22 hours ago As a student in London I yearned for home, until I found paradise: a vast old villa with perfect housemates | Andrew Martin

We cooked ragu and listened to records while lying on chaises longues. Then the M11 link road was built – and everything changedIn our end of year series, writers and public figures remember the place or time when they felt most at homeIn the mid-1980s, I was in my early 20s and was reading for the Bar in London. I was living in a mouldy Balham bedsit and returning regularly to the comfort zone of my native York, when a friend told me a room was going in a shared house in Leytonstone.I wasn’t expecting much of E11. I wasn’t expecting trees, for example, but my walk from the attractive art deco tube station took me along roads better described as avenues. The house itself seemed almost the last one in London, an illusion created by the proximity of Wanstead Flats. It was a rangy, detached 1920s house, white with a red roof, and it had a name, but I’ll just call it the villa.Andrew Martin is an English novelist; his latest book is The Night in Venice Continue reading...

Society

18 hours ago Netflix viewers warned 'don't bother' with new series that 'wasted hours of my life'

La Palma, which is at number four on Netflix's most-watched list, has been slammed by fans for being a 'waste of time'

Events

18 hours ago Netflix fans urged to skip trending series as viewers fume it’s ‘a complete waste of time’

La Palma has settled in Netflix's most-watched charts but viewers are not impressed by the limited series

Politics

19 hours ago Netflix throws another log on the fire in festive TV virtual blaze craze

Crackling fireplace edges out new series of Squid Game as streaming service’s most watched Boxing Day show in UKIt pays the world’s biggest stars and utilises the most cutting-edge special effects to entice families away from terrestrial TV over the festive period.But Netflix viewers this year were instead drawn to one of humanity’s oldest sources of fascination: fire. Continue reading...

Events

20 hours ago Netflix viewers can't stop watching 'gripping thriller' they 'thought was a parody'

The film has climbed up the charts to an impressive position after being added to the streaming service

Politics