You can’t beat a bit of real mystery as the background for dramatic super-reality, can you? Well, that’s what the latest Doctor Who series tapped into when the Tardis touched down in Liverpool on Sunday evening.
Not being a … read more
Let Nothing You Dismay – A Christmas Story
23.12.18
Harry watched as Amy, with the tip of her tongue poking from between her lips, compiled her list. Finally, at the bottom of the page she wrote in fluorescent pink: ‘Happy Christmas. With love from Amy xxx’. Then, sticking … read more
So We Lost…
Daily Mail, July 2018
So, that’s it. We lost. England won’t now be in the final of the World Cup on Sunday and Croatia will meet France. We’re disappointed. Of course, we are. But what an incredible ride our team … read more
Me and My Hollyhocks
Daily Mail, June 2018
Someone broke the growing tips off two of our hollyhocks last week. For some wanton reason he or she stopped on the West London pavement outside our front garden, leaned over the fence and removed the … read more
‘As Time Goes By’ – a review of Derek Taylor’s memoir
Daily Mail, 13.4.18
One morning in 1969 I was sitting at my desk at the London Evening Standard when we got a tip-off that John Lennon had been arrested on a drugs charge.
My job at the time was, among … read more
On the Origins of the films That’ll Be The Day and Stardust
Daily Mail, September 30, 2017
One day in the early-Seventies I had a huge stroke of beginners’ luck. Going over to a friend’s house to borrow a book, I was asked, over a cup of tea, if I would like … read more
The F-Word And ‘Kenneth Tynan Should Have His Bottom Smacked’
Daily Mail, September 7, 2017
Back in November 1965, writer Kenneth Tynan, then the literary manager of the National Theatre, was asked during a late-night BBC television discussion if he would allow sexual intercourse to take place on stage.
It … read more
What If Elvis Hadn’t Left The Building?
Daily Mail August 19, 2017
Elvis Presley died forty years ago this week, but as, over the decades, so many fans have continued to insist that he is still alive, it’s become a commonplace joke that he’s been spotted on … read more
Elvis – The Making Of Love Me Tender
Daily Mail 11.08.2017
If Elvis Presley had never existed, the film Love Me Tender would still have been made. But it wouldn’t have been called Love Me Tender, and wouldn’t have had that song in it – or, for that … read more
Glen Campbell Obituary
Daily Mail 10.8.17
Glen Campbell was a brave man. You have to be brave to set off on a vast nationwide tour of the US fully aware that you have Alzheimer’s Disease, that you may not always know where you … read more
