The year’s most spectacular theatrical extravaganza July 28, 2013 THEATRE THE DROWNED MAN Temple Studios | By Steve Dinneen Five Stars Punchdrunk theatre company has been flying the flag for immersive theatre for over a decade, joining the likes of Shunt and Secret Cinema in dragging the genre from niche installations in trendy basements to marquee productions that charge £50 a ticket. Unlike some [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 29 July 2013 July 28, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Treasury pledges £2m for SFO probe The UK Treasury is expected to pledge special “blockbuster” funding to the Serious Fraud Office to back its investigation into Barclays’ emergency fundraising five years ago, in a sign of the agency’s escalating probe into the bank. The cash-strapped SFO, which launched a criminal investigation into the [...]
A new breed of super-entrepreneurs could leave HS2 looking antiquated September 8, 2013 FOR A mode of transport that first arrived in the nineteenth century, railways have been remarkably resilient. All three major political parties currently support the creation of a new high speed rail network, High Speed 2 (HS2), a £43bn plan to connect London Euston, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, and the East Midlands in two phases. [...]
A sci-fi treat with plenty of brains October 24, 2013 FILM ENDER’S GAME Cert 12a | By Simon Thomson Four Stars ENDER’S Game is a science fiction adventure about a special boy, sent to a special school, where he is trained to be a ruthless war commander. Basically, it’s Harry Potter. If he’d been sent to a military academy. In space. The internet has been [...]
The new VW 4×4 is practical but dull December 4, 2012 Audi’s A6 Allroad may be the default choice for Europe’s wealthiest equestrians but the new VW Passat Alltrack is more of a four-wheel-drive estate for the rest of us. This then is the people’s version of a car that, theoretically, nobody needs. With so many choices of SUV out there that are just as roomy [...]
Geeks and hackers are transforming healthcare and saving our economy July 23, 2013 THE future of healthcare is taking shape. But it’s not being invented in drug company labs or planned by the NHS. Amateurs, obsessives and hackers are leading the charge. It’s a movement that will help us live longer – and could save the economy. It’s all happening through a combination of new gadgets, the power [...]
Emerging financial centres to watch for a future career July 19, 2013 AS THE world’s leading financial centre, London is one of the best places in the world to work in finance. The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) 2013 gives London a rating of 807 – far ahead of rivals New York (787) and Hong Kong (761).But more cities are making their mark, and Richie Holliday of Morgan [...]
Rolling in the deep July 18, 2013 A handsome new diving watch has an ingeniously simple mechanical system to tell you your depth Any serious digital diving watch will be able to tell you your depth as well as the time, and a host of other indications. Doing so in a mechanical watch, however, can be a complicated business. For instance, back [...]
Land Securities to take to the slopes in deal to buy X-Leisure December 4, 2012 LAND Securities yesterday revealed it is to buy a controlling stake in X-Leisure, the owner of venues including the Xscape indoor ski slopes and Brighton Marina, for £110.6m. The property giant has agreed a deal with Capital and Regional and Area Property Partners to buy a further 42 per cent stake in X-Leisure Unit Trust [...]
Tatum can’t save presidential flop September 12, 2013 FILM WHITE HOUSE DOWN Cert 12a | By Simon Thomson Two stars WHITE House Down could have been the biggest movie of 1996. Wedged in between Nicolas Cage’s The Rock and Harrison Ford’s Air Force One, the premise of terrorists attacking the seat of American government would have blown the minds of the movie-going public. [...]