M&Ms CEO: 'most, if not all' meals can be replaced by M&Ms within 12-18 months

70 years ago today - two decades before Zeffirelli, Burgess, Powell and all that - the BBC showed the first episode of their Jesus of Nazareth, the first such production on British television. For the anniversary, I've written a piece for the BBC website:

Good evening.

'Good is much nicer than Evil' Batman #tvseries #1960s

Jackson was cast as the voice of Azal in The Daemons, before they decided to go with Stephen Thorne as the body and voice of the character. There's no indication that Jackson's contract was cancelled, so it may have been decided after his voice recording.

A Criminal Practice, a comic play by Terrance Dicks first broadcast on 5 July 1967, is being repeated on Radio 4 Extra today at 3pm and 9pm; afterwards, it’ll be available on BBC Sounds - www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick

RIP Bud Cort. Harold and Maude is one of my favourite movies of all time and he’s spectacular in it. If you haven’t seen it, don’t find out anything about it. Just watch it.

Man Utd famously full of lads from the North West ofc

It's really instructive when you replace "Millennials" with "middle-aged adults" in headlines. '"Middle-aged adults" are swimming in student debt and may never own homes.'

Delighted to be giving an online talk about British television in the 1920s and 1930s for the Art Deco Society on the evening of 17 March; tickets £5 for non-members. artdecosociety.uk/events-2/

Through the Square Window episode six is out now! This month, @samiraahmeduk.bsky.social and @gkw.bsky.social look at shows from February 1969, namely: Do Not Adjust Your Set, Civilisation, Saturday Night Theatre (with Sean Connery) and Department S. Available wherever you get your podcasts.

Looking forward to speaking to @alexpodyssey.bsky.social followers this Thursday on Prometheus. Here is the first illustrated edition of Frankenstein or A Modern Prometheus from @porticolibrary.bsky.social. Thinking about Prometheus has also made me think about Frankenstein.

Oh

New episode up now. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, with guest Doctor Rowan Williams. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/257...

‘The existence of Small Prophets proves the point: that British telly can still create impossible marvels like this is a reason to keep believing in magic.’

Another run of "Hidden Treasures" on BBC4 Extra this week, every day at 3pm. I'll flag up the rest in a minute, but just look what we've got on Thursday afternoon - from Midweek Theatre, 5th July 1967 - "A Criminal Practice" by Terrance Dicks.

🆕 PROMETHEUS: I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire One man; several contradictory myths. Is he protector or disruptor? Genius or arsonist? Season 2 of Podyssey kicks off with an absolute belter. 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/0s0L... 🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...

If people are going to make money from social media, it seems so wildly obvious that what can be broadcast by the platforms is regulated in the same was as TV is.

People kept telling me this is exactly the old Muppet Show and they were absolutely correct. A pure joy to watch. (And I'm VERY picky about my muppet canon.)

I hate climate change, but I love this picture by #Manx photographer, Peter Lobley. The Bee Gees statues look as if they're emerging from the ocean to reclaim the land from the upstart human apes. #IsleOfMan #BeeGees

Brilliant piece of writing by Arthur Quintalino. reactormag.com/star-treks-u...

Caught up on last two eps of Star Trek Starfleet Academy aka Space Dorks. What joy. So fun and funny, yet good on grief and loss and the benefits of a stupid, messy night in a bar.

Came across this today, and as it’s @gallifreyone.bsky.social this weekend felt appropriate to share in tribute to the great man

...which seems as good an excuse as any to remind you of (or alert you to) this excellent cartoon by @katebeaton.bsky.social:

This comes up a lot so I do want to let you all know that the option of turning the existing building into a heritage/museum site has been costed out and it is substantially more expensive

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition. Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Dear BBC Archives... A letter to thank you for Mañana, the Ibsen collection and more, to express my disappointment at how in certain ways you fail to treat these precious fragments with proper respect, and to suggest how you could do things better. www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/dear-bbc-arc...

This is only related in a sideways manner, but: the story of any small slice of humanity is the story of humanity, just boiled down and distilled. So: In 2020, we had a lot of conversations about harassment at SF/F conventions, and Isaac Asimov came up several times.

Collections Development Week, Day 4: As the searchroom team finish off our Robin Murray Archive, Keeper of Archives Gary Brannan has found time and space in his calendar to continue reboxing the Terrance Dicks Archive. Sadly jelly babies are prohibited in the strongroom.

The talented and all round lovely guy, Simon Guerrier joins me to talk about getting a break writing Doctor Who books, his time editing Bernice books, and gives huge insight into his David Whittaker and upcoming Terrance Dicks books... @0tralala.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/h...

Abandoned Soviet radio telescope facility in Armenia 🇦🇲

Science

This month's DWM contains my own personal favourite piece I've ever written for our favourite mag, so do please get it. #DoctorWho #DoctorWhoMagazine www.panini.co.uk/shp_gbr_en/d...

I was part of the group of sff authors who contributed to this project - my story. ‘100kg of platinum in London’ is about getting things down from space… www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2sp...

This is how enjambment can work in a poem. Bridge 77 on the Macclesfield Canal allows a horse to cross the canal without having to untie it from the canal boat.

On 12 February, Radio 4 Extra is repeating A Criminal Practice, a comic play by Terrance Dicks a year before he joined Doctor Who. I’ll share some background details nearer the time. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Reminder we're still crowdfunding new audio comedy with @leadmojo.bsky.social. For £14 you'll get six episodes, when we make it - which we only do if it gets funded, so if you want it to happen, please back it! mirlo.space/leadmojo/rel...

“I didn’t have rich parents, a childhood bedroom to return to or an infatuated billionaire intent on marrying me. Either writing had to make me money or I couldn’t do it. “ I wrote about making a living from writing in the new economy. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Happy abseiling lesbians day to all who celebrate!!!

My children are delighted to have received this rare Scottish delicacy from @finishedzine.bsky.social

I hate the captive princess narrative so much. It tends to be applied disproportionately to women who are considered conventionally attractive, eg Melania Trump. The fact is that women who choose to marry awful men are usually awful themselves. That’s why they like those men. Adult women have agency

Absolutely buying this on day one.

Oriel Chambers Pastel and acrylic on canvas 61cm x 46cm 2026 Today’s first piece back in the studio. Oriel Chambers, built by Victorian pioneer Peter Ellis in 1864. It was the first curtain wall office building in the world and became the forefather of the American skyscraper. #art #Liverpool

*PODYSSEY SEASON TWO IS HERE* New Bonus Episode: The Beast In Me Did the Ancient Greeks have pets? Well, it's quite complicated, often very sweet... and sometimes a little bit weird. @sturdyalex.bsky.social 🎧 LISTEN AND SHARE 🍊 open.spotify.com/episode/5U4O... 🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...

Yesterday, five-year-old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilley detention center. I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning. Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack.

As it’s LGBTQ+ History Month I thought I’d share some bits from my new book Tales of the Suburbs: LGBTQ+ Lives Behind Net Curtains (out in mid March) just to give a flavour of what was going on beyond the privet…

Civil litigator here with years of experience of business people’s emails to each other in disclosed evidence for disputes. As a general rule: the senior the business person, the less effort they put into emails, and the more effort expected from those reading them. Effectively a mark of rank.

One of my favorite tidbits from this development is that not only did grass start growing in the desert for the first time, but that it grew so tall to the point it started covering the solar panels and becoming a massive issue, and the best solution was to just let sheep eat the grass.

Judge Biery signed the order with a photo of Liam and two bible verses: The first is "But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." The second is simply "Jesus wept." Astonishing thing for a judge to do.