Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2026-04-02T11:45:31.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: As Michael Jackson's legacy returns to the limelight, can we truly separate the art from the artist?
items: 12 actors who are the unsung heroes of British TV - from The Night Manager stars to former Coronation Street femme fatale
items: The stars are out (yawn)
items: An actor's life for me
items: So, what should we expect from Line of Duty season 7 now? I have some questions
items: Is nothing worth watching without a sprinkling of celebrity stardust?
items: This Life at 30: Producer Jane Fallon remembers beloved drama and reveals why she doubts it would happen today
items: Zeb Soanes reveals why his stroke at age of 44 pushed him to star in play about Alec Guinness
items: Brenda Blethyn's A Woman of Substance to Lovejoy – are we in the era of 'microwave TV'?
items: The plain Jane
items: The Other Bennet Sister star reveals why she left Call the Midwife and talks beloved Pride & Prejudice character
items: Brenda Blethyn's A Woman of Substance to Lovejoy – are we in the era of "microwave TV"?
items: Ruth Jones reveals what she told Gavin & Stacey icon Alison Steadman about the beloved Jane Austen role they now share
items: Old friends revisited
items: Shackle and strife
items: Jonathan Ross’s new show Handcuffed proves the UK still knows no barrier like a class barrier
items: A right royal mess
items: Who is new ITV drama The Lady really for? It's certainly not for those impacted by this royal-adjacent story
items: What lies beneath
items: Let's not call Melania Trump's film a documentary - Channel 4’s The Tony Blair Story is the real deal
items: The King's quest
items: 'Imagination is more important than knowledge'
items: Endeavour legend Shaun Evans talks saying goodbye to Morse and why he kept his Liverpudlian accent for ITV's Betrayal
items: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's The Rip proves the upsides and downsides of using real-life Hollywood friends
items: A fine bromance
items: The Traitors season 4 final sees two worthy winners – and proves once again why it's unmissable TV
items: The geek shall inherit
items: When did TV documentaries become all about celebrities and 'being' and stop being about people actually doing something?

As Michael Jackson's legacy returns to the limelight, can we truly separate the art from the artist?
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: He’s been dead for 17 years and accusations of child abuse still linger – so why can’t we get eno
encoded: Add Michael Jackson: an American Tragedy to your watchlist It is 40 years since Michael Jackson was at his celestial height and a lot of murky water has passed under the bridge of his legacy since, but it appears he’s back. Next month sees the arrival of the biopic Michael. Made by the producer of Bohemian Rhapsody and supported by the Jackson family with his nephew Jaafar in the title role, it has the rights to all the music and will undoubtedly make millions. Meanwhile, this week you can see the start of a new three-part BBC documentary, Michael Jackson: an American Tragedy, charting the star’s rise, fall and resurrection, another entertainment Icarus who fatally soared too high. First, the film. Fans will get to relive the early years of his evolution from Jackson 5 child prodigy to solo megastar. The biggest peril? Striking out from his family, especially father Joe, to become the biggest artist in music history. If only the story could finish there… oh, it does. The biopic stops conveniently short of the later, less glittering chapters: child abuse allegations in 1993 settled out of court, a brief marriage to Elvis’s daughter, the Martin Bashir doc that led to an abuse trial, and acquittal, finally wandering the world penniless before his death in 2009, an event that saw his doctor jailed. That’s enough for a sequel. In 2019, Wade Robson and James Safechuck spoke in the documentary Leaving Neverland about their years of alleged abuse at Jackson’s hands. Facing backlash from fans, they still pursue their day in court. Their lawyers say they seek justice; the lawyers for the star’s estate say they seek money – because there’s a lot of it. Jackson died $500 million in debt – this, despite owning the Beatles catalogue, as well as creating Thriller, is astonishing in itself – but the coffers were soon refilled. Blurry rehearsal footage covering preparation for Jackson’s 50 planned “This is It” London gigs in 2009 and 2010 was stitched together and became the biggest…

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As Michael Jackson's legacy returns to the limelight, can we truly separate the art from the artist?
type: item
date: 2026-04-01T07:00:43.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Movies
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Contains Trailer
subject: Magazine
description: With a major film biopic and a new three-part BBC documentary this month, the controversial superstar is back in the spotlight.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. It is 40 years since Michael Jackson was at his celestial height and a lot of murky water has passed under the bridge of his legacy since, but it appears he’s back. Next month sees the arrival of the biopic Michael. Made by the producer of Bohemian Rhapsody and supported by the Jackson family with his nephew Jaafar in the title role, it has the rights to all the music and will undoubtedly make millions. Meanwhile, next week you can see the start of a new three-part BBC documentary, Michael Jackson: An American Tragedy, charting the star’s rise, fall and resurrection, another entertainment Icarus who fatally soared too high. First, the film. Fans will get to relive the early years of his evolution from Jackson 5 child prodigy to solo megastar. The biggest peril? Striking out from his family, especially father Joe, to become the biggest artist in music history. If only the story could finish there... oh, it does. The biopic stops conveniently short of the later, less glittering chapters: child abuse allegations in 1993 settled out of court, a brief marriage to Elvis’s daughter, the Martin Bashir doc that led to an abuse trial, and acquittal, finally wandering the world penniless before his death in 2009, an event that saw his doctor jailed. That’s enough for a sequel. View Green Video on the source website In 2019, Wade Robson and James Safechuck spoke in the documentary Leaving Neverland about their years of alleged abuse at Jackson’s hands. Facing backlash from fans, they still pursue their day in court. Their lawyers say they seek justice; the lawyers for the star’s estate say they seek money – because there’s a lot of it. Jackson died $500 million in debt – this, despite owning the Beatles catalogue, as well as creating Thriller, is astonishing in itself – but the coffers were soon refilled. Blurry rehearsal footage covering preparation for Jackson’s 50 planned “This is It” London gigs in 2009 and 2010 was stitc…

12 actors who are the unsung heroes of British TV - from The Night Manager stars to former Coronation Street femme fatale
type: item
date: 2026-03-25T08:00:21.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Magazine
description: My hymn to the unsung heroes (and heroines) of British TV.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Whenever the board game Guess Who? came out of the cupboard on a rainy Sunday afternoon, my heart sank. Somehow, I always got Claire and often, after a single question – “Does your character wear glasses and a hat with a flower?” – the game was lost (Eric with his sailor’s hat was another non-starter). Lucky was the player who got Herman – often overlooked, but invariably still standing long after others had gone by the wayside. Sometimes, looking ordinary is extraordinarily effective. With this in mind, I invite you to cast your eye over the 12 actors pictured on this page; I bet you recognise them all, but how many can you name? They’re the Hermans of British TV: familiar faces, not household names. The list could be a lot longer, and excludes those who have deservedly graduated to the Premier League: Siobhan Finneran, Indira Varma, Mark Bonnar and the always wonderful Victoria Hamilton, who takes the title role in the new series of The Teacher this week on 5. For now, I salute this deserving dozen… Patrick Baladi is probably best known as David Brent’s leather-jacketed nemesis, Neil. Amelia Bullmore has been everything from Alan Partridge’s Ukrainian girlfriend Sonja to Sherlock’s dodgy scientist. A relatively recent entry, Amir El-Masry broke through on TV in The Night Manager, before roles in McMafia, Industry and The Crown. The Missing actor Anastasia Hille’s TV career began in 1992 with Red Dwarf; she now also runs a ceramics studio. Another Night Manager alumnus is Sex Education’s Alistair Petrie. Some have cornered the market in a particular kind of British bloke. For a ruffled Army colonel, look no further than Rupert Vansittart. If you’re after a dodgy geezer, Danny Webb is your man. For someone whose posh affability ill-hides a lack of moral compass, there’s Doctor Foster’s Adam James. Three longtime favourites include Sylvestra Le Touzel, who made her debut, aged 10, in Doctor Who, and specialises in …

