BUSOM – Villains, Minions and Monsters - Escape, Student Central, 7:30pm

And thus, as we reach the final week of the academic year, there are a few things that are standard: the pub quiz shall come and go, Christmas FND shall be looked forward to and staff at the Students’ Union will be getting ready for the Xmas Market.

But one tradition that shouldn’t be overlooked is the annual BUSOM Christmas show, taking place in Escape, this year themed around the subject area of ‘Villains, Minions and Monsters’. So while other students may have been found in the Sports Bar or the terraces of Valley Parade to eventually toast a Bradford victory over the mighty Arsenal, many staff and students were instead by the bar preparing themselves for another 100 minutes of operetta and musical goodness.

With Escape set out in its regular fashion with the addition of an extra microphone for a soon to be revealed extra, it was on with the show, beginning with the odd-one-out piece of the night – for good reason – of ‘Be Our Guest’ from Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’. Sung by Rachel Mitchell, one of the most reliable and bankable members of the group, was mostly strong on her singing aside from a few early nerves that put her out of sync with the piano. With the chorus coming in to add some more gusto to proceedings, this was a strong opening.

With the drama unfolding after the piece thanks to some 1930s melodrama delivered by musical director Stuart Sellens who, alongside the other MD Christine, bridged the gaps between pieces with a plot line of villains taking over the production. Sellens, always a delight to watch on stage, hammed it up, but this acting fitted in with the piece.

With the theme of the night established, Poppy Brooks delivered ‘Good and Evil’ from ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ and though it has to be said that the chosen song wasn’t particularly exciting to hear and there were a few stumbles over some of the lyrics, Poppy’s voice was on top-form throughout the piece and carried it incredibly well, with dramatic elements peppering her performance and some tricky high notes hit perfectly, if sometimes the spoken-ending to the odd sentence felt lacking compared to when she went for the big notes in other parts.

Emelie Olilia and Naomi Fowler brought in the next number from ‘A Very Potter Musical’, tied together around the middle, voicing Professor Quirrell and Lord Voldermort respectively. The song itself was very funny lyrically and mostly tackled with gusto, both singers bringing the written words to life and sparking the audience into smiles.

The next song, taken from the satirical musical ‘Urinetown’, was ‘Don’t Be The Bunny’, delivered mostly by Dave Jennings, who was his usual powerfully-voiced self, making easy work of a surreal-ish song and bringing them to life. Anna Garlick, part of a perhaps underused three-part chorus, was initially the bunny and though had little to say embodied the character and proved herself again to be a nifty character actor even with nothing but a pair of bunny ears to go on. Ben Bell and James Wheeldon who supported her equally didn’t have much vocally to add in comparatively but adopted the bunny moniker with rigour.

From ‘Bugsy Malone’ ‘Bad Guys’ saw Dave Jennings joined on stage by Jon Carter and Joel Blakemore, always a double-act to look out for for some good laughs. The song, however, didn’t quite gel with the piano and the banjolele – the only time of the night it did to any major deteriment, but it was revealed at the end that Colin Fine stepped in with less than ten days notice on piano duty and did an incredible job anyway, never mind considering that element – but the three on stage made a great trio even if Jon and Joel’s double-act didn’t have the material to truly shine as they usually do. The banjolele playing was fun though and a neat addition to the piece.

‘Just Around The Corner’ from ‘The Addams Family’ was tackled by Lyndsey Niven and she helped bring the comedic lines to life alongside being very strongly sung. The small chorus added an extra element to the piece but could have survived without it.

‘Scrooge’ from the Muppets Christmas Carol added the first of two seasonal flavours to the production and, though the first couple of vocalists struggled to get their lines out, the song was to be one of the highlights of the evening event, with both the group working as a whole chorus but also most members getting at least one line, which really gelled well. Plus Joanne Brotherton made a good mouse, as did the few in the chorus that came back as them, and Anna Garlick’s narrative lines were expertly delivered. Again there were a few piano issues but nothing much to detract from a quality delivery.

