The new interview with Richard talking about I Am Urban is now available on BBC Radio 5 Live. (Start at 1:04:04)

Elis and John things — constantly saying ‘John, I love you.’ ‘I love you too, man’ at the randomest of moments

Mathew Baynton on Afternoon Edition for BBC Radio 5 Live

President Biden Confess "American Democracy facing its biggest threat", here are key points of his 2022 primetime speech.

President Biden Confess “American Democracy facing its biggest threat”, here are key points of his 2022 primetime speech.

With a background of a red-blue mixed dark theme, President Biden delivered his mid-term target campaign speech. From the political scoop, the staging was showcasing the President’s power some analysts say. With the fully-lit independent hall where the declaration of independence was signed as the backdrop and a marine band playing a patriotic tune off to one side, President Biden and first lady…

View On WordPress

Audio 🎧 from BBC Sounds 🔊 ON

Caitríona Balfe, from Outlander, is married to an amazing fella called Tony McGill, who’s a very good pal of mine… Now, Tony McGill manages a band you will know called The Fratellis… So that’s what links Outlander to great music, Lauren Lyle, and me today”. — Gordon Smart

Twitter

Remember… Caitríona Balfe is married to an amazing fella called Tony McGill. — Gordon Smart, BBC

Brian’s Notes: The interview is on Patrick Kielty’s show, but stand-in Gordon Smart conducts the interview. Gordon is a Scot, married to a Scot. Tony was never The Fratellis’ producer. He is currently one of the band’s managers. Lauren did not mention Caitríona prior to Gordon’s anecdote. Lauren did respond to the anecdote. #FactsAreFun

Nowhere On The Internet

… or the “Just me, then” list. okay, so I keep intending to start a thread of things that I’ve looked for on the internet because I remember them but no one else seems to at all. I thought other folk could add theirs if they wanted.

First, in 2002 (I think?) radio 5 live in the uk ran a competition for a football song for the England football team. And there was one which went,

“Sven Goran Erikson

isn’t my buddy he’s my chum

Sven Goran Erikson

is a very very very nice man.

He’s ice cold, he’s sophisticated

full of Scandinavian charm…”

And I can’t remember the rest but no one anywhere on the internet even seems to remember that much, so… Just me, then.

Love tuning a physical radio, great way to waste a morning

'Voice of Formula 1' Jack Nicholls is sacked from his BBC Radio 5 Live commentary role

'Voice of Formula 1' Jack Nicholls is sacked from his BBC Radio 5 Live commentary role after claims of inappropriate touching from three people Jack Nicholls has been sacked by IMG, who provide commentary for BBC 5 Live It comes after allegations of inappropriate behaviour at Formula E championship By Alexander Butler Published: 04:10 EDT, 17 June 2023 | Updated: 04:10 EDT, 17 June 2023 The voice of Formula 1 has been sacked from his commentator role with BBC Radio 5 Live following three allegations of inappropriate behaviour. Commentator Jack Nicholls has been axed from the role after three allegations of 'inappropriate touching' were made against him to a different employer in March this year. He was dismissed by F1's competitor Formula E in May when an investigation into his behaviour was carried out by the championship series.   But Nicholls, who combined his role with Formula E alongside commentating on F1 races for 5 Live, has now lost his job with IMG, who provide radio F1 coverage for BBC Radio 5 Live. Talking about his dismissal from Formula E, Nicholls said he was 'disappointed' with the decision but 'respected' it. Commentator Jack Nicholls (pictured) has been axed from the role after three allegations of 'innapropriate touching' were made against him in March this year He was dismissed by F1's competitor Formula E in May when an investigation into his behaviour was carried out by the championship series Advertisement An IMG spokesman told the Independent: 'IMG has decided to part ways with Jack Nicholls in light of the incidents that led to his departure from Formula E.' One of the alleged victims is thought to have been in a junior colleague of Nicholls with whom he was in a relationship at the time - breaking Formula E's conduct rules. The other two complaints against the presenter, who also presents shows on Netflix, were reportedly made by witnesses. The incidents are said to have taken place across the world, including in Rome and Cape Town. Formula E told MailOnline: 'Formula E can confirm that an investigation was carried out in response to complaints of inappropriate behaviour received about Jack Nicholls.  'Following this investigation, Jack Nicholls' contract to provide race commentary was terminated.' The incidents are said to have taken place across the world, including in Rome and Cape Town Nicholls has been a huge part of the Formula E electric racing series since it was launched in 2014 and is a well-known voice to many fans across the world. Alongside his role at Formula E, he has been a commentator for BBC Formula 1 for nine years and in 2019 carried out the same role on the Netflix documentary series Drive To Survive. After losing his job at Formula E at the end of May, Nicholls said: 'Although disappointed with the decision, I respect it and accept why it was taken. 'I want to take full responsibility for what I did and apologise unreservedly for a couple of isolated incidents that has made those concerned feel uncomfortable. 'I never meant any harm and I am committed to making amends and to be more mindful of my behaviour in future.' Share or comment on this article: 'Voice of Formula 1' Jack Nicholls is sacked from his BBC Radio 5 Live commentary role via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Tom Sturridge on becoming Morpheus

