Documentary – Trekking with Dennis

End-of-Year Awards 2024

Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for some of the titles below.

Another year has gone by in the blink of an eye, it seems! It feels like just a couple of days ago that I was writing about my favourite entertainment experiences of 2023… and then 2024 just sprinted past. With only a few hours left to go until 2025, it seems like the perfect moment to take stock of what was a fun year, entertainment-wise.

As always, a couple of important caveats. Firstly, I’m just one person, and I don’t have every hour of the day to dedicate to entertainment. There are several big titles from 2024 that seem to have entirely passed me by for one reason or another, even though I may have originally intended to watch or play them! As a result, they can’t be entered into consideration for an award.

19th Century photo showing six men standing and sitting next to several trophies. — Who will win this year’s top awards?

Secondly, all of this is the entirely subjective opinion of one individual critic. If I give a made-up award to a title you despise or disregard one of your favourites… that’s okay. There should be enough room for respectful disagreement – and while I’ll try to make the case for why I think a title is worthy of a coveted Trekking with Dennis award, I know not everyone will agree. That’s totally okay, and there’s no need to get upset about pretend trophies and imaginary statuettes!

These awards are divided into categories and sub-categories. Where possible, I’ve selected a runner-up and a winner (second and first place, if you prefer), but for some there’s just a winner and no second place. I’ll try to explain what I liked (or didn’t like) about all of them.

With all of that out of the way, let’s hand out the End-of-Year Awards for 2024!

Best Documentary

🏆Winner🏆
Michael Palin in Nigeria

Promo banner for Michael Palin in Nigeria with artwork/AI of Palin.

I was a huge fan of Michael Palin’s travel documentaries when he worked for the BBC. Around the World in Eighty Days, Pole to Pole, Sahara, and my top pick – Himalaya – are among my favourite TV programmes… ever. Full-stop. So it’s a little embarrassing to admit that I thought the ex-Monty Python star had hung up his boots years ago. I was wrong, and Palin has continued to produce travelogues for Channel 5, visiting North Korea, Iraq, and in 2024, Nigeria.

Nigeria is one of the world’s fastest-growing countries, and as its influence in Africa and beyond continues to grow, it’s natural to take an interest! I knew very little about Nigeria beyond the basics before Michael Palin took me on a whirlwind tour of the country, and as usual, his documentary was informative, creative, humorous, and exceptionally well-presented. Despite being 81 years old, Palin hasn’t lost a step and remains a wonderful and often funny guide to different parts of the world.

Best Web Series

🥈Runner-Up🥈
Oceanliner Designs

Promo photo for Oceanliner Designs showing a man in a suit next to a painting of the RMS Titanic.

Oceanliner Designs is a brilliant and informative YouTube series all about ships and shipping. The RMS Titanic often features on the channel, but so do other, lesser-known ships and shipwrecks. As a fan of history, machinery, and ships, Oceanliner Designs is right up my alley! But even if you only have a passing interest in all things nautical, I still think the channel is worth checking out.

Mike, the presenter, has a gentle way of speaking, and scripts his videos incredibly well. Following the narrative of a doomed ship from the moment it left port – or even earlier, sometimes – is riveting and often harrowing stuff, but the tone of the videos keeps things grounded. I’ve learned a lot about ships and shipwrecks thanks to this channel – and I even discovered the wonderful Project 401 interactive Titanic experience via Oceanliner Designs.

🏆Winner🏆
Adventures in Aardia
(Roll for Sandwich)

Title card for the YouTube version of Roll for Sandwich ep. 337.

This is the first time I’ve picked a TikTok series for my Best Web Series award, which I think also reflects the growth of that platform over the past few years… as well as how much more time I’ve been spending with it! Roll for Sandwich is a whimsical yet simple concept: each component of a sandwich is determined by a roll of the dice in a Dungeons and Dragons-inspired way. It’s a really creative idea, and one that’s been so much fun that it’s spawned its own little sub-genre of foodie shows on TikTok: I’ve seen people making their own versions for barbeque food, hot chocolate, and even breakfast cereal.

Across 2024, I don’t think I’ve missed an episode of Roll for Sandwich. The short episodes are a ton of fun, even when the dice lead to some truly unfortunate or unpleasant combinations of ingredients! The addition of cantrips and spells for things like toasting the bread or swapping out an ingredient has been fun, too, and continues the Dungeons and Dragons theme. An all-around brilliant idea – and one that I’m so pleased has taken off!

Funniest Election Result

🏆Winner🏆
Liz Truss loses her seat

Still frame from Sky News showing Liz Truss losing her seat on election night.

Depending on your political persuasion, you might not think it’s been a great year for election results. And I get that – believe me! But one result in particular was thoroughly deserved as well as being incredibly funny and cathartic. Disastrous former Prime Minister Liz Truss lost her seat in Parliament in the early hours of the 5th of July… and it was a truly delicious thing to watch.

Usually I don’t take much delight in the misery of a real human being… but after the damage Truss’ brief premiership inflicted on the UK and our economy, seeing her kicked out by her own party and her own constituents was schadenfreude of the best possible kind. I don’t agree with the talking heads and political journalists who say that this was a “Portillo moment,” either. Michael Portillo lost his seat in 1997 because he was a Conservative; Liz Truss lost her seat because she was Liz Truss. And I am so very glad that I stayed up all night watching the results – it was worth it for this moment alone.

Best Christmas Film

🏆Winner🏆
That Christmas

Still frame from That Christmas showing two characters building an igloo.

It’s been a few years since a brand-new Christmas film won me over – but That Christmas really was fantastic. Writer Richard Curtis weaved together a set of connected stories in a way that reminded me of his earlier film, Love Actually, and there was Christmas magic galore in the small English town of Wellington-on-Sea.

The holidays are coming to an end now, but if you missed That Christmas in 2024, make sure it’s on your watch list for next year! I really don’t think you’ll regret it. Oh, and is that the first time you’ve seen someone mention Christmas 2025?

Best Animated Film

🏆Winner🏆
Spellbound

Still frame from Spellbound showing Princess Ellian.

At the start of 2024, I really thought that Disney’s Wish would swoop in and take this award. And while I didn’t hate or even particularly dislike Wish, I didn’t feel it was anywhere near as good as Spellbound – from Netflix and Skydance Animation. The film was creative, funny, and clever, and had an interesting premise that I’m sure will have kept younger viewers hooked. Add in a couple of solid songs and you’ve got a film that can absolutely go toe-to-toe with Disney.

Rachel Zegler excels in Spellbound’s lead role, and the film is really sweet and touching in places, as well as having a creative main story. Some great animation work brings all of the characters to life, making Spellbound a must-watch for kids and adults alike.

Worst Film

🏆“Winner”🏆
Rebel Moon
(Parts One and Two)

Still frame from Rebel Moon Part One showing a shirtless man riding a large bird.

Zack Snyder, you’ve done it again! For the second time, a film directed by Zack Snyder takes this award. After the boring slog that was his cut of Justice League a few years ago, Snyder’s Rebel Moon takes the “award” for worst film of 2024. Rebel Moon – which was released in two parts and was supposed to be the beginning of a Star Wars-inspired sci-fi universe – was derivative, poorly-written, bland, and ultimately forgettable.

I actually had to go back to Rebel Moon just to remind myself of some of the names of characters and factions – even though I’d only seen it a few months ago. Nothing about Rebel Moon feels memorable, interesting, or worth revisiting, and while I commend Zack Snyder, Netflix, and the other studios and investors that bankrolled the project for stepping out of the shadow of existing sci-fi franchises to try and create something new… this wasn’t the way to do it.

Best Film

🥈Runner-Up🥈
Twisters

Still frame from Twisters showing a character in a car wearing sunglasses.

I wasn’t at all convinced that the 1996 classic disaster film Twister needed a semi-sequel. And to be fair, Twisters is less a sequel and more a cynical attempt to cash in on a familiar name! But you know what? I enjoy a good disaster film, and taken on its own merit, there’s nothing wrong with Twisters at all. It kept me entertained for a couple of hours while I munched on some popcorn – and that’s basically all I needed it to do.

Twisters is never gonna be anyone’s idea of high art, but that’s okay. Sometimes we all need to switch off for a couple of hours and watch some action, some adventure, and some unfolding disasters!

🏆Winner🏆
Civil War

Still frame from Civil War showing abandoned vehicles.

I thought Civil War was a very creative film. Going into it, based on the trailers, I was expecting a deeply political film… but it really wasn’t. Instead, it was more of a thoughtful examination of how people might react under challenging circumstances; a road trip movie with individual characters at its heart. The titular civil war was really the background for this story to play out in front of.

There were some well-composed scenes and sequences, creative use of sound and silence, and some pretty brutal depictions of conflict and death. With the story being told from the perspective of unarmed journalists, there was tension and a sense of danger all the way through – and some of the deaths were truly harrowing to watch. All in all, a very clever and thought-provoking picture that I’m happy to say was my favourite of 2024.

