#FlowerOfTheDay Daffodil Special.

And JB Priestley again on immigrants from English Journey (1934)

Whodunit: Lords' Speaker or Commons' Speaker? Maybe we shouldn't rule out the possibility that folk were queueing up to shop Mandelson. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

"...the result of “honest administrative error” caused by Hardings Print Solutions, a London-based company which printed and distributed the leaflets." I'm assuming there are no printers in the Manchester area who could have done with the business. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Tony Blair faces the camera In which I offer some close reading thoughts on the central interview in C4's The Tony Blair Story. With walk-on roles for Errol Morris, our 1986 State of the Art series and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jana Boková, and Golgotha. www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/tony-blair-f...

Marks is closing in Swansea! It's the end of civilisation as we know it.

Today is the 50th anniversary of our first encounter with these Little Ladies.

Reform planning on going into the next election promising to: - scrap sick pay for low earners - allow workers shifts to be cancelled with no notice - ensure tenants can be evicted from a home near their children’s schools without any reason

Please spare a thought for Jeremy Corbyn - rushed to hospital with a severe case of schadenfreude.

Looking for an old British crume thriller that plays like proto-Colombo? Well then...

That look that comes over you when you realise you've left Liz Truss in charge.

"There is no Night Train Crossing the border. It's now defunct Since that Czech bloke took over."

The critically acclaimed documentary film about the operation of the 30s Royal Mail train delivery service. 🚉 BFI: NIGHT MAIL (1936) 3:05pm #TPTVsubtitles Narrated by #PatJackson directed by #HarryWatt #BasilWright

Mad that it’s one billionaire scumbag who’s behind these massive-scale evictions in London AND the mass closure of London pubs AND beloved institution the Prince Charles Cinema being in dire straits AND the high street being clogged with cruddy candy shops. A one-man enshittification engine.

Folks, you can get 30% off the (already reasonable) price of all BFI Film Classics volumes in the @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social February sale (including my 2025 book on PEOPLE ON SUNDAY) :)

Trump prepares for his press conference

One of my fave Hollywood stars, Merle Oberon, a British actress of mixed Indian & Maori descent, was BOTD in 1911 & died in 1979 at 68. Her career received a major boost when Alexander Korda cast her as Anne Boleyn in "The Private Life of Henry VIII" (1933), then married her

“I remember the first time I saw Andy…”

You asked, we listened 🤭 Take Your Seats for our free YouTube premiere of The Importance of Being Earnest on 12 March at 7pm. Accessible worldwide, with British Sign Language, Audio Description and Closed Caption versions available. Find out more here 👇 www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/take-your-se...

And the good news keeps coming! www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

If Andrew's been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, why the heck hasn't Mandelson?

The Iris Barry documentary I presented last year was repeated on Radio 4 last night. You can listen again here www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

And they say there's nothing but bad news these days! www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Like anyone's going to listen to that £$%* www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Delighted that #JaneMilligan, daughter of #SpikeMilligan, will be introducing a rare, lost short of #TheGoons, with #RichardUsher of the #GoonSociety, that has been found and restored on the Sunday 22nd March at our Festival event at St Albans! buff.ly/8PTE5Uh

Requiescat, Frederick Wiseman. My man had Foucault-levels of things to say about the role of institutions in our lives, but was also a hugely talented filmmaker on top of it. If you have not seen Titicut Follies (1967), prioritise it: right out the gate, our guy was NOT here to fuck around

Bookseller Scrambles To Hide All The Classics After Seeing Emerald Fennell Approaching Door https://theonion.com/bookseller-scrambles-to-hide-all-the-classics-after-seeing-emerald-fennell-approaching-door/

1/4. John Schlesinger - born 100 years ago today - on the set of Far from the Madding Crowd (1967) with Terence Stamp and Julie Christie.

If you're in Leicester on Wednesday, so am I. I'm doing a work in progress of this show, which went down very well at my mum's WI because I always said "Gower" instead of "The Gower" and that was noted and appreciated. events.comedy-festival.co.uk/events/garet...

For this week’s Silent Sundays post I look at the production, critical reaction, and legacy of the first adaptation of Emily Brontë’s WUTHERING HEIGHTS, A.V. Bramble’s 1920 adaptation that is now considered lost.

Why has Liz Truss dug up the corpse of Jimmy Carter?

Just to reiterate that all you need to know about UK class system is that Lord of the Flies is read as a comment about human nature and not about how inept and bullying public school boys can be.

Today we are studying the story of the Bad Samaritan

Today's #BritWatch2026 was Denmark a.k.a. One Way to Denmark (2019). A man is so fed up with his crap life in the South Wales Valleys that he heads to Denmark in order to get arrested and live a life of luxury in their prison service.

Very pleased to be doing this upcoming online research seminar for University of Reading's Film, Theatre & TV department: Wednesday 25 February, 14.00 - 15.30, "Muriel Box, 'The Truth About Women', and the truth about women directors" www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/muriel-box...

Book Offer! ELECTRIC PICTURES: A guide to the Film, Film-Makers and Cinemas of Worthing & Shoreham. A look at 120 years of film in Sussex coastal towns, capturing the rich cinematic legacy in British film history. Just £10 with Free UK P&P! A fascinating read! buff.ly/Ux0UVBd

Right-wing Christians have done some pretty heinous things to turn gay people straight, but this goes too far.

📽️ After announcing that our next film is #Bartleby (1970) it was brought to my attention that this is the name of a deceased horse in #TheArchers. Is there anybody out there who could summarise the horse's story? Wondering if it reflects that of Bartleby in the film. That would be very post modern.

My response to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Sky News interview 👇

Coming this May... HAMMER VOLUME SEVEN: SHIPS & GIGGLES Take a look at the lighter side of the legendary film studio’s diverse output, with a quartet of comic classics starring a roll-call of British comedy greats.