Blank Space Links.

Yes, Prime Minister: Still true to life after 30 years?
"Perhaps the biggest challenge for Sir Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, the creators of the series, was making Hacker's elevation to Number 10 credible. Lynn told me: "There have been a large number of barely competent prime ministers and Hacker joins that rogue's gallery". Eddington, though, was thrilled."

Alanis Morissette: from queen of alt rock to Guardian advice columnist:
"The musician and actor is moving on. She talks about marriage, what gets her angry, what isn’t ironic – and answering readers’ questions for Guardian Weekend magazine."

BFI: The Home Front.
"Sandbags and searchlights, firefighters battling blazing streets; trains packed with departing children or servicemen... film has given us some of our most enduring images of war."

‘The Force Awakens’ set records, but that doesn’t mean it will change Hollywood:
"... while money talks, I think it’s important to be cautious before declaring that Rey and “The Force Awakens” will change everything. And even if they do, “The Force Awakens” illustrates just how far Hollywood still has to go to shed the assumption that its core customers are men who only want to see men on screen."

The New York Public Library's Remarkable New Digital Collection:
"A new online trove contains more than 187,000 maps, postcards, etchings, engravings, photographs, prints, illustrations, and more—all on the web, and freely available for anyone to use."

The Girl Who Was The ’90s: Mayim Bialik And Her TV Family Reflect On 25 Years Of ‘Blossom’:
"Before she would become a role model and fashion icon for teenage girls all over America, Blossom Russo was just a kid sister and a secondary character. Blossom creator Don Reo’s original vision for a coming of age sitcom revolved around a teenage boy named Richie, with an older brother named Anthony and a kid sister named Blossom, being raised by a single dad. But since there were already several series focusing on teenage boys at the time, including The Wonder Years, an NBC executive named Leslie Lurie offered Reo a suggestion: “Why don’t you make it about the girl?”"

How to Cultivate the Art of Serendipity:
"DO some people have a special talent for serendipity? And if so, why?"

Baftas 2016: Who will win.

Film And now for the annual trawl through the list of Bafta nominations suggesting which films I hope will win.. As every I've only seen about three of the nominees but let's have a go anyway.

Best film
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Revenant
Spotlight

No Mad Max: Fury Road or The Martian.  The fuck.  In which case Carol because even though I haven't seen any of these films, its the only one which isn't about men being men and having male stories about being men.

Outstanding British film
45 Years
Amy
Brooklyn
The Danish Girl
Ex Machina
The Lobster

Ex Machina despite Domhnall Gleeson and having attended The Lobster in an actual cinema.  The problem I had with The Lobster was that like a Monty Python sketch it was a great idea without any idea of how to end it but unlike a Monty Python sketch couldn't have Graham Chapman turn up at the end dressed as a Major or some such.

Outstanding debut by British writer, director or producer
Alex Garland (director, Ex Machina)
Debbie Tucker Green (writer/director, Second Coming)
Naji Abu Nowar (writer/director, Theeb), Rupert Lloyd (producer, Theeb)
Sean McAllister (director/producer, A Syrian Love Story), Elhum Shakerifar (producer, A Syrian Love Story)
Stephen Fingleton (writer/director, The Survivalist)

Ex Machina.  I haven't even heard of two of those films.

Best film not in the English language
The Assassin
Force Majeure
Theeb
Timbuktu
Wild Tales

Wild Tales because it's rare that an anthology film gains this sort of notoriety.  Although I liked how Timbuktu managed to work within rather than patronise its subject.

Best documentary
Amy
Cartel Land
He Named Me Malala
Listen to Me Marlon
Sherpa

Amy.

Best animated film
Inside Out
Minions
Shaun the Sheep the Movie

Shaun the Sheep the Movie.  I haven't seen the other two.

Best director
Adam McKay, The Big Short
Steven Spielberg, Bridge of Spies
Todd Haynes, Carol
Ridley Scott, The Martian
Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, The Revenant

The Martian, which might have been my favourite film of last year which wasn't Mad Max, Star Wars or Advantageous.  Or Jurassic World.  Or Ant-Man.

Best original screenplay
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
The Hateful Eight
Inside Out
Spotlight

Ex Machina.  Although they'll probably tediously give it to Tarantino because he's Tarantino.

Best adapted screenplay
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
Room
Steve Jobs

Not seen any of them.  Steve Jobs?  Sorkin didn't know what to do at the end of The Newsroom but I don't see why we should hold this against him,

Best actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Matt Damon, The Martian
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Matt Daemon (as apparently Sky News spelled it this morning) (so mote it be).

Best actress
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Brie Larson, Room
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Maggie Smith, The Lady in the Van
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Cate Blanchett, Carol (though it'll probably be Maggie Smith). No Charlize Theron for Mad Max? The fuck?   Notice Alicia Vikander is nominated here AND in best supporting actress category for Ex Machina.  When was the last time that happened?

Best supporting actor
Benicio del Toro, Sicario
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Idris Elba, partly because, it has to be said, it's for a film which is experimenting with the release schedule of films and so therefore shaking up the business.  Not that I've seen it yet.  Still too busy watching Preston Sturges films and the like. #1001films

Best supporting actress
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Julie Walters, Brooklyn
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Rooney Mara, Carol

Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina.  Imagine if she won both.

Best original music
Bridge of Spies
The Hateful Eight
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  Even though the music in the trailer which makes me cry isn't from John Williams's score.

Best cinematography
Bridge of Spies
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario

Mad Max: Fury Road.

Best editing
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant

Mad Max: Fury Road should win.

Best production design
Bridge of Spies
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Surprisingly tough actually.  Don't know.  Mad Max.

Best costume design
Brooklyn
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max if only because it was even nominated in this category.

Best make-up and hair
Brooklyn
Carol
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant

Max Max.  Even though half the characters were bald, there was a lot of tattoos.

Best sound
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Ben Burtt, still doing his thing.  It's a credit to JJ Abrams actually that he returned to Burtt to do the Star Wars: The Force Awakens sound design, knowing that he was the most experience and to Burtt for turning up even though he wasn't also editing it this time.

Best special visual effects
Ant-Man
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Wow, a category in which I've seen all five films.  Ex Machina.  Although all five did superbly innovative work.

