Oscar-worthy performance from Eddie Redmayne as Professor Stephen Hawking

The age of biopic is upon us. From Mr Turner (J.M.W. Turner) and Jimi: All Is by My Side (Jimi Hendrix) to Oscar front-runners The Imitation Game (Alan Turing) and Get On Up (James Brown), the once dreary biographical formula has finally re-energized itself, capturing the hearts of film lovers and critics alike.

One film that is sure to win you over is The Theory of Everything, a new film about the life and times of Camb...

If you’re suffering from the January Blues, we’ve got the perfect remedy to pick you up.

A wise person once said “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything” and frankly (my dear) we agree!

So, to help you beat those January blues, we’ve picked five of our favourite soulful albums to help quieten the mind and soothe your soul...

This review was originally written for The Public Reviews

The cast of Paradise Lost have taken the bold and ambitious move to launch their new musical as an album. Inspired by classic shows like Evita, Chess and Les Miserables, all of which were first launched as albums, writers Lee Ormsby and Jonathan Wakeham are hoping to find an audience for their new musical through the music, as ultimately it’s the songs that decide whether a show will stand or fall.

Based on the famous poem by John Milt...

Gillian Anderson and Dermot Mulroney star in gripping new US drama Crisis

US drama Crisis makes its UK premiere on Watch on Friday 2nd January and boy, is it good!

Starring Gillian Anderson and Dermot Mulroney, Crisis tells the story of the world’s most powerful people who are brought to their knees when their beloved children are kidnapped.

We had a sneak peek of the brand new and exclusive US series, which make its UK premiere on UKTV channel Watch on Friday 2nd January, earlier this week a...

This review was originally written for The Public Reviews

Believe it or not, 30 Million Minutes is actually Dawn French’s first ever solo tour. The Queen of British comedy may have been entertaining audiences since 1982 as one half of successful female double act French and Saunders, but it’s taken 32 years for the award-winning comedienne to take to the stage on a solo tour. Thankfully, she still has what it takes when it comes to making people laugh.

Open, honest and incredibly funny, 30 ...

Festive, fun and fabulous, The Flanagan Collective’s A Christmas Carol will have you whipped up into the festive spirit quicker than you can suck a Humbug

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is my favourite Christmas story so you can imagine my excitement when I received an invite to The Flanagan Collective’s festive adaptation at Manchester’s New Playhouse...

This review was originally written for The Public Reviews

Dust off your dancing suit and polish up your shoes because Saturday Night Fever is back in town!

Inspired by the 1977 film starring John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever tells the story of Tony Manero (Danny Bayne), a young man with one ambition – to become the disco king. He teams up with Stephanie (Naomi Slights), a young dancer who also dreams of a world beyond Brooklyn, and together they decide to train for a dance competition...

This review was originally written for The Public Reviews

Opera North’s new production of Verdi’s La Traviata may have been 15 years in the making but it’s certainly worth the wait.

Fiercely passionate, profoundly moving and devastatingly tragic, La Traviata is widely considered the most popular opera of all time and is arguably Giuseppe Verdi’s best work. It is based on Alexander Dumas’ autobiographical tale La Dame aux Camelias about his affair with Marie Cuplessis who died aged 23 ...

Fresh, funky and fabulous, First Strut Is The Deepest is simply brilliant

After sell-out gigs in London, Reading and Chichester earlier this year, funk-soul group Brother Strut head to London next month for a special gig at the O2 Brooklyn Bowl. As Frankly, My Dear has a pair of tickets to give away, it only seemed fair that we gave the boys the recognition they deserve with a review of their fabulous debut album First Strut Is The Deepest.

For those that don’t know, Brother Strut are a fabu...

Maggie Smith stars in My Old Lady, a complex, dark and compelling film about family secrets

Dame Maggie Smith may be 79 years old but she’s showing no signs of slowing down. Between her role as Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey and three new film releases including The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015), the English actress is on top form at the moment. Her latest film My Old Lady is due to hit UK cinemas this week with Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline and Kirstin Scott Thomas in the starring ro...