As a big fan of The Pillars of the Earth, I couldn't quite work out how there could be a sequel. How can you follow something quite so epic and sprawling and do it successfully? Well, I needn't have pondered. I loved World Without End, perhaps even more than the original. Despite its length, it was an absolute page-turner, I was hooked and read it at every opportunity.

There's no escaping that this film is twenty years old now, it hasn't really aged all that well. The phones look old, the computers are very dated, the hairstyles are quite old. It also doesn't help that they're referencing black and white films which makes it feel even further removed. Mr C and I realised we don't know anything about ye olde films and probably need to brush up on some of that too. I do like it, though, the relationship between Hanks and son is good, and it was enlightening to hear the text speak from so long ago. Enjoyable but not all that special twenty years on.

Ghost: Just a Blogging Platform It's about time there was a bit of competition in the blog-hosting space. I am quite ingrained in Wordpress these days, but always looking to try something new.

My bread-making skills are still very basic, and although I keep meaning to practice more, it is such a stop-start and lengthy process that I never get round to it. Nevertheless, when I bought a loaf tin for my cherry cake, I decided I should probably try and make a loaf of bread - it would be rude not to do so! I delved into my copy of Paul Hollywood's …

30 abandoned places that look truly beautiful An incredible look at some former buildings that have been left behind by humans and reclaimed by nature. Some are eerie, some are gorgeous, some fascinating - a great collection to look through.

I watched this episode not from the comfort of my own armchair, but in a hotel room on a tiny television. I never quite realise how used to HD I am until it is taken away from me! Thankfully, this episode didn't look like it delivered much on the grand scale of beauty. Rather than gorgeous outer space landscapes, or moody forest settings, we were locked away inside the TARDIS …

Q turned out to be a tricky letter in my Alphabet Adventure. I was expecting it to be hard to find something beginning with the required letter, but I wasn't necessarily anticipating it taking so long for me to get there too. I gave up waiting for the weather and made my way to Quarry Bank Mill, somewhere near Manchester Airport. Along the way, I passed Jodrell Bank Observatory which …

Passing by Jodrell Bank, paused for a mega hailstorm to move away. Quite the day for upwards observation.

Looks good. Had forgotten how short Natalie is. And Loki's hair!

I am quite behind on talking of my recent bakes, but equally, you haven't missed that much. I have discovered the Basil iPad app for keeping track of the recipes I like, and spent some time importing all the recipes I've tried, noticing that a lot of them come from the BBC. I've also been looking at the GoodFood (BBC) magazine available on the Newsstand. Perhaps I need to spread …

This was different to what I was expecting, but not bad at all. It occasionally teetered on the edge of ridiculous and 'not for us' but then it was also very funny in places and brought it right back. I thought some of the shooting scenes were a bit much, but then again, it was very much tongue-in-cheek and self aware. A movie within a movie and all that. Overall, not perfect but quite enjoyable.

I enjoyed the film, the tense moments and the thrilling rollercoaster ride, and the twists and turns at the end really did have me on the edge of my seat. However, the conclusion had me a bit befuddled because I just can't believe anyone would be okay with going through that for... a gift? It doesn't make sense to me. That only took a little away from the film, though, because the rest of it was so intriguing.

Just two weeks after the divisive Rings of Akhaten, Neil Cross was back on writer's duty for Hide - a ghost-hunting romp through an old stately home in the seventies. What begins as a traditional ghost story, moves through some really quite tense and scary scenes, before resolving itself as a love story that spans pocket/balloon universes. This felt more like the Doctor Who people expect, dashing through corridors, unravelling …

I thought this would be my least favourite of the three charity specials produced by JK Rowling to accompany the Harry Potter series. The part this plays in the final book has always been a bit weird to me, but this was only short so it wasn't too much of an investment to take an hour and indulge in some fairy stories.

I found this really quite interesting, as JK Rowling fleshes out the history of the sport that has almost become a part of the conscience as any other traditional real life sport! The information about how the Golden Snitch came into being was fascinating, and I particularly enjoyed the quotes from unhappy fans every time there was a significant change in the regulations. As an F1 fan, I can understand that perfectly!

The three extra Harry Potter books, written by JK Rowling in aid of Comic Relief, were finally made available digitally to coincide with the charity event this year. I snapped them up, doing my bit for charity, and getting some extended insight into the Harry Potter universe. I love books that extend upon a series like this, and I particularly like the HP world, so it's win win.

I used to own this in a two-volume paperback set, and I remember picking out bits here and there but never really reading much of it in one go. As a big fan of the musical, I've enjoyed the renaissance it has had since the film came out (haven't seen it yet though) and thought it was a good time to really give the book a firm go. Once I started, it soon became clear this was on the same level as War and Peace - long, sprawling, but with great characters.

