In my grumpier Grinch moments over Christmas, I get annoyed at the playlists and festive collections of songs that feature ‘Christmas’ songs that I don’t think count. Those songs that are slowed down versions of absolute tunes for festive adverts, but otherwise have no connection to December. To rectify the situation, I set about creating a proper playlist, and in 2017 released the first volume.

If you tuned in to the Royal Variety Performance on ITV last week, you’ll have enjoyed a scene from the new Mischief Theatre project: A Comedy About Spies. You bet your ass I bought tickets to that show immediately that I heard about it. It’s been a while since there’s been something new like this from the group, and it should be the original Mischief members up on stage which is a double bonus.

I was expecting the worst - these movies are ten a penny, right, Christmas, royalty, romance, etc. But I quite liked it, it was cute. Danica McKellar was pretty good, considering what she had to work with, and the wooden boring-ness of the guy kinda worked in his role as stiff-upper-lip British royalty. Even though it’s not exactly an everyday occurrence, it was at least a believable plot and a happy ending.

I liked this one even more than the previous, as this time the threat was all targeted on Starlight Beacon, a huge Jedi sanctuary-style space station. It was like a disaster movie on a ship, things gradually going wrong until it was unreversable, and then having to desperately try and find a way to save as many people as you can. As before, I listened to the audiobook, so great voice work, excellent sound effects and the occasional musical theme I recognised from the films.

I really liked the concept of this. It maybe wasn’t executed perfectly and could have done with a bit of editing but it kept me reading, whipped through it very quickly. The structure of the novel meant everything happened in quite a compressed timeline so it all felt a little bit more intense than it needed to but if you suspend your disbelief for the season, then it was a good read with a happy ending.

Wham! Last Christmas Unwrapped is an unwieldy title for a one-off TV episode that was mesmerising, surprising and joyful from start to finish. The hour long show manages to pack in a brief history of Wham the band, before and after, as well as the history of the song Last Christmas, the rivalry with Band Aid, and remembering George after his death in 2016. A lot, you might think, but somehow it never felt rushed or missing a beat, it was almost perfect.

Not a bad Star Wars book this one, carrying on from the first in the High Republic with the threat from the Nihil. This time, there’s a big expo about to happen but the terror from the enemy brings chaos and carnage from start to finish. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it - there were great sound effects, well used, and that classic Star Wars music underneath, and great voices considering how many characters of completely different styles and backgrounds. Also found the other storylines interesting - Jedi’s getting too close to other people, wrestling with their feelings, etc. Good stuff.

Wow this was a shockingly bad film. The story makes no sense, the acting was terrible and the scenery was so fake. That’s all there is to say!

Loved this. Went into it with very low expectations after the recent run of Christmas movies but it was so good. Very funny, great characters, and that amazing family dynamic that you only get at the holidays. It was pretty obvious how it was going to end before it started, and there weren’t major twists and turns along the way, but even with that it felt quite original and fresh. The only complaint from the whole thing is that they spent ages looking for that tin, it was so important, and then it was just there in the cupboard. Weird. But a small niggle in a fab film.

It’s an expectation at this point, to go into the Strictly Come Dancing final, and now you’re going to be in floods of tears. This one took a little while to get me, but once the emotional showdance VTs started, I was there, I was with Motsi, any notion of appearing cool was out the window. It was nice to have four finalists again, and although we all sort of knew what the outcome was going to be before we started, I was ready to enjoy the show.

I really liked this, it was very faithful to the text and had a great spooky vibe all the way through, without going too far with it. The acting was great and some of the more emotional moments were really very moving. The actors playing the ghosts were great and as noted above Nicholas Farrell really captured the essence of Scrooge and portrayed him perfectly. The only detraction for me was that, whilst I’m used to actors playing multiple parts no problem, the ghosts were so iconic that seeing them in other roles was unsettling and distracting. But otherwise, a great performance.

Dipping into the land of classic albums for my final choice of the year and this is full on 70s rock. More Than a Feeling is obviously a fantastic way to start things off and really gets you in the right mindset and sets the vibe to come. The songs that follow are great, when they are actually being songs. Unfortunately they are sometimes beset by that self-indulgent noodly nonsense where guitars get five minute solos. Blah. But it was the 70s and they didn’t know any better. Definitely worth a listen and a great way to finish off the year.