What is a dream if not the most lucid articulation of our true selves… He knows how everyone feels … and is in fact the most extraordinarily empathetic being but is managing this unstable thing which is the collective unconscious of the universe, this incredibly dangerous thing, just all of our feelings, and to manage that he has to push it all down into his belly and hide it because the consequences are disastrous…And I wanted to play someone who had that struggle. 

(BFI) 

There’s a line in the book where John Dee is driving with Rosemary and he says to her: “Dreams are real but they’re made of viewpoints, images, memories, puns and lost hopes” and I think my assembly of the pieces of the character is not dissimilar to that 

(Headliners podcast, BBC Radio 5 live) 

Richard will be talking about his role as Chop in I Am Urban tomorrow, 5th February, at 2pm on BBC Radio 5 Live.

MCR live in Nashville 8/23/22 // Mikey Way’s interview with BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat 5/20/20

Happy 90th Birthday Scottish actor David McCallum.

Born as David Keith McCallum, Jr on this day 19933 in Maryhill, Glasgow, the second of two sons of Dorothy Dorman, a cellist, and orchestral violinist David McCallum Sr. When he was three, his family moved to London for his father to play as concertmaster in the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Early in the Second World War, he was evacuated back to Scotland, where he lived with his mother at Gartocharn by Loch Lomond.

McCallum won a scholarship to University College School, a boys' independent school in Hampstead, London, where, encouraged by his parents to prepare for a career in music, he played the oboe.In 1946 he began doing boy voices for the BBC radio repertory company. Also involved in local amateur drama, at age 17, he appeared as Oberon in an open-air production of A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Play and Pageant Union. He left school at age 18 and was conscripted, joining the 3rd Battalion the Middlesex Regiment, which was seconded to the Royal West African Frontier Force.In March 1954 he was promoted to Lieutenant. After leaving the army he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (also in London), where Joan Collins was a classmate.

David McCallum’s acting career has spanned six decades; however, these days he is best known for his starring role on the police procedural NCIS as medical examiner as Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard. I first really remember McCallum for his role in another US show, The Invisible Man which ran for 13 episodes in the 70's. McCallum by then was a veteran of many TV and Film roles, starting in the 50's including Our Mutual Friend and The Eustace Diamonds, in the 60's he was in several ITV Playhouse shows before moving across the Atlantic to take roles in The Outer Limits and his big break as Illya Kuryakin in several incantations of The Man from Uncle.

His most notable films were The Greatest Story Ever Told as

Judas Iscariot and of course Ashley-Pitt 'Dispersal' in The Great Escape.

As well as the aforementioned Invisible Man in the 70's he took time to pop back over to our shores to star in two quality series, as Flt. Lt. Simon Carter in Colditz and Alan Breck Stewart in an adaption of Robert Louis Stevenson's, Kidnapped.

The 80's saw him team up with the lovely Joanna Lumley in Sapphire & Steel and several guest roles in the likes of The A Team, Hart to Hart and Murder, She Wrote as well as a one off reprise of Illya in the TV movie The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair.

The 90's saw David in Cluedo and Trainer on our TV screens over here and American science-fiction series VR-5 in the states..

During the last 20 years or so he has been in the kids TV show, Ben 10: Omniverse as the voice of Professor Paradox and of course Donald Horatio "Ducky" Mallard in over 350 episodes of the popular NCIS.