From ‘Princess Ida’ ‘If You Give Me Your Attention’ followed with Carl Mitchell on vocal duties, and it was a strong solo and the most enjoyable piece so far with a great collaboration between him and the piano with a very neat choral ending.

The penultimate number of the first act was ‘Macavity’ from ‘Cats’, a personal favourite of mine both in poem and song form. Featuring a guest appearance from a stuffed cat with the longest tail ever, Emily Bennett and Helen Plant brought the song to life and created one of my favourite performances in the night even if the gaps in the piano score, as part of a song, seemed odd. A great story song though and rounded off by perhaps the shrillest scream I’ve ever heard, coming from Christine.

The act was rounded off with ‘Be Back Soon’ from ‘Oliver!’ which saw Joanne Brotherton finally given a substantial part in a song – as the Artful Dodger – and relishing it and the first time I’ve seen her given something meaty to work with, and she made a great job of it, and hopefully this will be the start of larger roles in the productions. James Wheeldon as the main singer was also a delight and the addition of choir took it up a notch.

As the audience now went to “purchase potions from the bar” as part of the interval, we got the regular draw – I won a copy of David Bowie’s ‘Labyrinth’ DVD so I can now, er, enjoy “the crotch”.

The show kicked back in with ‘evil act two’ and the ‘Cell Block Tango’ from ‘Chicago’, one of my favourite performances from the previous BUSOM scratch a few years ago and the tale of death and murder was just as enjoyable. All six of the cast members excelled in the dramatic reading of their individual tales but extra credit should go to Anna Garlick once more for her excellent character acting and to Poppy Brooks who did her bit entirely in French, overall creating the number that was the best of the show in my opinion.

From ‘Camelot’ ‘The Seven Deadly Virtues’ was a neat version of the song even if a few lines were missed. It wasn’t the most exciting of songs to hear but was short and sweet, refreshing after the length preceding number.

‘Stepsisters Lament’ from ‘Cinderella’ saw Helen Plant and Catrina Lodge make easy work of a catchy tune and from the cult classic ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’, ‘Over at Frankenstein Place’ saw Rachel Mitchell cement herself as a great singer, paired win Joel Blakemore who worked well with her on the chorus but didn’t quite fit the song. An enjoyable addition from Lyndsey Niven coming from the back of the audience benefitted the song and it continued the show along nicely.

‘Magic Dance’ from the previously mentioned ‘Labyrinth’ film followed with James Wheeldon being superb in the role, with the synth-setting on the keyboard adding an extra element to it.

‘Kiddy-Widdy-Winkies’ from ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ saw Nick Smith don a top hat and becoming successfully creepy as the Child Catcher, continuing to cement himself as one of the strongest talents in the BUSOM line-up. With no care for health and safety (!!) sweets were flung out to the crowd – but sadly not hard enough to reach us in the back rows, sadly – and a fun number was sung.

Another highlight of the show was ‘Dentist’ from ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ with Zoe Howe excelling as the dentist of the title, perhaps the most menacing person I’ve ever seen with a white coat and an electric toothbrush. Complete with plenty of puns nicely inputted by the small chorus, it was a fun number with some good acting in it.

‘You’re A Mean One, Mr Grinch’ from the similarly titled animation was up next and was one of the best interpreted numbers of the night. Jon as storyteller balanced well against the sung lines and Emily’s singing fitted the song really well. Anna once more threw herself into her role – quite literally this time – right against the wall as a bar. Great song, well interpreted.

‘No Way Top Stop It’ from ‘The Sound of Music’ came up next with Zoe Howe and Nick Smith both very strong with an equally enjoyable to hear Christine, who was a little more restrained in this piece than her flamboyant between-song interludes. The track came to a head with a great ensemble piece.

Carl Mitchell was up next to tackle ‘Brand New Day’ from ‘Dr Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog’, sporting a snazzy pair of goggles. It was a subdued version of the song but a fun listen.

