I love Emma Freud (A companion piece to 'I love Richard Curtis' by The Optimist)

You may remember a post I wrote some time ago in which I declared my love for the work of Richard Curtis. The post was subsequently viewed by Emma Freud, Curtis's partner and script editor on many of his films, who tweeted that it was, and I quote "gorgeous" *smiles proudly*. We're well into December, so I expect you've all enjoyed your annual viewing of Curtis classic, Love Actually, and on Saturday Richard, Emma and two of their kids did just the same, when they attended a midnight screening of the film in New York. Rather marvellously, Emma live tweeted throughout, with hilarious insights into the making of the film, so now, it's her turn for a bit of love from The Optimist. Take a look ...

Doctor Who

The time has come for the Timelord to return ... Doctor Who's back, and The Optimist could not be more excited! With Peter Capaldi taking control of the TARDIS, now's a great time for those not acquainted with the 50 year-old institution to get involved. You've only got 800 episodes to catch up on - that's twenty-five days of back to back, uninterrupted Who - sounds like the dream to me! If your boss is refusing to give you the time off work though, you could just take a look through The Optimist's edited highlights; 50 years of TV history condensed into five carefully selected episodes that you need to watch RIGHT NOW!

An Optimistic Advent Calendar - Day 1

Ding Dong Merrily on High! Welcome to day 1 of 'An Optimistic Advent Calendar'. From now until the 24th, I'll be bringing you a daily dose of Christmas cheer by sharing all sorts of festive makes and bakes, things to see and do and of course, lots of pretty pictures - all served up with an extra handful of seasonal sparkle. So pop back tomorrow for another look.

I love Richard Curtis

He's the man that brought us Renée as Bridget Jones, tore our hearts in two when he reimagined the life of Vincent Van Gogh for Doctor Who, introduced us to The Vicar of Dibley and even had a hand in the script for War Horse. Oh, and he's the writer of Love Actually which also makes him responsible for the painfully cute scene between Keira Knightley and Andrew Lincoln which spawned a million flip board marriage proposals, plus ... he made Colin Firth speak Portugese.