Month by month I intend to post up my reading record here together with pen portraits of the books themselves and their front covers if I remember to take a picture! So here is January. The two hours of reading four days a week is my escape from the commute, as long as I am still awake after my long days!
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
I started this book in the middle of December, having bought it in the Red Cross Charity Shop in Cronulla Australia and finally finished it on January 13! I have never found a book that took more of my mental energy to read. The writing was magnificent and the sense of time and place incredible, but as a book for a commute it really took some effort at times. The effort was totally worth it, but I think I will wait for a while before tackling the sequel!
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Started on January 13. Finished on January 15. This was far shorter and far more readable. The Booker Prize winner was a book unlike any I have read before. The setting of the space station and the 16 sunrises and sunsets the astronauts see in a day was utterly mesmerising. It blended the cosmic with the everyday, the profound with the commonplace and managed to make both elements completely complementary. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. You will be taken on a journey of the mind as you follow this day in the life of those who see the earth from a different perspective.
Seventh Son by Sebastian Faulks
Started on January 15. Finished on January 20. Set in the near future, this book features a clandestine experiment that introduces Neanderthal DNA into the Homo Sapiens gene pool. We follow the result of that experiment from the start of his life as he is born to a surrogate mother then presented to an infertile couple. It is fascinating, and extremely well written but unremittingly bleak. With no humour to leaven proceedings and the most downbeat ending imaginable it leaves the reader with no faith in humanity!
1983 by Tom Cox
Started on January 20. Finished on January 22. Tom Cox is one of the most original writers around and I love his books. After my previous depressing read this was a novel to lift the spirits. Set in Nottinghamshire in 1983, we explore the life of Benji and the people around him. The 1983 we are taken to bears a striking similarity to the 1983 the then 8 year old Tom Cox inhabited, but he places the fantastical, with aliens and people who are not what they seem, next to the everyday in a way similar to Orbital. It reminded me that there was good in the human experience and I was glad to be reminded of that!
Our Holiday by Louise Candlish
Started on January 22. Finished on January 27. Louise Candlish is a brilliant page turning writer. Her books have you racing through them eager to find out what will happen next and Our Holiday is no exception. We are taken to a resort in Dorset where two families own second homes next to each other. Their lives are well ordered and apparently privileged, but each of them has secrets that come out gradually. Pitched against the holiday home owners are locals waging a guerrilla war against people who have made their own town impossible to afford. The two groups become deeply involved with each other over the summer and the explosive events are something no one could have expected.
You Are Here by David Nicholls
Started on January 27. Finished on January 29. An author I can pretty much guarantee to enjoy delivers once again. David Nicholls is the master of bittersweet romance and with You Are Here, it is the story of Marnie who is stuck in life and Michael who can’t get over his previous love. The pair meet on a walking holiday courtesy of a mutual friend who has decided to do some match making. Initially unsure, Marnie and Michael start to open up to each other, but will that be enough? It has Nicholls’ usual mix of humour, pathos and insight. One of our very best novelists has yet another modern classic on his hands.
As a regular reader of Tim Worthington’s blog It’s Good Except it Sucks I had his latest book on my Christmas list as soon as it was released. Luckily enough someone bought it for me, so it was with a sense of anticipation that I settled down to read it on my daily commute.
For those who are not acquainted with Tim’s online presence, he is the foremost expert on Children’s TV of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the familiar, the obscure and the shows that literally no one else seems to have heard of. Combining a scholar’s research with a crowd pleasing writing style that draws you in straight away, he is by turns, enthusiastic, witty, irreverent and opinionated, but never dismissive. He has his own viewpoint on these shows, but he wears these opinions with a sureness and lightness of touch that makes even shows you have never heard of or didn’t like fascinating. These qualities that light up his online writing are even more in evidence in this excellent book. The book is thematic rather than chronological and individual chapters cover genres such as Saturday morning television, Comedy and Imports alongside specific studios such as Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Century 21 and Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate’s Smallfilms.
If we look at Saturday morning television, I get the impression, perhaps wrongly, that he was a TISWAS fan, whereas I was 100% in the Multi Coloured Swap Shop corner and would not watch its competitor for love nor money. Despite this, I found his explanation of the genesis of TISWAS absolutely fascinating and it gave me a new appreciation of the ground breaking nature of the show. I still wouldn’t watch it, but there you go! What I didn’t realise was the sheer number of Saturday morning shows that were tried over the years. From The Saturday Show, apparently starring my teen crush Isla St Clair, to Number 73 with Sandi Toksvig, and The Saturday Banana with Bill Oddie the search for long term successors to Swap Shop and TISWAS made unlikely use of a number of famous faces. The policy of wiping videotapes has probably consigned every episode of a number of these shows to oblivion, but, thanks to Worthington, they now stand more of a chance of staying in the folk memory of fans of popular culture.
The output of the Andersons was far more extensive than I had realised with pretty much everything before and after Stingray, Thunderbirds, Joe 90 and Captain Scarlet being a closed book to me. Even those shows I thought I was so familiar with were given new life by the facts and anecdotes that were unearthed by this book. Smallfilms in many ways defined a huge part of my primary school childhood, but once again I found new details and insights to fascinate and delight.