The last advertised number, but the actual penultimate one, was ‘Everybody’s Got The Right’ from ‘Assassins’, a song I’m not that familiar with. It was a little low-key at the start but Emelie, Stuart and Christie, then the chorus, boosted the piece. With the chorus kicking in it was a well-orchestrated ending to the production with a strong, well-held final note.

Joel brought some good humour to the end of the piece as they talked about their next major production – Pride and Prejudice the Musical on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd March – before doing an encore of ‘We Could Be Everything We Wanted To Be’ from Bugsy Malone, with some great vocals from Joel, Jon and Dave who handled the tempo speeding up perfectly, as good redeemed itself and destroyed the villains, minions and monsters of the title.

Overall the latest BUSOM production was an enjoyable 100 minutes of music with lots of high points and it feels that the songs-from-the-shows set-up is where the group is at their strongest with the added acting elements in between. Always a good mix of songs from musicals and more pop-culture entries, it was another fun production from the student group and there are more stand-out performances each time, with everyone getting their chance to shine, but it’s members like Nick Smith, Anna Garlick, Danny Sweeney and Emily Bennett that stood out this time, but the rest all had their own moments to create a true ensemble piece.

BUSOM are next back in January with their 24-hour show. For more information visit www. http://www.busom.org/

Bradford Christmas Lights Switch On

Bradford Christmas Lights Switch On
Saturday 17th November 2012

This weekend I chose to stay around in Bradford for a handful of reasons. Firstly to catch up on some personal business I’d not yet got round to doing; secondly to see Aardman’s excellent Claymation film ‘The Pirates’ at the National Media Museum in 3D as part of the Bradford Animation Festival (I’d not caught it in the third medium on the original showing and was worth seeing again on the big screen even if the 3D wasn’t anything incredible); and, to cement how Bradford has improved over the last few years with lots happening in it, the switching on of the Christmas Lights with an event in the City Park.

Now I’m a big supporter of the City Park. It might have cost plenty of money (money, you could argue, that could have been spent on revitalising the city centre shops or on youth projects or on revitalising the Odeon) but it’s a beautiful piece of design and a great central focus for the city and never have I seen one location in Bradford bring so many people together in one place for key events. I’ve been in the park for the Olympic Torch Relay; the outdoor showing of Coraline; and the opening event of the Park, all great events and worth seeing, alongside the regular water and light feature that I walk home through most nights, so it was natural to expect big things for the switching on of the Christmas lights. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the most exciting of the dates they’ve schedule on the park and was a little bit of a disappointment after such excellent gigs held in the Park recently.

Leaving Pictureville as the credits of ‘The Pirates’ rolled we got to the City Park to hear the first of two choirs we saw, positioned on a stage on top of the “visitor’s centre”. Sadly, without a big screen or a better vantage point in the absolutely rammed City Park, it was difficult to see the choir but the sound was great in compensation, with the children’s choir moving through some great versions of songs including Snow Patrol’s ‘Chasing Cars’ and McFly’s ‘Star Girl’, ticking the boxes for all ages. They were followed by another choir, doing a mixture of more festive-themed tunes, which were also well sung and composed, but equally not as visible. The weather helped though with only a little bit of drizzle and it didn’t feel as cold as events have been there.

There had also been other attractions throughout the day including some street theatre Santas, but it was just before 5pm that the main event began.

The main attraction for the Christmas switch-on, in the lieu of an expensive b-celebrity switching them on and no surprise appearance of the rumoured Zak from One Direction, regularly denied in the week leading up to the event by the council, was a French trapeze troupe called Trans Express. There was a large, impressive construction in the middle of the drained mirror pool, held up by an equally large crane. The members of the troupe came out and started performing on smaller mini-stages dotted around the pool, lighting up beacons and speaking but it was impossible, unless you were near them, to hear what they were saying. They then proceeded to continue dancing and make their way to the central construction, a trapeze and performance structure that slowly raised up into the air with the group making music on drums and other instruments, creating an ethereal soundtrack that echoed around the park. Several trapeze artists also did some mid-air acrobatics and a counterweight-like device at the bottom set alight with red flame as the music continued and the structure returned to the ground where there was a bit more dancing.

