Reposted by Lion & UnicornAndy Lewis @andylewis.bsky.social · 10hBest thing you'll read - and listen to- all morning 283
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 10h"It’s quite daunting," remembered Biddu; "suddenly here’s this little kid from India and he’s got the BBC orchestra and he’s on Top of the Pops." @alwynturner.bsky.social on Britain's king of disco. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/04/b...thelionandunicorn.comBiddu: the albumALWYN TURNER on Britain’s first disco-king, with music from Carl Douglas and Geno Washington to the Playthings and the Electric Dolls. 063
Reposted by Lion & UnicornAndy Lewis @andylewis.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Biddu's story is remarkable, and I can't wait to read Alwyn's take on it. You might not know his name, but you've definitely heard, or danced to, some of his productions. 2113
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Coming soon to Lion & Unicorn, @alwynturner.bsky.social on Britain's first disco-king. 162
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 03/10/2026"I understand that Alex Horne and Greg Davies, the hosts of the show, are the subjects of a disproportionately large amount of slash fiction online. Each to their own..." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/01/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: TaskmasterBEN THOMAS takes exception to a below-par series of Taskmaster. 012
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026"Why does it work? Aside from the steamy sexual chemistry between the two hosts (similar to the sizzling dynamic between Bruce Willis & Cybill Shepherd in Moonlighting) I think having the same line-up of competitors all series is key" @summers2theb.bsky.social👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/01/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: TaskmasterBEN THOMAS takes exception to a below-par series of Taskmaster. 000
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026It’s October. In America that means it’s National Sausage Month (not to be confused with National Hot Dog Month, which is in July). thelionandunicorn.com/2024/09/25/s...thelionandunicorn.comSausages: an anthologyALWYN TURNER selects some passages from British literature that concern sausages. 001
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Nearly time for Taskmaster - but to keep you going, here's @summers2theb.bsky.social on when it went wrong... thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/01/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: TaskmasterBEN THOMAS takes exception to a below-par series of Taskmaster. 001
Reposted by Lion & UnicornLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"It’s a simple premise on the face of it. Five comedians being given silly/deceptively ingenious tasks to complete by a seemingly neurodivergent man with a beard." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/01/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: TaskmasterBEN THOMAS takes exception to a below-par series of Taskmaster. 013
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Apropos Bluesky & Rejoin "The British people rejected the imperialist dream. Which sent the governing classes into a state of panic. In their grief, they’ve tried denial, bargaining and anger, and are currently depressed. Acceptance seems some way off yet" thelionandunicorn.com/2026/06/23/r...thelionandunicorn.comReferendum: Ten years afterWas it all about the Empire? ALWYN TURNER on the Brexit referendum, a decade after the fact. 000
Reposted by Lion & UnicornSam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Theresa is among the very few recipients of a Lion & Unicorn Politician of the Year Award, of course — although she's still yet to collect her trophy. thelionandunicorn.com/2018/12/30/2... 001
Reposted by Lion & UnicornSam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"He may look like a seven-foot golem made of reclaimed chicken, but on stage he’s mercurial, giggly and has an appetite for self-abasement that would make the Marquis de Sade blush" It's @summers2theb.bsky.social on Greg Davies and TASKMASTER for L&U👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/01/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: TaskmasterBEN THOMAS takes exception to a below-par series of Taskmaster. 143
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026ATTENTION hacks & their editors! Spare a few moments to peruse the oeuvre of our Finlay. He's a stylish, sharp-witted pen for hire👇 032
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Happy 65th birthday to Paul Hawksbee, part of "the best double-act on British radio, one of the few places where the likes of Victor Silvester and Old Mother Riley can get a mention, where Wilson, Keppel and Betty still mean something". thelionandunicorn.com/2024/07/14/c...thelionandunicorn.com‘Cathedrals are cathedrals’: the first 25 years of Talk SportFrom Caesar the Geezer to Covid, via the Two Mikes and the mighty H&J, ALWYN TURNER celebrates TalkSport radio. 122
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"I have to confess when me and my friends used to run through the fields of wheat, the farmers weren’t too pleased about that." Happy birthday to Theresa May, who reaches 70 today. thelionandunicorn.com/2019/07/13/i...thelionandunicorn.com‘I like my shoes’: The wit & wisdom of Theresa MayThe life and career of the former prime minister, in her own words. 134
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"It’s a simple premise on the face of it. Five comedians being given silly/deceptively ingenious tasks to complete by a seemingly neurodivergent man with a beard." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/01/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: TaskmasterBEN THOMAS takes exception to a below-par series of Taskmaster. 013
