Here we are in 2026 already… What did you think of the TV offering over the festive season?

Am I the only one who used to look forward to the Christmas specials of The Vicar of Dibley, Only Fools and Horses, The Royle Family, Dad’s Army, and more? How about Christmas variety show specials - Morecambe and Wise, The Two Ronnies, and others? Remind me of your favourite.

Then, of course, there was the Christmas edition of Top of the Pops, complete with Pan’s People dressed in festive fashion.

I did enjoy the Christmas and celebrity editions of current regular quiz shows; my choice would be The Chase, but others were fun as well. Pointless often features Douglas when the question revolves around cities.

I enjoyed the 2002 film version of Goodbye, Mr Chips, starring Martin Clunes. I read the book and saw previous film versions years ago, and although there were a number of differences, it was excellent.

Then, of course, my favourite - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This year I enjoyed the important messages of two versions: the 1951 adaptation with Alastair Sim and the 1984 George C. Scott interpretation.

I also travelled to the Erin Arts Centre to see The Service Players in a live radio play, hosted from a 1940s New York radio station, where talented Isle of Man actors took on 40 different roles. It was really good!

Do you remember the latest blockbuster movies being shown for the first time at Christmas? The medium for film releases has changed completely now on terrestrial TV.

It is a little while since I looked at moments in history, so I thought it might be timely as we head into the new year, following a year of global tension and uncertainty in 2025, with perhaps a slightly over-optimistic hope of improvement - but who knows?

January 1 in history

January 1, 1660, saw the first entry in the diary of English civil servant Samuel Pepys, whose work went on to chronicle the Great Plague of London and the Great Fire of the capital of England.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was published anonymously in 1818. Something I didn’t know was that in 1833 the British government reasserted its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.

In 1881, Dr John Watson was first introduced to the character Sherlock Holmes in a story written by Arthur Conan Doyle. In 1894, the Manchester Ship Canal was opened to traffic; more recently, there is an Isle of Man link.

In 1901, the Commonwealth of Australia was formed when the British (Imperial) Parliament Act and the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 came into effect.

In 1909, in Great Britain, the Old Age Pension law was finally instituted, providing pensions for every British subject over 70 with a low income. In 1937, safety glass in vehicle windscreens became mandatory in the UK.

The coal industry was nationalised in Britain in 1947, and in 1948, under the 1947 Transport Act, the British rail system was nationalised under the title British Railways. In 1962, The Beatles’ Decca Records audition was unsuccessful - they were told, ‘Guitar groups are on the way out’.

Top of the Pops, which I referred to earlier in this piece, premiered on January 1 1964 with performances by Dusty Springfield, The Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and of course, The Beatles. In 1973, Britain, Ireland, and Denmark became the 7th, 8th, and 9th members of the European Economic Community.

The first day of the new year is, and was, popular for weddings, including David Lloyd George, the 55th UK Prime Minister, who married his first wife, Margaret Owen, in 1888. Stan Laurel married his third wife in 1938. Harold Wilson, the 68th Prime Minister of the UK, wed poet Mary Baldwin in the chapel of Mansfield College, Oxford, in 1940. In 2002, Eric Clapton, then aged 56, married Melia McEnery, aged 25.

In 1995, Fred West, serial killer (12 charges of murder), took his own life in prison.

In 2026, in the Isle of Man, ‘Daniel’s Law’ at last came into force, providing an ‘opt-out’ organ donation law. Well done to the tenacity of Daniel’s mum, Diane Taylor, whose son died in a car crash in 2007 and whose organs saved the lives of four people.

January 2 in history

On January 2, 1776, the army of George Washington hoisted the Grand Union Flag at Prospect Hill, Charleston. When do you think the first photograph of the moon was taken? It was in 1839 by French photographer Louis Daguerre - amazing!

How about air conditioning? The US patent for an ‘apparatus for treating air’ was issued in 1906. I was surprised to read that Melody Maker, the British popular music magazine, published its first issue in 1926. Roger Miller, American Grammy- and Tony Award-winning country singer-songwriter, was born in 1936 - remember King of the Road?

In 1947, Mahatma Gandhi began a march for peace in East Bengal. On January 2 1960, US Senator John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for the US presidency. In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. began a drive to register Black voters.

Cecil Day-Lewis was appointed Poet Laureate by Queen Elizabeth II in 1968, and on the same day in South Africa, Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s second heart transplant. In 1969, The Beatles began rehearsals, while being filmed, for the Let It Be project in London.

On this day in 1971, a spectator crush at Ibrox Park in Glasgow saw 66 people lose their lives and more than 200 injured. In 1988, the Canadian Prime Minister and US President Ronald Reagan signed a Canada–US free trade agreement.

January 3 in history

In 1431, Joan of Arc was handed over for trial to Bishop Pierre Cauchon. In 1496, Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tested a flying machine - how incredible is that? In 1842, Charles Dickens (yes, you will see earlier that I am a big fan!) left Liverpool with his wife for America to tour with his literature.

In 1938 in the US, the March of Dimes was established to fight polio. Do you remember images of people in hospitals encased in large iron lungs?

As a member of the worldwide organisation Rotary, it has campaigned long and hard to see its elimination, and other than in various places, including conflict zones, the aim has almost been achieved. We can only hope.

In 1958, Edmund Hillary led a Commonwealth team to the South Pole, becoming the first to reach the pole by land since 1912. Apple Computer was incorporated in 1977.

In 1988, Aretha Franklin became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame. At the same time, Margaret Thatcher became the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the century.

More than seven million Black South Africans had their citizenship restored in advance of the first non-racial elections.

In 2019, the 116th US Congress convened in Washington, electing Nancy Pelosi as Speaker for the second time.

Will the House of Keys elect a female Speaker? We have had several Deputy Speakers.

In 2025, 17-year-old Luke Littler became the youngest-ever World Darts Champion, and on his way to global success, he showed off his great talent in the Isle of Man Darts Championships.