Tweeted by the marvellous Molly Wood earlier today, I watched a new campaign from soapmakers Dove. It's a fascinating look at the way women see themselves compared to the way other people see them. An actual forensic artist draws a portrait of the ladies based on their own descriptions, and then on a description from someone else. The results are amazing. There are plenty of critics to this - it's …

I really loved this. Initially I was concerned when the reporter gave us a huge spiel of backstory that I struggled to follow and had no hope of remembering. Thankfully, it wasn't necessary to remember the intricate details of who said what to whom, the fight was clear. Between boat captains, between nations, between morals. Tony Scott mastered making the scenes tense, I was almost literally on the edge of my seat at times. It had its Black Hawk Down moment, genuinely pulling at my robot heart-strings, and it was all really well done.

I like this one, I think when I watched this the first time I had a bit of a thing for Adam Garcia, so that always helps. Not so much anymore, but I still quite liked their relationship developing - it wasn't as corny as it could have been, and they had some good dialogue between them. Having seen Rock of Ages relatively recently, the two struck me as very similar, it's just this one didn't have as much breaking into song musical-style.

I saw a trailer or description for the film Internship a while back, but just recently watched the new trailer for it. The Internship Some of this looks funny, a lot of it appears strained. They don't seem like the type of people that wouldn't be using mobile phones and tablets really. And also, how much is Google paying for this??

I keep telling myself I will go back and watch these episodes again before I write about them, so that I have one viewing for the sheer enjoyment of it, and another to take in the finer details. So far, I have not managed to do that. Is it just a lack of time, or is there a lack of motivation here too? The recent episodes do seem to suffer …

ITV have brought the exceedingly popular quiz show Catchphrase back to its screen, with updated graphics and a snazzy new host. I haven't seen the new show, except for a brief stint where they got Ant & Dec to play against each other a week or so ago. I'd imagine that it's still fun, but nowhere near as good as the original - these remakes never are. And Roy Walker …

I have to buy a new coat. A riveting start to any story, I know, but this is a big deal. I haven't bought a new coat in... well, six years. I have been wearing the precious Honda Dreamfields waterproof that we were given at Silverstone in 2007, and it's served me very well. I went through one period where I thought I had better get a new outer garment …

Incredible film. Some great acting from the outset, really showed the struggles of mental illness from both sides. Bradley was on top form, and Jennifer had a spiky vulnerability that was fascinating. Enjoyed the story, some moving scenes, intriguing twists and turns, plus a happy ending that wasn't soppy.

Doctor Who is one of those television programmes that will never be able to win. It's demographic is so wide-spread, and people want such different things from their Doctor Who experience, it really is impossible to please everyone. He's too human, too alien, there's too much sci-fi, too much humanity, it's too childish, too adult, boring, complicated, incredible, ridiculous, etc, etc. Obviously opinions matter, and we write blog posts about …

Rush And thus, my Formula One world collides with my Film Watch world again. This looks like a pretty solid effort, I've been watching Ron Howard tweet about it for what seems like forever. Thankfully, it's all about to get going and we'll be able to watch the results soon. Drama, slow-motion, terrifying crash scenes. It's all in there. Let's just hope it's good!

The entire start of the film was a mystery to me - I had forgotten the 1960s stuff and assumed it began with baby Kirsten Dunst. I was impressed with the special effects, although they weren't very consistent - some were great, some were awful, and some were in between.

I hadn't quite realised the Fisher Stevens controversy going into this and only discovered it when noticing - 'Hey, that's the guy from Friends but... he's not Indian.' So, there's that aspect of it which is a little disconcerting. verall, though, the film is fun, the characters are kooky and the robot is über-cool. It's amazing how quickly they can get you to care about a hunk of tin that was designed as a war robot.

Two big storylines this month, with the developing situation at Bridge Farm, and the saga between Chris and Alice. Alice heads off to Canada after a frosty goodbye with Chris, and it isn't long before she's getting a phone call saying he's had a bad accident and she needs to return. There's a long-standing joke saying: "It's all kicking off in The Archers" because it never is. This time, it …

I think I was in a bit of a weird place watching this because I could see that it was a bit funny but nothing special, and yet I was laughing like a crazy person. The bit with the gym ball had me in tears. So, chalk it up to overwork, exhaustion, or the glass of wine I had alongside me, but I really enjoyed it. The wrestling was a bit much at times, particularly in the big finale, but I can't exactly moan about that because it is the premise of the whole film. Ultimately feel good, amusing along the way, and happy endings all round. Not much to complain about.

Actually a really good film! It took a while to get going, and was utterly predictable at many moments. But it was fun, and the characters were great, feisty and annoying and creative and gutsy. The emotions at the end were a little overdone because it was quite obvious to all that it would be a happy ending. Still, Chris O'Dowd is in everything at the moment, isn't he? I loved his portrayal, especially the conversation where he chose the lead singer, and the bit by the river.

