The UoN Experience - Graduation Aftermath and Advice

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

As the second anniversary passes which signalled the end of my education life and the finale to my journalism degree at the University of Northampton, I have decided to share my own personal experiences from my three years at UoN. This includes a look into how good is the University in general, a critical assessment of the video products I produced and what happened after graduation.

The penultimate article looks at the graduation aftermath and advice for those who are approaching the end of their degrees. The hard work that I had to endure during my degree was only about to get harder.

Just over two months after I officially finished my degree, it was time to put the smart suit on again and get ready for graduation day itself. Held at the Northampton Derngate Theatre, it was a polished and professional occasion with many people graduating on the same day (pictured with fellow journalism graduate Tamika below), not just from the School of the Arts but other areas of the University too.

With fellow hard-working graduate and close friend Tamika on graduation day in 2012

I had a big fear of tripping over my gown when it came to collecting my certificate but luckily it all went to plan. I shook the vice-chancellor’s hand and went off the stage feeling immensely proud of what I had achieved.

The target I had set from an early stage of the journalism degree was to achieve a 2:1. The economic recession was already in rapid form by the time I had started in Northampton and I knew it was going to be a hard aftermath once it was all complete. Therefore a 2:2 final classification was going to be totally useless to my future objectives.

So I was ecstatic to achieve the targeted aim and quite comfortably actually. In fact, I don’t think I was too far away from achieving a First Class Honours degree which is the top honour you could get. Honestly though if I had got that – I would have felt slightly undeserving of it. Whilst I had worked very hard, there were some weaknesses in my first year work and the design module in second year had been a spectacular flop. I was more than happy with the 2:1 and no-one can take that away.

Only one student in our group got First Class Honours and they totally deserved it too. By living, sleeping and breathing journalism, the individual got the result that fully recognised their efforts and I was proud to see that too.

From what I can recall, all of us graduated from journalism. The majority got their awards on the day I did in mid-July 2012; some had to wait until February 2013 but it was a proud and massive day in my life.

Tough roads lied in wait though.

Starting experience

To start with, any graduate just needs to gain experience in a working environment and if that means working without pay for a few weeks, then do it. It is not officially ‘volunteering’ but can feel like it.

This might be sending some articles online, to carrying out simple tasks around an office. It does mean learning on the job. However know when to stop when you start not to be recognised for working.

For me, I didn’t do that. By the time graduation day took place, I was already contributing to writing for a football website called Total Football Magazine. Initially it was preview pieces on matches for the European Football Championship tournament that summer in Poland/Ukraine. At first I didn’t mind doing it for free because I needed to get my name out there in the media spectrum. As the weeks and months went on though, I started to feel more and more dissatisfied.

In September of that year, I was promoted from a role of writer to deputy editor. However it still was unpaid and on reflection, I should have rejected the offer straightaway and refused to work unless I received some sort of salary contribution. Without any income coming in, things became more desperate. I applied for hundreds of positions and didn’t have one single interview. On top of that, the editor of who I was working for, was dabbling in other projects and showed little confidence in my abilities.

A paid freelance contract was agreed but eventually fell through, typically before Christmas 2012. In reality it was never going to happen. I kept emailing the editor for reassurances on the deal but although he did say it would go through, the replies were never convincing. I’m glad I stopped when I did and the website ultimately collapsed as a result. Whilst it was a good starting point, I was used by the system and seven months of effort came to nothing. It left me in a difficult position.

Take career guidance

May last year saw me have three one-to-one sessions with a careers advisor from the National Careers Service. Looking back at it now, it became a very valuable service. I learned some new skills in how to approach applying for positions. It was the guidance I was looking for.

Now that isn’t exciting and when I was first given the chance for some meetings with NCS, I wasn’t sure if it was needed. Yet after the three one-to-one sessions with the advisor I had, I felt much better and I had more luck/responses in applying for roles, even if some of these were still unsuccessful. Even do some unorthodox solutions; maybe advertise your services on Gumtree. It might not work, but if you don’t try in this environment, you won’t succeed.

You have to keep trying, even in the tough times. It can be morale zapping and on the first anniversary of my degree ending last year, I was in a thoroughly miserable place; there was no two ways about it.

The breakthrough

The breakthrough for me finally came last July.

I got calls for three interviews in seven days. First was for a football website company called Fanatix based in London. Second was for a publishing role with Topps Europe in Milton Keynes and third was as an online editor for the Phones4U website over in Staffordshire.

Ultimately I only attended the first two, as I had accepted a role before the Phones4U interview took place. It was the publishing job I took with Topps, which meant I could stay locally without having to move down the country and I could finally say I had a reason for why I did go to University.

I enjoy the job a lot, although there are difficult days as expected. I’ve been with the company now for just over 10 months and they’ve flown by in terms of time. The hard work paid off with a temporary contract becoming a short-term extension last October, followed by a permanent contract before Christmas last year. What a difference 12 months made.

There will be further challenges ahead, further goals too and probably movements in the future. However the journey to the golden sky of financial earning and security in a graduate job are complete for now.

Final piece of advice for graduates

My final piece of advice to those who are just entering the job market after graduation, or those even still looking to find something; don’t give up at all. Quitters never win on this planet and that’s a fact.

Apply for what you can. There will be rejections but even something like a simple email rejection response can be seen as a bonus. It means the company have clearly read what you’ve sent them and they probably just had a better qualified or skilled candidate ahead. Don’t forget – what you could be applying for might be a very popular role. If a recruiter gets 100 applications for one open position, don’t be surprised to find out they only pick five potential candidates for interview and you miss out.

There will be times of frustration and you wonder why you bother. That is bound to happen, but stay strong in the tough times. Perhaps take a motivational quote or an inspiring song and that should keep positivity up. And venture into every application with a frame of positivity. Going into this with negative thoughts will lead to a shoddy application and the recruiter will take one quick look, screw it up and chuck it in the bin. That is a waste of everyone’s time.

The most important avenue is to never give up. Trust in yourself and you can achieve anything.  

Categories: Applications, Contract, Freelance, Graduation, London, National Careers Service, Publishing, Topps, University of Northampton, Vice-Chancellor

The BRIT Awards 2014 - The Best of British sparkle again

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The finest talent in British and international music gathered at the 02 Arena in London on Wednesday night (19 February) for the biggest night in the music industry. The 2014 BRIT Awards provided some great live performances and memorable collaborations in a show that revived the sparkle that had evidently been missing 12 months earlier.

Rudimental and Bastille came together with one of the finest BRIT partnerships live on stage, whilst there were also live gigs from Ellie Goulding, Bruno Mars, the Arctic Monkeys and Pharrell Williams.

