'Lazy and complacent' - BBC Christmas Day schedule damned by TV expert From 3pm until 11.05pm, BBC One’s Christmas Day schedule is a near facsimile of the 2023 version, which in turn resembled the 2022 one. Or, if you prefer the R-word, it’s a repeat. Groundhog Christmas, only with everyone looking a year older.

In 2019 a list was compiled of the 20 most watched Christmas Day TV shows ever. You won’t be surprised to learn that only one was from this century,...

previous day 4

Barry Didcock

Scotland continues to punch above its cinematic weight Despite the odds, Scotland continues to punch above its weight in the cinematic arts. Take Edinburgh-born film-maker Charlotte Wells. Or Bill Douglas. Or Peter Mullan. Or Lynne Ramsay.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. Despite the odds, Scotland continues to punch above its weight in the cinematic arts. ...

18.12.2024 2

Barry Didcock

Irvine Welsh releasing new Trainspotting while fighting fascism of ‘Disco Sucks’

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. Last week Irvine Welsh unveiled a new Trainspotting novel, as well as a title and a...

11.12.2024 7

Barry Didcock

He's behind you: When jokes are too rude for panto... It is ‘Pantomime season can’t be here already,’ I say. ‘I’m still wearing shorts to the supermarket. It’s too early for Puss In Boots, surely.’

‘Pantomime season can’t be here already,’ I say. ‘I’m still wearing shorts to the supermarket. It’s too early for Puss In Boots,...

06.12.2024 4

Barry Didcock

EIF budget – curtains down for Scotland's cultural jewel? Budgets, financial reports and spending plans are issues making headlines at the moment. But while those things occupy politicians and business leaders, they’re also never far from the minds of those who make Scotland’s cultural weather.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. Budgets, financial reports and spending plans are issues making headlines at the...

26.11.2024 8

Barry Didcock

EIF ascends under Benedetti – meanwhile, BBC Scotland are stuck relying on London Edinburgh International Festival is the jewel in Scotland’s cultural crown... while BBC Scotland is stuck commissioning and producing through London via branch offices.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. Nobody should be in any doubt that the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) is the...

19.11.2024 3

Barry Didcock

The Day of the Jackal is ruined by this one major problem There should be a word for that special kind of disappointment when a thing you’ve been looking forward to turns out to be a dud. Whatever the word is (or will be) I was feeling the need of it well before the end of The Day Of The Jackal.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. There should be a word for that special kind of disappointment you feel when a thing...

12.11.2024 5

Barry Didcock

Are we getting value for money from BBC Scotland?

Ask yourself what’s meant by Scottish drama and a definition isn’t hard to come by. It means stories dealing with Scottish society and history,...

07.11.2024 10

Barry Didcock

Are ABBA really ‘the world’s greatest band’? Someone is bound to lay The Beatles down early. It’s one of those great pub argument prompts isn’t it – which is the most influential band ever?

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. It’s one of those great pub argument prompts isn’t it – which is the most...

29.10.2024 4

Barry Didcock

Photo booths are now a rarity – perfect time for an artistic comeback? Do you remember photo booths? They still exist, of course. But do you remember the ones where you didn’t have to pay with a smartphone then download the images from a website using a code and an app and an unholy confection of algorithms?

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. Do you remember photo-booths? They still exist, of course. But do you remember the...

22.10.2024 5

Barry Didcock

New Lyceum artistic director is not a household name... but is he a good choice? James Brining’s inheritance is one of Scotland’s, and therefore the UK’s, finest theatres, but in common with most other venues it’s one which does not have its troubles to seek at the moment.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. Following July’s news that playwright-turned-theatre chief David Greig was to leave...

15.10.2024 4

Barry Didcock

So why do I only read books written by women now? I tend only to read novels by women these days, a trend which started a few years ago when I encountered, in close succession, the short stories of Anaïs Nin, the work of Shirley Jackson and an author called Anna Kavan.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. I tend only to read novels by women these days, a trend which started a few years ago...

08.10.2024 5

Barry Didcock

There would be no Bruce Springsteen without the real thing - Kris Kristofferson

My route into the work of Kris Kristofferson, who died this week, was an unusual one – an album by left-field California rock trio Acetone. ...

03.10.2024 10

Barry Didcock

Glasgow 850 may seem like flannel but here is why celebrations matter to city

In 1975, Glasgow turned 800 so in May of that year it threw itself a birthday party to celebrate. There was a groovily designed poster with the four...