With the whole gamut of Children’s programming coming under his gaze, Worthington mentions hundreds upon hundreds of shows. Some of the more obscure ones, for example Pardon My Genie, were accompanied by a thrill of recognition despite not having thought of them in 50 years. Others didn’t even raise a glimmer of recognition. Sorry, Tim, I’m still not sure you didn’t dream Rubovia! When time allows I will flick through the book and type multiple titles into YouTube in the hope that I will be able to acquaint or reacquaint myself with some of the shows that have piqued my interest. It is a treasure trove of gems, both real and fake, but we are lucky to be guided by a jeweller who can polish them up to make them shine like new, or to regretfully explain why they are flawed.
If you remember the Golden Age of Children’s TV, and as Worthington makes clear it really was golden, this book is for you. If you don’t but would like to find out about it, this book is for you. If you are interested in culture in its widest sense and feel that TV shows of the past should not be consigned to oblivion this book is for you. If you were ever a child, this book is for you. Zebedee might say it’s time for bed, but you have a torch so you can read this book under the covers. Just remember to switch it off if your bedroom door creaks!
The Staging
Two Nutcrackers in just over a calendar year, the previous one on January 2 2024 was what could be described as the classic staging. The one I saw in January was anything but, and it made this Nutcracker the most magical I have ever seen.
The ballet starts with Drosselmeyer, usually a magician of sorts, in his sweet shop with assistants who looked like scientists from a 1950s sci-fi movie to me. There is a clear nod to Wonka in the opening scene and, indeed, throughout the ballet. The action moves to the street outside where you see two chimney sweeps and two suffragettes in an exuberant crowd scene which immediately made me think of Mary Poppins. The Christmas party scene included a puppet show performed by two dancers that reminded me of the scene from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. All of these nods to children’s classics remind you that The Nutcracker fills a similar space in the lives of its audience, young and old, as these touchstones of a shared childhood passed down from one generation to the next. It is a piece of entertainment that has been around for over 130 years and seems set to be around for many more. The decision to revamp it will play its own part in the continued success.
The fight against the rats, whose first appearance as shadows running around the backdrop is genuinely creepy, showed a Clara who is much more active than many previous versions of the character. This Clara is involved in shaping her own destiny and gets involved in the fight to the extent that she wields a sword that delivers a mortal blow. She is an equal partner to the Nutcracker and both characters are less passive than their counterparts in many previous productions. Clara’s proactive nature was in evidence during the party with her mischievous side being given full rein is an acknowledgement of the increased agency of women and girls and definitely received the appreciation of the overwhelmingly female audience. The first half ended with the appearance of a marvellous ice sleigh which took to the air carrying Clara and the Nutcracker away.
The second half is usually something of a disjointed series of set pieces with little narrative drive, although it is of course supremely entertaining. Well, the concept of Drosselmeyer as a sweet maker comes into its own here as the dances have been reimagined as sweet themed confections. The set is an oasis with tents, each of which have the flag of a confection that we will see over the course of Act 2. We start with the Spanish nougat Turron, then watch the orchid root flavoured Arabic drink Sahlab, Tangulu a Chinese candy sweet, Makyvinyk, a Ukranian poppy seed roll, Marzipan Flutes from Germany and finally Liquorice Allsorts. All the dances have instantly recognisable tunes and they have very interesting choreography. These are followed by the Waltz of the Buttercream Roses and finally the dances featuring the Sugar Plum Fairy. The tunes are the familiar ones, the choreography completely new. There in a nutshell you have the focus of this ballet, to freshen up a classic score and give even the more experienced Nutcracker audience something completely new.
The Cast
As with last year, the principal dancers exuded the professionalism you would expect, but the real star for me was Millicent Honour from Tring Park School for the Performing Arts as the young Clara. She was outstanding, as was fellow Tring Park dancer Beatrice Lewis-Verebelyi last year. Millicent managed to match last year’s sparky, feisty Clara and made her a real flesh and blood character. There was real acting presence as well as superb dancing, and if she makes ballet her career she is definitely one to watch. The young dancers had setpieces throughout the show and received rousing applause for each one. It is a measure of the school’s ability to develop superb artists that the young performers completely stole the ballet from under the noses of their more seasoned castmates.
So, there you have it. A fantastic new staging with a fresh approach has enlivened a well loved ballet and provided me with the version against which all Nutcrackers will be measured from now on. Roll on 2026!
A very happy and peaceful Christmas to you all. Here is my final Revisiting Blogmas post which looks at the history of Christmas music – very quickly! Whatever music you play during this festive season you will find it here. Enjoy your music, enjoy your day if you can and if you can’t may you enjoy some peace. See you the other side of the big day and thank you for reading my blog this year.
This was a classic half hour of TV comedy that is still repeated every year because of its timeless brilliance. The Good Life was never better than in this amazing Christmas special. Join me below as I unpick what is so incredible about this episode.
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 