Dr Who is Rubbish

…and twenty-nine other unpopular-but-benign truths I learned by the time I was 35:

1. Kirk was the best captain
2. The US date format is stupid
3. Tolkien was a terrible writer
4. The correct pronunciation of ‘scone’ is like ‘done’ (not like ‘bone’)
5. Claudia Winkleman is hilarious
6. Americans do get irony
7. Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter is the closest approximation to heaven that humankind has yet devised
8. Graham Norton stopped being funny when he grew the beard
9. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not about spying; Strictly Ballroom is not about dancing; Life is Beautiful is not about the holocaust; Star Wars is not science fiction
10. Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams are more responsible for the success of Star Wars than George Lucas
11. Human beings being trusted to safely drive cars above 25 mph was the most heinously over-confident idea in the history of mankind
12. Temple of Doom is at least as good as Raiders
13. Late-night US talkshows are very dull
14. Psycho 2 is one of the best sequels ever made
15. Scientology is no more (or less) ridiculous than any other religion
16. The animation in the Simpsons has gotten worse over time not better (and the jokes went off a cliff a decade ago)
17. The BBC hasn’t produced any decent scripted tv in 40 years (the only exceptions being This Life and The Office)
18. Chris Hemsworth is the most naturally funny actor working today
19. Michael Keaton’s Batman is still the best
20. The best Wittertainment stand-ins are Edith and Robbie
21. “God Save The Queen” is the world’s worst national anthem (and in fact could be equally applied to any country with a monarchy)
22. Breaking Bad is one of the best TV shows ever made. Better Call Saul is better than Breaking Bad
23. Jo Rowling is currently mankind’s finest moral barometer (a post vacated by Christopher Hitchens upon his death)
24. End-to-end encryption for communications should be a universal right enshrined by the United Nations
25. Sergio Leone made the best trilogy in cinema history (and arguably also the second-best)
26. Those who claim to be able to tell the difference between cheap plonk and expensive wines are deluded charlatans
27. Arrested Development seasons 1–3 stands as perhaps the funniest ever US sitcom; season 4 should be considered a crime against humanity
28. Peep Show is definitively the funniest tv show ever made
29. Hello to Jason Isaacs