A trailer was released yesterday for a new Marvel series called Visionquest. The series follows main character Vision and appears to catch up his story since WandaVision. I don't know about anybody else, but I didn't know this was in the works. I'm a bit behind on the MCU of late, The Fantastic Four is still on the list and there are a couple of series I've missed. Whereas a …

Strictly Come Dancing has undergone the biggest shake up in its twenty year history ahead of the 2026 series, and I'm left a bit bemused by it all. When former hosts Tess & Claudia confirmed they were leaving last year, it was obvious that the show had a good opportunity to mix things up a bit, but I wasn't necessarily expecting the number of changes we've seen. Presenter tense The …

I had an itch recently to go to Stratford-Upon-Avon. There's no real good reason why, as I'm not a particularly big Shakespeare fan, but I've been before a while back and remember it being particularly picturesque. Of course, this time, I was going in the middle of one of the UK's many heatwaves, so the grass was all dead and dry and the good looking photo opportunities were few and …

I wasn't sure what to expect when taking in a performance of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, as the UK tour passed by. I definitely wanted to see Ralf Little in the title role, but I've had a hit and miss relationship with John le Carré's work. This book has been my favourite so far though, so the odds were in its favour. And I absolutely loved …

I wasn't too far behind the curve on Ride or Die, it was released mid-way through July, but I still ended up having to power through it to be done in time for Hannah Waddingham's next stint on Ted Lasso. The woman is keeping busy and long may it be so! I absolutely loved Ride or Die, a female led spy series with two best friends in Waddingham and Octavia …

This summer is a big one, heatwaves and droughts and consistent weather that we're just not used to in the UK. I don't know about anyone else, but it's really just become a matter of survival and I genuinely think I will never complain about being cold again. In the meantime, although the forecast is suggesting slightly reduced temperatures going forward, there's not really an end in sight for this …

One of the things I've really enjoyed about my various review sections on this site is how they evolve. The films started out as a weekly thing, just me and have rolled through watching loads of movies with Mr C, to a reduced load now supplemented by black and white films I watch by myself. I've added a Games section that didn't exist before. I'm constantly debating what albums count …

Just randomly browing around YouTube and this incredible Roxette video popped up, celebrating 40 years since the release of their first single Neverending Love. Featuring the iconic duo Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle rendered as adorable puppets, the video is littered with Roxette references and easter eggs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T5MK4c-pjc I hadn't realised on first viewing that this was a fan video, created by someone just for the love of the band …

It was entirely invevitable that after being obsessed with Crocodile Shoes, I'd have to give Auf Wiedersehen, Pet a look. People have recommended this to me before and I've just never got round to it, but the first two series are available to watch on ITV streaming, so it was worth a look. I LOVED IT. This mismatched group of lads, away from home and just trying to scrape together …

Wimbledon 2026 is almost at its conclusion, and as I'm less interested in the men's final than I should be, I'm happy to draw a line under it for this year before we have crowned both champions. It's been brilliant, for me much better than last year and with plenty of intrigue throughout. I wrote in my first week roundup about how many seeds were falling by the wayside and …

As I do most years, I have taken some time off work over the Wimbledon fortnight to be able to absorb as much tennis as possible, and boy what a first week of grass court action we have had. I paid quite a lot more attention to Wimbledon Qualifying this year as well, so was going into this week with plenty of tennis activity already in my mind, and lots …

I'm deep in watching Wimbledon at the moment, so TV has taken a back seat but before that I'd watched a few good things that are worth a mention. The Prime Video series The Girlfriend was an eye-opening experience. Reviews have been mixed for that show, but I really liked it. The concept is an over-protective mother of a young guy, and his new social climber girlfriend butting heads over …

I've got a bit of a backlog of blog posts to write but I didn't want to forget to make a note of the UK tour of The Shawshank Redemption. The play is an adaptation of the Stephen King short story and/or the movie and is just as tense and oppressive as both of those other mediums. Joe McFadden stars as Andy, and I'll be honest, I'd seen him in …

I find Jimmy Nail fascinating. Not a traditional heartthrob, he did seem to have a legion of fans and get cast as the lead in rom-com style dramas in the 90s, whilst also having a music career as well. Crocodile Shoes is the point where these two elements combine, an old series about an unlikely pop star trying to break his way into the business. The first series of this …

We're heading into another heatwave here in the UK, so that's the perfect time to write about a knitted scarf, right? I've had this item finished for a while but it's taken time to get the perfect photo. I had a lot of yarn leftover from knitting this blanket and remembered a scarf pattern I had stumbled across that featured five different colours alternating in different size stripes. I'm not …

Back in December, I wrote about the new Jonathan Creek project - a crowdfunding book of a script that writer David Renwick hopes to be a stage play. Prohibitive costs of putting on a show meant the author decided to get the work out there in some form or other, and the form was a book. I got sucked into the idea once one of the funding options included a …

This was a tournament that just kept on delivering surprises, day after day. After blistering temperatures in the first week, the conditions cooled a little for the second but remained challenging. The wind picked up and played its part and we got to a position where whoever the champions were going to be, they were going to be a surprise! Sabalenka dropped out in shocking fashion, similar to Sinner before …