David has been married twice. He married his first wife Jill Ireland in 1957. They met on the set of the movie Hell Drivers. Together, they had two sons and a daughter, Paul, Jason and Valentine, with Jason being the only one who was adopted. In 1963, David introduced Jill to his co-star on The Great Escape, Charles Bronson, and she left David and married Charles in 1968. In 1967, David married Katherine Carpenter and they have two children together, a son Peter and a daughter, Sophie. He and Katherine currently live in New York.

In NCIS since 2018, Ducky, played by McCallum, has appeared in fewer episodes. avid McCallum explained that appearing in fewer episodes will allow him to see more of his family, which includes his wife, children, six grandsons, and their cat, Nickie. According to IMDB he has chalked up an amazing 457 appearances in the show, morethan anyother character in the series.

here is a list of what was in this show, and in what ways they updated/changed the pieces of music they played, and what they never played before. with a dash of commentery:

i am the doctor is the first track, neat, they did the Proms version, which combines the Pandorica speach theme right at the end

all the strange strange creatures, which yeah another Proms staple, it had a few touches of fresh violins in the end we did not hear before

they did a suite for the entire classic who themes they did play that night, apperently the two people behaind the rediophonic workshop were there to play it as well! that's neat, the 60s cyberman theme, (i love it dearly, got obsessed with it pretey recently lol), they also did some stuff that i would not know to recognize if there is anything new about them: the sea devils theme, the city of death, and the 5 doctors! the same classic who themes they played i the proms 2013, either way they sound very nice, the orchestra really nicely blends in with the syntonizer and it feels like a loving hug.

oooh and they have a mini interview with mark and peter from the radiophonic workshop!

Abigail's Song (Silence Is All You Know) is very neat as well, no changes but its very nice. and they dedicated the piece to Michael Gambon, that's sweet

omg Steven Moffet hello, i did not remember seeing him on the cast list. they are using the season 4 intro as like an in between piece to welcome guests on stage by the way, his interview in nice but short, mostly talking in short about his time as a show runner and the diffrence between Matt and Peter.

sylvester mcCoy is here in the audiance apperently!

This is Galiffray is next, pretty standard but again beutifully played

the long song is next, no child singer, the same singer as Abagail's song as well, but gosh!! they included in it the part of the theme of this song that played when 11 regenerated?? and the new singing then payerd over it. it is the same theme part that played when the actual speech of the long song played, in front of the living planet, but without the speech itself it really takes you back to his regeneration in my option, they then layerd the singing part over it in a very nice harmony that made me tear up 😭 . once again just like they did in the proms 2013, but this version feels very updated

the companions suite, they went Rose - Amy, which sad no clara, bill or any other companion, but its nice to hear those themes again, also Martha's theme got a little bit more Wind Instruments and violins then usual! which extended it a little and that was very nice. it also felt like Donna's theme was a little bit quieter then usual, they also combined Amy's theme little starting notes to fuze organicly into the theme itself, the xylophone very imbeded into the theme instead of it standing out like in earlier performances. and gave it a little bit of extra notes right at the end.

Emily Cook interview! she apperently played in the orcestra in the show as well with the saxophone. and talking about the doctor who lockdown project! (i cannot believe i never knew about this thing's existance??? holy shit,)

Doomsday, had a fancy and really funky gaiter solo, much similer to when it was preformed at the proms in 2008, but this time its very distinctive, not playing along singing at all, just pure gaiter goodness, really enjoyable

Vale Decem was really funky! nothing new but as bombastic as ever, screaming its way to your ears

Am i a good man!! very nice to see a Peter theme finally making its way to the fold, though a lot of them were preformed at Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular 2015, it was a much smaller scale as to the proms and this show is definitly bigger, god i used to be so obsessed with this themeee its not even funny, the version is very similer to there and you can reallly feel the drums punping at the start and its really energetic

omg twice upon a time?? damm, actual music released from something past season 9??? insane about this actually, oh i have never heard this before, its so gentle and remenicit of am i a good man in such a beautiful way, giving them theme a call back with emotinal and more action based end, it also adds the known and notable singer and some stuff from rtd era doctor theme?? and some funky violins from i am the doctor?? all leading to a fine finish?? i am in shock and aw. its like a finishing theme from Marry Gold to his era of the show. damm (if you are worried about The Shepherd's Boy, that will come later!)

