The Crown [Series 3] ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I was saving this one up for the dank days between Christmas and New Year when the schedulers have given up and padded out the listings with pap, dreck, drivel, twaddle and rot – and repeats of the aforesaid pap, dreck, drivel, twaddle and rot. As soon as this series…

The King [Netflix – released 2019] ⭐️⭐️ The King is as sludgy a mess as the mud-wrestling Battle of Agincourt it portrays. Its attemt to force contemporary political ishoos into a fifteenth-century chronicle leads to embarrassing plot and language clangs. At one moment we have high rhetoric and moments after references to ‘regime change’. I…

‘For I love France so well that I will not part with a village of it. I will have it all mine.’                                                                   …

I DON”T REALLY SIT ABOUT twiddling my thumbs, you know. When one book is finished, I am immediately off again with another. Actually, it’s not as simple as that and in fact there is often a considerable overlap. The last full stop of the first draft is a cause for celebration and a glass or…

The pronoun ‘me’ underscores the debate at the core of the novel about the benefits and dangers of Artificial Intelligence, a debate which becomes quite cerebral at times. We are invited to reflect on a taxing question: when does sentience become cognition and, when cognition evolves an identity – ‘me’ – does a robot become…

No. I’m not offering advice or therapy so don’t ask. I’m talking about the Netflix series, Sex Education, which is far and away the best thing I’ve seen on the idiot box for a very long time. Otis, a sixth-former, has a problem with masturbation: he cannot bring himself to a climax. He surmises that…

Humphrey and the Squirrel is a prequel to Ian Thomson’s successful novel, Humphrey and Jack. Humphrey does battle with his nosy neighbour, Mrs Bellingham – with Aristotle the cat – and with a malicious squirrel – each of whom is a threat to his beloved garden birds. You could read the story as a taster…

🎬Hacksaw Ridge ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Deserving of its accolades in some respects but I can’t escape feeling there is something schizophrenic about Gibson’s work.There is a celebration of Desmond’s refusal to bear arms and his decision to work in the middle of the battle as a medic. This alternative heroism is portrayed powerfully with messianic imagery. We…

I am finding that you reach a point in making a story where everything falls into place and you can see the destination. There is still some way to go but you know what happens – what has to happen – to get to the end. There may still be some research to do for…

It’s only a matter of time, you know. Here’s my dream cast (unless you know better – why not make your suggestions at the bottom of the page?) Humphrey – Martin Clunes  Jack – Asa Butterfield Mrs Bellingham – Maggie Smith Secondhand Sue – Julie Walters Flake – Rys Ifans Cora – Imelda Staunton Garth…