Tomorrow at the crack of dawn I shall be heading off to a foreign land, where I shall prance about like a fool until New Year’s Eve Eve. But fear not! You lot will not be left bereft and weeping, tormented by a Hooting Yard-shaped hole in your souls. Through the [something or other] of technology, daily potsages [sic] will be appearing here, even as your favourite impecunious scribbler is thousands of miles away from his escritoire.

Not only will our Advent Calendar continue to tock towards Christmas every morning, but from Thursday until 30 December you will be treated to Ten Tarleton Tales, one for each day. These are reposts rather than new stories, but they take on a fresh – and possibly alarming – significance when bundled together as a sort of box set.

Meanwhile, nearly all surviving episodes of Hooting Yard On The Air from 2004 are now available on YouTube, or you can go to Mixcloud for an archive of more recent shows.

Taken together, all of that should keep you lot occupied until I return. And though all of this bounty is offered freely, it might well be that you feel compelled to offer up a prayer of gratitude, invoking the twisted spine of St Spivack, and chucking oodles of cash into Mr Key’s Paypal coffers.

A very happy Christmas to you all, and may the Lord have mercy on your souls.