The Water Margin - does this count as British Telly?
Damn right it does! As does Monkey, of course.
Any one else love the rebels of the Water Margin of Liang Shan Po?
Oddly, although everyone loved Monkey, I knew fewer people who loved Yhe Water Margin as much as I did. One of them was my grandfather which always seemed like an oddity. I liked the man but he didn't speak much or display affection and his main sources of entertainment were listening to classical music and reading about old farm machinery or vanished railways (his favourite book was on the Golden Valley Line, we don't know why, we were too shocked that he expressed a passionate interest in something that we couldn't rummage together any follow-up questions). On the telly front it was mainly All Creatures Great and Small (he grew up around farms on the Staffordshire Moorlands) but also, weirdly, The Water Margin. Every time it came on, he'd pull the pouffe (it was a different time back then) up to the telly (as he was deaf as a post but refused to put his hearing aids in) and sit their as enthralled as I was. We never discussed it but that was our little bonding moment.
I did start buying the seasons individually on DVD but decided to wait and upgrade to the Blu-ray boxset eventually. Still not done it but might jump on the eBay auction running now - strike while the iron is hot (and I still remember).