I wanted something quick and simple to read, easing into the holidays nicely, and Paddington always delivers. This time the bear was up to all kinds of mischief but I like that there were glimpses of things he can actually do really well - gardening, and unexpectedly, doing foley work! But of course there’s chaos as well, and it was a lot of fun to journey through the adventures with our furry friend.

I wasn’t expect much from this movie, but actually, I ended up really enjoying it. It’s a blatant copy of Groundhog Day but it kind of leans into it with the clock and everything so it’s not annoying. I love messing about with time and the chance to redo things and see what different outcomes there will be, so it was right up my street from that point of view.

I love Melissa Joan Hart, mostly from nostalgia of kids shows, and this TV movie has been in my sights for a few years now but it’s taken until now to find the time and the streaming to get it watched. I’m not sure if it wouldn’t have better to stay unwatched as it’s not that great! MJH and Mario López are both fun and have good chemistry, and they do the best with what they’ve got, but it’s not a great movie.

After watching Miriam on the Graham Norton Show, I realised I had the audiobook of her memoir tucked away so quickly started listening to it. Miriam talks with that trademark openness and honesty, littering the stories with frankness, swearing and shocking moments - but you know she doesn’t do it to be inciting, this is just her truth. It’s long, but it’s well read and fascinating from start to finish.

I read this because it was sold as a time looping festive story, in the spirit of Groundhog Day. And it started out like that, ooh what is this weird looping, and reliving the same day, and all the joy and hilarity that comes with that. but then there were only a couple of loops until we got stuck back in to the rom-com side of things. And then there was never any real resolution to why it had been happening. The characters and story were cute but in the end it was just frustrating.

We watched and at first I thought it was going okay. I mean, it wasn’t good but it was just a cheesy Christmas movie with people learning lessons and getting in the festive spirit. There was over-acting aplenty, and precocious kids, but it was entertaining enough with a glass of wine.

I was not necessarily as geared up for this final as I was hoping - it all just seemed so predictable, and I knew it wasn’t going to be the emotional rollercoaster that other finals have been. However, I kept telling myself that stranger things have happened and Ellie might not just run away with it, right? Great opening dance, by the way, so lovely to include both Amy and Nigel when their dancing was limited by injury.

This is a report of the 1996 Everest disaster where several people died trying to reach the summit in just one day, as told by survivor Jon Krakauer. From the afterword that hits out at those trying to discredit him, there’s some animosity about the truth on various sides of the story, but even with that in mind, this is a really well told story. It’s factual alongisde memories and thoughts, not accusatory but just trying to unravel what really happened up there.

It feels like we’re lacking brand new credible festive movies this year, so grabbed at this one with both hands after loving the first one. It didn’t quite live up to that original from last year, but it was still pretty good - nice and frothy and with the addition of a Sam Ryder song and the fabulous Krakowski… excellent.

It’s always nice to finish off the year with a stand out classic album, and so you can’t go wrong with this one from the Boss. Born to Run is obviously the main track leading off the second side, but otherwise it’s just a really good solid rock album full of the genius of the man and his band, and it stands the test of time.

I’ve not really reviewed a dedicated holiday album before, although there was that Halloween one by Duran Duran earlier this year. Christmas albums can be a bit repetitive, but this one by Cher is absolutely legendary. The single and lead track that she’s been promoting on all the TV shows is brilliant, it really gets you in the mood and then it’s followed up by fantastic guests, great old and new songs, and an overall brilliant hour of tunes.

I read this earlier in the year and for some reason didn’t write a review at the time. It’s a book chronicling the early years of both Ant & Dec’s career - this pair really can’t do anything apart! They take it in turns to discuss their early years, meeting on Byker Grove and transitioning to a pop career that they weren’t always comfortable with. Within each chapter, they pop in and out almost as though it’s a conversation, and you can really hear it as though they are talking to each other. Good, interesting approach, a little distracting in places, but I learnt quite a lot about their early years.

I’m willing to suspend plenty of belief and common sense and, quite frankly, intelligence, to watch these super cheesy Christmas movies - in fact, that’s part of the charm to get lost in a schmaltzy world of nonsense. But this one was really dull, and the premise just didn’t make any sense at all. So I canned it after twenty minutes. On to the next!

Hooray, it’s time for another Mastermind specialist topic that I think I could have a good go at if I was sitting in the hot seat. It was a few episodes ago and Amy’s chosen topic was the sitcom MIRANDA. Yay! If I’m being completely honest, I only knew this had occurred because Miranda herself took the quiz on Tiktok. She did pretty well, not 100% though! Amy got ten overall, and I would have got eight, so naturally a rewatch of this show is required now!

