Great to see so much love for Robin of Sherwood. Besides the fabulous writing, the pitch-perfect cast, the beautiful photography and the unforgettable Clannad score, what’s sometimes forgotten is how influential it was to the ongoing Robin Hood legend. For one thing… 🧵 1/5 Richard Carpenter knew his Robin Hood lore inside out, but he also brought plenty of his own imaginative creations to the table. In the first instalment of Robin of Sherwood he introduced the villainous sorcerer Simon de Belleme, splendidly played by Anthony Valentine. 2/5

Can’t help but think of a certain type of Doctor Who villain, particularly prevalent during the Tom Baker years: the deranged leader, ousted from power, lurking in exile and festering in the fumes of delusional self-belief until finally they launch a comeback. A brief thread. 1/6 There’s Eldrad, whose megalomaniac schemes lay waste to her planet and people, and yet when she returns 150 million years later, she positions herself as their saviour. ‘They shall have me as their ruler! They will restore the cities! They will replenish the exhausted lands!’ 2/6

Last night we watched Diana: The Musical. It’s so mesmerically, heroically bad that I had to watch it again this afternoon just to check I hadn’t been hallucinating. Absurd lyrics, amazing accents, howling inaccuracies. I can’t recommend it enough. Your jaw will be on the floor. There’s an ‘uplifting’ number of dubious taste on an AIDS ward, and an incredible sequence in which Diana visits some Welsh people (who have especially amazing accents) and proves a big hit with them through the medium of song. Oh, and Barbara Cartland has a couple of numbers.

A short thread about #ItsASin, the new drama serial from Russell T Davies which begins tonight at 9pm on @Channel4. Hand on heart, I have never been more thrilled or more proud of anything in my career than I am of being a tiny little part of this huge, beautiful, sexy, funny, sad, important, brilliant drama.