Line #33 Series/Digitiser


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/digitiser_screenshot_archive_1993_01_01_371_1.png]]
2
3	->''"Hello there! I am he: The Man With a Long Chin and I am here to berate (teach) you about the perils of ''Digitiser''. Do you see?"''
4
5	''Digitiser'' holds the bizarre and unique honour of being one of the few examples of a notable MediaNotes/{{Teletext}} feature.
6
7	Broadcasting mostly during TheNineties on Creator/{{ITV}}'s Teletext service (which replaced the ORACLE service in 1993), Digitiser - Digi to its friends - occupied a small run of five or six, daily-updated pages on the subject of VideoGames, written initially by two individuals - Tim "Mr Hairs" Moore, and Paul "Mr Biffo" Rose, (latterly Biffo alone, with bylined columnists at weekends) and was started when Rose, merely a graphic designer for Teletext Limited at the time, one day suggested that the service cover games, and the rest is history.
8
9	Digitiser was famed for its ability to court controversy, as well as its humour, general English-language-o-butchery, and general awesomeness.
10
11	Sadly, none of this went down well with the [[ExecutiveMeddling higher-ups]] at Teletext not being fond of any of it, and after years of trying, managed to force Biffo to bring updates down to thrice weekly and ditch all the humour. It didn't last, and [[HilarityEnsues hilarity ensued]].
12
13	A year or so later - after getting a feature profiling the service in ''Edge'' and everything, Mr. Biffo decided to call it a day and concentrate on his screenwriting career, which included ''Series/EastEnders'', ''[[Series/TheSootyShow Sooty]]'', and ''Series/MyParentsAreAliens''. Teletext replaced it with another games service, Gamecentral, but that one was much more straight-laced.
14
15	Celebrity fans include Alex Garland, who [[ShoutOut named one chapter]] of ''Literature/TheBeach'' "Messed Up" after the similar Digi-catchphrase, and Creator/RayPark AKA [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Darth Maul]].
16
17	Due to the ephemeral nature of Teletext, much is now lost, but thanks to fans an archive of several issues is available [[http://www.teletext.org.uk/index.php?cat=30_Archived-nbsp~Pages&page=41_Digitiser-nbsp~1995-1998 here]].
18
19	In 2018, Mr. Biffo launched a successful Kickstarter to make a spin-off webseries ''Digitiser: The Show''. The show was filmed that summer and the six episodes were released weekly from November to December 2018. The series was presented by Mr. Biffo, ''Podcast/CheapShow'' co-host Paul Gannon and Website/{{YouTube}}rs WebVideo/OctaviusKing, [[https://www.youtube.com/user/GameplayJenny Gameplay Jenny]] and [[WebVideo/GuruLarryAndWez Larry Bundy Jr]]. Mr. Hairs and WebVideo/StuartAshen also appear in almost every episode. The series can be found on [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdMWnD7qCz4Y7FbbbfyDq5g Mr. Biffo's YouTube channel]].
20
21	The channel's focus shifted away from primarily being about video games and instead became a weekly series of videos mainly presented by Biffo and Gannon, or Biffo and his wife Sanja (with occasional appearances from Larry, [=Octav1us=], Ashens, Gannon's Podcast/CheapShow co-host Eli Silverman, the comedians Ash Frith and Sooz Kempner). In 2021, the Kickstarter for the second series of ''Digitiser: The Show'' [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mrbiffo/digitiser-the-show-level-2?ref=android_project_share was launched]].
22
23	----
24	!!Trope-me-do!:
25
26	* BerserkButton: Stay AWAY from Creator/MrT's BINS.
27	* CatchPhrase: ...-me-do, Moc-moc-a-moc!, Stay Away From My Bins.
28	* CannotTellAJoke: The Man's Daddy.
29	--> Q: What happened when Superman and Batman went on holiday?\
30	A: Nothing - Superman stayed at home mourning the death of Batman, who had choked to death on his own eyelids!
31	* DefiantToTheEnd: After years of ExecutiveMeddling and being ScrewedByTheNetwork, Digitiser finally came to an end in 2003. But what was the very last thing Mr. Biffo left behind for the nation to see? [[{{Catchphrase}} Press]] [[labelnote:reveal]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/turner_2736.jpg[[/labelnote]] [[{{Catchphrase}} to find out.]]
32	* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: Everything's Deader With Zombie Dave
33	* FourPointScale: Averted. Cue [[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic 3]] [[FanDumb Fan Dumbaplenty]].
34	%%* GrandFinale
35	%%* SarcasmMode: Insincere Dave.
36	%%* SingleIssueWonk
37	* {{Spammer}}: The name Stuart N. Hardy is instantly recognisable to Digi, ''Magazine/YourSinclair'' or ''Magazine/AmigaPower'' readers - the man was a serial letter writer to any service or mag that promised a prize for the best letter. Notable mainly for being boring '''and''' opinionated.
38	* SpinOff:
39	** Digiworld.TV, an attempt to bring Digi to the web, which lasted about eight weeks.
40	** ''[[http://www.digitiser2000.com/ Digitiser2000]]'' is the current web-based ''Digitiser'' continuation.
41	* TheUnintelligible: Zombie Dave uses this to get away with saying outrageously offensive things in an ostensibly family-friendly magazine.
42	--> '''Zombie Dave:''' [Describing Lara Croft] Thrr brrrd wrrz thrr [[BuxomBeautyStandard tttrrrdz]].

Context Series / Digitiser