Too young to see it in the cinema, much like Alien. My earliest memory of James Cameron’s sequel was in the pages of Marvel UK’s Starburst magazine bought with pocket money during a school summer holiday in Essex. I read Alan Dean Foster’s novelisation, played the 8-bit video game on the Commodore 64 before my mum hired the movie on VHS.

Game over! Like Alien, I didn’t move from my seat as gung-ho marines were overwhelmed by the perfect organism…

What are your memories of Aliens? Let me know in the comments below.

“Stranger Things from director brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, now streaming on Netflix, is a mini-series gem fashioned from the cinematic touchstones of Steven Spielberg (Jaws) and John Carpenter (The Thing) and the pages of supernatural author Stephen King.

With a side order of John Hughes, James Cameron and David Cronenberg for good measure. This is a delicious buffet served with the utmost care for film geeks (myself included).

The Netflix series premiered during Star Wars Celebration Europe, and the stars aligned...

The tale begins during a game of Dungeons & Dragons. Shortly thereafter, a child goes missing, and there’s a monster prowling the woods of small-town Indiana in 1983.

Not since JJ Abrams’ Super 8 have I been so enthralled by a Nancy Drew mystery peopled by characters that would have been my childhood friends growing up in suburbia.

A superlative young cast, ably supported by teenage crush Winona Ryder, David Harbour and Matthew Modine, and otherworldly cinematography that perfectly distils the zeitgeist of 1980s suburban Americana; tapping into our nostalgia-heavy era where Star Wars and Ghostbusters once again reign supreme on the silver screen, and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is making a comeback this holiday season.“

What are your memories of Stranger Things? Let me know in the comments below.

The second and final season of Doctor Who on Disney+ ended with the titular Time Lord (Ncuti Gatwa) seemingly hastily regenerating into Rose (Billie Piper) in the wake of a season that was wibbly-wobbly. Sorry, not sorry.

Russell T Davies, the showrunner who had successfully rebooted the beloved BBC sci-fi series in 2005, teased that all would be revealed in a Christmas special in 2026.

In a timey-wimey twist, the BBC has announced the cancellation of the festive special and Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf are no longer attached to the series. The production will now go out to tender. Apple TV is home to prestige sci-fi, and the current TARDIS interior wouldn’t look out of place in Cupertino. Just saying.

The TARDIS has been stuck in a nostalgia loop post-pandemic. Time for a rest? Let me know in the comments below.

The movie began life when Amblin’s Philip Segal took the idea to director Steven Spielberg (Jaws), who ultimately passed on the project. Segal, who had worked on seaQuest DSV, Earth 2 and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, partnered with Universal and Fox.

There was fevered press speculation about spider-like Daleks created with computer-generated imagery (CGI), as seen in Babylon 5 and seaQuest DSV.

In the weeks leading up to its eagerly anticipated premiere, I was scrambling to finish my final year dissertation (should have written about Doctor Who and Star Wars, but that’s a story for another time) and edit my video major for an undergraduate course in BA (Hons) Media Production at Bournemouth University.

The Anglo-American co-production is somewhat of a curiosity decades before Disney+, as it failed to relaunch Doctor Who before Russell T Davies’ successful reboot in 2005. Whilst it was a ratings success on this side of the Atlantic, the Fox Network did not order a full series despite The X-Files’ popularity. However, it gave fans (myself included) Sylvester McCoy’s swansong as the Seventh Doctor and introduced Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor.

McGann channelled H.G. Wells’ Victoriana as the titular Time Lord and has subsequently reprised the role on television and for Big Finish (I’ve never listened to any of the audiobooks).

Eric Roberts, brother of Oscar-winner Julia Roberts, played The Master, which was stipulated for the US market.

That day in 1996 was the first and last time I watched Doctor Who: The Movie! Watching with housemates was a poignant farewell to 3 years of university life. I’m looking forward to watching the remastered movie in 4K UHD on Blu-ray.

What are your memories of watching Doctor Who: The Movie? Let me know in the comments below.

I vividly remember learning the sad news online in the Mac labs at university, just a few days before Doctor Who: The Movie was broadcast on BBC One, which was poignantly the final viewing party with fellow fans and students before finishing my degree.

Back in 1983, I was with my parents at the 20th anniversary celebration and met Jon Pertwee and other cast members. At the time, Longleat House was home to a permanent Doctor Who exhibition, which I’d visited with family in the spring of 1981.