24.09.2024 6

Barry Didcock

A prestigious win for Cumnock Tryst and a dire warning for the arts Congratulations to composer Sir James MacMillan, who wears many hats including that of founder and main mover behind the Cumnock Tryst music festival. Last week the Tryst won the Classical Music prize at the prestigious Sky Arts Awards in London.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. Congratulations to composer Sir James MacMillan, who wears many hats including that of...

24.09.2024 4

Barry Didcock

Guillermo del Toro and his love affair with Edinburgh's bookshops Acclaimed horror movie director Guillermo del Toro has been doing a great job of promoting Edinburgh’s independent bookshops during his stay in the capital.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. Acclaimed horror movie director Guillermo del Toro has been doing a great job of...

17.09.2024 5

Barry Didcock

It's hard to ignore the grim beauty of a brutalist Glasgow It’s always been my suspicion that people who love brutalism probably did not grow up surrounded by examples of the form. And definitely didn’t grow up in one. But there is a grim sort of beauty to its architecture.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. It’s always been my suspicion that people who love brutalism – an architectural...

10.09.2024 6

Barry Didcock

There's every reason in the world to fund Scotland's arts sector Only fools and right-wing ideologues still believe in the efficacy of trickle-down economics. But what about the trickle-up sort? It works, at least where the arts are concerned – a fact that’s worth remembering this week as a new round of austerity looms.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. Only fools and right-wing ideologues still believe in the efficacy of trickle-down...

03.09.2024 5

Barry Didcock

Most heated controversy of the Fringe? Clearly the best joke award Heated discussion of the merits (or otherwise) of the winning gag in the Joke Of The Fringe competition might be about the most contentious thing to go down at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. My two favourite stand-up gags ever came courtesy of the criminally under-rated...

20.08.2024 20

Barry Didcock

Gigs at Edinburgh International Festival: An overdue idea or opportunistic? I end Week One and begin Week Two by dipping into a pool which for many years was not much fished by the Festival generally – and by the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) not at all. I mean popular music.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. As contemporary dancers twitch and jerk, opera singers warble, drag queens slay,...

13.08.2024 7

Barry Didcock

Who took the Fringe more by storm, Liz Truss or her impersonator? Hang on, isn’t that Ms Truss I see standing outside the venue as I saunter down Morrison Street, trademark blue dress matching the summer sky to a tee? Er, no.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. Although there are guiding hands at work curating the cultural offerings available in...

06.08.2024 4

Barry Didcock

A whole 30 years since first T in the Park – has anything compared since? By the time T in the Park emptied its last bottle of Buckfast in 2016, the festival landscape had changed completely. Dozens of ‘boutique’ rock festivals catering to niche tastes had arrived on the scene to offer diversity and provide more of a geographical spread.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. This week marks the 30th anniversary of the first T in the Park music festival, held...

30.07.2024 6

Barry Didcock

Forget the outdoor festivals, it's time for a visual arts summer With Scotland about to disappear under a tsunami of stand-up comics, theatre shows, jugglers, stilt-walkers, sundry other street entertainers, perhaps now is the time for a quick word about the visual arts.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. With Scotland about to disappear under a tsunami of stand-up comics, theatre shows,...

23.07.2024 7

Barry Didcock

Emerging from Fergus McCreadie's sonic storm of homegrown jazz By the end Fergus McCreadie was on his feet along with the rest of the crowd as a deserved standing ovation greeted what had been a barnstorming performance by the Mercury Music Prize-nominated jazz pianist.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. On Saturday your correspondent took his seat for one of the highlights of the...

16.07.2024 3

Barry Didcock

Art and football are a bit like oil and water – difficult to mix As we count down to the final of the Euro 24 football competition, it’s worth noting that the game is essentially made up of the best bits from theatre and dance, sound-tracked by mass choirs of fans in a ‘production’ which also features choreographed clapping, drumming, flag waving and even the odd pyrotechnic display.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. As we count down to the final of the Euro 24 football competition – winner unknown...

09.07.2024 6

Barry Didcock

Douglas Is Cancelled: Is it the critics who are cancelling new ITV drama? Predictably enough, the summer’s most divisive (so far) television drama is about a subject which is in itself endlessly divisive: cancel culture.

Predictably enough, the summer’s most divisive (so far) television drama is about a subject which is in itself endlessly divisive: cancel culture,...

02.07.2024 5

Barry Didcock

Horror blueprint Nosferatu is judged fair game for an Eggers re-imagining Nosferatu remains one of the most influential films ever made and, if you’re arthouse horror director Robert Eggers, judged ripe for re-imagining.

If you’re a paid-up fan of cinema horror you probably also qualify for nerd status where its historical development is concerned. In which case...

