The Oldie

The idea for the Oldie was cooked up 25 years ago by its founding editor, Richard Ingrams, and his much-lamented successor, the late Alexander Chancellor. Their aim was to create a free-thinking, funny magazine, a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity. The Oldie is ageless and timeless, free of retirement advice, crammed with rejuvenating wit, intelligence and delight. With over 100 pages in every issue, The Oldie is packed with funny cartoons and free-thinking and intelligent articles covering a wide range of topics – from gardening and books to travel, arts, entertainment, and so much more.

The Oldie

Among this month's contributors

The Old Un's Notes

NOT MANY DEAD • Important stories you may have missed

Edna O'Brien's naked attraction • When I took her round my school, 60 years ago, she was lost in admiration for a nude teenage boy

I sit and watch TV, as tears go by • Our Olympic champions stirred finer emotions than rioting thugs

OLDEN LIFE

MODERN LIFE

King of the Elephants • Charlotte Metcalf salutes Babar’s creator and his son Laurent, who has just died

My role play in A Bridge Too Far • On the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem, Edward Fox recalls his briefing from Sir Brian Horrocks – the officer he played in the film

Market Garden's silver lining • Jan Karpinski salutes his father’s deathdefying contribution to a crucial operation

Desperately seeking Robbie • Mark McCrum was a ghostwriter for the elusive Robbie Williams

Welcome to the House of Fun • Harry Mount visits Britain’s first illustration centre. Drawings by Quentin Blake, who founded and funded it

Happy 70th, Wimpy! • The first British Wimpy Bar opened in 1954, 20 years before the first McDonald’s. Wynn Wheldon salutes the home of the plastic tomato

The cat's whiskers • Artist John Craxton told Andrew Lambirth how much he loved painting his pets

Fear and loathing in Seattle • The American election has turned my neighbour against me

The dream pub – in my backyard • Driven out of his local by soaring prices, Adam Edwards has set up his own perfect boozer

Age cannot wither the greatest minds • Titian, Verdi and Goethe all excelled in their eighties

Dream pupil – the bad boy turned good

Ronnie Kray

Mrs Thatcher's brothel tour

You've got to have a pocket or two • Designers are still reluctant to make useful dresses

Strange death of letter-writing

Hannibal Lecter has exceedingly good taste

Rude Dr Ruth shot me down • Mary Kenny hated the sex therapist’s bad manners more than her dirty talk

I'm ready for my PopMaster close-up • And Julian and Sandy in Wardrobe loved my cool TV look

I feel it in my gut. My husband is greedier - and healthier - than me

Christ's lesson on blind faith

Lord Hindlip (1940-2024)

Biden's decline is in the lap of the gods • With the right genes, you can defy your age – look at Mick Jagger and Verdi

READERS' LETTERS • The Oldie, 23–31 Great Titchfield Street, London, W1W 7PA letters@theoldie.co.uk To sign up for our e-newsletter, go to www.theoldie.co.uk

Best Western

American beauty

Sex education of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Brill quills

Kings of Fleet Street

Prosper & gamble

The Cromwell Road

OLDIE NOVEL OF THE MONTH

We still like to be beside the seaside • Soaring Mediterranean temperatures will revive British resorts

Commonplace Corner

RANT

FILM • TWISTERS (12A)

THEATRE • A CHORUS LINE

RADIO

TELEVISION

MUSIC • VIVA...