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026"Politicians are very keen to acknowledge that people have legitimate concerns about immigration. Quite what those concerns are is seldom spelt out..." L&U explores the 58-year history of a political cliché👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/27/c...thelionandunicorn.comCalling all cliches: Legitimate concernsWhen did politicians start talking about legitimate concerns over immigration? 013
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026"The face mask wasn’t just a shield; it was a gag. And Britain, it seems, still prefers the quiet" Andy Burnham spoke of Thatcher, who stood down 36 years ago. But not of Covid, which we forgot in 2021 @finlay24.bsky.social on the great omertà of our politics👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2025/10/11/d...thelionandunicorn.comDecade: Lockdown (2020)Do you remember the covid lockdowns? asks FINLAY McLAREN. Of course you do. So why have we chosen to forget? 001
Reposted by Lion & UnicornLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026The prime minister "warned that there was 'a legitimate concern' about prospective immigration". Of course, that was 35 years ago. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/27/c...thelionandunicorn.comCalling all cliches: Legitimate concernsWhen did politicians start talking about legitimate concerns over immigration? 024
Reposted by Lion & UnicornLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"Trevor Philpott asks the pressing question: ‘Would you let your daughter marry a man who trod the streets crying “rag-bone”?’" In our latest article, @hellothisisivan.bsky.social goes deep into the Sixties👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/26/l...thelionandunicorn.comLast night on YouTube: Man AliveIVAN KIRBY on the Britain of 1965-66, as revealed by the BBC documentary strand. 035
Reposted by Lion & UnicornLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026When did people start having legitimate concerns over immigration? Well, let's go back nearly 60 years... thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/27/c...thelionandunicorn.comCalling all cliches: Legitimate concernsWhen did politicians start talking about legitimate concerns over immigration? 024
Reposted by Lion & UnicornSam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"Stripper Annette dashes between four Soho clubs each night ‘with the expediency of a fireman answering an alarm’ in order to provide for herself & her boyfriend Colin, a ‘poet, painter & designer of Aztec jewellery’" NEW from @hellothisisivan.bsky.social👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/26/l...thelionandunicorn.comLast night on YouTube: Man AliveIVAN KIRBY on the Britain of 1965-66, as revealed by the BBC documentary strand. 043
Reposted by Lion & UnicornSam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 24/09/2026It's Ben 'Basher' Thomas for Lion & Unicorn on THE WRESTLING👇 013
Reposted by Lion & UnicornSam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 27/09/2026"Bad feeling is far more likely to occur if we ignore the legitimate concern of electors than if we have the courage to speak frankly. Most sensible people would agree that the limit to the number of immigrants which this country can absorb has now been reached" – Guy Wallis, 1968 🔗 below 101
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026The prime minister "warned that there was 'a legitimate concern' about prospective immigration". Of course, that was 35 years ago. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/27/c...thelionandunicorn.comCalling all cliches: Legitimate concernsWhen did politicians start talking about legitimate concerns over immigration? 024
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026When did people start having legitimate concerns over immigration? Well, let's go back nearly 60 years... thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/27/c...thelionandunicorn.comCalling all cliches: Legitimate concernsWhen did politicians start talking about legitimate concerns over immigration? 024
Reposted by Lion & UnicornAngryDigit @angrydigit.bsky.social · 26/09/2026static.klipy.comYou Dirty Old ManALT: You Dirty Old Man 031
Reposted by Lion & UnicornLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"Pauline, with her big eyelashes, blonde Vidal Sassoon hairdo and loudly patterned clothes, has a go-ahead job with one of the new boutique chains revolutionising the country’s fashion." It's @hellothisisivan.bsky.social on "Man Alive". thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/26/l...thelionandunicorn.comLast night on YouTube: Man AliveIVAN KIRBY on the Britain of 1965-66, as revealed by the BBC documentary strand. 066
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"Trevor Philpott asks the pressing question: ‘Would you let your daughter marry a man who trod the streets crying “rag-bone”?’" In our latest article, @hellothisisivan.bsky.social goes deep into the Sixties👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/26/l...thelionandunicorn.comLast night on YouTube: Man AliveIVAN KIRBY on the Britain of 1965-66, as revealed by the BBC documentary strand. 035
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026COMING SOON at Lion & Unicorn: 'Calling all cliches' returns to look at the history of... 111
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Apropos Angela Rayner & Shabana Mahmood thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/18/i...thelionandunicorn.comImmigration: 60 years of manifesto pledgesThe pledges made on immigration by every incoming government from Harold Wilson to Keir Starmer. 013
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"In The Liberal Case (Penguin Books; 1959) Roger Fulford wanted us enlisted in a world army: “It should be recruited directly by the United Nations…It would be at the disposal of the Security Council or the Assembly.” Thanks, no thanks" From our Dan👇 elston500.substack.com/p/saturday-m...elston500.substack.comSaturday Morning PostConscripting voters 000
