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17 years ago today, on 26 March 2005, Doctor Who returned to TV after an absence of almost as long. That first new episode Rose is still fr...

Two years ago, Backlisted devoted an episode to  The Inheritors , the second novel by William Golding, author of  The Lord of the Flies . Ev...

This extraordinary, meticulously researched book is an essential read just now. Belton charts the rise and rise of Vladimir Putin from his e...

It took a while to get into this 1956 novel by William Golding, and after the first few pages of a man struggling in water mixed up with bit...

Our documentary, Disgusted, Mary Whitehouse , has made tonight's Pick of the Week on Radio 4, presented by Geoff Lloyd . Hooray! It'...

"The frank, uncensored story of what really happens in the making of a super-film," promises the back-cover blurb on Roger Moore a...

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine features "Silver Screen", in which Rhys Williams and I explore the writing and production de...

I mentioned Stuart Hood in my last post  because I recently saw him in an episode of the BBC's Talkback from 7 November 1967, with six m...

Disgusted, Mary Whitehouse will be broadcast on Radio 4 on Saturday 5 March. Produced by me and brother Thomas, it’s presented by Samira Ah...

The latest issue of the Doctor Who: Chronicles (from the makers of  Doctor Who Magazine ) is focused on the year 2007, which in a weird, sc...

I've been meaning to get to this mystery novel for years. The Dr is a fan of Josephine Tey, and also of Nicola Upson's series of nov...

Jean's life is a bit of a mess. She wants to be a ranger in the wildlife park where she works, but can't get her qualifications - an...

Cecil Madden was "the world's first television producer", according to the cover of this memoir edited by his granddaughter, J...

This very timely memoir is about the damage done by public schools, especially to boarding pupils separated from their parents at an impress...

After some time off to make room for the Christmas quiz (and answers), the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine features another Sufficient Dat...

Julian Lawnsdsley has set up a bookshop in a small town, escaping from the evils of the City. One potential customer is a peculiar old man w...

Wartime Britain , which I read last month, referred to these diaries by Winifred Vere Hodgson (1901-79), who lived at 56 Ladbroke Road when ...

My last night out in London before lockdown in 2020 was to attend a signing for my chum Una's book Picard: The Last Best Hope , which ab...