So sad that Anthony Head has died. Of course for most of us, he's either Giles from Buffy (a great excuse to rewatch that show again!) or the enraging ex-husband in Ted Lasso (similar story!). But he had a huge and varied career and I really loved him in a few more things. Cabin Pressure. I think the character of Herc was only supposed to be a brief visitor to …

I've been a fan of Les Mills workouts for a long while now, previously in the gym and since Covid via at home subscription, and even though I'm still pretty poor at most of the workouts, there's a lot to like in there. Each programme refreshes every quarter, so you're always in line for something new, and one of the best bits of that is following the progress of the …

I stumbled across this video yesterday, which is a nice little behind the scenes feature for the Baftas focused on the show Beyond Paradise. A spin off of the long-running Death in Paradise, this one is set in the slightly less sunny Cornwall and, surprisingly, appears to mostly be filmed in a barn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXAzuMeqzIM I love behind the scenes features, it's always surprising just how many people are involved, and …

The fifth and penultimate season of For All Mankind came to a close this week, concluding another tense and eventful series that moved quite a lot of storylines on, and inevitably led us to the next decade time jump. The show has been renewed for the sixth and final series - I think the creators initially had planned seven, but I'm happy they know it's ending and can plan accordingly. …

I didn't think I would have much time to watch tennis this fortnight, so for Roland Garros 2026, I have defaulted to the excellent online radio. Radio Roland Garros has always been a highlight and continues to be so. Great balance of tennis commentary, general chatter, pun games, and friendly banter, and this year plenty of talk about the weather. It's been hot this past week, and I don't envy …

About this time last year, I was caught up playing Planet Zoo, the zoological simulation game that has taken the world by storm. Well, it took me by storm anyway. The end of my review stated: "This may be the last game review I ever write, as I’m going to be playing Planet Zoo a lot and for a long time." I was not wrong. There have been other game …

Last year, the BBC quietly released one of those cosy humerous detective shows called Death Valley. It featured the odd couple of Gwyneth Keyworth as ambitious but socially awkward detective Janie Mallowan teaming up with retired actor John Chapel, played by Timothy Spall. Chapel's stint as a murder detective on a long-running TV show gives him a useful insight into motives and character arcs, and the pair put their skills …

This month, I saw the touring production of Single White Female, an updated version of the film adapted for the stage, starring Lisa Faulkner and Kym Marsh. In preparation, I made sure to have watched the movie, which gave me a good grounding for what to expect, even though they were two very different things. The play updates the story to the modern day, rather than the firmly 90s movie, …

I’ve been listening to Radio Roland Garros this week, as per usual, and really loving the descriptive commentary of matches. I’ve opted not to got access to watch this year so am relying solely on the radio for coverage. It reminded me of a quote from Chris McCausland’s excellent autobiography about watching football versus listening to it. As someone who gradually lost his vision, Chris has experienced all variations of …

Last year’s Eurovision seemed like it had taken a bit too much of a turn towards a credible singing contest, losing some of that quirkiness that makes it the institution that it is. This year, things were a bit more nutty, which is exactly what I’m looking for. Hilariously, I’ve read criticisms of the UK performance, saying we really should try harder and not send novelty acts. I mean, I …

I, like so many people, was eagerly awaiting the arrival of HBO Max in the UK so that we could sample Noah Wyle's new medical drama The Pitt. Inevitably facing comparisons to ER, the show was billed as something different though - something realistic and emotional and deep. It was all of those things and so much more. I've watched the full first series, and am about halfway through the …

It's becoming a bit of a tradition now that when I realise a new series of Trying is rapidly approaching, I finally get into gear and get my quote post ready to go. This series fast forwarded a few years so the kids are older and relatively settled into family life. But there are still plenty of challenges and lot to laugh at along the way. Rewatching this show reminds …

For some reason, my journey through photography and particularly improvements in the technology used to take photos (I've really not developed much as a photographer myself) has been documented in turtles. I guess it had to be something so why not an adorable shelled creature. The first attempt at capturing a turtle image ended in frustration, disappointment, nothing tangible to see, and was quickly followed by the purchase of a …

When I saw A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong towards the end of last year it must have been a sort of test run because the Mischief crew are going big with promoting their new London production and short UK tour run. They're popping up everywhere and releasing lots of promotional content, including this excellent behind-the-scenes video of how the show has come together, and generally what a great bunch of …

I have a huge and growing list of things to blog about but April really got away from me... how can I not have written already about the Artemis II mission? I was so looking forward to it, I kept an eye on it constantly, and was hugely impressed with some of the imagery they shared. The moon in all its grey and cratered glory. I love it so much. …

Of all the famous faces that appeared in Celebrity Traitors last year, Joe Marler seems to have had the best result - he pops up on any and every television opportunity you can think of. But not only that, he created his own podcast as well: Joe Marler Will See You Now. It definitely falls into that category of celebrities just chatting to each other, but with Marler's deadpan humour …