EE Rising Star (voted for by the public)
Bel Powley
Brie Larson
Dakota Johnson
John Boyega
Taron Egerton

Brie Larson although it's a tad unfair given that her first screen credit was in 1998.  Plus John Boyega.  Frankly you could have filled with this with the cast of Star Wars and no one would have minded.

Doom Coalition 1.

Audio The Eighth Doctor's third chronological audio era continues (there now being four thanks to the Time War). Although there's a new umbrella title, the Doom Coalition is very much of a piece with Dark Eyes at least in continuity terms with Liv Chenka continuing as companion and the Doctor still wearing his Weta-created leather jacket, highlighted by both the cover and a moment when we actually hear it crackle as he puts it on. I like to imagine Paul McGann actually wearing the thing in the studio during the recording to get into character. Tonally there is a slight shift with Eighth in much brighter, adventurous mood in a way which is analogous to Capaldi's first two television series and there's a genuine sense of wanting to return to something of the earlier eras with a more stand alone approach to the narrative with each of the episodes apparently deliberately paying homage to a style of Who story, the Gallifreyan conspiracy, alien invasion, celebrity historical and revolution.

The Eleven.

Die Hard on Gallifrey. It's a notably odd choice to dive straight back into manic Time Lords after Dark Eyes, but The Eleven is a significantly different enough creation for the deja vu to be minimal and there's some bold storytelling choices right up front designed to surprise the listener as should always be the case. It is a pleasure to hear the Eighth Doctor close to being his old self again, the "with Charley" man of the lighter, funnier touch without the overwhelming darkness and McGann is enjoying playing the complexity. It's also fun to hear Nicola Walker slipping into playing Liv as the more standard companion role with less of her tragedy, embracing the adventure.  Big Finish have begun to link the continuities in earnest with reference here to the "Omega Arsenal" also home to The Moment from The Day of the Doctor.  There's only one or two obvious things I'd want to criticise or the very least question but I'll reserve judgement until I've heard the whole story.  Just in case.

The Red Lady.

Hello Helen! Straight into an old school Eighth Doctor jape which wouldn't have been out of place in any of his earlier eras, with lots of funny business related to bluffing his way into museums and confidences in order to investigate the presence of the titular presence in numerous artifacts. Having had my various issues with Dark Eyes in its later series, Doom Coalition is setting out its stall as being closer to the television iteration with an umbrellas story thrumming away in the background linking episodes with their internal narrative motor. There's a genuine attempt to seek a different, lighter tone for the Eighth Doctor, bring him back to earlier values. Helen's in the mould of Liz Shaw or Anji Kapoor. She doesn't really need to travel in the TARDIS, she's a professional woman, a translator of old texts, in her own right, albeit having to deal with the sexism of 60s academia (one scene is purposefully teeth chewing in that regard). It'll be interesting as the series unfolds to see if the Doctor had an ulterior motive in choosing her.

The Galileo Trap

One of the elements of the Doctor's life which the Moffat era of the television series has been keen to explore is the idea of him essentially being friends with prominent intelligent people across history with them being entirely aware of who he is and how he might appear to them in different ways, notably in the case of Churchill.  Here we have Galileo, played with fiery irony by John Woodvine, knowing the Doctor well enough as to want to warn him not to visit him in this era.  But this being Doctor Who, we know that their previous meeting was with the Time Lord in his first incarnation during The Empire of Glass and though it's entirely possibly to grasp the structure of their friendship, the Eighth not being the man he was expecting, having read that novel or heard the audiobook inevitably deepens the listening experience.  One of my disappointments about The Shakespeare Code will always be that it was too early in the revival's emergence to make the most of their history.

The Satanic Mill

Who is Edward Collier, the author of The Satanic Mill?  The TARDIS Databank has scant information and googling his name reveals the Dutch painter, the English Buccanear and a Guardian cif profile for a musician.  I'm just curious because it's unusual for Big Finish to give such a prestigious slot to a first timer and then for them to produce something which captures the Eighth Doctor's temperament so well and also pointedly seems to be referencing the classic series in how it splits the Doctor from his companions who independently discover an exploited world and decide to overthrow it, with the latter then threatened with death unless the former does something against the grain.  As finales go, it feels like more of a pause, with a hint to some greater adversary than The Eleven who has something more disastrous than the destruction of time itself in mind.  Is the upcoming 2017 (2017!) Time War boxed set going to be the direct sequel to Doom Coalition?

Soup Safari #61: Pea and Ham at Capaldi's Bagel House.

Lunch. £2.15. Unit 1, Norwich House, Rumford St, Liverpool, Merseyside L2 8TA. Phone: 0151 236 6832.

My Favourite Film of 1965.

Film When was the first time you heard the music of The Sound of Music? On the list of cultural artifacts which have just been there, either after the original stage production in 1959, or the ubiquitous film which I'm still astonished to notice was only made nine years before I was born which in modern terms means that the distance between now and the third Star Wars prequel is longer.  In those terms The Matrix is ancient history.  Just when I think I'm keeping up with the modern world and its things, I'm reminded of just how old I am in relative terms.

Anyway, the film was not the first time I heard this music.  The first time I heard this music was on a vinyl recording released by Music for Pleasure in 1967 starring Anne Rogers and Patricia Routledge, the details for which you can see on Discogs. Goodness knows where it came from though I suspect it was amongst the records my parents bought before I was born and which I was allowed to explore from a very early age and played on the portable record player my Dad was given for Christmas as a child himself (which was something along these lines but even older and bought in Woolworths).



Find above Routledge's version of Climb Ev'ry Mountain from that very disc and it sounds every bit as rich as I remember it, aided by the crackle of the original vinyl making it sound like it's of the past in a way a digitally remastered version simply wouldn't.  Just as I find the whole concept of releasing new music, designed for digital, on analogue a bit strange, music originally designed for analogue, never, ever does sound right on CD, unless, as I've heard sometimes, the original tape masters of a thing have been lost and the record has been master from the vinyl, crackle intact.

My first viewing of the film would have been coloured by the fact that none of the songs sounded quite right, at least to me, the concept of there being different versions, of stage and on film, not quite graspable yet.  The BBC Genome reminds us the premiere was on Christmas Day in 1978 which would have been much too soon for me to have noticed so perhaps it was one of the later candidates the film becoming a near annual fixture, broadcasting the BBC on New Year's Day this year (which I ignored admittedly in favour of the superb live version on ITV).

