"The great mystery about Burnham," wrote @alwynturner.bsky.social in 2015, "is why he has been talked up for so long and was promoted so young." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/05/27/a...

One of my early commissions at Aurum Press and among the most enjoyable. Of course it's full of DOCTOR WHO & BLAKE'S 7, but Alwyn is at his best on the ABC & ITC adventure serial, and when digging into the creative dynamo that was the BBC-ITV duopoly.👇

"He was supposed to be swashbuckling and dashing and all those things." My book Terry Nation: The Man Who Invented the Daleks was published 15 years ago today. Here's an extract... thelionandunicorn.com/2018/01/02/t...

A very happy 80th birthday to actor Roger Sloman. Keith Pratt from Nuts in May is 80? It doesn't seem possible. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/10/n...

"There are a hundred assassins lurking in the bushes, prime minister. Those people will come back and kill you…" thelionandunicorn.com/2019/12/05/t...

"We can also expect less desirable visitors: nihilists, anarchists, revolutionists..." The last episode of Victorian detective show "Cribb" was broadcast 45 years ago today. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/04/10/h...

"Pursued through a frozen, snow-covered forest, he escapes and takes photographs of grain being deliberately exported out of the area. He finds people who have starved to death in their beds. There are horrific scenes, including cannibalism..." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/05/09/f...

"The greatest actor of our time? Quite possibly." Glenda Jackson was born 90 years ago today. thelionandunicorn.com/2023/09/03/f...

It being VE Day, here's a reminder of the 50th anniversary and the world’s largest hokey-cokey. Also: Polly Toynbee being grumpy about the whole thing. thelionandunicorn.com/2020/05/08/f...

Glad to see more and more people realising that it's one of the best.

On 3 May 1979 the nation went to the polls and elected Margaret Thatcher as prime minister. It was, said Tony Benn, "a counter-revolution against democracy". thelionandunicorn.com/2019/03/30/w...

"When I started making money, I started to appreciate just how good Margaret Thatcher and her policies were to me." – Ian Wright Thatcher became prime minister 48 years ago today. thelionandunicorn.com/2017/04/08/b...

Here's a bit of fun! It's me for L&U on everybody's least favourite episode of Doctor Who. ⬇️Link Below⬇️

55 years ago today, leftwing terrorists the Angry Brigade decided to celebrate May Day by bombing the London boutique Biba. thelionandunicorn.com/2021/05/01/b...

"‘The Gunfighters’ is fantastic. Every last, shamelessly daft, rootin’ tootin’ second of it..." @finlay24.bsky.social on a wrongly maligned Doctor Who story. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/05/02/l...

My book "Crisis? What Crisis? Britain in the 1970s" was published eighteen years ago today. It's now old enough to vote in the local elections next week. thelionandunicorn.com/2019/01/11/c...

My book "Crisis? What Crisis? Britain in the 1970s" was published eighteen years ago today. It's now old enough to vote in the local elections next week. thelionandunicorn.com/2019/01/11/c...

It wasn't all punk and disco in 1976. @benfinlay74.bsky.social selects the best British albums of the year. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/04/26/t...

Back in 1968, Richard Crossman described his Labour Party colleagues, Tony Benn and Peter Shore, as "young men who with carefree arrogance think they can enter the business world and help it to be more efficient". I don't think he'd be overly impressed by their successors.

Search for a star and the 1927 edition of Spotlight....it's very likely that one of our members or followers on here has one of these housed amongst their collection: observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

My book "Rejoice! Rejoice! Britain in the 1980s" was published 16 years ago today. Here's an extract about the Labour Party. "It wasn’t the worry that we would become unelectable, it was the worry that we would indeed be electable." thelionandunicorn.com/2016/06/30/l...

On the centenary of her birth, we remember how much Queen Elizabeth II touched the nation, with tributes by everyone from Alan Sugar to Ann Summers, the Bank of England to Bobby Davro, Crazy Frog to Cash Converters. thelionandunicorn.com/2022/09/16/e...

"A reappraisal is due, which is dirty work, but someone has to do it…" My new article on the Rolling Stones' "Black and Blue", 50 years on from its release. #musicsky #rollingstones #article @lionunicorn.bsky.social Read here:

Socialist film director Roy Battersby was born 90 years ago today. His debut feature film was the decidedly odd "The Body" (1970). thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/25/f...

"We had a bit of a street image. The first pictures we were kinda like in Adidas, tight fucking jeans, braces and Fairisle shirts. There was nothing tartan about us." Les McKeown, singer with the Bay City Rollers, died five years ago. thelionandunicorn.com/2021/04/22/l...

