Category: Audio Description

Christmas 2025 Favourites – Part 2

Happy New Year! I hope you’ve had a wonderful time this festive season. Or if it’s been a difficult period, or even a tough year overall, then I hope 2026 works out better for you.

My mother and I are certainly hoping it will be more positive after everything we’ve been through in the last 12 months. I’ve written a lot about being a carer for her, and recently brought our story up to date by reflecting on the year and the considerable progress we’ve made. We did have a lovely, relaxing, over-indulgent Christmas, I’m pleased to say, so that’s put us in the right frame of mind for the year ahead. The future of my job is very uncertain, granted, but whatever happens with that I’ll be alright. So fingers crossed things continue to go well for us.

I previously posted about the things I enjoyed during the advent period leading up to Christmas, so now it’s time to catch up with all the other entertainment that’s been keeping me occupied since then. So let’s jump straight into it, and I hope you enjoy!

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Doctor Who Review – Series 5

Now that the most recent series of Doctor Who is out of the way – and I’ve just updated that review with details of its Blu-ray steelbook release – and as there’s going to be a big gap until the next series while the BBC decide what to do, I’m going to continue rewatching the earlier series of the modern era.

I’ve already reviewed all of the series and spin-offs from Russell T Davies’ first stint as showrunner, so it’s time to move on to the fifth series overseen by Steven Moffat, which aired 15 years ago in 2010. Hard to believe it’s that old already.

With a new showrunner, Doctor, companions, Tardis and theme tune, this was another fresh start for the programme, and it worked really well. So I hope you enjoy my deep dive into it, and there are plenty of videos on my Series 5 playlist you can dig through too.

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June 2025 Favourites

Hello again, I hope you’re all doing well. Those of you who saw last month’s roundup will know that I’m going through a difficult patch at the moment because of my mother’s health. We have started to get a bit of help, in terms of medical assistance and reaching out to support services, all of which takes time, and I will explain more in due course. Suffice to say for now that going totally blind has naturally had a big impact on her mental health and sleep, and by extension has affected my wellbeing as her carer. We are ok, but certain aspects are quite difficult to deal with

As a result, I’m not making videos to go with these posts for the time being, as it’s just not practical right now and I want to make things easier for myself. It also means I’m not doing as much out and about as usual, as my caring role is dominating my time much more than it used to – and I am therefore starting to explore the support that’s available for carers.

However, I did manage to go to the theatre a couple of times with friends early in the month, which I was really grateful for, as I needed to confide in them about what’s been going on, and the shows were great escapism, especially because of the touch tours and audio description.

So I’ve got those shows to tell you about, as well as some bits and pieces I’ve been watching at home, and none of it’s sponsored or gifted as usual. So let’s get on with it, and I hope you enjoy!

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April 2025 Favourites

Hey there, hope you had a wonderful Easter and a lovely April in general. This has been my busiest month for a while, as there’s lots to mention in terms of outings, including social events, a musical and a concert, along with TV shows and films I’ve been watching at home.

The concert I went to was a PR invite for me to review, but otherwise nothing is sponsored to appear here, and in any case all opinions are my own as usual. So let’s jump straight into April’s post and video roundup, and I hope you enjoy!

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I Want Some More! – Oliver! Review

As I’ve said in the past, I love the 1968 musical film adaptation of the Dickens novel Oliver Twist, with all its wonderful songs, characters, sets and costumes, all brought to life by a brilliant cast. It was based on Lionel Bart’s theatre show of course, of which there have been several productions since it launched in 1960, and while I have the soundtrack albums for some of them, I’ve never had a chance to see the musical live, until now.

That’s because I recently went to the Gielgud Theatre to see an audio described performance of the current production of Oliver! by Cameron Mackintosh, which launched last year. And on reviewing the situation (for this post that isn’t sponsored), I think it can consider itself well in, because it’s a fine life for those who will buy a ticket to see it.

The Gielgud Theatre, a four-story building with ornate decor that stands proudly on a street corner, with signage for the Oliver musical. The centre of the building, which curves around the corner, has an extra room with a domed roof on the very top.
Poster for Oliver, showing a painted image of a young boy's face, with the London skyline in the background, including St Paul's Cathedral. Blue text above him says Everybody's Asking For More. Just below the boy's face is more blue text saying Cameron Mackintosh and Matthew Bourne's glorious Dickens of a show. And immediately below that is the title Oliver, with an exclamation mark, in big red letters.
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41st Birthday Favourites

So another birthday month has rolled around. And while this time it’s not been quite as crazy as my big four-o last year, it’s still been busier than I expected, as I’ve been out for 3 enjoyable theatre shows and 2 nice meals, most of which have been free thanks to very kind friends of mine.