Eventually, this LP having receded into the past, the so called "right" version now is the film and it's Julie Andrews I hear or as is the case with this song Peggy Wood which means if I was to revisit this Music For Pleasure recording my relationship to it would be in reverse, approaching it as the "wrong" version.  But now I'm attuned to the idea that singers have different voices, orchestras have different approaches and that none of them are necessarily wrong.  It's all a matter of taste.  Nevertheless, it's still the film version I return to if I'm in the mood for "Do-Re-Mi".

A Viewing Order for The Hobbit.

Film Yesterday was the anniversary of the birth of JRR Tolkien and having just this afternoon completed watching the appendices on the extended version of The Hobbit's The Battle of the Five Armies have decided, mainly out of curiosity at the production schedule, to put all of the extra features in some kind of viewing order should anyone want to visit these extras in such a way as to experience the entire production process.

As with the original The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit was filmed all in one go, or at least one eighteen months principal photography and another three months of "pick-ups" which amounted to shooting a whole extra film's worth of footage as the project was extended from two to three films, much to the chagrin of the sorts of people who don't like very long films.  I very much enjoy very long films and could have done with each of these being at least another hour if not more.

The following will not be an accurate portrayal of the actual order the films were shot.  It's obvious from looking at the documentaries that some sequences were shooting simultaneously by different crews with actors shifting between.  In constructing the list, where possible, I've put documentaries with conflicting date labels in the release order of the films, which also means it won't seem too odd when they purposefully don't show footage for anything which hadn't been released at the time.

Even without revisiting the documentaries themselves, listing the dates together like this offers some idea of the production challenges of these films in terms of planning and knowing what footage for which film can be captured when and how much of the production occurred on the fly due to the limited pre-production time.  The appendices are pleasingly honest about how Peter Jackson was really against it after having taken the films over and was often very lost indeed.

To be thorough, we must begin with ...

The Films

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Extended Edition)

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (Extended Edition)

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Extended Edition)

The Commentaries

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Extended Edition)

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (Extended Edition)

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Extended Edition)

Production Appendices

UJ1: Opening

DS1: Opening

FA1: Opening

UJ1: The Journey Back to Middle-Earth

2011

UJ1: Riddles in the Dark: Gollum's Cave (March 2011)

UJ1: An Unexpected Party: Bag End (March-April 2011)

UJ1: Roast Mutton: Trollshaws Forest (April-May 2011)

UJ1: Bastion of the Greenwood: Rhosgobel (May 2011)

FA1: In The Dungeons of the Necromancer: Dol Guldur (May 2011)

UJ1: A Short Rest: Rivendell & London (May & July 2011)

DS1: Business of the State: The Master's Chambers (August 2011)

FA1: Fire and Water: Attack on Lake Town (August 2011 / April 2012)

DS1: Shelter on the Long Lake: Bard's House (September 2011)

DS1: The Woodland Realm (September 2011)

UJ1: Over Hill ...: The Misty Mountains (September-October 2011)

DS1: Flies and Spiders (September-October 2011)

UJ1: ... Under Hill: Goblin Town (October 2011)

UJ1: The Forest Ledge (October-November 2011)

UJ1: Return to Hobbiton (October-November 2011)

DS1: Queer Lodgings: Beorn's House (November 2011/March 2012)

UJ1: The Epic of Scene 88: Strath Taieri (November-December 2011)

FA1: Under the Shadow of the Mountain: Rock & Pillar Range (November 2011)

DS1: Down the Swift Dark Stream: The Forest River (December 2011)

FA1: In the Wake of the Dragon: Lake Pukaki (December 2011)

2012

DS1: A Warm Welcome: Lake-town (February 2012)

DS1: On the Doorstep: The Lonely Mountain (February 2012)

DS1: Inside Information (March 2012)

UJ1: The Battle of Moria: Azanulbizar (April-May 2012)

DS1: Barrels Out of Bond: The Elven Sluice (May-June 2012)

FA1: The Gathering of the Clouds: Erebor (May-June 2012)

UJ1: Edge of the Wilderland: Pick-ups and the Carrock (July 2012)

FA1: Many Partings: End of Principal Photography (June-July 2012)

UJ1: Home is Behind, the World Ahead

DS1: ... Into The Fire

2013

DS1: A Chance Meeting (May 2013)

FA1: The Clouds Burst: Dale (June 2013)

FA1: A Last Desperate Stand (June 2013)

DS1: Erebor Rekindled: The Dwarf-Forges (July 2013)

FA1: Out from the Gate: Erebor Pick-ups (July 2013)

FA1: The Last Stage (July 26th, 2013)


Pre and Post Production Appendices

UJ2: The Company of Thorin
UJ2: Mr. Baggins: The 14th Member
UJ2: Durin's Folk: Creating the Dwarves

DS2: Summoning Smaug: Last of the Fire-Drakes
DS2: The Last and First Dragon
DS2: Conversation with Smaug
DS2: Into the Dragon's Lair

FA2: Beneath The Thunder: Forging a Battle of Five Armies
FA2: A Master Plan, Long in the Making
FA2: On the Front Lines of a Virtual Battlefield
FA2: Turning the Tide

The Peoples and Denizens of Middle-earth

UJ2: The Stone Trolls
UJ2: Radagast the Brown
UJ2: Goblins
UJ2: Azog the Defiler

DS2: Beorn: The Shape-Shifter
DS2: The Spawn of Ungoliant
DS2: The Men of Lake-town

FA2: Tauriel: Daughter of the Forest
FA2: Thranduil: The King of Wood and Stone
FA2: Dain Ironfoot: Lord of the Iron Hills

FA2: Realms of the Third Age

UJ2: Hobbiton
UJ2: Rhosgobel
UJ2: Rivendell
UJ2: The Misty Mountains
UJ2: Goblin Town

DS2: Beorn's House
DS2: Mirkwood Forest
DS2: The Woodland Realm
DS2: Lake-town

FA2: Dale: City of Men
FA2: Dol Guldur: The Hill of Sorcery
FA2: Erebor: The Lonely Mountain

Music

UJ2: The Songs of Middle Earth

DS2: The Music of The Hobbit
DS2: Overture: Music of the Wilderland
DS2: 1st Movement: The World of Men
DS2: 2nd Movement: The Halls of Erebor

Bonus Features

FA2: Butt-Numb-A-Thon 2011 Greeting (B)
FA2: "Rivers of Gold" Music Video (B)
FA2: The Real Adam Brown (B)

FA2: Andrew Lesnie Remembered

Epilogue

FA2: Farewell, Friends

Unfollow.