Had high hopes going into this debut solo album from Lauren off CHVRCHES. It was good, it did live up to my expectations. Interesting production, great sound, a variety of genres, and all with Lauren’s great vocals over the top. I guess my only complaint is it started out brilliantly but seemed to fizzle a little bit. The song for her mum sort of grinds things to a halt and then it struggles to get going again. Why does everyone have to write a song for their mum? But definitely worth a listen and a worthy first record.

Yes for Sarah Morgan and her Christmas releases, now an absolute staple of December reading. This was from a couple of year’s ago and follows the exploits of a family split between the adventure of a lifetime in Lapland and figuring things out at home. I loved it, great characters with lots of history to try and work through and lots of family drama… the only complaint is it felt like the big reunion was underplayed slightly, was it worth all the fuss? But everything else, all the threads unravelling and wrapping up nicely was great.

Honestly, this was such a terrible film but I quite enjoyed it. The premise is astounding and unbelievable, I’m not the most social of sorts but it seems completely bonkers how willing she was to open up to a wrong number. Any other movie that started like this would have ended up in the horror category. I did like the way the story was told over three Christmases though, and it was watchable if complete nonsense.

This film came recommended to me as absolute nonsense but a bit of fun, and that’s exactly what it was. The whole concept is obviously ridiculous, but even within that, the way it happens makes no sense and there’s no internal logic to the story. The main love story is, you know, it is what it is. But, I have to say, Craig Robinson and Joe Lo Truglio are brilliant and are probably the only reason to keep watching. Hilarious.

Semi-final time and wow, what a spectacle this was. Right from the start it felt like a final, the standard was so high, the drama was enormous and the emotions were real. This was the first time the couples had to learn two full routines in a week (if we’re not counting the sambathon madness), and you could tell that the extra pressure was starting to take it’s toll.

This was a bit of a weird book to my mind. I don’t mind reading a not-so-festive thriller set at Christmas, but this one didn’t quite work - it was a Christmas secret santa party for a company but it didn’t feel very seasonal at all. The characters weren’t particularly nice and although the plot had twists and turns it was quite anti-climactic and unrealistic. A quick read and worth logging, but not really one I’ll rave about.

There’s been a lot of furore around recently over the new version of Do They Know It’s Christmas, featuring a megamix of all the previous artists combined together. It seemed an odd idea, and it’s not really gone over very well, and barely made an impact on the music charts. So why not go back to the original and best version of the song and revisit how it all came together?

One of those cheap and cheerful Hallmark-style Christmas movies, I actually didn’t mind this one. The story is age-old - guy comes back from the big city and stirs up trouble with the locals, but ultimately falls in love with the area and with someone in particular and they all live happily ever after. It’s predictable but also done quite well. There’s at least some chemistry between the leads, and I did sort of care about the business so happy that it all worked out okay.

I love this. LOVE IT. After watching the new Steps musical recently, I had to dive into one of their albums and headed right back to the beginning for the debut record. It’s cheesy pop, there’s no denying it, but oh such classic pop tunes. Absolute singalong bangers. The non-singles were a bit of a surprise, H getting really stuck in with an older, more experienced person, but it was all brilliant.

I find Gwen Stefani to be a bit hit and miss but this new album was definitely more hit than miss for me. She’s picked a theme - flowers - and massively run with it, to the point that it could almost be a concept album, but each song is delicately handled and well done. It’s soft and easy to listen to and overall I enjoyed it. I do wonder if she didn’t want to go full on country, thanks to the influence of Mr Stefani, but just held back a little. Maybe next time.

A great, short read. I never realised this was a Stephen King story, but found the audiobook and quite quickly whipped through it. Considering there’s not a lot of time to get to know the protagonists, there’s great characterisation and of course you have to love the escape and how it ends up happening. The way it sort of winds around toward a conclusion is brilliant.

Stumbled across this during a late night YouTube music trawl and love, love, love it. I’m not sure what it’s for or why it’s happening but I’ll take more collaborations like this please!

This was a super quick read, considering there was quite a lot going on with the giving tree and the morals around that, as well as kids having their own emotional traumas and meltdowns, plus the Christmas play, and then all the normal rom-com elements thrown on top of that. No time to get bored, whizzed through it and enjoyed the ride!

I like that Lindsay Lohan is becoming the new queen of Christmas on Netflix, and I think this year’s film was just a bit better than the last one. It’s one of those contrived setups but there’s some good chemistry between the leads and Kristin Chenowith is brilliant as the dragon potential in-laws. It’s not the kind of film I’m going to seek out again or want to rewatch over and over at Christmas, but for our first festive movie for 2024, I’m happy with it.

