The Latest Breaking News from John Betjeman

Letter: Prunella Scales obituary

Edward Mirzoeff writes: She was a gifted reader of poetry, as evidenced by her contribution to a 1977 documentary by John Betjeman

The Guardian - UK · Nov 13, 2025

Geodesic genius: Nicholas Grimshaw brought futuristic grandeur to trains, planes, gardens – and shopping

As well as the Eden Project, Grimshaw’s ambitious and audacious work on railway stations, airports, sports complexes and supermarkets could elevate even the most mundane experience

The Guardian - UK · Sep 16, 2025

Cracking prog, Gromit! Some of Aardman Animations’ best-loved movies were made to a soundtrack of Jeff Wayne, Tangerine Dream, Focus, Goldfrapp, Alan Parsons and more, says veteran sculptor Jim Parkyn

“We had a clunky old vinyl player and people would bring in odd records…” Minds open to limitless music helped build a legacy leading up to Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Louder · Dec 25, 2024

‘This idle prig’: the truth about CS Lewis and John Betjeman’s long-lasting feud

At Oxford, Lewis complained repeatedly in his diary about his student Betjeman’s attitude to work. A newly discovered letter throws light on their mutual antipathy

The Guardian - UK · Apr 14, 2024

Where tourists seldom tread, part 7: five more British towns with secret histories

From Slough to Stockton-on-Tees, these provincial towns have been derided, mocked and caricatured. But there are so many reasons to visit places that are snubbed by the guidebooks

The Guardian - UK · Jan 18, 2024

A return trip to John Betjeman’s Metro-land, 50 years on from his classic TV documentary

The late poet laureate’s hymn to the commuter towns of Middlesex, Herts and Bucks is still a great guide to the Metropolitan line, the world’s first urban ‘underground’ railway

The Guardian - UK · Nov 30, 2023

An all-time great: how Michael Parkinson changed British television

He pioneered new formats, could get almost any guest in the world and conducted the best interviews ever. Parky was one of the finest broadcasters of any era

The Guardian - UK · Aug 17, 2023

OPINION - Farewell Jamie Reid, punk visionary who captured the spirit of generation

Jamie Reid, who has just died at the age of 76, was as important to London as Big Ben or Guy Fawkes. As influential as Martin Amis or John Betjeman. His work was as iconic as any London portrait by Monet, Pissarro or Canaletto. This Croydon-born boy was a colossal…

Evening Standard · Aug 9, 2023

Jim Parker obituary

Prolific Bafta-winning composer of music for Midsomer Murders, the BBC’s House of Cards and Victoria Wood’s TV dramas

The Guardian - UK · Jul 31, 2023

TV score composer and Betjeman collaborator Jim Parker dies aged 88

Bafta-winner wrote theme music for shows including Ground Force and made albums with poet laureate

The Guardian - UK · Jul 31, 2023