Social Media As ever I haven't made any new year's resolutions, mainly because if you're the kind of person like me who wants to keep them there's the work involved and if you're also the kind of person like me who tends to become depressed and guilty when they can't keep promises, especially to themselves, well that leads to depression. And guilt.

Nevertheless, I have decided to try and experiment.

When Twitter increased the number of potential feeds one can follow to five thousands, my first reaction was to merrily begin following organisational feeds, institutions, film studios, museums and media feeds. Dozens and dozens and dozens of media feeds.

Which broke it.

By which I mean, the humanity of Twitter, the magic which is supposed to make it something other than a repetitive RSS feed, stopped, at least for me as I opened up the iPad app or Tweetdeck and ended up with wave upon wave of "content" and often repeated "content" from the many sources.

Plus there are the accounts which spend their time not presenting anything much in the way of news but instead simply retweet praise for hours and hours and hours as though that's of interest to someone who's already convinced themselves enough that they like a thing to follow a Twitter feed about that thing.

Here's the experiment.

For the next year, I'm going to attempt, as much as possible, only to follow accounts written by a human in their own name, hopefully (though not essentially) with a photograph of themselves.

I have an exception list. The main BBC News feed, the main Guardian feed, BBC Weather, Merseytravel, Liverpool Echo, that sort of thing.

Other than that, I'm returning to email lists and RSS for everything else.

Instead of following a media outlet's feed for example, I'm following the feeds of the individual journalists or if there's a lot of them, the people I've heard of. Usually they're all listed on the given account. If they're not, well ...

Having processed on this for a few days, it's already working. Twitter feels once again like the place it was at the beginning, a celestial cocktail party, conversation and reaction uninterrupted by some film feed tweeting some link bait for the fifth time that day. In other words, the only advertising which tends to pop up is Twitter's own sponsored content.

I'll keep you posted. Or tweeted.

Almost Doctor Who: Out of the Woods.

Music The promo for Taylor Swift's Out of the Woods appeared yesterday and me being me and not being able to turn it off, my first thought was of the Eighth Doctor's companion Compassion from the BBC novels in the 90s who was a humanoid TARDIS within which he travelled for a while. The look is wrong. Compassion had "copper red hair" and "freckles" and seems to have been based on a young Nicole Kidman, but the way Swift shifts between the environments is very TARDIS like.

My Year In Film 2015.

Film  Happy New Year!  In 2015, for various reasons, I visited the cinema regularly again, attending most of the large action adventure films during the Summer months and into the Autumn (and The Lobster).  Most of the audiences were fine as were the films, and it was refreshing to be able to take part in discourse or at least understand the discussion surrounding the release rather than simply listening again much later to the Kermode review and looking below the line at The AV Club review.

Probably the most fun I had was with Mad Max, Jurassic World, Mission Impossible and of course Star Wars.  About the only entirely rubbish film on this list was Fan4stic which thanks to complaining about the noisy air conditioning unit which accompanied the screening I didn't end up having to pay for anyway.  Spectre was the most disappointing.  Bond's a busted flush until it does its own thing again and produces proper period adaptations of the books.

If I have to choose, my favourite film of the year which wasn't the obvious was Advantageous which I was happy to nominate for The Double Negative review of the year.  Here's what I wrote:

"Bought for distribution at Sundance by Netflix, ironically causing unfortunate obscurity, Jennifer Fang’s indie wonder Advantageous glimpses a dystopian future in which an older woman is given the choice of losing a job which guarantees her child’s future, or sacrificing her own identity. Tense, impressionistic, refreshing and warm filmmaking. Classic."

Seriously if you haven't found it yet, go seek.

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of my film studies degree, I'm currently working my way through the 1001 Films To Watch Before You Die book which thanks to being annually for the past ten years is actually nearly 1,200 films and growing.  My only rule is to ignore anything I've already seen in my life which slashes the number in half.  I'm also working through them chronologically and so having worked through the silent era, I'm currently at the end of the 1930s.

This project will also be my last hurray with Lovefilm which I'll be cancelling once I've reached the end of the list.  Between the iPlayer, my own unwatched archive and subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime and NowTV and the imminent price rise, I simply can't justify getting shiny discs through the post any more.  Despite back catalogue issues, there'll always be something to watch and frankly I'm also sick of something turning up on Netflix the week I receive the dvd.

So having spent much of the year watching classic films, you'll have to forgive me for not singling anything out.  Instead, I've gone the Soderbergh route and listed everything I've watched this year as far as my various sources suggest and my own memory will allow.  Find listed three hundred and forty films, although I think there may have been the odd thing on the iPlayer or from my own collection which could add another twenty or so titles.

Predictions 2015.

That Day We reach the time when I assess how well I predicted the ups and downs of the year and look forward to the next. Here we go again:

The Beatles are added to Spotify.

There it was and not just Spotify, all streaming services. On Christmas Day we opened our presents while listening to the 1 compilation. One Mark.

Taylor Swift does Glastonbury.

No, although there was much fevered speculation when the Foo Fighters had to understandably pull out, because she was in the country. She didn't but clearly not for the reasons Ed Sheeran suggests since she later featured at the BST festival in Hyde Park and at Radio 1's Big Weekend. No marks.

Greens overtake the LibDems in Parliament.

No, but close, the LibDems being demolished at the General Election. No marks.

The next series of Doctor Who is better than the last one.

Entirely subjective but I think it was. I certainly enjoyed it more and many of my reviews were pretty upbeat. One mark.

Spider-man joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Which was seemingly on the cards after the Sony hack but I didn't think would actually happen. Another reboot, but bravely keeping him a teenager and in high school so different enough to be interesting. One mark.