a chris chibnall and Segun Akinola interview! Chris talking about the scrutiny he got for his era, and excitment about the whole thing, and Segun Akinola talking about the stress of the job and the freedom he got. THEY ARE ALL SO EXCITED FOR THE FACT THAT HIS THEMES FOR DOCTOR WHO ARE FOR THE FIRST TIME BEING PREFORMED AND I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT IT AS WELL HOLY SHIT

FINALLY the woman who fell to earth suite! confirmed to have: the woman who fell to earth, spyfall, power of the doctor, and a few suprises?? 👀 god i am once again becoming emotinal, i love 13's theme so much. the spyfall theme is so recognizable for its bond influence and so fun!! 13 era loves will know a lot more then me on the rest of it but god its so fun. DEMONS OF THE PUNJAB!! TRADITINAL INDIAN MUSIC WITH A FANTASTIC SINGER, god i wish we could watch this visualy. 13s regeneration theme is so GOOD IM CRYING, what can i even say, they didn't have the libraty of changes as this was the first and might be the only preformance of these themes, as little changes as possible for what i've noticed, but still, what a rollercoster of emotions

The Life of Sunday (Ruby's Theme) ...oh? piano? a lone and qiuet piano? a quiet and sad sounding theme? oh it expands! omg the slowely building violins?? the violins are truly the stars of this evening, and then the hopeful theme ends and now the violins are not celebrating the piano, they are moving towards a sad but nice main part. oh we are jumping forwad a little! oh wow, this is truly like a valce. the piano is the star but to what end? its slightly hopeful but very mournful existance

a lot of the versions had a little bit of a rytham change in most of the peices, little bits where you would think "oh is it out of rythem?" but no, its just a slight change in tempo, i guess to make the versions played here to stand out a little.

Marry Gold interview! hello! omg its so weird to hear his voice again. talking about his new era and coming back to who.

Fifteen, WHAT THE HELL THIS IS STARTING LIKE A SUPERHERO THEME?? oooh we are leading to an action based middle, the bassons are controling the theme! the trumpets!! its bloody danceable!! i am stimming all over the room! its fucking danceable!! it feels very action based very much like i am the doctor, a lot of rising violins, usually singeling hope, this feels like... such a fresh and new doctor. but it doesn;t sound... excited, it feels like a man on the run, it has a very clear dessperation going in, and i am neglecting to find any quiet moment if and they exist at all. the rising of the hope comes very sparadicly, much like Ruby's . it feels like they are contredicting each other simply by nature, but both of them are constantly searching for hope and i guess happines? accept he feels like he is searching for... quiet, peace, DAMM i gotta relisten to this to get more understanding of it

russel t interview! ok talking about his his history with who and coming back, mostly about appreciating the music in the show overoll

The Shepherd's Boy!!! FIRST TIME PREFORMING. god i am emotional once again, you can clearly hear the diffrent instruments individually at the start, the violins are lovely the chelos and everything else is really beautifully building up itself, the drums. the choir! all rising! they added the chior to the part right before the end!! added chior overoll andmakin it much more stand out as opposed to the soundtrack version. the drums were eceptinal!! in all of peter's era music. god its great

Doctor Who Theme (2023 version), lets go! the pianos! the quiet violins!! people have pointed out its similer to the movie middle eight and that's very true, the piano is truly the star of this theme and it shows!(edited) i am buzzing this was as great and better then i expected

Getty

Note: Brian formatted all text in Italics

Outlander star Caitriona Balfe's husband's link with iconic Scottish band resurfaces

Tony McGill manages the Fratellis, the iconic Scottish band best known for their worldwide hit Chelsea Dagger, and is also good friends with broadcaster Gordon Smart.

Outlander star Caitriona Balfe's is so in love with Scotland due to her role in the smash-hit series that she is happily married to a Scotsman as well.

Tony McGill has been married to the Irish actress since August 2019 and recently welcomed a baby boy, whom the Claire Fraser actress was carrying while filming season six of Outlander.

But the Scots music producer's career has been kept under wraps due to the pair's very private life. He is known to be a musician and also owns a bar in London.

