The BBC's Dr Who, soon to be  Disneyfied, is now sixty years old and much loved around the world - it has a legion of committed fans - some of  whom should indeed be committed if the message boards are anything to go by. Over the years the show has taken many bold moves; some which worked, some which did not.  Sadly, casting a female Doctor in the form of Jodi Whittaker was a notable failure, but this was largely down to the fact that the show seemed to have lost its way under the guidance of the then show-runners, rather than any shortcomings of the actor. And given the ..read more

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 Write drunk, edit sober - Hemingway said or didn't really but the much repeated quote has long been attributed to the writer and it's a good story. It sums up the public image of ole Papa even if it is actually the opposite of the truth. Hemingway was indeed a man who liked, nay loved a drink but he wrote in the morning, and didn't start drinking until the afternoon .  Still, when legend becomes fact print the legend. Image, pop culture and exaggeration have done the business, built the myth and it's easy to visualise a slavering, red eyed, finger-stumbling, Scotch-scarr ..read more

 Last night, lounging in front of the TV, aimlessly pushing buttons on the remote control I stumbled upon an episode of Murder She Wrote - this is not my usual type of show, though I have seen some episodes. Is there anyone who hasn't?  - but I watched it anyway. Drinking a smooth Penderyn malt, I just let the show run it's course. It's cozy style may be out of fashion - these days crime drama tend to be gritty, moody and introspective but there's a lot to be said for old school crime/mystery shows where the murder victims never bleed from gun or knife wounds, and fall to the ground ..read more

  ADVERTISEMENT Get it on Audible - free with a subscription. The bestselling crime novel now in audio format and read by the talented Aubrey Parsons. - October 01, 2021 No comments:   BlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest ..read more

If you've not yet seen the Justified sequel, City Primeval then you may not want to read on because there's A BIG FAT SPOILER - coming up. Go watch the series and then come back. You have been warned. I was, and remain a huge fan of the original run of Justified which starred Timothy Olyphant and Walter Coggins, and I've very much enjoyed the limited mini- series City Primeval. The new series (said to be a one-off) is set some years after the events of Justified and sees an older Raylan Givens chasing down another gun crazed madman, but this time in Detroit. It has a different feel to the o ..read more

  Taff Noir and the Rise of Welsh Crime Fiction   Wales; once a medieval principality is proudly a country in its own right and although it shares a land border with England it is very much its own thing.  It is complicated, though and it wasn't until 2011 that Wales was officially declared a country  when the International Organisation  for Standardisation said so -  though in truth Wales hasn't been a Principality since the 16th Century.  So why did the ISO step in, when there was no real need since the Welsh have long considered Wales to be its own count ..read more