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The stars are out (yawn)
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: A sprinkling of celebrity stardust makes any programme worth watching — or does it?
encoded: Add Celebrity Sabotage to your watchlist Two quick stories: once, in a London hotel, a film publicist came to find me. Bursting with the pride of a tigress with a newborn cub, she shouted down the corridor: “I’ve got you four minutes with Orlando!” The other took place in a Soho café, when two TV agents pressed me to consider championing their beloved clients’ move from magic to cookery. I nearly choked on my macaroon. This was proper “youth hostelling with Chris Eubank” territory, as proffered by Alan Partridge. It turned out, in the world of televisual evolution, monkey tennis is very real. I mention these two incidents to shed some light on twin beliefs that threaten to consume our entire entertainment ecosystem: the first, that any time spent in the company of a famous face, on screen or off, is superior to that spent with what Liz Hurley helpfully calls “civilians”; the second, that celebrities will do anything, from boiling an egg to being taken hostage, if it means staying under the warm spotlight of another TV commission. The result? As pointed out in Ms Shearer’s recent letter to RT’s Feedback (thank you!), a schedule that includes Jules and Greg’s Wild Swim, Bear Grylls – Wild Reckoning, Dickinson’s Real Deal, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, Hippo Watch with Steve Backshall… all of them on TV on a single random Friday. This week sees the arrival of Celebrity Sabotage, in which a gaggle of familiar faces set out to hoodwink unsuspecting members of the public who think they are taking part in brand-new ITV shows. How did we get here? In 1997, the BBC One series Driving School simply followed learner drivers around Bristol and South Wales. What they hadn’t planned for was one Maureen Rees. By the time the cleaner from Cardiff had passed her test at the seventh attempt, 12 million people had tuned in. An appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the release of her version of Madness’s Driving in My Car followed. An unlikely sensation had become a star. Two…

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An actor's life for me
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: After a stroke in 2021, Classic FM’s Zeb Soanes has got his dream job — playing 33 roles in a show about Alec Guinness
encoded: Relaxing Evenings with Zeb Soanes is on Sunday-Thursday at 7pm on Classic FM. Add it to your collection On the first night of the revival of Mark Burgess’s play Two Halves of Guinness, Zeb Soanes sat backstage in his dressing room, preparing to spend the next two hours telling the life story of one of the 20th-century’s great theatrical knights, Sir Alec Guinness. Surrounded by good luck messages from friends and family, Soanes made sure to read one small card in particular: a rare reply to a fan, more than 30 years old, from the man himself. Soanes has one of the country’s most distinctive and beloved radio voices. For 25 years a BBC TV continuity announcer turned Radio 4 newsreader, with forays into The News Quiz, the Shipping Forecast and presenting the Proms on television, he now has the primetime evening slot presenting on Classic FM. But as a trained actor who gave up a job in repertory theatre for the lure of the BBC – “broadcasting was a diversion that somehow lasted for half my life” – Soanes grew up on a diet of classic British films, including all the Ealing comedies, and quickly marked Guinness as his favourite: “Other actors like Olivier used to project their personality outward, while I always felt that Guinness was quieter, inviting us in.” Aged 17, Soanes was even moved to write a letter to his idol, being careful to avoid any mention of Star Wars, which had famously become something of an (albeit lucrative) albatross for the versatile star. A week later, an envelope arrived at Soanes’s home in Suffolk, with a message short but sweet and eternally inspiring – “Good luck with your career”. Now here we are, with Soanes in the title role of Two Halves of Guinness, a witty, intimate one-man exploration of Guinness’s life, sharing his reflections on a dazzling career on stage and screen and the luminaries he encountered along the way. While Guinness famously opted to play all eight members of the D’Ascoyne family in 1949 caper Kind Hearts and Coronets, on…

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So, what should we expect from Line of Duty season 7 now? I have some questions
type: item
date: 2026-03-18T11:42:49.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: BBC
subject: Comment
description: AC-12 are back in business – but after that finale, what twists can Jed Mercurio possibly pull off next?
encoded: Anticipation around the forthcoming seventh season of Line of Duty received another jolt this week with the identity of new cast members joining resident trio Ted Hastings, Steve Arnott and Kate Fleming. The BBC has announced that the new run will see the now legendary AC-12 internal anti-corruption police unit disbanded and rebranded the Inspectorate of Police Standards. Amidst the change, Arnott (Martin Compston), Fleming (Vicky McClure) and Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) are assigned a fresh, unprecedentedly sensitive case. Tom Weston-Jones (Warrior, Sanditon) plays Detective Inspector Dominic Gough, a heralded officer who stands accused of abusing his position to act as a sexual predator. The biggest new name on the bill is Robert Carlyle, who will appear as one of Gough’s reports, Detective Constable Shaun Massie, a Specialist Rifle Officer (SRO) and veteran marksman, operating with Tactical Operations Unit 7 (TO-7) to take down Organised Crime Groups. There are also some returning characters, including Mark Bonnar and Owen Teale as the previously shamed police officers Mike Dryden and Philip Osborne – their reappearance hints at the opening of a cold case. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2026/03/559336-41cd908.jpg" width="2501" height="1667" alt="Martin Compston, Robert Carlyle, Vicky McClure and Adrian Dunbar for Line of Duty. They have their arms round each other, are stood in front of a black curtain and are smiling at the camera." title="Martin Compston, Robert Carlyle, Vicky McClure and Adrian Dunbar for Line of Duty" /> But will Jed Mercurio be able to juggle keeping the storyline fresh while satisfying those fans left unimpressed by the season 6 finale unveiling of ‘H’? No TV writer has been able to keep us on the edge of our seats in the way Mercurio managed through six seasons of a show that began life as a word-of-mouth sizzler on BBC Two, made household names of its leading trio and a selling point of Mercurio’s readin…

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Is nothing worth watching without a sprinkling of celebrity stardust?
type: item
date: 2026-03-18T08:00:08.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Magazine
description: Not all celebs are born the same, but you would never know it from the schedules.
encoded: Two quick stories: once, in a London hotel, a film publicist came to find me. Bursting with the pride of a tigress with a newborn cub, she shouted down the corridor: "I've got you four minutes with Orlando!" The other took place in a Soho café, when two TV agents pressed me to consider championing their beloved clients' move from magic to cookery. I nearly choked on my macaroon. This was proper "youth hostelling with Chris Eubank" territory, as proffered by Alan Partridge. It turned out, in the world of televisual evolution, monkey tennis is very real. I mention these two incidents to shed some light on twin beliefs that threaten to consume our entire entertainment ecosystem: the first, that any time spent in the company of a famous face, on screen or off, is superior to that spent with what Liz Hurley helpfully calls "civilians"; the second, that celebrities will do anything, from boiling an egg to being taken hostage, if it means staying under the warm spotlight of another TV commission. The result? As pointed out in Ms Shearer's recent letter to RT’s Feedback (thank you!), a schedule that includes Jules and Greg’s Wild Swim, Bear Grylls – Wild Reckoning, Dickinson’s Real Deal, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, Hippo Watch with Steve Backshall… all of them on TV on a single random Friday. This week sees the arrival of Celebrity Sabotage, in which a gaggle of familiar faces set out to hoodwink unsuspecting members of the public who think they are taking part in brand-new ITV shows. How did we get here? Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. In 1997, the BBC One series Driving School simply followed learner drivers around Bristol and South Wales. What they hadn’t planned for was one Maureen Rees. By the time the cleaner from Cardiff had passed her test at the sevent…

