TV & Showbiz

Some of the very best memes about Gary Barlow’s ‘massive’ son

America might currently be staring down a giant bin fire, but Britain is busy just scrolling through endless memes about a giant young man.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 7th November 2024

We don’t know why the internet does what it does sometimes, all we can tell you is that on occasions like this when seemingly the entire country is making jokes and some truly incredible memes about Gary Barlow’s ‘massive’ son, we’re just glad.

In case you’ve been living under a rock – or in his case, a planet – Gary Barlow has gone viral after sharing what clearly thought was an unassuming family picture on social media.

Well, to be more accurate, his son Daniel has gone viral due to the seemingly enormous height difference between him and his dad which, naturally, has become the funniest thing in about a decade by UK standards.

The British sense of humour is elite, we all know that, but when we tell you we’ve been literally streaming tears reacting to the endless flood of memes about Gary Barlow’s big son, we’re doing so through uncontrollable fits of laughter. Here are some of the very best we’ve come across:

Honestly, typing this out has been more of a challenge than anything I’ve ever written, mainly due to the convulsive and all-consuming chuckles.

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We were today years old when we learned that there’s a word for the giggles, by the way: the technical term is ‘gelastic seizures’, so feel free to enjoy that bonus fact.

Anyway, back to the nonsense.

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There’s a somewhat small comfort in knowing that while the online landscape is full of very negative things going on right now, it can still be an escape for simple-minded folks like us to laugh at a pretty tall kid from Cheshire.

For context, the 24-year-old Barlow child isn’t anywhere near as big as you’re probably thinking; as far as we can tell, it’s more a case of he’s just taller than his below-average height popstar dad.

According to our very intense research (that definitely didn’t take us less than a minute before we started scrolling through the memes again), Dan Barlow clocks in at around 6’2″ and Gary is roughly 5’7″.

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Sorry to spoil the party and shatter the illusion. We can all just forget that bit and keep carrying on like Gary Barlow’s wife Dawn Andrews gave birth to a ‘giant’ if you like?

Oh, sod it – here’s a few more:

Read more:

Honestly, just go on Twitter (no, not X; this is peak old-school Twitter comedy at its best) and look on the ‘Gary Barlow’ trending feed and take a few minutes, or an hour, to p*ss yourself at the endless wave of ridiculous memes about a boy who is basically just a bit taller than his dad.

As for the Take That star himself, the 53-year-old is yet to comment on the whole situation, probably because it’s utterly ridiculous but still, crack a joke would’ya, Gaz?

Brits are the funniest people in the universe. FACT. We also hope it goes without saying that this is very tongue-in-cheek; there is no sizeism or offence intended here whatsoever and he can see the sunny side of this sheer silliness.

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Daniel Barlow just happens to be taller than the man who wrote the absolute banger that is ‘Relight My Fire’, so they’re both winners if you ask us. Happy meming!

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image — Gary Barlow (via Instagram)

TV & Showbiz

Five of the best things to watch on TV this Christmas 2024

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

We all know Christmas is a hectic time.

For some of us, if the run-up to Christmas wasn’t already busy enough as it is, there’s often not a moment to breathe on the big day itself between presents being opened, travelling to see people, entertaining guests, slaving over a hot stove for hours, and eating plenty of food.

Sometimes though, you may find yourself twiddling your thumbs with some time to spare, and that’s why the distraction of festive television is so brilliant.

For others, sitting around to watch the TV is an important part of Christmas itself.

No matter what your situation is, there’s some cracking things to watch on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day this year – with classic seasonal films, to festive specials of our favourite shows, and a few family-friendly additions all on the agenda.

So, just like we have done for the past couple of years, we’ve once again rounded-up the best of the bunch to create our TV guide.

Here’s just five of our picks.

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Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2024

BBC One

Christmas Day – 3:55pm

Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2024 / Credit: BBC

We’ve all come to expect a Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special at this point, haven’t we? After the iconic ballroom dance competition programme has been bringing us smaller, festive editions of the show we all know and love since 2004, it’s back once again this Christmas Day.

