Yaxlont: A Delightful Twist on the Monster Under the Bed Story

In the just slightly alternative reality we are presented with in Yaxlont, monsters who live under the bed are real and anyone can see them (well, the kids at least – it isn’t made clear whether adults can).  They befriend a child who needs them and usually fade away when the child hits eleven or twelve years old.  This isn’t the case with Joe (played by Joe Barber who you might remember from Adolescence) who is seventeen and still has “Yax” with him.

There is a small problem, though, which comes in the shape of Jess (Emily Burnett).  Jess needs help with her homework and Joe (somewhat smitten) brings her home to study, much to Yax’s horrified chagrin.  Played by Freddie Meredith (who was in a number of episodes of Andor – and many other TV shows), Yax comes across as a fully-formed and highly sympathetic… monster under the bed.   Yax and Joe have something of a fine bromance going on between them, but perhaps Yax should have researched what happens to adolescent boys a little bit before the helping with the maths homework in the bedroom scenario.  Perhaps, too, he has become a little set in his ways - but Yax's learning curve is about to become a lot curvier.

Written and created by Uncle Shortbread (Arthur Studholme and Cosmo Wellings), and presented by the BBC, this comedy short is something of a delight.

The Close – What Life in the UK is Really Like

If you are thinking of settling in any of the nations of the United Kingdom, then you are probably aware that you will have to take the Life in the UK test (which assesses applicants’ knowledge of British history, values, laws, traditions, and everyday civic responsibilities for citizenship).  However, I would advise you to watch this, as it is more informative about what really goes on here. So, instead of learning about Welsh Christmas traditions, or what the Scots do at Easter – or any of the other things that most of the people who were born in the UK don’t know about either, learn from this animated short instead.

The Close, by Birdbox Studio (and here hosted by the BBC) takes a close look (ah, couldn’t resist it) at everyday life in an average British street.  There’s the mum trying to get three dogs and a kid organised (sorry, that’s three kids and a dog), the grumpy old lady next door, the bashful teenagers, the one-night-standers, the randy decorators, the middle aged cyclist who really shouldn’t be wearing lycra, the home-worker with homicidal kids, the fellah who has a strange idea about masculine ideals. They’re all here. And so is the American interloper, the grey squirrel, who just wants to climb a tree but doesn't look like he has passed any tests for that recently.  Put these elements together and you will get a real impression of what life is like on a quiet British street.  Of course, like anything else British, behind the calm exterior there is usually just sheer chaos.

Hats off to writer and director Ant Blades and the team for creating something so funny and memorable. So, rip up your Life in the UK book and watch this instead.  You still might not pass the test, but at least it won’t have cost you fifty quid. And you might have learned something useful.