It was a brilliant night for the Arctic Monkeys who scooped two awards

On the awards front, it was Arctic Monkeys (pictured above) who were the big winners. Not only did they open the show in grand fashion, they walked off with two awards including the prestigious MasterCard British Album of the Year. To no-one’s surprise, One Direction also won two more BRITS to their collection but despite earning four nominations, Disclosure walked away with nothing. There were acts as young as 17 and as old as 67 also collecting these prestigious gongs.

Corden’s final farewell

This was the final year that the BRITS were to be hosted by James Corden. Having hosted the show for four years on the bounce, he decided to step aside back in November from 2015 onwards. Corden arrived on stage to introduce the evening’s entertainment with his sleeve on fire (pictured below) in a stunt which was clearly part of the opening act by Arctic Monkeys. He did try to blame their pyrotechnics but no-one was falling for that.

James Corden's final ceremony as host began with his sleeve on fire!

The actor and presenter who is best known for his roles in Gavin & Stacey and A League of Their Own kept everything together, although his mucking around with Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw was unnecessary. Nevertheless while he is replaceable, there will be something odd about Corden not hosting the BRITS anymore.

First award of the night went to the sensational Ellie Goulding. She deservedly picked up Best British Female Solo Artist and later went on to put in a fiery rendition of her two most familiar songs in the last 12 months; ‘Burn’ and ‘I Need Your Love.’ Fellow beaut Katy Perry produced the most colourful performance of the night. She gave an electrifying performance of new single ‘Dark Horse’ in an electrifying outfit. However she was beaten to the International Female Solo Artist by New Zealander Lorde, who is one of the BRITS youngest winners at just 17.

50 years her senior and David Bowie won Best British Male Solo Artist. The 67-year-old was not in attendance to collect the accolade and it was left to model Kate Moss to provide an acceptance speech on his behalf. The speech included references to Scotland going to the polls later this year in a bid for independence. It had no relevance to the night’s performances and his view could have been saved for another day and another time.

The loo is important!

Now when a male normally needs to go to the toilet, he must go! However, the timing of this can sometimes be a bit off and the ladies’ favourite Harry Styles certainly got his timings totally out of joint.

Whether he was in a long queue, having a private moment or tying John Terry up to stop him stealing another award is irrelevant, he had to dash back onto stage when he found out that One Direction had won the Global Success award for a second successive year. With 11.5m in global sales and a box office movie in the last year, this award was extremely predictable. The boyband were back later in the night to collect the inaugural award for Best British Video, which was voted by users of the social media giant Twitter. The video was for ‘Best Song Ever’ and this time; Harry actually made it onto stage without needing to visit the cubicles!

Bruno Mars regained the International Male Solo Artist award he last won two years ago, before putting in an uneventful live performance. Flying in especially for the event was another popular American in Beyoncé, who did put in a classy performance.

Listeners of BBC Radio 1 supported and voted for the highly acclaimed British Breakthrough award. There were a series of live lounges the week before from the five contenders and eventually, the fiercely competitive award saw Bastille coming out on top. Their album ‘Bad Blood’ was the most downloaded album of the last 12 months.

Clever collaborations

The first collaboration of the night was from Lorde and Disclosure who put in a unique performance together for the first time. It was a clever routine, even if it lacked the fireworks of other live acts on the night.

An even better collaboration and far more catchy was the one from Rudimental and Bastille. It is so popular; it is currently in the top 10 of the iTunes music chart this week. It was a good evening for Rudimental. They won Best British Single for ‘Waiting All Night’ which is their first BRIT award and if the evidence of the last calendar year is anything to go by, the first of many.

Arctic Monkeys won Best British Group for a third time which was a great award for them to win, considering those popular lads from One Direction were nominated. The biggest award though was the last, as the Arctic’s album ‘AM’ held off stiff competition from Bastille, Rudimental, Disclosure and David Bowie to win the MasterCard Album of the Year. The other award winner was Sam Smith, who had been confirmed last month as winner of the Critics’ Choice for 2014. It will be interesting to see if he can follow in the footsteps of previous winners ADELE, Florence & the Machine and Emeli Sande. The show was closed by Pharrell Williams and music icon Nile Rodgers.

Despite huge social media following with over four million messages on Twitter, TV viewing figures were disastrous, both for the organisers and for ITV. A measly 4.6m tuned in to watch – the lowest ratings since the show went live back in 2007.

While the evening might have lacked controversy, it was a strong show with some superb live music mixed in with the usual awards ceremony. The BRITS will continue to get people talking for many years to come.

Categories: Arctic Monkeys, Bastille, BRIT Awards, Ellie Goulding, James Corden, Katy Perry, London, Music, One Direction, Rudimental

24 hour news channels - Celebrating 25 years of Sky News

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The start of February saw 25 years since this was launched:

Sky News has come so far in the quarter of a century it has been on our TV screens. Not always easily accessible in its early inception, Sky News is now widely available on a number of different devices, from freeview platforms and computer-generated apps to the stunning iPad app which is among one of the best in the business.

Sky has always been the first place for breaking news with its dedicated team of journalists and reporters ready to bring the story to you first, the viewer. I know that it is the channel I watch if I’m after a big story. Sky News were the first to cover the stories that mattered. From the celebration of Tony Blair’s landslide election victory in 1997 and the birth of the Royal Baby last year to the horrifying scenes of international terrorism in New York, Bali, Madrid and London over the past 13 years – as well as groundbreaking coverage of the UK riots in August 2011.

However, Sky and its main competitors are now facing new competition in the evolving world of digital journalism. So, can it be successful and still remain at the forefront of our news for the next quarter of a century.

Slow start

The first bulletin was broadcast at 6pm on Sunday, 5 February 1989. Today, three senior figures in presenter Kay Burley, controversial political editor Adam Boulton and crime correspondent Martin Brunt are still with Sky, just like they were on launch night.

It was a slow start at a time where news was still not hugely accessible. Sky was launched at a time where only CNN was a 24-hour news network in America. The traditional ‘Newsflash’ from terrestrial platforms was the way we got the main news coverage in the late 1980s and early 1990s. There was no internet, social media was a dream away and tablets were just know as a cleaning aid and nothing more.

Rupert Murdoch, for whatever criticism he might deserve in regards to the News International phone hacking scandal two years ago does have to take the credit for keeping Sky News on the air in its early days. Operating on a £40m budget and with a lack of subscribers, Sam Chisholm proposed to Murdoch that Britain’s first 24 hour news channel was to be closed down to save money. The tycoon stuck to his guns though and gradually, Sky started to make its impact further for it. It was quickly respected in the House of Commons and throughout the political circle and started winning awards for its coverage – starting with the Bishopgate IRA bombing in 1993.