TV Series: Honourable Mention

🏆Winner🏆
Star Trek: Lower Decks
Season 5

Promo image for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5.

In 2025, I simply must get caught up with Lower Decks. But I couldn’t let the show’s final season pass unnoticed in my year-end awards; it’s been a great run, and I’m sad to see Lower Decks being wound down. The show’s light-heartedness, episodic nature, and fun characters have been fine additions to the Star Trek franchise, and I hope its cancellation won’t be Star Trek’s last adventure in the animated realm.

After I kind of burned out on Star Trek back in 2023, I’m still slowly working my way back. I watched Discovery’s fifth and final season this year, and I’ve been working through the episodes of Strange New Worlds that I missed, too. I’ll get around to Lower Decks sooner or later – but until then, I wanted to acknowledge the show and what it’s done for Star Trek.

Most Disappointing TV Series

🏆“Winner”🏆
Star Trek: Discovery
Season 5

Cropped promo poster for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5.

From one Star Trek project to another… and while I don’t like to pick on the Star Trek franchise too much, I’m afraid I have to say that Discovery’s fifth season was the most disappointing thing I watched in 2024. If you read my review earlier in the year you’ll know why, but the long and short of it is that the season was incredibly repetitive. Its main plot was another re-use of “the whole galaxy is in danger and only Michael Burnham, the Chosen One, can save it!!!” And major side-stories involved Burnham’s rocky relationship with Book, a pair of villains with a connection to a main character, and so on.

After four seasons that had used and re-used those same story outlines, I felt hopeful that Season 5 might try something different. Trailers and marketing material hinted at a kind of adventure quest, which could’ve seen Burnham and the crew setting off on a very different kind of mission. But unfortunately Discovery’s writers and producers lacked the boldness and/or the skill to do something genuinely different with the show and its characters. With that being the case, I stand by what I said in my review: it was the right time for Discovery to end.

Best TV Series

🥈Runner-Up🥈
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Season 2

Still frame from The Rings of Power showing Estrid and Isildur on horseback.

The Rings of Power is – a little too slowly for some folks, perhaps – setting the stage for an engaging fantasy series. I thought that Season 2 was basically more of the same, so fans of Season 1 will have been pleased… but there was perhaps less on offer for people who didn’t feel Season 1 lived up to their expectations. I particularly enjoyed the arcs of Adar and Celebrimbor this time around, but the show’s connected storylines all had fun and interesting moments.

Durin and the dwarves continue to be a ton of fun – though I admit, I missed the bromance between Durin and Elrond this season. It can be hard to properly judge the middle seasons of a fully-serialised TV show; how we feel about what happened this time may ultimately change depending on how storylines and characters land in the future. But for now, suffice to say that The Rings of Power – with its big budget, intertwined storylines, and high fantasy setting – was one of the highlights of the year.

🏆Winner🏆
3 Body Problem
Season 1

Still frame from 3 Body Problem Season 1 showing Ye Wenjie.

Netflix’s adaptation of a Chinese novel series, helmed by David Benioff and DB Weiss, is my pick for the best TV show of the year. 3 Body Problem was fantastic; grown-up science-fiction of the very best kind. There’s so much going on here, with a story about unseen aliens, humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrials, a cultish plot to cover it all up, and finally a warlike response from humanity to the threat posed by the San-Ti.

I was on the edge of my seat – not just because of the show itself, but because it seemed for a while as if Netflix wasn’t going to greenlight a continuation. We have belatedly learned that two more seasons are coming – and I genuinely cannot wait! There were moments of mystery, history, action, and adventure – so if you somehow missed 3 Body Problem, go back and check it out. I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Video Game: Honourable Mention

🏆Winner🏆
EA Sports PGA Tour

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour showing a custom character swinging their club.

PGA Tour wasn’t released this year (it came out in 2023) but it’s my most-played game of the year by quite a long way. I would be remiss to let the year end without acknowledging that, because I’ve really had a lot of relaxing fun playing this unexpectedly enjoyable title. PGA Tour took me back to playing the likes of Actua Golf 2 in the late 1990s, bringing back nostalgic memories while also serving up a detailed and graphically impressive golf experience.

I don’t give a shit about golf in real life – and if you asked me who the current world champion is or even what the difference is between a wood and an iron, I wouldn’t know. There’s a lot of your typical EA monetisation nonsense in PGA Tour – and that’s offputting, especially as I only want to play in single-player mode. But despite all of that, I had a lot of fun on the golf course in 2024.

Worst Visual Downgrade

🏆“Winner”🏆
South Park: Snow Day

The creators of South Park had already perfected the video game formula: The Stick of Truth and its sequel, The Fractured But Whole, were fantastic. Those two games genuinely felt like playing through an extended episode of the TV show – and the visual style was just perfect. Both games nailed the look, sound, and feel of South Park.

So why – why?! – was this absolute abomination created? There was a way to make a multiplayer South Park game using the same engine or at least the same visual style as the previous titles, but this boring battle royale/multiplayer game looks at least two generations out of date and just… shit. If The Stick of Truth had never existed, I still don’t think Snow Day would’ve been anyone’s pick for game of the year. But having seen what a proper South Park game could look like… the disappointment was off the charts.

The “Much-Needed Kick Up The Backside” Award

🏆Winner🏆
Palworld

After years of ripping off its players, stagnating, and failing to improve in any meaningful way, the Pokémon series encountered something brand-new in 2024: a genuine, bona-fide competitor. And Palworld has clearly shaken the cowardly executives at Nintendo to their core, as the little bed-wetters have resorted to trying to sue the game and its developer out of existence. That is shameful.

Palworld took the Pokémon formula and, by all accounts, improved on it in many different ways, creating a game that even die-hard Poké-fans admit is just plain fun. After years of having the monster-battling sub-genre to itself, Nintendo has stagnated and now doesn’t know how to respond. Palworld was the kick up the backside that Pokémon needed – and a solid game in its own right.

Most Overpriced Port

🏆“Winner”🏆
Red Dead Redemption
PC Version

Promo screenshot of Red Dead Redemption with added dollar bills.

Rockstar… does your shameless greed know no bounds? A basic port of a fourteen-year-old game with no graphical upgrades or gameplay improvements should not be on sale for £40. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that Red Dead Redemption is finally and belatedly available for PC players, and I’d love to give it a try one day. But £40 is way too high a price for a bog-standard port. There are brand-new games on the market for less than that; this version of Red Dead Redemption isn’t worth it.

For a company that started out by making PC games, Rockstar has a weirdly antagonistic relationship with PC gaming nowadays. We already know that Grand Theft Auto VI isn’t going to get a simultaneous PC release – because Rockstar, despite the billions of dollars coming in from Grand Theft Auto V’s online mode, has cheaped out on development. Red Dead Redemption II was also late with its PC release. But I really can’t understand this move – pricing Red Dead Redemption at, say, £15-20 would’ve been fair and would’ve generated some positive buzz around the port. Every review I’ve seen of the port has talked about its price in a negative light, and there was just no need for it. It’s greed, plain and simple.

Best Strategy Game

🥈Runner-Up🥈
War Hospital

A big caveat here: War Hospital launched back in January with some noticeable bugs and issues. However, there have been updates since then that have improved the experience, and it’s now in a state where I feel it’s earned its award. War Hospital has a unique premise – running a hospital during the First World War, managing resources, and caring for patients. Think Theme Hospital, but grittier and more depressing!

I felt that War Hospital had a genuinely creative idea at its heart, and that’s what drew me to the title. The gameplay was solid, making good on the original premise. I’d love to see the game expanded upon somehow – or perhaps a sequel created that allows for a bit more freedom, as I found War Hospital to be a little more linear than I’d expected. Regardless, it was an interesting experience – and something a little different in the strategy/tycoon genre.

🏆Winner🏆
Manor Lords

Promo screenshot of Manor Lords showing a village.

Manor Lords reminds me of one of my favourite city-builders: Banished. But the game goes far beyond what Banished had to offer, with more buildings, unit types, professions, and a much more in-depth and complex management system. It’s a game that I want to spend more time with in 2025, as I feel I’ve only just scratched the surface.

Being able to walk around the town I’d built in third-person was really a lot of fun. It added so much to the experience to be able to jump in and roam the streets (alright, mud tracks), meeting the villagers who call the place home. There’s more to come from Manor Lords, as the game is still technically in “early access,” so watch this space. I expect to see improvements and new features in 2025 and beyond.

Best Cozy Game

🏆Winner🏆
Tiny Glade

Screenshot of Tiny Glade showing a house in a forest.

I thought I was mastering Tiny Glade – a cute little “diorama-builder.” But that was before I hopped online and saw the incredible creations that other players have made! They put my poxy little huts and towers to shame! But that’s okay… I had a blast playing Tiny Glade this year and putting my artistic hat on.