Reposted by Lion & UnicornSam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"The animating premise of each of the Up films was the old Jesuit saying: 'Give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you the man.' There turns out to be great truth in that, a truth far more profound than the political point the film-makers first set out to prove" A beautiful review👇 111
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"The match lasted seven minutes and six-and-a-half of that was filled with what could be called shenanigans. It had to be. Vader couldn’t safely take most of Ospreay’s offence without risking his life" Have you read the latest from @summers2theb.bsky.social? thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/23/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: The WrestlingBEN THOMAS on shenanigans in ‘one of the worst UK wrestling matches of all time’. 001
Reposted by Lion & UnicornLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026"The match lasted seven minutes and six-and-a-half of that was filled with what could be called shenanigans." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/23/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: The WrestlingBEN THOMAS on shenanigans in ‘one of the worst UK wrestling matches of all time’. 022
Reposted by Lion & UnicornBen Finlay @benfinlay74.bsky.social · 26/09/2026This is excellent stuff about mid-60s Britain on TV by Ivan Kirby and I thoroughly encourage you to read it: @lionunicorn.bsky.socialthelionandunicorn.comLast night on YouTube: Man AliveIVAN KIRBY on the Britain of 1965-66, as revealed by the BBC documentary strand. 185
Reposted by Lion & UnicornSam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 26/09/2026It's our Finlay — being funny in The Thunderer! 022
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"Pauline, with her big eyelashes, blonde Vidal Sassoon hairdo and loudly patterned clothes, has a go-ahead job with one of the new boutique chains revolutionising the country’s fashion." It's @hellothisisivan.bsky.social on "Man Alive". thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/26/l...thelionandunicorn.comLast night on YouTube: Man AliveIVAN KIRBY on the Britain of 1965-66, as revealed by the BBC documentary strand. 066
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026"The match lasted seven minutes and six-and-a-half of that was filled with what could be called shenanigans." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/23/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: The WrestlingBEN THOMAS on shenanigans in ‘one of the worst UK wrestling matches of all time’. 022
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026It was 16 years ago today that the Labour Party decided Ed Miliband should be its leader. thelionandunicorn.com/2016/08/19/l...thelionandunicorn.comLabour leadership elections: Part 4The Labour Party under Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn in the final part of ALWYN TURNER’s series. 011
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026COMING SOON at Lion & Unicorn: he's a man and he's alive — yes, it's the latest from @hellothisisivan.bsky.social! 022
Reposted by Lion & UnicornLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026"Was it a good match? No, it was godawful." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/23/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: The WrestlingBEN THOMAS on shenanigans in ‘one of the worst UK wrestling matches of all time’. 042
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 24/09/202666 years ago today, Miles Davis played his first gig in Britain. "Rarely have I witnessed a more impressive concert of jazz," wrote Benny Green. @benfinlay74.bsky.social on that ground-breaking tour. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/05/23/a...thelionandunicorn.comAutumn Leaves: Miles in the UKBEN FINLAY on Miles Davis’s first British tour in 1960. 163
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026"I did not come into Socialist politics in order to connive in the dismantling of the power of the British people." Today we shall be remembering Peter Shore, who died 25 years ago, on 24 September 2001. thelionandunicorn.com/2016/12/10/p...thelionandunicorn.com2016 Politician of the Year (dead)The man we should all have been talking about in 2016. 112
Reposted by Lion & UnicornLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026"He was chronically overweight, crippled by joint pain and had just been diagnosed with congestive heart failure." @summers2theb.bsky.social on the nadir of British wrestling. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/23/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: The WrestlingBEN THOMAS on shenanigans in ‘one of the worst UK wrestling matches of all time’. 023
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026NEW from Lion & Unicorn's wrestling correspondent, Ben 'Basher' Thomas👇 012
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026"Was it a good match? No, it was godawful." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/23/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: The WrestlingBEN THOMAS on shenanigans in ‘one of the worst UK wrestling matches of all time’. 042
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026"I hope there are risks. I hope there are dangers, too. I have so much to atone for." Sink me! Baroness Orczy, author of The Scarlet Pimpernel, was born 23 September 1865. #readmorewomen thelionandunicorn.com/2018/09/23/i...thelionandunicorn.comImperial fiction: The Scarlet PimpernelALWYN TURNER on a classic adventure romance from 1905. 022
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026"He was chronically overweight, crippled by joint pain and had just been diagnosed with congestive heart failure." @summers2theb.bsky.social on the nadir of British wrestling. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/23/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: The WrestlingBEN THOMAS on shenanigans in ‘one of the worst UK wrestling matches of all time’. 023
Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 22/09/2026COMING TOMORROW at Lion & Unicorn: Ben 'Basher' Thomas returns to the ring👇 111
