Goodnight

Entrance to the underworld

Happy #K9andCompany Day to all who celebrate. #DoctorWho

Well, that’s our Christmas Day about done. Tomorrow is our traditional ‘Eat as much cheese as is humanly possible Day’.

May your Christmas be as you would have it x

In today's Starship Alexandria advent calendar, I try to persuade @aptshadow.bsky.social (and anyone else who will listen!) to watch one of the most lovely TV shows ever made. Today's 'window' opens onto a picture of a metal detector. starshipalexandria.com/day-23-2025-...

Binge listened to all the Starship Alexandra advent calendar episodes whilst wrapping Christmas prezzies. Now I have a list of tv programs I must get around to watching. @emmanewman.bsky.social @aptshadow.bsky.social

It's time to read this. A god tier book. An exquisite long poem disguised as a late 60s book for children

Part two of The Winter Queen by Sebastian Baczkiewicz. A Pilgrim story. Sublime audio drama. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

A poem for Winter Solstice: "The Shortest Day" by Susan Cooper, author The Dark is Rising and numerous other luminous books. The image is from www.thelostland.com. The poem is © Susan Cooper.

Three secondhand book finds today.

Dec. 21 is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Susan Cooper, who wrote the solstice poem "The Shortest Day," collaborated with illustrator Carson Ellis on a new picture book. From the NPR archives.

"They looked towards the hilltop and saw a yellow flame rising against the sky. Too-ticky had lit the bonfire. It wrapped itself in flames at once, from ground to top, it gave a roar like a lion and threw its reflection straight down on the black ice" Moominland #Midwinter, Tove Jansson

It’s Gauda Prime Day, the anniversary of the finale of #Blakes7 44 years ago. Here is the report I wrote about visiting BBC Television Centre in 1981 to watch that episode, “Blake”, being recorded in studio. It’s in three blog entries: tinyurl.com/gauda1 tinyurl.com/gauda2 tinyurl.com/gauda3

21st Dec - Midwinter Day - Will Stanton’s birthday.

Not something I’ve heard about. Are there any drone footage of Bigfoot? Or indeed any other cryptid or unexplained phenomena?

It’s the 20th of December.

Oh... hello! This looks good. 😁

#BookWormSat "For it was Christmas, which had always been a time of magic, to him and all the world. This was a brightness, a shining festival, and while its enchantment was in the world the charmed circle of his family and home would be protected against any invasion from outside." TDIR S.Cooper

#BookWormSat "And the dagger is to defend yourself at great need. For you also are not to be in the battle." "Why, Sir," said Lucy. "I think – I don't know – but I think I could be brave enough.

‘Christmas always rustled. It rustled every time, mysteriously, with silver and gold paper, tissue paper and…shiny paper…’~Tove Jansson. This #BookWormSat, we will unwrap the gifts of literature by celebrating all aspects of Christmas…be they festive or disdainful. Do join us.

Colours today

It's the Solstice on Sunday, if you want to start this at the appropriate time. #TheDarkIsRising

I’ve had a loose theory for some years that most (if not all) supernatural phenomena could be explained by time slips and this puts them in the “explainable by science (albeit one we have no understanding of yet)” category. I was reminded of this recently when listening to @dannyrobins.bsky.social

I’ve been reading ‘The Wolves of Willoughby Chase’ with my daughter, and while it’s good, I had somehow remembered it as much weirder and more steampunk - my memory of reading it as a child is that it felt dangerously outrageous

Ooh!

✨🕸️✨

BLOG POST: Another batch of spooky stories, mostly made for TV, that I think capture something of the vibe of the Lawrence Gordon Clark era of BBC ghost stories for Christmas. precastreinforced.co.uk/2025/12/11/a...

Nuts in May is being repeated on BBC4 on Sat 10th Jan at 21:50. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...

In the bleak Midwinter: @andy-paciorek.bsky.social's selection of films from around the world to watch in the dark nights that are very long, when you sit by your great log fires and wish to see a tale... folkhorrorrevival.com/2020/12/16/i...

@scarredforlife.bsky.social Last night I had my first nuclear war dream since the 80s. I don’t know what this says about the current state of the world, the current state of my head or the current state of my nostalgic revisiting, but it was proper scary.

Reminder. BBC has a beautiful radio drama of THE DARK IS RISING by Susan Cooper. You can enjoy it now with (found) family and friends. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

This. “There's too many old, white, rich, ego driven men ruining ordinary people's lives.”

The fact is no presenter has ever had to leave the BBC for expressing conservative views, or even explicitly endorsing a right-wing party. Was never a problem for Jeremy Clarkson. Was never a problem for Andrew Neil. Was never a problem for Alan Sugar

Nativity with spoiler

I’m enjoying receiving and reading Gnome thanks @weirdwalk.bsky.social

Long shot, but does anyone in Switzerland have an emergency Theremin to loan tomorrow night ( Friday 12 December )? #ViaMardot is playing a show in St Gallen, and the airline lost her equipment!!! We can help pay for a courier if needed, please share to get this message out!! #theremin #switzerland

Watching Invasion on Apple TV. To say it is a slow burner would be no exaggeration. Just finished episode 5 and it’s still smouldering.

My latest charity shop find. One more for the Doctor Who shelves.

@skullsandsheets.bsky.social Salzburg looks fun. Think I will go next year. Inspired by your posts.

under 24 hours left!

It’s as if the Nobel committee have said to FIFA “He isn’t going to get one of ours, so give him one of your shite ones instead to shut him up”

So tell me again how Nigel Farage, who just took the largest ever political donation, from a Tory mega-donor, and another donation from the Viscountess wife of the non-dom owner of the Daily Mail, is planning to "take on the establishment"

Today we were here.

Daily I am reminded of the graffiti on a fence at Tiverton that read ‘Waltzing into tyranny’.

"a neglected milestone in the history of electronic music" Ian Holloway @wyrdbritain.bsky.social discusses Rupert Hine's remarkable work on The Shout

Two episodes for my Absent Friends obituary show this year. So grateful that the station continue to allow me to do this. 27th and 28th December: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

The Shout soundtrack release officially announced at Starburst @starburst.bsky.social www.starburstmagazine.com/cult-classic...