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Gloucester Rugby 14 Harlequins 0 (Rugby Premiership)

This was one of the most inept performances I have seen from Quins. Their big players – Marcus Smith, Fin Baxter, Chandler Cunningham South and Caden Murkey – failed to perform. In the first half they were comprehensively overwhelmed by the physicality of  the Cherry Reds. We expected [...]

December 21, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Tanner Report: Liverpool 2 Fulham 2

Where do you start praising Fulham for coming away from Anfield with a point? Not by reading the press reports who uniformly wrote of a “10 man come back” from “never say die” Liverpool. Never mind that Liverpool are arguably the best team in the world right now. Of course, [...]

December 15, 2024 // 0 Comments

Alan Bennett looking back aged 90

He would not like the phrase – and nor do I – but Alan Bennett is a ‘national treasure’.  Last night, aged 90 and in a wheelchair, he looked back on his life and body of work.  It brought back many memories. Forty Years On with John Gielgud would be up there with Shadowlands as [...]

December 14, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Day of the Jackal (Sky Atlantic)

This mega-production by Sky starring Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Logan and Charles Dance inevitably invites comparison with the Frederick Forsyth best-selling novel and the 1973 Fred Zinnermann film with Edward Fox. Frederick Forsyth admitted that he was paid vast amounts of money to do nothing or [...]

December 13, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Rugby weekend

Harlequins have always operated a productive academy and one of the greatest supporter’s joys in any sport is the emergence of youth talent. Thus on Friday night I watched with utmost interest the game on the Premiership Cup – yet another competition – between Quins and Ealing [...]

November 10, 2024 // 0 Comments

The charts 1969

It is often said that our generation was lucky to grow up with the music we did – and it’s true. The other day I happened to have my radio pre-tuned to Boom. When I switched it on, the Australian DJ was playing the charts of late 1969 and I was amazed what good music it was. There were four [...]

October 23, 2024 // 0 Comments

Harlequins 17 Saracens 10

It’s been 1700 minutes since Quins won theLondon bragging rights. On a weekend of no Premiership or Championship football the schedulers showed commendable planning by making this a rugby union Premiership derby weekend. We Quins fans view our north London neighbours as playing fast and loose [...]

October 14, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Art of Cinema/Sky Arts

Last week’s programme presented by Ian Nathan focussed on script supervisors, once called ‘continuity girls’. These provide an essential input by creating the illusion of reality in a film and avoiding ‘bloopers’. Clive James once presented a programme on Saturday mornings [...]

October 12, 2024 // 0 Comments

Two seismic documentaries

This week BBC and Channel 4 have commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Brighton Grand Hotel bombing and the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Southern Israel with documentaries. Of the two documentaries I found Brighton Bombing – The Plot To Kill Mrs Thatcher the more riveting. Its [...]

October 10, 2024 // 0 Comments

Fake or Fortune/Helen MCColl

Unlike Stefano (Ursolini) I watched Fake or Fortune and thoroughly enjoyed it. Indeed I would say last Thursday’s episode was the best I have ever seen. Typically the programme – now in its fourth series – would feature a picture by (allegedly) a master and the presenters Fiona Bruce [...]

October 6, 2024 // 0 Comments

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