The situation as it stands.

Eight-year-old 40" Hitachi TV.
Internet & TV package roughly £60 p/m with Virgin.

Nothing wrong with the TV apart from it freezes now and again meaning I have to switch channels to resume watching the same program.

It's not a SMART TV though which is what I want. Why? For a couple of reasons. I want to watch stuff from the internet on a bigger screen and save money by ditching the Virgin package and replacing it with internet only for around £20 p/m, plus TVPlayer which is totally separate and costs either £5.99 a month with no contract or £60 for the year.

OK, TVPlayer does contain Freeview channels which are readily available on modern TV's anyway but 37 other channels too. They include Discovery and Investigation Discovery which I already have and watch regularly, and also the Nat Geo channels and Crime Investigation which I don't currently have.

https://tvplayer.com/

The Virgin package contains over 100 channels I think including Freeview but I only watch about half a dozen which doesn't warrant me forking out £60 per month. No wonder Branson can afford his own islands. On top of that, the programs are being forever repeated. At least paying £6 a month with TVPlayer it's much more palatable and there isn't a contract.

I'll keep the old TV for the bedroom and purchase a video sender from Malaysia for around 25 bucks that has a range of 200 metres (just to be safe). Better and cheaper than Maplins. With the video sender I'll be able to watch and switch these channels in bed.

As for a new TV I'm looking to pay around £300. Saw a Toshiba 55" 1080 HD SMART telly today reduced by 25% to £329. Good job I checked the reviews as it has a common fault. It turns itself off all the time. One buyer had four replacements before calling it a day. Time to jog on I reckon. I'm happy with another 40" TV though.