The exhibition was a formative Whovian experience encountering the Doctor’s deadliest foes (from Daleks to Cybermen), and I remember a helpful shop assistant letting me choose a silver Palitoy Talking Dalek (I already owned the more common red variant).

From shaking hands with a Cyberman to watching Terror of the Autons (with Jon Pertwee and cast) and meeting Peter Davison, to a close encounter with a Triffid, I was in geek heaven.

Although I missed out on a souvenir guide, I did pick up a copy of The Doctor Who Technical Manual. Years later, I would discover future friends were there, too.

It was Woodstock for Whovians!

The much-anticipated standalone Star Wars movie set 5 years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, starring Ryan Gosling, Amy Adams, Matt Smith, Mia Goth and Aaron Pierre, doesn’t hit cinemas until 28th May, 2027. This coincides with the 50th anniversary of George Lucas’ space opera.

“I’m in the beautiful sanctity of the edit room,” Levy said at the Breakthrough Prize Ceremony. “We don’t come out until next year, and so it’s a rare movie where I don’t have a release date looming. So I’m in the dark quiet of the edit room, finding the best possible shape for the film.”

From the sound of it, AI will not be a significant tool in finding that shape. “To date, I’ve not incorporated AI in any meaningful way in any phase of my storytelling process, but I have no doubt that in the course of my career we will see its integration,” Levy said.

A prolific director and producer, Levy’s projects have included Stranger Things, Deadpool & Wolverine, Free Guy and The Adam Project.

“To the point that many smarter people than I have made, it’s about integrating these technologies responsibly and with still the primacy of the creative voice and not a potential replacement for that voice because I think that what you get from creative voice and vision is singular and irreplicable, but if we can use these emerging AI capacities to support storytelling in still a kind of creative and human first workflow then I think it’s something to embrace, not fear.”

Regulation is key, Levy said. “I spend a part of every day trying to increase my fluency around the regulatory options surrounding [AI],” he said. “I think it’s going to be essential, but I think to hide our heads in the sand and pretend that it’s not going to be not just an emergent but an essential part of our lives, not just filmmaking lives, [but] lives, I think that would be naive and foolish.”

Are you looking forward to Star Wars: Starfighter? Let me know in the comments below.

Dad initially looked at an Apple II for his business, but went with a Commodore PET (the first computer I saw in person). My earliest memory of using an Apple Macintosh computer was during a work experience week at a Cornwall-based design agency that my dad had hired in 1987. Creative work I’d developed was used in GCSE Art.

As an 8-bit Commodore and Sinclair kid, I was instantly smitten with the Macintosh’s intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). Years earlier, Apple co-founder Jobs visited Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) and saw the future...

In college, I used Macs to design newsletters, albums, and video covers for Media Studies. With student friends, we taught ourselves desktop publishing (DTP), a skill I use to this day.

However, it would be another decade before I owned my first Macintosh computer, a Performa 5200. This all-in-one machine enabled me to create my first website in the era of dial-up internet. MacWorld and MacUser magazines were my gotos before the advent of broadband and social media.

Over the decades, I’ve owned the following Apple devices:

Macintosh Performa 5200

iMac DV SE

LCD iMac G4

iPod classic

iMac Intel Core 2 Duo

Apple AirPort Extreme

iPod touch

iPad 3

Apple AirPort Time Capsule

iPad Pro (2016)

Apple TV 4K

iPhone SE (2020)

27-inch iMac (2020)

iPad Pro (M1)

AirPods

iPhone 16 Pro

iPad Pro (M4)

Sir Jony Ive’s iconic all-in-one iMac design would become a cultural phenomenon, appearing in everything from Jennifer Lopez’s iconic pop promo for If You Had My Love to television series, foreshadowing the Cupertino-based company’s rise, Lazarus-like, under the auspices of the then returning co-founder Jobs, from imminent collapse into the consumer electronics giant we know today.

Without the iMac, there would be no iPod, iPhone or iPad and quite possibly no Apple.

What are your Apple memories? Let me know in the comments below.

“We’re incredibly proud of the ambition, passion, and creativity that went into bringing ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ to life,” CBS Studios and Paramount+ said in a joint statement. “The series introduced audiences to a bold new group of characters, welcomed familiar faces, and expanded the ‘Star Trek’ universe in exciting new ways. We’re grateful to Alex Kurtzman, Noga Landau, Gaia Violo, and the entire cast and crew who pushed storytelling boundaries in the spirit of Gene Roddenberry’s vision. We look forward to sharing the upcoming second and final season with everyone, and continuing to celebrate the cast, crew, and all that was accomplished with this series.”