The display was amazing and the skill on show was great and to see it happening in front of you was exciting. Or at least it would have been compressed into twenty minutes instead of the forty-five minutes it was dragged out for with awkward pauses where nothing would happen with no music or commentary to fill the gap or at least to put the action into context. At times it felt more like an intimate performance playing to a larger crowd with only those nearer to the performers getting the full impact. It was a shame when, attractions such as the large balloons at the City Park opening were so successful, that these dragged on. Unlike those balloons, which were up and demonstrated and then wrapped up, this performance just seemed stretched out.

Thankfully, the end of the event was rounded off nicely with the Lord Mayor – looking distinctly pirate-y in his red coat, or maybe the film was still with me – leading a countdown to the lights switching on and an impressive double-location firework display which included a neatly put together festive-based soundtrack that was the best bit of the whole thing. It was just a shame that someone hadn’t got the memo and switched on the city centre Christmas lights a good ten minutes before the countdown took place, with only the tree lights switching on as the countdown hit zero.

Overall the acrobatics on display were impressive and the fireworks and choir nicely rounding off the attractions, but it felt like what could have been an impactful thirty minute performance piece and switch-on was dragged out for three times that long. A rare misfire after the excellent 'Garden of Light' last month in what has been an impressive set of City Park attractions so far and hopefully next year we get more things like the choir and fireworks and something a little sparkier between.

Coraline (Outside Screening in City Park, Bradford)

Having watched the new James Bond film ‘Skyfall’ in the warmth of Cineworld and then warmed up with some pizza with friends, it was time to wrap up warm and head to the outside showing of Coraline in the City Park. A huge inflatable screen – one that came down very quickly as we warmed up after in the Turl’s Green – looked impressive in the park and there was a good turnout considering the cold of the night. Thankfully, there was a stall selling hot chocolate and sweets and was, surprisingly, reasonably priced, though it would be nice if they did it again in summer (contrast of the screen depending) to be able to enjoy a pint with the film, if park regulations allow it.

After several animated shorts (we were late to the party but only saw one, a funny and touching tale about a tiger and its cub in a circus) we got the main film, and it was an experience to watch it live outside even in the temperature. I always forget how weird the film is, especially for a kids film, and wondered how many would be retiring home that night a little bit creeped out by the weird characters, monstrous other-mother and the general surreal feel to the piece. It’s an enjoyable film, though, just rather wacky but fitting in with the hallowe’en theme.

The experience of watching it was good. There could have been more seats to sit on in the park – we had to resort to sitting on the edge of the mirror pool – and the sound was perhaps a little too low, but it was a great experience and one I’m glad I went to and, following on from the garden of light, shows that Bradford Council are doing some interesting things with their new park and I hope this will continue. All they need to do now is convert the Odeon into the entertainments venue proposed and then we’ll truly have a thriving entertainment hub in the form of the park, theatres and food and drink venues.

On the night there was security around to keep the place under control, but there were few distractions considering it was a Saturday night, and there was a good mix of Bradfordians of all ages come to see the film.

Here’s hoping for a repeat at Christmas with a festive film – but perhaps with some more patio heaters!

My Thoughts On Super Hi-Vision

Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing another technological innovation at Bradford’s increasingly exciting National Media Museum, a place that sits proudly in Bradford with its fantastic free exhibits, video game area and IMAX screen that compares excellently in price to the over-priced screens available elsewhere in the city and delivery a picture many times the size for a not dissimilar price.

