Why we’re all living an unusual kind of hell
Surviving Hell – the title of Nick Dunn’s story of injustice and perilous prisons – seems a fitting tagline for our current Covid-19 predicament,...
What happens in War Of The Worlds season opener?
This Anglo-French reimagining of HG Wells’ classic story follows survivors who team up after an ET attack. We look at how the series was set up...
What happens in Better Call Saul Season 5 opener?
Now doing business as Saul Goodman, Jimmy unveils an unorthodox strategy that tests Kim. We examine the story-telling techniques in Better Call Saul...
What happens in The Stranger, episode one?
A stranger approaches Adam Price with a disturbing claim about his wife, Corinne. Meanwhile, detectives Johanna and West take on a bizarre case....
7 ways to create a buzz about your brilliant book
There are too many books. Nearly 50 million on Amazon. You have one book, or maybe a couple, or a dozen - and you want customers to catch the buzz....
Will by Will Self: What the critics are saying
Will by Will Self is a down-and-dirty picture of the earlier years of the famed nihilistic writer - but can he escape the pitfalls of the drug...
Why old McDonald’s has a farm in its sights
Rutland was the last hold-out against fast food giant McDonald's. But now the American giant wants to slap some Golden Arches on the rural county....
How prison inmates created a brilliant secret currency
In prison, the small comforts come at a big price. But how do inmates pay for their luxuries when money is in short supply and tobacco is illegal?...
This is how a country crumbles
How does a country fall apart in this day and age? Not with a bang but with a series of bureaucratic screw-ups, queues, shortages and lots of fury...
The boat that has it all
They are the staple of all high-concept fiction: the weapon-laden villain's lair - a boat, a castle, a silo. Either way, they're all super stylish...
The man seeking more than treasure in a silver mine
Has the loner found a new way of living or are they hiding? Is it the dream that sustains them - or must they stay one step ahead of their demons?...
What happens to a copper when it becomes too much
The idea of the burnt-out copper is a staple of fiction. But, beyond the cliche, there are real officers dealing with trauma in a very human way....
Review – Letters from Max, love, loss, lyricism
Sarah Ruhl’s epistolary play about poet Max Ritvo is a tender, witty meditation on life, art and mortality, delicately staged at Hampstead Theatre.
Review – Radiant Boy, of spectres and squandered opportunity
Crisp writing and a strong cast can’t save Radiant Boy from its own lack of conviction. An exorcism with no menace is no exorcism at all.
Review – The Fifth Step, funny, fraught and flawed
Martin Freeman and Jack Lowden spark in a sharp, chaotic AA two-hander that juggles redemption and rabbit gags with wit, energy, and frustrating lack of depth.