Is Die Hard a Christmas film? It's a question seemingly as old as the movie itself - first came out in 1988, fact fans - but whatever your thoughts on that controversial pub conversation question, December seemed like the perfect time to bring friend of the podcast (and Empire Magazine editor, as it goes) Nick de Semlyen on to chat about just why we love John McClane so much - and how the film changed the landscape of action cinema forever. A word to the wise, by the way: as you might imagine with this being a spoiler special about Die Hard, this podcast contains both, well, spoilers and, um, swear words. You know, there's a line in this movie, and... yeah. Fair warning!

There’s something very very exciting going on on your televisions this Christmas time - and that’s Ncuti Gatwa’s first fully-fledged standalone outing as The Doctor, Doctor Who, on BBC One. The Christmas special is called 'The Church On Ruby Road' and you can watch it on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK from 5.55pm on December 25th. To celebrate that fact, here's an interview with Ncuti where Ali tries to talk about the character of The Doctor, about how he got the role, about what it all means to him... without giving away spoilers, because boy oh boy do spoilers abound.

Friends of the show Clarisse Loughrey (The Independent's chief film critic) and Dan Layton (film and TV reviewer extraordinaire) join Ali once again to try and do justice to the year that was/is 2023, discussing their five favourite films and trying to wrap their heads around what's been "slept on" in the past 12 months. Colin From Accounts? Slow Horses? Rye Lane? The list goes on and on - you may want to whip out your notepad, a lot of possible new favourites are going to be coming your way. Plus! As a little bonus, Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz and Shailene Woodley make a brief appearance at the end to talk Ferrari (out next week, fact fans).

If you were to cast a young Willy Wonka, who'd be your first choice for the role? Why it'd have to be Timothée Chalamet - but of course - just the sort of person who can sing and dance and charm his way around a delightful musical confection from the mind of Paddington(s) director Paul King. In this interview special podcast, Ali talks to pretty much the whole cast of the film, including the likes of Olivia Colman, Tom Davis, Keegan-Michael Key (to name but a few), but the emphasis is very much on Paul King himself and this Timothée Chalamet fellow, so if you're a fan of either - and well you might be - this is just the golden ticket.

It's beginning to look a lot like... December! Because, well, it is December - which means you can now officially (according to Ali, anyway) watch as many Christmas films, Christmas TV specials, Christmas musical extravaganzas as you jolly well wish. To celebrate this joyous occasion, Ali has spoken to two human beings who know a thing or two about the festive spirit, namely Hannah Waddingham (of Ted Lasso and now 'Home For Christmas' fame) and Otis Milburn himself, Asa Butterfield, the star of both Your Christmas Or Mine? and Your Christmas Or Mine 2 (out December 8th, fact fans).

Vanessa Kirby plays Josephine in Ridley Scott’s latest, Napoleon, finally out in cinemas this weekend, and, well, what do you know, with the strikes lifted she was able to join Ali for a conversation all about it which you’ll be able to listen to on this here podcast. Plus! Ali offers up a quick recap of some of the biggest releases in cinemas this weekend, including Disney’s 100th birthday animation, Wish.

Have you heard? The SAG AFTRA actors strikes are over, which means there be actors in these here podcasts: namely Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Hunter Schafer and Josh Andrés Rivera, the stars of the new Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Joining them is their director, Panem veteran Francis Lawrence, as they talk about returning to The Capitol and what makes their take different to what we've seen before with that Jennifer Lawrence character.

So this is an unusual episode of Radio 1's Screen Time - sort of - in so far as there are not one but TWO interviews to enjoy, namely Saltburn's Emerald Fennell and The Marvels' Nia DaCosta. Plus, as a bonus, we've also got a brief review of Nic Cage's Dream Scenario in the middle, making this one heck of a cinematic sandwich.

Friend of the show and Independent film critic Clarisse Loughrey joins newcomer Dan Layton and good 'ol Ali Plumb this week for a triple-headed review-a-palooza tackling all of the big releases of that past few weeks, including Scorsese's latest, and, well, Trolls 3 - not forgetting 91-minute fight club high school comedy Bottoms, David Fincher's Michael Fassbender assassin thriller The Killer and more than a few more...

With Ali only just back from his trip to the USA, we've been digging through the back catalogue for a throwback interview special, and look who popped up! Twice! Some handsome chap known as Tom Hiddleston, and with Loki back on Disney+ for a second series, it made perfect sense to put together the TWO 'Becoming... Loki' interviews he's done over the years, once as Infinity War came out (2018) and another when Loki came to town first time around (2021). So join Ali has we go back through the sacred timeline and see what Tom has to say about the Marvel villain he's played for well over a decade now (!)