As per Glenn Hoddle "I never make predictions and I never will".
Jack Kibble-White, Off The Telly and TV Cream
More stalkers, the rise of the man boob, a celebrity death, liquid phones, a scandal, fifty midgets storming a castle, lengthy debates on what's best: fruit or puppies, a football game that people talk about, pagers making a comeback, people naming their children after famous theme parks, China puts a man on the moon but by accident. Place yer bets, gentlemen!
Danny Wallace, Writer, Join Me
I think I'll get a driving license. I think I also need my own website and predict I will get someone to build me one.
Ben Birtwistle, Fine Art Printmaker and 'financial advisor'
The ten pound note is under the sofa. There will be an earthquake in Somerset. Oh, and a paperback of my novel British Summertime comes out in February!
Paul Cornell, Writer, British Summertime
World peace, the end of poverty, hunger and cruelty and that ITV will finally make a primetime comedy that captures the nation's hearts. Now, which one of those is least likely?
Cameron Borland, Off The Telly
My team of flying monkeys will come online, allowing me to rule the world through fear and monkey-based mind control; jet-packs and robots doing the housework will appear; my cat's tail won't grow back.
Nick Jones, Web Editor, National Museums Liverpool
I'm going to be fine and mobile phones will get smaller.
Eva Katzler, singer
I would like to predict world-wide peace and goodwill and it hurts me to think how far from the truth that will be. More realistically I predict that seminar rooms in developed countries will be filled with 'smart' and 'gyro' technologies.
Denise Raine, Librarian, The Henry Moore Institute
First of all I want to look back at my five predictions for 2003. Out of the following list, which one do you think would be the one most likely to happen?
*Eighth season of Buffy, with or with Buffy
*New TV series of Doctor Who
*The more obscure Shakespeare plays get movie versions (especially 'Measure for Measure')
*Less talk of the past, more of the future
*Peace
Who would have thought the real joke on the list, the one about a Timelord would turn out to be the biggest success? At the start of the year it wasn't clear that Angel would be carrying on that universe - Eliza Druska had yet to find her Tru Calling instead of continuing the franchise in Faith and as far as we knew Alison Hannigan was interested in Willow. Glancing at the Internet Movie Database, there where two new Othellos, and a Hamlet in German. Classic TV showed a seventy year old version of As You Like It in smudgy vision, but that's not really the same thing. All everyone seemed to do all year was talk about the past - it was a year of anniversaries and celebrations of one form or another, which is why this review seems to have fitted in so well. I did have a naive hope that the world wouldn't go completely mad but of course it did, as the responses in this article have proved. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. But I don't want to continue on a pessimistic note, so here are my predictions for 2004.
*A Starbucks will open closer to work
*More crossover in music across Europe. French, Spanish and German music will start to appear in our pop charts as the kids finally start looking for something different.
*There will be new governments in the UK and US. Neither will actually be much better or worse than what we have now.
*A second e-commerce boom will begin, with entrepreneurs learning from the mistakes of the past
*Something really extraordinary is going to happen with long lasting consequences effecting all mankind in a good way for a change
I know I'm hedging my bets with that last one. But peace didn't happen last time so why not try and go one better? We'll see at the end of 2004.
Stuart Ian Burns, feeling listless
I predict I will turn 40 and will continue to act like childish. That's a safe bet. I also predict the death or capture of Osama bin-Laden. It seems to us that nothing is going on with regard to capturing him, but we're not privy to the inner workings of global security. One day, much like yesterday's capture of Saddam, the news will break and then people like me can be smug.
Mike Brown, the pepys project
For 2004 I predict a continuous stream of unecessary death and wanton destruction. That's always a safe bet, esp. with the Republicans in office back in Washington. Also, I predict that in 2004 the mainstream media will distort reality even more than they have in 2003, if possible.
James Longley, Documentary Filmmaker, Gaza Strip
The single question for 2004, the only question that I am really care about, is the defeat of George W. Bush - I am cautiously hopeful, but steeled for four more years of creeping American neofascism. I wouldn't dare predict which way it will go. I only know that it will be decided by people in the center in a few swing states who don't even see the profound danger in Bush that I do.
Miles Hochstein, Documented Life
For me, renewed vision, new projects, and lots of fun. For the country, a hard-fought presidential race.
Rebecca Blood, Blogger and Author
Dean to be President.
