91Èȱ¬

There's less than a month to go now if you want to get in your request for tickets for the London Olympics.

Around the 91Èȱ¬ 2012 office, as in a multitude of others, there's been much scrutiny of the timetable; and I've heard the debate many people around the UK are having.

"If I try to buy tickets for the really big events, what happens if I don't get them - or what happens if I do?" One route leads to needing some fallbacks, while the other risks a big bill if you're lucky in the ballot.

Any of us wanting to buy tickets for our personal use are using the same external process as everybody else. But in the light of the discussion about how other public bodies are buying seats for the Games, I thought this would be a good time to explain the 91Èȱ¬'s overall policy on ticket purchases.

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I'd never been to Canary Wharf before I had this job. Now it's a regular part of life to pitch up at the skyscraper housing Locog, and I know every twist and delay of the Jubilee Line as it goes through the rebuilt docklands: further out to North Greenwich and the O2, or back to central London through Canada Water and Bermondsey.

But I also can't remember ever previously visiting some of the Olympic host boroughs. I'd been out to Dagenham once to watch Bradford City, but Newham and Hackney weren't much on the map - and Tower Hamlets and Greenwich are places visitors go to principally for sights like the Tower of London and the Royal Observatory.

So it's been something of a revelation - and a pleasure - to spend time where the Olympics will be staged next year.

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Sometimes life imitates comedy. Earlier this week I was at a showing of the new 91Èȱ¬ sitcom "Twenty Twelve" - the first episode of which is about the unveiling of a London 2012 icon.

Then last night I was at St Pancras Station where London's first giant Olympic rings were being unveiled by Boris Johnson and Seb Coe.

One of the gags in the sitcom is about the launch of 2012's countdown clock; and, sure enough, we can expect the real countdown clock to make an appearance soon.

"Twenty Twelve" the show launches on 91Èȱ¬ Four on 14 March, and its genesis is in the normal business of 91Èȱ¬ Comedy.

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