Tiny Glade is all about crafting a scene. Using some pretty simple tools, it’s easy to add everything from trees to ponds, but buildings are the real stars of the show. I love the idea of creating a cozy cottage in the middle of a forest – or an intimidating tower overlooking a bridge. There’s a lot of fun to be had here, but it’s the kind of gentle fun that doesn’t require a lot of fast button-mashing!

Game of the Year

🥈Runner-Up🥈
The Plucky Squire

The Plucky Squire wasn’t on my radar at all in 2024, but it came out of nowhere to genuinely impress me. Developers All Possible Futures crammed so many different and creative gameplay ideas into this one single title that it’s hard to know where to begin! There’s also a cute story at the game’s core, pushing you forward.

The transition from 2D to 3D gameplay works so well in The Plucky Squire, and feels a cut above the way it worked in Super Mario Odyssey. The game is fundamentally a platformer, but it has so much else going on across a relatively short eight- or nine-hour runtime. If you missed The Plucky Squire – as I very nearly did – please give it a look. I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

🏆Winner🏆
Little Kitty, Big City

Screenshot of Little Kitty, Big City showing the feline protagonist on a rooftop.

Little Kitty, Big City is absolutely adorable. An adventure game in which you get to play as a cute black cat feels like something tailor-made for me, and I was really excited to jump in. What I found was nothing short of beautiful – a game with a fantastically old-school art style, but one that genuinely made me feel like I was a cat. The scale of the world, the verticality of some of the buildings, and the jumping and pouncing animations… it was all pitch-perfect.

There are even hats to collect to dress up your adorable kitty cat – and plenty of other animals and critters to meet on your journey back home. This really was an incredibly sweet and cute game, the most enjoyable I’ve played all year. So, little kitty, come and collect your well-deserved award! Or, y’know… push it off the counter onto the floor.

So That’s It For 2024!

Photo from the 2024 Golden Globes showing two award-winners. — We’ve handed out this year’s imaginary statuettes!
*Photo Credit: Getty/BBC News*

Did any of your favourites win a Trekking with Dennis award? Or did I surprise you with my choices this year? In any case, I hope it’s been a bit of fun to stroll through 2024 with me, picking out some of my favourites – and a couple of less-favourite entertainment experiences, too!

There’s more to come in 2025, and the website isn’t going anywhere. In the next few days, I’ll take a look ahead to some of the films, TV shows, and video games that I’m most looking forward to in the new year – and I hope you’ll join me for that. But before that, we’ve got New Year’s Eve to prepare for!

Still frame from 2000 Today showing Millennium Eve in London, Fireworks, and Big Ben. — The fireworks display in London on Millennium Eve.

Whatever your plans are for tonight, I hope you have a wonderful time ringing in the new year. 2025 will be the beginning of the second half of the 2020s, if you can believe that! The halfway point of the decade seems to have come around very quickly – and 2024 also seems to have raced past.

Here’s hoping that 2025 will be a safe, healthy, and enjoyable year for us all! I hope you have fun tonight – and I hope my silly little End-of-Year Awards were interesting and/or entertaining, too.

See you next year!

All titles listed above are the copyright of their respective studio, publisher, broadcaster, distributor, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

End-of-Year Awards 2023

Sun 31.12.23Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for some of the titles below.

Where has all the time gone? We’re just hours away from the end of yet another year – and that can only mean one thing: it’s time for my annual End-of-Year Awards! Today I’ll be handing out some imaginary statuettes to some of the best (and worst) entertainment experiences of the year. I hope it’ll be a bit of fun – and not something to get too worked up over!

As always, I have a couple of important caveats. The first is that I’m just one person – and as such, I didn’t watch every film or play every game that came out this year. Titles have to clear two hurdles to win an award, and the first one is arguably the biggest: they had to convince me to try them out in the first place! I don’t have every hour of the day to dedicate to entertainment, and there are a lot of films, TV shows, and games that were released this year that won’t get a look-in because I didn’t watch or play them. They might be fantastic… but they can’t be included this time for reasons that I hope are obvious!

Secondly, all of this is my entirely subjective opinion! I’m not trying to claim that these are somehow “objectively” the best entertainment experiences of the year and the only ones deserving of an award! That would be silly – this is just my opinion, and you are free to disagree vehemently with some or all of my choices. I share these made-up awards with the world in that spirit.

I’ve broken down my picks into a few categories and sub-categories, some of which have both a winner and runner-up and some of which just have a winner. I’ll briefly explain what it was that I liked (or didn’t like) about each.

So let’s get started, shall we?

Best Short Documentary

🏆Winner🏆
Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song

Published on YouTube at the beginning of November, this twelve-minute short documentary provided a fascinating look at the complicated production of Now and Then – a song featuring performances by all four members of The Beatles. Billed as “the last Beatles song,” Now and Then reached the number one spot on the charts here in the UK, and learning a bit more about how it came together was genuinely interesting.

Now and Then was a demo recorded by John Lennon at his home some time in the 1970s, but the recording was relatively low-quality and wasn’t deemed suitable for release. In the ’90s, the three surviving Beatles got together, and Now and Then was one of the tracks that they worked on – but again it wasn’t able to be salvaged. It’s only in the last couple of years, with the advent of AI and the ability to isolate and separate various instruments and vocals, that the song was finally ready to be worked on. Performances by John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Paul McCartney were brought together – and the song was finally released.

Best Documentary

🏆Winner🏆
The American Buffalo

I have a review about this in the works – but it’s gotten buried in the pile! Ken Burns is one of my favourite documentary filmmakers, so any new production of his is going to be on my must-watch list! This year, Burns turned his attention to the Bison – or the titular “American Buffalo” – and looked at the history of the species and its near-miraculous survival from the brink of extinction.

Ken Burns and the team at PBS Studios put together a truly engrossing two-part documentary that goes into incredible depth about the history of the species and how humans have interacted with it. It’s a riveting documentary, perfect for anyone interested in the history of the United States, Native American peoples, the “Wild West,” or the titular “buffaloes” themselves.

Best Web Series

🥈Runner-Up🥈
Imperial War Museums

It’s been a long time since I was able to visit the Imperial War Museum in London. Despite its offputting name, it’s worth checking out if you’re in the area – as are the Imperial War Museums’ videos on YouTube. I’m a bit of a history buff, and although some of the channel’s content is simplified for an audience who might not be familiar with the subject matter, I still found that there was a lot to learn and plenty of interesting facts in the mix.

Imperial War Museums’ videos are well-presented and explained, and in particular I’d highlight some of the channel’s short documentaries about the First World War from earlier in the year. I didn’t know that the Imperial War Museums had a YouTube channel, but I’m glad I found it. There are some genuinely interesting videos here that are well worth a watch.

🏆Winner🏆
Food Wishes

I honestly can’t believe that in more than four years of writing here on the website I’ve never mentioned Food Wishes! This is one of my favourite YouTube cooking channels – and one of the longest-running series on the entire platform. Chef John began uploading videos to the platform all the way back in January 2007, which is almost seventeen years ago! And perhaps the most astonishing thing about Food Wishes is how little things have changed in all that time.

This year, Chef John has continued making recipe videos. The format is relatively simple, but there’s plenty of humour and fun alongside the instructional recipes. With well over 1,000 videos on the channel, you’d worry that there might be fewer interesting or appealing recipes… but somehow that isn’t the case! There have been some incredibly mouthwatering creations this year, and I look forward to seeing what 2024 has in store for Food Wishes, too.

Funniest TV Episode

🏆Winner🏆
Worldwide Privacy Tour
South Park

South Park is one of the entertainment industry’s great equalisers. Its creators poke fun at pretty much everyone, from politicians and celebrities to whole industries and nations. In Worldwide Privacy Tour, Harry and Meghan – better known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – were firmly in the crosshairs. And the episode was absolutely hilarious, lampooning the hapless, talentless duo for simultaneously crying about “privacy” while jetting off to California to live as celebrities.

I’m no monarchist. In fact, I’m a small-R republican, which in a British context means that I’m someone who wants to see the outdated and corrupt monarchy abolished. But even I find Harry and Meghan to be grating, at times – even while I’m pleased that some of their statements and escapades are eroding support for an institution I’d like to see the back of. The pair are among the most privileged people on the planet, but they’re also useless hypocrites. Whether it’s lecturing people about climate change before hopping on a private jet, complaining about being bullied while being a serial harasser of servants and staff, or whining about “privacy” while sitting down for an extensive interview and writing a tell-all book, Harry and Meghan deserved everything they got from South Park… and then some.

Best TV Miniseries

🏆Winner🏆
The Fall of the House of Usher

It’s relatively rare – in this age of franchises, sequels, and spin-offs – for a big budget to be afforded to a one-off miniseries. Netflix’s The Fall of the House of Usher, which is based on the works of American gothic horror author Edgar Allan Poe, is one of the year’s best examples. I don’t usually go for horror, but with Halloween approaching I decided to give The Fall of the House of Usher a shot – and I’m glad that I did!