25.06.2024 5

Barry Didcock

The perils of turning personal trauma into art at the Fringe This year’s Edinburgh Fringe programme has been launched with the usual salvo of words and warnings. As ever there is cause for reflection on everything.

This year’s Edinburgh Fringe programme has been launched with the usual salvo of words and warnings. As ever there is cause for reflection on...

18.06.2024 9

Barry Didcock

It's women making waves in music. Taylor Swift's Murrayfield gigs prove it I was there on Friday night to see Taylor Swift, the first night, and it really was one of those pinch me moments.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. She came, she saw, her strumming hand cramped up because of the cold and – after...

11.06.2024 3

Barry Didcock

Future Tense, a tense present, and revisiting past midnights Edinburgh Futures Institute has finally opened on the site of the Royal Infirmary, while the midnight movie returns in the new EIFF line up.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. The grandly-named Edinburgh Futures Institute has finally opened on the site of the...

04.06.2024 10

Barry Didcock

Bikini lines and making herstory: The women in artistic revolt Discovering the paintings of Degas, Bikini Kill start the riot grrrl, and Perth Festival of the Arts opens.

Besides the thrill of seeing the artworks themselves, a secondary delight of big gallery shows such as the ones which have just opened in Glasgow and...

28.05.2024 30

Barry Didcock

The hottest MacBeth remix of the year just dropped... Barry Didcock looks at the new Rebus, remixing MacBeth, and the legacy of Shallow Grave in this week's Herald Arts newsletter.

I can’t have been the only person with a wry smile on their kisser when they tuned in to watch the new Rebus last Friday night – and found instead...

21.05.2024 50

Barry Didcock

Queuing back at the Rubens to catch a glimpse of Vermeer beauty New festival programme unveilings, a new Scottish showing of Vermeer paintings, and BBC Radio 6's Change The Tune campaign.

This article appears as part of the Herald Arts newsletter. They say Christmas starts earlier every year, by which they mean vendors are stringing...

14.05.2024 40

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock: Taylor Swift's new album - everything you need to know

As well as bagging a clutch of awards at a star-studded music ceremony in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday night, Taylor Swift also dropped an item of...

11.02.2024 20

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock: At last, George Wyllie's legacy to be properly recognised

Why is one of those small words which carries a heavy load, though of its kind – see also: if, and, but – it’s the one with the strongest back. ...

21.01.2024 10

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock: Has the new Mean Girls lost the original's very non-PC swagger?

Can you have too much of a good thing – or even a mean thing? American actress and writer Tina Fey scored big in 2004 with the iconic Mean Girls....

14.01.2024 3

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock: The King is dead – long live the King as an AI-generated hologram

Ever wonder when this century will throw off the dead hand of the previous one and finally assert itself culturally? Don’t hold your breath. As an...

07.01.2024 6

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock: Should Hogmanay or Up Helly Aa or the Fringe get UNESCO status?

In a pre-Christmas announcement issued jointly with the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland – one which should have been headed ‘Oh yes...

30.12.2023 20

Barry Didcock

So, what's the Scottish interest in the Oscars this year?

Scottish interest in the Oscars is usually fleeting, tangential, obscure or all three. Sure, Irish actor Paul Mescal made the shortlist at this...

17.12.2023 10

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock: At 57, I may not be the oldest Swiftie, but I’m probably in the top 2%

Being the mathematical equivalent of those lads who come round the houses selling dish cloths with menaces, any mention of data and metrics tends to...

10.12.2023 10

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Barry Didcock

Scotland continues to punch above its cinematic weight Despite the odds, Scotland continues to punch above its weight in the cinematic arts. Take Edinburgh-born film-maker Charlotte Wells. Or Bill Douglas. Or Peter Mullan. Or Lynne Ramsay.

Barry Didcock

Irvine Welsh releasing new Trainspotting while fighting fascism of ‘Disco Sucks’

Barry Didcock

He's behind you: When jokes are too rude for panto... It is ‘Pantomime season can’t be here already,’ I say. ‘I’m still wearing shorts to the supermarket. It’s too early for Puss In Boots, surely.’

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock

EIF ascends under Benedetti – meanwhile, BBC Scotland are stuck relying on London Edinburgh International Festival is the jewel in Scotland’s cultural crown... while BBC Scotland is stuck commissioning and producing through London via branch offices.

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock

Are we getting value for money from BBC Scotland?

Barry Didcock

Are ABBA really ‘the world’s greatest band’? Someone is bound to lay The Beatles down early. It’s one of those great pub argument prompts isn’t it – which is the most influential band ever?

