Gyles Brandreth

The best children’s books: a Spectator Christmas survey

18 December 2021 9:00 am

J.K. Rowling Poignant, funny and genuinely scary, The Hundred and One Dalmatians was one of my favourite books as a…

The shocking story of Charles and Mary Lamb: Slightly Foxed podcast reviewed

7 November 2020 9:00 am

The Slightly Foxed podcast, like the quarterly and old bookshop of the same name, is almost muskily lovely. It’s the…

Worse for wear: Kevin McNally as Lear and Burt Caesar as Gloucester in King Lear

Keeping it in the family

9 September 2017 9:00 am

A new orthodoxy governs the casting process in Hollywood. An actor’s ethnicity must match the character’s. If you extend this…

The Oldie of the Year awards face life without Terry Wogan

6 February 2016 9:00 am

There was a cloud over the ‘Oldie of the Year’ awards luncheon this week, which was the death only a…

Alexander Chancellor’s diary: Picking golden oldies, Ken Dodd, and the sadness of Jack Nicholson

7 February 2015 9:00 am

An excellent test of character is a person’s response to being offered an Oldie of the Year Award. There have…