I Am A Swede

James Hooton (Sam Dingle) celebrates 25 years on the show, and does it by posting a picture of himself with a photo of Amos and Mr. Wilks..... https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/emmerdale/a30470970/emmerdale-cast-james-hooton-major-milestone-sam-dingle/ Why? Sam is not particularly connected to the Woolpack, and both Amos and Henry were gone from Emmerdale before he turned up. And it goes without saying that Sam isn't in the same league as those two Emmerdale icons. Furthermore, the fact that this useless character has lasted 25 years is not something to celebrate...quite the opposite in my opinion.

Bianca Andreescu has withdrawn from the Australian Open https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/51075724

Apparently Emmerdale beat both Coronation Street and EastEnders (and Doctor Who) in the ratings for New Year's Day. https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/emmerdale/a30378020/new-years-day-2020-ratings-emmerdale-coronation-street-eastenders-doctor-who/ But is it really anything to celebrate? Only 5 million viewers....

Oh no Loved him as Edward in "Upstairs, Downstairs" His monologue about watching his friend die in the trenches of WWI in the "Another Year" episode was a particular highlight.

BAFTA Nominations: Best film 1917 The Irishman Joker Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood Parasite Outstanding British film 1917 Bait For Sama Rocketman Sorry We Missed You The Two Popes Leading actress Jessie Buckley - Wild Rose Scarlett Johansson - Marriage Story Saoirse Ronan - Little Women Charlize Theron - Bombshell Renée Zellweger - Judy Leading actor Leonardo DiCaprio - Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood Adam Driver - Marriage Story Taron Egerton - Rocketman Joaquin Phoenix - Joker Jonathan Pryce - The Two Popes Supporting actress Laura Dern - Marriage Story Scarlett Johansson - Jojo Rabbit Florence Pugh - Little Women Margot Robbie - Bombshell Margot Robbie - Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood Supporting actor Tom Hanks - A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Anthony Hopkins - The Two Popes Al Pacino - The Irishman Joe Pesci - The Irishman Brad Pitt - Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood Director Sam Mendes - 1917 Martin Scorsese - The Irishman Todd Phillips - Joker Quentin Tarantino - Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood Bong Joon-Ho - Parasite EE Rising Star Award (voted for by the public) Awkwafina Jack Lowden Kaitlyn Dever Kelvin Harrison Jr Micheal Ward Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer Bait - Mark Jenkin, Kate Byers, Linn Waite For Sama - Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts Maiden - Alex Holmes Only You - Harry Wootliff Retablo - Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio Film not in the English language The Farewell For Sama Pain and Glory Parasite Portrait of a Lady On Fire Documentary American Factory Apollo 11 Diego Maradona For Sama The Great Hack Animated film Frozen 2 Klaus A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Toy Story 4 Original screenplay Booksmart - Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Katie Silberman Knives Out - Rian Johnson Marriage Story - Noah Baumbach Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino Parasite - Han Jin Won, Bong Joon-ho Adapted screenplay The Irishman - Steven Zaillian Jojo Rabbit - Taika Waititi Joker - Todd Phillips, Scott Silver Little Women - Greta Gerwig The Two Popes - Anthony McCarten Original score 1917 - Thomas Newman Jojo Rabbit - Michael Giacchino Joker - Hildur Guđnadóttir Little Women - Alexandre Desplat Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - John Williams Cinematography 1917 - Roger Deakins The Irishman - Rodrigo Prieto Joker - Lawrence Sher Le Mans '66 - Phedon Papamichael The Lighthouse - Jarin Blaschke Costume design The Irishman - Christopher Peterson, Sandy Powell Jojo Rabbit - Mayes C Rubeo Judy - Jany Temime Little Women - Jacqueline Durran Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood - Arianne Phillips Editing The Irishman - Thelma Schoonmaker Jojo Rabbit - Tom Eagles Joker - Jeff Groth Le Mans '66 - Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood - Fred Raskin Production design 1917 - Lee Sandales The Irishman - Bob Shaw, Regina Graves Jojo Rabbit - Ra Vincent, Nora Sopková Joker - Mark Friedberg, Kris Moran Once upon a Time… In Hollywood - Barbara Ling, Nancy Haigh Make-up and hair 1917 - Naomi Donne Bombshell - Vivian Baker, Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan Joker - Kay Georgiou, Nicki Ledermann Judy - Jeremy Woodhead Rocketman - Lizzie Yianni Georgiou Sound 1917 - Scott Millan, Oliver Tarney, Rachael Tate, Mark Taylor, Stuart Wilson Joker - Tod Maitland, Alan Robert Murray, Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic Le Mans '66 - David Giammarco, Paul Massey, Steven A. Morrow, Donald Sylvester Rocketman - Matthew Collinge, John Hayes, Mike Prestwood Smith, Danny Sheehan Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - David Acord, Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood Best special visual effects 1917 - Greg Butler, Guillaume Rocheron, Dominic Tuohy Avengers: Endgame - Dan Deleeuw, Dan Sudick The Irishman - Leandro Estebecorena, Stephane Grabli, Pablo Helman The Lion King - Andrew R Jones, Robert Legato, Elliot Newman, Adam Valdez Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, Neal Scanlan, Dominic Tuohy Best casting Joker - Shayna Markowitz Marriage Story - Douglas Aibel, Francine Maisler Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood - Victoria Thomas The Personal History of David Copperfield - Sarah Crowe The Two Popes - Nina Gold British short film Azaar Goldfish Kamali Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) The Trap British short animation Grandad Was A Romantic In Her Boots The Magic Boat

Well, it is New Year's Eve after all.....

Sad, hilarious, and (which is probably even more sad) true!

That's true. It is sad that it has come to this.... But at the same time it almost feels like it was inevitable. Trump's behaviour and general attitude was going to land him in trouble sooner or later, and now that it has I will enjoy his misery.

I know it's highly unlikely that Trump will be removed from office, but the fact that he's being impeached is still delightful. And the absolute best part of it is that it is making him so angry. That thought just gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.....

Kelvin Fletcher (ex-Andy Sugden) won this year's Strictly Come Dancing https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50802309?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment_and_arts&link_location=live-reporting-story

Today it's 80 years since the world premiere of the most classic of all classic films..... "Gone With the Wind"

^^ Sandie Such a waste that they never brought her back to the show. When Jack died it would have been perfectly natural for Robert to try to find his long-lost older sister, and so Sandie could have been re-introduced when Robert returned to Emmerdale. It's amazing that they just let Sandie disappear like this, and that she's never been in touch with Robert (that we know of at least). After the deaths of Pat and Jackie you'd think she would be keen to stay in contact with her little brother....

They simply have to do something. Unless they do what "The Bold and the Beautiful" has done with Sally Spectra after Darlene Conley's death and have her live on off-screen. But Annie has been too important for that treatment. They re-named the village Emmerdale after the plane crash in honour of Annie and the Sugden's for heaven's sake!

I know it won't happen, but I wish they would take this opportunity to bring some old characters back to bolster the show. First and foremost, my old dream of re-introducing the Skilbecks. Bring Matt and Dolly back for Annie's funeral together with Sam and his family. They can then settle in Emmerdale, while Matt and Dolly can visit occasionally. And bring either Kathy or Sandie back as well (or why not both? ), with families. (And get rid of some Dingles!!)