I hope you didn’t consider dying without first finding out who bought duplicitous Kat Moon that scented candle in EastEnders. I hope the Queen got to do her speech, even if, after the year she’s had, it was just her in a neck brace, baked potato round her mouth doing a thumbs up nursing a Lemsip. The audience have to use their imaginations so you can set radio comedy pretty much anywhere you want without spending any money.

Would you rather be performing or working behind the scenes? She reminds me so much of my wonderful late grandmother and it’d be a dream to have her play a character I’d based on her. Sian Harries We spoke to Sian at our 2017 TV Drama Writers' Festival. With March there finally came a glimmer of hope when we won an 11th Grand Slam. Sian Harries hails from Carmarthen and has written across a range of programmes for BBC Two, Channel 4 and Radio 4. I think it was all those years spent going to church as a child and being forced to sit and do nothing but be in my brain for an hour.

Sian is currently working on a new sitcom project with her husband, comedian Rhod Gilbert, and has recently announced that a third series of Man Down is also currently in the works. Bizarrely, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the doomed voyage of the Titanic, people set out on the same voyage. If you are reading this, then raise your glass – the world didn’t end.

Fifty Shades became a monster hit despite shockingly graphic scenes, equally egregious grammar and a protagonist as flimsy as a value Kwik Save carrier bag. The world’s insane capacity for optimism was demonstrated with China believing the satirical magazine, The Onion, when they said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had been voted sexiest man alive. This felt inclusive, a celebration of humanity as a whole, and the spirit was one of sheer joy at being alive. They’ll save valuable seconds in an emergency. But what we should remember is the glimpse the Games gave us into another, less cynical world. But poor organisation meant Cardiff pubs were full and I was forced to celebrate with a can of lager sitting on a pavement with a man from Cumbria. We hit rock bottom in June when millions tuned in to watch a nation attempting to drown an old woman on her birthday. I saw her in a brilliant  play called The Vote and I think she said the F-word and it brought the whole house down. WOMAN ON TANNOY: The train now arriving at platform two is.. I think many men believe their pants are magic, unaware of the prosaic reality that someone actually picks them up and washes them before they reappear freshly laundered in a drawer. Seeing the Queen trying to stick the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant out was like watching a bush tucker trial on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, but with contestants we can never vote off. Some believe the Mayan calendar signified not the end of the world, but the dawning of a new era and the optimism, celebration and human spirit we’ve witnessed and our ability to overcome the grim goings-on of 2012 certainly suggests this could be the case. There are so many women I’d love to write for though; Julia Davis, Jennifer Saunders, Emma Thompson, Celia Imrie, Alison Steadman, Sharon Horgan… far too many to list. This sense that things were changing on a national scale was reflected in my own life in September when I realised I liked olives. Bond fans certainly weren’t worried about the end of the world, being more concerned about continuity errors they’d spotted in the latest 007 instalment, Skyfall. But in November, humanity was back on top as Obama was re-elected despite being up against a man with magic underpants. To us he was irreplaceable.

January marked a severe decline in human intelligence when Britain was caught spying on Russia using a really fake-looking ‘rock’. My comedy short film Stages was a recipient of the 2015 iShorts… It may have been an oversight by the costume department, but in austerity hit Britain maybe Q’s gadget budget just doesn’t stretch as far as it used to. Radio however, is far more freeing, you aren’t limited to what can happen within that little space.

BOND: Don’t tell me, explosives in the heel? Having one would certainly inject a bit of perspective into some of the S4C meetings I’ve had, but on the whole I thought it in bad taste. Q: They’ve got no laces, James. We’d written for him on the first series and he was our childhood hero. Rhod and I celebrated with a completely unrelated barbecue, where it rained so much our new pagoda fell down and the most popular drinks mixer was rainwater. Sandra said never mind an Asda-price smack on the bottom, he deserved a top of the range smack in the face. The eagle-eyed (nerds) noticed one scene where Daniel Craig’s shoes change from lace ups to slip-ons. How was your experience writing for Man Down? Who would you most like to write a role for? It was nearly as depressing as the Cliff Richard calendar I was given last year where if you flicked to December you just got a photo of him turning on the immersion heater. I hate any newspaper that finds nice breasts newsworthy. She explained how she's always written comedy including at school for the Eisteddfod in Wales. By the time it was over it was like I was watching an episode of Dynasty.

I don’t know why but it seemed rebellious and a bit Rik-like I suppose. She explained how she's always written comedy including at school for the Eisteddfod in Wales. I told Pudsey he should take Bruce’s place on Strictly Come Dancing as he has all the moves, the same pudding bowl haircut and you get the impression that he needs a young woman telling him exactly what to do. In more rural areas they didn’t even get to see the torch; it just passed through in the back of a Ford Transit. Humanity also took a giant leap backwards with the dawning of the Sun On Sunday. August came and went for me in a boozy, party-fuelled blur that was the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but the Paralympians ensured the national mood remained sky-rocket high. But no, this was a novel and she clearly wasn’t the only one seduced by its charms. I shall always, however, cherish the sight of the Olympic flame, the symbol of human achievement, passing Chick-King in Carmarthen.