One thing they are showing now – in conjunction with the BBC and only one of three places in the country to do so – is a new technology known as ‘Super Hi-Vision’. Though it does sound like something that would have been proudly promoted in front of a screening of ‘Thunderbirds’ it is actually a genuine technology, delivering a hi-def picture sixteen times more hi-def than hi-def with a 22.2 channel sound, which is like a beefed up 5.1 sound system except with twenty-two speakers and two bass channels.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. If you’ve just upgraded to a 42’’ plasma with full 1080p HD and a 7.1 surround sound speaker systems and feel miffed about the emergence of 3D television systems that will overtake it, you don’t need to feel short-changed by yet another new system. As the set-up, based in the small Cubby Broccoli cinema within the NMM, requires a 300 inch screen (this one set-up to receive images from a hefty projector) with sixteen speakers around the main screen and the other six elsewhere, it’s not going to be a system that will fit in the average living room, even if you could afford it.

At this point I’m going to be controversial. I’ve never really been that taken aback by standard HD. It’s only benefit I can see is that, as television’s get bigger the flaws in standard definition have become more obvious, and that’s its main benefit. I honestly don’t feel, in watching a HD broadcast, that I feel any more like I’m in the sporting stadium or up close with a panda. It’s just clearer and crisper. The only time I’ve really felt there is in the IMAX showings of the Dark Knight four years ago where, as the camera panned over shots of skyscrapers, I felt like I was up there. And, let’s face it. Who could house an IMAX screen in their living room?

But I still wanted to see this Super Hi-Vision to see what it was like. And, though the marketing speak of it being like a window into the room is not entirely spot-on – it still feels like you are watching the action on a screen – it is by far the crispest and clearest picture I’ve ever seen, the images on the screen bright and vibrant.

The set-up in the museum is not quite how I had it in my head. I’d imagined – and this is purely what I’d made up not what I’d read – that the hour would be that moment’s Olympics delivered in Super Hi-Vision but it’s in fact a forty-minute taster of the system. It starts with a five money explanation of its history and how it compares to Hi-def and it was this, combined with the specially generated sound, that showed off the increase in detail and improved sound.

What we got after this was a selection of material. Firstly there was elements from the Olympics opening ceremony, namely the forging of the rings section, the James Bond video and abseiling and the walk on of Team GB in the procession; then the 400m women’s swimming race where Rebecca Adlington won bronze (Sunday 29th July); and then chosen highlights from the basketball match where the USA beat Nigeria by, well, a “few” points.

Graphically, the Opening Ceremony looking brilliant in Super Hi-Vision and you could see everything in the stadium from the action in the centre to what people were wearing on the back row, even to the emergency exit signs right at the back top. Though a lot of the detail was due to the huge screen, it’s hard to deny that the new system makes more detail much clearer, but it’s still just a television image to me. Sorry to be a downer but it’s not quite the looking through a window feeling advertised, but this is most likely down to the lack of the atmosphere associated with the picture which is impossible to transfer. The people behind me in the cinema, before the showing, actually had an interesting conversation about smell and other aspects that make a thing feel real and whether that could ever be conveyed realistically. Also, it’s the ability to look around and change your viewing angle that makes “being there” realistically so perhaps the future will be combining Super Hi-Vision with Kinect style technology and some sort of modern smell-o-vision?

But, as far as new technology goes, being able to get a wide angle viewing of the opening ceremony where you could make out each individual participant and each one of the individual lights by people’s seats that lit up to form images was impressive to see.

The second element of the opening ceremony was a little bit of a missed opportunity. It spent most of the time pointed at one of the large screens showing the James Bond pre-video section which, one assumes, wasn’t filmed in Super Hi-Vision, so aside from the static shot of the stadium in the format it was like someone demonstrating High Definition by showing you a film of it on their mobile phone.

The athlete walk on was the most impressive part with the small elements of ticker tape fired onto Team GB being very crisp and life-like and the huge shot of all the athletes in the stadium visually very impressive.

Onto the swimming and the sound was impressive but not as good as the pre-generated sounds in the opening titles. It didn’t quite feel like we were there but it was immersive. The water as the swimmers did their bits was clear and you could make out all the ripples and I spent much of my time looking far at the back to the crowds, which were all crisp, emphasising the detail. I also noted that there were very few empty seats, you’ll be glad to know.

Oh, and how many people there are wandering around with steadi-cams getting in the faces of swimmers, something you obviously don’t see on ordinary television broadcasts.

