Gemini Rue - classic lo-fi point-and-click sci-fi noir adventure game. Just shows what can be done with simple technology, if you have really good story-telling, dialogue and voice-acting. (See this review.)
Middle England - Brexit novel from the clever and compassionate Jonathan Coe, ingeniously tracking characters first introduced in the 70s-set The Rotters Club through the events of the last seven years, and into the future. Frightening but convincing in its account of how Brexit has set neighbour against neighbour, as well as unleashing at the political level the hostilities previously confined to the Conservative Party.
The Children Act - Top performance (career best?) from Emma Thompson as a family court judge, presiding over a case of a nearly-but-not-quite adult Jehovah’s Witness refusing a life-saving blood transfusion, which brings up long-suppressed tensions in her own life and marriage. Great support from Stanley Tucci as her long-suffering husband.
Blowing the Bloody Doors Off - lessons from life by Michael Caine: a fun and easy collection of stories from the veteran film actor, whose talents as a master raconteur were revealed for many of us in his BBC acting masterclass. Many men of posher background should be ashamed of their lack of the gentlemanly courtesy and respect shown here.
Grantchester / Call the Midwife / Endeavour – It’s very confusing switching between these three shows at the moment, because Grantchester is currently set around 1960, Midwife in 1964, and Endeavour in 1969: only a few years apart though significantly different in cultural historical terms. It’s also weird to watch historical dramas set in a period which I can remember – and to realise that probably none of the people involved in making them can.
Life is Strange - a milestone in adventure games, partly for its deep characterisation, continually surprising storyline and rich environments (to explore or not, as you choose) but mainly for its convincing portrayal of friendship between two teenage girls (entirely authentic, I am informed by a female reviewer) surely unprecedented in the history of video games. As an indicator of its power, the immersion in the high school setting, with its bullies and snobs and authoritarian staff or step-parents, was so vivid that I began to get genuinely frightened and alarmed at the prospect of confrontation; even though I’m now aged sixty and a senior manager, the game took me straight back to that age of relative powerlessness. The game is great to play, with echoes of the classic The Longest Journey (art student protagonist, opening in which a nightmare dream gives way to college reality, constant balancing of the mundane with the supernatural), but it's Max (Maxine) and Chloe who make the game sing.
Monty Don’s Japanese Gardens - a two-part (spring and autumn) visit to celebrated Japanese gardens and gardeners, from Monty Don whose own televisual style has a touch of the Zen master about it.
Travelling Blind - extraordinary documentary following the blind Amar Latif in his tour of Turkey, accompanied by (sighted) comedian Sara Pascoe. She has no experience in guiding or describing for blind people and is a risk-averse traveller, so there is a lot for her (and us) to learn.
