Film, television, radio and performing arts genres

Introducing the first official Star Wars knitting book – a deluxe guide to creating over 25 Star Wars knits based on the iconic global franchise.

An updated edition – with completely new chapters – of the most accessible and compelling history of the cinema yet published, and complements Mark Cousins' fascinating 15-hour film documentary The Story of Film: An Odyssey.

It's official: dads were put onto this planet to embarrass the rest of their families. This hilarious book is a spotter's guide to the innumerable ways Dad can achieve this, whether it's via ridiculous dancing, experimental facial hair, cringeworthy sportswear or putting his foot in it at funerals.

Welcome to the cosy village of Woolly Bush, set deep in the heart of the English countryside. It has all the standard features of a typical village – the cake shop, the war memorial, the vegetable show, the vicar – apart from two big differences: it’s all made of wool, and none of the characters have clothes on!

The chic knitwear worn by a galaxy of Hollywood stars on the silver screen can now be recreated in your own home.

"An entertainer with few equals." Daily Mail

"Creasingly Funny." The Times

Monty Python rides again. Those malicious rumours that they were washed up, pooped out, time expired (usually started by them) simply aren't true.

How did Leonardo DiCaprio become a hero on The Beach?

Why would the Droids lode control in Star Wars?

What persuaded Mad Max to become Hamlet?

Who made Long John Silver's parrot dread Treasure Island?

When was there a curse on The Exorcist?

Ever since John Logie Baird first publicly demonstrated this now all-pervasive

medium in his small Soho laboratory, the history of television has been littered

with remarkable but true tales of the unexpected.

Ranging from bizarre stories of actors’ shenanigans to strange but true

Exploring the brilliant web of verbal hocus-pocus that J.R.R. Tolkien delightedly spun in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, master hobbit investigator David Day reveals the myriad crafty puns and riddles, hidden meanings, and mythical associations beneath the saga's thrilling surface.

Even the greatest songwriters (and Spandau Ballet) have had the odd bad day at the office. Or more likely, a bad few minutes in the studio toilets scribbling the first words they can think of on the back of their tranquiliser prescription shortly before the vocal has to be recorded.

Books, television shows and websites are forever ordering us around – 100 things to do before you're 30; 50 albums you must own; this year's must-have handbag; change your life in two weeks.