Three out of Five, which isn't bad at all.

Right then, for next year:

The Mutya Keisha Siobhan album is finally released.

Arden Shakespeare announces Arden of Faversham.

Moffat and Capaldi leaving Doctor Who at the end of series ten.

Film streaming services announce deals which allow for studio back catalogues to be available in greater depth and for longer ala music.

Major scandal leads to early UK general election.

Review 2015: Film Experiences: Mags L Halliday on Fatal Attraction.

Film I think I saw every film released between 1987 and 1991, many of them twice in one day. I worked in an independent cinema chain. It was an ideal job for a teen too young to work in bars and too snarky to survive long as a waitress. I always wanted the Friday shift, when the cans of reels would arrive at lunchtime and be stitched together by the projectionist ready for the first screening. I also liked Sundays, where you started later (the religous manager not wanting anyone working before lunchtime on the sabbath) and got double-time. Everyone hated Saturdays: the kids left to run riot at the matinee; the teens leaving used condoms behind in the back row at the late screening.

As an usher, my job included selling tickets and popcorn, tearing tickets, selling ice-cream, cleaning the screen after each screening, being ready to evacuate the building in event of a fire, and 'watching the audience'. In practise, unless there was trouble in that pre-mobile era, the final task really meant 'watching the film'. I might watch in the screen, or through the projectionist's window. The latter meant I could have a quick fag whilst watching, so long as I didn't mind the loud whirring of the projector (and snores of the projectionist). We also got free passes to see films: those tended to be great currency in our social group as they are the cinema equivalent of your name being on the list for gigs.

The downside of the job was I became used to missing the start of films: the first 20 minutes were spent either letting the other screen in, cashing up the ice-cream sales, or both. If two of us were on, I might convince one of my colleagues to cover so I could see the start of a film I really liked. I have a lot of random memories of those years behind the torch. Like the time I fell asleep in Rambo 3, or how me and a friend crushed so hard on Carey Elwes in The Princess Bride. Or how I knew which of the town's small goth population were fibbing when they claimed to have seen The Lost Boys on its first night (one week run, mostly empty). Or that my last film was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which I adore to this day.

But I'm going to focus on Fatal Attraction.

It was due to be huge: we knew that as all passes were suspended and nearly all of us were on duty the first night. The first week, our big screen was sold out every night. And it ran for three weeks. I know that because by the end of its run, I hated it and counted up that I had seen it 20 times. Twenty times is a lot of times to see a film you don't like. I don't like Michael Douglas in it, I didn't like or care about the characters, I didn't like the plot or the sexist subtexts. I've never rewatched it since the last Thursday it played in that seaside cinema (by then downgraded to screen 2). And yet...

The first Friday, its opening night in our fleapit, I stood in the ushers' bit and clutched my colleague's arm in surprise when Alex suddenly reappears. A couple of screenings in and I started watching the audience. It was fascinating to see 200 people jump in unison and then - and this was the bit that fascinated me - sit back with an embarrassed grin. I watched it for weeks: this visceral response, and unpicked shot by shot how Adrian Lyne created it. The mise-en-scene used to denote each world, the zooms, the diegetic sound effects. I applied critical film theory to it to understand why an audience reacted en masse to a film. People go to thrillers with the same mindset they go to an illusionist: they think they won't be fooled like all the others. And they're wrong. Because film lures you in, creates a suspension of disbelief and then slams you in the gut with it.

I've seen that same communal gasp in other films over the years. At the first screening of Resevoir Dogs in a full Sheffield multiplex screen, when the only other woman in the screening walked out after the ear scene. Or at a moment in The Force Awakens two weeks ago (despite the person with their bloody mobile out just in my eyeline). That first time, when I started analysing how it worked, was another early step on a path to studying film history and creating a cornerstone of my life.

So whilst I still can't stand it, Fatal Attraction was a major film experience for me.

My Favourite Film of 1966.

Film And so, with some inevitability, let's talk about Doctor Who or Dr. Who as is the case with Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (or whatever it's called - opinions surprisingly differ).

I've already talked at some length elsewhere on multiple occasions, and here's a version here, about how I properly became a Doctor Who fan, during the so-called wilderness years after listing to an audio starring Paul McGann.

I've also written here about my first memory of the television series, which was later revealed to be a scene from The Invisible Enemy.

With that covered there's one aspect of the Amicus film series which I've always found slightly fascinating.

If Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. had been a bigger success, and notice how it wasn't, how the first flush of Dalekmania had subsided enough for kids not to want to see this version of Who at the cinema, the third film would have been an adaptation of The Chase.

Although for production company Amicus this must have seemed like the natural choice being the third television story to go into production featuring the robotic Russian dancers, the whole process of actually adapting a two and a half to three hour, six episode epic into an eighty minute widescreen technicolour film sounds like a challenge.

If someone has ever seen a potential outline I'd be intrigued as to where they went with it.

There's certainly plenty of incident.  From the chase around the desert to meeting the Aridians (and mire beasts!) to visiting contemporary Earth a couple of times (with the whole business in the haunted house!) and then the material with the doppelganger, the filmmakers would have a lot of spectacle to choose from.

There's a lot of chaff in the script too.  With needs and budgetary requirements of having to create more new locations on a weekly basis than normal, the scripts contain a lot of moments which feel like writer Terry Nation giving his characters something to do to fill the duration of the episode having had the set built rather than a proper sense of action or jeopardy.  In some cases the action just stops altogether.

Nevertheless you could imagine plenty of jokes being achieved through montage sequences of the TARDIS team finding themselves in scrapes, of some sections being given the full adaptation treatment and others being parred down to a visual gag.

Unless it's simply the concept which is retained and the rest would be thrown out.  The Daleks chase the TARDIS across time and space.  For reasons.  Plenty of scope for the utilisation of stock footage and premade costumes and sets.

Which crew?  Would Roy Castle have returned?  Or Bernard Cribbins?  Or some new comedic leading man?

Either way, this is another one of those delicious almost wheres in Doctor Who's long history.

The Diary of River Song: The Rulers of the Universe.

