Arise, Sir Becks (and Lady Posh)! I'd kneel before him.
It's another snippets post, dear reader:
- Stylish Queens news: To mark the centenary year of the late HM The Queen, an exhibition titled Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style will arrive in the King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace in April 2026. We will be booking to see this! From an article in Artnet:
The show will be the largest display to date of the former monarch’s clothing, some of them never before seen. The checklist of nearly 200 pieces features items from all 10 decades of her life alongside outfits by contemporary British designers Erdem Moralioglu, Richard Quinn, and Christopher Kane, who took inspiration from her royal wardrobe. These pieces confirm the queen’s enduring influence on British fashion, even in the wake of her 2022 passing.
- The BBC axe falleth again news: The excellent journalist and broadcaster Matthew Sweet is departing Radio 3’s Sound of Cinema, a programme he founded. As
Chris Bennion in The Telegraph says:
All good things must come to an end, even in radioland where maintaining an illusion of permanence is paramount to the gentle rhythms of our day. So, just as we are processing the news that In Our Time will be presented by someone other than Melvyn Bragg, we learnt last week that Matthew Sweet is departing Radio 3’s Sound of Cinema, 12 years after he launched the programme. Much as In Our Time is Melvyn Bragg, Sound of Cinema is Matthew Sweet. His successor, Edith Bowman, has a tough job on her hands. Will she be more Roger Moore or George Lazenby?
In Saturday’s final episode, Sweet referenced that radio-specific aversion to anything that looks like change. “When we began the show in 2013,” he said, that Hull accent jumping in every now and then like an eager child, “some people thought Radio 3 wasn’t the right place for a film-music programme. Twelve years later, I don’t hear that argument so much”. I would wager that’s because 12 years ago, the Radio 3 listeners didn’t know Sweet so well. “Film music demands serious attention,” said Sweet. And that’s exactly what he brought.
A film-music programme on Radio 3? We all had the same sinking feeling. John Williams, The Lord of the Rings, Hans Zimmer, more John Williams, Chariots of Fire, The Godfather, yet more John Williams. We’ve got Classic FM for that soft-soap stuff, thank you very much. Yet Sweet defied us all, combining a cineaste’s enthusiasm with academic depth, delving far below the surface to add serious value to your listening.
- Too sexy for his shirt news:
The lovely Jonathan Bailey - whose career has rocketed from the West End [he did the most brilliant Not Getting Married Today when we saw him in the gender-reversed production of Sondheim's Company in 2018] via Bridgerton to big-screen stardom in Wicked - has been named as People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" 2025.
- Greed is good news: Computer chip manufacturer Nvidia's value now exceeds the GDP of every country except the US and China, according to data from the World Bank.
- World-famous dog news: The original image upon which the iconic HMV record shops logo is based - a painting titled His Master’s Voice, of "Nipper" the dog listening to a gramophone - has been purchased by The Huguenot Museum in Rochester.
- National treasure comes to the rescue news: The Wildlife Trusts and Northumberland Wildlife Trust bid to complete the purchase of the Rothbury Estate - a 15-sq-mile (38.8-sq-km) tract of former grouse moor, woodland and farmland, with plans to boost wildlife, restore bogs and promote nature-friendly farming - has seen a massive surge in donations since Sir David Attenborough released a video backing the appeal.
- And finally: Happy Bonfire Night! Yes, every year, we Brits celebrate the arrest and execution of Guy Fawkes and his gang, caught trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament in "The Gunpowder Plot" of 1605 - by lighting bonfires and igniting the wicks of thousands of tons of, erm, explosive fireworks! To celebrate, this:
And the weather? Still exceptionally mild for early November.