Six celebrity contestants will be taking to the floor to impress judges the judges and battle it out for the Christmas glitter ball trophy.

You can catch Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One at 3:55pm on Christmas Day.

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Doctor Who Christmas Special

BBC One

Christmas Day – 5:10pm

Doctor Who Christmas Special / Credit: BBC Studios

What would Christmas be without a Doctor Who special?

The long-running sci-fi series is back where it belongs with another festive episode on Christmas Day this year, and we can’t wait.

The episode introduces Joy, played by Nicola Coughlan, who checks into a London hotel in 2024, only to discover that her quiet stay is anything but ordinary. When Joy opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel, she discovers danger, dinosaurs, and the Doctor… but a deadly plan is unfolding across Earth, just in time for Christmas.

You can catch the Doctor Who Christmas Special on BBC One at 5:10pm on Christmas Day.

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Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

BBC One

Christmas Day – 6:10pm

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl / Credit: BBC

Wallace & Gromit make their long-awaited return with a new feature-length adventure.

Wallace and his pre-programmed smart gnome, Norbot, are the main suspects after a recent crime wave of stolen garden goods across the region… but while Wallace proclaims his innocence, it’s up to Gromit once again to battle sinister forces, or Wallace will never invent again.

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Who could possibly be behind such evil actions? Rightfully behind bars after all this time, Feathers McGraw is back with vengeance.

Directed by Nick Park, Reece Shearsmith provides the voice of Norbot, and Peter Kay is Chief Inspector Macintosh, alongside other famous names such as Diane Morgan, Adjoa Andoh, and Lenny Henry.

You can watch Wallace & Gromit: Most Vengeance Fowl on BBC One at 6:10pm on Christmas Day.

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Gavin & Stacey: The Finale

BBC One

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Christmas Day – 9pm

Gavin & Stacey: The Finale / Credit: BBC

9pm. Christmas Day 2024. The end of an era is here.

It’s been five whole years since we left Nessa down on one knee declaring her love for Smithy and asking him to marry her… and a lot has happened in those five years.

This Christmas, fans of the long-running sitcome will be able to join on the journey to Barry and Billericay as we catch up with the Shipmans and the Wests for the very last time, and maybe find out what exactly did happen on that fishing trip.

You can watch Gavin and Stacey: The Finale on Christmas Day on BBC One at 9pm.

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Outnumbered

BBC One

Boxing Day – 9:40pm

Outnumbered / Credit: BBC

Our final long-awaited Christmas Special comeback is here… are you ready to be Outnumbered once again?

In a moment of adversity, Sue and Pete gather all their children – who are now adults, and have their own hurdles to navigate in the real world – and one grandchild to try to celebrate a traditional family Christmas.

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Their new house is smaller, the children are bigger, and within the chaos, an uninvited house guest overstays their welcome.

You can watch Outnumbered on Boxing Day on BBC One at 9:40pm.

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Fancy something extra?

If you’ve got even more time on your hands to kill, and you’re looking to get stuck into even more festive TV action, not just being newly released this year, then we’ve rounded up what we think are 10 of the best Christmas Specials of all time.

10 of the very best British Christmas specials and episodes to watch on TV this holiday season

What’s your thoughts on this – do you agree? Or are we missing your favourite pick?

Featured Image – BBC

TV & Showbiz

10 of the very best British Christmas specials and episodes to watch on TV this holiday season

Danny Jones Danny Jones Best British Christmas TV specials of all time

‘Tis the season to sit on your backside and do nothing but gorge on mountains of food and watch TV for hours on end as you make your way through all the Christmas specials and best of British telly you can muster.

Now, there’s nothing worse than when it feels like there’s nothing on you’re stranded in that spot on the sofa that’s too comfy to vacate, so that’s where we come in.

Along with all the usual stuff you’ll find in the TV guide at this time of year, we thought we’d round up some of the very best British Christmas specials to have ever aired – that way you’ll have a steady supply of festive viewing and barely need to move an inch.