Audio Marvellous, totally, bloody marvellous. As you might have gathered, I'm rather enamored with Doctor Professor Song and the actress who plays her, so the idea of a dedicated spin-off is really, quite welcome. But oh the danger. Apart from Big Finish having to produce something featuring a time travelling archaeologist which sounds totally unlike the Bernice Summerfield stories (not easy given that Benny is a clear influence on this television character) it also has to feel as though it's a natural extension of the television revival.

Well it does on all counts.  She's entirely unlike her antecedent.  River's motives ambiguous and her methods reckless and very much the figure who devised the baroque approach to contacting the Doctor in Time of the Angels, who can barely suffer fools, generally men.  As is often the case when actors shift a character into a new medium, Alex seems to take a few beats to get into her stride in translating her performance to audio but within minutes,Song sings again, entirely charming and electric and dangerous.

There are a couple of niggles.  An element of the overarching story (oddly) has strong echoes of Paul Magrs's Fourth Doctor Nest Cottage audios which is distracting if you're already aware of that story.  Plus much like the design on the box set cover, to an extent River is pushed to one side in the final installment in favour of the Eighth Doctor ultimately becoming the figure who confronts the main antagonist.  Which isn't to say she doesn't have a strong story thread of her own, you will punch the air, but it feels like an odd piece of structuring.

But the writing from all four authors is incredibly strong, notably James Goss's typically experimental third part which is a two hander best approached without any knowledge so, y'know, spoilers.  Everyone has captured exactly what it must be like for River, still learning what it means to be a Time Person, finding herself running into her husband but unable to tell him who she is, because as she says, he's yet to go through the change that leads to him becoming the man she loves (which in and of itself is an interesting delineation).

Quick skippable spoilery discussion about placement: It's very much about The Diary of River Song as an information source and how it structures River's life, not simply an audio crutch to allow for exposition.  Although it's very non-specific about timing, my guess is it's some time after The Angels Take Manhattan in the two hundred years mentioned in Husbands helping to account for why she's so clued in on his earlier incarnations almost expecting one of those to show up instead of a future version.

The Rulers of the Universe.

Here we are, Paul McGann's first occasion playing the Eighth Doctor during the Time War on audio.  With just his brief pre-regenerative television appearance to build on, the approach in performance and writing is to return to something of his pre-Dark Eyes state, more adventure seeking, less cynical about the universe, perhaps because he realises that it might not be around for very much longer.  He's notably treating the TARDIS as a friend again, perhaps because he's travelling alone and she's as close to a companion he has now.

Deciding to go with this version of the Eighth Doctor is somewhat dictated by this being a spin-off from the television revival and the pre-regenerative Time War version most likely to be familiar to the potential audience; teaming River with the even younger pre-Storm Warning figure or even not specifying where he's from in his timeline would have been the braver approach but as a result, the writers are also boldly able to make the war a central part of the narrative, perhaps as a pre-cursor to the upcoming boxed set.

As expected his interactions with River are frustrating because he can't know who she is, but as is becoming customary between Kingston and her various opposite numbers, the chemistry is palpable.  Throughout there's also the nagging question: if this is set after the second Doom Coalition box, how does he not know who she is and this seems to her first interaction with him, although she's clearly aware of him and able to describe him.  Will they meet on equal terms then and if so, how will he forget her again?

The Husbands of River Song.

TV Happy Boxing Day. I had planned to wait until January before reviewing yesterday’s Whoverfest but after sitting through the first forty minutes of the Harold Lloyd silent The Kid Brother and not laughing once due to the high number of jokes which are at his expense through bullying with half my brain writing the following in my head, I realised that it was best to get it into this infernal, extraordinary machine rather than having the words bouncing around waiting for them to flow through my fingers. You’ve probably read most of the following in one of the professional reviews which turned up online within seconds of the episode ending but I haven’t read any of those. About the only pieces of writing I’ve tended to pay attention to about any episode this year have been my old colleague from Behind The Sofa Frank who's now posting to the Frame Rated blog and Graham in the monthly consociation proceedings.

As is so often has to be the case when a Steven Moffat script is making a statement, let’s begin at the end. Once The Husbands of River Song concluded, many of the tweets advertising the wares of those being paid to do this sort of thing before Christmas asked readers what they thought of the archaeological academic’s final adventure, even though everything about the story is designed to eek out her story for a good while yet. One of the problems inherent in the character is that when he created this treasure in season four, Moffat narratively locked in a bunch of story points which would indicate what her penultimate adventure would entail. Like the Doctor’s limited regenerative cycle there was always going to be a point where the writer would need to circumnavigate these details, not retcon them as such, but at least provide an re-interpretation.

That’s what I think Moffat is doing here. Apart from the additional two hundred years mentioned  reminding us that River’s a Time Lord and therefore capable of many millennia of life and seemingly designed to give the ironically named in this instance Big Finish a massive gap to fill, if this final date is to last twenty-four years, there’s clearly enough wiggle room to indicate that not all that time will be spent on Darillium. Far from being her final adventure, the whole substructure of this seems designed to both honour her description of their final encounter from The Forest of the Dead and circumvent it, thank goodness, if required. Anyone else wonder if we’ve even seen her introduction into being a “companion” full time for the next season? It’s certainly very interesting that we’ve not had announcement yet about Clara’s replacement …

As a quick sidebar on the Big Finish stuff, and note I haven’t heard The Diaries of … yet, but The Eternity Clock game apparently establishes that she uses a mnemosine recall-wipe vapour whenever meeting earlier incarnations of the Doctor so as not to pollute the timeline and fictionally to keep with the spirit of him not knowing who she is during Silence in the Library (even though it makes a nonsense of her complaint about him not recognising her).  As an alternative, doesn’t Hell Bent also provide a nuWho-hewn method for this to be the case? And given that, what’s to stop her and Tenth even having audio adventures together? Or with any of the Doctors? At this point I’d certainly welcome an appearance in one of The Early Adventures with Fraser subbing in as a Pat against her. Imagine her turning up in a Tom and Lalla story. I’m giddy with anticipation.

