Dance Centre Kenya, one of the leading performing arts schools in east Africa providing opportunities for talented young dancers from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, has staged The Nutcracker for its 10th-anniversary annual ballet production, at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi

‘Released under investigation’ leads to uncertainty and distress for both victim and accused, say campaigners

Hundreds of suspected rapists in England and Wales are spending years released under investigation, under a system that the government has been urged to scrap as it “doesn’t serve anyone’s interests apart from the police” .

Introduced under the Policing & Crime Act 2017, released under investigation (RUI) allows police an alternative to bail, without the set timeframes or conditions attached to police bail.

A festive musical blends fairytale optimism with lush orchestration and Sound of Music sweetness – even if this often overwhelms a thin storyline

Reported to be the first Thai musical in 50 years, The Christmas Dream is directed by Englishman Paul Spurrier, and is an intriguing blend of new and old: a modern Oliver Twist that progresses from the country’s northern hills to Bangkok, with old-school Technicolor trappings and emotionally lush showstoppers aplenty (written by Spurrier and set to an orchestral score by Mickey Wongsathapornpat).

With a Michelle Yeoh-like resoluteness but half her size, Amata Masmalai plays 10-year-old schoolgirl Lek, who is forced to flee after her abusive stepfather Nin (Only God Forgives’ Vithaya Pansringarm) fatally beats her mother (Chomphupak Poonpol). Hitting the road with her one-legged doll Bella for company, Lek has only a strong moral compass to guide her to the new home she is promised by her mum’s ghost. A number of picaresque companions put it to the test, including a spoiled rich girl (Kathaya Chongprasith) desperate for a friend and a quack doctor (Adam Kaokept) hawking dodgy cure-alls.

The service was cut off and then there were threats of losing the number of 60 years

My 84-year-old parents, who have significant disabilities, had their Talk Talk landline cut off without notice in August.

We eventually had to sign a new contract to get the service restored and were assured that they would keep their phone number of 60 years.

Eglwys Dewi Sant, Cardiff
A radiant Christmas celebration brought an emphatic account of Britten’s song cycle, together with past commissions by Welsh composers and newer works that perfectly complemented each other

Halifax, Nova Scotia, was where, in March 1942, the ship carrying Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears home from America docked before setting off on its perilous Atlantic crossing. Chance decreed that in a Halifax bookshop Britten would buy a copy of Gerald Bullett’s collection, The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems, the mystical and evocative aura of some of the earliest texts immediately inspiring him – unfazed by U-boat activity – to set them to harp accompaniment. This element of serendipity in the emergence of A Ceremony of Carols, with its iconic evoking of medieval sensibilities and faith, perhaps helps define its enduring appeal.

Using the arrangement for mixed choir by composer/conductor Julius Harrison, the Britten was the focus of the Cardiff Polyphonic Choir’ s Christmas celebration, under their conductor Thomas Blunt. Clearly, this was not the bright sheen of boys’ voices with which we’re more familiar, but the atmosphere and dramatic flow of the 11 movements was there, from the sopranos’ opening plainchant to the fading Alleluia in the final Recession. In the central carol, This Little Babe, the words of the 16th-century Catholic martyr Robert Southwell depict the Christ child as an angel come to avenge Satan: Blunt set a pace that allowed the fast, furious, rhythms to realise a wonderful momentum, the voices’ tight imitations then building tension towards the emphatic climax. The energy of this, together with the penultimate Deo Gracias, captured well the contrast with the radiant, lilting beauty of There Is No Rose and Balulalow, Elen Hydref’s harp playing always expressive.

Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne tread a delicate line between hard-hitting and empathetic in this profile of the Free Birth Society. Plus, an ode to The Gilmore Girls

A shocking Guardian investigation by Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne into the Free Birth Society (FBS), a movement that made millions of dollars from encouraging pregnant women to have unaided home births – even as the deaths of babies mounted. Its empathetic interviews with ex-members make for a sensitive, hugely listenable show, treading a delicate line between hard-hitting and extending empathy to the women who fell under FBS’s spell. Alexi Duggins
Widely available, all episodes out now

Going away for the festive season has left me with unforgettable memories, from a boat trip with Bangladeshi fishermen to exploring Castro’s Cuban hideout

I have made a point of escaping Christmas for as long as I can remember. Not escaping for Christmas, but avoiding it altogether – the stressful buildup, consumer chaos, panic buying, the enforced jollity and parties. When the first festive gifts start appearing in the shops in September, it’s time to confirm my travel plans, ideally to include New Year’s Eve as well.

Sometimes I travel independently, but more often in a group, and while it’s not always possible to avoid the tinsel and baubles – even in non-Christian countries thousands of miles away – I just relish not being at home at this time of year.

Correspondence between the Lord of the Flies author and his editor reveals one of the great literary collaborations of the age

When William Golding submitted Lord of the Flies to Faber in 1953 it had already been rejected at least seven times, maybe as many as 20. Charles Monteith could tell from the dog-eared typescript that it had done the rounds, and a reader for Faber called it “absurd and uninteresting … Rubbish and dull. Pointless.” But Monteith, young and new to the job, could see the book’s potential, and suggested ways that Golding – then a Salisbury-based schoolmaster in his early 40s – might improve it. More radically cut and revised than Monteith expected, the novel became a school syllabus classic. Thus began an author-editor friendship that lasted 40 years.

Their early exchanges by post were formal in the extreme: it took two years for Dear Monteith, Dear Golding to become Dear Charles, Dear Bill. But as provincial grammar school boys who both read English at Oxford, the two were attuned to each other. And after the rescue act performed on his first novel, Golding remained humbly grateful for whatever help he could get: “I’m in your hands as usual. I’ve no particular feeling of possession over the book.” Monteith’s touch was gentle for the next few years: enthusiastic, even effusive, he reassured Golding that his drafts of The Inheritors and Free Fall were the finished product. With later novels, such as The Spire and Rites of Passage, editorial feedback was tougher and more extensive. But there were no fallings out. “I’ve always had a feeling of you there, present but not breathing down my neck!” Golding said. He never seriously considered moving to another publishing house.

Chloe Hadjimatheou, who broke the story about the bestselling memoir, continues her investigation. Plus: a silly thriller romp with a fun cast. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, Sky Documentaries
It was the literary scandal of the year: the Observer alleged that the author of the bestselling memoir The Salt Path, Raynor Winn, hadn’t been entirely truthful in telling the tale – which was made into a film – of financial ruin, her husband, Moth’s, terminal illness and natural healing. Since then, more people have come forward with their version of events. Reporter Chloe Hadjimatheou continues to piece together the exposé that shocked and saddened a nation. Hollie Richardson