In no particular order, let’s get stuck into it, shall we?

The best British Christmas TV specials of all time

10. Gavin & Stacey – Christmas Specials (2008, 2019 and 2024)

Where else to start than with the pride of Wales and a series that millions watch from start to finish every year? Gavin & Stacey. Still revered as one of the most beloved comedies to ever come out of the UK, their two festive specials are also part and parcel (pardon the pun) of many Brits’ Christmas.

It still feels a bit weird going back and watching Corden as Smithy before the days of American fame, that first Nessa entrance; Uncle Bryn being, well, Bryn – even the soundtrack takes us back, but with a third special and ultimate ‘Finale’ airing at 9pm on BBC One on 25 December, it’s time to do it all over again.

‘OH! What’s occurin’?…’

9. The Office – ‘Christmas Special’ (Part 1 and 2)

Next up is not only this particular telephile’s ultimate Christmas TV event but possibly one of the very best episodes of British telly in history. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant broke new ground with this genre-defining comedy and while they fine-tuned cringe throughout the series, this was pure heart.

Rom-com juggernaut Richard Curtis dubbed this two-part Christmas special spread across just 96 minutes as the culmination of what he believed to be “one of the great romantic stories of all time” between Tim and Dawn, and the perfect end to a “masterpiece”. You’ll hear no arguments from us (me).

Is it the best Christmas special in British TV history?

8. The Royle Family – Christmas Specials (1999, 2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012)

Another classic not only British but fundamentally Manc comedy, The Royle Family might just be one of the best things Greater Manchester ever produced – and that’s saying something – and perfectly captures the comfortable monotony of sitting in the front of the telly for hours on end.

That goes doubly so for the multiple Christmas specials, of which there are many and while they all do a great job of creating that familiar feeling of a Northern front room that the series was so good at throughout its entire run, the 1999 Christmas with the Royle Family special where the late great Caroline Aherne’s water breaks and that tear-jerking scene with Ricky Tomlinson… it gets us every time.

Set just down the road in Wythenshawe, it still has us weeping just as much now as it did back in the day.

7. Peep Show – ‘Seasonal Beatings’

Cauliflower may or may not be traditional but one thing we can agree on is that watching Peep Show‘s hilariously miserable, ill-mannered, tense ever-awkward and bloody brilliant Christmas episode from 2010 is very much part of our annual holiday ritual.

The fifth episode of the seventh season – which many would rightly champion as peak-era Peep Show – may only last less than half an hour but it feels like an eternity of familiar festive agony and walking on egg-shells before the fantastic crescendo that is Mark pouring gravy into a shredder. Merry ChrisMark!

If you don’t think Peep Show’s Christmas special/festive episode is one of the best in British TV history, you’re just wrong, sorry.

6. Ted Lasso – ‘Carol of the Bells’

Approaching the halfway mark and we’re going to be somewhat controversial and introduce not only a very contemporary pick but one that isn’t technically a UK production, but the show is set entirely in England and there’s one thing it has tried to be since the start it’s very overly British.

Now, we’re going to qualify that we have a weird relationship with Ted Lasso; it’s by no means the funniest thing we’ve ever seen and the broad-strokes American look at football is frustrating at times, but one thing this show does do well is being incredibly sincere and never more so that in its Christmas special. Plus, you get to hear Hannah Waddingham sing her pipes off – what’s not to like?

Christmas is about reminding your loved ones how much they mean – regardless of what you make of the show, this episode nails that.

5. Extras – Christmas Special (Part 1 and 2)

Our penultimate pick is also our second Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant creation: the Extras Christmas special, which aired back 2007 and still has some of the funniest gags in the history of British TV as far as we’re concerned.

Managing to rope in even more big names for this equally cringeworthy and even painful to watch at times conclusion to the show which also ran for just two series like The Office, the frustrating arc of Gervais’ main character Andy Millman is such a great payoff when all is said and done. Only an hour and a half in total, well worth sticking on if you’ve never seen it before.

