Gooseberry Crumble

Indeed but so did Mary Wilson until a matter of months before she died.....

I must remember to get my list in by the afternoon of New Years eve! Ie just over 48 hours! Yikes! Because after that alcohol will be temporarily taking possession of me!

Any particular name in mind or that you wish to suggest?

A belated Happy Birthday to the brilliant Dame Maggie Smith who turned 85 yesterday.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7833103/Zac-Efron-flown-Australia-suffering-medical-emergency-Papua-New-Guinea.html An 'update' on Zac Efron

Shes on my longlist for my personal shadow list.This may well help edge her closer to the shortlist.

Really hope the committee includes the oldest living spouse of a British Prime minister in its 2020 list and does not repeat what happened with Mary Wilson by overlooking her .

I think as we enter the decade were Ethel would possibly reach her 100th birthday if she lived that long ,she is likely to be on more and more peoples radar. I will be interested to see how many select her for any of the pools/games that begin in the early new year.

Beautiful! @Paul Bearer

Hollywood hunk actor Zac Efron rushed to hospital in Australia after suffering a life or death emergency. Wasnt sure which was the best thread for this so put it in two.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10633080/zac-efron-hospital-life-death-emergency/ Zac Efron rushed to hospital in an apparent life or death emergency in Australia.

Naughty!!

Are you expecting the new year to be like an enema?!

Yes I think that's right and that feeling was particularly heightened by the double shock of famous mother and daughter Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds dying within days of each other. I think deadpooling aside or if deadpooling didn't exist then 2016 in itself would have been classed as a big year for celebrity deaths regardless-in large measure because so many of the big names were unexpected. I suspect 2020 will be a different version of this in the sense that lots of big iconic/significant names will die ,a higher number than typical but the bulk of those names will not be unexpected .There will just be an awful lot of them.That is my take on the issue.2020 has watershed,end of an era kind of vibes about it in my opinion .

Indeed, Prince Philip, Vera Lynn, Pope Benedict, Kirk Douglas, Sultan of Oman, Jimmy Carter,Leslie Phillips, Nobby Stiles just being some of the more obvious ones.

I think in truth you are probably closer to the truth in that more nuanced description. But it did 'feel' big.

Deleted as accidentally quoted myself

Pope Benedict?

100% agree

And Loretta Lynn and Honor Blackman need to stay! A return for Pope Benedict and Jill Gascoigne would be wise.

Also Pol Pot in 1998.

He was a favourite of mine eccentric but benign but yes his decline was too obviously chronicled in real time.I had three big bereavements in 2011 so a lot of news events etc in 2012 just never really lodged themselves in my mind and memory during that period as I was all consumed by my own situation. I only started death listing in 2014 and 2016 was the first year that felt epic or big in that sense. Pre deathlisting 1990 and 1998 to me felt like big years from my perspective. 1990 Barbara Stanwyck,Greta Garbo, Ava Gardner, Sammy Davis jnr ,Roald Dahl, Rex Harrison. 1998 Linda McCartney,Tammy Wynette,Frank Sinatra , Sonny Bono, Roddy McDowell, Ted Hughes. 2005 also felt big when the Pope ,Prince Rainier of Monaco , Jim Callaghan and Ted Heath all died in quick succession in an almost cluster.

Gosh thanks.Much more extensive than I was expecting. I as a former big soap fan had forgotten about Bill Tarmey

Arr Whitney of course

Brilliant!!