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This Life at 30: Producer Jane Fallon remembers beloved drama and reveals why she doubts it would happen today
type: item
date: 2026-03-16T17:00:21.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: "It felt more like the Wild West in TV back then, a brief period of bravery for commissioners."
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. There was clearly something in the waters of TV drama in early 1996. Hot on the heels of the 30th anniversary of Our Friends in the North two weeks ago, we must wish the same happy birthday to another equally memorable, era-defining show. This Life, a low-budget series about 20-something law graduates sharing a London house, became one of the most talked about titles of its day, and remains a reference point for all things cultural in the mid-90s. Producer Jane Fallon was one of a young team assembled by legendary TV-maker Tony Garnett to bring to screen the script by Amy Jenkins. “We wanted to do something that hadn’t really been seen before,” Fallon remembers. “We wanted to be very naturalistic and avoid clichés, we wanted something a bit anarchic and different. We were fortunate that the budget was small — the BBC pretty much left us alone to get on with it.” Casting of the main roles was key, with producers keen to find new young faces “with no baggage, not somebody we’d all seen on The Bill,” as Fallon puts it. Jason Hughes and Daniela Nardini were the first to be cast, as Warren and Anna. The other parts took longer, with the production team auditioning hundreds of actors before landing on Jack Davenport as Miles, Amita Dhiri (Milly) and Andrew Lincoln (Egg). They then arranged for the chosen five to spend the week together. “We sent them bowling and to the pub so they could get to know each other. By the time we began to shoot, they were all really good friends.” Filming took place in a terraced house in London’s Southwark Bridge Road, close to the the Thames. Fallon recalls a hive of activity, with everyone from accountants to set-builders crammed into the location. “The noise was crazy and we worked 12-hour days so there was a lot of stress, but it also felt we were all sharing in this huge adventure.” One contributor was the then relatively unknown Ricky Gervais, Fallon’s partner, who was credited as mus…

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Zeb Soanes reveals why his stroke at age of 44 pushed him to star in play about Alec Guinness
type: item
date: 2026-03-16T17:00:17.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: audio
subject: Radio
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: After a stroke in 2021, Classic FM’s Zeb Soanes has got his dream job — playing 33 roles in a show about Sir Alec Guinness.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. On the first night of the revival of Mark Burgess’s play Two Halves of Guinness, Zeb Soanes sat backstage in his dressing room, preparing to spend the next two hours telling the life story of one of the 20th-century’s great theatrical knights, Sir Alec Guinness. Surrounded by good luck messages from friends and family, Soanes made sure to read one small card in particular: a rare reply to a fan, more than 30 years old, from the man himself. Soanes has one of the country’s most distinctive and beloved radio voices. For 25 years a BBC TV continuity announcer turned Radio 4 newsreader, with forays into The News Quiz, the Shipping Forecast and presenting the Proms on television, he now has the primetime evening slot presenting on Classic FM. But as a trained actor who gave up a job in repertory theatre for the lure of the BBC – “broadcasting was a diversion that somehow lasted for half my life” – Soanes grew up on a diet of classic British films, including all the Ealing comedies, and quickly marked Guinness as his favourite: “Other actors like Olivier used to project their personality outward, while I always felt that Guinness was quieter, inviting us in.” Aged 17, Soanes was even moved to write a letter to his idol, being careful to avoid any mention of Star Wars, which had famously become something of an (albeit lucrative) albatross for the versatile star. A week later, an envelope arrived at Soanes’s home in Suffolk, with a message short but sweet and eternally inspiring – “Good luck with your career.” Now here we are, with Soanes in the title role of Two Halves of Guinness, a witty, intimate one-man exploration of Guinness’s life, sharing his reflections on a dazzling career on stage and screen and the luminaries he encountered along the way. While Guinness famously opted to play all eight members of the D’Ascoyne family in 1949 caper Kind Hearts and Coronets, on stage Soanes delivers 33 characters in total – fro…

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Brenda Blethyn's A Woman of Substance to Lovejoy – are we in the era of 'microwave TV'?
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: With a fresh batch of rebooted dramas, programme makers are tapping into our need for nostalgic TV
encoded: Add A Woman of Substance to your watchlist If you’ve ever wondered how Vera Stanhope would look with a bouffant in place of a bucket hat, a big-budget wardrobe and even an iron, muse no more: Brenda Blethyn has burst onto our screens, via a Manhattan limousine and complete with sunglasses, padded shoulders and a designer bag, as “the richest woman in the world”, Emma Harte. Yes, it’s a new adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s novel A Woman of Substance, last seen as a 1985 Channel 4 mini-series, with Emma played by Deborah Kerr (old) and Jenny Seagrove (young). And it’s by no means the only “microwave TV” coming our way in 2026. Never mind real-life coppers looking young, you know you’re getting old when TV detectives come round again: (Inspector) Lynley aired on BBC One in January, while a reimagined Dalziel and Pascoe is due on ITV in the autumn – aside from police, even a new Lovejoy is in the works. It’s a sign of programme-makers’ continuing faith in our affection for familiar brands and, more subliminally, our need for nostalgia in a confusing world. For creatives, the challenge is how to juggle modern sensibilities with keeping older viewers happy while scooping up new ones. A rebooted and rejacketed Bergerac began last year and returns for a second series next month. This new version, starring Damien Molony, offers a case study in mixing the old with the new. Thus, we get a modern variation on George Fenton’s glorious theme (straight from the school of Shoestring, with added accordion), while Jim’s burgundy Triumph Roadster is intact. But there are two gaping holes. There is scant mention of “le Bureau des Étrangers” – it is a far more generic police unit where Jim plays maverick – and Charlie Hungerford is a woman. Zoë Wanamaker is on effortless form as Jim’s disapproving mother-in-law, but nobody will ever match Terence Alexander’s original, with his blazer, club tie and cigar, putting pressure on Jim not to go too hard on a mate because he might be an …

