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The BBC's first comedy star - and how he fell into obscurity
The full story of the comedian who was once one of the biggest stars of BBC - until scandal over his private life led to him being doomed to obscurity - is revealed in a new biography. John Henry was a star of the new medium of radio in the 1920s and early 1930s, but took his life a month after the death of his romantic and stage partner Gladys Horridge. At her inquest, he claimed they were man and wife, although in reality he was still married to his first wife, and he feared that the exposure of his lies would end his career.
Chortle, 5th November 2024Terry Pratchett's Night Watch to become a Penguin Modern Classic
Penguin Modern Classics are publishing an annotated edition of Night Watch to coincide with Terry Pratchett Day in April next year. The republished edition of the 29th novel in Pratchett's Discworld series includes a new foreword by Rob Wilkins and an introduction and annotations by Dr David Lloyd and Dr Darryl Jones.
Matilda Battersby, The Bookseller, 1st November 2024The Unfinished Harauld Hughes by Richard Ayoade review
Comic novel or conceptual art project?
Sam Leith, The Guardian, 31st October 2024Dip My Brain In Joy: A Life With Neil Innes review
He is forever associated with The Beatles and often referred to as "the seventh Python". But this touching biography of the multitalented and endlessly inventive Neil Innes by his widow Yvonne explores how this unassuming figure was so much more than a mere adjunct to Britain's two greatest cultural forces of the 1960s.
Jay Richardson, Chortle, 25th October 2024Book review: Odyssey by Stephen Fry
The Odyssey is often thought of as a bit of a slog. The sort of book people think they know but never actually read. Fry challenges that.
Ed Bedford, Indiependent, 24th October 2024