None of which really explains how she doesn’t recognise Twelfth as the Doctor for reasons other than comedy. Time Lords have tended to identify each other irrespective of their outward appearance, even, if Ninth in Dalek is an indication, able to know if there’s another member of their race in existence anywhere in the time vortex. Moffat seems to have decided to ignore that now. Twelfth didn’t suspect Missy in Dark Water and now River spends most of Husbands (an abbreviation which sounds like a nineties sitcom starring Belinda Lang and Jenny Funnell) entirely oblivious to his presence, even in the face of an orgy of evidence that this random stranger is the love of her life. It’s all completely worth it for the look on Capaldi and Kingston’s faces when the penny drops (in favour of Donna) but it’s still a nagging irritant through much of the episode.

Which is, sigh, part of the problem with Husbands (co-starring Daniel Hill as "Trevor"). Like so many of these kinds of stories with their overwhelmingly poignant conclusions featuring huge story points which are likely to be the thing most people, well ok fans, talk about, not everything which occurs in the run up is top draw entertainment and you can boo all you want but I’ll just give you my best Craig Revel Horwood disdain face in return. The whole robot business is rubbish, and inane rubbish at that, right down there with many of the underpowered antagonists we’ve endured during the Moffat era. Perhaps Hydroflax plays well with children with its jolly big red (Hero 6) and Lego friendly replaceable heads, but it’s not a patch on anything in the panto parts of season 17 this story is pastiching with its references to how a wife might consummating her marriage without knowing the particulars of her spouse’s anatomy.

The guest cast doesn’t really help. The first time I saw Matt Lucas was inches away from me in the foyer at The Pleasance at the Edinburgh Festival in 1998 coming out of a show I wasn't attending dressed in a chicken outfit in the process of removing its head, sweat pouring off him. “It’s fucking hot in here” he said to no one in particular which is probably the funniest I’ve ever seen him be. I’m also immune to Greg Davies as a performer and although in all fairness he’s barely given leeway to do much more than Crowden his way through the mania much like the Doctor and River I was certainly happier when he existed simply as a silent cranial carbon carrier in a bag. Even the usually good Philip Rhys, previously known for his “outing” of Patterson Joseph as the Eleventh Doctor on News 24, decided that ham was the way to go and ended up as the Pork Sausagemeat we’ve just bought reduced to 20p from Tesco.

Nevertheless through all of that Capaldi and Kidston crackle and pop and have the most formidable of chemistries. A reader (whose anonymity I’ll be happy to break if he wants me to) noted via email recently that when Eleventh said in his regeneration scene that his new body might need time to “bed in” it was an indication of what was to come with Twelfth. I suggested in reply that the show is always at its best when it doesn’t require this sort of close textual reading and it would have been handy if this had been made plainer that his regeneration had gone a bit wonky while the new Doctor was being an utter bastard (or words to that effect) but does at least allow for a certain retrospective appreciation even if you couldn’t pay me to watch Kill The Moon or The Caretaker again for fun. Whatever our fellow Whoever says in polls, Robots of Sherwood was the best story of that season. Yes, it was.

Either way, at this point season eight has become an aberration and by now Moffat et al have simply decided to let Capaldi be Capaldi. As Graham says in his After Image slot in the Christmas number of DWM, “in 2015 we had the Doctor again. Just the Doctor in all his glory.” The root of that seems to be to let his performance to dictate the differences to Tennant and Smith rather than trying to write it in. Don’t runaway from allowing him to be Tuckerish or present the light comedy that has been his hallmark since Local Hero. Give him big speeches. Allow him to be romantic, to laugh (and what a laugh!) and cry and be passionate. When he bares his teeth while smiling, yes it might look like the award ceremony at a garden fence convention, but its extremely potent and gives him the approachability of Ninth, who was equally sullen at times but surprisingly huggable.

If River had arrived during series eight, the atmosphere would have been equally electric but probably also with an unhealthy toxicity. Would that version have baulked at her homicidal tendencies or agreed to them? Isn’t it important that he does offer that contrast? Notice how Doctor Professor Song’s moral compass swings back towards something north of the righteous whenever she’s in his magnetic pull? The way Kingston deftly modulates her performance in Husbands is remarkable, shifting gears the moment her love seems in danger in a moment which feels like it was written to be played for laughs, swatting her devotion into a punchline but her quiver of her voice draws straight into the drama. I adore this character and this actress. Can you tell? Twelve episodes and a couple of Christmas specials next year. Please?

Anyway, that’s quite enough of Boxing Day spent on this. Thanks to the River shipping, Husbands (created by Stephanie Calman) is pretty high up the league table of Christmas stories, even if it pretty much dumped the seasonal attributes early ala Planet of the Dead. Rather like soap operas, Doctor Who tends to save its big events for the festive episode when presumably the most people are supposed to be watching and I’d be interested to know how many of the not-we caught the significance. But given the rating (5.77m), it’s not really clear how many of those people were watching. Regardless, it was just what I needed yesterday and when it oscillates around in rewatches it’ll be a welcome respite after the grimness of the previous two seasons. Now all we need is an official announcement of when exactly we can expect the next season of Doctor Who. Someone said the word “hiatus” to me the other day and I nearly lost my head.

Christmas Links #24

In Conversation: Charlie Kaufmann:
"The writer behind Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and, now, Anomalisa — a stop-motion animated dark comedy about a depressed customer-service expert who falls in love on a business trip, which Kaufman co-directed — discusses where his ideas come from, the TV shows he can’t get made, and the finer points of puppet sex."

Festive food on the BBC 25 years after Delia Smith's Christmas:
"2015 marks 25 years since Delia Smith’s Christmas, so Press Officer and foodie Alasdair Drennan remembers that landmark programme and looks back at Christmas food on the BBC."

Star Wars is dead, long live Star Wars:
"The Force awoke a few days later than most for me, but on Monday 21st December, I sat in a small cinema in Hammersmith and readied my body for Star Wars. Sweaty palms? Check. Slightly elevated heartbeat? Check. Stupid grin plastered on face despite nearby proximity of colleagues who consider me an otherwise professional and functional human being? Check. There are have been few cinematic experiences in my career where I have legitimately broken out in goosebumps, but Episode VII was one of them: if a new Star Wars trilogy can no longer be considered a once in a lifetime event, then it's still a rare treat to savour. Excitement, thy name is The Force Awakens."

As Climate Change Imperils Winter, the Ski Industry Frets:
"The typical scene at New England ski resorts over Christmas vacation—madhouses filled with students as young as 2 or 3 packing onto bunny hills while parents head to higher elevations for their first runs of the season—has been replaced by a sobering reminder that climate change is already taking a bite out of winter."