When I was learning how to code, one of the problems I had was no specific idea for an app to create. A vague idea cropped up since then but having done absolutely nothing about it, I'm glad to see that Apple have done the hard work for me. Their new feature Genius Browse is an interactive feature to help you pick what to watch next. We have a ridiculously …

I've been following the progress of the England Coast Path for a while now, since my obsession with long distance paths started. I love these trails, even though I have not, as yet, walked very much of any of them. There have been various coastal paths around the country, with the South West Coast Path being the most prominent, but now work has been pretty much completed on joining the …

When I reviewed the first series of Hijack, I said “I’m assuming it’s not the kind of show that will get a second series...” and left it there. Well, I was wrong, the show helmed by Idris Elba returned to Apple TV for a second outing and it was really good. I wasn’t convinced this was going to work, obviously, and without spoiling anything, couldn’t see how a second hijacking …

Pluribus was an absolute treat of a TV show at the end of last year, and the kind of show it is - well crafted and entirely mysterious - lends itself very well to an accompanying podcast. This official show is hosted by Chris McCaleb, an editor on the TV show itself and has a roundtable discussion focusing on each episode of the show and featuring actors, crew, writers, editors, …

Way back towards the beginning of my knitting journey, I mentioned that I was making a jumper but then put it aside to focus on other things. I did finish that jumper, and I don't know why I didn't write about it at the time because it was hilarious. I was proud of it, a finished product, hooray! But it was enormous. I've not really invested too much time in …

Over recent years, I've not given the Winter Olympics the attention it deserves. I wrote about it in 2014 and you can tell in that post I'm in two minds about the whole concept. Well, that all changed this past fortnight, with the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The coverage in the UK was with TNT Sports, on Discovery+, but they included it in the £3.99 price plan which is …

Before Christmas, I suddenly realised I had booked tickets to see a performance of the UK tour of Fiddler on the Roof. I couldn't remember what had driven me to do this, because whilst I love the songs in the show, the film always felt like it dragged and it's not one I remember massively fondly. It's a tough story as well, hard to watch, harrowing in places... a bit …

If I hadn't just watched Domhnall Gleeson in The Paper, I think the new Taylor Swift music video would have passed me by. But I spotted Gleeson standing next to Swift in a promo shot from the video, and was instantly intrigued. The six minute video was released on Apple Music and Spotify only, so my searching endlessly on YouTube wasn't a good start, but once I found it, I …

I really wasn't expecting The Paper to be any good. A spin off sequel from the US version of The Office, it felt like another one of those projects that nobody asked for and wasn't needed. Well I couldn't have been more wrong. I was tempted in to watching it by the fact that Tim Key's in it, and he's brilliant, but there's so much else to love as well. …

I'll be straight about this, I've had a crush on Robson Green for as long as I can remember, so I really like his BBC series where he takes friends, family, and fellow actors around his favourite parts of the North. Robson Green's Weekend Escapes features the man himself taking these guests somewhere to rest, relax and recharge, and unwind with an activity that can be sporty, creative, or nature-based. …

Tot is one of those apps that is so simple, it does one thing but it does it really well. It's for Apple devices, and for taking notes, but nothing fancy - super quick note-taking that syncs across devices so you can just get on with whatever you're doing. The app is easy to use - you get a handful of pages, symbolised by the dots, and in each one …

I’m not sure I would normally reach for a show like All Her Fault, because the concept of a missing child is pretty depressing and there are other things higher up on the list. The hook, such a good one in this show (you turn up to collect your child from a playdate only to find the person that answers the door has no idea what you’re talking about), usually …

Generally speaking, I spend as little time as possible thinking or talking about politics. I’m very grateful to live in a democracy but still, the upper levels of politics tends to just be posh people shouting at each other and making decisions that are best served to keep them in power, rather than actually make anyone’s lives any better. More than anything, what I would want from a politician is …

I had a couple of weeks left on my Now TV streaming subscription, which meant that for once, I was able to watch the current hot show at the time everyone else was talking about. And when we say hot, we mean it in more than one way. Heated Rivalry has become a word-of-mouth sensation, following the very steamy love story of two ice hockey players in a sport not …

The second part of my winter catchup, and let's be real, we need to get this out the way so I can start talking about the TV shows I've watched recently - there has been some good stuff. But as a quick recap of some of last year's viewings, here are eight shows that caught my eye. Acapulco I've written about this show a couple of times, and always love …

I've drifted far away from podcasts over the last few years, having previously been mildly obsessed with the format. I'm rectifying that by resurrecting this feature, and my first podcast for 2026 is Get a Grip. The show is a conversation between two good friends, covering recent pop culture news, things happening in their careers and personal lives, and new ways to look after yourself. Angela Scanlon and Vicky Pattison …

Whilst we are waiting endlessly for the new Tomb Raider games to arrive (finally they are announced, at least!) there's been the upcoming Amazon MGM TV series to focus on instead. Previously we only knew that there was going to be such a show and that Sophie Turner was playing the lead role. I find Sophie a bit hit and miss, but she was excellent in Joan so I hold …