Tongue in Cheek 2025: Wrapped
Yes, loyal following, I know you’ve all been waiting so patiently for my most beloved moments of 2025. Well, worry no longer, for here it is! Broken down into neat, digestible chunks for you to peruse at your leisure!
Books
After years away from regular reading, I set myself the challenge of reading 24 books in 2025. As we approach the end of the year, I’ve managed to finish 19, with a 20th well on the way to completion. I’m not going to beat myself up about that, though. I stupidly decided to read some absolute TOMES, which famously are not quick to read. But I won’t bore you with all that.
Instead, I’ll bore you with my top three books read this year and why I loved them!
Feel-Good PRoductivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You
Without this book, I wouldn’t be writing this article. I wouldn’t have started freelancing as a script editor. I wouldn’t have written a short film. There’s a lot I wouldn’t have done that I’ve really enjoyed. It’s strange, as self help books and the like aren’t something I ever saw myself getting into. But the way Ali Abdaal sets out how feeling good can directly translate into being proactive and productive have fundamentally changed how I view the pursuit of my writing career. I’ve been able to open myself up more to doing things that I love, like writing.
Looking back, it’s so stupid how writing was not even on my priority list for getting a writing job. But doing the exercises and properly reflecting on my processes set out in the book, I’ve been able to (almost) completely unlock that inner thing that made me want to write in the first place. So, yes, that does mean a focus on ‘Doctor Who’ at the minute, because that’s where my love of writing began. I’m re-learning me. I’ll definitely be reading this at least once a year from now on.
Swimming in the Dark
Ooft. We love a political drama. We love a period piece. And we love a bit of gay loving. This tale of subjugation, strength, tyranny, and love is so beautifully translated it was hard to put down. Where most stories set in times of civil conflict would put each lover on either side of the divide, the nuance of the conflict between these two boys is that really, underneath, they’re on the same side. It’s just one of them is too scared to admit it. Ludwik, the protagonist, is desperate to be his best, despite the communist regime. His sort-of boyfriend, Janusz, is desperate to do his best within the regime. Their love of literature and their easy intimacy is beautiful and inspired, which makes Ludwik’s maturing even more tragic as it pushes the two of them apart. Despite his best attempts, Ludwik just can’t get Janusz to open his eyes.
Shift
I’ve had a real Apple TV year. But I’ve never seen ‘Silo’. I’ve started watching it now, literally about 3 weeks ago, but the main reason it’s taken me so long is because I’ve been devouring the books it’s based on. Finishing the first book, and knowing how the TV series is structured, I was ready to jump into book 2 and find out what happens next in the Silo. What I wasn’t expecting was to be taken back in time hundreds of years to read the story of the actual architect of the silos. Once I got over that shock, I wasn’t expecting to see just how artfully, how systematically, the gravity of his creation was kept from him. Through lies, red tape, and careful positioning, we watch a small team doing their very best to save the here and now. That only makes it all the more tragic when the ‘truth’ is revealed to them.
Now I’m well into book three, I’m even questioning how true that ‘truth’ was…
TV SHOWS (And best eps)
2025 has had some AMAZING series and serialised drama. Choosing my top three is almost impossible. Yet, I shall try. And I think you should know that this list is 100% accurate, and not at all skewed by personal taste or the amount of telly I’ve been able to consume.
Big Boys - The Sea
Men’s mental health is an issue incredibly close to my heart, and I’ve never seen it more powerfully portrayed than in ‘Big Boys’ on Channel 4. The events of the final episodes are inevitable, laid out with real clarity right from episode one of series one, but the way the topic is handled is so innovative and surprising it absolutely floored me. Overall, I think ‘Big Boys’ isn’t just one of my favourite shows of 2025, it’s one of my favourite dramas of all time.
Andor - Welcome to the Rebellion
‘Andor’ is on everyone’s “favourites” list this year, and with good reason. If you’ve not watched ‘Andor’ because you don’t like ‘Star Wars’, then you’re an insufferable snob. This isn’t a show for space fights and laser guns, it’s a deeply powerful political thriller that takes place in a world where democracy is being slowly eroded by power hungry megalomaniacs. It’s about the little people that make important decisions to try and save that democracy. It’s about futility and loss and grief and power.
All of that is never more present than in the episode ‘Welcome to the Rebellion’, where politician Mon Mothma finally realises that there’s no way to save the Republic from inside the senate. When she makes her stand, delivering that now infamous speech in the Senate hall, you forget you’re watching ‘Star Wars’, and yet it also feels like the first time you’ve watched real ‘Star Wars’ since either ‘The Clone Wars’ or ‘Revenge of the Sith’. It’s delivering on exactly what George Lucas set out to create with this franchise. Take the ‘Star Wars’ away from it, and it’s just as powerful being delivered directly through our screens to us. Not only do we currently need speeches like this, we also need politicians brave enough to stand up and make them.
Boots - Love is a Battlefield
Fuck you, Netflix. Fuck. You.