Oh, and how they need two people to present the winners, one with a medal then another with a small bunch of flowers. Weird.

Sound wise the basketball one was the most impressive with the individual noises of each player on the court audible. But it never felt like I was in the crowd. The impression of people sitting behind me and noise from all around wasn’t really captured and the sound seemed very front facing, certainly not as impressive as the audio demo at the start comparing the music of a live orchestra on a 2, 5.1 and 22.2 sound system. But, again, all the detail of the crowd was visible and it was a very detailed picture.

After a forty-minute showing the film came to an end and I could reflect on what I’d seen. Detail wise the images are impressive and the sound involving, but as we’ve had these sort of images thrust at us over the last few years the immediate wow factor isn’t present. If it was physically possible for the average house to have a 300-inch screen in their home then this technology would be fantastic, as showing HD on that screen would be as low-quality as watching standard definition on a 40’’+ television is now. But, whereas HD and 3D have found their way into homes I don’t see this finding it anytime soon due to the lack of difference on a living-room sized set. And, for all the extra speakers, the sound system wasn’t any more startling than in your average cinema screen I’m afraid, and I wouldn’t have known it was 22.2 if I hadn’t been told. Whether that is down to the lack of microphones picking up the sound in the Olympic stadium compared to the purposeful set-up in the orchestral demo, I don’t know.

Where I do see it working will be in cinemas and theatres embracing the special showings like they have of the Olympics and the Wimbledon final, the latter in 3D, where people go to the cinema to get an experience, like IMAX, that it’s impossible to get at home. That’s where I see Super Hi-Vision coming into its own, not at consumer level.

That is, of course, if cinemas have the funds to upgrade their screens and sound systems after investing heavily in digital and 3D screens.

So though I wasn’t blown away by Hi-Vision, just impressed by the detail, I am happy that the National Media Museum has, once more, secured a technology on display, for free, in Bradford, the only other city outside of London and Glasgow. That is certainly something to celebrate alongside our increasing gold medal tally.

Bradford Monopoly [Review]

I have always been a massive fan of Monopoly since I was a little kid. It’s one of my very few claims to fame that, in 1997, I was the second best young Monopoly player in the UK, not a bad achievement really even if it does involve a particular year, the word ‘young’ and, of course, second. But, I did get to play the game in the Bank of England with real money even if I did miss the chance to go to New York as first prize.

But, I digress. Since then I have been a collector of Monopoly boards, snapping up ‘Here and Now’, ‘Classic’ in a wooden box replicating the original 1930s version, ‘Yorkshire’ and ‘Revolution’ versions, not including the old traditional one I have, plus the one for my home town, ‘York’. At one point I did contemplate buying every UK version ever made until a quick visit to Wikipedia made me realise just how many Waddingtons / Hasbro had released, and that I didn’t have rich parents or a swelling trust fund to help me fill my dreams.

As we near the end of 2011 the number of local themed Monopoly boards has become considerable – there is even a Leeds University one for heaven’s sake – and now we finally have one for Bradford. However, though I’m not scoffing at my adopted home town finally getting a board of its own, it doesn’t half smell of a cash-in.

At this point I’m going to disappoint some of the readers and say I’m not going to review the game of Monopoly. Chances (haha) are you’ll know if you like the game or not so changing a few place names won’t really make a difference to your enjoyment of the game. For those of you that haven’t, there is not enough time for me to spill out the rules of the game in this review, and certainly no reason to without boring the socks off the majority of readers.

You insist? Well, in a nutshell, up to six players journey around properties on a square board, buying them up and charging players who subsequently land on them rent, with the aim being to grab up sets of properties, build properties on them, and bankrupt the other players, all the time also having the opportunity to receive random gifts and benefits in the form of chance and community chest cards, whilst also trying not to be trapped at the dining table with your family for four plus hours waiting for someone to become skint or throw their money over the board in frustration. Satisfied?

