Light in the dark

God, I hate this time of year. Getting up in the dark in the morning, setting off to work in the dark in the late afternoon, then spending the evening sitting in the dark in the theatre are bad enough. But then there’s the cold, angular rain, stinging my face as I sit cowering in the porch nursing a roll-up, the office on the phone wanting yet another piece to fill the vast open spaces they so much dread between Christmas and the new year, and even dear Liz, this magazine’s saintly arts editor, wanting early copy because she’s already up to her ears with the yuletide bumper issue. It’s enough to make a cat spit and a theatre critic snarl.

But my role in this column is not to moan. It is to cheer you up, bring happiness into your lives by solving your Christmas present nightmares, as well as suggesting a few treats that you might like yourself.