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The plain Jane
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Janice Hadlow’s retelling of Pride and Prejudice turns the spotlight on Mary, the overlooked Bennet sister
encoded: Add The Other Bennet Sister to your watchlist It feels as though time has stood still in this bucolic spot a few miles west of Cardiff, and it’s not just because of the country lanes, green fields and trees full of chirping birds, but because all around me there is bustling activity that would appear to belong to yesteryear. Young ladies in crepe bonnets stand by as horsedrawn carriages wait outside a beautiful Georgian mansion, and the Bennet parents line up to wave off their newly married daughters one by one – all except Mary who, as readers of Pride and Prejudice will know, always seemed a lot happier with her books than the birds or bees and, as such, is the sister left alone at home – at least for now. It is Mary’s story that takes centre stage in the adaptation of Janice Hadlow’s 2020 novel The Other Bennet Sister. Hadlow was previously a television executive, which included the role of BBC Two controller from 2008 to 2014 but, despite her experience at the other end of the TV production chain, she was very happy not to be charged with adapting her novel for the screen. “It’s a very different type of storytelling,” she says. “It’s good to have some distance, I think.” Instead, screenwriter Sarah Quintrell’s clever script brings us familiar events from Austen’s original story – Jane’s engagement to Bingley, Lizzie’s initial problems with reluctant suitor Darcy – from a new perspective, and also makes us root for Mary (played by Ella Bruccoleri) as she strives to duck the zero-sum choice of what her friend Charlotte Lucas calls “marriage or misery” and chart her own course. “Because Lizzie and Darcy are so dazzling throughout the book, you don’t really see some of the secondary characters clearly the first few times you read it,” says Hadlow some months later over a video call. “Mary is actually quite a minor character, but very striking – this awkward, pompous young woman who always says the wrong thing. But Austen explains that, as the only plain sister in a …

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The Other Bennet Sister star reveals why she left Call the Midwife and talks beloved Pride & Prejudice character
type: item
date: 2026-03-11T08:00:31.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: Ella Bruccoleri opened up about playing Mary Bennet in the new BBC drama.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. It was a very reserved Ella Bruccoleri I first met on set last summer inside a beautiful Georgian mansion in Wales that was standing in for Jane Austen’s Longbourn. She was polite but didn’t seem overly keen to speak between scenes. To be fair, Bruccoleri had a lot on her plate, playing the lead role of the BBC’s latest foray into the world of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice — the “other sister” of the title belonging to Mary, the Bennet girl arguably most overlooked. Eight months later, Bruccoleri laughs loudly at the memory. “That was an early day in the schedule. I was on a hamster wheel, acting in every scene, trying to prep for the next day, knowing I had to go home and sleep. I was quite insular, trying to inhabit something.” Bruccoleri tells me she’s a rare young woman without a lifelong love for Austen’s most popular work — “I’m from Yorkshire, it’s all about the Brontës for me,” she explains. But when she did turn to the book, it was to Mary she felt drawn: “I like to think I’m a bit more confident, but then she is younger than me. I like her industriousness, which is similar to how I approach things, trying to be good at something through study rather than instinct. For Mary, it’s about practising piano every day, for me it’s making hundreds of notes about a character. That’s my comfort zone.” Mary’s story (in Hadlow’s telling) is one of breaking out of the shadows of her sparky siblings, moving to London and finding her own way, and Bruccoleri had a similar experience in her college years with a move away from Scarborough, where she grew up. “I went to Paris with about £100 in my pocket and suddenly I was living in this world of bohemia. It was daunting, but I felt really excited and alive.” She reflects on such parallels with her screen counterpart: “I think Mary has spent her childhood wishing she was Lizzie Bennet and it’s only when she breaks away that she realises she doesn’t have to be.” <img src="ht…

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Brenda Blethyn's A Woman of Substance to Lovejoy – are we in the era of "microwave TV"?
type: item
date: 2026-03-11T08:00:30.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Channel 4
subject: Comment
subject: Contains Trailer
description: As Brenda Blethyn swaps Vera’s bucket hat for billionaire glamour, 2026 looks set to be the year of the reboot.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. If you’ve ever wondered how Vera Stanhope would look with a bouffant in place of a bucket hat, a big-budget wardrobe and even an iron, muse no more: Brenda Blethyn has burst onto our screens, via a Manhattan limousine and complete with sunglasses, padded shoulders and a designer bag, as "the richest woman in the world", Emma Harte. Yes, it’s a new adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s novel A Woman of Substance, last seen as a 1985 Channel 4 mini-series, with Emma played by Deborah Kerr (old) and Jenny Seagrove (young). And it’s by no means the only "microwave TV coming our way in 2026. Never mind real-life coppers looking young, you know you’re getting old when TV detectives come round again: (Inspector) Lynley aired on BBC One in January, while a reimagined Dalziel and Pascoe is due on ITV in the autumn – aside from police, even a new Lovejoy is in the works. It’s a sign of programme-makers' continuing faith in our affection for familiar brands and, more subliminally, our need for nostalgia in a confusing world. For creatives, the challenge is how to juggle modern sensibilities with keeping older viewers happy while scooping up new ones. A rebooted and rejacketed Bergerac began last year and returns for a second season next month. This new version, starring Damien Molony, offers a case study in mixing the old with the new. Thus, we get a modern variation on George Fenton’s glorious theme (straight from the school of Shoestring, with added accordion), while Jim’s burgundy Triumph Roadster is intact. But there are two gaping holes. There is scant mention of "le Bureau des Étrangers" – it is a far more generic police unit where Jim plays maverick – and Charlie Hungerford is a woman. Zoë Wanamaker is on effortless form as Jim’s disapproving mother-in-law, but nobody will ever match Terence Alexander’s original, with his blazer, club tie and cigar, putting pressure on Jim not to go too hard on a mate because he mig…

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Ruth Jones reveals what she told Gavin & Stacey icon Alison Steadman about the beloved Jane Austen role they now share
type: item
date: 2026-03-09T17:00:05.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: Janice Hadlow’s retelling of Pride and Prejudice turns the spotlight on Mary, the overlooked Bennet sister.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. It feels as though time has stood still in this bucolic spot a few miles west of Cardiff, and it’s not just because of the country lanes, green fields and trees full of chirping birds, but because all around me there is bustling activity that would appear to belong to yesteryear. Young ladies in crepe bonnets stand by as horsedrawn carriages wait outside a beautiful Georgian mansion, and the Bennet parents line up to wave off their newly married daughters one by one – all except Mary who, as readers of Pride and Prejudice will know, always seemed a lot happier with her books than the birds or bees and, as such, is the sister left alone at home – at least for now. It is Mary’s story that takes centre stage in the adaptation of Janice Hadlow’s 2020 novel The Other Bennet Sister. Hadlow was previously a television executive, which included the role of BBC Two controller from 2008 to 2014 but, despite her experience at the other end of the TV production chain, she was very happy not to be charged with adapting her novel for the screen. View oEmbed on the source website “It’s a very different type of storytelling,” she says. “It’s good to have some distance, I think.” Instead, screenwriter Sarah Quintrell’s clever script brings us familiar events from Austen’s original story – Jane’s engagement to Bingley, Lizzie’s initial problems with reluctant suitor Darcy – from a new perspective, and also makes us root for Mary (played by Ella Bruccoleri) as she strives to duck the zero-sum choice of what her friend Charlotte Lucas calls “marriage or misery” and chart her own course. “Because Lizzie and Darcy are so dazzling throughout the book, you don’t really see some of the secondary characters clearly the first few times you read it,” says Hadlow some months later over a video call. “Mary is actually quite a minor character, but very striking – this awkward, pompous young woman who always says the wrong thing. But Austen expl…