The cancellation of Boots is, quite honestly, baffling. I’m noticing a disturbing trend of cancellations of queer stories, but only the ones that aren’t explicitly steamy. If a show has something to say, it’s not fit for a second season. ‘Boots’ is a show with something to say. That’s never more present than in this episode. Boot camp has, for seven episodes, proved to be horrendously gruelling for the recruits. They’ve suffered physically, mentally, and have even suffered the loss of one of their recruits. All in the name of being fashioned into ‘warriors’ that kill without question. For Cope, the central character, who joined up essentially to escape his own blossoming sexuality, this episode is where he hits his breaking point. The moment this happens is insane.
Boots is not a show for audiences that like to watch men kissing. It’s a show that would have gone on to say some incredibly profound things about surviving as a queer person in a deeply oppressive environment. Maybe this is the price of… ahem… sticking to your guns.
Films (FeaturE)
I’m splitting this in two because I’ve seen so many great films this year of varying lengths. The below are my absolute top three feature films I’ve seen in 2025, and then I’ll go over some of the short films you simply MUST see afterwards.
The Wild Robot
No, I know it didn’t come out in 2025, but I watched in 2025 so it’s going in. Waiting this long to see ‘The Wild Robot’ is, quite honestly, sinful of me. It’s. So. Good. The characters are beautifully well-rounded, not to mentioned perfectly performed and animated. The story is structured to perfection, but only to those with eyes to see it as the story is so compelling the structure seems to melt into it. The music is stunning, the message profound, and it’s genuinely laugh-out-loud funny.
God, I love this film.
Tomorrow’s Too Late
The first of many Iris Prize 2025 inclusions here. Yes, I could have included ‘Pillion’ or ‘Plainclothes’ as my Iris inclusion, but everyone is choosing those and they’re not the films that had a profound impact on me. The moment of Iris that did leave a profound impact was watching Dylan Holloway, the central focus of ‘Tomorrow’s Too Late’, sing a duet with… well, I won’t spoil it. This is a story about more than a transition of gender. It’s a story of love, life, and social pressure to conform. It’s beautifully rendered through the eyes of Dylan who, thanks to his best friend being a genius producer, documents almost every moment of his life before, during, and after his transition.
It also takes on a unique position because of Dylan’s profession. He’s a singer. Despite Dylan literally being in the audience, and performing after the screening, there are moments in the film where it’s a palpable risk that transitioning could kill his voice. The moment where that thread reaches its conclusion, filmed in public on a phone-camera, is a moment of such narrative beauty it almost pisses me off.
The Roses
Anyone who knows me knows I thrive off of two things, pettiness and wordplay. It’s no surprise, then, that ‘The Roses’ is one of my top films of 2025. This film is just. So. Stupid. I love every single frame of it. The intensely awkward dinner scene, the palpable love between the central characters, the desperately lonely moments all mix in such perfection I’d rather pee myself than look away for a moment. The final confrontation is simultaneously one of the funniest and most tragic things I’ve ever seen. While some people think it “jumped the shark” by being a bit too bombastic, I don’t see it that way. This story is farcical in the most classic of senses, and the end of a farce is always over the top. That’s the point.
While I do agree with the criticism that, while the film tries to be balanced, Benedict Cumberbatch comes off looking better simply by the nature of the films framing, I don’t think it ever detracts from the fact that, on the face of it, both he and Olivia Coleman’s characters are utter bastards. But, of course, with hearts destined for each other.
FILMS (Short)
I may have mentioned it once or twice on Instagram, but I was able to volunteer at the Iris Prize festival back in October. While the experience was rewarding, and my legs were exhausted, I was also able to watch an enormous library of short films with queer stories that absolutely blew my socks off! Picking just three as my favourites is almost impossible, so this list is purely just the ones I’m vibing with at this particular moment. Guaranteed I’ll change my mind mere seconds after posting this!
Two Black Boys in Paradise
Not only is this film beautifully made, but it was beautifully made by amazing people. The passion and love for this story seeps out of every frame. The poem is beautiful, the art-style is sublime, and its message is deeply moving. It’s clear why this short is now Oscar eligible. ‘Two Black Boys in Paradise’ doesn’t feel like a produced film, it feels like an outpouring of emotion in its rawest sense. Every word and frame is crafted with a deep love. It’s just stunning.
Blackout
Plot twists in short films are hard. And they don’t come more powerful than here. ‘Blackout’ is, unlike many films that cover similar subject matter, honest. It truly understands the complete complex mess of life behind closed doors. Whether you’re neglectful, awful, trying your best, or just generally being a dick, everyone has an interior life. The performances were obviously exceptional, but the writing craft that went into making such a tight, meaningful, complex story needs to be celebrated. And it was! It won the Best British award at Iris, and deserves every second of praise it gets!
Sweetheart
I love a period piece. ‘Sweetheart’ is an absolute triumph of slutty education. Having listened to the filmmakers talk about the writing and producing process, their expertise in the subject matter seems unparalleled. But more than that, their desire to tell a good story is palpable. At no point does the film feel like a lecture, yet walking out of the screening I felt as though I’d truly learned something profound about the origins of drag and historic queerness. There’s an ambiguity to the protagonists motivations which never detracts from the drama, it instead enhances it. It’s clear this Molly house is an underground, clandestine gathering, one that Thomas enjoys. But the shame and fear he feels leaves the audience wondering whether he’ll allow himself to give in to this new joy, or whether the shame will force him to bring it all crashing down. Just amazing.