Its wall-to-wall coverage of the OJ Simpson trial throughout the pursuit of Simpson through America to the trial in 1995 was groundbreaking. It won Sky a lot of praise and I personally saw it as their big breakthrough onto the news spectrum in this country.

Breaking news

All of this came as BSkyB went under numerous launches on a yearly basis. Sky News underwent new looks (images below) in 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000. With flashy graphics, colourful ways to promote the news through rapid technological advances and the development of Sky News Active in the year 2000, they continued to evolve and respond to changes in the way we consumed news.

  

Various Sky News idents from 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1998

The Simpson trial of the mid-90s was big for Sky News but they had shown what they were capable of before that. They covered the late Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990 with great authority and the same occured with a tearful Margaret Thatcher’s departure from Downing Street after resigning as Prime Minister in the same year. They had provided in-depth coverage of the tight 1992 General Election and have made their election coverage even better through a variety of new aspects such as interactive voting and 3D visuals – not just for the UK but also for election night in the United States.

In 1997, it was Martin Stanford who had the difficulty of breaking the news to the nation of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in a car crash in Paris. While the BBC won plenty of acclaim for the way they handled such a sad and emotional story, Sky weren’t far behind. Their finest moment came four years later when the world was experiencing a horrifying day.

It was approaching 1.50pm on a normal day. The date was Tuesday, 11 September 2001 and nothing remarkable was happening, both in our normal lives and at Sky studios. That was about to change though as Kay Burley was given the news that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York. What followed was some of the most horrific and vivid moments of the 21^st century. That day, our lives changes forever. In a book, ’20 Years of Breaking News’ Burley revealed: “Not long afterwards the South Tower collapsed. It took less than fifteen seconds to implode. Neither Jeremy (Thompson), nor I said anything. Nothing needed to be said. More than a hundred storeys and thousands of lives lost in as long as it took you to read this paragraph.”

Sky won a BAFTA award for their coverage of 9/11, a feat repeated with the Soham murders in 2003. Many other awards have followed since alongside widespread praise and of course, some criticism along the way.

However, our news would be in a poorer place without Sky News.

It doesn’t always work and the future

24 hour news channels haven’t always had success. ITN tried it with the disastrous ITV News Channel at the start of the millennium. With ratings more accustomed to an episode of Eldorado, the plug was pulled on ITN’s 24 hour failure in December 2005. It hadn’t been helped by the collapse of the ITV Digital platform three years earlier.

The BBC entered the market eight years after Sky and BBC News 24 has been a stable challenger to Sky News since launching on Sunday, 9 November 1997. Despite the occasional blunder, such as Simon McCoy (a former Sky anchor) holding a pad of paper rather than a tablet last year, they have managed to survive in such stiff competition.

However, the way we get news continues to change. The advancement in social media means Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube have become very popular tools for a journalist or even for an amateur filmmaker. Sky used some of this during the UK riots in 2011 – journalist Mark Stone filming on his mobile phone some of the unbelievable scenes in his hometown of Clapham. Stone would later be interviewed for our radio programme ‘The Current Affairs Show’ in 2012 about that night. In an interview for our journalism show with one of my fellow University of Northampton colleagues, he said: “Some of them were almost feral; the image that strikes me is the kids pulling the TV’s off the wall at Ladbrokes. It was the most extraordinary image.”

Rather than compete against them at their own game, 24 hour news channels such as Sky News and BBC News 24 have decided to integrate them rather than beat them. It is a clever strategy and I think it means their future is guaranteed, even if they might not quite have the impact they have had over the past decade or two.

I believe 24 hour news channels have a bright future. They have and continue to adapt well to changes, both in technological advancements and the way news can be broadcasted. I congratulate Sky News and Sky Television as a whole on reaching 25 years and I’m confident that with the tremendous team of reporters, presenters, journalists and people who work behind the scenes at Sky studios, they will achieve another 25 years continuing to break the news first.

Categories: 1989, 9/11, London, New York, Royal Family, Sky News, Tony Blair, TV, UK

What went wrong for BlackBerry?

By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

This article was written for TheRankTank

It was once the powerful and popular smartphone of its time, but now the dream for BlackBerry is most definitely over.

Technical problems combined with the lack of development, clashes with society and poor sales have led to the Canadian company effectively agreeing to sell up to a consortium led by its biggest shareholder Fairfax Financial.

So what went wrong for a company that changed the smartphone landscape, but has now simply become another statistic in the economic recession we live in today?

Firstly, BlackBerry App World simply did not have the capabilities of its rivals such as the Google Play Store for Android and Apple’s powerful App Store.  While the basics any customer would expect such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube were offered, that was as far as it got.  As the consumer started to want more apps for their phone and therefore a wider choice, the sales in the BlackBerry phones started to drop quite considerably.

The BlackBerry Z10 simply didn't provide the sales the company needed

This was further underlined last week by a massive loss of £600m in the second quarter of this year alone.  4,500 employers will lose their jobs as a result; around 40 per cent of the workforce although it is unclear how many positions will go at the European headquarters in Slough.

Secondly the new phones BlackBerry (Z10 pictured) put their efforts into simply didn’t sell with the market.  

While Apple and Samsung stormed ahead with major new investments in their latest gadgets, BlackBerry would only often look into minor improvements to their models – simply not enough to stay afloat as a viable competitor.  It has been overtaken by the likes of the Sony Xperia and the HTC brand in recent years.  When it decided for a complete overhaul with the new and much delayed Z10 smartphone at the start of 2013, the damage had already been done.

Thirdly the consensus is the year that completely finished BlackBerry off was 2011.  That summer saw the devastating riots that swept across the United Kingdom following the shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham.  Social media became a powerful communication tool and the private messaging service BlackBerry messenger or BBM as it is more commonly known was used to organise deliberate looting, robbing and often destruction of innocent businesses.  The media quickly jumped on the bandwagon of this, with statistics revealing that 37 per cent of the UK smartphone market in urban areas with a lack of social wealth having a BlackBerry phone.

RIM’s reputation took a big hit, and worse was to come in October of the same year when its servers crashed; meaning millions of customers were left without access to their e-mails, the internet or the BBM service for days.  This writer knows only too well as I purchased a BlackBerry at around this time, a move quickly regretted but left stuck with for the next two years.  BlackBerry’s response to this crisis can only be described as slow, lazy and unwilling to accept responsibility.  Apple users were delighted and took to Twitter with tweets such as ‘Dear BlackBerry, HAHAHAHA! Sincerely Apple!’ 

The company’s CEO made a video apology, but far too late to satisfy anyone and a compensation package of free apps was not appreciated by many.  When customers need to pay 99p to access Wikipedia, this alone sums up BlackBerry’s problems in a nutshell.  In this instance, the consumer should come first and it never did when it came to the RIM server crash.