The miniseries keeps the tense and disturbing atmosphere of Poe’s stories, but changes many of the characters and plotlines, as well as setting things firmly in the modern day. You might think that there’d end up being a clash, but the production pulls out a surprisingly coherent and entertaining story. There are moments of gore and a handful of jump-scares, but nothing too offputting for someone who isn’t the world’s biggest horror fan.

Best TV Series

🥈Runner-Up🥈
Star Trek: Picard
Season 3

For the past few years, Star Trek episodes have been afforded their own category when I’ve dished out my End-of-Year Awards, but as I kind of burned out on the franchise midway through 2023, there are a lot of episodes that I just haven’t seen. Picard’s third season was imperfect, containing a villain who was built up only to be discarded, yet another return of an over-used faction, and a story that felt a bit stretched and occasionally muddled. But it also had some incredibly well-executed emotional moments, and I can’t deny that I enjoyed seeing the crew of the Enterprise-D reunited for another adventure.

In the new year – or at some point in the future, at any rate – I’ll talk about what worked and didn’t work in Season 3 in a bit more detail. Because I have thoughts, don’t you know! But for now, suffice to say that Picard’s third season was one of the highlights of 2023… even if it wasn’t perfect. I’m still holding out hope that there’ll be a new Star Trek series taking place in the time period that Picard established.

🏆Winner🏆
Silo
Season 1

Silo was an impressive sci-fi series with a distinct air of mystery. I particularly enjoyed its subterranean setting, and the idea that the people in the titular silo didn’t know what had happened on the surface, nor why they were forced to live underground. Playing out against that backdrop was an engaging murder mystery, a struggle for power within the confines of a sealed community, and much more besides.

There were several familiar faces in Silo, including Tim Robbins and Will Patton, both of whom excelled. I greatly enjoyed Rebecca Ferguson’s performance in the lead role, too. A second season of Silo is already in production, and I will be eagerly awaiting its arrival in 2024.

Best Kids Film

🏆Winner🏆
Ladybug and Cat Noir: The Movie

With the major caveat that I haven’t watched Disney’s Wish yet, I want to highlight Ladybug and Cat Noir: The Movie. I don’t think it turned a lot of heads when it was released, but it’s a creditable adaptation of a fairly long-running animated series that offers a new look at its titular heroes. The film could be a great introduction point for someone new to the world of Miraculous, serving less as a reboot than a reimagining of the show and its characters.

The story was easy to follow for younger eyes, but still strong and engaging, and the film had an uplifting message at its core that’s sure to resonate with its intended audience. The idea that anyone can become a hero is always going to be appealing, and the idea of people doing bad things with good – albeit selfish – intentions is likewise important. All in all, a solid film that I enjoyed – and one that I’m sure many kids will, too.

Best Film

🥈Runner-Up🥈
Barbie

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from Barbie. Director Greta Gerwig had pedigree, with titles like Lady Bird earning her nominations for the top awards. But I really didn’t know what she’d do with the world-famous Barbie name and brand. I’m surprised that Mattel, the makers of Barbie dolls, greenlit a film like this – because Barbie really isn’t a film for kids, despite its name and source material. But I’m glad that the film was able to go ahead, because it was funny and clever; a really unique picture.

I daresay Barbie isn’t for everyone; the film can feel quite subversive, challenging the expectations of its audience in places. But it has an important message – and considering that it’s basically a corporate cash-in on a famous brand, that’s actually pretty great. Margot Robbie is, of course, the film’s star – but I’d also say that Will Ferrell was particularly well-cast as the chief executive of Mattel.

🏆Winner🏆
The Super Mario Bros. Movie

I adored The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and although it might seem like a bit of a silly pick, I’m happy to crown it my favourite film of 2023. The film did such a good job of adapting the familiar world of Nintendo’s Mushroom Kingdom for the big screen, while at the same time putting a nice twist on the tired “save the princess” trope. There were cameos and callbacks to many different things from the video games, and a few new ideas that I’m astonished to see Nintendo has failed to take advantage of!

As a film aimed at kids, the main story here isn’t anything groundbreaking. But what there is is just so much fun and is presented in such a bright, vibrant style that I found it impossible not to smile. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is going to become a textbook example of how to successfully adapt a story for the cinema – so other studios should be taking notes!

Most Disappointing Video Game

🥈Runner-Up🥈
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum

Maybe you were never sold on the idea of playing as the contemptible Gollum, but I’d been following the development of this title for years and felt that it could’ve offered something a bit different. You know the story by now, though: Gollum was released in an unfinished, practically unplayable state, and was shredded by professional critics and players alike. I maintain that the game could have found an audience had it been marketed correctly – and, y’know, finished – but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

As the video games industry seems to be consolidating around relatively few genres and ongoing franchises, what appealed to me about a title like Gollum was that it seemed to be something different. In terms of narrative and gameplay, its developers had a vision for what they wanted to create, and it seemed like something that could have been fun. Unfortunately, for what seems likely to be a multitude of reasons, Daedalic Entertainment lacked the skill, resources, or money to pull it off.

🏆“Winner”🏆
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

As with Gollum above, Jedi: Survivor was released in a broken, bug-riddled state. The fact that I struggled to play the game even after waiting for several months and after seeing several major patches roll out is shocking, and the blame lies at the door of publisher Electronic Arts. However… there’s more to the Jedi: Survivor story than just bugs. What I found underneath the buggy veneer was a game that was narratively weak and that failed to live up to its illustrious predecessor.

I won’t say too much lest I spoil Jedi: Survivor’s story for you, but suffice to say a major plot point in the game’s narrative felt ridiculously obvious and seemed to be telegraphed from almost the first moment. The return of a major character from the first game was handled poorly, and while I liked some of the customisation options for protagonist Cal Kestis, the amount of these and the way they were unlocked felt ridiculously unbalanced. An open-world setting did not suit Jedi: Survivor, and the game was notably worse for trying to go down this route.

The “I Can’t Believe Anyone Chose To Die On This Hill” Award

🏆“Winner”🏆
Hogwarts Legacy

I was surprised at the number of people who outed themselves as being what I shall generously call “fairweather allies” to the LGBT+ community over Hogwarts Legacy. The game is, by all accounts, a bog-standard open-world affair with a fairly uninspired main story, boring side missions, and a map outside of the main Hogwarts castle that just screams “generic.” The fact that the game is nowhere on anyone’s “game of the year” lists speaks volumes; Hogwarts Legacy turned out to be forgettable fluff.

Which makes it all the more sad and upsetting that people ended friendships and got into massive online arguments over this game. Hogwarts Legacy was not worth the hassle, the hurt, or the destruction that it caused. I don’t agree with the “hot take” that says that anyone who played or bought the game is automatically a transphobe – even though the Harry Potter series’ creator has said, on the record, that she considers sales of the game and all other merchandise as being acceptance and agreement with her transphobic views. But for the folks who chose to die on this hill earlier in the year, and who prioritised such a mediocre game over allyship and friendships… I hope it was worth it.

Best Ongoing Video Game

🏆Winner🏆
Civilization VI

I’ve played quite a bit of Civilization VI this year – thanks in part to the game’s ongoing support and the addition of new leaders. It’s been fun to jump back into the game and find several new factions and leaders to both play as and play against, as well as other updates. Although I’ve played Civilization VI on and off since its launch back in 2016, the game can still surprise me – and there are still plenty of Steam achievements that I’m yet to unlock! I finally managed to win a religious victory this year, though, so I can cross that one off my list!

In addition to new leaders, some of Civilization VI’s updates have introduced climate change mechanics and rising sea levels, as well as imaginary near-future technologies and government types. These are a blast, and stomping a city with a Giant Death Robot that I’ve named “The Danger Roomba” will never not be fun! Civilization VI can be expensive to pick up, and I’m always wary about recommending a game with £100+ of DLC and expansion packs. But for the amount of enjoyment it’s given me this year, I couldn’t leave Civilization VI out.

Most Improved Video Game

🏆Winner🏆
Cyberpunk 2077

A little over a year ago, in early December 2022, I said that Cyberpunk 2077 was a fairly average, unremarkable game that was elevated slightly by a solid story. I felt that the game’s bug-riddled launch actually distracted from its real mechanical flaws – and in a perverse way, that probably helped CD Projekt Red. But a year later, it’s stunning to me just how many of my complaints have been fixed! To coincide with Phantom Liberty, the game’s first and only expansion pack, a major update was released that completely reworked entire gameplay mechanics and systems, improving the game dramatically.

A review of Phantom Liberty is still a ways off, but I hope you’ll stay tuned for my full thoughts sometime in the new year. For now, suffice to say that Cyberpunk 2077 is much closer to that original vision, and a far, far better game than it was a mere twelve months ago. The transformation may seem subtle at first, but when you start levelling up your character and getting into combat encounters, you’ll see a huge difference.

Game of the Year

🏆Winner🏆
Baldur’s Gate 3

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll have seen this coming from a mile away! Baldur’s Gate 3 is an absolutely fantastic game, one of the best I’ve played in years. And to think I only bought it because I was looking for something to play while waiting for Starfield! I had no idea what I was getting into, because I’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons, but I ended up having a whale of a time. The game has an incredibly strong story with some great characters – and fantastic voice acting – but it’s a mechanical masterpiece, too. There are weapons and spells galore, and so many choices to make that really do make each playthrough feel unique.

