<description>&lt;p&gt;Julia is joined by Scottish giant (often mistaken for hot Santa) Stephen Oswald who tells her all about filming the excessively festive Netflix movie, A Castle for Christmas.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was lockdown, 2020, and an obsession with knitting was about to take a hold of the plucky thespian as he travelled back to his native Scotland for 3 months to film with a bunch of similarly confused actors and Brook Shields! This one is quite a (sleigh) ride.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for a podcast episode to put you in a Christmas mood, step right up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Star of Castle for Christmas, Stephen Oswald, give Julia the inside scoop on filming the future festive classic.

Julia is joined by Scottish giant (often mistaken for hot Santa) Stephen Oswald who tells her all about filming the excessively festive Netflix movie, A Castle for Christmas. It was lockdown, 2020, and an obsession with knitting was about to take a hold of the plucky thespian as he travelled back to his native Scotland for 3 months to film with a bunch of similarly confused actors and Brook Shields! This one is quite a (sleigh) ride. If you're looking for a podcast episode to put you in a Christmas mood, step right up.<hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

BUMPER CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: A Castle for Christmas

<description>&lt;p&gt;The brilliant author, &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/hattiewilliamswrites/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Hattie Williams&lt;/a&gt;, joins Julia to recount her early experiences watching The X Files on BBC Two.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;No 9-year-old should see the things she's seen, but she finds the show's serial killer - Eugene Tooms - more funny than frightening now. Remember the yellow-eyed lurker who lived in nests made of his own lick and slithered through sewage pipes in search of his next victim?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Well, Hattie does in great, gratuitous detail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Her gripping debut novel -&lt;a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/bitter-sweet-the-intoxicating-razor-sharp-debut-book-club-read-for-2025-everyone-is-talking-about-hattie-williams/c4edafecbc6a93c3?ean=9781398722804&amp;amp;next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt; Bitter Sweet&lt;/a&gt; - is out now in hardback and is totally unputdownable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

The author Hattie Williams goes cold thinking about The X Files' scariest contortionist cannibal.

The brilliant author, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hattiewilliamswrites/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hattie Williams</a>, joins Julia to recount her early experiences watching The X Files on BBC Two. No 9-year-old should see the things she's seen, but she finds the show's serial killer - Eugene Tooms - more funny than frightening now. Remember the yellow-eyed lurker who lived in nests made of his own lick and slithered through sewage pipes in search of his next victim? Well, Hattie does in great, gratuitous detail. Her gripping debut novel -<a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/bitter-sweet-the-intoxicating-razor-sharp-debut-book-club-read-for-2025-everyone-is-talking-about-hattie-williams/c4edafecbc6a93c3?ean=9781398722804&amp;next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Bitter Sweet</a> - is out now in hardback and is totally unputdownable.<hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

The X Files, Eugene Tooms

<description>&lt;p&gt;Journalist and author Michael Hogan reminisces with Julia about the blink-and-you'll-miss-it BBC soap opera Eldorado. A costly experiment for the BBC which built a small village in which to shoot the sun-soaked Spanish saga that only ran for a year in the early nineties.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Julia's never really gotten over the cancellation of Wogan to make way for it and for what?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Michael's brilliantly witty and twisty debut cosy crime novel - &lt;a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-dogwalkers-detective-agency/michael-hogan//9781405977951?sv1=affiliate&amp;amp;sv_campaign_id=531573&amp;amp;awc=3787_1764096254_e23bf04450bf09eb558448ca2cd7c807&amp;amp;utm_source=531573&amp;amp;utm_medium=affiliate&amp;amp;utm_campaign=https%3A%2F%2Fshopforward.nl%2F" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;The Dog Walkers' Detective Agency&lt;/a&gt; - is out now and available in paperback.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Author and TV critic Michael Hogan plays the last post for the nineties flash-in-the-pan sunn-soaked soap.

Journalist and author Michael Hogan reminisces with Julia about the blink-and-you'll-miss-it BBC soap opera Eldorado. A costly experiment for the BBC which built a small village in which to shoot the sun-soaked Spanish saga that only ran for a year in the early nineties. Julia's never really gotten over the cancellation of Wogan to make way for it and for what? Michael's brilliantly witty and twisty debut cosy crime novel - <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-dogwalkers-detective-agency/michael-hogan//9781405977951?sv1=affiliate&amp;sv_campaign_id=531573&amp;awc=3787_1764096254_e23bf04450bf09eb558448ca2cd7c807&amp;utm_source=531573&amp;utm_medium=affiliate&amp;utm_campaign=https%3A%2F%2Fshopforward.nl%2F" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Dog Walkers' Detective Agency</a> - is out now and available in paperback.<hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Short-lived BBC soap Eldorado

<description>&lt;p&gt;The brilliant actor Liz Bower asks you to push away your dinner and join her in the offices of Sterling-Cooper advertising agency in New York as a feckless employee mounts a ride-on mower, after one too many wines, and causes bloody havoc.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;A truly memorable moment from one of the greatest TV shows of all time. Is Jon Hamm still hot? How did production design get the blood to spatter so perfectly on the shocked faces of those extras? And a short Dave Grohl correction. Enjoy!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Actor Liz Bower reminds Julia of the show-stopping moment when a  Sterling-Cooper secretary mined a man's foot with a ride-on mower

The brilliant actor Liz Bower asks you to push away your dinner and join her in the offices of Sterling-Cooper advertising agency in New York as a feckless employee mounts a ride-on mower, after one too many wines, and causes bloody havoc. A truly memorable moment from one of the greatest TV shows of all time. Is Jon Hamm still hot? How did production design get the blood to spatter so perfectly on the shocked faces of those extras? And a short Dave Grohl correction. Enjoy!<hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

The Mad Men lawnmower incident

<description>&lt;p&gt;The star of, among other things, &lt;a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81026181" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Netflix's A Castle For Christmas&lt;/a&gt;, Stephen Oswald chats to Julia about being far too small to watch Hammer House of Horror in 1980 when it went out on ITV and the particular moment from his favourite episode which involved a children's birthday party and a lot of fake blood.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have yet to watch A Castle For Christmas, go and check it out. An absolute delight of a festive film and it'll be good homework for our festive special closer to Christmas!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Actor and director Stephen Oswald hugs a blankie and relives early trauma with some age-inappropriate viewing.

The star of, among other things, <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81026181" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Netflix's A Castle For Christmas</a>, Stephen Oswald chats to Julia about being far too small to watch Hammer House of Horror in 1980 when it went out on ITV and the particular moment from his favourite episode which involved a children's birthday party and a lot of fake blood. If you have yet to watch A Castle For Christmas, go and check it out. An absolute delight of a festive film and it'll be good homework for our festive special closer to Christmas!<hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Hammer House of Horror: The House That Bled to Death

All of television history is contained within the Box of Delights. TV journalist Julia Raeside invites her guests to choose a favourite TV memory and take another look at it, say what it meant to them, and what it means to them now.<hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

All of television history is contained within the Box of Delights. TV journalist Julia Raeside invites her guests to choose a favourite TV memory and take another look at it, say what it meant to them, and what it means to them now.

Box of Delights

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