BBM, often a unique selling point of the BlackBerry phones has now been made available as a free download for Apple and Android devices as it starts to get outmuscled by other free messaging applications like SnapChat and WhatsApp.  With its identity lost, it becomes far more difficult to sell BlackBerry phones to any sensible member of the public.

Throw in a general lack of reliability with a phone lucky to last seven months even in a calm, gentle condition and the dreadful BlackBerry PlayBook tablet that was doomed from launch due to the lack of apps, and not even having access to a decent calendar; there have been many issues that weren’t ironed out by the company’s owners.

Another former major powerhouse in phone technology was Nokia and they recently were taken over by Microsoft so there might still be a future in new hands for the popular brand that created the slick and stylish Lumia phone, but simply didn’t have the technology to take on market leaders Samsung and Apple.

For BlackBerry though, the future is a very bleak one.  It might still be a handy phone for those who focus on business in their lives, but when it comes to pleasure or leisure use, my advice is to stay well away and look at other options.  It is difficult to see BlackBerry having much of an existence in the next five years.  Its many bugs have finally been exposed to the world, and although it will have its place in the history of the mobile phone – it is definitely not going to be a part of the future of this extremely popular and necessary gadget. 

Categories: Android, Apple, Applications, BlackBerry, Canada, London, RIM, Samsung, Slough, Smartphone

What Makes Us Care - A stunning exhibition

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

On my way to London today, I find no fewer than three people sleeping rough outside Central Milton Keynes train station.  This is becoming a worrying problem and the statistics don’t lie when it comes to seeing people living in almost unthinkable conditions.

Thames Reach record regular facts and figures on the homelessness and the figures are truly shocking.  6,437 people in the UK were seen sleeping rough between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.  That is an increase of almost 1,000 on the 2011/12 year, and a 43 per cent increase on 2010/11 numbers.  In the autumn of 2012, the estimated total of rough sleeping counts estimated at 2,309 people.  Autumn and winter are the most fraught parts of the year for these kinds of people, as they are totally exposed to the winter elements and are very likely to pick up nasty colds and more pressing issues such as pneumonia. 

The most common reasons for becoming homeless involve an issue of domestic violence, the breakdown of a relationship with a partner or family no longer willing to accommodate a person due to private issues such as rent payments or even a criminal conviction. 

I was appalled when reading this, but what can be done about it?  Awareness of this issue needs to be highlighted more, particularly as we are now approaching the time where temperatures drop and the nights draw rapidly in.  One individual has decided to put a unique twist on this, and the results are simply spectacular.

'What Makes Us Care is worth visiting'

‘What Makes Us Care’ is a free exhibition at St. Martin in the Fields in London near Charing Cross tube station.  The exhibition has been put together by Kathryn Prescott and the photography is simply breathtaking and stunning to witness.  I went to the viewings on Saturday, and I really felt a connection with the expression portrayed in the photos.  It might be a small collection, but it is magnificent.  Every one of the pictures on display really do tell a story.

Prescott is known for her TV work as a talented actress in the former E4 teen drama Skins, which came to an end at the start of August after seven successful years on the box.  She has managed to get stars from Skins, along with cast members from popular shows such as Glee, Waterloo Road and Shameless to be photographed in a vulnerable state.  

Her idea of putting recognised faces in dark and uncompromising scenarios is an inspired idea.  You never know what might happen – it could be one of us next.  There is a huge block of the UK population who have a settled job, are financially secure and committed in a happy and loving relationship.  However it only takes one of these aspects to disappear, and a life on the streets might not be far away.  By putting familiar faces from TV in this gallery, Kat has managed to tell a strong and powerful story and it makes ‘What Makes Us Care’ a standout exhibit.

Shot mainly around London but also in Los Angeles in the United States, the likes of Georgia Henshaw, Elliot Tittensor, Kaya Scodelario, Ollie Barbieri and Craig Roberts have been photographed for this unique show.  Kat’s partner in the on-screen ‘Naomily’ story in Skins, Lily Loveless is another who has gone under the microscope.

Graphically astute and detailed to the absolute precise detail you could imagine, it is worth going even for just an hour after work or on a free weekend.  I’m not a massive fan of art but I know when I see a stunning photograph, scenic beauty or portrayal of someone.

The pictures range from Henshaw with a graffiti background looking emotionally drained, Chuck Hittenger looking up towards the sky, but laying down in fairly uncomfortable surroundings and Megan Prescott, Kat’s sister looking lost, lonely and heartbroken on a dull London day with her arms resting against her cute but disconsolate face.

Kathryn Prescott has produced some great work

Kathryn Prescott is still only 22 years old and is remarkably multi-talented.  Her portrayal of the popular lesbian teen character Emily Fitch in series three and four of Skins, along with a brief cameo in the most recent final series won her many fans and plenty of critical acclaim.  The love story of Emily and Naomi (played by Loveless) in the show opened a door previously closed in British drama of female relationships and dealing with their sexuality.  It was a cracking portrayal of a same-sex relationship and it was about two characters falling in love rather than just a chance or drunk encounter that other shows in the past decided to focus on when putting two female characters together. 

Since Skins, Prescott has appeared in Sky One drama Bedlam, Being Human and long-running BBC medical drama Casualty.  All of these roles were packed with drama, passion and intrigue.  Not only can she act, but she has shown that she is a very skilled photographer.  It shows that young people who are often stereotyped in this country as loud, snobbish and utter failures can do some great things.  She is a shining example for those who want to make something of themselves and do something tremendous in their spare time. 

The exhibition is set in a historic location

‘What Makes Us Care’ remains open until the middle of October and A3 prints of all 20 photos taken are available to be bought online, signed by Kat herself.  All proceeds from the prints will go to The Big Issue and Centrepoint youth charities with the aim to not only help two causes, but to highlight the issues of living on the streets, sleeping rough and struggling to eat a decent meal.  This shouldn’t happen and as already highlighted, numbers are also on the increase.  By doing this the message is now out there to severely reduce these crippling figures and I hope Prescott’s hard work, along with make-up artists Summm Agnew and Krystle Gohel and the printers at Metro Imaging is rewarded with a fantastic total for two worthy charities.

I will be buying an A3 print of one of the photos to show my support and I would recommend this exhibition to anyone who is a fan of photography, the actress or Skins to come down to London and see ‘What Makes Us Care.’  The photography is masterful, the setting where it is situated is very historic and it has opened my eyes to people who don’t have the lucky breaks the majority of us have.  Many of us have access to luxuries such as 3D TV’s, clever smartphones and flashy sportscars.  Others who live rough have to battle illness, and struggle to get a decent roast dinner.  ‘What Makes Us Care’ is a real highlight and it is all for some great causes.