The Graham Norton Show is legendary on British TV screens - a chat show that is hilarious but friendly, mixing unexpected celebrities together so that you never know when a fascinating moment is going to happen. I dip in and out, the quality of the show naturally depends on the selection of guests, and your enjoyment varies depending on your knowledge and liking of them. This week’s show featured a great selection: Imelda Staunton (promoting the final series of The Crown), Jamie Dornan (new series of The Tourist starting in Jan), Jack Lowden (third series of Slow Horses is streaming now), Ncuti Gatwa (new Doctor!!) and Gregory Porter as the musical guest (Christmas album).

I feel like this book hits slightly differently now we have experienced a global lockdown, but this was written in 2017 before any of those events occurred. The book is billed as life-affirming and funny but I didn’t find it to be those things - it was drama, it was tough, emotional and moving, it was families finding out a lot about each other in a short space of time, it was illness and loss and grief. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, it’s just not quite what I was expecting. In places, it was quite predictable, but not in a bad way either… it was well written and an engrossing read, if ultimately quite depressing.

After a very minor scalding incident with a hot water bottle, I realised that there was a lack of HWB covers in the house and that I could probably whip one up quite quickly with a bit of leftover yarn. I sourced this super easy pattern, and even though I was using slightly different weight yarn, it worked out so well.

Sarah Morgan’s Christmas books are becoming something of a staple and this was another good one. A group of friends head to a remote and romantic inn for their festive book club meeting and they have plenty going on in their own lives, let alone getting involved in the drama of the inn itself. Good characters, great friendships, plenty of ups and downs in family, friend, and romantic relationships, and that lovely festive feeling throughout.

After the slightly disappointing quarter final in which an injured Nigel withdrew and no public vote was held, we’re back at the sharp end again. With each couple doing two dances tonight, there will be three scores from the judges added together, although our remaining couples are so close, you have to wonder how much difference that will make. We’re at that point where the start of this competition seems so long ago - remember Nikita and Jody?? But now there are just four couples and eight dances to secure a place in the final. Let’s do this!

I had previously talked about how excited I was for the Doctor Who specials celebrating the 60th anniversary of the show (sort of), and seeing my personal favourites David Tennant and Catherine Tate return. Well, we have three episodes done and dusted and was it worth it? YES! Here are some thoughts from the shows short run, spoilers obviously within: Bifurcating the Doctor! We now have two Doctors running around, what an interesting development! On the one hand, I can imagine DW purists not being particularly happy about this, but on the other hand, I can see the upsides to it. The weight of such momentous recent events for the Doctor must have been weighing them down so to be able to split that off and let it sit off screen for a bit is a bonus. Also, it gives David Tennant the chance to return whenever he wants - hooray! Donna’s family! Loved the introduction/return of Donna’s family, her long-suffering husband, dragon of a mother, and beautiful daughter Rose. We have representation on screen and the brilliant mama bear instincts from both Donna and her own mother Sylvia. Plus wonderful Wilf. There are no words for how lovely it was to see him, if only for one scene. Seeds for the future! I didn’t have a lot of knowledge of the Toymaker and if I’m being honest, don’t think I am much further forward even after a whole episode of his antics. But the fact he’s just in a box tucked away somewhere, and has left a golden nugget containing the Master, means we have potential for future storylines right at our fingertips. Not long to wait for more! I love that we are only moments away from the Christmas special that will see Ncuti Gatwa get his first full outing. From the small glimpse we had, his Doctor seems more warm and energised than our recent traumatised Doctors, so very interested to see what happens on Christmas Day.

There seems to be a lot of Sonic around at the moment, with his Playstation game out, appearing in various other games, and now this release on Apple Arcade. As iconic and nostalgic as the zippy blue hedgehog is, we do need to be careful about an overload for him. But for now, this is a new and different game, so let’s give it a try!

This game appears to follow exactly the same premise, gameplay and style as the first one, which is perfect because really that’s all we want - more opportunities to swing through the city. I think the map is bigger than it was previously, and the graphics continue to stun and astound. Getting to the top of a high building, looking out over the city, particularly if you can time it at the golden hour, it’s breathtaking.

This album popped up in Apple’s new releases, as there was a fresh version out to celebrate its 20th anniversary. TWENTY years. Madness. I remember listening to this album when it came out, I was a huge Alicia fan at the time and this was her second album that really followed the greatness of the first. Lots of piano, obviously, sweeping and soaring moments, alongside down and dirty R&B at the same time. Wonderful stuff.

Mika jumped back into my consciousness last year with his stint hosting and performing at Eurovision, and this album popped up towards the end of a year where I was starting to scrabble for which ones to listen to. This is, apparently, his first full length record in French, and I actually really liked it. I’m not the best at listening to lyrics anyway, so only being able to pick out the odd word wasn’t much of a problem. And the music is just lovely pop to enjoy.

