The first two episodes of WandaVision appeared on Disney+ this week and I very quickly devoured them both. I wasn't expecting to be as interested as I was, thought maybe I'd check it out when I had the time, but all the hype surrounding it completely sucked me in. Here are five immediate thoughts about the show: In navigating the menus to get to the show, Disney+ recommended their new …

I can't believe I didn't write anything after watching the first series of Staged in summer of last year. David Tennant and Michael Sheen bantering for 6 x 20 minute episodes. It was one of the bright spots of culture that came out of the specific circumstances of lockdown. Despite it being an epic piece of work, I suppose no one really wanted a second series as it meant life …

Hooray for the dreaded time of year where I pick out the top five albums I've listened to over the past twelve months. Each week for 50 weeks, I listen to two albums. One is a new one (this year or the previous year) and one is an older one (from any time previous to that). So I can't promise to have listened to every album that was released last …

Normally at this point, I write a post setting up some goals for the coming year. Like many people, I'm certain that setting new year's resolutions is NOT the thing to do for 2021. I can't even bring myself to look at my 2020 post to see the things I wanted to achieve that absolutely didn't happen. 2020 was an unpredictable and unprecedented year that is best put behind us …

There's an enormous amount of TV out there - existing and brand new, bingeable and streaming weekly - and the vast catalogue is only going to keep on growing. In fact, the appetite for amazing TV seems to be growing with many famous names and faces making the transition from the big screen to the small screen... and, of course, the big screen not being so big at the moment! …

Browsing the news today and this post caught my eye describing the surge in purchases of physical cassette tapes. Cassette tape sales are estimated to have doubled this year compared to 2019. The British Phonographic Industry, which represents record labels, projects 157,000 tapes will have been sold in the UK in 2020. That's the highest number since 2003, when compilation Now 54 - featuring the likes of Busted, Girls Aloud …

As we're still unable to go to theatres at the moment, the Mischief crew have decided to bring the theatre into our homes - hooray! Their improvised show Mischief Movie Night has gone online, starting yesterday and streaming every day until New Year's Eve. I was lucky enough to see this show in person a few year's ago and although I've never been entirely comfortable with improv, you know you're …

Not everyone loves Christmas, obviously, and even more so when the festive season is taken out of context and moved to a different season than you're used to. Peter Kay's YouTube channel popped this video of Car Share clips up recently, highlighting when Kayleigh brought her Christmas CD into the car during the height of summer. John wasn't impressed, to say the least! My favourite quotes: She says that's all …

One thing that's become clear over the past year or so of chaos is that it's helpful to focus on the things that you can control. With that in mind, I focused in on achieving my Apple activity badges each month - the personalised ones, not the all-three-rings-every-single-day one. At first it was just a bit of fun, and then, despite my best intentions, it became a complete the full …

In a festive season where everyone's plans have gone awry, we instead focus on the Christmas content we know and love. There are so many TV Christmas specials out there, but only a few that I revisit on a regular basis. Here's a countdown of five of them... Vicar of Dibley - The Christmas Lunch Incident Just a joy from start to finish - Geraldine trying to do the best …

Now that I've finished watching the second season of The Mandalorian, I've been catching up with some of the news surrounding it. Whilst the show is on, I try and avoid articles because of spoilers, even if we were all watching at the same weekly pace. A story I read recently made me think about how great this second series has been for women - strong characters, great actors, and …

I've listened to more audiobooks this year and delving into the world more has opened up a few surprises. I was hugely looking forward to the audiobook of Troubled Blood, the fifth book in the Cormoran Strike series. I've exclusively listened to the first four books via Audible because Robert Glenister's narration is so good, and the content is so detailed and dense that having it read to me helps …

The good thing about the first series of The Mandalorian taking so long to come to the UK is that we didn't have that long to wait after watching it for the second series to begin. The bad thing is, now we're going to have to wait ages for the next installment. However, series two did come to an impressive conclusion this past week, with a guest appearance that seems …

It feels like Apple Fitness+ was announced so long ago - time moves slowly these days, right? But finally, mid-December, the new service launched and I was very keen to try it out. It's a subscription service that you can either purchase separately or as part of a bundle of Apple services (my option), but it's squarely aimed at people who have an Apple Watch as well. Once you're on …