I’m about to kick off a second run through the game – after delaying it for a while – and I’m really looking forward to creating a completely different character and trying new things. There are two large chunks of the map that I didn’t explore last time around, characters and companions that I didn’t get to meet, and so much to get stuck into that it’ll feel almost like a brand-new game all over again. A thoroughly deserved win for one of the best games of the last few years.

So that’s it for 2023!

I sincerely hope that you’ll join me for more reviews and commentary in the new year – because I’m sure there’ll be plenty of fun things to talk about in 2024!

2023 has been a solid year, entertainment-wise. The disruption of the pandemic seems to be settling down, and we got some decent films, decent games, and decent TV shows to get stuck into. I didn’t get around to seeing or playing all of them… but there’s always next year, right?

Hopefully these awards have been a bit of fun. I enjoy putting these together once a year, and I think it’s important to show off some of the best and most enjoyable titles of the year. We won’t always agree on which ones should win an award… but that’s okay. There should be plenty of room for polite discussion and disagreement – and it’s in that spirit that I share my choices.

Whatever you’re doing for New Year’s Eve, I hope you have a fun (and safe) time ringing in 2024. I’ve bought myself a suitably silly New Year-themed hat that I shall be donning… as I hang out with the cats and possibly watch some of the fireworks on TV! To those of you who’ve been regular readers all year long, thank you for sticking with me! And I look forward to sharing my thoughts with all of you once more in 2024.

Happy New Year!

End-of-Year Awards 2021

Fri 31.12.21Fri 31.12.21Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Minor spoilers may be present for some of the entries on this list.

It’s the end of 2021, so it’s time to look back on a few of the entertainment highs (and lows) of the year! Like I did last year, I’ve picked out a few of my favourite entertainment experiences from the worlds of cinema, gaming, and television, and I’ll be giving each a totally official Trekking with Dennis award!

Most categories have a winner and a runner-up; some just have one title and in those cases they’re the winners by default. I’ve put Star Trek episodes into their own category, otherwise I’d just be saying that every TV show that I liked this year was Star Trek!

Caveat time! Obviously I haven’t watched or played anywhere close to everything that was published or released this year! The exclusion from these awards of titles such as The Last Duel or For All Mankind doesn’t mean they aren’t good; I just have no experience with them so I can’t comment. It goes without saying that everything here is entirely subjective! This is just one person’s opinion – so feel free to disagree vehemently with some or all of my choices!

With that out of the way, let’s get started!

Best Documentary:

🏆 Winner 🏆
Half-Life Histories series; Kyle Hill

There have been some interesting documentaries this year, but I wanted to highlight a semi-professional series that has been quietly ticking up views on YouTube. Kyle Hill has crafted a series of absolutely fascinating documentaries about nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and nuclear accidents – some of which were familiar to me, but several of which actually weren’t.

Nuclear weapons are an incredibly controversial topic, of course, but nuclear power is something I firmly believe that we as a species need to embrace. At least in the short-to-medium term, nuclear power offers a reliable way for humanity to meet our growing power needs while phasing out fossil fuels.

Kyle Hill’s documentaries show how early nuclear experiments could and did go wrong, but they aren’t alarmist. Hill has a gentle, almost understated style that tells these serious (and occasionally fatal) stories with due dignity and gravitas, but without sensationalising the events in question. For anyone interested in the likes of the Chernobyl disaster or the early history of nuclear weapons and nuclear power, the entire series is well worth a watch.

Best Web Series:

🥈 Runner-Up 🥈
The Jimquisition; Jim Sterling

I’d like to highlight a fellow non-binary creator here. Jim Sterling – also known as James Stephanie Sterling – is a video games critic on YouTube. Their main weekly series, The Jimquisition, often highlights bad practices in the games industry and draws attention to misbehaving corporations. The Jimquisition was one of the first shows to criticise the practice of lootboxes a few years ago, for example, and this year Sterling has worked relentlessly to call out the likes of Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard.

Too many publications – even blogs and social media channels – now work hand-in-glove with big corporations in the video games industry, leading many so-called independent publications to, at the very least, be cautious in what they say about both their corporate friends and the games they review so as to maintain their level of access. The Jimquisition has always been different because it’s self-funded, leaving Sterling free to criticise as they see fit.

On a personal note, seeing Jim Sterling come out as non-binary was one factor among many as I made my own decision earlier this year to discuss my gender identity in public for the first time, and I want to thank them for their brave decision.

🏆 Winner 🏆
Tasting History with Max Miller

There really isn’t anything quite like Tasting History. There are a plethora of cooking shows and channels online – many of which are fantastic! And there are some great history shows as well, everything from mini-documentaries to living history re-enactments. Tasting History blends these two things together, as host Max Miller cooks a variety of different historical dishes, and uses those as an entry point to talk about some of the historical events and personalities associated with the food.

I love history and I love cookery shows, so Tasting History is absolutely the kind of thing that was going to appeal to me! But a fun premise alone wouldn’t be enough, and Tasting History has a well-spoken host who makes both sides of the show entertaining as well as interesting. I’ve learned a lot about different dishes and historical cultures this year, things I never would have found out about if not for Tasting History.

Best TV Special:

🥈 Runner-Up 🥈
Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales

After 2020’s Lego Star Wars Holiday Special had been a ton of fun, I was pleasantly surprised to see Disney+ bringing back Lego Star Wars for another outing this year. Terrifying Tales was a fun Halloween special, one which drew on many classics of the thriller and horror genres for inspiration while maintaining a child-friendly atmosphere. I’m not a huge fan of horror, so this lighter tone was just perfect for me!

Focusing on Poe Dameron, Terrifying Tales used a frame narrative to tell three different spooky stories set in all three of the Star Wars franchise’s main eras. The first short, which focused on Kylo Ren, contained more backstory for the character than the entire sequel trilogy – and I would argue that it was actually better than the minuscule character development that Kylo/Ben Solo got in the films!

Palpatine was hilarious in the vignette that featured him, and I adored the way that Terrifying Tales used the character. The third and final vignette was a parody of a Twilight Zone episode and featured Luke Skywalker, and that was pretty fun to see as well. Overall, Terrifying Tales was a cute, funny, and lightly spooky way to get ready for Halloween!

🏆 Winner 🏆
The Grand Tour: Lochdown

As we approach the pandemic’s second anniversary, we need things like Lochdown to poke fun at what’s been going on in the world. In a unique way that only Hammond, Clarkson, and May can really pull off, The Grand Tour’s special episode made a trip to Scotland one of the funniest and most entertaining bits of television I enjoyed all year.

The trio have found great success at Amazon, and free from the constraints of the BBC (both financially and in terms of content), I’d argue that The Grand Tour is leaps and bounds ahead of Top Gear. As the show has switched its focus to these kinds of special episodes, there’s been a lot of fun to be had!

I’m not really a car person. Cars have always been a means to an end for me; a mode of transportation. But the enthusiasm of the three hosts for their vehicles is infectious, and the fun they have on their wacky adventures always manages to succeed at pulling me in and making me feel like I’m right there with them.

Worst TV Series:

🏆 “Winner” 🏆
Rick and Morty Season 5

After four pretty strong and funny seasons, Rick and Morty stumbled this year. It felt to me like the writers had become a little too aware of the show’s success and place in pop culture – and didn’t really know how to handle that. Season 5 was bland and forgettable, with several episodes that didn’t even win a smile, let alone a laugh.

Rick and Morty crossed over from being a fun series with a cult following and really hit the mainstream somewhere around its third season, and clearly that’s been a double-edged sword. Too many of the attempted jokes this year came across as either desperate or else simply as gross-outs or edginess for the sake of it.

Though the show had a few successful moments, such as the scenes between Rick and Birdperson toward the end of the season, Season 5 has to be considered a failure.

Best TV series:

🥈 Runner-Up 🥈
Foundation

The first season of Foundation was imperfect but nevertheless good. The novels upon which Foundation is based are incredibly dense works that can, at points, feel more like philosophy than sci-fi, so bringing something like that to the small screen was no small challenge – but Apple TV+ stepped up.

Jared Harris put in a wonderful performance as Hari Seldon, and was joined by several actors with whom I was less familiar – but who all did an outstanding job. Foundation is also a visually beautiful series, one which makes great use of Apple’s high CGI budget. A second season has already been confirmed – so that’s something to look forward to in 2022!

🏆 Winner 🏆
The Wheel of Time

The Wheel of Time was the first of Amazon’s two big-budget fantasy shows to make it to screen. We’ll have to wait until next year for the corporation’s Lord of the Rings prequel/adaptation, but The Wheel of Time is definitely a show worth watching in its own right. It has struggled, at times, to break out from the shadows of both Game of Thrones and the aforementioned Tolkien adaptation, but I’m so glad that I gave it a chance to impress me on its own merits.

