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Finlay McLaren

@finlay24

Writer for the Lion & Unicorn and the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for

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23.08.2025
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Latest posts by Finlay McLaren @finlay24

Also my cotton gin has stopped working

21.01.2026 19:53 πŸ‘ 227 πŸ” 34 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 2
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'I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace'

19.01.2026 22:52 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
16.01.2026 09:14 πŸ‘ 71 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 12 πŸ“Œ 1
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'Really Anne, you without a Bluesky account. I don't know how you manage.'

14.01.2026 00:07 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

You should follow our Finlay. He's a bright young thing.πŸ‘‡

12.01.2026 19:30 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The judge said, "This may seem unduly lenient, but the last place you want to put alcohol thieves is behind bars."

12.01.2026 17:36 πŸ‘ 42 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Link - substack.com/@finlaymclar...

12.01.2026 19:09 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Decade: Off Menu (2019) Podcasts were meant to be better than this, weren’t they? asks FINLAY McLAREN.

Happy 41st birthday to James Acaster, the man described by @finlay24.bsky.social as "the worst girl you know’s favourite comedian".
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/09/10/d...

09.01.2026 08:29 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Decade: Blackstar (2016) In a new series on 10 cultural works from the last 10 years, FINLAY McLAREN assesses David Bowie’s album Blackstar.

thelionandunicorn.com/2025/08/03/d...

08.01.2026 17:57 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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David Bowie's last album Blackstar was released ten years ago today.

Here's me on the record and how Bowie's death marked the beginning of the end for post-war Britain.

⏬Link Below⏬

08.01.2026 17:57 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Decade: Blackstar (2016) In a new series on 10 cultural works from the last 10 years, FINLAY McLAREN assesses David Bowie’s album Blackstar.

"Bowie was always looking ahead. He had an uncanny ability to predict the next big thing. This is why in 2016, he chose to die."
@finlay24.bsky.social on "Blackstar", released ten years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/08/03/d...

08.01.2026 09:13 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Bohemian Shat-sody

06.01.2026 20:31 πŸ‘ 249 πŸ” 65 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 18

In "celebration" of thr Pepto Bismol ad now being on the radio, I took some popular radio-friendly songs and added the "Diarrhea" guy.

06.01.2026 20:17 πŸ‘ 512 πŸ” 206 πŸ’¬ 48 πŸ“Œ 95

Keir Prudence. Juan After 909. Jeremy Allen-White Album.

03.01.2026 11:04 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I rewatched A Matter of Life and Death last night, what a strange & wonderful film, it seems to find your own liminal spaces & speak to them – the fog, the stairway & those pink rhododendrons. It is both here & it is not here – as one reviewer wrote the β€œtoo-muchness of it all is exactly the point”.

29.12.2025 10:08 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Chic Murray at the piano in "Gregory's Girl". My single favourite 30 seconds of any film, ever. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY_3...

28.12.2025 21:57 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

As a humble podcaster, it’s good to see this headline. You feel immense pressure to get on the video pod train, but it’s so fucking expensive to do - which feels like the complete antithesis of what podcasting was supposed to be; a chance for the indies to have a shot.

27.12.2025 09:50 πŸ‘ 230 πŸ” 37 πŸ’¬ 26 πŸ“Œ 3
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Last night on YouTube: Coronation Street FINLAY McLAREN meets the neighbours…

Actress Voliet Carson, who most famously played Ena Sharples in Coronation Street, died #OTD in 1983.

Here's our @finlay24.bsky.social on the very first episode of Corrie, in which "The height of drama comes when Ena storms in to complain about a bad egg".

thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/l...

26.12.2025 17:26 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Ex-situationship just posted a song on their story that *could* be construed as being about me.

26.12.2025 22:42 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Looking forward to the Boxing Day Wallace and Gromit, which is made from all the leftover bits of plasticine lying around at Aardman, and pickle.

26.12.2025 10:35 πŸ‘ 34 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Last night on YouTube: Coronation Street FINLAY McLAREN meets the neighbours…

"If you go down to the Street today, you’re sure of a big surprise..."
@finlay24.bsky.social on Coronation Street.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/l...

26.12.2025 09:39 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Here's me on Coronation Street and the disappearance of working class Britain from TV
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/l...

26.12.2025 09:21 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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A very merry Christmas from all of us here at Finlay Towers!

25.12.2025 13:07 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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I have an essay about the first episode of Coronation Street coming out on Boxing Day, Fin-Fans. Hope you'll all enjoy!

23.12.2025 07:11 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

What? No Ian Watkins?

18.12.2025 09:08 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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1975 Christmas Radio TV Times Magazine Travel back 50 years into Christmas TV's past. The Christmas Radio TV Times gathers links to TV programmes from Christmas week 1975.

Yuletide felicitations! The 1975 Christmas 'Radio TV Times' magazine is now available! 🎁

Explore 10 days of December 1975’s TV listings across both BBC and ITV.

Open the PDF, click on a programme title and start streaming from various platforms. 🀢

visualmutterings.com/1975-christm...

17.12.2025 17:08 πŸ‘ 167 πŸ” 73 πŸ’¬ 18 πŸ“Œ 22

It didn't embed properly! How embarrassing! I'm going back to bed.

16.12.2025 20:50 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Fifty years ago today, Leo McKern made his first appearance as defence barrister Horace Rumpole in an episode of Play for Today by John Mortimer.

Here's something I wrote about the resulting Rumpole series Rumpole of the Bailey.

thelionandunicorn.com/2025/07/13/l...

16.12.2025 18:13 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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A WARNING TO THE CURIOUS (1972) V.O.S.T.Fr. Dailymotion video by holas reuil

Tonight on Dailymotion, BBC ghost story for Christmas 'A Warning to the Curious' (1972).

@finlay24.bsky.social and I are agreed: Clive Swift is Britain's Paul Giamatti.

www.dailymotion.com/video/x7cl5bv

15.12.2025 23:02 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0