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Old friends revisited
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Thirty years on, my illicit Sunday binge of Our Friends in the North lingers like a dream
encoded: Add Christopher Eccleston Remembers... Our Friends in the North to your watchlist I hope there’s a statute of limitations regarding VHS-related crime before I embark on this tale. Thirty years ago this week, BBC Two screened the majestic, moving finale of Our Friends in the North. Two months earlier, I’d watched the first episode with my flatmate Jane, and we became so engrossed that we decided we simply couldn’t wait for the rest. Here’s the mea culpa: we both worked in the BBC’s presentation department at the time, so we “borrowed” the precious preview tapes and spent one long, bleary Sunday watching the remaining eight episodes back to back. As the final credits rolled, with the four young leads Gina McKee, Christopher Eccleston, Mark Strong and Daniel Craig now feeling more familiar to us than our cats, we sat back exhaus-ted. “Let’s get a video,” said Jane, which meant a trip to Blockbuster on Shepherd’s Bush Green. We’d been in there for less than a minute when the door opened and in walked two blokes who started chatting to us. They were Mark Strong and Daniel Craig. I thought I was hallucinating and Jane later told me she wasn’t sure it actually happened. I have just rewatched the series, and it remains extraordinarily strong. Through that quartet of future stars and other big names like Peter Vaughan, David Bradley and Malcolm McDowell, writer Peter Flannery weaved the personal with the political to paint a social history of Britain through three decades. With pitch-perfect performances (and some famously imperfect wigs), Mary, Nicky, Tosker and Geordie grow from ambitious idealists of 1964 to disenchanted yet resilient survivors in 95. Producer Charlie Pattinson said of the characters: “You love and respect them, which means they could do anything.” Now, 30 years later, some of the stories behind the show remain as vivid as the drama itself. Flannery initially pitched an adaptation of his own play to Alan Yentob in a pub, offering a story “about British so…

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Shackle and strife
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: As opposites are handcuffed together for a C4 reality show, what will it tell us about modern Britain?
encoded: Add Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing to your watchlist I’ve had my share of enforced proximity. I once spent six long nights on the Trans-Siberian Railway, all of them sharing a carriage with a Russian fellow who spoke not a word of English. Every day we spent in our own corners; every evening we passed in quick games of silent, happy chess (I barely took a rook). At least we weren’t handcuffed, unlike the contestants of Channel 4’s latest “competition meets social experiment” Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing, in which nine pairs of strangers are thus shackled day and night for several weeks, to see if they can survive, and even – fetch the hanky – learn to love one another. Involuntary handcuffing with an unlikely friend has long been a go-to on screen. From the moment Richard Gere’s cop and Kim Basinger’s runaway were locked together in the thriller No Mercy, it was only a matter of time before the squabbling gave way to snuggling. More memorably, The Defiant Ones saw prison inmates Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier on the run, shackled together because “the warden had a sense of humour”, left unpursued because “they’ll probably kill each other before they go five miles”. Confounding any doubters, by the time the credits rolled both had learnt that, as Bill Clinton liked to say, “There is more to unite us than divide us.” It’s an optimistic worldview put to the test by the contestants in Handcuffed, a challenge nobly described by host Jonathan Ross as hopefully “going a small way to healing a fractured Britain” (and a tad less nobly, the bagging of a £100,000 jackpot by the last couple standing). Ross adds that he’s “rooting for couples to go the distance”. Is he, though? As every reality TV exec worth their salt knows, peace, love and kumbaya are all very well, but it’s not what keeps viewers watching, hence the decision by Ross (for which read lesser-paid researchers) to pin together what Love Island producers might call “opposites on paper”. Episode one finds Jo, an a…

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Jonathan Ross’s new show Handcuffed proves the UK still knows no barrier like a class barrier
type: item
date: 2026-02-25T08:00:14.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Entertainment
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
subject: Channel 4
subject: Comment
subject: Magazine
description: Involuntary handcuffing with an unlikely friend has long been a go-to on screen.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. I’ve had my share of enforced proximity. I once spent six long nights on the Trans-Siberian Railway, all of them sharing a carriage with a Russian fellow who spoke not a word of English. Every day we spent in our own corners; every evening we passed in quick games of silent, happy chess (I barely took a rook). At least we weren’t handcuffed, unlike the contestants of Channel 4’s latest "competition meets social experiment" Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing, in which nine pairs of strangers are thus shackled day and night for several weeks, to see if they can survive, and even – fetch the hanky – learn to love one another. Involuntary handcuffing with an unlikely friend has long been a go-to on screen. From the moment Richard Gere’s cop and Kim Basinger’s runaway were locked together in the thriller No Mercy, it was only a matter of time before the squabbling gave way to snuggling. More memorably, The Defiant Ones saw prison inmates Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier on the run, shackled together because “the warden had a sense of humour”, left unpursued because “they’ll probably kill each other before they go five miles”. Confounding any doubters, by the time the credits rolled both had learnt that, as Bill Clinton liked to say, “There is more to unite us than divide us.” It’s an optimistic worldview put to the test by the contestants in Handcuffed, a challenge nobly described by host Jonathan Ross as hopefully “going a small way to healing a fractured Britain” (and a tad less nobly, the bagging of a £100,000 jackpot by the last couple standing). Ross adds that he’s “rooting for couples to go the distance”. Is he, though? As every reality TV exec worth their salt knows, peace, love and kumbaya are all very well, but it’s not what keeps viewers watching, hence the decision by Ross (for which read lesser-paid researchers) to pin together what Love Island producers might call “opposites on paper”. Episode one finds Jo, an a…

A right royal mess
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Recent events make ITV’s new drama The Lady disturbing
encoded: Add The Lady to your watchlist In her new book about a century of royal fashion – a surprisingly nuanced look at how the House of Windsor has used couture to both express and conceal itself – author Justine Picardie recounts an encounter after a Balmoral picnic when the late Queen “pulled on her rubber gloves and started to clear the table”. If such an example of royal relatability isn’t that novel (we have long known of the same monarch’s fondness for Tupperware, after all), it offers a rare bit of respite in a week peppered by allegations of behind-palace-walls business of a far less wholesome kind. Into this quagmire falls The Lady, ITV’s dramatisation of what we can call a “royal-adjacent” tale. The four-part drama follows the rise and fall of Jane Andrews, the former dresser to the then Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson. Andrews was convicted in 2001 of the murder of her lover Thomas Cressman and served an 18-year prison sentence. It’s an interesting enough story of a troubled woman desperate to escape her working-class background who answered an ad in a magazine (yes, The Lady) and somehow ended up kissing the hem, possibly literally, of royalty. The performances by the two female leads are excellent: Mia McKenna-Bruce brings depth and complexity to Andrews, while Natalie Dormer’s Duchess conveys Tiggerish self-pity without slipping into full pantomime dame. The elephant casting a huge shadow over proceedings is the nature of recent revelations concerning Ferguson’s behaviour in pursuit of rich, flattering associates. Filming wrapped in the spring of last year, and Natalie Dormer has since refused to promote the drama, donating her fee to child abuse charities. Watching The Lady now, it’s impossible not to shudder as her staff whisper “that’s the American” while the duchess embraces a wealthy new friend (presumably the relatively benign entrepreneur Steve Wyatt). We all know what lies ahead. Who does that leave viewers to care about? Four long hours of narrative…

