New homes: Our pick of the new builds going on sale in London this weekend January 25, 2019 New developments on the market this week Pontoon Reach, Royal Docks From £315,000 The first new homes at a riverfront location in east London are going on sale tomorrow. Close to London City Airport and Thames Barrier Park in an area earmarked for £314m of investment over the next five years, this 13 storey building [...]
Showstopper! is an improvised musical of fast thinking comedians and off-the-cuff tunes January 24, 2019 The premise of Showstopper! seems almost impossible to pull off. Each night an improv comedy troupe creates a brand new musical from scratch, taking audience suggestions for settings, plot points and style. But they’ve been pulling it off for more than 11 years and 1,000 shows, spawning such spontaneous one-offs as Sinky Boots (set aboard [...]
Asphodel Meadows/The Two Pigeons review: A split evening of showcasing sharp contemporary Royal Ballet choreography and a sugary romcom January 24, 2019 This evening of two short productions is, as ballerina Laura Morera says in her programme notes, “everything the Royal Ballet is about.” The first part, Asphodel Meadows, was the first work by Royal Ballet artist in residence Liam Scarlett, originally staged in 2010 when he was just 24. Taking its title from the part of [...]
The new Urus is the world’s fastest SUV and an altogether different type of Lamborghini January 21, 2019 Remember the furore when Porsche launched its go-faster SUV, the Cayenne, in 2003? Po-faced purists were appalled, yet car buyers were enthralled, and BMW, Land Rover et al soon followed suit. Today, the Cayenne’s popularity means Porsche has effectively become an SUV company that also builds sports cars. Rewind to 1986, however, and it was [...]
Island Hopping in NYC: How the Big Apple’s revived ferry service kickstarted an unlikely glamping craze January 21, 2019 In the UK, a diamond-mesh fence tends to signify you’ve arrived at the perimeter of a day-release prison or, perhaps, a scrapyard. Not so in America. And especially not in New York: a goodly portion of its waterfront is lined with the stuff. But somehow the Yanks manage to put these utilitarian barriers to use [...]
Dining out: London’s best burger, sushi and fried chicken revealed in public vote January 21, 2019 Hungry Londoners have spoken, and Meatliquor and Chick n Sours are among the restaurants who’s dishes have been crowned the tastiest in the city in a public vote. The awards, announced today, are based on more than 50,000 reviews of London’s restaurants, and are given to dishes that have garnered the highest ratings. Winners include [...]
Mary, Queen of Scots review: An excellent, if factually wild, exercise in historical empathy January 18, 2019 Trailing the petticoats of Oscar contender The Favourite is another female-centric period drama about the notorious feud between Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart. Though this film is far more serious and conventional than its competition, it’s also clearly angled at awards season. Its contenders, Margot Robbie as Elizabeth and Saoirse Ronan as Mary, are undeniably [...]
From igloo glamping to glacier kayaking, the frozen landscape of the Pemberton Icecap has been transformed into a tourist hotspot January 18, 2019 Outside, the sun is blazing hot, a white glare cast across a vast expanse of snow. Inside the ice cave, it’s one degree above freezing; a gleaming cool blue cut through with a trickling lake of glacial water. Centre stage is a moulin, a frozen “straw” of ice that glows as the sunshine above ground [...]
Interiors: The new show apartments in the former BBC Television Centre are a lesson in how to do 70s retro decor well January 18, 2019 If you have fond memories of Saturday morning TV in the 1970s – Multi-Coloured Swap Shop and its gaggle of pop-tastic guests trailing in and out of Television Centre – then you’ll be excited to visit the Grade II-listed BBC building in White City, which has been restored and reopened as a smorgasboard of homes, [...]
Opinion: Property raffles are 500 times easier to win than the EuroMillions but they’re not going to go mainstream until they’re transparent January 18, 2019 Property raffles have certainly generated national media column inches over the past few years. There has been a huge buzz around the concept and it’s easy to see why – the thought of owning a multi-million pound home for the small cost of a ticket could turn an ordinary person struggling to get a foot [...]