Every year I try and predict the coming year. Every year I'm largely wrong. Let's have another go and see how we fare. Last year's attempts first. As you can see, I hedged my bets...
Kev F's Confident Predictions For 2021
The Covid pandemic will EITHER get a lot worse thanks to the New Variants, and drag on all year
OR
The vaccine will work, the New Variants won't be as bad as they might have been, and it's all over quickly.
- BOTH of these were right. It got worse AND it got better, the new variants weren't as bad, but it's not over yet.
The Edinburgh Fringe will go ahead as if nothing had happened
OR
The pandemic will remain so bad that Edinburgh is cancelled again and we lose more money
- NEITHER of these was right. A smaller Fringe took place, we did it on Zoom again, we made money, and those who played live made more money than ever because of the reduced competition.
My books will find the audience they deserve and will turn a considerable profit
OR
I will fail to find an audience for them and will be sitting on boxes of unsold books by December 2021
- BOTH slightly true. My books found an audience at comic conventions, so I'm not sitting on as many boxes as I feared. However "considerable profit" is stretching it.
I will be able to return to school and will do more than 100 days of Comic Art Masterclasses
OR
Schools will remain closed to visitors and, by December, I'll have only done online classes, and fewer than 50.
- BOTH slightly true. Schools reopened in June, and my total classes for the year, online and live, was 104. However online classes did outnumber live classes, 57 to 47.
Eurovision winner will be from Eastern Europe
OR
Eurovision is cancelled again (I realise I'm now making guesses both of which could be wrong!)
- NEITHER was right. The contest went ahead and Italy won.
Straight-up likely-to-be-wrong predictions for 2021:
Boris Johnson will still be Prime Minister by the end of 2021 - CORRECT
Brexit will turn out not to have been that bad. There will be some horror stories, but on balance not so many. - JURY STILL OUT
Joe Biden will still be alive by the end of 2021 and will have started no wars - CORRECT
House prices - up by 2% - CORRECT. In fact the average rise is 6%
Petrol prices - up by 10% - CORRECT. In fact the average rise is over 25%
Marvel superhero movies prove unpopular and they stop making them (3rd year running for this prediction)
- WRONG. Eternals was a critical flop, Black Widow didn't get a big screen release, but Spider-Man No Way Home has broken box office records, and the Disney+ series are the talk of the year.
A new Doctor Who will be announced, Jodie to regenerate in last episode of series 13
- HALF RIGHT. Jodie's departure has been announced, and filmed, but no new Doctor is named yet.
New Doctor Who showrunners to be Jim Field Smith, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
- WRONG. It's going to be Russell T Davies. I am happy to have been wrong, this is great news.
Britbox goes out of business and merges with iPlayer - WRONG. I assume. Nobody ever talks about Britbox, but someone must have it.
National newspaper to go out of business - Daily Star - WRONG
Major new theatre opens in London's West End - WRONG
Eastenders manages a year with no deaths - ALMOST. One one death (Kush in April). This compares to 5 in 2020, and 4 in 2019. The last year without an Eastenders death was 1997.
A stupid expensive memorial to the pandemic is proposed, to be built in London. (eg a bridge)
- ALMOST. A very sensible Holocaust Memorial has been proposed, and is under consultation. However a stupidly expensive Marble Arch Mound was built, and was heavily criticised.
White Christmas - yes, and it's the worst weather for 30 years - WRONG
TV shows to get remakes: I Claudius, The Prisoner, The Brady Bunch, Jim'll Fix It, The Double Deckers, Black Beauty, Goodnight Sweetheart, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Stingray, Z Cars. - ALL WRONG
Technological advance: Selfie-Drone no bigger than a tennis ball, most popular item for Christmas - WRONG
Months go by without Donald Trump appearing as a major news headline. - CORRECT. Best news of the year.
And so to 2022. I predict...
Kev F's Confident Predictions for 2022
New leader of the Tories by December '22, and it'll be Rishi Sunak
New Doctor Who announced, and it'll be Guz Kahn
House prices take a dramatic fall
Petrol prices remain about the same (no fall or rise more than 1%)
Cryptocurrencies suffer dramatic collapse, NFT market vanishes
Eurovision won by a Scandinavian country
Britain's Got Talent won by a performing animal
Covid 19 officially declared endemic and no worse than the common cold
Marvel announces new movies: Captain Britain, Miracleman, and Dracula Lives
Kamala Harris becomes President of USA
TV adaptations include a Shakespeare adaptation that is uncomfortably close to one of mine
I do not know what'll happen with our house purchase and am not going to jinx it by predicting a damn thing!
See you next year to review my success rate.
Buy the books:
Pop Star Colouring Annual with 50 images from 70s to now
Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who, and graphic novels adapted from Shakespeare, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. He is the host of the podcast Comic Cuts The Panel Show.
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