of the classic Village Of The Damned, shot at MGM Borehamwood and Letchmore Heath in 1960. Regarding X Factor, it just seemed the same old thing and I am not surprised it was trounced last year by the Elstree-made BBC production Strictly Come Dancing. How long can you milk the same formula, especially when the media tell us many of the contestants are actually professionals solicited by the programme rather than discovered by chance in mass auditions. Still it is regarded by ITV as a flagship programme and so be it. Incidentally, can you name the winners of the past three years? Personally I have no idea but I assume with such exposure they are all now superstars.

As for Simon Cowell, he is a local lad made good and I respect and admire what he has achieved, and having organised and hosted a plaque unveiling in his honour at Elstree Studios in 2006 I can say he is a really nice man. The plaque can be seen outside Elstree Studios.

I read in the media that another show past its prime, Big Brother, is going to take a rest next year and some wonder if it will return. I cannot watch it but it has brought business to Elstree Studios for many years so that has been great.

Another staple of television are game shows because they are cheap to make and fill airtime. A number of these have been and are still made in Borehamwood. To be honest I do not watch such shows much but I did grow up on such fodder. Who remembers those shows of the 1960s and 1970s? What about Take Your Pick with Michael Miles, which had the yes-no interlude and the man with the gong. I know I have now lost younger readers but it was entertainment half a century ago.

When the present day BBC Elstree Centre was owned by ATV in the 1960s and 1970s, many game shows were made and I used to attend many recordings. Celebrity Squares, hosted by Bob Monkhouse, was a favourite of mine as they used to invite old names to participate and I got to interview the likes of Arthur Askey and Margaret Lockwood in their dressing rooms.

Then there was Family Fortunes, in those days hosted by Max Bygraves. Two recordings that I attended stick in my mind all these years later. The first saw the selected family member in the last bit get a mental block out of fear. To every answer he replied chicken. For instance what would you take to the beach on a summers day. Everyone including the crew could not help laughing. On another recording the family member in the final round was asked to name something made of rubber and he replied a condom. It was never aired and the recording was scrapped as such a word was unacceptable for a family audience. How times have changed!