This was an ok rom-com, but it didn’t grab me as much as I’d hoped - mostly because the main characters weren’t really that likeable and I’m not sure they had a huge redemption arc as they probably needed. I’m torn by the big time jumps as well, on the one hand it’s fun to dip in and out of a life like that, but on the other hand, it meant the events felt quite remote and as though they didn’t really connect in the same way they might otherwise. Ok but not a favourite.

I wanted to try knitting in multiple colours, having previously done a bit of stripe work on full rows but not mixing it up mid-row. I found these patterns for Marvel icons in squares and thought that looked quite a fun place to start.

Obviously, I’ve picked this up because of how good the documentary is, I don’t suppose I would normally read a footballer’s autobiography. This one is okay, it’s written well, it feels like you’re just sitting down opposite Paul and having a chat. It has plenty of humility and common sense in there, almost repeating that a bit too often really - we get it, Paul, you’re a normal guy! But fascinating to see behind the scenes of how the success of the documentary and the day to day workings of the team affected the players doing the actual business of playing the beautiful game.

So close to the end now and the show descends into chaos! We were all really looking forward to five brilliant dances on Musicals week that would then send four couples through to the semi finals, only to find that Nigel injured himself and couldn’t perform. This late in the day, that means he’s out of the competition! There are contingencies in place for this, of course, and instead of someone else leaving the competition this week, there would be no public vote, these four couples go through to the semi finals and the judges scores roll over. Disappointing but still, musicals - hooray!

I’ve had a couple of mental health revelations this year, simple things that I’ve learned about myself. They mostly fall under the category of things that you read tips for all the time and think, well sure that’s just common sense, then realise you’re not actually doing it and that might be why you’re bending under the stress. Meanwhile, recently, Apple launched a new element to their health tracking platforms called State of Mind. This falls under the category Mental Wellbeing in the health app, alongside Time in Daylight (I really want to use this measure but seem to always have too long sleeves) and Mindful Minutes (used to be called Breathe, I think?).

Oof, this is not a good film. It’s quite simple in premise and storyline which is fine, it’s quite refreshing not to have a gazillion sub-plots going on, just a few relationships that need a helping hand. But there are too many problems to ignore - the travelling situation doesn’t seem that bad, the chemistry between the two is off, and some of the dialogue is painful. But it has a happy ending, and the uncle is adorable, so could be worse.

I enjoyed the previous memoir by comedian Tom Allen and was curious what this second book would be about, coming so relatively quickly after the first. Sadly, this one is a memoir of grief, with Tom sharing stories and humour from family life with his father, and then the process of coming to terms with his death, and life afterwards. The stories are great, and there’s a lot of honesty and growth and learning throughout. It’s nice to go on the journey with Tom.

This one is a formulaic story about mistaken identity and falling slowly in love, whilst also having the trope of a made-up country, a strained family relationship, and learning to help the community on the sidelines. It has plenty of problems, many of which I’ve made note of above, but actually if you just go with it, it’s not the worst Christmas movie out there - quite entertaining really, and some fun interactions between the brother and sister.

Legend. I’ve listened to a couple of MJ albums already, but this one was his first proper solo album. It’s so good, I hadn’t actually realised that the first two songs were so old - they have that timeless feel that could have been released at any time during Michael’s career. It’s just a fantastic disco album with incredible and iconic vocals and just the start of so much more to come!

I mean, the only real way to describe this album is: meh. It was okay, grown up pop, pleasant enough but not at all worth reaching out for. It didn’t make me want to turn it off but I wouldn’t seek it out. The only particular upside is that it felt like all the members got their moment to shine, which is a step forward.

The audiobook version of this I listened to was read by Freema Agyeman so it was quite nice to hear it in the voice of Martha herself. It was lucky too, because there were elements of the text that were third person and some that were first person by Martha. It sounded okay being read by Freema, but I did think it was a bit weird switching between the two like that. However, a good story, meaningful and moving as always, with deeper thoughts about extinction and the lengths you might go to to preserve history.

We’re at the point now where the floor suddenly seems very empty even when all the couples are there - just six dances to get through tonight, and then only five couples making it through to next week. But hooray, the next show is the musicals special and with the quality of dancers we have left, we should be in for some brilliant entertainment. But that’s next week, let’s focus on our six special couples and how they got on.

