Why 1960s James Bond Would Be Cancelled Today

Would Sean Connery’s 007 survive modern cinema? We analyse 1960s Bond tropes, modern hero flaws, and how to write a grounded secret agent today.

If Sean Connery’s James Bond walked into a modern cinema today in a brand-new release… what would actually happen? Would audiences swoon at the effortless charm, the tailored Savile Row suit, and the Walther PPK? Or would they recoil at a man who routinely uses physical coercion, exhibits ice-cold sociopathic detachment, and treats women with blatant predatory contempt? In short: Would a 1960s Bond be cancelled today?

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25/09/2026 0

Buying a Jaecoo 7 Is “Betraying Britain”? Seriously?

Buying a Jaecoo is betraying Britain claims Telegraph

A Telegraph columnist says Jaecoo buyers are “betraying Britain”. I examine the counterfeit comparison, Land Rover’s Jeep origins and the Chery connection, and ask why ordinary motorists should apologise for buying a car they can afford

Apparently, buying a car you can afford could now qualify as betraying Britain. Particularly if that car is a Jaecoo 7 and you’ve had the audacity to enjoy its resemblance to something considerably more expensive. A Telegraph column suggests that motorists who cannot afford a Range Rover should accept their position in the financial pecking order and stop embarrassing themselves with a Chinese alternative. What the hell? Really?

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14/09/2026 1

My New Book – Silent Ruin – First in a New Jamshed Khan Series, Out Now!

From comic book to full-blown international thriller, this Jamshed Khan reboot is a story that’s been 30 years in the making

A relentless chase. A deadly secret. No way out. That’s the promise at the heart of Silent Ruin, my brand-new international spy thriller and the first in a new series featuring Jamshed Khan. This is a character I originally created over three decades ago, now reborn into a far more grown-up, high-stakes world of espionage, danger, and consequence.

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11/09/2026 3

Star Trek at 60: Why ‘Far Beyond the Stars’ Still Breaks Me

Star Trek Day Star Trek 60th DS9 Far Beyond The Stars

Far Beyond the Stars is one of the most powerful explorations of racism, representation, writing and hope in Star Trek’s 60-year history, and one that feels deeply personal to me

Happy Star Trek Day, and happy 60th anniversary to what I still consider the world’s greatest science-fiction franchise. I love pretty much all of Star Trek, across all its different incarnations, and there have been so many brilliant moments over six decades that choosing favourites can become a fool’s errand. Yet every now and then Trek produces something that rises above being merely fun, thrilling or thought-provoking and hits you so hard that it seems to send a shockwave through your body and soul, imprinting itself permanently on your memory and firing a phaser set to stun directly into your heart.

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08/09/2026 0

Why Is Every Celebrity Suddenly a Novelist?

Shahzad Sheikh reacts in disbelief as a celebrity promotes another novel on a television chat show

Actors, presenters, DJs and reality stars keep showing up on chat shows with suspiciously polished debut novels. Meanwhile, unknown writers are still fighting to get anybody beyond their immediate family to read chapter one!

Have you noticed that every celebrity is suddenly a novelist? It used to be mildly intriguing. A television presenter, newsreader, actor, actress or radio DJ would reveal that they had written a book and you might think, “Oh, they can write as well. That’s interesting.” Now every other Tom, Dick and Harry celebrity appears on a chat show clutching a freshly printed novel and announcing, with tremendous sincerity, that writing it has been “such a journey”.

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03/09/2026 2

Inspector Jamshed Trailer: Did I Copy Pakistan’s Legendary Hero?

Inspector Jamshed Trailer: Did I Copy Pakistan’s Hero?

Inspector Jamshed is heading to cinemas in IJ: The Secret Parchment. There is just one complication: I created another Pakistani action hero called Jamshed in 1996. Here is how that happened

So apparently there are now two Pakistani action heroes called Jamshed. One is Inspector Jamshed, a detective who first appeared in Ishtiaq Ahmed’s Urdu novels more than half a century ago and is now becoming the star of a major international action movie. The other is Jamshed Khan, a Pakistani ISI intelligence agent whom I created back in 1996 and who is now the hero of my thriller novel, Silent Ruin.

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01/09/2026 0

Top Gear and The Grand Tour Are Coming Back… But Why?

Amazon has replaced Clarkson, Hammond and May on The Grand Tour, and the BBC has just confirmed the revival of Top Gear. But has anyone stopped to ask if we really need these car shows?

Top Gear is coming back. The BBC has officially confirmed it, although there’s no word on when, what form it will take or who will present it. Meanwhile, Amazon is relaunching The Grand Tour next month with an entirely new trio: Thomas Holland and James Engelsman from the hugely successful Throttle House YouTube channel, joined by trainspotter and social media personality Francis Bourgeois. All six episodes arrive on Prime Video on 4 September 2026.

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30/08/2026 0

Star Trek Is Winding Down Just When We Need It Most

Star Trek turns 60 in 2026 just as TV production winds down. Why its optimistic vision of diversity, technology, AI and humanity’s future matters more than ever

Next month, September 2026, marks an extraordinary milestone: 60 years since Star Trek first hit television screens, and in recent years we’ve been particularly lucky to have an avalanche of Trek on TV, from Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks and Prodigy, to Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy. But as we approach that anniversary, something rather sad is happening because, as I write this in August 2026, there are no new Star Trek television shows or movies currently in production.

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19/08/2026 1

How to Write a Believable Muslim Character (Without Falling for Tropes & Clichés)

How to write a Muslim Character without cliches

Being one myself, I find most Muslim characters in popular fiction – books, TV or movies – to be superficial, unrealistic, forced, highly unlikely, laughable – or, worst of all – hell-bent stereotypes. So once and for all, here’s how to do it right!

Whether you are writing a fast-paced spy thriller, a mystery, sci-fi, or contemporary drama, crafting authentic characters from underrepresented backgrounds can be one of the most rewarding – and intimidating – parts of story development. Get them right, and you’ll win new friends and appreciative fans. Get them wrong and there could be derisive boos, or worse still – you could be cancelled!

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02/08/2026 0

The Government Could Change Your YouTube Feed Forever. Here’s Why You Must Act Now

Independent creators finally found a level playing field online. Now the Government is considering tipping it back towards the biggest media organisations

For more than thirty-six years I’ve made my living in the media. I’ve written for newspapers, edited magazines, presented television programmes, hosted radio shows, produced online content, attended hundreds of international launches and interviewed some of the biggest names in the automotive industry. I’ve seen the media world from almost every angle imaginable. Then, six years ago, I started BrownCarGuy on YouTube, not because I had to, but because I genuinely believed something remarkable had happened. For the first time in the history of broadcasting, ordinary people had finally been given a chance to compete with the biggest media organisations on the planet.

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09/07/2026 0