Outside of the Star Trek franchise, The Wheel of Time is unquestionably the best television show I’ve seen all year. Amazon managed to adapt the first part of a long and complex story in a way that was understandable and easy to follow, bringing a new high fantasy world to the screen for the first time. There are some fantastic performances from Rosamund Pike and Madeleine Madden in particular, making The Wheel of Time a series to get lost in.

The first season concluded recently, and a second is already on the way! I can hardly wait.

Worst Video Game:

🏆 “Winner” 🏆
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

This is a difficult one. There were plenty of bad games this year – games with horribly intrusive monetisation, overladen with bugs, or that just plain sucked. But for me, the year’s most egregious video game failure is a so-called “remaster” that was lazy, that didn’t feel like much of an upgrade, and that left me incredibly disappointed when I consider what might have been.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition contains a number of bugs that were present in the original versions of its three constituent games; bugs that BioWare failed to fix. Its visual upgrade, coming less than ten years after the third game in the series, was already going to be a hard sell, but there seem to be many textures that BioWare either didn’t touch at all or else did the absolute bare minimum to.

And that’s Mass Effect: Legendary Edition in a nutshell: it’s a “remaster” that tried to get away with doing the absolute bare minimum. The sad thing is that I adore the Mass Effect games – but this version was so much less than it should’ve been.

Best Video Game:

🥈 Runner-Up 🥈
Road 96

Road 96 is quite unlike anything else I’ve played all year – and probably for quite a long time before that too! The game focuses on characters, introducing players to dozens of completely unique NPCs during a branching quest to escape a totalitarian state. It’s a road trip game… but that definition scarcely does it justice.

Road 96 has a beautiful art style, too, one that really brings to life its characters and American Southwest-inspired locales. There’s a wonderful soundtrack that accompanies the game, one with a definite ’80s inspiration – which I’m totally there for! It’s hard to go into too much detail without spoiling Road 96, and it’s an experience I really think you should try for yourself in as unspoiled a manner as possible.

🏆 Winner 🏆
Kena: Bridge of Spirits

When I was thinking about my pick for “game of the year,” there was never any doubt in my mind that Kena: Bridge of Spirits would take the trophy. It’s one of the most visually beautiful games that I’ve ever played, bringing an almost Disney-esque art style to life in the most fantastic way possible.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a modern-looking game with a distinctly old-school feel to it. The game combines elements of puzzle-solving and 3D platforming with some tight, focused combat, and the addition of the Rot – little critters that accompany Kena – is both adorable and incredibly useful. Collecting things in video games can feel like busywork, but because Kena’s power grows with every Rot she picks up, even this aspect of the game manages to feel worthwhile.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits had been one of my most-anticipated games of the year. It didn’t just meet my expectations – it surpassed them by a country mile.

Worst Film:

🏆 “Winner” 🏆
Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a film that tried to be dark and edgy and in doing so ended up robbing its source material of any of the fun and entertainment value it could’ve had. DC Comics has struggled to compete with Marvel, failing to recognise that it’s Marvel’s blend of humour and action that makes those films so appealing to many viewers. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a case in point – and a great example, in my opinion, of a film that completely misses the mark.

Perhaps to distinguish it from the likes of The Avengers, Zack Snyder’s Justice League was packed with gimmicks, too. An incredibly dark and boring colour palette drowned the film in grey, black, and brown tones, and some scenes were so poorly-lit that following the action became difficult. It was also shot in a weird 4:3 aspect ratio – again, seemingly for the sake of a gimmick.

I’m genuinely happy for fans of DC who worked hard to secure the so-called “Snyder Cut” after a long campaign. But the end result was, for me, the worst film I’ve seen all year. And this was a year where I watched Space Jam: A New Legacy.

Best Film:

🥈 Runner-Up 🥈
Raya and the Last Dragon

I paid a lot of money (by my standards, at least) to watch Raya and the Last Dragon on Disney+! Maybe I should’ve waited the extra couple of months, but I was genuinely interested to see the latest big Disney animated picture. The one surprise was the lack of any musical numbers, but despite that I had a good time with Raya and the Last Dragon.

Kelly Marie Tran put in an outstanding performance as the titular Raya, a young woman on a quest to restore the life of a dragon and reunite a fractured land loosely based on Southeast Asia. The film was dramatic and exciting, with a fun cast of characters. It’s also noteworthy that all of the main characters – heroes and villains – were women.

Now that it’s on Disney+ (and out on DVD and Blu-Ray) it’s definitely worth a watch.

🏆 Winner 🏆
Dune

I was worried that Dune would once again prove to be too difficult to adapt, but I was thrilled to see that I was wrong! Dune is a sci-fi masterpiece, and if its second instalment comes anywhere close to living up to this first part, I think we’ll be talking about the duology alongside the likes of The Lord of the Rings in years to come as being an absolute classic.

Dune is a long and occasionally dense book, so condensing it down and keeping a cinematic adaptation with a large cast of characters easy to follow was no mean feat. Director Denis Villeneuve did an outstanding job, and every aspect of the film, from its dialogue to its visual effects, are pitch-perfect.

I’ve had a review of this one in the pipeline for a while, so stay tuned in the new year – I might finally get around to finishing it!

Most Exciting Announcement:

🥈 Runner-Up 🥈
Wicked

*Picture Credit: Wicked the Musical London.*

I was very lucky to have seen Wicked on the stage in London early in its run, and the soundtrack has to be up there as one of the best modern musicals. The announcement of a film adaptation came as a truly welcome surprise this year, and I will follow its progress with anticipation!

A spin-off from The Wizard of Oz, Wicked purports to tell the story from “the other side” – i.e. the Wicked Witch’s point of view. Disney in particular has shown in recent years that this concept can work exceptionally well, and Wicked pulls it off. The musical and the book that inspired it are very different, but both are enjoyable in their own ways – and I hope the film will be as well!

🏆 Winner 🏆
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake

Early in 2021 there were rumours of a Knights of the Old Republic game being in development, but it wasn’t until September that its existence was finally confirmed. A full-scale remake of the first game in the series is being worked on, and the idea of being able to go back and replay one of my favourite Star Wars games of all time is a truly exciting one!

So far all we’ve seen has been a CGI teaser, so the game is probably a couple of years away. But it’s still good to have something like this to look forward to! After several years of very limited success under Electronic Arts, Star Wars games are now being tackled by more developers and publishers – meaning we should see more from the franchise in the years ahead. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a remake of Knights of the Old Republic II after this one!

Best Star Trek Episode:

🥈 Runner-Up 🥈
There Is A Tide…
Discovery Season 3

There Is A Tide is basically “Star Trek does Die Hard!” If that sounds like fun to you, then we are definitely on the same page! Featuring a desperate plan to re-take the USS Discovery following its capture by a villainous faction, Michael Burnham, Tilly, and several members of the bridge crew all get their chances to be action heroes.

It isn’t an entirely self-contained episode, as it brings to a head Starfleet’s conflict with the aforementioned villainous faction that had been running for much of the season, as well as containing other ongoing story threads. But it works well as a single episode, too, with an explosive and action-packed story that feels like it was lifted right out of an action blockbuster!

There Is A Tide is a great episode for Michael Burnham, but it’s also good for Admiral Vance as well. He truly seems to embody the values that Starfleet and the Federation have always held, and anyone who feels that Discovery has placed less of an emphasis on that should pay attention to Vance’s scenes in particular.

🏆 Winner 🏆
First First Contact
Lower Decks Season 2

First First Contact is an incredibly well-done episode of Lower Decks. The series’ trademark sense of humour is still present, but we see the entire crew of the USS Cerritos working hard to overcome an incredibly difficult challenge and save not only an ailing Starfleet ship but also an entire planet. The crew rise to the occasion as we always knew they could, and First First Contact hits all of the emotional highs you could ever want from an episode of Star Trek.

It’s also an episode that truly embraces the spirit of the franchise. The Cerritos’ crew aren’t faced with some horrible monster or alien to defeat, instead the puzzle that lies before them is scientific – and the solution to it has to be as well. All of the main and secondary characters get moments in the spotlight, and First First Contact even found time to further advance the relationship between Ensign Mariner and Captain Freeman.

Finally, there was an incredible moment of symmetry toward the end of the episode, as the Cerritos saved the day in a very similar fashion to how it had to be saved in the Season 1 finale. That moment was pitch-perfect – and I won’t lie… I teared up!

So that’s it!

We’ve dished out a handful of awards to some of the best – and worst – entertainment experiences of the year. 2021 is a difficult one to summarise. The ongoing disruption caused by the pandemic has been noticeable, with delays and even some cancellations getting in the way and spoiling the fun. But there were some fantastic projects across cinema, television, and video games too – including some brand-new titles that I feel have the potential to lead to ongoing franchises, or to be talked about a lot in future as classics of their various genres.

