This an amalgamation of posts I made on my Facebook with a few entertainment ideas for people staying at home for the next few weeks. I realised not everyone has the spare cash for a streaming service subscription so tried to find stuff that was available without needing to spend any extra money. It’s not everything that’s available but I hope it’s of use to some folks who may not have realised what was out there.
UK TV streaming/catch up/box set services without a subscription –
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
https://uktvplay.uktv.co.uk/ (the app doesn’t have a download function or casting ability)
https://www.channel4.com/
https://www.my5.tv/ ( not compatible with an iPad)
https://www.itv.com/
And they have app versions for tablets and phones.
There’s a great (and regularly updated) list of films available on BBC iPlayer at the Film Stories website here. They even include the dates films are due to leave the service.
The likelihood is that when everyone (or nearly everyone) is at home internet connections may get a little laggy. This may affect streaming services, cause buffering and the like. May I suggest downloading a few films or TV shows of choice onto tablets or phones from services like the above or Amazon Prime or Netflix etc… in case this happens and you need something watch. (Yes I know there’s ordinary tv, but it can be a bit pants during the day, and I know there are DVDs but some people don’t have physical media anymore, or have lost it all etc…) Just an idea to have some backup entertainment that’s all. I think iPlayer has something you can add to your computer to download programmes. Downloads time out after 30 days usually. You can queue things to download overnight when fewer people are online so you have things to watch the next day etc…
Books
If you fancy something to read and don’t have a tonne of books to hand at home while you are stuck inside then you could download the kindle app and check out the free books available
https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=2245146011
Or check out Project Gutenberg
https://www.gutenberg.org/
The Google books app has access to free books too
https://zdcs.link/0g7nw
And there’s a whole load of free pdfs of books here so you can read them on pretty much any pdf reader or device
https://www.pdfbooksworld.com/
Pretty sure other e-reader apps offer access to free books too.
Audible has made a number of children’s audiobooks available for free – click here
The Open University has a lot of educational material available free on the google and amazon platforms and free online courses too https://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/free-courses
Podcasts!
There are various apps to listen and sub to podcasts, some music players have the function too.
Just search for them in your podcast app of choice. (I will try and pop back and add proper links in the next day or so)
I don’t listen to that many but enjoy these –
Film Stories
Nerds Social Club
No Such Thing As A Fish
Prog Mag
My friend Mim suggested the following –
Disgraceland – true crime in the music business
Do the Right Thing – comedy panel show, it is sweary and NSFW
The Adam Buxton Podcast – interviews with mostly comedians
The Frank Skinner Show – comedy chat
The Infinite Monkey Cage – an extended version of their Radio 4 show
Lore – tales of unexplained phenomena, weird historical stuff. It’s hard to describe, but very good just give it a go!
Mysterious Universe – does what it says on the tin.