‘What Makes Us Care’ is open until 13 October 2013 and is free to visit. 

For more information on the exhibition and to buy a print, visit www.bigissue.org.uk/whatmakesuscare  A3 prints are £30 individually or £120 for five and all proceeds are split between the two charities, The Big Issue and Centrepoint.

To make a donation, visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/whatmakesuscare

Categories: Exhibition, Georgia Henshaw, Homeless, Kathryn Prescott, London, Los Angeles, Milton Keynes, Photography, UK, What Makes Us Care

Skins Fire - A dark and unhappy ending

By Simon Wright

A few weeks ago, I shared some of my memories and also vindication of the impact Skins has made on British television drama.  However, after the first part of the final series, all it has seen to do is alienated fans even further than it has managed before.

The two-part Skins Fire was the first episode, held over the last two Mondays of the seventh and final series.  Set in the heart of London, it promised much, especially after the trailers and the interviews in the lead-up to the series.  Unfortunately, all it provided was heartbreak, devastation and an ending that provided more questions than closure.

The plot

Effy's job was the main plot for Skins Fire - it ended badly

Skins Fire was mainly based around the character of Effy Stonem (pictured), played by Kaya Scodelario.  Effy was a mysterious character who was part of the first two generations (series 1-4).  Her character by the end of the last time we saw her was one who had gone nuts and ended up in a psychiatric ward.

When it was picked up last week, Effy has landed a job in The City, working initially as an assistant in a financial company.  The job doesn’t hold many prospects, mainly focusing on photocopying documents and making tea and coffee for the big bosses.  However, when Effy stumbles on a financial deal that is dodgy, she uses this to her advantage.

She starts making huge investments for the company, earns a promotion and eventually, starts an affair with her wealthy boss Jake, played by Kayvan Novak.

Eventually, Effy’s actions see her reaching the top, then crashing back down to earth in typical fashion, when the FSA investigate her actions, worth £11m of dodgy asset dealings.

Hoping to be protected by her lover, Effy gets a shock when her boss ships her in.  Realising she has been used; Effy eventually makes a statement to the FSA implicating Jake’s knowledge in the dealings.  However, she is told by ice queen Victoria, played by Lara Pulver that she faces time in jail for what she has done.

A secondary story runs through and that is the declining fortunes of Naomi Campbell.  Played by Lily Loveless, Naomi has not managed to find work since leaving University, and is doing very little in London, annoying Effy who is flat-sharing with her.  Even a crazy idea as a stand-up comedian doesn’t go to plan for Naomi, who left college with perfect scores of three A grades.

However, it is a shock health diagnosis that rocks her world.  Naomi is diagnosed with cancer, and the second episode sees her having to deal with protecting the information from her girlfriend Emily, played by Kathryn Prescott, but also attempt to get treatment.

When radiotherapy and then chemotherapy don’t go according to plan, Naomi’s health starts to decline rapidly and by the end of part two, the audience is left shocked by knowing that she is going to die.  Emily, who has been on a photography internship in New York, doesn’t find out until it is too late and a heartbreaking end for one of TV’s most popular couples sees Emily breaking down in Naomi’s dying arms in the hospital.  If anyone watching last night didn’t feel a tear when this scene played out, then emotional control is not one of your strengths.

Skins Fire also saw Craig Roberts appear as Dominic.  He is another financial worker who has a serious crush on Effy, and is left used by Effy’s devious ways to gain the information she wants.

Too many questions

As Effy’s character was the longest serving in the three full generations of Skins previously it was understandable for Skins Fire to focus intensely on her activities three years on from college.

However, the main storyline was weak and at times, underwhelming.  It was difficult to follow, especially if you have no interest in the financial sector.  It did show a lot of financial greed though, which is a common theme of the British banking industry since the recession began to hit us in 2008.

This was meant to be series about closure rather than questions, but that hasn’t happened.  Effy’s final scene is disappearing in the back of a car with a smirk on her face.  That shouldn’t be the case for someone who faces time behind bars?  The ending to Fire was far-fetched and didn’t provide closure.  At times too, everything seemed rushed.  Perhaps the story should have been told in two 90-minute parts rather than two 60-minute episodes.

While the cameo characters played their part, and Novak, who played Effy’s boss, was an interesting character, the lack of information about what happened to the other members of generation two was startling.  While the audience didn’t need too much background information, the majority of us would want to know whether Pandora had been a success on her History scholarship, or where JJ and Katie were nowadays.  

Most importantly, there were no mentions of Freddie McClair, Effy’s former boyfriend who was beaten to death with a baseball bat by mad psychiatrist John Foster (Hugo Speer) in the penultimate episode of series four.

It means we have no clue whatsoever of how Effy found out Freddie was dead, and it was noticeable how much of a lookalike her new boyfriend was to the one she was in love with throughout generation two.  That was a massive disappointment. 

Naomily’s happy ending turns sour

The biggest let down of all though was the unhappy ending the writer gave to Naomi and Emily’s story.

All smiles here, but it wasn't the ending Naomily fans hoped for

Three years ago, fans of ‘Naomily’ (couple pictured) got the happy conclusion they wanted, when after months of punishment and hiding away true feelings, Emily finally forgave Naomi for her fling with a girl at the start of series four.  After new events, Naomi’s emotional speech, which included the words: ‘I’d die for you,’ sound even more touching and poignant now.

It was brave for Skins to go with a cancer storyline and credit has to be given for that.  However, everything again seem rushed and hassled, and when it became clear that there was no chance of recovery for Naomi, social media on Twitter and internet forums probably went into periods of rage and disgust. 

Naomi was a popular character with many, and to give her a storyline like this was brave, but turned out to be massively unpopular.  Why did they mess with the ‘Naomily’ pairing three years on?  It would have been best for them not to have returned for the final series.

As most of us know, happy endings in television don’t happen too much, especially in soaps, but also in dramas.  They probably look too soppy for the writers, and on occasion, too boring to watch for the audience.

However, if one television couple deserved to break that tradition, it was ‘Naomily.’  The relationship between Naomi and Emily was one of the most beautiful portrayals of a same sex relationship.  At the end of the day, it wasn’t just this fact; it was a love story between two characters that fell for one another, without any concern for their sexuality.  

The storyline broke down new boundaries for relationships between two women on television, especially in the UK.  Skins had been the ground-breaking for this, and as the actresses have said in numerous interviews in the past, they’ve had letters of support from people who’ve come out to their families and friends on the true identity of their sexuality, inspired by the story of Naomi and Emily.

We have to remember that this is just a television drama and it didn’t happen in real-life, but it was such a massive shame that the audience and particular fans of the pairing got such a sorry and heartbreaking ending to a passionate storyline.  The only consolation is to remember the happy moments and that Emily was with Naomi in her final moments.  If she hadn’t been, the ending would have been even more insulting.