If you’d asked me a couple of months ago about Whigfield, I’d have said she was a one hit wonder. A brilliant hit, obviously but that was it. Turns out, she keeps on popping up on those 90s episodes of Top of the Pops because she has quite a few dance tracks that I remember and recognise. The album is surprisingly good, the songs do sound similar, particularly Another Day and Saturday Night, but I actually really enjoyed listening to it.

I’m not a big fan of a concept album like this, but somehow this one wasn’t too annoying, despite leaning in to the theatre concept quite heavily. It was a surprise to hear Martin Freeman pop up as the narrator, if that’s what we’re calling him, but thankfully those interludes were short. We all know how I feel about too much talking in an album. The songs were okay, but not hugely memorable, so that’s a couple of points off really.

This was a much-talked about book at the time, part of Oprah’s book club I think, although before I got really on board with that club. However, I snapped up this book but have taken quite a long time to actually get round to reading it. It was good, well written, and a tragic journey through a relationship curtailed, but it felt a little bit drawn out in places. The thing happened and then it took a long time for any further developments. But definitely worth a read.

The big ol’ Blackpool ballroom is our home for this week and it always feels like it really should just be the home of Strictly anyway, it is a really beautiful place, the atmosphere is amazing, and sure, we want it as a one off special occasion, but also, imagine opening and finale episodes here? Oh well, for now it can be our mid-season treat, and talking of treats, Kelvin Fletcher was back to do the terms and conditions. There seemed to be lots of people in the audience, star-spotting throughout the show, whilst also, obviously, watching closely all the dances.

This is a serviceable crime thriller, following two detectives who start out investigating what appears to be a missing persons cold case and end up in a much bigger organised crime conspiracy. I was intrigued by the first part and less interested in the second part - and I don’t actually know what kept me reading because it was given away pretty quickly who was involved in the disappearance and although there was a further twist about who ELSE was involved, there wasn’t really a lot of nervous tension waiting to find out whodunit. An ok read but didn’t blow me away.

Way back when this James Bond spin off project was announced, I thought it was a crazy idea. Some kind of reality show where people do some challenges and answer some questions to try and win lots of money… what does that have to do with Bond? The show, 007: Road to a Million, was recently released on Prime and I watched the first episode with a similar amount of skepticism… but it hooked me in and I absolutely devoured it. Eight episodes later, I was sad we had come to the end of the journey.

I know Boyzone are part of the manufactured band era of the 90s that a lot of people don’t like, but there is something special about them. They have a mix of original songs and covers, most of which are done pretty well, and they have the voices and the togetherness to make it work. I was surprised that they’d done some of the songwriting on this track, they’re more than just pretty faces!

I do think very highly of Chris Stapleton, he’s got an incredible voice and works with a lot of great people. This album didn’t really work for me, unfortunately. It’s fine but it was just a bit dull, the voice is there but the songs don’t really live up to the power that he can produce. So yea, important to say I didn’t dislike this but I have no urge to listen to it again.

I’ve been using and writing about Duolingo and their excellent language lessons for a long time now, but was not expecting the wise old language owl to branch out into other areas, particularly maths and most recently music. The team have said they get asked a lot to expand into other areas, and it’s always been their mission to make the best free education possible so perhaps it was always the next steps.

I didn’t know that Geri had written a book but had access to a copy through a family member and picked it up out of interest. It immediately struck me as trying just a bit too hard to be like Harry Potter but I was intrigued and kept on reading. It’s well written and the characters are well rounded, if a little stereotypical, it’s not an overall bad read. The problem I have with it, though, is there’s just too much going on.

I didn’t know that Arnold S had gone the wise old owl route and was really turning into something of a self help guru, but here we are, the proof is in the audiobook! I listened to Arnie’s reading of this book and I’m glad I did because I think it gave it an authenticity and approachability that reading the text may not have done. Lots of wisdom in here, lots of common sense, a little bit of hard love as well - you have to do the work to make your dreams come true. But overall a really good listen, quite inspiring and honestly a pleasant surprise!

The only intro I can offer for this post is the same as Claudia said in the actual intro to the show: Blackpool. That is the fifth mention, we have been on air for two minutes. Krishnan & Lauren - Samba I like Lauren’s teaching method of bow and arrow for helping Krishnan understand the shapes. Initial thoughts are only yellow trousers and fists for hands, but once in hold it got a bit better. The out of hold bits were not good and he really just looked surprised all the time, oh, I’m in a dance! Judges comments were mostly along the line of ‘you gave it a go.’

I think I like the Camel Club books slightly less than other David Baldacci series’ becuase there’s an elevated level of politics within them - quite natural given the location and subject matter, but that makes it slightly less interesting to me. However, that being said, I really enjoyed the con side of it, and the mystery surrounding the library and the old books. Plus it ended on something of a cliffhanger, so have no choice but to read the next one.