Not the Oscars 2026 – Part Deux
For the second time this year, we trip down the digital red carpet to deliver the final 7-12 of Not The Oscars 2026 – part deux. The rest of the films which should have been…
Uncovering the Truth: The Inspiration Behind Play Me!
A strange thing: The launch of the paperback of Play Me! is a bigger deal than the launch of the original hardback, which is its first appearance in the world. The hardback is the book’s first day…
Top 10 comedy novels to give your friends (or yourself) this Christmas
Merriest season’s greetings. Are you only now getting round to buying presents? Or is it just me? I always leave it late, though this year I have an excuse: just out of hospital and needing…
Books for Christmas reading
Merry Christmas. What are you planning to read over Christmas? Here’s a Yuletide taster menu for you, from the top of my To Be Read pile. Something to fill in deadly gaps between TV Xmas…
Not the Oscars
Excited about the Oscar winners? Don’t bother: get excited about Not the Oscars! The good movies that the Academy (and my fellow BAFTA voters) passed over. If you want eight movies that will wake you…
Staggering Hubris by Josh Berry – review
You’re a staggeringly brilliant spad (special adviser) working in Downing Street in the early days of a new government. The world is at your feet. Brexit is oven-ready. You have a degree from Oxford. Attractive…
Are you IC7 or maybe an angler?
So you come across a police cordon on your way from the tube station. There are blue flashing lights and donotcross tape stretches over the road. Of course you don’t want to look too nosey,…
Please do not ask for mercy… – review
… AS A REFUSAL OFTEN OFFENDS BY PAUL BASSETT DAVIES If this review is late, blame the book. I received it two years ago and read it straight through. But every time I picked it…
Reading and writing satire: Mightier than the sword?
Satire is having a big moment. We have satirical novels winning the Mann Booker Prize, satirical TV shows hoovering up the ratings along with satirical movies. Some politicians are deemed to be too far gone…
5 more things I learned from TV (and the movies)
Last week’s blog sparked some interesting responses. So many of you got back to me with what you yourselves had learned from TV and the movies, that this week I’m adding five more. Obviously, I’m…
10 things I learned from the movies and TV
We’ve all learned from the movies. Films and TV shows are a faithful reproduction of real life, aren’t they? After a year or more locked away for our own safety, even more of what we…
Alexei Sayle without the drunken lunches
In 2007, Channel 4 viewers voted Alexei Sayle the 18th greatest stand-up comic of all time. A feature of the alternative comedy circuit from the 1980s, he’s been a stand-up comedian, film actor, television presenter, Shakespearean…
Putting on the squeeze. Review: Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen
What’s a poor author to do? You write a comic novel that satirises the orange blob in the White House and no sooner is it in print than he’s gone. Carl Hiaasen is one of…
Why I love writing thrillers
My twice award-nominated noir thriller The Breaking of Liam Glass officially comes out in its second edition today. And I’m delighted to announce the winner of this week’s competition for a signed hardback souvenir edition…
Breaking bad? Review of Graham Greene’s Travels with My Aunt
I’m very into re-reading at the moment (if you’re interested there’s a great article on the subject by novelist Richard Bradbury) but this week’s review is of a book I re-read by accident. To be…
Everything is copy – review of Nora Ephron Collected
I don’t know about you but I am a sucker for Nora Ephron’s screenplay for When Harry Met Sally. The movie’s pretty good too, but the script is outstanding. On the other hand, I’d never…
Talking with comedy best-seller Paul Bassett Davies
I’m really pleased that this week we have a guest appearance by the best-selling comedy writer (and a good friend of mine) Paul Bassett Davies. Paul has been a writer, director and performer for stage,…
14 things I’ve learned since Corona by Shelley Katz
I’m delighted to invite the multi-hyphenate American novelist-screenwriter-producer Shelley Katz to provide this week’s guest blog. When I read this post on her own blog this week, I knew I had to have it. Shelley…