Latest / Mark and Pete / Mr Men Detectives, The King Meets the Pope, and Illegal Coffee Disposal

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Mr Men Detectives, The King Meets the Pope, and Illegal Coffee Disposal · Mark and Pete

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Mr. Men, detectives, the King meets the Pope and illegal
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coffee disposal while the world's gone quite round the
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bend again. And here we are trying to make
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sense of it all with you with a cup of tea and a touch of common
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sense. Mr. Men have gone Detective,
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King Charles has gone all ecumenical and a poor woman's
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morning coffee has gone criminal.
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Britain NA nutshell. Welcome to Mark and Pete's two
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blokes with half an opinion. Here's our first story.
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Mr. Men, detectives, Yes, Mr. Men are back again, and this
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time with Agatha Christie from the writer's pen.
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They'll sleuth now and then where the stories will be twice
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as twisty. Well, yes.
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Isn't this a fantastic idea? What a great business theme. 2
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Great icons, Agatha Christie, known for her mystery stories
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and of course, the unusual but quirky Mr. Men.
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Well, for the first time they've actually come together.
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Yes, that's the combination between Agatha Christie's crime
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novels and the amusing Mr. Men characters.
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Now these illustrated books are aimed at preschool and primary
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age children. Well, I think that they might
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also appeal to adults. Yes, for the first time
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Christie's detective Hercule Perot and Miss Marple will be
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working alongside Roger Hargreaves much loved children's
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characters. Mr. Pete, I think this is a
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brilliant idea, not just to get little minds into the mysteries
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of storytelling, but I think it's a great commercial one.
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What say you about this idea? Yes.
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Well, coming from the business angle as you do Mr. Mark, for
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the looking at the business side of things, what great marketing,
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2 brands which have great reach in their respective areas coming
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together. It's like a marriage, a brand
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marriage made in heaven maybe I can see that.
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I also, I just like it. It's a bit like recently over
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the past few years, ten years or so, there's been a trend of Lego
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the yes, the toy brick manufacturer making movies and
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they've been successful. Some of them people believe so
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than the original, including the scenes with Batman absolutely
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brilliant in Lego Batman or let's take another great movie
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that I know Mr. Mark that you will appreciate his great movie
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as well. Not just A Christmas Carol, the
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Charles Dickens story put on the big screen, but The Muppets
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Christmas Carol, many people believing it's the best version
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with, you know, surprisingly a, a huge Muppet version of, of
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Michael Caine playing Scrooge. So can you tell the difference?
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Yeah, yes, folks, watch it, see if you can tell the difference.
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But the yeah, I'll just give those examples to show how
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sometimes things just work, especially the, the, the
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matching together of what's seen as just children's entertainment
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or just adult entertainment or art as you.
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I mean, it's an it's artistic. They're artistic endeavours
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bring together to make something that's just seems delicious.
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So yeah, I, I think this is a brilliant idea.
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It's one of those ideas that you think, well, of course that's
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obvious, but we didn't think of it.
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So, yeah, there you are. They've well, well done them.
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Well done, Mr. Men, and well done, little misses.
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Well done, I suppose. The Agatha Christie franchise.
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What do I call it? It's not Agatha Christie
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yourself, of course. Yeah.
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Well, no, that's true, but it's the estate of Agatha Christie
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and of course Roger Hargreaves Legacy.
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Now what it is folks, if you're looking at for this is 2 of the
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books have already been published.
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So that's Little Miss Marple Muddle at the Vicarage and Mr.
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Poirot Mischief on the Nile. So these are the things and
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that's the latter to be published next year.
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But here's the point. So the Agatha Christie's great
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grandson said it was a dream collaboration.