Exposed: How Keanu Reeves’ Newest Film Got Whitewashed:
"Originally called Daughter of God and directed by a black filmmaker who has since removed his name from the project, Exposed is Hollywood’s latest attempt to erase the work of people of color."

Christmas Links #23

The evolution of Christmas:
mid 1990s Xmas: Go to the shops to buy everything you need for Christmas
mid 2000s Xmas: Go to the shops to buy everything, except for a few books, CDs and DVDs from Amazon
mid 2010s Xmas: Get most of your Christmas stuff online, assuming it ever arrives

The Beatles Now On Spotify:
"On December 24 at 12:01am in your time zone around the world, The Beatles’ catalogue will be available on Spotify to all of our users."

The Year In Pictures 2015:
"THIS was the year of the great unraveling, with international orders and borders challenged or broken, with thousands of deaths, vast flows of migrants and terrorist attacks on some of the most cherished symbols of civilization, both Western and Muslim."

The first Christmas Radio Times:
"It was all very different to today's multi-channel, on-demand world. There was only radio, and London station 2LO had a meagre five-and-a-half hours of programmes on Christmas Day." [editorial interjection - post includes link to download a pdf of that very first issue!]

“There’s something rejuvenating about getting a good fright…” The Big Interview: Chipo Chung:
"You may recognise Chung from Danny Boyle’s Sunshine (2007), Thick of It spin-off In The Loop (2009) or alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins in Proof (2005); or perhaps you spotted her in Doctor Who, recent BBC crime drama From Darkness, or in Sky Atlantic’s Fortitude. The RADA trained Yale graduate also has some impressive theatre credits, including The Overwhelming and Phèdre at the National Theatre."

Readers Letters for the 22nd December 2015.

Film This blog doesn't often get comments these days due to a mix of messy Disqus logins and social media. I'm going to try and fix this in the new year, but in the mean time there's been a lovely message on the Mean Streets post from David Pascoe which is well worth highlighting here:

"What a marvellous post, both about Mean Streets (my favourite film) and the importance of a venue where you can see a wide array of films (in my case, Falmouth Arts Centre, now called simply The Poly). I lived in Falmouth all my life up to the age of 32, and it's possible my wife and I might move back in a couple of years time after a decade away. I still try to go and see films there whenever I'm back visiting. My main spell if watching films there covered 1998-2008 and was especially important as it was the only cinema Falmouth had at that time. A more mainstream cinema called The Phoenix opened in 2009 and covered a gap while the Poly was closed for a year due to financial problems. Is it symbolic that this happened the year after I moved away?

"As for Mean Streets, I got into it during my late 90s obsession with Harvey Keitel/Robert de Niro and Martin Scorsese. It became a touchstone film and one I constantly went back to in 1999-2000, probably because it captured them before their shtick had set in. A refrain at the time, as all of those incredible actors from the 70s started to age and move into projects which their reputations didn't deserve, was to check out the early work to see them "young, hungry and changing the film world". Mean Streets was dazzling, energetic, heartfelt, exciting, and looked at times like something from another world. It became my favourite film and then I didn't see it again for over a dozen years until it turned up on iPlayer. I watched it again and at the end....it was still my favourite film."

Christmas Links #22

How we made: The Muppet Christmas Carol:
"When I met Michael Caine to talk about playing Scrooge, one of the first things he said was: “I’m going to play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role and there are no puppets around me.” I said: “Yes, bang on!” He was intimidating to start with, but he’s a delight."

‘Wallace And Gromit’ Creators Release New 360-Degree Animation for Google’s Spotlight Stories:
"Santa Claus is coming to town — but one particular custodian really doesn’t like the idea of someone messing with his chimneys, or climbing around on the roof. He tries to catch the intruder, starting an epic and hilarious chase. That’s in a nutshell the premise of “Special Delivery”, a new animated short by Aardman Animations, the award-winning animation studio behind such hits as “Wallace and Gromit”, “Shaun the Sheep” and “Chicken Run”."

Tesco delivers our Christmas parcels to an address 700 miles away in Shetland:
"I ordered three items on 23 November. One arrived three days later but, according to my Tesco account, the other two were delivered to Shetland. We live on the Isle of Wight, nearly 700 miles away. I have phoned, messaged and emailed, but get nowhere, just a “we will get back to you” message."

‘The Quatermass Experiment’ Experiment:
"This caption is a blatant lie."

Love, SRSLY:
"It's the first of two SRSLY Christmas specials! First up, we revisit Love, Actually in great detail, with a little help from our friends. (Caroline Crampton, Anna Leszkiewicz, Anoosh Chakelian, Barbara Speed, Stephen Bush, Jonn Elledge)"

My Favourite Film of 1967.

Film As Christmas draws near the last thing on anyone's minds should be eggs, and yet here we are with my favourite film of 1967, Cool Hand Luke. Here's a gentlemen during the 2012 festive season eating fifty Cadbury's Cream Eggs (after consuming a box of Oreos):

Christmas Links #21

The Complete Series Nine: Blu-ray/DVD details announced:
"The DVD and Blu-ray contains all twelve episodes from Peter Capaldi’s second series in the role, with guest star’s Maisie Williams and Rufus Hound as well as the brilliant Missy (played by Michelle Gomez). The Complete Boxset also contains the 2014 Christmas Special, Last Christmas and this year’s highly anticipated The Husbands of River Song and more than four hours’ worth of VAM, including ...."

Please Stop Spreading This Nonsense that Rey From Star Wars Is a “Mary Sue”:
"Over the weekend, even as most of us were celebrating the fact that a new Star Wars movie did not in any way suck, some portions of the internet got sucked into a pointless, silly debate. Is Rey, the film’s hero, a “Mary Sue”? The answer is no. Next question?"

Christmas covered:
"Taking delivery of your bulging, bumper Christmas issue of the Radio Times is as seasonal as dressing the tree and basting the turkey."

Star Wars: The Feminism Awakens:
"Rey, the franchise’s newest breakout star, is a heroine fans can finally feel good about liking."

Our funniest moments of 2015:
"Here are some of the funniest moments and incidents from BBC Weather during 2015."