CHRIS SEARLE picks his favourite albums of the year

GEOFF BOTTOMS appreciates the local touch brought to a production of Dickens’s perennial classic

by Miriam Spillane

DENNIS BROE waded through 89 TV series this year, and picks the wheat from the chaff

MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production whose design and cartoonish acting overwhelms the close scrutiny of characters

SUSAN DARLINGTON enjoys the raucous familiarity of a traditional topsy-turvy pantomime

RON JACOBS introduces the latest novel by the best writer of US working-class fiction writing today

CHRIS SEARLE recommends an upcoming concert by the leading exponent of cross-cultural music-making in Britain

Artist of the Year is, without a doubt, BC Camplight. Meanwhile the touring started in earnest, details here 

GORDON PARSONS relishes an adaptation of Dahl’s children’s tale, but issues a warning for the over 11-year-olds

DAVID RENTON recommends a books that explores the ways in which disabled people are made to feel both of and not part of this world