Basically, the Bradford edition is like any of local adapted edition: the traditional Monopoly board with a makeover, with locations from London replaced with Bradford and West Yorkshire landmarks, buildings and areas, and a photographic montage stuck in the middle. Sadly, the houses and hotels don’t get replaced by mills and student accommodation, nor do the chance cards have ‘You receive a speeding fine for your quad bike’, ‘You come second in the Omar naan challenge. Receive £10’ or ‘You are assessed for building repairs but you are not Unipol registered so don’t have to worry’. Actually, scrub that, they have paid some attention to the cards. ‘You’re late for a show at the Alhambra Theatre’ (we’ve all been there); ‘You won a trolley dash around Morrisons’ (Clean up on aisle three); and ‘You have been caught littering on the streets of Little Germany’ (that was probably me, I live there), plus others, are included, so some imagination has gone into it. But still no mention of quad bikes.


And, before any typical Telegraph and Argus trolls comment, there isn’t a large hole in the centre of the board to reflect the failed Westfield development. Jeez.

What you do get is seven playing pieces, two dice, a speed die, a wad of money, houses and hotels, a cloth bag, chance, community chest and place cards, an instruction manual, of course the board, and a nice new smell as you open the box. And the ability to mortgage Ilkley Moor, something I’m sure Bradford Council have considered between ruining the old Odeon and cocking up the City Park by opening it in, er, January.

The board, of course, lives and dies on its properties, and it’s on this where there is much more of a sense of commercial input that on, say, my York board. Yes, there’s been a lot of sponsorship of squares by local radio stations and papers on previous boards, but it’s taken to all new levels on this one. As well as the usual suspects of the Alhambra; the National Media Museum and Odsal Station, we also get ‘Richard Dunn Sports Centre’, clearly valid to share a set with Odsal Stadium and Valley Square; Bronte Water Coolers instead of water works balanced against, er, the standard electric company (Yorkshire Electricity missed a trick there) and two squares dedicated to ‘Prestige Car Care’ and ‘Prestige IT Support’. I mean – who? What? Clearly they paid to be on there (presumably about half-way along the rate card as they are on the orange spaces) but, is it just me, or would you personally rather pay a few extra quid for the board and have some proper properties on there, like perhaps the University or Little Germany or Lister Mill? I don’t think ‘Advance to Prestige IT Support’ has the same ring to it – face it, you’d get there, they’d umm and err, put you on hold and tell you to turn it off and on again – as many others and just adds to the smell of corporate cash-in.

Elsewhere the properties are as expected – though I’m not sure how happy Haworth will be with being stuck in the poorest properties – even if additions like the ‘City Park’, which isn’t even finished yet are not totally unexpected but weird. Maybe they should have stuck in a current photo of it unfinished and then Hasbro could post out a sticker of the finished version when they finally get round to it.

Overall, the Bradford Monopoly board is a worthy purchase if you live in our fair city. Effort has gone in to customise some of the chance / community chest cards to expand on the properties featured, and there’s not many other opportunities you’d get to own ‘Bingley Music Live’, the ‘Wool Exchange’ and the ‘Telegraph and Argus’, though the latter at 220 Monopoly pounds if quite steep considering it was under a quid last time I picked up a copy.

Sure, the board smells of a Hasbro call centre calling up local businesses asking for sponsorship (“Come on, shove your logo on a community chest square”; “ A square for Kirkgate Market? Nah, what about a car care company we’ve not heard about?” (that said, all the free publicity they’re getting in this review must make it worth it for them); or “Shall we PhotoShop the miserable looking chap walking in front of the Alhambra Theatre? No. OK.”) and I would rather pay more for the board than random sponsorship, but it does what it says on the Bradford-photography-laden box (Ooh! That Mosque near Laisteridge Lane! Ooh! A Dalek! Ooh! East Riddlesden Hall!) and for £25 it’s nice to have something more relevant and local.

Positives: Nice customisation of cards, well built, if you like Monopoly you’ll like this.
Negatives: Poor choice of some places due to sponsorship, if you hate Monopoly you’ll hate this.

7/10