An intelligent mix of culture, style, travel, food and property, as well as where to go and what to see.
As US forces pull out from the nation’s longest running war, a look at some of the most thought-provoking films dealing with the Afghan conflict. Unlike Vietnam, when mainstream movies about the war (Platoon, Born on the 4th of July, Rambo etc) really only caught on around 10 years after the fall of Saigon (April
It looks like Barbie is having another makeover: last week toy maker Mattel announced that they were launching a range of dolls to honour women in STEM, making miniature models of pioneers such as US healthcare workers Amy O’Sullivan and Dr Audrey Cruz, Canadian doctor and campaigner Dr Chika Stacy Oriuwa, and – of course
If the sun is shining and the likelihood that all holiday destinations barring the South Sandwich Islands will probably be on the amber or red lists, the prospect of a British seaside break doesn’t look half bad. Of course, 50 per cent of the UK population will be thinking the same thing, so be prepared
When it comes to source material for decent drama, police archives have a track record for delivering the goods. If you’ve binge-watched all the best true crime documentaries already, here are eight of the best fictional adaptations to keep you on the edge of your seat: The Salisbury Poisonings iPlayer Televised back in spring 2020,
The reopening of theatres continues to be a vexed issue in the light of the pandemic. The closure of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella hours before curtain up on press night due to some cast and crew being forced to self isolate being a high profile example of the struggles the theatre industry is facing. Despite
It would be fair to say that despite working in a similar genre and having a propensity for making cameo appearances in many of his movies, filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan is no Alfred Hitchcock. That’s not to denigrate Shyamalan; he’s made some entertaining pictures, but he’s unlikely to reach the exalted status of the ‘Master of
There was a palpable feeling of freedom in Henham Park, Suffolk over the weekend – as masks disappeared and social distancing was replaced by dancing. For a blissful 72 hours, Covid was all but forgotten as Latitude became the first major festival to return in nearly two years. And even if the cost of that
The NHS App is playing a vital role in keeping us safe. It monitors those around us and identifies potential risk. We are alerted to the danger, given the right advice, and then compelled to take immediate action. It would be a pity if this multi-billion pound investment wasn’t utilised to its full potential to protect
The postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics have not been without controversy. After being delayed for a year, a survey commissioned in May by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper revealed that 83 per cent of those polled were not in favour of the event going ahead in 2021, as COVID-19 cases soared and vaccine rates remained low. One
I’m standing in a farmyard in Somerset, drinking in the clear country air, soaking up the summer sunshine and marvelling at the lovely view. However this view is rather different from the sort of thing you tend to see on most farms. I’m here to see some modern art, stuff my face and enjoy a
Before she became associated more with tragedy than comedy, there was a joke which went: ‘What’s Amy Winehouse’s favourite tube station?..High Barnet’. Not the best joke admittedly and one that required a degree of knowledge of rhyming slang – but it did anchor the beehived chanteuse and the borough she came from together in the
Over the past 16 months, many things in our society have changed: we stayed at home, we baked, we zoomed, we tutted at people enjoying green spaces, we seamlessly slid ‘lockdown’, ‘pandemic’ and ‘social distancing’ into our vocabularies. But one thing that has stayed absolutely, stubbornly, admirably the same is the British public’s dedication to
When Sir Richard Branson blasted off into space on Sunday he broke – or rather established – several important records. While he wasn’t the first billionaire to go into space – the extra-terrestrial ten-digit honours belong to Hungarian-born Microsoft Office software magnate Charles Simonyi, who went up to space on a Russian rocket in 2007
‘I actually know the moment I became known. It was at the Cannes Film Festival, when they showed ‘The Virgin Spring.’ I walked into that theatre as one person, and I walked out as another.’ – The late Max von Sydow After last year’s pandemic washout, 2021’s Cannes Film Festival is a bumper event, with a