The cast included Sandro Rosta, Karim Diané, Kerrice Brooks, George Hawkins, Bella Shepard, and Zoë Steiner, along with heavy hitters like Holly Hunter, Paul Giamatti, Gina Yashere, Robert Picardo, and Tig Notaro. Tatiana Maslany even showed up in a guest role.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy the latest Star Trek spin-off series as much as I have! From Jeff Russo's opening theme, which pays homage to Jerry Goldsmith, to a shiny San Fransico and flying robots, it's the most fun and inclusive Star Trek has been since the first season of Star Trek: Discovery.

Series showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau released the letter below to the cast and crew of Starfleet Academy, republished in Variety.

"It’s been my and Noga’s joy and privilege to help carry Gene Roddenberry’s extraordinary vision forward with Starfleet Academy, thanks to the hundreds of hardworking humans who pour every ounce of their talents into the work daily with imagination and reverence. We are in post-production now on what will be the second and final season. We’re so proud of what we’ve accomplished together on this show, and the world will get to see the work of these extraordinary artists when season two airs. We will finish strong.

Whether you’re working on Star Trek or part of the marvel that is Star Trek fandom — its very heart, soul, and conscience —the joy comes from adventuring across boundaries of time, space, and the humanly possible in service to Roddenberry’s transformative vision of the future. That incomparable vision was fueled by an inexhaustible optimism. Star Trek places its bet on the best in human nature. It dares to imagine a society of “infinite diversity in infinite combinations,” free of war, hate, poverty, disease, and repression, and dedicated to the spirit of scientific inquiry and respect for all life, whether carbon or silicon-based, green-skinned or blue.

But make no mistake: Gene Roddenberry wasn’t some starry-eyed dreamer. He was a decorated Army bomber pilot in the Pacific Theater. He had seen first-hand the grim consequences of the worst of human nature. And his vision of the future wasn’t just a promise of hope. It was also a warning. In a fraught, frightening time of intolerance and violence, Star Trek said: Look! We made it! But just barely. First, we had to put all those ancient scourges behind us. It said that what makes us glorious as a species, and gives us hope for the future and the galaxy is inextricably linked to what makes us dangerous to each other, to this one world we presently inhabit, and to ourselves. That dual message—of hope and of warning—isn’t just a pretty dream but a call to action, to think about who we are in a different way.

Please don’t take our word for it. Take Gene’s:

“Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms. […] If we cannot learn to actually enjoy those small differences, to take a positive delight in those small differences between our own kind, here on this planet, then we do not deserve to go out into space and meet the diversity that is almost certainly out there.”

With enduring hope that his vision of the future is possible, for our children, their children, and every future cadet in Starfleet Academy: Live Long and Prosper."

A mix of toxic fandom and media ownership means many of our favourite franchises, including Doctor Who and Star Trek, are facing an uncertain future. Before the announcement, I'd cancelled my annual subscription to Paramount+. Like many, I'm suffering from subscription fatigue amid a cost of living crisis.

Are you disappointed that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has been cancelled? Will you be cancelling Paramount+? Let me know in the comments below.

Pokémon has become one of the biggest global media franchises with toys, an animated series, movies, video games and more.

Personally, whilst I’m not an ardent fan of the franchise, I did enjoy watching the nineties animated series on ITV!

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pokémon GO app garnered even more multi-generational fans with friends and family playing it daily.

Are you a Pokémon fan? Let me know in the comments below.

This is in the shadow of a proposed merger between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery, pending regulatory approval and a hostile bid from Paramount Sundance.

JB Perrette, CEO and president of Global Streaming and Games at Warner Bros. Discovery, said: “After decades of delighting audiences in the UK & Ireland with our remarkable stories and brands, it’s a huge thrill to finally bring it all together on HBO Max, and also offer it directly to all consumers. Starting at just £4.99 per month or £5.99 for our complete entertainment offer – HBO Max brings the most differentiated and best streaming offer to market.”

It’s a complicated rollout as HBO has a storied history with Sky.

Sky Atlantic has been home to Game of Thrones, The Last of Us and many more prestige dramas. That said, if you’re already a Sky or NOW (formerly NOW TV) subscriber, HBO Max will be bundled for free as an added value. Personally, I’m subscribing to a discounted annual NOW Entertainment pass and am looking forward to checking out HBO Max.

HBO Max will attempt to convince viewers to sign up for another subscription in a cost of living crisis, doing battle with the likes of Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+ and Apple TV.