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And James Pritchard, who is the the grandson has said basically
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these clever and very funny reimaginings of the great
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grandmother's stories. That's Agatha Christie, which
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includes some of her the favorite characters in sort of
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rather suspicious circumstances abound by delight of both the
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fans and both the authors. Now, the point behind this
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without giving away the whole stories, of course, folks go and
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read them. But the point here is, is to
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bring something fresh and new to young minds who are learning to
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read. But I think for adults who
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actually read the stories to their children, it's quite
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clever because they will have a connection, of course, with
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Agatha Christie. Now, you may not have even read
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any of Agatha Christie's books themselves, but you would
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probably have seen some of the films or even possibly the TV
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series of which, you know, most people will be very familiar
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with the plots. But the point here is, is I
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think that bringing the two brands together is very clever
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from a merchandising perspective.
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It's ideal. You can actually visualize.
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And it has been her call Poirot as a Mr. Men character, very,
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very simple, which could be applied to everything from a mug
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to a bed sheet to a poster and many other things.
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So for me, I think it's a brilliant idea.
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And and I wonder, you know, how this will sort of unfold.
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I could see that this could actually unfold to a whole
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series, not just the first two books, but I could see that them
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lots more could come out of this.
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And also it's it's just a brilliant idea anyway.
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Imagine if you will, Mr. Mark, the Mr. Men doing a bit of
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theology teaching theology teaching, Well, yes, teaching
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some Christian faith, not at a simple level, but at a complex
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level, like you're taking a a complex story who'd done it.
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But we're meaning to use the little grey cells as like your
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prior would say, it's what if Little Miss Faithful, for
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example, the teaching about faith, it bringing things
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together like this has just a touch of genius about it.
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It it it also sparks another thought.
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Now there are other silly characters that are out there
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that I could see. So for example, Mr. Men meet the
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Wombles, Mr. Men meets Harry Potter, Mr. Men meets Keir
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Starmer. You know those.
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Well, I think, I'm not sure which is the child child's
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character there, the childish character there.
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But yeah, yeah, I get you. I, I could see that.
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I could see this running now, I would really love, I know that
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we normally have a call out at the end, but I'm gonna call out
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at this point, which I've been really keen to understand what
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parents think about this idea and how are they, it's
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responding in the market. You know, what do children
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really think about this? Did it go down well?
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Did it really capture people's imaginations?
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But either way, I think that that particular story is going
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to run and run. Yeah, just remember that the
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easiest way to come in, to get through to us is to go to our
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website, markandpete.com. Anyway, on with the next story.
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Well, here is a slightly more serious subject, and quite a
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poignant one too, which is the Church of Togetherness.
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Once a Pope met a king which made the Angel start to sing.
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As the king greeted the Pope, it brought together a crown and
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cope. The Pope said to the king, let's
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pray together for worshipping. The King agreed and with the
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Pope and holy faith resumed to live in hope.
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Yes, well, there we go. King Charles, head of the Church
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of England, has now met the Pope Leo for a historic meeting and
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praying in the Sistine Chapel. This is the first time that the
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leaders of the Church of England and the Catholic Church have
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come together in such circumstances.
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Now what's interesting as well is, is that he got a lot of
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media focus. But my point here is to somebody
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that I know who is very, very close to religion, Mr. Pete, I
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ask you, so for the first time closing a gap that stretched
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back to the Reformation in the 16th century, what is the
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implication of this particular meeting?
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And probably more importantly, what will it's legacy be?
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What does this now do for faith going forward?
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Well, yes, I spent some time being employed by the Church of
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England and I'm still a, a qualified priest in the Church
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of England. So yeah, I have some knowledge
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in it. I've worked with them.
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I, I don't pretend to be, you know, an expert of the history
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of the, the churches there, but just a brief comment.
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The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church split, but
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not really if you're just historically both claimed to be
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the true Catholic Church at the time that they split back in the
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16th century. They were just changing who was
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the head of it, right. So you have the, the Pope was
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the head of some of the, of the Czech for some time, the Pope
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being the the Bishop in Rome. There were other bishops, but
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basically what happened is most of those got taken over by a
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Muslim invaders, you know, hundreds and hundreds of years
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ago, previously rather. And so the Roman church was very
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dominant. But.
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The the Church of England could remain the same church, it
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thought, and simply instead of having the Pope as the head,
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have the king as the head, it thought that the Roman Catholic
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Church thought otherwise. And that was the great split.
