Soaring global demand, climate change, more speciality teas – it can only mean prices will go up

Maybe it's a remnant from an encyclopaedia-browsing childhood (or just early exposure to the Guinness Book of Records), but I still love chunky illustrated reference books – a taste for bulky blocks of print incompatible with the price per square foot of property anywhere in southern England. Earlier this year, I bought Dorling Kindersley's wonderful History Year by Year – nugget after shiny nugget of the human past over the millennia, all the way from the Great Rift Valley in Kenya to Silicon Valley in California. Checking the credits page, I found that the smart design work on this multi-handed monument of editing came from India, where publishers now often outsource not just routine office functions but almost every skilled task. DK began to operate in India even before the reference giant was swallowed by Penguin in 2000.

Former Australia and Saracens fly-half Michael Lynagh is facing a vital few days in his recovery after suffering a stroke.

The final programme of the Royal Ballet season goes from the tutu'd geometries of Ashton's Scènes de Ballet to MacMillan's stomping The Rite of Spring. Glen Tetley's Voluntaries sits heavily in the middle of this Stravinsky sandwich.

That last minute must have seemed an eternity for Saracens. The clock was approaching the 80th minute when Leicester won a line-out 10 metres from the Saracens line and set in motion the series of drives which stood as a metaphor for the entire Aviva Premiership final.

The long-awaited relaunch of the Tetley Tea folk will kick off tomorrow evening during ITV's Coronation Street.

Much-loved TV cartoon characters The Tetley Tea Folk are to make a comeback after nearly 10 years off the screens.

A gala should not be an endurance test. Ensemble Productions' Homage to Nureyev has a starry international cast, and some fine performances, but heavens, it's long. Close to four hours of short numbers, this tribute to the great 20th-century ballet star was epically episodic.

Years ago a small supplement would tumble from national newspaper magazines offering a diverse range of time-saving and futuristic gadgets which were distinguished by their pointlessness. Could there really be a market for bath ladders for spiders or heated eyelash curlers? Apparently not, given that the Innovations Catalogue folded seven years ago.

What most people remember about the first single-handed, non-stop, round-the-world yacht race is the fate of Donald Crowhurst, the weekend sailor from Somerset who became delusional and tried to fake his progress before vanishing, presumed to have jumped overboard.

"While 'Picture Book' addresses all the highs and lows, it's perplexing to work out who this six-CD set is aimed at. For Kinks kompletists, the smattering of demos, BBC sessions, early rarities (by their Bo Weevils incarnation) or live versions seems thin, and for the novice surely a greatest hits and maybe a copy of 'Village Green' would suffice, avoiding the dodgy arena rock of their post-Pye/RCA years and the fascinating, if rudimentary, early Sixties rhythm and blues." - Chris Jones, www.bbc.co.uk/music