Netflix throws another log on the fire in festive TV virtual blaze craze
Crackling fireplace edges out new series of Squid Game as streaming service’s most watched Boxing Day show in UK
Wednesday briefing: Celebrity lookalike contests, brat everything and 36 more things to leave behind in 2024
In today’s newsletter: Laddy Instagram food accounts? Estate agent video tours? Glicked? Farewell, 2024, and thanks for nothing
Jack Bond, cult British director and Pet Shop Boys collaborator, dies aged 87
Bond worked on avant garde films with Jane Arden in the 1960s and 70s and went on to work with 80s pop stars from Neil Tennant to Adam Ant
From Moo Deng to Me Espresso: it’s the 2024 bumper pop culture quiz of the year
Do you know your hot rodent boyfriends, which celebrity is selling feet pics on OnlyFans and who fell off a stage this year? Then this is the quiz for you
Champagne-soaked sex and slow-burn longing – was this the swooniest year of TV ever?
Be it the understated romance of Japanese epic Shōgun, Danny Dyer’s tree sex in Rivals or Adam Brody risking his career for love – this was the year TV stole hearts
‘It was like I’d run six marathons then they said do a seventh’ – how Industry’s Marisa Abela hit peak form
With yacht deaths, shocking sex and a twisted love triangle, Marisa Abela stole the show in the year’s wildest drama. She opens up about why her HBO banking drama is just getting going
‘All the kids were spewing innuendo’: actors and comedians remember their first nativity plays
Whether it’s a slightly inappropriate comedy spin on the story or a surprise casting as the Angel Gabriel, Nick Mohammed, Pearl Mackie, Omid Djalili and more look back on their infant brushes with stardom
Death is at the heart of Christmas. That’s why we love to tell festive ghost stories
It’s a creepy time of year from The Archers to Nosferatu to Mark Gatiss’ Woman of Stone
Elle Fanning: ‘The last thing I want to be is boring’
Her debut at two catapulted the actress to child stardom, while taking the lead in The Great turned her into a household name. Ahead of the much-anticipated Bob Dylan biopic, she discusses subverting expectations, escaping her princess vibe – and why she could have been a tennis pro
On my radar: Reece Clarke’s cultural highlights
The Royal Ballet principal dancer on a mesmerising Wimbledon final, the fragrance that gets him into character, and a 91-year-old dancing legend
As a media columnist, even I found myself turning away from the news in 2024. But we can do things differently
More people are avoiding ‘boring’ or ‘depressing’ news for scrolling social media, but accurate reporting has never been more vital, says Guardian columnist Jane Martinson
From Mufasa to Gavin and Stacey: a complete guide to the week’s entertainment in the UK
A Lion King prequel and a sitcom swansong feature in a festive week of wonders
Marisa Paredes obituary
Spanish star of films by Pedro Almodóvar, Guillermo del Toro and Roberto Benigni, and a champion of leftwing causes
Del Boy did it! Or did he … ? Test your knowledge with our bumper Christmas culture quiz
Do you know your Only Fools from your Dibleys? Are you the No 1 on Christmas No 1s? Prove it with these fiendish festive puzzles
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl review – an unmissable, ingenious Christmas treat
Our favourite animated heroes return, facing arch nemesis Feathers McGraw alongside a malfunctioning AI gnome – it’s an exciting, ingenious and utterly timeless joy