And just like that, we’ve completed another orbit of a sun that now sets on the tenure of Death Impends, only to rise on the return of former host Octopus of Odstock! That said, it’s a bit of a staggered return, real life commitments mean OoO is needing a hand keeping the front page running until they can take over full-time. So you’ll be getting updates from two different hosts for the time-being, have fun guessing which are whose!
So, without further ado, we shall turn to the first set of unfortunate souls for who the New Year’s Bells have tolled, and we have eight to start the year with:
Arts
To say Molly Parkin lived a colourful life would be the polite way of saying she lived one of absolute debauchery. She was a painter and fashion designer by trade, known for flamboyantly bright clothing and a love of utterly preposterous hats. A poster child for the Swinging Sixties in every sense, after she moved into fashion journalism and erotic literature her heavy drinking and notoriety for casual sex and frequent love affairs began to get out of control. She lost three jobs in a row from various publications and was banned from the BBC airwaves for swearing on air, all of which cemented a reputation that ranged anywhere from national treasure to “Disgrace of the Valley” depending on who you asked.
She eventually managed to get her lifestyle back on track on the health front at least, but bankruptcy in the early 00’s led to her spending her final years in a council flat in Chelsea. Still, it’s hard to judge a life clearly lived to its fullest too harshly, and we’ll depart with the words of daughter Sophie: “Molly Parkin…extraordinary human, has left the building”!
Film
Known as “The Nation’s Actor” in South Korea, Ahn Sung-ki’s career spanned sixty years and resulted in a record five Grand Bell awards for films including Village in the Mist, Two Cops and Radio Star. Having been fighting blood cancer for several years, he was hospitalized in critical condition right at the death of 2025, and he followed it out the door just a few days later.
Music
Bob Weir was a rock guitarist and co-founder of pioneering jam band The Grateful Dead, and further associated with successor groups The Dead, and Dead & Company. I’m sensing a theme relevant to our interests here! He was diagnosed with lung cancer in the summer of 2025 and allegedly beat it, but his recent death from “underlying lung issues” does rather make me question that assessment.
Politics
Sir Patrick Duffy has passed away at 105 as the longest-lived MP in British history. He started out in the navy and retired from the service after World War II with the rank of Commander, with his subsequent political career as a Labour MP spanning from 1963 to 1992. Outside of Westminster, he was also the President of the North Atlantic Assembly, a role that got him a knighthood in 1991.
Sports
Former racing jockey Diane Crump was a trailblazer both on the track and off. In 1969 she became the first woman to compete in a professional horse race in the USA, doing so in the face of utterly rampant misogyny and hostility. She went on to win 228 races in her career and has died on New Year’s Day following her October diagnosis of glioblastoma.
Burnley F.C. and England goalkeeper, Colin McDonald racked up 201 appearances for club and 8 for country before his playing career was ended by a broken leg and botched medical treatment. He later went on to become one of the most highly regarded scouts in the business and outside of the sport worked for disability charity National Spastics Society (they’re known as Scope these days for some reason!).
The third hit from the sporting world was ice hockey forward Bob Pulford, who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings, before later managing the Chicago Blackhawks.
Theatre
Finally, we have the tragic loss of Bret Hanna-Shuford, a Broadway actor known predominantly for Disney musicals such as Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Wicked. He also formed one half of the social media channel Broadway Husbands, which followed him and his husband as they navigated life and fatherhood. His far-too-soon death comes following a blood cancer diagnosis last summer.
Scores
| Name and Age | Date of Death | Points and Teams |
| Diane Crump, 77 | January 1, |
7 Teams💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 = 7 Points |
| Colin McDonald, 95 | January 1 |
4 Teams 💀💀💀💀💀 = 5 Points |
| Patrick Duffy, 105 | January 2 |
12 Teams 💀💀💀💀 = 4 Points |
| Bret Shuford, 46 | January 3 |
3 Teams 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 = 10 Points |
| Molly Parkin, 93 | January 5 |
My Dallek Master Plan 💀💀💀💀💀+ 👻 = 9 Points |
|
Bob Pulford, 89 |
January 5 |
Perfect 10 💀💀💀💀💀💀+ 👻 = 10 Points |
| Ahn Sung-ki, 74 | January 5 |
2 Teams 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀= 7 Points |
| Bob Weir, 78 | January 10 |
3 Teams 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 = 7 Points |