Britain etc by Mark Easton
The latest attempt to pin down the soul of the nation turns out to be a terrific readThis could have been a poor book, or at least a middling one. Not because of the writer, but because the conceit sounds as if it could be woeful: yet another lengthy f...
Rewind TV: Great Expectations; Mrs Dickens’ Family Christmas; Doctor Who; Downton Abbey; The Borrowers; Felix and Murdo – review
It was a dark, bleak, Dickens-filled Christmas – and really rather captivatingGreat Expectations (BBC1) | iPlayerMrs Dickens' Family Christmas (BBC2) | iPlayerDoctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (BBC1) | iPlayerDowntown Abbey Christmas...
Rewind TV: This is England ’88; Tourettes: I Swear I Can Sing; Imagine: Books – The Last Chapter?; Class Dismissed – review
Shane Meadows's This Is England '88 provided the outstanding dramatic moments of the week while there was worrying news for bookworms in ImagineThis is England '88 (C4) | 4ODTourettes: I Swear I Can Sing (BBC3) | iPlayerImagine: Books – The Last Chap...
Rewind TV – Without You; Come Date With Me; The Great British Property Scandal; Black Mirror; After Life: The Strange Science of Decay – review
Anna Friel excelled in ITV1's gripping new thriller Without You while Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror raised the darkest of laughsWithout You (ITV) | ITV PlayerCome Date with Me (C4) | 4ODThe Great British Property Scandal (C4) | 4ODBlack Mirror (C4) | ...
The 10 best fictional sleuths
You included Jeffery Deaver at the expense of Raymond Chandler. I'm just going to let you read that sentence back a few times.Euan Ferguson
Whatever It Is, I Don’t Like It by Howard Jacobson – review
The inimitable Howard Jacobson combines clear-sighted reason and wit in this brilliant collection of his columns for the IndependentHoward Jacobson doesn't even wait until the first line of this splendid anthology, a successful and affecting mix of whi...
‘I wrote the book while my mother was dying of cancer’
The Fight Club author speaks of the harrowing experience of writing his latest novel, set in HellEven though you've written 13 novels, the one best remembered surely is Fight Club, because of the film starring Brad Pitt and Ed Norton. Would you still b...
Rewind radio: D for Discretion; Old Grey Whistle Test 40; Village SOS – review
Naomi Grimley lifted the lid on the D-notice system, while Alice Cooper had a secret of a different sort to impart as The Old Grey Whistle Test marked its 40th anniversaryD for Discretion: Can the Modern Media Keep a Secret? (R4) | iPlayerOld Grey Whis...
Kehua! A Ghost Story by Fay Weldon – review
Fay Weldon's novel about guiding spirits and the mortals they influence sees her becoming half spook herself to brilliant effectThis is a haunting book, in more ways than the obvious. Kehua are spirits, bat-like flutters, those flashes and whispers one...
‘I just want to tell a story’
Prolific author Peter Ackroyd talks to Euan Ferguson about his monumental six-part history of EnglandFor anyone struggling to summon the self-discipline and due diligence to write even one book, a visit to Peter Ackroyd's first-floor Bloomsbury flat co...
Rewind radio: Slums 101; Too Many Books – review
Paul Mason went where outsiders rarely tread in his positive show about slum-dwellers in ManilaSlums 101 (R4) | iPlayerToo Many Books (R4) | iPlayerIf you've ever been to Africa, you'll have seen a slum. In just about every country, even the more stabl...
‘I don’t get on with novelists’
The creator of TV's top cop show Luther has written a spin-off novel. Here, he talks about his odd childhood, and why he is mistaken for a psychopathThere are worse ways to lurch into your 40s than by being Neil Cross at the moment. Bounce might be a b...
