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3/5 Mark Gatiss’ version of the Dickens classic is in a spectacular setting but fatally fails to deliver the scares

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

Twenty-five years on from her dazzling debut, and as a new collection of essays comes out, we assess the British author’s best books

The author and comedian on the immortal lines of Snoopy, discovering the heart of Homer’s Iliad and her culinary comfort read

When it opened in 1985, the mighty Les Mis got some rotten reviews. Forty years on, our writer sees it afresh and producer Cameron Mackintosh reflects on the show’s spectacular success

Homes without heating, bedrooms without beds. If we are to offer any hope to the children of austerity, the next few weeks will be decisive, says former prime minister Gordon Brown

Sharpen your pencils and dust off those old notebooks - it’s time to head back to English class!From tricky grammar rules you haven’t thought about in years to the classic novels that filled your school reading lists, this quiz will test both sides of your brain.Can you recall Shakespeare, Dickens,…

Letters: Readers take issue with Herbert Pocket being deemed a ‘nobody’ in an article by Zoe Williams

In need of good book recommendations? Check out this list.

The Alex Rider author on being put off Dickens for a decade, why he reads poetry in the mornings, and how reading Sherlock Holmes made him want to be a crime writer

Dmitry Krymov, who left Moscow after the Ukraine invasion, plans Dickens hybrid with UK and Russian actors