Ahh, it made so much sense when finally we realised what the bells related to. It made sense, and also made me feel stupid. There's so much about Doctor Who that should be obvious but it never is until it is revealed. It's one of the joys of Steven Moffat's era of the show, that you can concentrate too hard on unravelling the riddles, or you can just ride the …

This year, Friends finally became available to download, in HD. We had been waiting for a long time to get the digital versions and were over the moon when there was a series 1-10 bundle. The glorious images are now in high definition, and a more sensible shape, rather than the square footage that was originally broadcast. Unfortunately, this can sometimes be a bit more revealing than the programme makers …

I finally found a really good course layout that I am happy running along, and it is exactly 5km taking me from almost door to almost door. It's perfect, and I started to get in a really good routine, into the groove. I crossed the 100 kilometre mark, moving past 20% of the total. I even managed to get ahead of the target even if it was only by 0.02 …

I tried baking a cherry cake before, and it was a more traditional sort - the result was not quite what I was looking for. Instead, I searched for a loaf cake recipe, and uncovered this gem, which is apparently adapted from a Good Housekeeping recipe. It was so delicious, and disappeared very quickly. I couldn't quite work out whether the cherries had stayed in situ or not - there …

A few week's ago, I bought the Great British Bake Off booklet, produced for Comic Relief. There weren't really any new recipes in there that I hadn't already seen, but it was for charity - plus, I ordered it through a supermarket delivery, so it came right to my door without me having to lift a finger. Inside was a recipe for scones, and whilst I wasn't keen on that …

After catching up with the penultimate episode of The Big Reunion on Saturday, we flicked over to ITV where Ant and Dec were having their evening Takeaway. We left this on as background noise and then were intrigued to see some of the bands from the Big Reunion going to sing at the end of the show. Our first chance to see them doing in public what we've watched them …

I've had this book tucked away on my Kindle for ages (oddly, it doesn't seem to be available for the Kindle anymore) but I dug it out in anticipation of the Boat Race this weekend. Mark De Rond spends the duration of the training period for the 2007 Cambridge boat crew, following them, guiding them, helping them, and documenting it all.

I enjoyed this one. I remember hearing Jon talk about the Psychopath test when he was plugging the book on endless radio and TV shows. From what he talked about, I had thought it would be more focused on the high profile names and faces that tend towards the wrong end of the test, but actually there is only a brief mention of how psychopathy may be prevalent in top businessmen and media types.

This year, Crashed Ice was at its biggest and best, the Ice Cross Downhill World Championship featuring five different locations and some of the top skaters from across the globe. There were team competitions, and more women participating than ever, and it even pushed the boundaries in terms of indoor tracks and corkscrew delights. We've been watching the winter sport since 2010, after discovering that Red Bull TV showed each …

Last week, Google caused a right kerfuffle by announcing the closure of Google Reader - the RSS feed reading service that lets you keep up with news and websites via the magic of syndication. They've blamed the closure on a desire to focus on key products, plus the decline of users on the service. They're not saying they want to promote the use of Google+ instead, but we all know …

I love it when a plan comes together. This time last year, getting an update through onto the Pocket F1 Handbook owned by loyal and marvellous customers was not an easy feat. Fast forward twelve months, and a significant period of chopping and changing within Formula One, and we now have two sections significantly updated and ready for you to read! No matter which version of the book you bought, …

This first one looks like your traditional action movie fodder, but there are heaps of famous people in there! Olympus has Fallen I hadn't heard of this spin off from Cars that Disney are making, called Planes (or if I had heard of it, I'd forgotten!). It does what it says on the tin, and even has a bonus appearance from one David Croft! Lofty Crofty, the blimp! Amazing. Is …

I realised part way through that the problem with the later books is the lack of camaraderie between the main characters. When Ford and Arthur finally meet up in this final one, it makes things an awful lot better/more interesting. There's just not enough of that to keep it going.

Normally, I would call this kind of post my "early thoughts" on something. Kindles, phones, games, they all get the same kind of treatment. The Sims 3, however, was first released in 2009 and I have just managed to get my hands on it now... the year 2013. Part of it was reluctance. I loved The Sims 2 and had no particular desire to replace it. Part of it was …

My dad sent me a link to this video, showing some bakers having great fun as they make heaps of loaves of all different shapes and sizes. I find it oddly fascinating, the sheer amounts of flour flying around, and the perfection and regulation of the dough!

The action in this historical crime drama gets underway straight away with the sinking of the Luisitania after being torpedoed by Germans, and then the murder of a tailor during a fire in his shop whilst his daughter was being assaulted outside. There are a lot of different strands to the book, and quite a lot of characters to get to know quite quickly, but gradually it starts to come together.

So far this year, my baking mojo has been worryingly absent. Perhaps it is the lack of any Great British Baking to inspire me (although the Comic Relief specials were bloomin' marvellous!) but mostly, it's a lack of time related to spending weekends buried in a keyboard. Thankfully, it's starting to come back to me now so that I spent a bit of time perusing various recipes and opting for …

I'm not a massive reality TV fan. I did the Big Brother thing back when it was good, and I've watched a Pop Idol or two, but mostly I find them irritating. The people tend to be either annoying or uninteresting, and this latest explosion of half-reality, half-setup stuff seems very misleading and contrived. However, I've finally found a reality TV show that I am totally on board with. The …