So, with Effy in jail, Naomi dying and Emily now alone and miserable, a sarcastic round of applause should be given to the team behind Skins Fire for creating such a dark and devastating two-part series.

Time changes people

However, I don’t want to sound bitter, and there were some positives from the story.  Jess Brittain was the writer of Skins Fire, and it would have been massively difficult for her to come up with an idea, write a detailed and emotional script and see it all play out from there.

I didn’t agree with the way how things ended, but she tried her best, and that is all you can ask for at the end of the day. 

Some criticised the Skins team for the way the show has changed, but the aspect is that this is Skins in an adult life.

The days of raving parties, boozing on regular drugs and sexual encounters are a thing of the past.  This Skins series was always going to be different.  There were elements of these in Skins Fire, and so there should be as the show’s identity and appeal would be totally lost otherwise.

However, people grow up and that is a natural aspect of life.  Effy, Naomi and Emily will have all developed by at least three or four years since we last saw them, so they were now playing characters in their early 20s, a time where the excessive partying and not having much of a care in the world should really have stopped. 

Kaya, Lily and Kat stand out

Skins has been the foreground for some young actors and actresses to really go and make their mark.  Joe Dempsie, Nicolas Hoult, Hannah Murray and Dev Patel from generation one have had great success post-Skins.  Jack O’Connell and Luke Pasqualino from generation two stood out, and Freya Mavor and Dakota Blue Richards from the final generation.   

There are bright futures for Kat, Kaya and Lily

However, Skins Fire once again portrayed the stunning work of three actresses (all pictured) who are among the best talent around.  I’d even go as far to say they are three of the best the UK has at the moment.

I never appreciated how strong Kaya Scodelario was in the main series before, but she really stood out in Skins Fire.  Kaya has already made her name in movies, and she will only go onto bigger and better things. 

She has a confidence element to the characters she plays and no-one could have played Effy’s role better.

I’ve said it before, but Lily Loveless is an outstanding actress.  Her comic timing, the emotion she shows in her scenes and the way she portrays her expressions are up there with the best in British television.

Lily has had roles in Bedlam on Sky One and in BBC Three’s powerful drama The Crash earlier this year, but she has the world at her feet.  The cancer storyline for Naomi was a sad ending to a popular character, but Lily played the scenes exceptionally, especially the close heart-to-heart moments with Scodelario.

In Kathryn Prescott, Skins has uncovered another gem.  Gone are the days of the timid, shy Emily Fitch from the first few episodes of series three.  The scenes Emily has in Skins Fire see a confidence, a conviction and a belief in her character, helped by the internship work in New York.  It was a real shame that we didn’t see enough of Emily in Skins Fire; her scenes were kept to an absolute minimum.

Like Loveless, Prescott has had a guest role in Bedlam, and also appeared in one-off episodes in BBC medical drama Casualty and in another supernatural drama called Being Human.

Kat is also making her name in photography.  Her first official photographic exhibition is taking place in September, in collaboration with her continued work with The Big Issue.  I’m sure the four-week exhibition, titled ‘What Makes Us Care,’ will be a total success.  It is something I even hope to go and visit when I get a spare day from my new job.

So, high praise for three actresses who made their characters in Skins stand out with incredible acting.  I hope they go on and achieve the success they deserve.  The performances of Scodelario and Loveless in Skins Fire were so good, they should be recognised at award ceremonies, but will probably sadly be ignored like on so many occasions before.

Skins Fire was tough to watch, and far too dark for the show’s usual unique identity.  At least the performance in terms of acting couldn’t be faulted.

Categories: Britain, Cancer, Craig Roberts, E4, FSA, Kathryn Prescott, Kaya Scodelario, Kayvan Novak, Lily Loveless, London, Naomily, Skins, The City, TV, University

2012 - A year in review - Sport

By Simon Wright

The sporting year of 2012 was dominated by the Olympics and Paralympics in London, but that doesn’t mean it was a quiet year elsewhere.  Far from it, as there was plenty of intrigue and drama all the way.

Cycling saw history made and legends disgraced, tennis allowed records to be broken and new challengers to emerge, football produced one of the most sensational finishes to any season, while horse racing had another year of triumph and tragedy.

It was a mixed bag for cricket, minor miracles emerged in golf and Formula One produced another thrilling showdown.   So, here is the sporting review of 2012, excluding the Olympic highlights.

It’s Wiggo time

Cycling has rarely been out of the headlines in 2012.  Thankfully, most of the stories were of a positive nature.

Bradley Wiggins made history in the Tour de France

The country fell in love with Bradley Wiggins and his sideburns.  He might have won Olympic gold and BBC Sports Personality of the Year, but his main feat arrived just days before the London extraganvanza.

He won the Tour de France, cycling’s most difficult race to win.  He crossed the finish line with the yellow jersey in Paris, to become the first Brit to win the race since its inception in 1903.

British team-mate Chris Froome backed him up by finishing second, while Mark Cavendish did his bit for Team Sky too and won the final stage for the fourth year running.

Cavendish has quit Team Sky since, but the future looks bright for the team, as they have snapped up youngster Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, who was winner of the Tour of Britain in September.

On the track and a sign of Team GB’s Olympic dominance shone through at the World Championships in Melbourne.

Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Ben Swift and Laura Trott all won gold and broke world records in the process.

While Wiggo fever hit Britain, Lance Armstrong’s reputation is in complete tatters.

Armstrong’s record seven Tour de France titles were annulled from the history books, after doping allegations were upheld and made public.

He was one of sport’s most inspired figures a while ago.  Now he goes down as the biggest cheat in sporting history.

Murray comes of age

In tennis, the year saw some surprises and a big breakthrough for Britain.

In the women’s game, Victoria Azarenka finally fulfilled her potential with victory in the Australian Open.

The flamboyant Maria Sharapova was the Queen of Clay at Roland Garros.  The Russian completed her set of Grand Slam titles and became world number one for a brief period.

Ultimately though, it was Serena Williams who stole the limelight once again.  After overcoming some serious health issues in the last two years, the American won her fifth Wimbledon title, defeating a brave Agnieszka Radwanska challenge in the final.

She then went on to win the Olympics, the US Open and the WTA Championships at the end of the season.

It was a good year for the British female players too.  Laura Robson reached round four at the US Open, beating the retiring Kim Clijsters along the way, and Heather Watson became the first British female player to win a singles title in 27 years, as she won the Japan Open.

2012 though was the year that saw Andy Murray coming of age.  The year started inconsistently, with defeat to David Ferrer in the French Open quarter-finals, then an embarrassing first-round exit from the AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club.

