Specials

Ron Howard, director of “Thirteen Lives” (Prime Video), looks back on some of his favorite holiday titles to introduce The Times’ guide to catching the classics this season:Streaming has made it easy to watch virtually any movie at any time. It’s also led movie viewing to become a more solitary experience — why argue over the remote if there are enough titles and screens for everyone? But the holidays are still a time for watching with loved ones. There are a handful of films that I and my family still return to over and…

Image: 20th Century TelevisionEvery year starting in mid or late November is right around the time that TV networks put out holiday specials or festive episodes. Much of them are new, and some of them are so old you could probably reenact them without much effort. But more often than not, they’re memorable in some form or fashion.As a kid during the early 2000s, there were a ton of holiday episodes I loved from my favorite cartoons: the Powerpuff Girls racing to get to Santa and the North Pole before Santa, Billy and…

Terry Hall, who helped create one of the defining sounds of post-punk Britain as the lead singer of the band, The Specials, has died. The group announced that Hall, 63, passed away after a brief illness. They called him “our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced.” In the late 1970s, during the time of racial tension, economic gloom and urban unrest, Hall joined the band that came to be known as The Specials. Their most…

The Specials frontman Terry Hall died as a result of pancreatic cancer, his bandmate Horace Panter has said.In an emotional note shared on Facebook, the band’s bassist said that the group – then comprising Panter, Hall and guitarist Lynval Golding – had intended to record a new album in Los Angeles in November, produced by Roger Rivas of the Aggrolites.It was to be the reggae album they intended to make in 2020 before Hall’s writer’s block pushed them towards an album of political covers, Protest Songs 1924–2012, released…

The Specials – Gangsters (1979)The Specials: Gangsters – videoThe astonishing split single (with an embryonic version of the Selecter on the B-side) that introduced the Specials and the 2 Tone label to the nation. With the lineup drawing on ska, punk, eastern music and rockabilly, Gangsters radically reworks the tune of Prince Buster’s 1964 ska classic Al Capone. A misunderstanding – or possibly an argument – with Clash manager and Specials champion Bernard Rhodes over some hotel damage provided the initial inspiration…

Terry Hall, frontman for the English ska-punk band the Specials, has died. He was 63.The band’s albums were landmarks of the interracial ‘2-tone’ scene that that swept England and beyond in the late ‘70s and ‘80s, alongside peers such as the English Beat, Madness and the Selecter.Hall’s death was announced on the band’s Facebook page.“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists…

Terry Hall, the lead singer of the Specials and a former member of Fun Boy Three and the Colourfield, has died aged 63, his bandmates in the Specials have confirmed.“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced,” the band tweeted.“Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls. His music and his…

As the credits roll on Dance Craze, the impossibly exciting 1981 concert film shot at the height of the 2 Tone movement, the Specials perform Nite Klub. It’s a noticeably different version of the song to the one that appears on their eponymous 1979 debut album. The intro is long and slow, reflecting songwriter Jerry Dammers’ increasing interest in jazz and easy listening, which would controversially infect the Specials’ second album More Specials. Then the song erupts into frantic ska and the band’s members suddenly…

Image: BBCWhen Chris Chibnall took over Doctor Who, one of the strangest decisions to come out of his era was a simple programming change: the Doctor Who Christmas specials, a tradition since 2005, were suddenly no more, replaced by New Year’s Day specials. Now, five years later, we know that the change is being reversed.Previously, the BBC had quietly confirmed an episode “over the festive period” in 2023 with its announcement that Doctor Who would return in November next year for three specials celebrating the series’…

Jodie Whittaker’s time as The Doctor has officially come to a close. Now, the baton has passed on to the fourteenth Doctor, who will be played by none other than fan favourite, David Tennant. With Ncuti Gatwa also lined up to get the keys to the Tardis, many are wondering how this familiar face has returned. We have scoured the internet to find some clues about what is going on. If you want to know more about when Doctor Who is returning – and what it will be about – then keep on reading. When will the Doctor…