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Who is new ITV drama The Lady really for? It's certainly not for those impacted by this royal-adjacent story
type: item
date: 2026-02-18T08:00:40.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: ITV
subject: Magazine
description: ITV’s The Lady revisits Jane Andrews’s fall from royal favour to murder conviction – but after recent palace controversies, this glossy true-crime drama lands with an uneasy chill.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. In her new book about a century of royal fashion – a surprisingly nuanced look at how the House of Windsor has used couture to both express and conceal itself – author Justine Picardie recounts an encounter after a Balmoral picnic when the late Queen "pulled on her rubber gloves and started to clear the table". If such an example of royal relatability isn’t that novel (we have long known of the same monarch’s fondness for Tupperware, after all), it offers a rare bit of respite in a week peppered by allegations of behind-palace-walls business of a far less wholesome kind. Into this quagmire falls The Lady, ITV’s dramatisation of what we can call a "royal-adjacent" tale. The four-part drama follows the rise and fall of Jane Andrews, the former dresser to the then Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson. Andrews was convicted in 2001 of the murder of her lover Thomas Cressman and served an 18-year prison sentence. It’s an interesting enough story of a troubled woman desperate to escape her working-class background who answered an ad in a magazine (yes, The Lady) and somehow ended up kissing the hem, possibly literally, of royalty. The performances by the two female leads are excellent: Mia McKenna-Bruce brings depth and complexity to Andrews, while Natalie Dormer’s Duchess conveys Tiggerish self-pity without slipping into full pantomime dame. The elephant casting a huge shadow over proceedings is the nature of recent revelations concerning Ferguson’s behaviour in pursuit of rich, flattering associates. Filming wrapped in the spring of last year, and Natalie Dormer has since refused to promote the drama, donating her fee to child abuse charities. Watching The Lady now, it’s impossible not to shudder as her staff whisper "that’s the American" while the duchess embraces a wealthy new friend (presumably the relatively benign entrepreneur Steve Wyatt). We all know what lies ahead. Who does that leave viewers to care about? Four l…

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What lies beneath
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: A much-hyped film about the US First Lady only skims the surface
encoded: Add The Tony Blair Story and Melania to your watchlist An alignment of the stars this week meant I watched, back to back, two films that could fall into the category of “political documentary”. Both profile instantly recognisable, highly polarising figures and both offer glimpses into great rooms of power. But that’s where any similarity ends. First, we need to talk about Melania. Reviews have been harsh of the Amazon-funded portrait of the US First Lady during the 20 days prior to her husband’s second inauguration in 2025, but I thought I’d give it a fair crack. The Melbourne cinema where I watched it was almost packed (it was a 15-seater) with an all-female crowd presumably curious, like me, as to who or what lies under the hat. The opening credits give immediate warning: I’ve not seen one name mentioned so many times since Barbra Streisand’s magnum opus Yentl. Melania Trump is producer, star, all-round muse – making her responsible for the 15 minutes of footage in which she discusses, with fawning stylists, the shoulder pads on her inauguration suit, after which I’m ready to stick the much-discussed hatpin into my own forehead. View Green Video on the source website The rest of the film focuses either on Melania’s stiletto heels – stepping out of a limousine, onto a private jet, through the doors of her gold-plated Trump Tower home – or on the back of her head, so we get to see her golden tresses and the silencing effect she has on bystanders. As a study in iconography, it is fascinating, the only problem being icons don’t stand up to extended scrutiny. Just as a car’s value decreases the minute it drives off the forecourt, Melania’s effect diminishes the longer she stays in the room, and we’re here for 104 minutes. So yes, fascinating, but let’s not call it a documentary. “One-woman Robert Palmer video” would be more accurate. There has been a stream of “access-all-areas” docs lately – the Beckhams, Cristiano Ronaldo, Taylor Swift – and we’re all au fait with th…

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Let's not call Melania Trump's film a documentary - Channel 4’s The Tony Blair Story is the real deal
type: item
date: 2026-02-11T08:00:01.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Documentaries
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Contains Trailer
subject: Magazine
description: A much-hyped film about the US First Lady only skims the surface.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. An alignment of the stars this week meant I watched, back to back, two films that could fall into the category of "political documentary". Both profile instantly recognisable, highly polarising figures and both offer glimpses into great rooms of power. But that's where any similarity ends. First, we need to talk about Melania. Reviews have been harsh of the Amazon-funded portrait of the US First Lady during the 20 days prior to her husband's second inauguration in 2025, but I thought I'd give it a fair crack. The Melbourne cinema where I watched it was almost packed (it was a 15-seater) with an all-female crowd presumably curious, like me, as to who or what lies under the hat. The opening credits give immediate warning: I’ve not seen one name mentioned so many times since Barbra Streisand’s magnum opus Yentl. Melania Trump is producer, star, all-round muse – making her responsible for the 15 minutes of footage in which she discusses, with fawning stylists, the shoulder pads on her inauguration suit, after which I’m ready to stick the much-discussed hatpin into my own forehead. The rest of the film focuses either on Melania’s stiletto heels – stepping out of a limousine, onto a private jet, through the doors of her gold-plated Trump Tower home – or on the back of her head, so we get to see her golden tresses and the silencing effect she has on bystanders. As a study in iconography, it is fascinating, the only problem being icons don’t stand up to extended scrutiny. Just as a car’s value decreases the minute it drives off the forecourt, Melania’s effect diminishes the longer she stays in the room, and we're here for 104 minutes. So yes, fascinating, but let’s not call it a documentary. "One-woman Robert Palmer video" would be more accurate. View Green Video on the source website There has been a stream of "access-all-areas" docs lately – the Beckhams, Cristiano Ronaldo, Taylor Swift – and we’re all au fait with the …

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The King's quest
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: A new documentary explores our monarch’s “Harmony” philosophy
encoded: Add Finding Harmony: a King's Vision to your watchlist One of the few consolations of lockdown was that many of us suddenly rediscovered nature and the great outdoors. Like anything restricted from human grasp, it became a tantalising, precious commodity, seized upon by Instagrammers like a shiny new thing, along with salutes to the sun and mashed avocado on sourdough. However, there’s one public figure who can’t be accused of being a Johnny-come-lately to this particular cause – the King. Over half a century ago, as an earnest young prince, Charles was espousing the value of embracing our environment, of eschewing architectural carbuncles and restoring endangered species to protect biodiversity. His 1970 speech about chemically polluted rivers pre-dated Feargal Sharkey’s efforts by decades. Many of the nature-based alternative remedies he once advocated so “eccentrically” are now accepted complementary therapies. And what did he get for his pains? Headlines in the press about the “loon” prince chatting with his plants, and general head-scratching from everyone else. View Green Video on the source website Today, the now King Charles is beating the same drum to a far more receptive audience. This week finds him the focus of Finding Harmony: a King’s Vision, an Amazon documentary exploring his tireless work, from across the world to his own back garden. The King’s Foundation at Dumfries House in Ayrshire trains hundreds of people in sustainable skills and crafts, and has been credited with transforming one of Scotland’s most struggling regions. Further afield, the foundation has partnered with the government of Guyana in South America to make the country’s capital, Georgetown, “a sustainable garden city”. Meanwhile, since 2009, Waitrose Duchy Organic – which was founded in 1990 as Duchy Originals by the then Prince Charles – has contributed £50 million to the King Charles III Charitable Fund. Though visibly riled in the film by how much there is still to do, the monar…