As 2022 approaches, I hope you’ll stay tuned for a lot more to come from Trekking with Dennis! In the days ahead I plan to look forward to some of the films, games, and television shows that we could enjoy throughout the coming year, so definitely stay tuned for that! And I have a number of reviews and other articles in the pipeline.

So the only thing left to do is to wish you a very Happy New Year! Whatever you have planned for tonight, I hope you have an amazing time. See you next year!

All titles listed above are the copyright of their respective owner, company, studio, broadcaster, developer, distributor, publisher, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Check out reviews or articles featuring some of the films, games, and TV shows mentioned on this list by clicking or tapping the links below:

Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales

Rick and Morty Season 5

The Wheel of Time

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Raya and the Last Dragon

Wicked

Knights of the Old Republic Remake

Discovery 3×12 There Is A Tide…

Lower Decks 2×10 First First Contact

YouTube channel spotlight: Cruising the Cut

Mon 08.02.21Sun 07.02.21Dennis

It was only a few years ago that I rarely used YouTube. I’d occasionally check out a film trailer or listen to a song I couldn’t find anywhere else, but I largely bypassed its user-generated content, figuring that the website was largely filled up with amateurish comedy, cat videos, and cringeworthy children making videos they’re bound to look back on in shame a few years down the line! But as the web has grown to become an ever-larger part of all of our lives, I’ve found myself spending more and more time on YouTube to the point where I’m pretty sure I watch at least one video on the platform every day.

There are some great channels on YouTube, and you can find different ones dealing with every topic under the sun, but this time I’d like to shine a spotlight on one which became a favourite a couple of years ago: Cruising the Cut. When I first subscribed, the channel was hovering somewhere around the 25,000-subscriber mark. That’s good, but by no means YouTube royalty! In the last couple of years, however, Cruising the Cut has grown to well over 100,000 subscribers, and hitting that mark was thoroughly deserved.

So what is Cruising the Cut? It’s primarily about travelling on England’s canal network, and the life of a “liveaboard” – i.e. someone whose permanent home is his narrowboat. The gentleman in question is named David, and the first couple of videos on Cruising the Cut explain how he decided to sell up and move aboard a canal boat permanently. David was a television journalist before starting his YouTube channel, and his background, both in terms of knowing how to use the camera and set up beautiful shots, as well as how to be interesting and informative in his presentation, shines through.

David runs the channel and produces and narrates every video.

2021 seems like a great time to get caught up with Cruising the Cut if a travelogue around England sounds like your cup of tea, because the pandemic has, unfortunately, brought a halt to David’s planned travels. The result of this has been fewer videos, and a recent announcement that there may not be much travelling being put to film at least for the next few months. So now could be a good time to binge-watch David’s travels so far!

I’ve always had an interest in canals, and their history is really fascinating. The second half of the 1700s was the heyday of canal construction in England, and a network of artificial waterways was built that spans much of the central part of the country. They were initially constructed as profitable transportation routes, often for moving natural resources like coal or iron to budding industrial centres. By the mid-20th Century, however, many canals had fallen into disrepair, and it took a lot of hard work to restore the network to its current condition – work which is still ongoing.

The invention of the railway and steam locomotives brought canal construction to a premature halt in the 19th Century, though many of the engineering and mechanical techniques pioneered during their construction did not go to waste and was used by early railway builders. It’s primarily for this reason, though, that the canal network is not larger!

A map showing the extent of the canal network in England and Wales.
*Picture Credit: The Canal & River Trust*

Since starting his channel in 2015, David has filmed his travels across a significant portion of the canal network, but hasn’t yet been everywhere or stopped at every point of interest! So hopefully, once the pandemic clears, there will be more to come. He manages to be informative and entertaining in equal measure in every video, and I find myself learning something new about the canals, their history, or the part of the country he’s visiting almost every time.

Gongoozling – the name for canal boat-watching – is, by its nature, a slow affair. This isn’t something fast-paced or action-packed, so set your expectations accordingly! Canal narrowboats only have a maximum cruising speed of around four miles-per-hour, so don’t expect Cruising the Cut to be zipping all across the country in each video. This is, as David says, “slow TV.”

There’s nothing wrong with that, though, and stepping out of our sometimes-hectic lives to slow down and set our watches to “canal time” is no bad thing. Sometimes we choose entertainment for its value as escapism, and perhaps that’s what you’ll find with Cruising the Cut. Life on the canals certainly seems to be at a different pace – it can feel, sometimes, like another world, one caught in a moment somewhere in England’s past.

When I first encountered Cruising the Cut there were a couple of other canal-related YouTube channels, but that number has grown over the last few years and there must be at least a dozen by now. It’s a niche, certainly, but apparently a growing one! I wouldn’t have expected that necessarily, but despite the fairly obscure subject matter, it just goes to show that anything can be interesting and entertaining if well-presented.

That could be the motto of many YouTube shows, actually! I’m often surprised at how channels with a fairly narrow or unusual focus can draw large audiences, but when the presenter is enjoyable to watch, the subject matter itself can almost be anything. In the case of Cruising the Cut, following David’s travels around the canal network is one half of the appeal; the second is the way in which it’s presented.

The episodes in which he travels are usually filmed from two angles – one at the front of the boat, and one at the back, where David can speak directly to the camera from the boat’s stern deck. Cruising the Cut does sometimes make use of drone shots as well, and these can be absolutely stunning! There are some beautiful vistas along the canal network, and David’s camera work is great at capturing them.

The view from the Pontcysyllte aqueduct in Wales.

So that’s about all I have to say, really. Cruising the Cut is gentle entertainment for when you need a break, as well as an interesting and informative travelogue, one that is perhaps not quite on the beaten track! You may have seen England in travel documentaries before – you might even live here – but I’d be willing to bet that most folks haven’t seen this side of the country. There are big cities, smaller towns, and rural areas all served by this canal network, and it really is a world unto itself – a world of slow-moving pleasure boats, holidaymakers, marinas, chandleries, and even the occasional floating business that has survived into the modern era.

I know this isn’t the usual kind of geekdom that I write about – and it seems a country mile away from sci-fi – but if you’re interested either in a fun travelogue or in learning more about the canals, which are a fascinating part of English history, maybe you’ll find Cruising the Cut as much fun as I do.

Cruising the Cut, and all videos posted to the channel, are the copyright of the channel owner. YouTube and associated trademarks are the copyright of Google and Alphabet. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

VE Day – marking the 75th anniversary with documentaries

Fri 08.05.20Dennis

Today marks the 75th anniversary of VE Day – that’s Victory in Europe day, when Germany officially surrendered at the end of World War II. British, Canadian, Australian, and American soldiers would continue fighting Japan until August, so this wasn’t the final end of the war, but for the nations of Europe, the USSR, and American armies fighting in the European theatre of war it was. History is one of my big passions, though it’s not something I talk about often here on the website. But today is a great opportunity to look at a couple of great documentaries about the war as we celebrate this poignant anniversary.

Cameras had been present in every conflict since the Crimean War in the 1850s, so photography was not really new by the time of World War II. The American Civil War is often cited as the conflict that invented the idea of a “war correspondent”, reporting the facts and taking pictures for newspapers back home. And during the First World War a generation earlier, video footage was routinely captured to be used in newsreels – and propaganda.

But the Second World War saw photographs and video captured on a much bigger scale – almost every army detachment would be assigned an official photographer, and many soldiers would take their own cameras from home with them when they went off to war. I have several family photographs in my collection from my grandfather and great-uncle, both of whom fought in the war and, by a very strange coincidence as they were assigned different roles in different units, both saw action during the Battle of Crete.

I’m going to look at two documentaries in this article, one British and one American. They both look at the same conflict from the same side, but with very different perspectives. The American documentary I’ve chosen in Ken Burns’ The War, which was released in 2007.

*The War* was released in 2007 and looked at the conflict from an American point of view.

The War is, by the standards of other works looking at the conflict, narrower in scope. It has a focus on individuals from a select number of smaller towns across the United States, and while it does of course deal with the conflict’s major events, it often does so through that lens. It also begins not with the events of 1939, the widely-accepted beginning of the Second World War, but with the attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941, which marked America’s entry into a war that had already been raging for more than two years.

The decision to begin the documentary in 1941, while at the same time providing only minimal background to the United States’ declaration of war, is a limiting factor because it means the whole story of the conflict isn’t told. However, The War doesn’t aim to be a comprehensive look at the entire conflict. As with Ken Burns’ other works, it is a uniquely American film looking at how the war affected the United States and how Americans participated in it. Whether you consider this limitation to be problematic or not may depend on where you come from – from my own point of view with my family history tied to the conflict, the Battle of Crete, which saw my grandfather captured and interred by German forces, had already occurred several months before The War begins its coverage. It is, in that sense, an incomplete picture.

Nevertheless, The War is an interesting and well-done television series, drawing on a vast amount of historical data and documents to tell the story of the later two-thirds of the conflict very well. It also covers the Pacific Theatre of the war in far more detail than many other works do, as Europe is often the focus of Second World War documentaries. Keith David, who’s a well-known voice actor and has appeared in many films and video games, even voicing the role of Admiral Anderson in the Mass Effect series, is The War’s narrator.