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But other churches had already left in the movement known as
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Protestism has already left the Roman Catholic Church to branch
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out in different ways as well in the Reformation of the 16th
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century. So this bit of the Reformation,
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the bit where we simply, we didn't change our theology
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necessarily, we changed the head of it.
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But the theology did change. And the reason was that it was
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believed that the Roman Catholic Church had wandered off in its
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theology. So what has happened in bringing
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them together while the king and the Pope meeting together is a
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big sign that the, the, the two churches are both, you know, at
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least friendly with each other and recognize each other as
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Christian. Why?
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Why do we know that? Because they prayed together.
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And so praying together was the big moment, showing that there's
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at least at the leadership level, a chance of joining
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together. And Jesus in his ministry, in
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his earthly ministry, spoke about the churches.
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But the church being 1, you are one talking to all believers
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just as the Father and I are one, you know, Jesus being so
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close to the Father that they're both God themselves itself.
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So that was Jesus prayer and call for us.
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So it's a good move. Yeah.
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Just to finish my my point here about it.
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So that's good a chance of bringing together it's it's good
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optics showing that Christians are working together,
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recognizing each other's faith. The bad thing is that they're
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both both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England
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have gone some way down what we might call the woke route
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recognising thing, things that weren't part of the church,
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diluting their stands on morality.
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The Church of England far more than the Roman Catholic Church
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and allowing claims of other faiths more than they should
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while still allowing the claim of Christ to to be the only way
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to the Father. And so there's two sides to it.
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One is yet the positive side. I just mentioned the negative
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side. Does this mean none of it
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matters because they're so woke and taken up by the ways of the
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world that it it's irrelevant now?
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Well. Here's the thing.
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So let's take one positive, which is about reconciliation.
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So what do we mean by that? Because it's basically around,
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you know, the, the, the two particular entities coming
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together for the first time for many, many years.
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And what's interesting as well, in the Sistine Chapel, there was
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a serene moment and it had the singing of a piece of music
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which was by the English composer, Catholic composer at
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the time, Thomas Tallis. Now he lived in South London
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during some of the vicious and violent religious conflicts of
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the 16th century which made his music against this sort of
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troubled background. But 5 centuries later, his music
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was being played to both the king and the Pope, who were no
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longer fighting effectively. They were on the same page.
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Now, that's where I think that there is some positives here.
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I agree with you about, you know, that maybe both church
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factions have possibly gone a little bit awry and that needs
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to be addressed. But nevertheless, as I was
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alluding to at the beginning, there is some hope here, hope
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for the Pope and some good things for the King.
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Yes, I like it. Yeah.
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Yeah, just as just to throw in a Bible verse here, Ephesians 4,
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chapter 4, verses 3 and six, make every effort to keep the
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unity of the Spirit to the bond of peace.
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There is one body and one Spirit, 1 Lord, 1 faith, one
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baptism. So in following the what the
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Bible has said, by coming together, they're obeying the
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instructions of Scripture. So let's pray that God will
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bless them because of it and bring the churches together
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while still of course, recognising those important
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doctrinal differences is important, that we're together
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in spirit and together in following Christ.
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So let's pray for that to happen.
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Yes, well, let's move on now. For those people who are out
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there, this may not be something that they were particularly
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familiar with. And take heed because if you
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fall foul of this, yes, you could be in trouble.
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But it is, to be fair, not a dry subject.
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It's wet and often diluted. The importance is undisputed,
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navigated or even routed. It's also flows to be commuted,
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filtered or substituted. Its benefits should be saluted.
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But when water is polluted, you will be prosecuted.
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Yes? Well, quite remarkable here.
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A southwest London council has decided after some time to
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reverse its decision to find a woman 150 lbs for pouring the
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remnants of her coffee down a gully.
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Yes, a drain in the street. Well, the lady in question was
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Berku Yesilieret and she lives in Kew in London.
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Now what had happened was, is that she thought she was acting
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responsibly. She bought a coffee, bought down
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the street, thought I've got to get a bus.