Kathleen Laraia McLaughlin, Photographer, Leaf Pile
The world will continue to bleat plaintively about the evils of George W. Bush's unilateralism/the evils of islamic terrorism. The dollar will continue to slide against the Euro and the Pound, reaching a low of $2 to the pound before the middle of the year (and possibly sinking further). This will cause widespread panic when it becomes apparent to everyone that the British balance of trade deficit is about to go through the ceiling and then the loft, with unpredictable political consequences. China will put another taikonaut into orbit. Lots of Japanese companies will announce lots of new shiny clicky things which I will be unable to buy due to the exchange rate fluctuations. And one of my cats will require dental work.
All of which is highly speculative. What isn't speculative is that I've got three new novels coming out in 2004 (in the US -- only one in the UK), and if I have to sign another page my pen-holding fingers will turn green and smelly from gangrene induced by the rictus-like grip with which I write these days.
Charlie Stross, Writer, weblog
Sadly, probably some more unnecessary wars and politicians telling lies. Some things never change...
Emily Dubberley, Founder of cliterati and Dubberly
I will regret snubbing my employer's astronomical insurance option and choosing instead the one I could truly afford. Return of the King won't win as many Academy Awards as it deserves, and my boyfriend will whine about this for decades to come. The company I work for will either bite the dust entirely, or at the very least lay me off before my next birthday. My bangs (or "fringe," depending on your geographic locale) will finally grow the *!&$% out, making me look less like a child, more like the sultry fringless woman I have become, and I will stop being asked for identification when I buy a bottle of wine. Elvis Costello will get angry about something and release a really good album instead of the schmoopy goo that was "North." The Fox Network will cancel its best show, "Arrested Development." I will continue to shock and offend unsuspecting friends by introducing them to the dubious wonders of the Star Wars Christmas Special.
Kat Sagbottom, Headmistress of the Sagbottom Home For Wayward Girls
Hopefully an end to the war, an economy that is recovering and some great movies!
Greg Mariotti formerly of The Uncool: Cameron Crowe Online and cigarettes & coffee.
Video On Demand moves in. This is going to be absolutely huge - we're just starting to see rollouts of VOD, and anyone can look at it and see why it's an improvement over cable today. VOD will move into news and change how we present it to the public. Advertising moves big bucks away from traditional TV: the fall ratings period was a disaster for the nets. They can't hope to convince advertisers they can still deliver the message to young males. Look for ad dollars to go to the internet and in other unconventional forums. We're all going to be really, really sick of Michael Jackson. We're all going to feel listless.
Steve Safran, Executive Producer, NECN: New England Cable News & Columnist,
Lost Remote
Sally Hawkins (who was in The Young Visiters on Boxing Day - she played Jim Broadbent's maid and stole the show) will be a huge star.
Emma Kennedy, Actress, Writer and Comedienne
By the dawning of 2005, I will have helped to produce and acted in a short film. I’ll have learnt how to operate a mini-DV camera and possibly learnt a bit about how to direct. Certainly I’ll know much more about the nitty gritty of making films than I do now. I will also have polished up and started marketing my first screenplay and finished a few more first drafts of new scripts. Who knows, maybe I’ll even manage to sell one of them. In the early part of next year I fully intend to move up north to Leeds or Manchester having either successfully restarted my career as a journalist or found myself a job. If I’m honest, I would prefer to start writing for a living again instead of trying to shoehorn myself into a career that doesn’t suit me, but I’ll take what I can get. I’d also like to crawl my way out of debt. I owe so much that it’s either going to take either a lottery win or the sale of a script for me to achieve this. Put it on the list under ‘I should be so lucky’, and we’ll see. If I manage to achieve all that, I will feel that I’ve really got my money’s worth for the year.
Suw Charman, Chocolate and Vodka
Hmm. Unemployment, possibly.
Caroline van Oosten de Boer of prolific and Whedonesque
Sleep. And not just for me. There's going to be a lot of it going around.
Jeff Blitz, Filmmaker, Amateur Magician, Spellbound
More (or some) periods of rest - a holiday would be nice...
Jason Haigh-Ellery, Producer, The Audio Adventures of Doctor Who, Big Finish Productions
365 days. No, wait: 366. 2004 is a leap year. Honestly, I have no idea. I have a great many wishes for things to happen, but I have no sense of anything definite.
MaryAnn Johanson, film critic, FlickFilosopher
Everything will be largely like today, but the date will be different.
Rowan Kerek, editor, The Collective
More of the same.
Drew Curtis, Fark
I'd rather be surprised.
Celeste Lanari, PR Manager, Geotecnica S.R.L
Am open. No longer see the world in advance. Perhaps, 'cause no one truly listens.
Cynthia Basinet, Entertainer
May it bring peace and love and happiness.
Kristina Perner, Audiopark
Tomorrow: It starts all over again. Happy New Year!
