I love the Ostalgie of Goodbye Lenin! but I was profoundly moved by The Lives of Others, which - like Anna Funder's Satsiland - shows the flipside of East Berlin. All of these things, plus many enjoyable visits to the city, convinced me that Belinda should be German. And that her life, and more especially her mother's, in the GDR would have to have been difficult.

This is just such a beautiful film. I'll let it speak for itself. You might notice that the only programme Donald has written that he's actually proud of bears an uncanny resemblance to this one. Sublime stuff.

No list of videos showing how weird Brum is would be complete without this Harold Baim gem narrated by Telly Savalas. If you've never seen it you should do.

So here's one of those TV programmes. I was watching Gangsters while I wrote the book and although it is about crime and The Wall in The Head isn't, I loved the way Gangsters gave Brum an air of sleazy glamour. It was made by the Beeb at the now defunct Pebble Mill when Birmingham produced a lot of Television and I could imagine Mids TV making stuff like this in their fictional heyday. It's celebrating…

So here's one of those TV programmes. I was watching Gangsters while I wrote the book and although it is about crime and The Wall in The Head isn't, I loved the way Gangsters gave Brum an air of sleazy glamour. It was made by the Beeb at the now defunct Pebble Mill when Birmingham produced a lot of Television and I could imagine Mids TV making stuff like this in their fictional heyday. It's celebrating…

Hi and thanks for dropping by. I'm going to use my 'Shed' as Unbound calls this area to share some little treats with you. The Wall in The Head is heavily inspired not just by architecture and many real life visits I've made to the cities featured, but also by things I've seen on screen. Many of the TV programmes, films, home videos etc are from before I was even alive and I think they bring Donald…