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And what then happened was as a result of spilling the drink
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down the drain, she was actually caught by the police and
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actually fined. Unfortunately.
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Sadly, she was actually guilty of breaking the Section 33 of
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the Environmental Protection Act of 1990, which means it's an
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offence to deposit or dispose of any waste in any way likely to
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pollute any land or water. Mr. Pete, first of all, did you
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know about this particular Environmental Protection Act?
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And secondly, what would you have done in this particular
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case? I've done that same thing myself
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a few times. Extraordinary.
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Yeah. It does seem like the
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responsible thing to do. What, you're going to tip it on
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down on the street where people are going to step, get sticky
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stuff on their shoes. What are you going to do?
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Well, let's tip it down the drain.
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It just is extraordinary. Now, I know that there will be
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good reasons. I'm sure.
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I'm sure that there are good reasons for having this law in
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place. For example, if you, instead of
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pouring the dregs of your coffee, you were to pour 22
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gallons of coffee because the restaurants closed down.
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Whatever it, whatever it might be.
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I mean, painting something absurd so you've got a huge
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amount would really ruin the drains, wouldn't it?
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But that it, I'm sure it's for something on a larger scale,
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something that's actually going to cause harm.
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The coffee that that put down that drain, there's no way it
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would have caused any harm. I put more coffee than that down
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my sink. If I, you know, leave before I
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filled my coffee, put it down the sink, finish my coffee so
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it, it doesn't seem to make sense.
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But I tell you what, when you listen to Margaret beat, you get
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the heads up on these things. You're not going to be caught
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out like that, are you? Well.
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Exactly. Mind you, having said that,
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we're certain brands of coffee, I think it's best pulling it
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down the drain anyway, but that's another matter.
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But the fact is, is that what's interesting, Richmond upon
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Thames Council has now agreed that in the appeal of Miss
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Yesilia, she has said, look, she wasn't aware of this particular
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thing, she was acting responsibly, She didn't do it as
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a deliberate act to cause offence to the environment.
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So it was a minor offence and she, this is quite amusing.
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The councillor said in the to the contravention of this
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particular law, she has actually now no longer needs to have to
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pay the fine, but agreed on the principle she'd agreed not to
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repeat it. So the point here is, isn't it
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remarkable that there are laws in place that actually had she
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had just placed this full cup of coffee on top of a bin in a bin
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which could have probably caused more mess.
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Ironically, this actually was something that she thought she
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was doing the right thing and actually found out that it was
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illegal. So yes, buy her, beware.
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And also citizens be aware there is a law out there that could
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catch you out. Thank goodness the police are
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there. Police are policing this and
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stopping serious crime. We, we, we're really grateful to
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it. Well, we are, you know,
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obviously we like. Goodness, as if we don't have
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enough. Criminals.
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It just seems a bit extraordinary that she would
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have been fined for this. But it seems like the right
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thing has been done. And it does seem like there is a
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good reason for the law. But when you have a small amount
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like that, you would have thought you could use discretion
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and say, look, actually, Madam, you're not allowed to do that,
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but we'll let you off with a warning or what, You know, it
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just seems ridiculous it went that far before before it was
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sorted out. But Yep, now you know.
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Don't do it, Mark. Stop doing it now.
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Well, here's here's a bit of a theme, which is obviously we've
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talked about the the mysteries of the Mr. Men and we've seen
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the, you know, the mysteries of faith.
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But how about the mysteries of the law of England?
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You couldn't make it up, could you?
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The mysteries of the law, yes, beyond even the divide, Maybe,
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maybe. But yes, that's it for this
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week. Thanks very much for listening.
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You may think that the nation it is losing its marbles.
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Well, it is, but at least we're taking notes as it happens and
19:45
sharing them with you. If you want to get in touch, as
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I said, the best ways I said earlier in the episode is to go
19:51
to markandpete.com and get in touch with us that way.
19:54
We'd love to hear from you. And we do use your comments in
19:58
in preparation for episodes and sometimes feature them in future
20:02
episodes. But that's it for Mark and
20:05
myself for this week. Thanks very much for listening.
20:09
Catch you next time.