“The itinerant, ultra-sociable Thomas would have been the last person to be constrained by social distancing, red and amber lists, and isolation. He was a man of the pub. It’s hard to see how he could have survived as a writer without beer-fuelled social interaction.” Dylan Thomas knew Under Milk Wood was good, even in… Continue reading
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Is the court of public opinion siding with climate protesters?
An interesting piece in the Guardian by Peter Hain (Lord Hain, the former Labour minister.) He makes a strong case for a halt to all pending trials of Extinction Rebellion (ER) activists, accused of deliberate criminal damage in their attempts to highlight the climate crisis. Last month (April 2021) six members of ER, charged with… Continue reading →
Can rewilding call back the cuckoo?
The rewilding movement is burgeoning. But how much can be restored? Could species threatened by climate change soon be gone for good? Walk around my village in Southern England, and it’s a rare day when I don’t see the red kite gliding nonchalantly overhead on wide wings. I even see this familiar scavenger… Continue reading →
Black Narcissus may be Christmas draw but Holly and Ivy is seasonal hit
One of the highlights of the 2020 TV Christmas schedule is sure to be the three-part adaptation of Rumer Godden’s Black Narcissus, which she wrote in 1939. It’s the story of a group of nuns setting up a mission in the Himalayas, and stars Gemma Arterton and Diana Rigg. It is sure to attract big… Continue reading →
Poirot turns 100: how the Belgian ‘tec met his match in the desert
In October 1920 Agatha Christie introduced Hercule Poirot in her novel, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles”. And the great detective lives on, in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Death on the Nile, which follows the actor/director’s Murder on the Orient Express. The film is expected to open late in 2020. 1994 I interviewed David Suchet on set during the filming of… Continue reading →
The unbeatable cricket record? – Bradman’s 300 in a day in the Leeds Test Match
On July 11th, 1930, at the Headingley ground in Leeds, Donald Bradman became the first and only batsmen to score 300 in a day in a Test Match. It was at the time the highest score by a Test batsmen – he was out the next day for 334. His score included the fastest ever… Continue reading →