So I’ve got all of that to mention in this latest post and video, along with my PIP review decision, some films and TV shows I’ve been watching, and the sporting action in the Olympics and Paralympics.

As usual, none of this is sponsored to appear here, plus all opinions are my own, and I hope you enjoy. Let’s crack on with it!

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Merci Paris Part 2 – Paralympics Review

Following on from my review of the Olympics earlier this summer, we’ve just had even more spectacular sporting action with the Paralympics in Paris, which I’ve been absolutely obsessed with over the past fortnight.

ParalympicsGB did extremely well as per usual, scooping up 49 golds amongst their 124 medals, and it’s their many achievements I’ll be focusing on in this post of course. But it was great to watch elite athletes from all nations – of which there were 4,400 competitors from 168 delegations in total – as they shared their fascinating stories and showcased their incredible skills in 22 sports, featuring hundreds of events across a myriad of disability categories.

There were huge audiences supporting them with enormous enthusiasm as well, which was wonderful to see. They generated such an electric atmosphere, in stark contrast to the lack of crowds in Tokyo’s Covid-hit Games, so these have really felt like the first proper Paralympics in 8 years.

And it’s also great that the Games were more widely broadcast around the world than ever before, including on Channel 4. Indeed, the fact that there was barely any time difference with the UK made it possible for us Brits to watch everything live on TV and online, and to have full roundups at the end of each day with the highlights programmes and The Last Leg. So it almost felt like a home Games again, the closest we’ve had since London 2012.

All of which meant there was a lot going on all day every day, which was daunting yet exciting to try and keep up with. So in this extensive review post – which isn’t sponsored by anyone and all opinions are my own – I’ll go through all of Britain’s medal winners along with some of my other highlights, and I’ve also made a Youtube playlist to go with it as well. I hope you enjoy!

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July 2024 Favourites

Hello again, I hope you’re doing well. This has been a busy and enjoyable month for me, in particular because I got to see two theatre shows and eat at a restaurant for free, plus I enjoyed some more nice walks in the summer weather and have been immersed in the Olympics along with other things I’ve been watching.

The only downside was the fact that I had to have a telephone assessment for my Personal Independence Payments review, which they finally got around to a year after I sent the forms back. They would save so much time and money by not repeatedly reviewing people with incurable and lifelong conditions like mine, only asking us to request extra support if and when things change. But anyway, the assessment was very long, at nearly 2½ hours, of which I thankfully have a recording that they allowed me to capture. The lady I spoke to seemed very nice and was happy to listen to everything I had to say, but what she actually wrote down and how the DWP will judge it is a completely different kettle of fish of course. So we’ll see what happens, I’ll keep you posted.

Mind you, that issue is nothing compared to what some people are having to endure here in the UK right now. My heart goes out to everyone affected by the awful murders in Southport, along with the senseless violence by far-right thugs that has erupted in various cities since then. You cannot claim to have any genuine care about the country if you’re causing destruction, looting, assaulting the police, and attacking people purely because of their skin colour, religion, nationality, etc. That clearly isn’t protest, it’s just pure stupidity, criminality and racism. They don’t represent the UK, and they don’t realise they’ve been manipulated and radicalised into such behaviour by the misinformation being spread online that they blindly believe. It’s just crazy. I’m not going to discuss it in depth, as it’s a horrible topic and far more qualified people are already analysing it. It just might have seemed a bit odd or disrespectful if I hadn’t mentioned it at all, and I hope things settle down soon. Stay safe out there.

So with all that out of the way, let’s get on to the nicer and more fun things in this post and video, in which all opinions are my own and I’ve not been gifted or paid to feature anything here as usual. I hope you enjoy!

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June 2024 Favourites

It’s funny how things seem to come in threes. Last month I quipped that trying to eradicate mice from our house and the Conservatives from government was about banishing evil entities before they do irreparable damage, so what happens in June? I get Covid as well! Typical.

Thankfully there has been success on all three fronts. Our mouse problem is being dealt with effectively, so I’m just looking for a builder to do some repairs that will stop them getting back in. Covid affected Mum and I in a similar way to the only other time we had it in January last year, with Mum’s body effectively shutting down for a day to fight it, whilst I wasn’t that bad but still felt quite drained for a few days, not helped by it being the hottest and most humid week of the year so far. We’re both fully recovered anyway, and Mum having her booster jab a couple of months ago helped I’m sure. And now of course we have the sheer relief of the Tories being booted out in the General Election, after 14 years of chaos and one of the worst election campaigns in history.