Is it any surprise that research carried out by the corporation for its annual report found that more than a quarter of men feel that the BBC ‘no longer reflects people like me’? In a concerted effort to redress gender imbalance men are gradually being airbrushed out. Across much of the BBC men have become something
A giant chess board appeals in much the same way as a giant cake. Rationally, one realises that the size doesn’t affect the essence of the thing. But the inner child knows that the jumbo version is just more fun. So I’m excited that a game of ‘human chess’, in which actors take the place
Back in the summer of 2015 as I awaited the birth of my second son, when people asked me about my burgeoning bump — as they are wont to do of heavily-pregnant women — I kept receiving the same, curious response. ‘Oh you haven’t timed that well,’ random strangers would say. ‘August babies don’t do
At first glance, it could be a scene from any classic opera. A grieving lover tearfully lamenting her murdered partner, vowing to bring his killers to justice. But rather than a scene from 19th century Italian literature, what’s taking place on stage has its roots in more recent events: north London in late 2006. The
The Oxford English Dictionary defines patriotism as ‘the quality of being patriotic; devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country.’ Which is fine as far as it goes, but (at least to me), there is a uniquely ‘English’ kind of patriotism, one which I like to believe is not overtly jingoistic or nationalist in tone. This
On 25 June Netflix launched its latest offering, Sex/Life, which quickly became the service’s most-watched show in the UK. The show revolves around Billie Connelly (no, not that Billy Connolly) a beautiful but unfulfilled suburban mum, whose mundane life is peppered with flashbacks of the raunchy youth she spent living it up in the Big
Tonight, Gareth Southgate’s England team have the opportunity to do something the Three Lions haven’t done for 55 years – reach the final of a major football tournament – and the most thrilling thing for England fans is the number of young players coming through. This isn’t just a team for this year, or the
The Old Swan Hotel, a grand old establishment in the centre of Harrogate, was once at the centre of crime writing’s greatest mysteries. This was the place that Agatha Christie chose to escape to when she went missing for 11 days in December 1926. After her husband allegedly revealed that he was in love with
I have a new love in my life; Budgie, a miniature dachshund. After collecting our little friend from Kent, she has taken over the house. I am preoccupied with how to keep her entertained. I talk about her as if she were my child. My google search history includes “tips for surviving the first 30
Is there a better way to boost a politician’s fortunes than a puppy? Everyone knows that dogs buy a certain degree of political capital. Boris knew this when he acquired not simply a puppy, but a rescue cross from across the Union in Wales. Joe Biden was well aware of their political potency when he brought dogs back
Jonny Lee Miller is to play John Major in Series Five of the Crown. In the 1990s, when Major was prime minister, Miller got his big break as Sick Boy in Danny Boyle’s iconic film, Trainspotting. So it looks like a counterintuitive piece of casting. The dour and insipid Major will be played by an
When many people think of films about ‘The Beautiful Game’, a few, (mainly mediocre) movies tend to spring to mind, usually headed by John Huston’s 1981 folie de grandeur Escape to Victory. As you may recall, the film cast Sly Stallone, a noticeably chubby Michael Caine, Max Von Sydow and real-life football legends Pelé, Osvaldo
The moon would be more interesting with Wally Funk on it, and clearly Jeff Bezos agrees: the entrepreneur has just invited the 82-year-old female aerospace pioneer to join him on his inaugural space flight later this month. In 1961, when she was 22, Wally took the physical tests to become an astronaut. They were grisly –
37 min listen
19 July is approaching but what will life after ‘freedom day’ will look like? (01:19) Also on the podcast: what will Angela Merkel’s departure mean for the EU? (14:12) And as many people fled the cities to the countryside during the pandemic, can a case still be made for urban life? (27:26) With The Spectator’s
I expect there are those among you who are pleased to see their home towns returning to something like normality this summer. Well, not me. Brighton and Hove was bliss during lockdown. Without the endless Southward drift of London chaff – pronounce that word anyway you feel works, hard F or soft – my adopted