This was another book in the Ryan series that has all the good stuff we’ve come to know from them - great characterisation, people that you care about, and a murder mystery to be solved. I do wonder if the idea of pinning each of these books to an iconic northern location was more of a hindrance here, as it’s clear the action all happened in Italy. And I loved that part of it, seeing more of Ryan’s past and the wealth, and how the down to earth characters deal with it. Still, we had a lovely ending with a surprise wedding.

There’s quite a good idea at the heart of this book, 24 hours in the lives of a handful of different characters whose lives are about to intertwine for surprising and emotional reasons. I quite enjoyed the journey but have to admit almost all the characters were pretty unlikeable. I think the best friend Todd was the only one who came out of it okay. But still, could be worth a look, it was a quick read and an interesting concept.

Apple Music has been doing annual reviews for a while now, looking at the songs you’ve listened to in the year and highlighting your most listened to albums and artists for a good summary of twelve months of music. I’m always disappointed in my Music reviews though, because I don’t listen to enough variety or repetition (outside of musicals) to make it worthwhile. A lot of my listening happens via someone else’s device and a HomePod, so they get all the credit.

I’ve been very intrigued by the news that came out recently of Iga Swiatek’s one-month tennis ban for failing anti-doping tests, the way this has been handled versus others. As a long-time Simona Halep fan it was frustrating to see her sitting in the sidelines for multiple years whilst the case was investigated, and it’s not been a barrel of laughs since she returned to the courts - what with such a lengthy spell without playing competitively and the almost immediate injuries.

Reacher is a compelling character so it’s always interesting to start a book in this series. There were two fascinating sides to this story - first watching Reacher grapple with the idea of owning a house and settling down and not wandering the world with no ties anymore. And then the bigger story around veterans that are missing in action and the ongoing search for answers for the families left behind. I loved both sides of this and found it a really interesting read, so that I’m looking forward to the next book in the series already.

Whilst Strictly Come Dancing is drawing towards its conclusion for 2024, the latest series of Dancing With the Stars in the US has crowned its champion. For the last couple of years, after the big move to Disney, we’ve been able to watch all the dances regularly each week on YouTube, and all I can say is I agree with the people that think the result wasn’t the right one.

This show got off to an incredible start for me, because we have only just watched Little Shop of Horrors and lo and behold, they open the main show with a fantastic group dance based on that very musical. Best timing ever. Follow that up with the appearance of Miranda, who promised to be in the audience in November and just managed to squeeze it in before December hits. Well, how can the dancing live up to this great opening? Let’s find out!

I really loved this book. It was so detailed, but never dull. Great characters and dialogue and you really got swept up and carried away with the plot. There’s quite a lot of set up with Laurie, quite a lot of hearbreak, before the real story and rom-com fun begins, but once it does, it’s just brilliant. I don’t want to spoil it by saying too much more, but the trope of ‘fake-romance-becomes-true-love’ is done really well here. Recommended.

Just in time for Musicals week on Strictly, I managed to squeeze in an actual musical viewing. Here & Now - The Steps Musical made its debut in Birmingham, and I rocked up to take in one of the shows. It was brilliant! I love Steps, their kind of wonderful guilty pleasure of music that you know isn’t exactly great art but is one heck of a crowdpleaser.

I started reading Phil Collins’ autobiography and it’s taking me quite a long time to get through it, but always worth dipping into the back catalogue of the iconic drummer. At first glance, I thought this album only had one song I knew on it, but there were a few where I just didn’t recognise the name. Why is Something Happened… called that when the chorus is something completely different? Nevertheless, it’s classic Phil Collins, relatively easy listening and some great tracks along the way.

LINKIN PARK carrying on after the sad death of Chester was a bit of a surprise to me, as he seemed so intrinsic to the band, but they’ve found a pretty good vocalist in Emily Armstrong. She’s got some pipes on her, she really does. The album starts out well but then there’s a specific point where there’s a clip of someone saying ‘get your screaming pants on’ and that’s exactly what happens. The rest of it gave me a headache. It’s the first time a 30ish minute album has felt long. So mixed reviews from me!

Richard Osman himself says he doesn’t necessarily remember plots or mysteries much later after reading books, but you do tend to remember how the story made you feel and if you connect to the characters. And that’s where this series really shines. Elizabeth and Stephen’s story in this is heartbreaking but wonderful and the expanding cast of characters, moving in and out of each other’s lives, is a real joy to have grown with. Yes there was some kind of mystery and lots of murders to unravel but it’s the people that are the heart of this Thursday Murder Club.