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'Imagination is more important than knowledge'
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: When Shaun Evans takes on a new character, all the hard work goes on in his head
encoded: Add Betrayal to your watchlist The last time I interviewed Shaun Evans, we both had a little cry. Me, because I’d been poorly and watching every episode of his peerless Endeavour had sustained me through three bedbound months. Him… well, because he’s a very nice man, and also because he recognised the import of saying goodbye to young Morse after nine series. We signed off saying, “We will speak again.” And now we do, three years later, when the first thing Evans does is enquire after my health. Like I said, he’s a nice man. But we’re here to talk about Betrayal, an espionage thriller/marital drama he has both produced and stars in. Evans’s character John Hughes, an MI5 agent battling on many fronts – fighting “voluntary” redundancy requests, struggling to save his marriage, all the while investigating a national security threat – has the same solitude and righteousness of his Endeavour, but in a very different, contemporary setting. John is often at home with his children and troubled wife Clare, where we see the pressures on an ordinary man of an extraordinary job. “I was interested in playing a man having a midlife crisis,” says Evans. “Plus, there’s always an appetite for the spy genre, so I was curious to see if we could mix together those two. At work, he follows his instincts and it ends in catastrophe. His marriage is on the rocks. The four episodes trace his attempts to solve these seemingly intractable problems.” The two key themes in the show are the world of espionage, and the act of betrayal. For the first, producers recruited former BBC security correspondent- turned-podcaster Gordon Corera as production adviser. For the second? “I always think imagination is more important than knowledge,” says Evans. “It’s interesting to play these characters who are different from you, and find the reason for why they behave as they do. That’s the job, making the imaginative leap.” It’s a full and considered answer that gives nothing away. He’d make a good spy. In B…

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Endeavour legend Shaun Evans talks saying goodbye to Morse and why he kept his Liverpudlian accent for ITV's Betrayal
type: item
date: 2026-02-02T17:00:40.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Interview
subject: ITV
subject: Magazine
description: Shaun Evans moves on from Endeavour with a spy thriller – and a fresh sense of freedom.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. The last time I interviewed Shaun Evans, we both had a little cry. Me, because I'd been poorly and watching every episode of his peerless Endeavour had sustained me through three bedbound months. Him… well, because he's a very nice man, and also because he recognised the import of saying goodbye to young Morse after nine series. We signed off saying, "We will speak again." And now we do, three years later, when the first thing Evans does is enquire after my health. Like I said, he's a nice man. But we're here to talk about Betrayal, an espionage thriller/marital drama he has both produced and stars in. Evans's character John Hughes, an MI5 agent battling on many fronts – fighting "voluntary" redundancy requests, struggling to save his marriage, all the while investigating a national security threat – has the same solitude and righteousness of his Endeavour, but in a very different, contemporary setting. John is often at home with his children and troubled wife Clare, where we see the pressures on an ordinary man of an extraordinary job. "I was interested in playing a man having a midlife crisis," says Evans. "Plus, there's always an appetite for the spy genre, so I was curious to see if we could mix together those two. At work, he follows his instincts and it ends in catastrophe. His marriage is on the rocks. The four episodes trace his attempts to solve these seemingly intractable problems." The two key themes in the show are the world of espionage, and the act of betrayal. For the first, producers recruited former BBC security correspondent- turned-podcaster Gordon Corera as production adviser. For the second? "I always think imagination is more important than knowledge," says Evans. "It's interesting to play these characters who are different from you, and find the reason for why they behave as they do. That's the job, making the imaginative leap." It's a full and considered answer that gives nothing away. He'd…

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's The Rip proves the upsides and downsides of using real-life Hollywood friends
type: item
date: 2026-01-28T08:00:24.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Movies
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Contains Trailer
subject: Magazine
subject: Netflix
description: When real-life bromance meets movie rivalry, the stars’ off-screen friendships become the real story we’re watching.
encoded: It may come as a shock to learn that, despite playing the "it’s for work" card, I occasionally lose control of the TV remote, which is how I ended up sitting through The Rip, a heist-based, gun-heavy, F-bomb-flooded thriller that I will describe, without apology, as "probably a film for boys". On the plus side, it starred – nay, was almost rescued by – Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and when I wasn't watching another shootout through my eyelids, it got me thinking about them and how we feel when film-star friends appear together on-screen. It’s almost 30 years since this golden pair arrived in our lives. The story of how two longtime friends co-wrote Good Will Hunting, defying all their Hollywood doubters and going on to score box-office millions and an Oscar each for best screenplay, has become as rich in mythology and inspiration as the film itself. The film’s most moving moment comes when Affleck's blue-collar loyal friend Chuckie tells Damon’s maths genius Will he's worth more than the life he’s settling for: "You’re my best friend. I call for you every day. The best part is when I knock on your door and I think maybe you won’t be there." Cut to 2026, and The Rip proves that day has not yet come – the Affleck-Damon alliance still tight in life as on screen. View Green Video on the source website A similar challenge is posed by the George Clooney-Brad Pitt pairing in Wolfs. As in The Rip, the film sets two solitary operators in competition and seemingly reluctant comradeship. Except, of course, they’re played by two of the world’s most recognisable men, famous for being handsome, successful and, most pertinently, great friends ever since they dazzled together in Ocean’s Eleven. Studios have long used the same trick to seduce audiences, repeatedly pairing equal and sort-of opposites like Paul Newman and Robert Redford, or channelling the unstoppable-force-meets-unmovable-object charisma of Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo. We happily sit through hours of fictional …

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A fine bromance
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: When pals like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck star together, it’s not just the bullets we’re watching
encoded: Add The Rip to your watchlist It may come as a shock to learn that, despite playing the “it’s for work” card, I occasionally lose control of the TV remote, which is how I ended up sitting through The Rip, a heist-based, gun-heavy, F-bomb-flooded thriller that I will describe, without apology, as “probably a film for boys”. On the plus side, it starred – nay, was almost rescued by – Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and when I wasn’t watching another shootout through my eyelids, it got me thinking about them and how we feel when film-star friends appear together on screen. View Green Video on the source website It’s almost 30 years since this golden pair arrived in our lives. The story of how two longtime friends co-wrote Good Will Hunting, defying all their Hollywood doubters and going on to score box-office millions and an Oscar each for best screenplay, has become as rich in mythology and inspiration as the film itself. The film’s most moving moment comes when Affleck’s blue-collar loyal friend Chuckie tells Damon’s maths genius Will he’s worth more than the life he’s settling for: “You’re my best friend. I call for you every day. The best part is when I knock on your door and I think maybe you won’t be there.” Cut to 2026, and The Rip proves that day has not yet come – the Affleck-Damon alliance still tight in life as on screen. A similar challenge is posed by the George Clooney-Brad Pitt pairing in Wolfs. As in The Rip, the film sets two solitary operators in competition and seemingly reluctant comradeship. Except, of course, they’re played by two of the world’s most recognisable men, famous for being handsome, successful and, most pertinently, great friends ever since they dazzled together in Ocean’s Eleven. Studios have long used the same trick to seduce audiences, repeatedly pairing equal and sort-of opposites like Paul Newman and Robert Redford, or channelling the unstoppable-force-meets-unmovable-object charisma of Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo. We happily s…