HBO Max will offer 5 plans:

Basic with Ads - £4.99/month

Standard with Ads - £5.99/month

Standard - £9.99/month

Premium - £14.99/month

TNT Sports - £30.99/month

It arrives with the promise of some heavyweight titles and TNT Sports (moving from discovery+). They will include Lanterns this summer and the Harry Potter series next year.

“Launching HBO Max in the UK & Ireland marks a significant moment for viewers here,” added Andrew Georgiou president & managing director for Warner Bros. Discovery UK & Ireland and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe. “HBO Max will offer them their most loved series and movies from HBO, Warner Bros. and DC Studios, alongside premium sports from TNT Sports in the UK, within an outstanding single destination for this great content and strong value proposition. Nowhere else will you be able to get The Pitt, House of the Dragon, Euphoria, Lanterns, Superman, One Battle After Another, as well as the eagerly awaited Harry Potter series, all together.”

The future of HBO Max is uncertain. If Netflix is successful in its bid, the streamer may want to consolidate everything into one app, much like how Disney is migrating Hulu to Disney+.

HBO Max will be available across all major devices, including select phones, tablets, computers, TVs, streaming players, set-top boxes, and game consoles.

Just make sure your device is updated to the latest version when HBO Max launches.

HBO Max will be available for pre-registration on the Apple App Store and Google Play on 12th March.

Will you be subscribing to HBO Max? Let me know in the comments below.

The adventures of a band of freedom fighters battling a corrupt Earth Federation and stumbling upon an ultramodern alien starship, the Liberator, Blake’s 7 was the brainchild of Terry Nation. He was already fêted for creating the Daleks for Doctor Who and the post-apocalyptic series Survivors. The latter made for chilling viewing in lockdown.

Despite a restrictive budget and starting within a week of the original UK cinema release of Star Wars, Blake’s 7 was rarely short of ambition and quickly became a hit, averaging 9.22 million viewers for its first series. Nation had planned for the Daleks to appear in the second series, but this was blocked.

Talk of reboots has percolated for years. Back in 2013, Microsoft planned to bring the beloved sci-fi series to Xbox LIVE! However, Deadline reports a reboot is in the works from Doctor Who and The Last of Us director Peter Hoar.

“The Blake’s 7 story is legendary because they were given the [British police show] Softly, Softly slot that was intended for police drama with a budget intended for one big set and a few location shoots,” said double-BAFTA winner Hoar, whose credits include It’s a Sin and Umbrella Academy. “At the time it felt like it meant something. Those shows got into my veins. I could tell they didn’t have money but I was able to compartmentalize and enjoy the ride knowing that the sets wobbled.”

Hoar compares Blake’s 7 to Disney+ hit Star Wars: Andor, which he thinks is a success not because of its circa-$25 million per hour budget but “because of the integrity, wit and sophistication.”

On the subject of Doctor Who on Disney+.

“I don’t think anybody would doubt the skills at the front line of that show but something went wrong,” he added. “I think there were lots of areas you could point fingers at but ultimately it wasn’t a better show with more money. And that’s a good thing, because we haven’t got the money anymore, nobody has.”

Hoar has opened a "genre-based" production company, Multitude Productions, and has acquired the intellectual property (IP) for the iconic 1970s and 1980s cult sci-fi hit, along with executive Matthew Bouch and producer Jason Haigh-Ellery.

Bouch said: “We’re driven by our passions but also seeing that there is a gap in the market in the UK – particularly with the well-publicized dropping off of Doctor Who – for genre-based British IP.

“We look back at when we were young with a degree of nostalgia but also thinking about the 70s and 80s as we were growing up and the amount of genre material that was available, whether it was Blake’s 7 or the Narnia adaptation. We are looking to the international market and seeing if there is a way of dovetailing that British low-budget sensibility with international markets. We know in the U.S. there’s a big contraction and we all need to think about finding ways to make things more economical.”

Buy the original Blake's 7 series on Amazon (affiliate link).

Until a reboot is down and safe, what are your thoughts on Blake's 7? Let me know in the comments below.

“When it was announced that Kathleen Kennedy was making a “succession plan” as she prepared to leave Lucasfilm and Star Wars, it seemed like there was probably only one person who would fill her shoes. Now, technically, there are two, but yes, he’s one of them.

That would be Dave Filoni. A new report from the reliable Puck News says that Filoni is about to be tapped as co-president to run the creative side of Lucasfilm, ie. all of Star Wars. His fellow co-president would be Lynwen Brennan, who would be on the executive side. Filoni is currently the chief creative officer of Lucasfilm, while Brennan is general manager. But for the big moves, it seems it will fall to Filoni.

