Well, hello there, and welcome to my first roundup of the year – which has got off to a very cold, wet and windy start here in the UK. We’ve been better off staying cosy and warm indoors, so I haven’t done anything really notable out and about this month. I did buy myself a lovely new winter coat in M&S though, plus I got a much-needed haircut and had a few little walks, but that was it really. I have plans for the months ahead though, so I’m not concerned about that.
Besides, a quiet start to the year is quite welcome, especially after a busy and somewhat stressful Christmas thanks to our old cooker breaking down. But thankfully the new Beko cooker we had installed this month is working wonderfully. It took a little bit of getting used to at first, as the numbers on the dials go in the opposite direction than we’re used to, and the method of ignition using a button while pushing in the dials is slightly different to our old cooker. But we soon got the hang of it, and it cooks everything really well, better than our old appliance did. We’ve done meat joints, steaks, pizzas, fish, etc in the oven, which have all come out perfectly when following the packaging instructions, I’ve become a dab hand at doing delicious cheese on toast under the grill, and the hob heats things like vegetables and gravy very efficiently. So we’re happy with it, and let’s hope that remains the case for a while!
So with all that said, there are just a few bits of entertainment to mention in this month’s post and video. I did consider holding back my next update until February, but after an epic Christmas roundup, followed by a couple of lengthy reviews that I’m going to highlight here, it’s nice to do something a bit shorter. So I’m sorry it’s relatively brief, but nevertheless I hope you enjoy!
Contents
Aardman Animations
Over Christmas I reviewed all of Wallace & Gromit’s adventures, including their latest film, Vengeance Most Fowl, which has since topped the 28-day ratings with a whopping 21.6 million viewers across BBC TV and iPlayer! It’s also been released on Netflix internationally and has been nominated for an Oscar, while Aardman and Nick Park have shared a nice behind the scenes featurette online too.
So to celebrate the phenomenal success of Aardman’s latest outing, I thought I’d check out all of their other animated films this month as well, including both Chicken Run movies, plus the Creature Comforts TV series that I remember fondly from my childhood. It’s certainly been fun to revisit a few things I hadn’t seen for a long time, and to watch some films that were completely new to me. Some are better than others of course, and nothing beats Wallace & Gromit, but everyone at Aardman is incredibly talented, meaning there’s a lot to enjoy. So do go and check out my Aardman reviews if you want to find out more.
Michael McIntyre
Michael McIntyre is a chirpy, friendly, energetic and brilliant comedian. His skills with observational humour, generating hilarity from even the most basic and mundane aspects of life that we all take for granted, never fail to make me laugh. And on his Big Show and The Wheel, both big hits for the BBC, he ensures that everyone feels welcome and is having a great time, even when he’s playing light-hearted and often elaborate pranks on them.
Back in December, therefore, I really enjoyed his 25th anniversary special that was shown on TV, and I’m delighted that his Big Show has returned in January for its 8th series.
So to celebrate his big milestone, I thought I’d take the opportunity to rewatch all of his stand-up DVDs, along with his Netflix special, and I’ve made a post reviewing them all, which includes a detailed look at his Big Show as well. So feel free to give that a look, I had a lot of fun putting that together.
Russell Howard
This month Russell Howard released an hour-long special from his most recent and biggest ever international tour, on which he played 237 gigs in 141 cities across 30 countries. It was filmed at the London Palladium, where I attended one of his shows in April 2023, so I vaguely remembered some of the material, but I wasn’t at the gig they filmed.
The special is available on demand on a platform called Driift, but only until February 28, so you’ll need to be quick if you want to see it, although hopefully he’ll release it more widely elsewhere at some stage. There was a premiere on the launch night that included a live chat with Russell, but I wasn’t able to attend that.
The programme wastes no time in getting going, with a quick title screen before jumping straight in when Russell’s already on stage, which feels a bit odd. But he’s very good as always, mixing commentary on current affairs with stories from his personal life.
In terms of stuff relating to the news and society, he talks about how some words have changed their meanings and get misused, lies and clickbait in the media, celebrities who complain, some of his observations while in America, people who are anti-woke, Covid vaccinations and Andrew Tate, among other things, talking common sense throughout as he usually does.
And beyond all of that he discusses why he loves being a comedian, trying to be vegan, how we all laugh at stuff we shouldn’t, silly behaviour in childhood, what he envies about women, the strange things that go on in his mind and how his dad nearly died. He then finishes by focusing on the funny and heartwarming moments you witness in life that make you love being alive, and explains why we’re all ‘lucky jizz’, as he calls it!
The stream then concludes with a bonus 20-minute feature called Off The Cuff, where Russell comes back on stage and takes some very random questions from the audience, on topics including travelling with his mum, his favourite joke, puppy training, chairs, Australia & New Zealand, Scotland & Wales, the Royal Family, his brother, and a crazy kid from school.