And another aspect of his social life was thrust to prominence late last week thanks to a radio interview involving Outlander star Lauren Lyle and broadcaster Gordon Smart.

He was covering for Irish comedian Patrick Kielty on his Saturday morning BBC Radio 5 Live show when they discussed the Scottish Six Degrees of Separation to link both the actress and Mr Smart.

Stazplay

It was discovered that the former Scottish Sun editor is actually very good friends with Mr McGill and mentioned that he manages iconic rock band The Fratellis.

The band is best known for their tune Chelsea Dagger which has been adopted by fans of the Scotland National Football Team and is often belted out at Hampden.

He was chatting to Ms Lyle about both Outlander and her new show, Karen Pirie, which is based on detective novels written by Val McDermid.

And the actress was describing how delighted she was that the drama had been given a second season by STV and that she was now being recognised in the street for two of her characters, with Marsali being the other one.

She said: "It's been received so well and even when the first episode came out I went into ITV and the receptionist went 'oh I love the show by the way' and it was suddenly such a weird thing that I was starting to get recognised for it straight away.

The Fratellis (PR pic as per Scottish Daily Express)

"I'm always recognised for Outlander, especially when I'm in Scotland. If American fans are over and they see Marsali walking down the streets of Edinburgh, they absolutely fall apart, are beside themselves.

"It must be amazing to have this show you are so passionate about and then see one of the characters, it's been really brilliant to get to do it again."

This prompted Mr Smart to put forward an "amazing bit of music trivia" as he labelled it a "ridiculous six degrees of separation." He said: "People might not know but Caitriona Balfe from Outlander is married to an amazing fella called Tony McGill who is a very good pal of mine.

"Now, Tony McGill — for anyone thinking why's he mentioning this, it's Scottish nonsense — Tony McGill manages a band you will know called the Fratellis. So that's what links Outlander to great music, Lauren Lyle to me today, and of course the much beloved Martin Compston who in Vigil for about 7 seconds."

Mr McGill and Ms Balfe first went public in 2015 on social media and were later photographed attending the 2016 ceremony for Jodie Foster's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Scottish Daily Express

The Italics: 1. He’s a manager, not a producer. 2. If Tony is a musician or currently owns a bar in London, it’s news to me. 3. Not sure what the writer means by “public in 2015 on social media.” Brian’s blog includes a video and three photos all posted on Instagram in 2014.

IMDb

Remember… I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation between us and everyone else on this planet. The President of the United States, a gondolier in Venice, just fill in the names. I find it extremely comforting that we're so close. I also find it like Chinese water torture, that we're so close because you have to find the right six people to make the right connection... I am bound, you are bound, to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people. — Ouisa Kittredge (character played by Stockard Channing in John Guare’s 1993 film Six Degrees of Separation)

Listened to BBC Radio 4, it was really David Gandy´s interview they had. BUT at the end where Sam is, he is talking that he has been in República de Chile, he never mentioned when it was. But I wonder if it was there he was when he was away from social media some week ago. Maybe it was Chile and not Nepal.

No, I think it was already before his OL days started. Could well have been with the Batman Live World tour. I'm not sure, couldn't find Chile, but saw an article from around March 2012 in Brasil.

Anyway, not recent, and no, his timezone indicated much more like GMT-5 to -7 , Chile is GMT-3

Just for fun, a little video of Batman Live World Tour

A Potted History of The Princess of Wales and the Early Years

I had an idea, at about 6 o'clock this evening, to go through everything Catherine has done with the Early Years before tomorrow and this has been rushed but let's go...

After marrying Prince William in 2011, the then-Duchess of Cambridge began working with a number of grass-roots charities, which focused on mental health, addiction, and hospice care. Her first set of patronages - announced in January 2012 - included three charities within this sphere: Action on Addiction, The Art Room and EACH. Early the following year, Place2Be joined her list of patronages. During this time, Catherine visited her patronages, as well as other charities, and began to develop an understanding of the importance of childhood and mental health. She also made a number of private visits to children's hospices and her patronages. In 2013, she became a mother for the first time, which she spoke about in a 2020 podcast with Giovanna Fletcher (Happy Mum, Happy Baby), allowing her insight into what new mums experienced. It was around the same time she first began to publicly support Children's Hospice Week.