I’m also glad that I was able to go out quite a bit during the first part of the month before Covid struck, by enjoying a sensory garden tour, exploring a new exhibition, having walks by the Thames and taking a day trip to the seaside. I met up with my aunt for a couple of those outings too, which was lovely – it’s just a shame we had to drop other things we had planned, as we had been trying to make the most of some time I had off work, and I had to miss a theatre show as well, but not to worry.

So there’s quite a bit to mention in this month’s post and video as usual, including things I’ve been watching and listening to as well as those outings, none of which is sponsored or gifted as usual. And I’ve also included my thoughts about the election campaign and results at the end. So I hope you enjoy!

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Doctor Who Review – Season 1

This post has been updated since its original publication to include the Blu-ray steelbook, Prom concert and deleted scenes.

Back in 2005 I was one of the millions of people who got hooked on Doctor Who for the first time, thanks to the magnificent relaunch of the series by Russell T Davies. It was exciting to watch, and still is today, so I marked the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who last year by doing in-depth reviews of Series 1, 2, 3 & 4 plus the 2008-10 Specials. I will also be reviewing Series 5 onwards in due course, when Steven Moffat took over as showrunner.

And now, with this latest reboot, a new generation is hopefully experiencing the same thrill that I had back then. It feels special to me, because Russell’s back in charge, Steven’s written and produced one of the episodes, Murray Gold is doing the music again, and Julie Gardner, Jane Tranter, Phil Collinson & Joel Collins have returned as executive producers. The series is also being co-produced with the Bad Wolf production company, the formation and name of which will make sense to those who saw Russell’s first era, and the BBC have struck a deal to try and grow its global audience by streaming the show on Disney+.

Russell and co set out their stall last year with the fantastic 60th anniversary specials, demonstrating how epic the show can be with the excellent creativity, improved technology and higher budget at their disposal. While it already looked amazing before anyway, the upgrade is still noticeable and welcome, as is the greater recognition and incorporation of diversity. The trilogy also acted as a reset button in some ways, by tying up a few loose ends and granting the Doctor a fresh start, with less of the emotional baggage he once had, while still honouring and retaining the history of the character and the show.

That in turn paved the way for Ncuti Gatwa to step into the Doctor’s shoes, alongside Millie Gibson as his new companion Ruby Sunday. As with most of the actors who have played the Doctors and companions in the modern era, I’ve never watched them in anything else before, so I haven’t seen Ncuti as Eric Effiong in Sex Education or Millie as Kelly Neelan in Coronation Street, to name their most well-known roles. But that’s good really, as it meant I had no expectations and wasn’t distracted by comparisons to their previous work.

And I think Ncuti has been on fire as the Doctor from the get-go, right back to the bi-generation last year. He’s really made the role his own and is having a lot of fun with it, thanks to his wonderful energy and positivity, while also showing himself to be extremely capable in more serious, tense and emotional moments. He’s also unique in the fact that he has different outfits in every episode, rather than having one particular costume that he regularly goes back to, and he looks cool in everything he wears.

Companion Ruby is great as well, and has a very intriguing story arc. It just took a few episodes to get a really good feel for her, and it isn’t until midway through the series that we get to truly appreciate what a superb actress Millie is, especially for someone so young. Ruby and the Doctor have lovely chemistry too, aided by the fact that actors Ncuti and Millie are clearly good friends in real life, as can be seen in the behind the scenes footage and their many interviews.

As for the stories, we’ve had quite a variety this series as usual, so there’s something for everyone. The first couple of episodes are quite silly and light-hearted, to the point of feeling a bit too daft sometimes, as they give a misleading impression of what the series will be like overall, and don’t fully showcase Ncuti and Millie’s capabilities. But they do ease us in before everything shifts into high gear, as we get some very strong stories that are compelling, tense and thought-provoking. And the finale is of course an epic adventure, bringing together the seeds that Russell has been planting from the 60th anniversary specials onwards, and reintroducing a long-lost villain with an incredible cliffhanger. The ending isn’t perfect in some ways but it’s still very enjoyable and well worth watching overall, which can also be said for the series as a whole.

So this is my review of the latest series, looking through each of the episodes in turn (with spoilers in abundance), as well as extra content available online and on the DVD & Blu-ray releases. I’ve also created a Youtube playlist with lots of clips, behind the scenes features, music tracks, reactions, interviews and more. And none of this is sponsored, I’m just a keen fan of the show. So I hope you enjoy!

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