I don't watch all of SNL UK, but it's hard to ignore it with a NOW subscription. It seems to be really picking up steam in its second series. I'm seeing more clips on YouTube, more discussion about it, and Weekend Update is a roaring success. But also the sketches seem to have improved and this one: An Older and Wiser Boyband is SO good. "We put the naughty in …

I think I missed the news that iconic 90s TV show Baywatch was getting a reboot, because this trailer was a complete surprise to me. Ooooh. It's way too glossy and it'll never be a patch on the original but this is exciting. Honestly, just hearing those drums, the build-up, that song! It gives me tingles. I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable living in a world where Hobie is now …

Three weeks into this year's Strictly live shows and the dance card is filling up with speciality dances. We've already seen a couple of Charlestons, two Couple's Choices and this time, the people's favourite, an Argentine Tango. For me, this is all too soon. It's really obvious that the celebrities aren't ready for these more complex dances. They're just getting their heads around Latin and ballroom, the differences, the requirements, …

!! Spoilers for series six, episode four of Slow Horses. Nothing beyond this episode. Only read on if you've seen it! This episode opened with the most intense ten minutes of fighting in a bowling alley, neon lights and everything. It was almost a relief when the opening credits rolled. But it wasn't all action in this fourth episode of the series, as we're finally starting to get some answers. …

This weekend’s Strictly show came with a lot of firsts - the first time all 15 couples got to participate in a theme week, the first time movies week has been so early in the competition, and the first time this year that someone was going to be sent home. The dance of the week, for me, was Cach and Maddie’s Samba. Fresh from last week’s freestyle quickstep that split …

!! Spoilers for series six, episode three of Slow Horses. Nothing beyond this episode. Only read on if you've seen it! One thing that makes Slow Horses stand out in a crowded espionage market, is the old-fashioned feel of it, clinging onto the coat-tails of the Cold War. This episode leaned into this in two distinct ways. Firstly, Sid and River were on the run from the hit squad twins. …

Following on from the re-development of this site, and the improvement in reviews, the next step was to try and surface more content. Somehow, I’ve managed to collect an archive of 1700+ films, 1800+ books, 1000+ albums (and 46 games). Previously, you could try a search or browse pages of cover images, but there was no real way to investigate the reviews in any detail. Landing lights I’ve been working …

The first week of Strictly's live shows felt like it was going to be the real test - of the dancers, of their new partnerships, and of course, of the new presenting trio. Present and correct The good news is that any sign of nerves was gone, the cringing competition-winner vibes of the launch show firmly in the past. Although the presenting team have denied they would fall into defined …

!! Spoilers for series six, episode two of Slow Horses. Nothing beyond this episode. Only read on if you've seen it! The second episode picks up right where we left off: River has buried his grandfather and the team are under threat. My concern for Shirley remains, but so far she has survived unscathed. Thankfully in this episode, no major characters were harmed, although a hitherto unknown agent was killed …

Whilst scrolling through TikTok, an intro video appeared for the Fourth Wall Bookshop - a new online bookshop that has a specific focus on movies, musicals and theatre. That's my idea of heaven! I immediately started browsing and curating a shortlist of titles I'd love to have on my coffee table. (Although I actually need to get a coffee table first.) The shop has a great backstory, from the about …

A month ago, when I wrote about the multiple changes to this behemoth of a Saturday night entertainment show, I was very much on the fence about it all. So much was going to be different, it might not feel like watching the same show, and it just might not be for me anymore. Well, as always, in fact an annual tradition at this point, the launch show blew all …

!! Spoilers for series six, episode one of Slow Horses. Nothing beyond this episode. Only read on if you've seen it! I've been eagerly awaiting the return of Slow Horses - one of Apple's best original programmes - and the sixth outing of the spy drama got underway this week. The first episode of each series has two jobs to do: catch us up with where everyone is, and kick …

I didn’t really want to watch this week’s Apple announcement because Tim Cook’s handed over the keys of the empire to John Ternus and I was mildly sad about that. John did a great job, though, and even brought back the ‘one. more. thing.’ And what a product to have saved it for! The iPhone Duo - Apple’s first foldable device. Of course they are behind the curve in terms …

I've just finished watching season three of Silo, which concluded last week - spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't caught up, or worse, hasn't watched any of it yet (what are you doing? Sign up to Apple now and get straight on to season one), I'm going to give away some plot points below. At the very end of the final episode of Silo, season two, we got a glimpse …

In reworking my website over the past few weeks, I’ve had a lot of time to stare at my writing, in particular the reviews of films, books, music and games. I realised, quite quickly, there was something really lacking in that department. I never claimed to be a seasoned critic of any kind, but even I could see that the reviews had gotten vague and lazy. It’s all very well …

Drifting towards the end of the UK's summer of heatwaves, I decided it was time to head to the coast. But rather than looking for sand and donkeys, I met up with my parents at Dawlish Warren for a short stroll along the South West Coast Path. You can walk between the train stations from Dawlish Warren to Dawlish itself, and the entire way is a brilliant view of sea, …

Oh Dolly 💔

For the last seven years or so, my website has been working via a Hugo static server, building pages every time I publish something. That was working well and it had the desired effect of being in control of the content, the way it was published, the structure of the site, rather than relying on a third party content management system. Three years after implementation, it was already getting a …

I randomly stumbled across this video summing up Niall Horan's Grand Ole Opry debut, and it was so exciting! I've loved Horan's music but never really thought of it as leaning into country - however, when you hear it in the context of the iconic wood circle, it does make a certain sense. I'd also missed that Horan had teamed up with Thomas Rhett, ultimately the reason he got invited …

There’s a definite cultural trend at the moment for leaning in to nostalgia, which is hardly surprising when you take a look at the world we live in. I’m as guilty of it as anyone. Rather than face up to the current news, I’m more likely to be watching an old episode of Cheers or getting obsessed with Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. And I’m not sorry, because when you dig into …

You wait for ages for a good television music quiz, and then two turn up at once. No sooner has the BBC’s The Hit List returned to our screens, than PopMaster TV also popped back up on More4, kicking off this week with a celebrity special. The two shows are both brilliant, a lot of fun, and test your music knowledge past and present, and I love what very different …

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. I hadn't realised on first viewing that this was a fan video, created by someone just for the love of the band and …

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. I love behind the scenes features, it's always surprising just how many people are involved, and how …

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 …