Her work continued to develop and she began supporting the initiatives started by her patronages, such as M-PACT, which aims to improve the well-being of children and families affected by substance misuse. In 2015, Catherine began to engage in more "taboo" topics, such as fostering and the care system, as well as hospital schools, and women in prisons. By doing this, she was able to see how early intervention could positively impact on young lives. Catherine also undertook an engagement with Mind (her first engagement on World Mental Health Day) and began to meet with professionals, such as headteachers, to develop her knowledge.

In 2016, Catherine supported the first ever Children's Mental Health Week (fun fact, in 2021, Kensington Palace retweeted some CMHW work I did in school). She also guest edited the Huffington Post, promoting Young Minds Matter. She became Patron of both the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Familes and Action for Children that year (a representative from both patronages is in her recently-convened Early Years Advisory Group). 2016 also saw Catherine bring together her work along with her husband's and brother-in-law's to set up Heads Together, an awareness campaign focusing on mental health. The trio also continued to celebrate World Mental Health Day, which they would continue to do for many years.

The then-Duchess of Cambridge visted the Anna Freud Centre’s Early Years Parenting Unit, which works with parents who have personality disorders and aims to help them seek help and keep families together. Throughout this period, she undertook a number of engagements focusing on promoting Heads Together, including releasing a personal video alongside William and Harry for #OktoSay and appearing on BBC Radio 1. Heads Together culminated in the 2017 London Marathon, which she attended. 2018 saw Catherine begin to promote Mentally Healthy Schools. She also continued to expand her range of interests, attending the Headstart conference privately and visiting GOSH.

She continued to develop her interests and began looking into neuroscience and its impact on mental health and early development. She also, for the first time, began showing an interest in the perinatal, with her also becoming Patron of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. In mid-2018, Catherine attended a symposium on the importance of early intervention. That year, she also convened an Early Years Steering group - showing the beginnings of her current work - and attended the Mental Health in Education Conference.

Alongside William, she met with the BBC, where she spoke about children's wellbeing and the positive impact media can have. She also undertook a two-week private work placement at Kingston Hospital, on the maternity wards. In 2020, Catherine launched 5 Big Questions, and promoted this with a UK-wide tour, including a return visit to HMP Send. The questions were in the form of a short survey, open to the public.

The afore-mentioned Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast aired in early 2020. During the chat, Catherine confessed to feeling upset and scared after the birth of George, and spoke about the importance of mums' seeking help. During the pandemic, she chaired a Zoom roundtable of health professionals and joined a number of calls with midwives. Throughout the pandemic, a number of her Zoom calls and phone meetings were held with medical and mental health professionals, as well as with schools, children, parents and young families. She leant her public support to the BBC's Tiny Happy People project, as well.

Catherine used her resources to pull together donations for Baby Banks in the summer of 2020, and confessed to volunteering for her local Norfolk branch in her own time. The partnerships created by Catherine continue to this day. She met with parents and peers who have been supported by peer-to-peer parent-led support programmes, as well as representatives from Home-Start UK and the National Childbirth Trust. She continued her work with the Scouts, with whom she had been volunteering from the early days of her marriage, and continued to promote the importance of the outdoors, an area she really focused on when producing her Back to Nature garden in 2018. The Duchess of Cambridge also looked at miscarriages, during a visit to Tommy's. The results of her 5 Big Questions survey were shared as 5 Big Insights later that year. Catherine met with First Lady Jill Biden in 2021, with whom she co-hosted a roundtable discussion with a number of representatives from the early years sector.

In 2021, Catherine finally launched the Royal Foundation's Centre for Early Childhood. Since the launch of the Centre, she has continued to develop her understanding of early neurodevelopment, and travelled to Denmark - world leader's in childhood mental health - to learn how they promote early years wellbeing. Catherine continued to focus on young people, with a long-awaited appearance on CBeebies Bedtime Stories, where she read The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, a book she later shared was one of her childhood favourites. During the year, she became Patron of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, adding to the other child-focused patronages she had gained over the years (including Family Action and Evelina London). Catherine hosted another roundtable to learn about the progress made by the Centre for Early Childhood and recently convened an Early Years Advisory Group. Throughout the past few years, she has attended regular "Early Years" meetings.