Even though more people have TVs now than ever (approximately 55 million sets in 23 million houses in the UK), most of the highest ratings for TV shows were in the 1980’s, before satellite and cable TV (and computer games) gave more variety and split up the viewing public. But since Christmas brings people together, often in front of the TV, it’s one of the times that a single programme can still attract a massive audience. All munching chocolates at the same time! Official TV ratings (those done by the Broadcasters Audience Research Board) don’t recognise totals that include repeats or more than one channel. This means that with an audience total of 24.3 million, the 1996 Christmas special of ‘Only Fools and Horses’ was the official most watched TV programme in the UK.

	Make your TV look 3D
	Is it possible to have a 3D experience in your home, without forking out for new technology? Why not try out our experiment and find out …
	Measure the screen of your television. You need to make a frame that will overlap the edges of the television screen itself.
	Make a cardboard frame using four lengths of cardboard, attached together to make a flat frame, as shown here.
	Take a large sheet of holographic wrapping paper and use it to cover your frame.
	Place the frame in front of the television screen.
	View your favourite television program. How does it look? Many people think that the frame makes the television picture look 3-dimensional, but to some people it makes no difference at all.
	Our brains are often fooled by what we ‘think’ we’re seeing. For example we can often ‘see’ water on the surface of a road on a hot day, but when we get to the water it has vanished. This is called a mirage and caused by the way that light rays arriving at our eyes have been distorted by the hot air near the scorching tarmac. The light rays usually travel in straight lines, but those that pass through the warm layer of air are bent upward, or refracted. Our eye ‘sees’ this light as coming from the ground. But the brain ‘knows’ that the light is coming from the sun, and therefore interprets what it is seeing as a reflection. And if there’s a shimmering reflection, the brain presumes, there must be some water underneath … but of course there isn’t in reality.