The second documentary I’ve chosen to highlight is The World at War, a British series made in 1973. Don’t be put off by when it was made, because this documentary is about as comprehensive as it’s possible to be.

There’s something of a “sweet spot” when it comes to studying certain past events. Too close to the event in question and people can be reluctant to talk openly and honestly about what happened, but wait too long and too many of the principal players have died or are not available to participate. The World at War lands right in the middle, and as such is able to interview many senior and prominent people who were involved in the decision-making process during World War II.

Such important figures as Anthony Eden, who had been the UK’s Foreign Secretary for almost all of the conflict, Karl Donitz and Albert Speer, who were senior German cabinet ministers under Hitler – Donitz would even be named Hitler’s successor and formed a short-lived government, Traudl Junge, who was Hitler’s secretary and on whose memoir the 2004 film Downfall was based, Lord Mountbatten, actor James Stewart, and many others were all interviewed for The World at War. Getting the perspectives of such important figures makes the series such incredibly riveting viewing. Hearing people like Speer in particular discuss what it was like working with Hitler is absolutely fascinating, and brings to life a period of history that we only really think of as being in black-and-white.

Former Nazi government official Albert Speer was among the many significant interviewees for *The World At War*.

With 26 episodes and clocking in at a massive 22 hours, The World at War is a huge time commitment, but well worth it. No other documentary series has tried so hard to cover World War II in such comprehensive detail, looking at every aspect and every major front in the conflict – even the pre-war conflicts between Japan and China, and the rise of Hitler’s Germany from 1933-39, both of which can be overlooked by other studies of the conflict.

Award-winning actor Lawrence Olivier provides The World at War’s narration, and the series is definitely the better for his involvement. At the time it was made, The World at War was the most expensive documentary ever produced, and its use of archive footage from the time, as well as its extensive interviews with veterans and prominent wartime figures makes it incredible for anyone with an interest in the conflict.

So it was a bit of a different article this time, taking a break from the world of fantasy and sci fi to look at the real world for a short time.

The 8th of May 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of VE Day. The War may be found on DVD and Blu-Ray and is the copyright of PBS. The World at War is also available on DVD and Blu-Ray and is the copyright of Thames Television and ITV. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Netflix series review – Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak

Thu 27.02.20Sun 20.11.22Dennis

If you’ve been a reader for a while, you’ll know that I love documentaries. There have been some really interesting documentary films and series made over the years that I’ve been lucky enough to see, including many whose subject matter I would never have thought to explore otherwise. Netflix is actually a great platform for documentary content. I don’t know how many films and series they have available in the genre – and unfortunately it will vary somewhat depending on where you are in the world – but there are a lot of interesting ones to check out, including some that have been nominated for major awards.

It was with all of the above in mind that I decided to try Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak, which was released in January 2020. I’ve always had an interest in things like disaster preparedness and emergency planning, so it definitely piqued my curiosity when it appeared on my list of things to watch that Netflix recommended. I’d been meaning to check it out ever since, but as always, there were other things to see and do!

Pandemic follows a few different individuals, mostly medical professionals, in a number of places around the world as they work on various aspects of disease prevention and treatment. It’s actually incredibly ambitious in that regard, telling the narrative from different places and different perspectives. The filmmakers visited such diverse places as the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Egypt, Guatemala, and various locations in the United States – a truly huge amount of travelling that must have massively inflated the budget of the series. And the end result is definitely the better for gaining different perspectives.

Some of the locations visited – like Rajasthan in India and Cairo in Egypt – are incredibly densely populated, and as Pandemic goes to great lengths to show, are much more vulnerable to influenza – the disease which is the focus of the documentary – as a result. Seeing those places, and the overcrowded buildings and streets, instead of merely reading about them or having them explained in a voiceover, was definitely an interesting aspect, one that the filmmakers have clearly wanted to convey.

Given that a pandemic of a disease like influenza is a global problem, I think it’s important that any attempt to cover the subject matter should be global in scope. Only seeing a European, American, or western perspective would be more relevant to Netflix’s core audience, perhaps, but would be limited in its messaging and understanding of the topic. The truth is that, in a lot of cases, it’s places in the third world that are worst-hit when a disease outbreak occurs because the infrastructure and medical facilities aren’t present in the same way, and the level of preventative care – like inoculations – and post-infection treatment is of lower quality. That’s not meant to be a criticism – there are clearly people in those regions working incredibly hard. But it is the reality that millions of people in some countries aren’t vaccinated against, for example, tuberculosis – despite the vaccine having existed for decades.

As well as looking at some of the history behind disease prevention, and the scientific research that is ongoing, Pandemic is also a series of personal stories. We spend time with many of the documentary’s subjects as they go about their lives, interact with their families, and discuss the impact that their work can have on their life and those around them. In that sense, it was a much more personal look at the subject than a documentary that focused on facts, figures, and interviews staying on-topic would have been. While I enjoyed that aspect of Pandemic most of the time, there were some moments that were awkward and clearly scripted, or at the very least set up to get the exact shot and line that the filmmakers wanted. There’s a line that a documentary filmmaker has to walk when doing something like that, and at times Pandemic was on the wrong side, as some of these scripted moments ended up feeling like the film was being dishonest. By presenting a scene through the camerawork and editing as if it were a genuine, spur-of-the-moment conversation when it clearly was not, some of these sequences ended up feeling forced and fabricated. While there weren’t too many of these moments such that the series was overwhelmed by them, it did suffer as a result.

When considering Pandemic, we do have to talk briefly about the current coronavirus outbreak. Pandemic was made last year, before this current outbreak had begun, but how we approach it – and indeed the fact that more people have been interested in it – can’t be completely detached from the current situation. Coronavirus is not influenza; the two viruses are very different and thus will have to be approached differently by governments and medical staff. But much of Pandemic’s subject matter is applicable to the current outbreak – most notably how easily it can spread and how it can take root in some of these densely-populated areas in the third world where healthcare and hygiene are worse than here in the west. In that sense, Pandemic is a timely release – with all the fuss in the news at the moment about the spread of coronavirus and the various quarantines and other steps being taken to stop and prevent its spread, there are lessons to be learned from this series.

Politics is at play in Pandemic; it is a deeply political series at times. For some people that will be offputting, especially because the way some political issues – like migration – are handled are very one-sided. There are numerous swipes and digs at Donald Trump and his administration in particular, as well as interviews with Democratic Party politicians, legislators, and supporters. It would have been worth the filmmakers including some kind of statement at the end of the episodes where these people appeared to say that they did ask Republicans to join in with the series – if indeed they did ask. That would have shifted the blame for the lack of political inclusion to those who refused to participate.

Oregon State Senator Elizabeth Steiner Hayward was interviewed in *Pandemic*.

Healthcare is a political issue. The inclusion of politics is thus unsurprising, and Pandemic does not claim to be a balanced, all-around look at the subject matter. Many documentaries are incredibly subjective in the way they handle their subject matter – look at Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine or Fahrenheit 9/11 as examples of that. This doesn’t make Pandemic worse, but it does mean that as the audience we have to be aware of the filmmakers’ leanings and biases and remember to treat it as a subjective piece. In 2020, there really isn’t such a thing as a truly objective piece of reporting or filmmaking, but even so, there will be numerous points where I’m sure that people who don’t fully subscribe to the filmmakers’ politics will be at least a little uncomfortable in the way some of the material is presented – I can tell you that I certainly was.

Staying with contentious political issues, one of the most interesting aspects of Pandemic for me is that the filmmakers went out of their way to track down and speak with anti-vaccination families and campaigners. The anti-vaccine movement has been growing for some time, and is widely blamed for a resurgence in diseases like measles which had once been essentially eradicated in the western world. It’s likely that, as we go forward into the new decade, decisions will have to be made about what rights people do and don’t have when it comes to issues like vaccination, and by letting the anti-vaccine campaigners speak for themselves, Pandemic did a good job of presenting both sides of the argument – even though it was clear from the way some of those sequences were edited which side the filmmakers were on.

Overall, I’d say that Pandemic approaches an incredibly broad topic in a personal way. The decision to present it through a series of separate, individual stories rather than as a more general overview of the topic definitely shows off different angles of how organisations around the world approach disease prevention, but at the cost of having a narrower focus than some documentary series covering the same subject might. I enjoyed it, it was interesting and informative, but certainly not comprehensive. However, given the position we’re in when it comes to the current coronavirus outbreak, I would recommend it – just so long as people remember to keep their fears in check. Some of the interviewees can stray into “doom-and-gloom” territory at times, and again considering our current situation in regards to coronavirus, this might be offputting for some. Regardless, I had a good time with the series. Netflix has both created and hosted a number of good documentaries, and Pandemic is a solid addition to its lineup.

Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak is available to stream now on Netflix around the world. The series is the copyright of Netflix. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.