However he bounced back at Wimbledon and in some fashion.  Murray became the first British male player to reach the final in 76 years.  He came up short in the final, going down in four sets to Roger Federer, but his emotional speech after the agonising loss at SW19 won him the hearts of the nation.

British drought in tennis ended with Andy Murray's US Open victory

Murray used his Wimbledon heartbreak as a motivation to not be the nearly man once again.  He thrashed Federer in the Olympics final, and in the early hours of a Tuesday morning in early September, he overcame Novak Djokovic in five brutal sets to win the US Open.

He ended the drought at Flushing Meadows, becoming Britain’s first Grand Slam winner since Fred Perry back in 1936.  The foundations have been set for a bright future.

Federer won his seventh Wimbledon title and broke the record for most weeks at number one, as the Swiss Master showed once again that he can still do it at this level.

Djokovic won the Australian Open and the ATP Tour Finals event at the 02 Arena.  The Serbian ends the year as number one, and although he was more vulnerable in 2012, he is still probably the best in the game at the moment.

Former Grand Slam winners Juan Carlos Ferrero and Andy Roddick both called it a day and Rafael Nadal might have to join them.  He did win his seventh French Open title, but an early exit at SW19 in round two against Lukas Rusol and persistent knee trouble mean he hasn’t played since the summer.

His career is firmly in the balance and if he doesn’t come back, it will be a real shame as tennis is currently in a golden period.  It is pleasing to say that Murray is now firmly in the battle to be the best in the world. 

The miracle of Medinah

Golf has often been accused to be a very boring and pedantic sport but that wasn’t the case in 2012.

In the major tournaments, Bubba Watson held off the challenge of South African Louis Oosthuizen to win in a play-off at the US Masters at Augusta, while Webb Simpson won his maiden title at the US Open in San Francisco.

At the Open Championship in July, it was Ernie Els who delivered the goods.  The veteran seized on an opportunity to take his second Open title, a decade on from his last major success.

It had been Adam Scott’s tournament to lose, but he did a ‘Van der Velde’ from 1999 and bogeyed the last four holes – handing Els the coveted Claret Jug.

The golfer of the year was definitely Rory McIlroy.  The Northern Irishman stormed to his second major championship in August, blitzing the field at Kiawah Island to win the US PGA Championship by eight strokes.

He ended the year with the most prize money and top of both the European and US rankings. 

So it was on to the Ryder Cup and what turned out to be the ‘Miracle of Medinah.’  The American team were in complete control on the first two days and opened up a handsome 10-4 lead at one point.

However the heroics of Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and McIlroy allowed Europe to stay in the contest.  On the final day, trailing 10-6 – they produced one of the greatest sporting comebacks in history to dominate the singles and retain the Ryder Cup 14½-13½.

Some inspired performances and a great team unit, organised by captain Jose Maria Olazabal had delivered.  This has gone down as one of Europe’s greatest ever team performances. 

Aguero wins it at the last

Sunday, 13 May 2012 and one city was divided – with the destiny of the 2011-12 Premier League title firmly in the balance.

Manchester United had been eight points clear at one point, but Manchester City closed them down – beat them in the Manchester derby in late April and held the advantage going into what looked like would be a routine final day.

Wayne Rooney’s early goal won the Red Devils their match at Sunderland.  As ever, City looked to have made a meal of it.

They led relegation threatened QPR 1-0, but second half goals from Djibril Cisse and Jamie Mackie allowed the visitors to take a 2-1 lead, despite having just 10 men on the field.

The Citizens fans looked shocked but Edin Dzeko rekindled hope in stoppage time, heading in an equaliser. 

As the final whistle blew on Wearside, United were champions again but they were still playing at the Etihad. 

Mario Balotelli found Sergio Aguero, who drilled his shot inside Paddy Kenny’s near post to seal City the title in the most unbelievable fashion.  It was their first title in 44 years, won on goal difference and confirmed their place as one of the superpowers of the English game.

Chelsea produced their usual habit of sacking managers.  They started 2012 with Andre Villas-Boas in charge, and ended it with Rafa Benitez at the helm.

In between though, interim manager Roberto Di Matteo produced his own minor miracle.  They beat Liverpool 2-1 to win the FA Cup final, then a fortnight later – went to Munich to take on Bayern in the Champions League final.

Drogba inspired Chelsea to an unlikely Champions League triumph

Trailing 1-0 with three minutes to go, Didier Drogba thumped a header home in his last game for the club.  Petr Cech saved a penalty from Arjen Robben in extra-time, then from Ivica Olic in the penalty shootout itself.

Bastian Schweinsteiger hit the post, before Drogba’s final kick for the west Londoners took them to the promise land.  Roman Abramovich’s dream had finally been realised – they were Champions of Europe at last. 

Di Matteo was appointed full-time boss in the summer, but was dismissed harshly in November and the Blues are already out of this season’s Champions League edition.

Liverpool won the League Cup in February on penalties but Kenny Dalglish still lost his job and was replaced by Brendan Rodgers.  The Reds fans though were delighted in September, when the findings of an independent panel revealed the full truth about the Hillsborough disaster of 1989.

The first verdicts in the inquests of 1991 were quashed recently in the High Court and the families of the 96 who never came home can start to think about finally getting justice.

The John Terry racism storm continued in 2012.  The FA removed the England captaincy from Terry in February, prompting Fabio Capello to quit as Three Lions boss.

Terry went on to play at the European Championships in the summer, and was cleared in a court of law – but charged by the FA for racist abuse.  He retired from international football in September and was banned for four games, his reputation  as an individual completely destroyed.

Despite Harry Redknapp being the fans choice, the FA went for Roy Hodgson as the next man to lead England.  He took them to Euro 2012, this time with low expectations.

England won their group in Poland/Ukraine, but suffered the familiar exit – this time at the hands of Italy in a quarter-final penalty shootout.

Spain were once again the class of the international scene.  They thrashed the Italians 4-0 in the Kiev showpiece to retain the trophy.  The frustrating Fernando Torres ended as Golden Boot winner.

Pep Guardiola quit Barcelona in April and they lost their La Liga crown to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid.  Current boss Tito Vilanova is unbeaten so far domestically, but in hospital undergoing treatment after a cancer relapse.

However, it was another stunning year for Lionel Messi.  He has scored 91 goals across the calendar year – breaking Gerd Mueller’s 40-year record in the process.

Celtic won the SPL title and famously beat Barcelona in the Champions League group stages in November.  Glasgow rivals Rangers went bust though financially, and have had to start again in the fourth tier of Scottish football.  Hearts won the Scottish Cup, but also could face financial ruin.

Lastly, the world of football came together in March to support Fabrice Muamba.  The Bolton Wanderers midfielder collapsed in the 41st minute of an FA Cup quarter-final at Tottenham.

