Sarah Dempster
@dempster2000.bsky.social
Writer of nonsenses for “the wireless”, contributor to Private Eye & the Guardian, script reader/editor. I like books.
Pinned
Sarah Dempster
@dempster2000.bsky.social
· Jul 29
TV’s best (and worst) historical epics: from Wolf Hall to I, Claudius
TV’s best (and worst) historical epics: from Wolf Hall to I, Claudius
Sweeping dramas set in days of yore are everywhere. But which are some of the finest television ever created? And which are little more than an excuse to show naked backsides?
www.theguardian.com
I’ve written about TV’s best and worst historical epics
The Muppets do The Thing (1982): a thread.
“I don't want to stay out here anymore. I want to come back inside”.
“I don't want to stay out here anymore. I want to come back inside”.
January 5, 2026 at 5:50 PM
The Muppets do The Thing (1982): a thread.
“I don't want to stay out here anymore. I want to come back inside”.
“I don't want to stay out here anymore. I want to come back inside”.
Reposted by Sarah Dempster
imagine a cheery BBC news report in 1938 breezily asking "which countries could be in Hitler's sights after the Sudetenland?"
January 5, 2026 at 5:35 PM
imagine a cheery BBC news report in 1938 breezily asking "which countries could be in Hitler's sights after the Sudetenland?"
Reposted by Sarah Dempster
The first two hours this morning
January 5, 2026 at 11:21 AM
The first two hours this morning
“Have you been involved in a government that wasn’t your fault?”
January 5, 2026 at 1:28 PM
“Have you been involved in a government that wasn’t your fault?”
Awful politicians getting the songs of The Smiths slightly wrong:
1. I Know It’s Dover
1. I Know It’s Dover
January 4, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Awful politicians getting the songs of The Smiths slightly wrong:
1. I Know It’s Dover
1. I Know It’s Dover
Trudging slowly over wet sand
Back to the bench where your jackboots were stolen
Back to the bench where your jackboots were stolen
January 4, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Trudging slowly over wet sand
Back to the bench where your jackboots were stolen
Back to the bench where your jackboots were stolen
Reposted by Sarah Dempster
Until Americans learn how to pronounce "herbs" it's hard to see how the empire can progress.
January 4, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Until Americans learn how to pronounce "herbs" it's hard to see how the empire can progress.
Reposted by Sarah Dempster
I wrote some words about the great Dennis Kelly's excellent new drama.
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Waiting for the Out review – totally magnificent TV about philosophy in prison
Dennis Kelly’s brilliant drama about a teacher in prison is moving, gripping and almost painfully vulnerable – plus the main character decimates everyone at a middle-class dinner party. What more coul...
www.theguardian.com
January 4, 2026 at 9:09 AM
I wrote some words about the great Dennis Kelly's excellent new drama.
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”
They’ve got Twitter up on the big screens in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago makeshift “situation room.”
Photos from Trump’s Truth Social account.
Photos from Trump’s Truth Social account.
January 3, 2026 at 6:51 PM
“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”
Surprise! It’s two thousand 2016s in a B-1 bomber.
What if 2026 turns out to be two 2025s in a trench coat
January 3, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Surprise! It’s two thousand 2016s in a B-1 bomber.
[starmer at home, curtains drawn, riverdancing expressionlessly as the phone rings off the hook]
January 3, 2026 at 3:36 PM
[starmer at home, curtains drawn, riverdancing expressionlessly as the phone rings off the hook]
Do Reuters know we can see this
Nicolas Maduro's heavy-handed rule in Venezuela is finally ended by Trump reut.rs/3YWbo3K
Nicolas Maduro's heavy-handed rule in Venezuela is finally ended by Trump
Nicolas Maduro ruled Venezuela with a heavy hand for more than 12 years, presiding over deep economic and social crises and resisting pressure from domestic opponents and foreign governments for political change.
reut.rs
January 3, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Do Reuters know we can see this
Reposted by Sarah Dempster
I feel like I haven’t even been properly lied to about the purposes of this war
January 3, 2026 at 9:13 AM
I feel like I haven’t even been properly lied to about the purposes of this war
Reposted by Sarah Dempster
Tomorrow this trio of odd noises starts slipping off BBC Sounds and back into audio oblivion. If you want to hear the missing Episode 4, in which it all turns out to be a dream*, give me a call and I'll dictate it down the phone.
*no, obviously not
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...
*no, obviously not
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...
BBC Sounds - No-Platformed - Available Episodes
Listen to the latest episodes of No-Platformed on BBC Sounds.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 1, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Tomorrow this trio of odd noises starts slipping off BBC Sounds and back into audio oblivion. If you want to hear the missing Episode 4, in which it all turns out to be a dream*, give me a call and I'll dictate it down the phone.
*no, obviously not
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...
*no, obviously not
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...
Reposted by Sarah Dempster
pound for pound this might be the funniest thing ever written
December 31, 2025 at 6:15 PM
pound for pound this might be the funniest thing ever written
Reposted by Sarah Dempster
I invented a new phone to help save time in the morning
April 19, 2025 at 1:45 PM
I invented a new phone to help save time in the morning
What if 2026 turns out to be two 2025s in a trench coat
December 31, 2025 at 4:57 PM
What if 2026 turns out to be two 2025s in a trench coat
Reposted by Sarah Dempster
It is a little known fact that they prerecord the Jools Holland Hootenanny - all the people on screen are faking it being New Year for tv.
For eg, last year’s was prerecorded June 15th, 1535, during the Siege of Munster, look carefully and you can see John of Leiden mingling with the audience.
For eg, last year’s was prerecorded June 15th, 1535, during the Siege of Munster, look carefully and you can see John of Leiden mingling with the audience.
December 31, 2025 at 4:52 PM
It is a little known fact that they prerecord the Jools Holland Hootenanny - all the people on screen are faking it being New Year for tv.
For eg, last year’s was prerecorded June 15th, 1535, during the Siege of Munster, look carefully and you can see John of Leiden mingling with the audience.
For eg, last year’s was prerecorded June 15th, 1535, during the Siege of Munster, look carefully and you can see John of Leiden mingling with the audience.
Reposted by Sarah Dempster
Jane Crowther • Fox Field •
December 30, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Jane Crowther • Fox Field •
🎵”Suss-suss-sausages”🎵
December 30, 2025 at 5:56 PM
🎵”Suss-suss-sausages”🎵
I once watched a pensioner blow his nose outside the Norwich branch of Monsoon.
Please quote this with stories of your minor interactions with non-celebrities, e.g. “I once accidentally bumped into a man in the Wellingborough branch of Holland & Barrett”
December 30, 2025 at 10:38 AM
I once watched a pensioner blow his nose outside the Norwich branch of Monsoon.
The one-armed drummer from Def Leppard gave me a reiki treatment in a Las Vegas dressing room while prop comic Carrot Top watched silently from the doorway.
Right folks. Feeling rather down at the moment so bringing back an oldie
Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
December 29, 2025 at 11:17 PM
The one-armed drummer from Def Leppard gave me a reiki treatment in a Las Vegas dressing room while prop comic Carrot Top watched silently from the doorway.