The dreadful decline of hosting at home: ‘I feel shame any time a friend comes over’
It used to be quite normal to pop next door for a coffee or invite friends over for dinner. But not any more. What’s behind this change – and just how damaging is it?‘I really loved hosting at home years ago, before I had kids, when my house wasn’t…
Esther Rantzen’s Mama was a lifeline for new mums | Letters
Fiona Lindop says she will always be grateful to the TV presenter for establishing the Meet-a-Mum Association Esther Rantzen (Obituary, 1 October) is rightly remembered and honoured for her wide-ranging charity work, including establishing Childline and…
‘People are scared of her, to be honest’: Kemi Badenoch remakes Tories in her image
At Conservative conference, some worry about becoming a one-woman party, while others say party should thank their lucky stars they have herUK politics live – latest updatesKemi Badenoch has long said that the Conservatives were “under new management”,…
Cruel torment, depraved violence, evil turns: where did TV’s real baddies go?
From Carrie’s bullies to Cathy Ames, sympathetic backstories have made villains boring. It’s time to bring back truly awful villains – in all their deliciously sinful gloryThe new Netflix adaptation of East of Eden largely sticks to the plot of the John…
Gnomes review – Asa Butterfield takes on murderous garden ornaments in pulpy horror-comedy
Rightly described as ‘Gremlins meets Hot Fuzz’, this fun series has the high-spirit and gusto one hopes for in a show about evil killer gnomesOne can never trust marketing materials to accurately describe a movie or TV series, but I’m pleased to report…
‘He was devastatingly sexy’: Frasier’s Jane Leeves and David Hyde Pierce on the love between Daphne and Niles
From a breathless tango to a kiss that sent fans wild, the pair crafted a sensational seven-year TV crush. The real-life best friends talk first impressions, Casablanca moments – and having hot husbandsLesley Manville and Peter Mullan on their…
‘Men are a scam!’ The trials of Danielle Ponder, the lawyer turned singer rooting for a better world
After representing society’s dispossessed, Ponder started a music career in her 40s – then faced miscarriage, anxiety and more. She explains her survival instinct“You can get everything you dreamed of career-wise, and your life can still crumble, and…
Sali Hughes on beauty: loose powders have had a glow up
No longer messy and cumbersome, a new generation of powders blurs, sets and mattifies without the faffI can’t remember the last time I wrote about loose powder because, honestly, there’s been little point. Pressed compact powders have become so…
Carrie review – the teenage hell-raiser’s glorious return couldn’t come at a better time
This witty, smart remake takes bullying and telekinetic violence to new extremes. Even the shower scene is more excruciating than the originalThe automatic response to the news that a stone-cold classic of any genre is to be remade is: “Why?” In an…
Medical dramas on television and in real life | Letter
John Fisher recalls meeting a Casualty actor offering medical assistance to a passenger on a planeRe Adrian Chiles’s article on TV medical dramas (I have a new favourite medical drama – and now I want to have a nasty accident in Pittsburgh, 30…