His heart stopped beating for over an hour, and he was giving emergency CPR on the pitch at White Hart Lane, infront of 35,000 spectators and millions of TV viewers. 

Incredibly, Muamba survived and although he had to retire from football in August on medical grounds, his story is probably the miracle of the year, and showed that football can unite as one game, despite the constant fighting battle against racism.

An Indian winter

It hasn’t been the greatest year for English cricket but it did end on a high.

Andrew Strauss started the year as captain but their number one test ranking was put under threat after losing 3-0 to Pakistan away, before grinding out a drawn series in Sri Lanka.

The West Indies were comfortably dispatched 2-0 in May, but South Africa outclassed the home side in the summer.  They clinched a 2-0 series win at Lord’s to become the number one test side.

The build-up to the final test was dominated by Kevin Pietersen’s ridiculous involvement in a series of ill-exchange texts and tweets with South African cricketers – criticising Strauss and Andy Flower.

Pietersen was suspended from the test side and although he has since returned, he is another individual who will probably want to forget 2012 ever existed. 

Strauss retired from all forms of test cricket and was replaced by Alastair Cook, who has guided England to a fantastic 2-1 series victory in India, the first away test series victory for an English side in India since 1985-86.

England did also lose their World Twenty20 crown, beaten in the Super Eight stage.  Hosts Sri Lanka reached the final but were defeated by the West Indies.

The game also said goodbye to Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting, who retired after the Aussies lost a test series at home to South Africa in November.

On a domestic scale, Hampshire won the CB40 and Twenty20 finals, whilst Warwickshire became County Championship winners.

Vettel does it again

The 2012 Formula One world championship was the most thrilling of all-time.  There were seven different winners in the first seven races but after all that unpredictability; there was a familiar final outcome.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel became the youngest ever triple world champion, clinching the title at the final race in Brazil in late November.

Vettel was spun around on the first lap, but recovered brilliantly to finish sixth and pip Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso to the crown by just three points.

Alonso was magnanimous in defeat.  He drove like a champion all year, winning three times and getting the absolute maximum out of a Ferrari that had no right to be in the championship reckoning.

It was a testing season for the British drivers.  Lewis Hamilton did win four races and Jenson Button triumphed three times, but reliability issues and accidents blighted McLaren’s title challenge. 

Hamilton’s relationship with McLaren was damaged beyond repair in September, when he shocked the paddock by tweeting confidential telemetry data to his millions of Twitter followers in the run-up to the Belgian Grand Prix.

A few weeks later, he announced he was joining Mercedes for 2013, with Michael Schumacher heading into retirement for a second time after an unsuccessful comeback. 

Pastor Maldonado won Williams first race in eight years in Barcelona but celebrations turned to horror when a fire in the garage erupted.  Luckily, no-one was seriously injured.  It was the same at Spa, when Romain Grosjean’s dangerous driving off the start saw him nearly decapitate Alonso’s head and become the first driver to be banned in 18 years.

Dario Franchitti won another Indy 500 in America but it was young Australian Ryan Hunter-Reay who took the IndyCar title.  Scotland’s Gordon Shedden claimed the honours in the British Touring Car Championship and it was Newmarket’s Rob Huff who became World Touring Car Champion. 

On two wheels, Max Biaggi triumphed in World Superbikes before going into retirement at the age of 41.  Casey Stoner also quit at the end of the MotoGP season, but the Honda man broke his ankle in Indianapolis and wasn’t a factor in the title reckoning.  

There were two podiums for Britain’s Cal Crutchlow and a battle for the title between two Spaniards.  Despite some stunning consistency, Dani Pedrosa lost out on the prize to Jorge Lorenzo, who became champion for the second time in three years.

Triumph and tragedy in horse racing

2012 in horse racing produced its usual share of controversy and drama, with a mixture of triumph and tragedy.

The greatest flat horse of all-time retired undefeated.  Frankel won all 14 races he took part in, while in the jumping game, Kauto Star was also retired after winning a record fifth King George VI.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup was won by Synchronised and AP McCoy, but tragedy would strike Jonjo O’Neill’s horse less than a month later.

After delaying the start of the John Smith’s Grand National, Synchronised was put down after breaking a leg following a fall in the world’s greatest steeplechase.

Neptune Collonges (left pictured) won a very close Grand National

The race itself had to be decided on a photo-finish, eventually given to the 33-1 shot Neptune Collonges, trained by Paul Nicholls.  It was the closest ever national finish at Aintree, but the deaths of Synchronised and another horse has put the future of the race in long-term jeopardy.

Frankie Dettori also took a massive fall from grace in 2012.  He failed a drugs test in France and was given a six-month ban. 

The rest of sport in 2012

Despite playing the best rugby league in England and winning top of the league standings, Wigan Warriors ended the year with nothing.

It was Leeds Rhinos who once again led the way, winning their sixth Super League crown.  They defeated Warrington Wolves at Old Trafford 26-18 in the final, getting some revenge for Warrington’s own Challenge Cup final victory in August.

Bradford Bulls were saved by a local consortium after being placed into administration, with Salford City Reds the latest club to face a winding-up order.  The short-term future of the rugby league game in this country isn’t looking rosy.

It isn’t either in rugby union, but that is more down to the form side of things.  In the spring, Wales maintained their momentum from the Rugby World Cup, to take their third Grand Slam in eight years in the Six Nations.

However come autumn, they suffered seven successive losses and dropped out of the IRB top eight rankings.  English rugby has had a quieter year after the disaster of 2011, but Stuart Lancaster’s side did record a tremendous autumn international success over world champions New Zealand.

Leinster made it three Heineken Cup titles in four years and it was Harlequins who were the kings in the AVIVA Premiership, as they beat Leicester Tigers 30-23 in the May final at Twickenham.

The University Boat Race in March was ruined by a protestor swimming down the Thames.  He was arrested, but a further clash between the two crews meant that Cambridge’s victory will forever be tainted.

Ronnie O’Sullivan won the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible, beating Ali Carter in the final, before taking a sabbatical from the game.  Stephen Hendry retired for good.

And the sporting world paid sad goodbyes to the likes of Sid Waddell, Mitchell Cole, Lee Richardson, Gary Ablett, Angelo Dundee, David Tait, Danny Fullbrook, Brian Woolnough, Jack Taylor, John Bond, Tom Maynard, Professor Sid Watkins and Dave Sexton.

The 2012 sporting year has been truly remarkable.  2013 promises much again but will do well to beat this year’s excitement. 

Categories: 2012, Andy Murray, Bradley Wiggins, Cycling, Didier Drogba, Football, Golf, London, Manchester City, Manchester United, Paris, Roger Federer, Sergio Aguero, Synchronised, Tour de France