Review of the Year: April 2014
The month when King Joffrey croaked, Good Morning Britain launched and Sir Bruce Forsyth decided to step down from Strictly Come Dancing
April wasn't just the month that saw baby lambs skip around in fields and daffodils nod their pretty yellow heads. It was one bumper 30 days in the world of TV and film.
Some of the notable news stories included the time a screening of Noah was cancelled due to flooding, Louis Walsh attempted to create some suspense about whether he would return to the X Factor (He did. Of course) and the Houses of Parliament opened its doors to a film crew for the very first time. Anything for Meryl Streep, eh?
But April was also a time of change. After months - nay, years - of speculation Sir Bruce Forsyth publicly decided to hang up his dancing shoes and relinquish his Strictly Come Dancing hosting duties, while after 25 years at the helm Jeremy Paxman announced he was quitting Newsnight, all so he could go to bed at a normal hour. And it was also the month that saw the nation shocked when Peaches Geldof died aged 25, while the entertainment industry mourned actor Bob Hoskins who passed away aged 71.
On the box, the month started with telly fans bemoaning the end of Silk, and the slightly disappointing conclusion to hit US sitcom How I Met Your Mother (We know...), though April was a great time for returning TV shows. Our own Emma Daly went behind the scenes of Britain's Got Talent as it started up again, while Game of Thrones pillaged and plundered its way back onto our telly screens for a gory and gruesome series four. Two episodes in and we were treated to a death as spectacular as the Red Wedding. Yep, that's right, King Joffrey croaked. (It's been eight months, I think we're allowed to talk about it now.) We took a minute to remember the horrid boy before launching our own murder mystery...
Talking of murder mysteries, April was also the month Lucy Beale was killed off in EastEnders. Now that's a storyline which has hung around a while, isn't it? Still not sure who's responsible for that one...
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TV also witnessed a mumble-based furor when BBC1's much-anticipated Jamaica Inn made it to our telly screens, while Susanna Reid swapped the BBC Breakfast sofa for ITV's new venture Good Morning Britain. (Jury's still out on that one.) Over in cinema-land a film remake of Dad's Army was announced and the cast of Star Wars Episode VII was finally revealed: Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson and more to unite with original cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill.
The Bard had quite a bit going on in April, too. As well as a 450th birthday to celebrate, Benedict Cumberbatch AND his Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman were both confirmed to be playing Shakespeare's Richard III, in a BBC2 drama and on the London stage respectively.
And in other wonderfully light-hearted news, some dogs watched telly, Arthur Darvill sung Frozen's Let It Go and old Cumbers officially became more influential than Beyonce and Miley Cyrus, wrecking ball an' all.
What a month, eh? Happy April!