Hilarious.

You can’t not mention the king is dead.

The online Chinese Communist newspaper reported, “With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman’s dream come true.”.

It’d be like being a self-conscious fifteen year old again. https://www.walesartsreview.org/comedy-in-conversation-with-sian-harries I just wish there was a male equivalent but you’d never see a scantily-clad man being ridiculed in the same way. Read about our approach to external linking.

So, I’ve excused myself from today’s Rizla paper game – you know, where someone writes something on a cigarette paper and sticks it to your head and you have to work out what’s written on it – to look back over my 2012 diary for clues as to whether or not we were really close to meeting our respective makers this December. Writing a sitcom is hard. I enjoy leaving the house looking like shit too much to go back to having to think about my outfits. It also means I am never bored as I can find the funny in anything. July, however, brought with it the biggest U-turn since this government’s plans for charities, grannies, caravans and pasties.

Sian Harries' writing credits include Man Down starring Greg Davies and Rik Mayall. By May my cynicism had well and truly set in as Olympic torches made their way across the land, their magic diminished ever so slightly by the fact you could buy them on eBay. What is the biggest perk of being a comedy writer?

I still regret suggesting it for my elderly neighbour’s book group, but at least she died with a smile on her face. A platform guard dejectedly told me he was “going back to bed” whilst a man on one Tannoy shouted at us to ignore the automated woman on another. I far prefer it when I’ve learnt a scene off by heart and I’m working with people I find funny and I can mess around with. First, MP Chris Huhne resigned after letting his wife take the blame for his speeding offences. The National Trust sites staying open in Cheshire during second lockdown, The National Trust has released rules you need to follow when visiting during lockdown, Discover old images of Cheshire with a trip down Memory Lane, Nearly a third of people in the UK said old photographs are getting them through the pandemic, 'It's ultimately killing us' - Cheshire business owners react as second lockdown looms, With lockdown set to start tomorrow, we got the reactions of business owners from across the region, Cheshire Oaks issues statement on eve of second lockdown, Designer outlet has also provided an update on its festive programme, I'm A Celebrity 2020: New drone pictures show scale of North Wales show, DronePics.Wales have shared these images which give us a glimpse into the ITV operation, Eight fascinating pictures of Cheshire from 1920-1967 that have been rediscovered, Take a trip down memory lane with these historic photographs, Crewe explosion: Man, 69, arrested over blast at sheltered accommodation block, The local man has also been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, Man, 27, charged with Chester rape and kidnap of 15-year-old girl, The charge relates to an incident on The Groves near to the suspension bridge in Chester, Concerns over 'policing' Broughton shopping park on the England-Wales border, 'We trust the enforcement of any travel restrictions will not fall on retail workers', Update on shooting in Crewe after gunman approached group, A 23-year-old man suffered an injury to his arm, Husband loses beloved wife to cancer weeks after he got the all clear, John Chattell beat cancer only to receive devastating diagnosis for his wife of nearly 40 years, Paedophile who began abusing his victims when he was 13 is jailed, He met the three victims at the Jehovah Witness Kingdom Hall in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire motorways eerily quiet on day one of the second lockdown, People across the country have been asked to avoid travel where possible, Video shows moment police discover 300 people at illegal rave near Warrington, Seven police vehicles were damaged and a machete was found at the site during the incident, Cheshire sees rise in positive Covid-19 cases as health boss moves to 'remove barriers' on testing, This has been recorded during the same week there was a drop in the number of people getting a test, Biker with distinctive Sons of Anarchy-style face tattoos jailed over meat cleaver attack, David Laponder struck the victim at least six times in the back of his head and neck in front of terrified drivers, Crewe Police respond to social media criticism over antisocial behaviour action, 'We are fully aware of the detrimental effect of anti-social behaviour,' says Chief Inspector, Moment murderer is arrested for brutally stabbing wealthy pensioner 'friend' to death, Gary Solomon, 56, stabbed John Hammerton, 72 in the neck and chest at least 13 times, Currently 'no intelligence' to suggest terrorism threat to Cheshire people, police chief says, The news comes after the UK's terrorism threat level was raised from substantial to severe, Police say when people can expect fines in new lockdown warning, A minority seem 'incapable of demonstrating civic responsibility,' say police chiefs, Warning to dog-owners after puppy 'sucked into tunnel' at Sandbach Flashes, 'Our thoughts go out to the owner of this pet,' says Councillor, Demolition work starts at site that will lead to Crewe's 'transformation', 'It is a hugely significant moment to see machinery on site,' says Councillor.