Today marks the 25th anniversary of Knightmare: the show that brought me to life and nurtured me into the person that I became. Continue reading »
Filed under Television …
The Broken Image
How Doctor Who brings to light one of Andrew Marvell’s most touching moments – his lines on the passing of Oliver Cromwell’s daughter. Continue reading »
Solitariness: A Sweet Side-Note
I recently thought a little about what modern interpretations of Shakespeare can offer. What, then, of accidental crossovers – when something from early-modern literature leaps out as being particularly well-suited to a new moment? People often ask why I am fascinated by literature of the English Civil War but so little other war literature. I’ve found three main reasons. Continue reading »
Life Never the Same Again
After 17 days of isolation, 33 miners consigned to die underground found a way to break their silence. Their rescue tonight, after months below ground, marks a great celebration. But how can the globe’s new heroes return to normality after this? Continue reading »
“Through My Eyes Only”: Aegis Quest
Created by Alan Boyd, a victorious Knightmare contestant in 1994, Aegis Quest is a live-action RPG game in which advisors guide a quester through a dungeon full of puzzles, traps and riddles in an interactive Dungeons and Dragons style adventure. Continue reading »
Something Hard: Struggles in Self-Marketing
Training programmes for research postgraduates now include a number of courses and events related to career development. These include CV workshops, presentation skills, interview skills, and so on. Continue reading »
“Truth Will Out”: The Axe of ITV’s The Bill
“Truth Will Out”: a savagely ironic title for the trailer of an April episode of The Bill, released the day before the tragic announcement that the show will be axed this summer after 27 years. Except the truth is always cloudy, as shown by previous instances of axing proven and successful shows. Continue reading »
“A Mirror Up To Nature”: Hamlet (2009)
Despite largely avoiding Shakespeare at undergraduate level, I taught Hamlet to first-year undergraduates in a very nervous first term in Geneva. This 2009 production alerted me not only to the skills I have picked up since, but also a new sense of seeing theatre. Continue reading »
Public Limited Company: Snooker
Snooker is not a sport that attracts a great deal of publicity. However, the last few months have seen the topic of the game’s uncertain future filter into public channels. This season sees a meagre total of just six ranking events, reduced from last year’s already slender eight. Part of this is down to what … Continue reading »
Knightmare
Those who know me well enough will know that Knightmare is never far from my thoughts. It is a permanent feature, for better or worse, of my being. Knightmare elegantly punctuated my primary years. It introduced me to fantasy, encouraged me towards intellectual pursuit, and proved to be a strong enough source of a fair majority of my strongest friends. Continue reading »