Kathleen Kennedy is often painted as a villain for greenlighting the Star Wars projects that fans have not liked in the Disney era. Though few may realize that she was also the one pushing for a show like Andor, back when that seemed like a long shot.

The current state of Disney Star Wars is so scattered that it’s hard to even know what would happen under Filoni. Ahsoka is the only Disney+ show confirmed to even be coming back, with everything else either cancelled, finished or a one-off. The big return to Star Wars movies is a spin-off of a TV show. After that, there are more potentially interesting projects like Ryan Gosling’s Starfighter and the James Mangold-directed Dawn of the Jedi, which still exists at this point, with a graveyard of other cancelled Star Wars films behind it.”

The Mandalorian and Grogu hit the big screen on 22nd May, and Ahsoka season two is coming later this year on Disney+. For over half a decade, Star Wars has been on the small screen with animated and live-action spin-off series on Disney+. Will The Mandalorian and Grogu be more than a feature-length episode that should have been released on Disney+, making way for Star Wars: Starfighter to blast onto the big screen for the 50th anniversary of the franchise in 2027?

What are your thoughts on the succession at Lucasfilm, which has yet to be officially confirmed? Let me know in the comments below.

I hope you are well and staying safe. I have Twix to celebrate the void between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. Enjoying leftovers and watching classic BBC festive specials on iPlayer.

See you in 2026!

Gil Gerard, who played Buck Rogers in the 25th Century on television for two seasons, has passed away following a brief battle with cancer.

His wife, Janet, shared the sad news on a social media post. She wrote: “Early this morning Gil - my soulmate - lost his fight with a rare and viciously aggressive form of cancer. From the moment when we knew something was wrong to his death this morning was only days. No matter how many years I got to spend with him it would have ever been enough. Hold the ones you have tightly and love them fiercely.”

She shared that the star had prepared a final message for his devoted fans (myself included).

“If you are reading this, then Janet has posted it as I asked her to,” the moving message begins.

“My life has been an amazing journey. The opportunities I’ve had, the people I’ve met and the love I have given and received have made my 82 years on the planet deeply satisfying.

“My journey has taken me from Arkansas to New York to Los Angeles, and finally, to my home in North Georgia with my amazing wife, Janet, of 18 years. It’s been a great ride, but inevitably one that comes to a close as mine has.

“Don’t waste your time on anything that doesn’t thrill you or bring you love. See you out somewhere in the cosmos.”

During the summer of 1980, to give my parents some respite from the day-to-day of my rehabilitation following a life-changing head injury in primary school, we holidayed for a fortnight in the Isles of Scilly. I befriended the children of a Belgian ambassador due to our mutual Buck Rogers fandom: I spied them playing with Mego action figures and Corgi die-cast toys. We wanted to pilot Buck Rogers’ Starfighter and had a childhood crush on Wilma Deering (Erin Gray).

What are your memories of watching Buck Rogers in the 25th Century? Let me know in the comments below.

This is the Star Wars movie fans are looking for.

Over the summer, Jurassic World took an ageing franchise and reinvigorated it into box office gold. Now, the granddaddy of them all enjoys a yuletide homecoming without equal following a ten-year absence.

Time enough for the prequels to fade, a change of ownership and fans to focus on events following Return of the Jedi over thirty years ago. Marvel Comics couldn’t satiate my yearning to see beloved heroes in new adventures on the big screen. What happened to Luke Skywalker and his friends after the defeat of Darth Vader and the Emperor?

Director JJ Abrams had already captured the magic of Steven Spielberg in Super 8, and now George Lucas’ saga sees him graduate into the top flight of Hollywood directors.

Fresh from rebooting Star Trek. Abrams’ supernatural grasp of the mythology of the original trilogy delivers spectacularly in a superlative sequel, brushing shoulders with The Empire Strikes Back during its bleakest moments and equalling A New Hope.

In Abrams’ galactic odyssey, we witness Kylo Ren’s (Adam Driver) rage surpassing sulky Anakin Skywalker in the prequel trilogy and Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) reluctance to fathom her mysterious past as she befriends Finn (John Boyega), a disenfranchised First Order Stormtrooper, and leaves behind life as a scavenger on the desert planet of Jakku after rescuing BB-8. The spherical droid newcomer is truly a marvel to behold and takes its rightful place alongside R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Amidst the Arthurian storytelling and beguiling vistas shot on Kodak film, John Williams’ sweeping soundtrack for The Force Awakens is triumphant. More than once, it prompted bittersweet feelings of nostalgia at seeing Star Wars for the first time with my late mother. A transcendental experience in the wake of childhood trauma in 1977.