Theatre
I haven’t seen anywhere near enough theatre in 2025, but in the year where I put on my first ever closed reading of my own actual writing, I simply had to give a little rundown of what I have seen and why I loved it!
Sorry I broke Your Arms And Legs
I was GUTTED when I went to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024 and missed this show. As I was writing a queer one-person show at the time (have I not mentioned that?) I wanted to watch as many solo shows as I could. Unfortunately, this clashed with ‘Good Boy’, which I watched instead. Luckily, ‘Sorry I Broke Your Arms and Legs’ made its way to Cardiff thanks to the brilliant Porter’s Theatre, so now I get to live in a world where I’ve seen both shows! From the characterisation, to the PowerPoint method of communicating plot points, to the frankly egregious number of house badges, this show is fucking brilliant. It’s also inspirational. While I’ve left my solo show behind (for now), I know for a fact that this show inspired a recent reindeer themed short play performed at Script Club Cardiff’s scratch night.
The juvenile whimsy of this show is infectious, and while I think the blazer and badges have been put in the attic for now, I’d urge anyone to keep an eye out for if it comes back.
Christmas Carol Goes Wrong
Definitely my least favourite of the televised ‘Goes Wrong’ stories, I bought a ticket to the live show as I had a free afternoon and there was a cheap ticket going. The initial relief of it being a different version of the story gave way almost immediately to being completely sucked into this completely different kind of Mischief show. This is the first of their shows I’ve seen where we get a real peak “behind the curtain” with the entire first act not following ‘A Christmas Carol’ at all. Instead it fully focuses on the actors and their personal stories, which makes the second act all the more hilarious. Is it now my favourite Mischief show? No, that will probably always be ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this is some of the best theatre I’ve seen all year.
Scratch Club / Script Club Cardiff’s New Writing Night
I always have to do a shameless plug for Script Club Cardiff. And why not? After three sold out scratch nights, the little writing group that could is making a real impact on the arts scene in Cardiff. Positive changes are coming to Cardiff arts, and the success of independent, ultimately unfunded ventures like Script Club Cardiff are proof of that. Survival can rely on grants, but thriving can’t. If the quality of these scratch nights are anything to go on, then Pearl and Script Club Cardiff are proving that the industry is no longer surviving, it’s starting to thrive again.
SELF INDULGENT - BEST OF TONGUE IN CHEEK
2025 has been a massive year for myself and the Tongue in Cheek brand, so to wrap things up I thought I’d give a rundown of the three things I’m MOST proud of achieving in 2025.
Best Script
Doctor Who: Space Babies - the 72 Hour Rewrite
Of course I can rewrite an episode of my favourite TV show in under 72 hours? Who says I can’t? Honestly, after day two, nearly me. I’ve recently reread the final script and I’m still so proud of what I achieved. There are issues, of course there are, but the bones of what I tried to achieve here I stand by 100%. It’s through exercises like these that we all become better writers. We find our voices through iterations. We discover who we are through experimenting, adapting, pulling the skills of others into our spheres and deciding which ones suit us and which ones don’t. I became a much better writer from this short exercise, and I’m hoping to achieve the same again this Christmas.
Freelance For the Win
I mentioned earlier about taking the plunge into freelancing, and I’m so glad I did it. It may seem silly that one of the most rewarding things I can do as a writer is help others discover their own strength, but it is. Script editing is something I fell head over heels in love with in 2016 when studying my undergraduate degree, and something I’ve died to return to ever since. Taking the plunge was scary. Would anyone hire me? Would I still have the necessary skills to help? Well, after 6 months and seven 5 star reviews, my confidence is through the roof. I’m still in the embryonically early stages of this career, but I’m so proud of how far I’ve come even in this short amount of time.
Favourite Article
HOW TO REBOOT 007: A JAMES BOND CINEMATIC UNIVERSE (DONE PROPERLY)
Believe it or not, I’m actually not the world’s biggest James Bond fan. But I do love a cinematic universe. It’d been a while since I’d designed one, and this had been prickling my brain for some time. Getting it set out and published was such a huge relief, and I genuinely stand by everything in it. If the landscape of cinema is changing, then franchises need to change with them. That said, abandoning cinematic events is a fundamental mistake. The model suggested in this pitch maintains the 007 cinematic event, but also allows for new audiences, new experiences, and exciting new frontiers for fans and casual audiences alike.
And thus concludes my 2025 Tongue in Cheek Writing Wrapped! If you’ve enjoyed reading my work, watching my reels and videos, or just generally thing I’m a cutie patooty who deserves ample success in my personal life and career, why not head over to @tongueincheekwriter on instagram and let me know?
I’ve got some MASSIVE plans for 2026, so keep an eye out over the next few months.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