Just look at how many famous faces they managed to rope in for this fantastic two-parter. (Credit: Press Image via BBC)

4. Doctor Who – ‘End of Time’ (Part 1 and 2)

From a David Tennant cameo to him in arguably one of his greatest-ever performances in his final full-time appearance as the space-travelling Time Lord in what we are officially declaring the best Doctor Who Christmas special to date and some of Russell T. Davies’ very best work.

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 15 whole years since the national treasure said goodbye to the role in the gut-wrenching two-parter which also saw the return of John Simm as ‘The Master’ but we’re still confident that there hasn’t been a better Xmas/New Year’s Day special pairing since this one. Here’s hoping RTD’s recent return will mean this year’s is back up to his very high standards.

That delivery of ‘I don’t wanna go’ still makes us well up.

3. Gone Fishing – Christmas specials (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024)

As we gradually approach the end of our list, we want to give so much deserved love to what we think isn’t just the underdog of British telly but an unsung hero when it comes to spotlighting friendship, positive male relationships and downright fraternal love. It’s Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Finishing – the festive editions. We know we’re biased but we really love the one with Paul Heaton.

If you’ve ever sat down to watch an episode of this laid-back laughter-filled show, you’ll know that these two can often achieve that warm, heartfelt and cosy feeling regardless of whether it’s Christmas or not. It’s also a great antidote to any latent toxic masculinity left on screen and with some serious emotion being laid bare in these Christmas specials episodes especially, for us, this is what reality TV should be.

They even chat with Mr ‘Driving Home For Christmas’ himself, Chris Rea, in the 2020 episode.

2. Click & Collect

Ok, we promise this is the last Merchant mention on this list as we’re intensely aware of some bias on our end, but this straight-to-TV BBC short film really took us by surprise when we first saw it and is well worth setting aside a nice round hour to enjoy.

Not only does the core premise feel like a very relatable scenario for many parents rushing to sort out everyone’s Christmas presents in time but it’s a touching tale of family, kindness and sparing that extra bit of patience during what can be a tough time of year for lots of people. You’ll love it.

Asim Chaudhry is fantastic.

1. Only Fools & Horses – ‘Heroes and Villians’

And finally, what better place to round off this list than with only the series consistently voted the greatest British comedy of all time but the episode that is widely considered its best-ever Christmas special? It can only be Del Boy and Rodney dressed up as Batman and Robin in ‘Heroes and Villians’.

Now, there is a whopping total of 18 Only Fools Christmas specials and we’re sure everyone has their own personal favourite, but surely there isn’t a single one more iconic than the first episode of the legendary 1996 festive trilogy. It also sets up events for ‘Time on Our Hands’, one of the most moving scripts they ever wrote, but it all starts with the much-loved duo plodding through the mist in capes.

It’s still regarded as the best British comedy ever, but where does it rank on the list of all-time greatest Christmas TV specials?

A very Christmas special mention…

Father Ted – ‘A Christmassy Ted’

Not technically British we know but the cult Irish hit remains one of the funniest comedies to ever come out of our corner of the world and if you’ve never seen Ted, Dougal and a bunch of other clergymen get stuck in a women’s lingerie section like it’s a warzone, you’re seriously missing out.

Mrs Doyle is her usual quick-witted self and Father Jack can be found making the occasional outburst from his chair as usual and overall, ‘A Christmassy Ted’ is a very funny bit of seasonal telly.

Not strictly British but still one of the best Christmas specials in TV history if you ask us.

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Come on, you have to agree – we absolutely smashed that.

Some old, some new, some maybe a little bit out of left field but all absolutely guaranteed to keep you entertained this festive period.

If you think we’ve made the cardinal sin of missing an all-time TV great then please feel free to give it to us in the comments and educate on the best British Christmas specials.

In fact, one of our other writers, Emily, has forced me to add a line about The Vicar of Dibley Christmas Specials too… so here’s the line. You can also find her round-up of all the best new bits coming to the box this holiday season down below.

Happy watching!

Five of the best things to watch on TV this Christmas 2024

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — BBC (press images)

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