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The Traitors season 4 final sees two worthy winners – and proves once again why it's unmissable TV
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
encoded: The following contains spoilers for the finale of season four of The Traitors. Add it to your watchlist The ravens have departed the castle, it’s all over and we have a winner. After 12 episodes, 22 contestants and 75 increasingly tense last minutes, Traitors Rachel and Stephen emerged as victors. The final started dramatically enough, with Traitor Rachel saved by chance from banishment. Despite Jack’s tears at James’s exit, this was a blessing for producers, as it paved the way for some serious traitor-on-traitor betrayal, after Stephen and Rachel both decided to ditch all those turret pledges of mutual loyalty. This made for an immensely satisfying final Round Table, as Stephen once again sat without an arrow going near him, and Rachel once again brushed off all comers like a lion swatting off impalas and played Faraaz like a violin. Result: Jade gone. And then there were four, and it was time for Endgame. 15 minutes later and it was all over as, with Faraaz gone, Rachel and Stephen somehow got over their differences and reunited to banish Jack and share the £97,750 pot. – a mere £47,875 each. They’re both worthy winners: Stephen with his ability to make allies and withstand the Library Five and Caged Three accusations, and Rachel with her formidable skill in thinking on her feet and fending off the attacks of fellow Traitor Fiona and forensic Faithful Harriet. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2026/01/traitors-final-1-2151158.jpg" width="4600" height="3067" alt="Claudia Winkleman in a tailored black suit stands confidently between two green leather armchairs in a wood-panelled room, facing a table piled high with gold bars." title="Claudia Winkleman in a tailored black suit stands confidently between two green leather armchairs in a wood-panelled room, facing a table piled high with gold bars." /> But never mind this triumphant pair, the real winners are the makers of this fourth series of The Traitors, who proved that they coul…

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The Traitors season 4 final sees two worthy winners – and proves once again why it's unmissable TV
type: item
date: 2026-01-23T22:03:28.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: BBC
subject: Contains Trailer
description: A ruthless finale, two triumphant Traitors and another reminder that this gloriously simple parlour game remains required viewing.
encoded: The ravens have departed the castle, it’s all over and we have a winner. After 12 episodes, 22 contestants and 75 increasingly tense last minutes, Traitors Rachel and Stephen emerged as victors. The final started dramatically enough, with Traitor Rachel saved by chance from banishment. Despite Jack’s tears at James’s exit, this was a blessing for producers, as it paved the way for some serious traitor-on-traitor betrayal, after Stephen and Rachel both decided to ditch all those turret pledges of mutual loyalty. This made for an immensely satisfying final Round Table, as Stephen once again sat without an arrow going near him, and Rachel once again brushed off all comers like a lion swatting off impalas and played Faraaz like a violin. Result: Jade gone. And then there were four, and it was time for Endgame. 15 minutes later and it was all over as, with Faraaz gone, Rachel and Stephen somehow got over their differences and reunited to banish Jack and share the £97,750 pot. – a mere £47,875 each. They’re both worthy winners: Stephen with his ability to make allies and withstand the Library Five and Caged Three accusations, and Rachel with her formidable skill in thinking on her feet and fending off the attacks of fellow Traitor Fiona and forensic Faithful Harriet. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2026/01/traitors-final-1-2151158.jpg" width="4600" height="3067" alt="Claudia Winkleman in a tailored black suit stands confidently between two green leather armchairs in a wood-panelled room, facing a table piled high with gold bars." title="Claudia Winkleman in a tailored black suit stands confidently between two green leather armchairs in a wood-panelled room, facing a table piled high with gold bars." /> But never mind this triumphant pair, the real winners are the makers of this fourth series of The Traitors, who proved that they could come back down to earth from the high flights of last year’s celebrity version and still leave us hold…

The geek shall inherit
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: There’s a real joy and comfort in watching passionate people do what they love
encoded: Add Guy Martin: Proper Jobs and Mission to Space with Francis Bourgeois to your watchlist My friend and I used to be fans of a big documentary festival until about a decade ago. After yet more films about a boy wearing mascara, or a girl holding a Kalashnikov, we walked out after a screening and she said, “It’s all about being. When did people stop doing stuff?” To be fair, documentaries remain a crucial platform for investigative journalism, but when it comes to our TV screens, my friend was right. We aren’t short of what TV commissioners call “factual entertainment”, but it feels like a million variations on a single premise: two celebrities in a car swapping their “stories”, between stops where they buy a house and a surprisingly valuable bit of art. Or, if it’s Channel 4, an intentionally provocative session with some kind of sex practitioner. If an expert is called upon, it’s to answer the questions of yet another celebrity. Where are the people doing stuff? It wasn’t always this way. I grew up watching people like Keith Floyd, Ann Ladbury and Fred Dibnah and their infectious enthusiasms for, respectively, cooking without a recipe (but with a glass of red), cutting sewing patterns and demolishing chimneys. They were all doing it anyway; fame came through their passions, not the other way round. The word “geek” – which just means a deep, tireless interest in a subject, often niche – has been given a bad rap, associated with a bad haircut and passion for planes over personal grooming. Well, give me an unsmoothed expert enthused to share over a slick celebrity paid to learn any day of the week. The good news is that there are green shoots of fresh geek-dom on our screens. With a doffed cap to the storytelling talents of scientist Dr Hannah Fry, the numero uno of nerds is Guy Martin. First spotted by TV producers on his bike in a 2009 TT race, the Grimsby-born presenter brings his love for all things mechanical to TV, from building a boat to breaking the world reco…

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When did TV documentaries become all about celebrities and 'being' and stop being about people actually doing something?
type: item
date: 2026-01-21T08:00:46.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Documentaries
subject: TV
subject: Channel 4
subject: Comment
subject: Magazine
description: The good news is that there are green shoots of fresh geek-dom on our screens.
encoded: My friend and I used to be fans of a big documentary festival until about a decade ago. After yet more films about a boy wearing mascara, or a girl holding a Kalashnikov, we walked out after a screening and she said, "It’s all about being. When did people stop doing stuff?" To be fair, documentaries remain a crucial platform for investigative journalism, but when it comes to our TV screens, my friend was right. We aren’t short of what TV commissioners call "factual entertainment", but it feels like a million variations on a single premise: two celebrities in a car swapping their "stories", between stops where they buy a house and a surprisingly valuable bit of art. Or, if it's Channel 4, an intentionally provocative session with some kind of sex practitioner. If an expert is called upon, it’s to answer the questions of yet another celebrity. Where are the people doing stuff? It wasn’t always this way. I grew up watching people like Keith Floyd, Ann Ladbury and Fred Dibnah and their infectious enthusiasms for, respectively, cooking without a recipe (but with a glass of red), cutting sewing patterns and demolishing chimneys. They were all doing it anyway; fame came through their passions, not the other way round. The word "geek" – which just means a deep, tireless interest in a subject, often niche – has been given a bad rap, associated with a bad haircut and passion for planes over personal grooming. Well, give me an unsmoothed expert enthused to share over a slick celebrity paid to learn any day of the week. The good news is that there are green shoots of fresh geek-dom on our screens. With a doffed cap to the storytelling talents of scientist Dr Hannah Fry, the numero uno of nerds is Guy Martin. First spotted by TV producers on his bike in a 2009 TT race, the Grimsby-born presenter brings his love for all things mechanical to TV, from building a boat to breaking the world record for the fastest toboggan. Refreshingly averse to celebrity over substance (he said no t…

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height: 2000