"The once bad-boys of rock and roll were seen to have nothing new to say, now that the climate had changed." @benfinlay74.bsky.social on the Rolling Stones' "Black and Blue", 50 years on from its release. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/04/18/b...

"The problem was, they weren’t to be trusted. They advocated lunatic policies and, like all zealots, turned a blind eye to the means." Clare Francis is 80 today. After hanging up her yachting shoes, she wrote novels, including this fine tale of terrorism... thelionandunicorn.com/2018/11/24/r...

"Turner reveals a world of paradox catching the tides of two decades – grief and hedonism; license and repression; distress and wealth; conservatism and communism" 📚 Baroness Andrews reviews @alwynturner.bsky.social's 'A Shellshocked Nation' @profilebooks.bsky.social bit.ly/3Q3prUf

"I understand you were paying them to take off items of clothing at a shilling a garment." A Victorian detective as seen from the 1970s. It was all sex and class, apparently. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/04/10/h...

Harry Secombe died 25 years ago today. Here he is in the movie, Davy, "an interesting curio, a study of a way of life that was about to vanish, and a reminder that Islington Green was once a dowdy, down at heel area". thelionandunicorn.com/2025/10/05/f...

Novelist Peter Lovesey died a year ago today. To mark the occasion, @alwynturner.bsky.social has written about the TV version of his detective Sgt Cribb. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/04/10/h...

The sun is out, it's a bank holiday, you'll be looking for the right soundtrack to the season. And here's @benfinlay74.bsky.social with some suggestions. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/04/05/s...

"How could I ever leave here With the English sky so blue? Could I turn from the trees, As they bend in the breeze, or forsake the evening dew?" Anthony Horowitz, creator of Foyle's War, is 71 today. thelionandunicorn.com/2025/10/31/t...

It's springtime for bitterns and kingfishers... @benfinlay74.bsky.social's guide to the best albums for the season. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/04/05/s...

"I have survived to middle age with half my wits, while thousands have died with all theirs intact. Evidently quality of wits is more important than quantity…" James Callaghan became prime minister 50 years ago today. thelionandunicorn.com/2016/03/25/o...

There's a bit more on the history of women's chess here. liberalengland.blogspot.com/2025/10/triv...

"‘If I was a producer on a show like that,’ Terry Nation reflected later, ‘I don’t think I would ever commit myself to a three-month Dalek story without a lot of other stuff in it as well.’" @alwynturner.bsky.social on the nightmare's beginnings👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/t...

Steve and Muff Winwood with their parents. (Thanks to Nan Lozito on Pinterest.)

Here's me joining @goonpod.bsky.social for a chat about Billy Liar and the wider long-lost black and white world of Britain in the early sixties. How can something made before The Beatles even took off still have so much resonance? Join us and find out! timworthington.org/2024/12/30/g...

"I've asked about 20 women if they feel safe walking around London," says Iain Dale on LBC. "Only one said 'Yes'." (The others said, "Go away, or I'll call the police.")

Film producer Tony Garnett was born 90 years ago today. He was responsible for Kes, Days of Hope and, er, Earth Girls Are Easy. And the oddity that was The Body (1970). thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/25/f...

"The Albion Band's ‘Poor Old Horse’ (a traditional sea shanty) was released as a single and named Record of the Week by Radio 1’s Simon Bates, but it sank without trace..." @benfinlay74.bsky.social guides you through the best music for Spring. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/04/03/s...

It being Dame Penelope Keith's birthday today, we shall mostly be watching To The Manor Born. thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...

John and I will be bringing a touch of Croydon glamour to Manchester on Thursday evening. Join us in body if not in spirit. the-modernist.org/collections/...

Fanny Cradock, Gordon Ramsay and the Two Fat Ladies have already turned up in the countdown, which leaves us wondering: Who's in @benfinlay74.bsky.social's top five of TV cooks? thelionandunicorn.com/2026/03/28/t...

RIP Trevor Oakes, guitarist with the mighty Showaddywaddy. thelionandunicorn.com/2019/06/25/r...

Wishing a very happy birthday to Michael York - he's 84 today, which seems implausible. thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/21/f...

"I remember a call from a soon-to-be-cut-off viewer asked her what could be cooked with a 'Camberwell Carrot’..." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/03/25/t...

John Walker, following the split of the Walker Brothers, with Sunny and Sue. Daily Mirror, 1967.