Entertainment

We are approaching the shortest day of the year, and as the nights get darker, winter blues affect many of us. As I get up for work at 4:30am, it's pretty much always dark for me first thing, but for many people, trudging to work and home again in the pitch black leads to an increase in Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). It can affect anyone, and the NHS says symptoms include a persistent low mood, a loss of pleasure or interest in normal everyday activities, and sleeping for longer than normal. Looking at my average sleep statistics, I definitely don't have any worries on that front.

Depending on whether you're in the mood for cosy or quirky, I've got something for you. It was nice to see our local indie busy on Sunday for The Choral, which stars Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Henry Guthrie, who is recruited following his return from Germany to lead the Choral Society in Ramsden. The choir is struggling to attract any male recruits, due to the fact the war is on (the story is set in 1916), and it's also a battle to find a non-German composer's work to base their next performance around.

1985 was a vintage year for movies, with Beverley Hills Cop, A View To A Kill, and of course Back To The Future, which I watched on the IMAX screen in Ashton this week with a friend who has somehow never seen this classic before! I was rather envious of him, watching the time travel escapade for the first time. The special effects have aged jawdroppingly well, and my favourite fact is that Christopher Lloyd was just 46 when he played the eccentric Doc Brown.

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Bonfire Night 2025 Remember Remember

It's been another week of pretty bleak news, and whilst it's always tempting to use this column to vent my spleen, I thought we'd indulge in a little chillout time instead. When it comes to relaxing, research commissioned by Bahlsen has come up with a top ten countdown, charting the best ways to switch off from the treadmill of life. Here they are in full.5021]

The Woman In Cabin 10 (Netflix) has racked up well over 30 million views on the streaming platform at the time of writing. Keira Knightley told Fabulous magazine that she loves a good thriller, and author Ruth Ware certainly wrote a cracking page-turner, which inspired this mildly enjoyable film. It also stars Ted Lasso's Hannah Waddingham and LA Confidential's Guy Pearce (Mike from Neighbours!). As Knightley's Guardian journalist character says, "people are capable of appalling things". Her premonition comes true, as she witnesses a woman being thrown overboard from a luxury liner that she

A tweet from actor Reece Dinsdale this week asked "where does 'wrong and ugly' end and racist begin"? This was inspired by the dreadful viral clip of Reform UK Ltd MP Sarah Pochin, responding to a caller on one of those seldom watched new  rolling TV news hannels, who was bemoaning the state of telly adverts.

It's just over two years since I became the permanent drivetime presenter on Tameside Radio, and tomorrow, Friday February 7th, will sadly be my last day on the show.

A mix this week of stuff that I watched over the festive season and a couple from this week, to start another year of movie watching!

It was tempting to write something this week about the digital darts being fired from the keyboard of the world's richest man, and how it might be better if we just switched social media off for a bit, but for the sake of my blood pressure, I thought I'd share the first part of a musical Top 10 with you.

After the massive success of last year's huge 40th anniversary tour,  legendary soul band Stax Of Soul will be rolling back into Uppermill in November as part of this year's series of tour dates.

Rock n Roll Star, National Treasure, Musical Icon, Manchester legend, and TV hero Shaun Ryder next week begins a huge UK theatre tour which runs until May 2025, telling stories and tales of his life as one of music's most iconic and wildest frontmen

Two days before Oasis's debut album 'Definitely Maybe' celebrated its 30th anniversary, the news broke that 15 years since splitting up, Liam and Noel Gallagher would be getting the band back together next year. If you had asked me a few years ago if i would like them to get back together, I probably would have said no, leave it in the history books just as The Beatles and The Jam did

When we started our Local music Spotlight feature on Tameside Radio and across the Not Really Here Group media outlets back in January 2023, I knew what an important feature it would be for local bands and artists, but I don't think anybody could have predicted just how successful it has been.

Pauline Town MBE is a Tameside hero and a legend. As landlady of The Station Hotel in Ashton, she has made the respected British pub much more than that, it's also a hub for the homeless, victims of domestic abuse, families in need, and those facing poverty in this area.

Its three years since Stereophonics last toured, and last week the band announced their biggest ever UK and Ireland stadium tour which will take place in 2025.

It's almost impossible to review The Substance without spoilers, but I'll try. It's grisly, bone-crunching, shockingly gory stuff, but what a performance from Demi Moore. This is possibly the most bananas movie I've ever seen, and Moore's finest hour in my book.

Back in the day, I used to love watching Top Of The Pops on a Thursday night. It was one of the telly highlights of the week, at a time when there were only three channels, no social media, and Dial-A-Disc was still a thing (ask your parents if this doesn't ring a bell).

It's a rarity, but a trio of films were all released last Friday that I couldn't wait to see. I've managed two of them this week, and both are outstanding.

Starting this week with my film of the month for September. Strange Darling is grisly and twisty as hell The best review I've seen comes from rapper Kid Cudi, who wrote: "Movies like this come every so often. As a fan of horror, I've never been this thrown by a horror movie before. I went in thinking one thing, and left knowing another". The difficulty in reviewing this movie is that it's definitely best enjoyed without spoilers. It's gory, tense, and nerve shredding.

The UK has a rich history when it comes to condiments. A lot add unami taste to our dishes (a Japanese word meaning 'savoury deliciousness'), and a survey carried out recently by Fentimans found brown sauce ranks second in a list of the UK's top 10 favourite bold flavours.

I wrote about stress recently, and feel quite zen this week, apart from the fact I'm writing this column right up against the deadline.I don't know where the weeks are going, and Christmas is now less than 100 days away, whilst the nights are drawing in faster than I can eat a bag of Haribo Tangfastics.

Following the Ellis Mano Band's European tour last year in support of the critically acclaimed "Luck of the Draw" album, fifteen songs recorded in Germany and Switzerland have now been released on their first live album "Live: Access All Areas".

The first of two films based on that Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew hit Netfllix this week, and Scoop was a five star treat in my book. Based on three chapters of a book by producer Sam McAlister, who arranged te interview at Buckingham Palace and has since said it was "hard to keep a poker face" while he was speakin

This week, I watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix, and I would highly recommend that you give it a whirl. As one of the quotes at the beginning says: "Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse" (Sophocles), and if you're anything like me, you'll be left questioning how much information you've given away to social media platforms over the years.

"Fortuna", the long-awaited studio album from the British Blues rock roots guitarist and vocalist Bex Marshall, is a ten-track blues tapestry that bulges to the edges with addictive hooks and story lines.

If you're a John Wick fan, there will inevitably be comparisons with pulpy new action film Monkey Man, which is out this weekend. Armed with little more than a monkey mask and a shedload of grit and determination, Dev Patel's Kid won't rest until the men who took everything from him get what's coming to them.

Stockport based NK Theatre Arts head to New Mills Art Theatre for the very first time with their production of Rock Of Ages. 

Event cinema is pretty popular, with reports that Queen Rock Montreal (IMAX) raked in over $4 million, split across the USA and the rest of the world. Clearly, the lure of a remastered Queen concert from 1981 is strong.