David Walliams
Smart, funny and beautifully imagined: RSC’s The Boy in the Dress reviewed
David Walliams is one of the biggest-selling children’s authors in the world (having shifted some 25 million copies in more…
Lovely to look at but irritatingly pious: The Miniaturist reviewed
BBC1’s The Miniaturist (26/7 December) is a lavish two-part adaptation of Jessie Burton’s bestseller. It’s also further proof that almost…
Low life
The army patrols at Nice airport go around three abreast, steely-eyed, fingers on the trigger. They walk slowly and scrutinise…
Coming up for air
Gosh what a breath of fresh air was Andrew Davies’s War & Peace adaptation (BBC1, Sundays) after all the stale…
Losing the plot
On the face of it, ITV’s Peter & Wendy sounded like a perfect family offering for Boxing Day: an adaptation…
The best children’s authors of 2015 — after David Walliams
The easy way round buying books for children at Christmas is just to get them the latest David Walliams and…
Affairs in squares
On all those comic lists of the world’s shortest books (Great Italian War Heroes, My Hunt for the Real Killers,…
Children’s books for Christmas
If it’s all right with you, I’d like to launch a campaign please. Right here. You may be wanting me…
Diary
This week marks another milestone in my 15-year battle with Richard Branson. Ever since he unsuccessfully sued me in 1999…
Spectator sport
You know what the world needs most right now? What it needs is five good-looking-ish, talented-ish blokes dressed in a…
School’s in
You know you’re getting old when TV starts getting nostalgic about eras during which you were already feeling old and…
Tragic comedies
How did our comedies become so sad? BBC1’s new sitcom Big School (Fridays) opened with a scene that would probably…
