Imelda

Aside from the handful that are basically recurring on the list for as long as it takes (DvD, Mel Brooks, Prunella Scales, Linda Nolan) regardless of whether it's actually likely they'll go, it looks a pretty solid line-up. Also Draper will easily QO, so a smart pick.

OK I will take it on the chin! I may well have been filling that in after a few festive tins, so apologies.

Beginning to think Julie Walters was a wasted pick but I submitted early to get it off my plate. I might be surprised.

There'll be some mug - Lampard's seeming inexhaustible supply of goodwill as an example. Both linked by Derby and Everton, oddly.

As much as I can't stand WHS, their financials are good at the moment - I'll eat my hat if they go into administration this side of 2030. Check them out - https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/smwh/financials/balance-sheet?countrycode=uk

Anne Baker Charlie Bird Danny Wallace (footballer) Derek Draper Douglas Hurd Erik Jensen Frank Field Franz Beckenbaur James Whale Jimmy Carter Jimmy Zoppi John Hemmingway (FO ) Jonnie Irwin Julie Walters June Spencer Linda Ronstadt Liza Minelli Louis van Gaal Nigel Starmer-Smith Norman Tebbit Patrick Murray Rob Burrow Song Ping JOKER Steve McMichael Yoko Ono Subs Denis Law Françoise Hardy

1 Franz Beckenbaur 2 Charlie Bird 3 Rob Burrow 4 Jimmy Carter 5 Derek Draper 6 Jonnie Irwin 7 Erik Jensen 8 Steve McMichael 9 Patrick Murray 10 Liza Minelli 11 Yoko Ono 12 Song Ping JOKER 13 Douglas Hurd 14 Linda Ronstadt 15 Nigel Starmer-Smith 16 Norman Tebbit 17 Louis van Gaal 18 Danny Wallace (footballer) 19 Julie Walters 20 James Whale S1 June Spencer S2 Frank Field

Nothing more complicated than sorting the longlist by age ascending on Excel... Vanessa Redgrave Arthur Scargill Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Paul Hogan Denis Law Esther Rantzen Frank Field Julie Goodyear Rick Davies Nigel Starmer-Smith Milos Zeman Franz Beckenbaur Dave Cousins Gunther von Hagens Khaleda Zia Marianne Faithfull Liza Minelli Kinda Ronstadt Charlie Bird Lindsey Busckingham Joe Bugner Julie Walters Phil Collins Louis Van Gaal James Whale Vladimir Putin Andy Ranken John Cannan Jimmy Zoppi Patrick Murray Steve McMichael Kenny Sansom Linda Nolan Andy Taylor Janey Godley Ronnie Atkins Danny Wallace (footballer) Derek Draper Erik Jensen Shannen Doherty Sophie Blake Jonnie Irwin Danniella Westbrook Princess Bajrakitiyabha Rob Burrow - JKR Joe Doering Elliot Page Lucy Letby Stephen Rezza Nick Anderton S1 Princess Alexandra of Kent S2 Roberta Flack

1 Jimmy Carter 2 Frank Field 3 Douglas Hurd 4 Dick Cheney 5 Jean-Marie Le Pen 6 Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud 7 Josip Manolić 8 Khaleda Zia 9 Song Ping 10 Milos Zeman S1 George Howarth S2 Violeta Chamorro

18 Alagiah, George; Barker, Bob; Belafonte, Harry Blythe, Ronald Charlton, Bobby Constantine II of Greece Delors, Jacques Forrest, Frederic Hardy, Francoise Harris, Rolf MacGowan, Shane McAlpine, Kenneth McGarvey, Frank Musharraf, General Pervez Parkinson, Michael Topol, Chaim Vialli, Gianluca Weldon, Fay