Star Wars hadn’t opened in the UK when I was admitted into children’s hospital following a serious head injury. But, I remember the American neurosurgeon - who saved my life alongside a talented team - saying I had to promise him I’d see Star Wars and gave me a poster of R2-D2 and C-3PO as a parting gift! The promise was kept.

What of Luke Skywalker’s fate? That’s for fans to discover for themselves. The old and new cast shine with charisma, and Daisy Ridley, beautiful and effervescent, carries the movie with an aplomb belying her freshman acting career. The sight of a squadron of X-Wings was met with whoops and cries of delight.

I laughed, cheered and cried watching my most cherished film franchise soar once more. The emotional stakes are raised in a galaxy far, far away...

Thank you for an incredible Christmas gift, JJ!

On Friday, Disney announced the original theatrical release of Star Wars will return to cinema screens in time for the 50th anniversary of George Lucas’ space opera franchise in 2027. This follows an exclusive screening with the blessing of Lucasfilm of a newly restored version at the British Film Institute (BFI) earlier this year.

Star Wars will be followed by Star Wars: Starfighter, directed by Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine) and starring Ryan Gosling (Barbie) and Matt Smith (Doctor Who).

Are you looking forward to seeing the original Star Wars back on the big screen in 2027? Let me know in the comments below.

Netflix has prevailed in a bidding war with Paramount and Comcast, offering a $5.8 billion breakup fee to secure exclusive negotiations. Warner Bros. Discovery owns franchises such as Batman, Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, as well as the streaming services HBO Max and Discovery+.

AOL infamously bought Warner Bros. before the dot-com bubble burst in the early noughties. This is a statement of intent from the streamer, but it will likely result in HBO Max being shuttered, subscription fees increasing, and less competition.

HBO Max is due to launch in March 2026 in the UK. A longstanding exclusivity deal between Warner Bros. Discovery and Sky (owned by Comcast) ends this year. Sky and NOW customers (myself included) will get HBO Max’s ad-supported tier at no extra cost when HBO Max launches.

However, will we see future seasons of House of the Dragon and The Last of Us only on Netflix? For decades, Sky has relied on imported shows to drive subscriptions, but is now looking to buy ITV to bolster its content.

What, if any, impact will this have on the future of cinema?

Cinema attendances have not returned to pre-pandemic levels as consumers favour convenience over shared in-person experiences. Personally, I haven’t been to the cinema since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and, as a confessed cinephile, I’m guilty of favouring streaming services at home.

What are your thoughts on Netflix acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery? Is it good for consumers and creatives alike in an era dominated by artificial intelligence (AI)? Will it spell the demise of cinema? Let me know in the comments below.

Christmas 2005, I vividly remember walking into Virgin Megastore and seeing gamers playing Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie!

A few years later, in 2012, I won an Xbox 360 S in a LOVEFiLM competition. It quickly became my favourite console of the generation, and I discovered the Mass Effect trilogy.

What are your Xbox 360 memories? Let me know in the comments below.

The playwright captivated the hearts of audiences for more than six decades with work that explored philosophical and political themes. He received many honours and accolades throughout his career, including being knighted by the late Queen for his services to literature in 1997.

Stoppard worked on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. As a fan of Lucasfilm franchises, I had no idea.

Pixar’s computer-generated movie masterpiece, directed by John Lasseter and distributed by Disney, would weave itself into the fabric of my final year as an undergraduate studying BA (Hons) Media Production.

A friend, who was studying computer graphics, invited me (I cheekily snuck in) to attend an early preview screening of Toy Story before its widespread release in the UK.

It all starts with a Tin Toy!

It was preceded by a Q&A with a university professor who discussed the influence of Disney’s Tron and the Lucasfilm Graphics Group, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs bought from George Lucas after he was fired from Apple and where he would triumphantly return a few years later and leave a lasting legacy. Toy Story’s genesis can be found in Tin Toy, an animated short film featuring the titular Tinny trying to escape from Billy, a human baby. That nascent narrative thread was developed into a buddy comedy.

Steve Jobs sold Pixar to Disney before his untimely death in 2011. The studio that once dwarfed the House of Mouse is but a brand alongside Marvel and Star Wars on Disney+. However, Toy Story’s cultural impact cannot be overstated.

What are your memories of Toy Story? Let me know in the comments below.