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock

New Lyceum artistic director is not a household name... but is he a good choice? James Brining’s inheritance is one of Scotland’s, and therefore the UK’s, finest theatres, but in common with most other venues it’s one which does not have its troubles to seek at the moment.

Barry Didcock

So why do I only read books written by women now? I tend only to read novels by women these days, a trend which started a few years ago when I encountered, in close succession, the short stories of Anaïs Nin, the work of Shirley Jackson and an author called Anna Kavan.

Barry Didcock

There would be no Bruce Springsteen without the real thing - Kris Kristofferson

Barry Didcock

Glasgow 850 may seem like flannel but here is why celebrations matter to city

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock

Guillermo del Toro and his love affair with Edinburgh's bookshops Acclaimed horror movie director Guillermo del Toro has been doing a great job of promoting Edinburgh’s independent bookshops during his stay in the capital.

Barry Didcock

It's hard to ignore the grim beauty of a brutalist Glasgow It’s always been my suspicion that people who love brutalism probably did not grow up surrounded by examples of the form. And definitely didn’t grow up in one. But there is a grim sort of beauty to its architecture.

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock

Most heated controversy of the Fringe? Clearly the best joke award Heated discussion of the merits (or otherwise) of the winning gag in the Joke Of The Fringe competition might be about the most contentious thing to go down at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

Barry Didcock

Gigs at Edinburgh International Festival: An overdue idea or opportunistic? I end Week One and begin Week Two by dipping into a pool which for many years was not much fished by the Festival generally – and by the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) not at all. I mean popular music.

Barry Didcock

Who took the Fringe more by storm, Liz Truss or her impersonator? Hang on, isn’t that Ms Truss I see standing outside the venue as I saunter down Morrison Street, trademark blue dress matching the summer sky to a tee? Er, no.

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock

Forget the outdoor festivals, it's time for a visual arts summer With Scotland about to disappear under a tsunami of stand-up comics, theatre shows, jugglers, stilt-walkers, sundry other street entertainers, perhaps now is the time for a quick word about the visual arts.

Barry Didcock

Emerging from Fergus McCreadie's sonic storm of homegrown jazz By the end Fergus McCreadie was on his feet along with the rest of the crowd as a deserved standing ovation greeted what had been a barnstorming performance by the Mercury Music Prize-nominated jazz pianist.

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock

Douglas Is Cancelled: Is it the critics who are cancelling new ITV drama? Predictably enough, the summer’s most divisive (so far) television drama is about a subject which is in itself endlessly divisive: cancel culture.

Barry Didcock

Horror blueprint Nosferatu is judged fair game for an Eggers re-imagining Nosferatu remains one of the most influential films ever made and, if you’re arthouse horror director Robert Eggers, judged ripe for re-imagining.

Barry Didcock

The perils of turning personal trauma into art at the Fringe This year’s Edinburgh Fringe programme has been launched with the usual salvo of words and warnings. As ever there is cause for reflection on everything.

Barry Didcock

It's women making waves in music. Taylor Swift's Murrayfield gigs prove it I was there on Friday night to see Taylor Swift, the first night, and it really was one of those pinch me moments.

Barry Didcock

Future Tense, a tense present, and revisiting past midnights Edinburgh Futures Institute has finally opened on the site of the Royal Infirmary, while the midnight movie returns in the new EIFF line up.

Barry Didcock

Bikini lines and making herstory: The women in artistic revolt Discovering the paintings of Degas, Bikini Kill start the riot grrrl, and Perth Festival of the Arts opens.

Barry Didcock

The hottest MacBeth remix of the year just dropped... Barry Didcock looks at the new Rebus, remixing MacBeth, and the legacy of Shallow Grave in this week's Herald Arts newsletter.

Barry Didcock

Queuing back at the Rubens to catch a glimpse of Vermeer beauty New festival programme unveilings, a new Scottish showing of Vermeer paintings, and BBC Radio 6's Change The Tune campaign.

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock: Taylor Swift's new album - everything you need to know

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock: At last, George Wyllie's legacy to be properly recognised

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock: Has the new Mean Girls lost the original's very non-PC swagger?

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock: The King is dead – long live the King as an AI-generated hologram

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock: Should Hogmanay or Up Helly Aa or the Fringe get UNESCO status?

Barry Didcock

So, what's the Scottish interest in the Oscars this year?

Barry Didcock

Barry Didcock: At 57, I may not be the oldest Swiftie, but I’m probably in the top 2%

Barry Didcock