Your Sunday morning best-of-Londonist weekly round-up. If you like it, please share it and forward to a friend.
London News
- More commuter angst this week. Speaking of which, how did the bus strike affect you?
- The new Tottenham Court Road station has opened and we've got pictures. Shiny!
- Stephen Fry makes plea to Soho developers to preserve the area's artistic community
- City Hall loans £10m to renovate empty properties and create 400 new homes
- A third 'arm-sized' bolt fell off the Cheesegrater building, apparently due to 'hydrogen embrittlement'
- Spiegelhalter's, the plucky shop that stood up to developers, is once again under threat
- New report by On The Wagon says alcohol-related hospital admissions have tripled in the last decade
- Miaovellous news: the cattery at Battersea Cat's and Dog's Home has now got listed status
- Could Camden be getting its own Cereal Killer Cafe?
- London Overground could mean Barking Riverside is no longer a "public transport black hole"
- Police appeal for cyclist to come forward after assault caught on camera
- If it's a new skyscraper, it must have a daft name: meet the 'Can of Ham'
Must-read articles
- In pictures: No Trousers on the Tube Day 2015
- See the usually off-limit areas of top London venues, with these behind the scenes tours
- Why is the Bakerloo line at Charing Cross so far away? This handy video explains all
- We talk to one of the creators of EastEnders's iconic Albert Square, in line with the soap's 30th anniversary
- "Hell is a city much like London" and other less than favourable quotes about our fair capital
- A sugar-free guide to London
- Watch Michal Rovner’s mind-melting video that shows us exactly how small we are in comparison to the multi-billion pound Crossrail project
- A catacomb of shiny things: we explore the London Silver Vaults (and you should too)
- 10 brilliant short films about housing in London
- Lift the lid on London's history through its manhole covers
- We've updated our best Sunday roasts article, and added a handy map
- An interview with Charlie Chaplin('s statue)
- Are you a birdwatcher, birder or twitcher? Put your binoculars to good use at these birdwatching spots
- Our podcast meets Sheyi Bankale, editor of Next Level magazine, which highlights photography as a form of fine art
Top reviews
- After a non-fiction book about London? Here are our top picks for January
- Pedro Almodóvar's 1988 cult film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, returns to stage in colourful and energetic fashion ★★★☆☆
- Ancient opera Orfeo feels as fresh as ever, at Camden's Roundhouse ★★★★☆
- Versatile paintings on show at The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art's Renato Guttuso exhibition ★★★☆☆
- Bat Boy musical is batshit crazy: bizarre story, great physicality, but some amateurish acting ★★★☆☆
- "Daddy, my Daddy!": The Railway Children is a runaway success ★★★★☆
- Husband and wife artist duo Rob and Nick Carter play Chinese whispers with art ★★★☆☆
- Brilliant stand-up comedy by Alex Edelman, in a show that so nearly got five stars ★★★★☆
Things to do
- Wrap up warm and enjoy the various goings-on at London's South Bank this winter
- Katharine Hepburn season comes to BFI South Bank: booking opens this week
- Want to get up the Walkie Talkie? Beat the queues and eat your way to the views instead
- Events around Democracy Day on 20 January (including the four remaining copies of the Magna Carta being brought together)
- Get on your feet next weekend and enjoy a series of TfL guided walks around the capital
- Where to celebrate Burns Night in London. Haggis for everyone!
- A weekend of concerts in February will focus on the compositions Mozart created while in London
- Fancy doing the downward dog over Tower Bridge's glass floor? You can
- After a sell-out season in Mumbai, new musical Beyond Bollywood arrives at the Palladium for 60 performances in May
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