• books

    Reviewed: The Royal Family Versus The Crown

    If you are a fan of the Netflix series ‘The Crown‘ then there is no doubt that, at some point you will have said, ‘I wonder if that really happened?’ If that is the case, then acclaimed historical writer Catherine Curzon has written the book for you. ‘The Royal Family Versus The Crown‘, which hit the bookshops on Thursday, is a brilliant, almost encyclopedic tome which looks at every single episode of The Crown from the 6 series, and ask the questions ‘Did this really happen?’, ‘Did it happen in exactly the way that it is portrayed?’, and ‘Did it even happen at the time that is stated.’ The answers…

  • theatre

    Birdsong At The Birmingham Rep: Moving And Powerful

    The iconic Birdsong returned to Birmingham last night at the city’s Rep theatre, and once again, it was a powerful reminder of the futility of war. The Sebastian Faulks novel, adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaffe, is essentially a love story, one of a man for a woman, and of men for their comrades. It is moving, powerful, and utterly devastating, an elegy of fighting when you’ve completely forgot what you are fighting for. It is one of the most incredible pieces of theatre you will see in this year, or any year. It is unmissable. The story mainly follows the book with three clear sections. The first, set…

  • fashion,  Valentine's Day

    Valentine’s Day Gift Guide 2025

    We are just under three weeks away from Valentine’s Day, the first gifting occasion of the New Year, so this post is dedicated to gifting ideas, a guide to some of the lovely things you could treat the lady in your life to. As ever, I will add to this as time moves forward, and there will be a follow-up with some ideas for men coming up later this week. Cream Love Heart Embroidered Jumper From Simply Be We’ve all heard of wearing your heart on your sleeve, but how about wearing your heart on your jumper. This is the gorgeous idea made real by Simply Be this Valentine’s Day…

  • Birmingham,  theatre

    The Makings of A Murderer 2

    If you enjoy reading about, or watching documentaries about true crime in the UK, then you will have heard all about Colin Sutton. Colin is the former head of a Metropolitan Police murder squad, the Senior Investigating Officer who caught serial killer Levi Bellfield and ‘The Night Stalker’ Delroy Grant. The story of these key investigations have been dramatised in an ITV series starring Martin Clunes. This TV series has given Colin Sutton the title Manhunter, and he is now involved in a TV documentary series called ‘The Real Manhunter’. Colin is currently touring in the UK’s top true crime theatre tour, The Makings of a Murderer 2, following on…

  • Films

    Stylish Films: Maria (2025)

    Maria is a film telling the story of the last week in the life of the ultimate opera diva Maria Callas. Living in Paris, Maria is a living legend, but one that has lost her health, her voice, and the love of her life, Aristotle Onassis. Now she lives in a world that is fogged by ghosts and hallucinations brought on by her reliance on Mandrex and other pills, pills that allow her to believe that she is being interviewed for a documentary about her life (by a reporter called Mandrex no less) as it draws to a premature end. We start the film on September 16th 1977, the day…