June 2014 kicked off with spectacular Star Wars casting news, as Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o was added to director JJ Abrams's line-up for Episode VII. Obviously the same level of excitement surrounded the news that Louis Walsh had u-turned on his decision to leave the X Factor and would be sticking around to tell everyone who they're a young version of.

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But of course the BIG news was the World Cup in Brazil. Fourteen million people stayed up until the wee hours to see England's first game against Italy. I personally then spent an entire working day trying to find out where pundit Thierry Henry's cardigan was from. Yes, wearing a cardigan in Brazil caused quite the online storm. It's Gucci by the way and cost £505.

Talk soon turned to Phil Neville's commentary. Even a local police station's Twitter account got involved saying they'd be pumping out recordings of his voice to keep the streets calm and quiet. Ouch. But the news was the next day's fish and chip wrapping as attention turned to the might of Mexican goal keeper Ochoa. Is there anything that man can't save? The memes say no.

The World Cup took a turn as it became clear England were on their way out. We had the maths to prove it. And the bad news carried on as it was revealed actor Harrison Ford had been injured on the set of Star Wars and George RR Martin discussed the ending of Game of Thrones.

But it's OK, then the X Factor kicked into action. Mel B was confirmed as the fourth and final judge and we got a peek from behind the scenes as auditions go going. Angelina Jolie was named a Dame in the Queen's honours list while Benedict Cumberbatch convinced Dame Judi Dench to be in Richard III with him by simply asking her in front of a lot of people. Savvy.

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Then of course, just to make June even better, the trailer for Sharknado 2 was released. More flying sharks. More chainsaws. Plus, the first pictures from Downton Abbey series 5 made their way to us, so we set about trying to work out what was going to happen.

Colin Firth 'consciously uncoupled' himself from the role of Paddington Bear, paving the way for Ben Whishaw, meanwhile adventure junkie Tom Cruise revealed plans to film the next Mission: Impossible instalment inside of our very own Houses of Parliament.

Jeremy Paxman presented his final Newsnight in June and the devastating news of Rik Mayall's death hit the headlines, as actors and celebrities paid their respects.

Sporting attention turned from the World Cup to Wimbledon as Andy Murray returned to defend his men's singles title. Tim Henman talked us through the male competitors tipped to do well in tournament, while Virginia Wade guided us through the top women in the competition. The Wimbledon Roof sprung into action, its Twitter account full of praise for its own work, riling up tennis stars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with its goading.

Talking of the Murrays, it wasn't long before news leaked the Andy's mum Judy was to take part in this year's Strictly Come Dancing.

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We rounded out the month with a celebration of Ricky Gervais's birthday (complete with bath pictures, of course) and the Queen's visit to the Game of Thrones set.


How much of this year's television can you remember? Take our Big TV Quiz 2014 and find out!

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