More facts dropped by Claudia at the top of the show - every couple left in the competition has scored at least one 10. But at this point we hadn’t seen a 40, despite the sheer quality across the board. No gimmicks this week, just seven couples trying to get through to the quarter finals, and musicals week. As they descended to the floor, I realised how empty it is now and that prompted me to come up with predictions for the final: Tasha, Sarah, Chris and Jamie. I want Sarah to win it but really do think Chris is in with a chance.

This was a cleverly written book, and a great story. I loved the three different threads that initially seem like they have nothing to do with each other and then gradually come together by the end. I did guess that they were different timelines along the same story, and half guessed one of the twists but still, it was a fabulous read with a somehow sad but hopeful ending.

I loved this film. I loved it more than I did the first one, which I wasn’t at all expecting. This was just like seeing my brain on screen - from when I was a teenager, yes, but also lingering now. The potential for an orange fuzzball of anxiety is real. This film has such an incredible way of unpacking your emotions and making the way they link together and affect each other completely relatable.

We all know that Bake Off viewers have mixed feelings about the show - it’s still a comfortable entertaining watch, and the bakes look absolutely delicious, but it just continues to get more and more complicated and drift further from what made it special in the first place. I wrote about this in October 2022, and everything said then still stands. However, one positive change to the show is the addition of Alison Hammond, who took over from Matt Lucas last year. She’s a breath of fresh air, hilarious with that brilliant laugh, and she works well with Noel Fielding whilst retaining her own sunny personality. She occasionally falls off the benches and generally brings a little bit of adorable chaos with her.

I loved this. It came as a bit of a surprise, and a disappointing one at that, when we realised I haven’t done any Suede so far in this album adventure… especially as we keep talking about them during our 90s TOTP rewatch. Finally have remedied that situation and what an album. Some stand out tracks, obviously, in Trash and Beautiful Ones, but I loved some of the others as well, The Chemistry Between Us got stuck in my head for a little while. Just overall great 90s work.

I’ve listened to one The Cure album before but not for a while, and this, an unexpected brand new album, was a surprise. It’s great! Unlike the Bastille album of a couple of weeks ago, in which I said you’d do well to sit down and listen to it intently, this one feels very much designed not for hardcore listening but for pleasant background music - in the best possible way. There’s plenty of instrumental in there, and drawn out songs without being noodly and self-indulgent. I really liked it.

Starting another Baldacci series and I quite enjoyed this one. It started out well, with the two main characters having similar experiences and ultimately pooling their knowledge to start figuring out the big conspiracy. I did get a bit confused by all the different characters and how they fitted together by the end. But I loved King and Maxwell and am definitely interested in what they get up to next.

What a brilliant movie. David Leitch said he made it as a love letter to stunt people and it absolutely is that - I learned so much and was so impressed by what we saw. The story is fun, and cleverly worked so that you don’t necessarily see the twists and turns coming, and the romance layered on top of the action works really well. I enjoyed the meta way the making of the film directly related to what was happening (split screen, and how the third act worked, etc). The best thing about this film (aside from Ryan Gosling being about as handsome as it’s possible to be) was that there was nothing wasted. Nothing was in there just to be in there, every little detail and plot point had a purpose and was referenced later. It was fantastically done and a lot of fun to watch.

I loved this book. It’s one of those where the initial actions are mysterious but relatively small and then gradually we start to unravel what’s going on, and the stakes get higher and higher until it’s a really serious potential threat to the safety of humankind. At the heart of this is Reacher, who gets swept up in a kidnapping completely by accident, and how he deals with that at every step of the way is fascinating. I also enjoyed the outside efforts of law enforcement to try and figure out what’s going on, and completely get the wrong end of the stick. Just a really good adventure.

Oh Blackpool you say? Well why not. Did anyone actually count the number of times it was mentioned during the weekend? Still, the lights looked good, the floor was sprung, and the Pet Shop Boys were there! Seriously, I loved this dance so much, it’s some of my favourite group dance work in a while! Anyway, on with the competition!

I loved this! Been following Chad Radwell’s career since he was Chad Radwell and he’s getting better and more adorable by the minute. And this is a great movie, good acting, solid story, impressive action sequences and the special effects were breathtaking. I don’t understand this life where you want to head towards the terrifying weather, but I was so invested in the whole thing. I really enjoyed the original movie too, and I suppose there’s an argument about whether this film was needed, as it tells pretty much the same story, but I loved it, so it can stay!