105 Start Your Own Country, which comes to the end of its six-week run on Wednesday. C. Over the six weeks, Danny explored the practicalities of forming your own country. The first thing on his agenda was to hand in his Declaration of Independence to the prime minister at Number Ten. With this out of the way, he was free to start thinking about things such as writing a constitution and setting up a government. Then he was off to design his own flag and record his own national anthem. He even got someone to design possible postage stamps for Lovely, with his face on them! D. Much of his time was spent travelling the world meeting politicians and dignitaries to hear their advice on what it means to govern a country. He also took advice from a cardinal at the Vatican, and from the linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky on the nature of democracy. After a trip to Death Row in the USA and a moving interview with an inmate, Danny decided against the death penalty for Lovely. E. For economic advice, Wallace visited the chief cashier of the Bank of England. He decided to create a brand new currency, which he called the Independent Occupational Unit (IOU). However, you can't open a bank account or take out a loan in Lovely. And forget trying to draw out IOUs with a cash card for the simple reason that there aren't any banks there. The IOU is part of a much more casual economy, free from things such as interest rates. It's based on the phrase 'time is money'. You basically do something for someone and they'll do something later for you. F. Along the way, Danny also met with several disappointments. In one episode Danny travelled to New York to try and get his country recognized by the United Nations. Unfortunately, his request was ultimately turned down because of his lack of an independent territory. Although Danny had bought his flat, he had not purchased the land on which it stands, so officially his headquarters belonged to the UK. But what disappointed Danny most of all was being refused entry to the Eurovision Song Contest with a song he specially recorded called "Stop the mugging and start the hugging". The reason he was given was that, since his country had no radio or TV station, he could not become a member of the European Broadcasting Union. G. The final thing Danny had to do was to find a name for his country. At his request, citizens sent thousands of suggestions as to what this new country could be called. Ideas ranged from Flatland to Wallaceland, Spexico to United Kingdan and Dantopia; someone even suggested calling the country France! But, in the end, the final selection came down to just two: Home or Lovely. And it was the citizens who made the final decision. Aiming to become the most democratic democracy in the world, King Danny achieved a world first and let the people decide. Lovely won the final vote. H With more than 58,000 citizens, Lovely is officially larger than the Vatican, San Marino, Monaco and Liechtenstein, but whether the country will very much depend on how busy its creator is. And, as Danny Wallace is much in demand for several other TV projects, it might fall to other members of his government to keep things running. But with elections promised every six months, the creation of the University of Lovely and several sporting events (including a Scalextric Grand Prix) planned over the coming weeks, there are plenty of activities to keep the citizens of Lovely occupied for quite a while yet. i. So what's the future of Lovely? 2. How did Lovely get its name? 3. Who did he visit to find out about making laws for his country? 4. What did he have to do to set up the country? 5. How do you apply to be a citizen? 6. What about money in Lovely? 7. How did it start? Total 171

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