Paying tribute to his mother, King Charles’ first Christmas Day message spoke of hardship, the environment and faith in people!

With images of food banks and help for the homeless alongside the speech, King Charles’ first Christmas message was broadcast from St George’s chapel at Windsor Castle, where the committal service of his late mother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, was held three months ago. Reflecting back on the current cost-of-living crisis, the King spoke of the […]

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‘Twas the Night Before Christmas — ‘Red Dwarf’-style

Ran across a brilliant piece which combines one of my favorite series with one of my favorite times of the year. Searching half the night trying to find the appropriate person to attribute this to and give credit where credit is due, all I could come up with was that it looks like it was […]

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‘Twas the Night before Christmas — John Cleese-style

Much like watching It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, Tuna Christmas or, as evidenced by a recent admission, Die Hard, one of my annual Christmas traditions is to listen to John Cleese’s adaptation of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas from podcast No. 28. Never mind that there have been endless readings over the years by the likes […]

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50+ years down the road, Bob Dylan reveals what makes him ‘feel at home’

A big TOH to Reid Robinson, Tellyspotting’s intrepid reporter in Richardson, TX who reminded me of one of music’s most controversial moments which occurred at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall in 1966. A heckler branded one of the greatest songwriters of all-time, “Judas” for going electric during a set thus ‘betraying his folk roots’. Reid pointed me in the direction of one Robert Allen Zimmerman and how, over a half century later, he answered one of life’s most sought-after musical questions.

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First look at ‘Annika’ S2 headed our way in 2023 on Masterpiece!

From the time I was first introduced to the greatness of Nicola Walker in her role as DI Susan Taylor in Touching Evil (co-starring with Grantchester‘s Robson Green), followed by her time as Ruth Evershed in Spooks (MI5), guest roles in Luther, Being Human and Inside Men, then her more recent efforts in Scott & Bailey, Last Tango in Halifax, Unforgotten and The Split once again I’m convinced […]

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‘Fawlty Towers’ rehearsal script with unshot lost scene discovered!

What reads right out of the April Fool’s Day playbook of the discovery of a ‘lost 13th episode’ of Fawlty Towers, an honest-to-goodness/legitimate rehearsal script with unshot material has been discovered and has been put up for auction. The rehearsal draft for “The Anniversary” episode features several minutes worth of material that was never filmed, including […]

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Recapping a 2016 brush with greatness while wishing Bill Nighy a very happy belated 73rd birthday!

One of the all-time greats celebrated another trip around the Sun recently. William Frances (a.k.a. Bill) Nighy turned 73 on December 12. From Love Actually to Pirates of the Carribean to Pirate Radio to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz to State of Play and the Johnny Worricker trilogy of Page Eight, Turks & Caicos and Salting the Battlefield, Bill Nighy can do no wrong in […]

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First look at ‘Unforgotten’ as Sinéad Keenan joins Sanjeev Bhaskar (and his rucksack) for S5!

Sinéad Keenan joins DI Sunil ‘Sunny’ Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) for the forthcoming S5 of Unforgotten following the tragic S4 finale and the death of DCI Cassie Stewart (Nicola Walker) as DCI, Jessica ‘Jessie’ James. Walker went on to star in Annika for the BBC and PBS this past year. Series 5 will pick up not long after the end of the last […]

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‘Sanditon’ returns to PBS on March 19 for 3rd and final series

Fortunately and, unfortunately, there is both good news and bad news swirling around the forthcoming third series of Sanditon as part of PBS’ Masterpiece series. The good news is that long-time fans of the series will be able to return to the seaside resort town for the premiere of series 3 on Sunday, March 19 at 9pET/8pCT. The […]

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