Harry Potter Archives - b**p

Books

Best Book Series: The Harry Potter Series

It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of the teenage wizard and the seven increasingly lengthy stories that featured him. Published between 1997 and 2007, the books were the defining pieces of literature for a whole generation of young people. The stories, which tell of Harry, an orphan who grows up without knowing he has […]
Editorials

Helen McCrory’s most iconic roles

Helen McCrory, the prominent big sister of Thomas Shelby in the BBC cult show Peaky Blinders, lost her battle with cancer last week. Having kept her illness secret, the 52-year-old actress appeared to battle the dreaded disease with as much determination as she did her roles on screen and stage. Comments from fellow thespians and […]
Editorials

What Annoyed the Internet Last Week?

I’m going to propose the addition of a new verb to the Oxford dictionary: Pottermourning: Definition: The feeling of sadness when an author creates a much loved and profitable franchise and then single-handedly spoils it for everyone years later. Those of you who are active on Twitter will already know exactly what I mean. Despite coming out with a play, theme parks and a spin-off movie series, […]
Books

Film review: Fantastic Beasts – The Crimes of Grindelwald

I wasn’t going to write this review. Someone else was going to have to cover this because I doubted my ability to think objectively due to my deep unconditional love of all things Harry Potter. I needn’t have worried about that. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is the sequel to 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where […]
Movies

4 best pop-culture misanthropes

After going to see Christopher Robin this weekend, it struck me how much I enjoyed the character of Eeyore. The idea of a perpetually gloomy pessimist, I realised, is one of my favourite archetypes. We’re all hit by moments when we can’t be bothered with people and a misanthropic grump is a great vicarious antidote. Here are […]
Books

4 people we hated more than the villain

There are some truly reprehensible villains out there. In both fiction and reality. Sometimes though, the bloke posited as our ultimate bad guy isn’t half as bad as the slimeball in the background. Here are our picks for the characters who, honestly, were worse than the official antagonist. Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter) If you’ve ever […]
Books

4 Sidekicks who are better than the hero

It’s a thankless job being a sidekick. You have to go through the same adversity the protagonist does and at the end of it, all you get is a lousy pat on the head and (in Chewbacca’s case) not even a medal. What the hell Leia? For your viewing pleasure, here’s our list of sidekicks […]
Movies

Characters that deserve their ‘own’ movie

Han Solo: Solo: A Solo Star Wars Story, is opening this week. In honour of this, I felt I should highlight some similar characters in pop-culture who similarly deserve to have their story expanded upon. Who knows, maybe one day these too could be the subject of their very own unnecessary cash-grab prequel. Supreme Leader […]