So while he’s not quite as funny as Michael McIntyre, he is still very good, and I enjoyed watching all of that. In the past I’ve written a post about Russell’s other stand-up specials as well, so that’s another thing you can read if you haven’t done so before.
Other Comedy
Apart from everything I’ve mentioned above, I’ve also been watching more of my regular favourites on TV this month. For instance, I’m pleased that we’ve had a new series of 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, as I knew they’d held some episodes back while they took an extended break from filming, and I’ve enjoyed seeing some of my favourite comedians like Sarah Millican and Josh Widdicombe this time around. Plus we’ve had new series of Would I Lie To You? and The Last Leg starting up, as well as further episodes of QI, all of which have been very welcome as always.
Gladiators
It’s great to have Gladiators back for a second series to kick off the year in style, and you can tell they’ve put even more work into it this time, now they’ve settled into it, because it all feels slicker and better paced. The first series was very good as it was, but now it seems to have really found its feet and come back with more confidence and ambition, while remaining true to what makes the show the classic it is.
It hit the ground running from the outset, with an epic pre-titles sequence for the first episode that included AC/DC’s Thunderstruck in the soundtrack (along with Get Loud For Me by Gizzle, which I’d never heard of before), before the iconic theme tune kicked in.
Then, in the arena, Barney Walsh now seems much more natural and confident as a co-host alongside his experienced father Bradley, there are new events with the revival of Atlaspheres from the original series and a brand new game called Unleash, and there are new Gladiators in the mix alongside the ones we’ve come to know and love, who all have great personalities and are like big pantomime villains. The contenders are all excellent sports as well, really up for it and giving it their all, which makes it a fascinating competition. A few of them do get injured as well, which reminds you just how tough the show is and how brave you have to be to participate, but they’re all looked after by experts of course, and the caring side of the Gladiators comes out in those circumstances as well.
The first episode also concluded with a nice tribute to John Anderson, the much-loved referee on the original ITV show and the first series of the short-lived Sky revival, who died last year. I really like the fact that this new BBC series continues to acknowledge and pay tribute to the original on which it’s based, considering it was on another broadcaster. Just like the Gladiators and contenders, the channels may be rivals but there’s still great respect there.
The Blind Detective
My friend Claire very kindly gifted me an audiobook called The Blind Detective by Christina Koning for Christmas (previously known as Line of Sight by A. C. Koning), and my mother and I have really enjoyed listening to it bit by bit together this month while having our dinners.
Set in London in 1927, it’s about a married man called Frederick Rowlands, who was blinded during World War I, and in the course of his job in the City he feels drawn to another woman and gets unintentionally tied up in a murder mystery, which has big ramifications on his life and his family.
What we like about it is how well it’s written. Because we’re hearing the story from Frederick’s perspective, given that he’s blind, it means that it’s very descriptive, as we’re told about things he gleans from his other senses. And it’s naturally relatable for my mother and I, given that we have different degrees of sight loss, so we appreciate what he’s going through.
We also learn a lot about his past, including his time in the war, which is interesting, as well as his current life in London, where we recognise a lot of the places that are mentioned. And as for the big mystery itself, it’s a great story involving lots of intrigue and twists, which builds very nicely as it goes along, so I’m not going to give anything away.
So thank you to Claire for that, it was really good to listen to, and we’ll certainly be checking out more of the Blind Detective series. I also need to get back to Richard Osman’s books at some point as well, especially with the Thursday Murder Club film on the way, so I’ll try and find time to catch up with those too.
Conclusion
And that’s it. As I say, I know it was quite short, but I hope you found it interesting as always.
I also know that this month hasn’t been quite so relaxing for everyone of course. In particular, to my friends in America, you have my very best wishes and sympathies if you’ve been affected by the wildfires. And I also hope that the next 4 years don’t get too difficult for you all, given the unpredictable, ill-informed and egotistical convicted criminal who has somehow returned to power, and who this week has falsely accused disabled people of being responsible for the Washington DC air crash. Not that everything’s rosy in the UK with things like the government’s plans to force… sorry… “support” disabled people into work and cut our benefits, but still, we’re relatively better off by comparison! I don’t normally make political points, but disabled people do rather seem to be in the firing line again at the moment.
Also, on a somewhat related note to events in America, I am on Bluesky if you’re leaving X and want to find me somewhere that’s more friendly and like Twitter was in its early days. Not that I use platforms like that much beyond publicising my blog posts, as I never really know what else to post, so I’m keeping my account on X open for that reason, and there are still some people I follow there. But the point is I am on Bluesky if you’re trying to find me. You may even notice that my username there is my website address, which is a useful thing you can set up if you have a domain of your own to help verify your identity. I do also post photos on Instagram when I do or see anything interesting as well.
But anyway, that’s all for January. I do have a couple of outings planned for February already that should be fun, weather permitting, along with one or two other things I’m looking into, and I’m also preparing for the next series I plan to binge on and review here on my blog. And I expect other things will come up too. We’ll see what happens in any case. So until next time, I hope you have a good month as well!
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