Best remember to actually put a team in the thread this year 1 Ali Khamenei, Ayatollah 2 Atkins, Ronnie 3 Baker, Anne 4 Baker, Tom 5 Beckenbaur, Franz 6 Bird, Charlie 7 Buckingham, Lindsey 8 Bugner, Joe 9 Burrow, Rob 10 Carter, Jimmy 11 Chase, Robert A 12 Chomsky, Noam 13 Clarke, Roy 14 Cooke, Sidney 15 Cousins, Dave 16 de Gaulle, Philippe 17 Delors, Jacques 18 Draper, Derek 19 Field, Frank 20 Flack, Roberta 21 Goodyear, Julie 22 Graham, David 23 Hemingway, Flying Officer John 24 Hogan, Paul 25 Hurd, Douglas 26 Irwin, Jonnie 27 Jensen, Erik 28 Law, Denis 29 Letby, Lucy 30 McMichael, Steve 31 Minelli, Liza 32 Murray, Patrick 33 Ono, Yoko 34 Page, Elliot 35 Princess Bajrakitiyabha 36 Ranken, Andy 37 Rantzen, Esther 38 Redgrave, Vanessa 39 Rollins, Sonny 40 Ronstadt, Linda 41 Scargill, Arthur 42 Starmer-Smith, Nigel 43 Tebbit, Norman 44 van Gaal, Louis 45 von Hagens, Gunther 46 Wallace, Danny 47 Walters, Julie 48 Whale, James 49 Zagallo, Mario 50 Zoppi, Jimmy S1 Wyatt, Oscar S2 Watson, James

I'm in 1 Jimmy Carter 2 Norman Tebbit 3 Derek Draper 4 Nigel Starmer-Smith 5 Steve McMichael 6 Anne Baker 7 Douglas Hurd 8 Philippe de Gaulle 9 Franz Beckenbaur 10 Robert A Chase s1 Patrick Murray s2 FO John Hemmingway

21/12/2023 14 Greg Lake — I Believe in Father Christmas +4 12 The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale Of New York -6 11 The Pretenders — 2000 Miles

I didn't get an email either - I literally came on here to check if it was up and running!

12/15 - 9, 10 & 11 I got wrong - bit of a run!

Wed 20 Dec 26 Greg Lake — I Believe in Father Christmas +4 22 The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale Of New York -6 19 The Pretenders — 2000 Miles 15 Wizzard — I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day 11 Brenda Lee — Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree 

Finally got round to tidying up the longlist this afternoon - 86 names in all. Got a couple of left-fields I've not really seen mentioned that I'll be throwing in; mainly long-termers who have slipped off the radar. 2024 will be my third year of doing the DDP - taken me a couple of years to fully get the hang of the scoring system and 'what works' so hoping to improve my current 49th position which in itself isn't too shabby. 17/50 on the DL shadowlist is my best yet. Will be tough to match that in 2024.

Agreed - much improved compared to 4pm this afternoon where it was still dragging an anchor

Yes I saw that one - feels like we need something in the 'proper place'. Plenty of others. Also much potential for booze-related accidents... But yes, mashing the two together would be good.

Tue 19 Dec 28 Greg Lake — I Believe In Father Christmas +2 26 Wizzard — I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day +2 24 The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale Of New York -6 22 The Pretenders — 2000 Miles 17 Brenda Lee — Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree  10 Andy Williams — It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

37 Greg Lake — I Believe In Father Christmas +4 26 The Pretenders — 2000 Miles 22 Wizzard — I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day 21 The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale Of New York -6 21 Andy Williams — It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year 18 Brenda Lee — Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree 04 The Ronettes — Sleigh Ride  

16/12/2023 62 Greg Lake — I Believe In Father Christmas +6 50 The Pretenders — 2000 Miles 50 The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale Of New York -9 49 Bing Crosby — White Christmas 48 Andy Williams — It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year 48 The Ronettes — Sleigh Ride 39 Brenda Lee — Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree 37 Jona Lewie — Stop the Cavalry 37 Wizzard — I Wish it could be Christmas Every Day 36 Bobby Helms — Jingle Bell Rock 35 Wham! — Last Christmas 13 Kate Bush — December Will Be Magic Again 09 Nat King Cole — The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)

Fri 15 Dec 55 Greg Lake — I Believe In Father Christmas 50 Wizzard — I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday +4 46 The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale Of New York -9 44 The Ronettes — Sleigh Ride 44 The Pretenders — 2000 Miles 43 Bing Crosby — White Christmas 42 Andy Williams — It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year 41 Ray Conniff — Carol Of The Bells 39 Brenda Lee — Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree 38 Bobby Helms — Jingle Bell Rock 36 Jona Lewie — Stop The Cavalry 29 Wham! — Last Christmas 27 Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters — Mele Kalikimaka 26 Kate Bush — December Will Be Magic Again 16 Queen — Thank God it’s Christmas 13 Nat King Cole — The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) 9 Cockney For Shit — Santa Baby

15/12/23 23 The Verve — Bitter Sweet Symphony -6 16 The Cardigans — Lovefool +4 7 Deee-Lite — Groove is in the heart