Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2025-11-14T14:18:25.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Let the music speak
items: Too close to the sun
items: Get rid of the BBC? Careful what you wish for…
items: The Celebrity Traitors final review: Treachery and tears make for TV perfection
items: Celebrity Traitors final review: Treachery and tears make for TV perfection
items: Why ‘hellraisers’ like Richard Burton, Oliver Reed and Peter O’Toole will always bewitch us
items: The Celebrity Traitors final looms – but will Alan Carr and Cat Burns outwit the Faithful?
items: The Celebrity Traitors final looms – but will Alan Carr and Cat Burns outwit the Faithfuls?
items: Kim Kardashian is lawyering up
items: All's Fair glossy first-look images show Kim Kardashian smashing car in glamorous new legal drama
items: Alan Carr is the perfect star of Celebrity Traitors – and not for the reason you might think
items: Knight of the round table
items: A milestone mission
items: Strictly reaches end of an era as Claudia and Tess depart – so what now for the BBC's most glittering jewel?
items: Who's laughing now?
items: Has the rise of the "sad-com" killed studio sitcoms with a live audience?
items: 'She was a brilliant person, and a lovely one'
items: 'Happiness is creaking bed springs'
items: Celebrity Traitors has a secret weapon in regards to its famous faces - and one casting needs special praise
items: The Celebrity Traitors only just started, but someone is already a winner…
items: Corridors of power
items: Netflix's The Diplomat gives us The West Wing fans a dream reunion – and a very comforting realisation
items: Help the aged (and Gen Z)
items: Channel 4’s Worlds Apart may recall Race Across the World, but makes up in heart what it lacks in originality
items: 'It's the antidote to cosy crime'
items: Speaking truth to power
items: The Hack, like Mr Bates before it, shows how the powerful use influence to hide their wrongdoing
items: Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue is "antidote" to "cosy crime", says writer Anthony Horowitz

Let the music speak
type: item
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Genius, inspiration and lots of hard work separate our biggest superstars from other so-called talents
encoded: Add One Shot with Ed Sheeran to your watchlist Ed Sheeran didn’t get to where he is without a parfumier’s nose for the zeitgeist. His new Netflix documentary – an hour long and filmed in one take by Philip Barantini, director of the hit drama Adolescence – sees him wandering the sunlit streets of Manhattan, strumming his guitar and singing the songs that have made him millions. It’s packed with heartwarming moments, from a surprise proposal to an open-bus singalong, but the slick production would count for nothing without, at its core, this modern troubadour’s skill in connecting with other people through music. How does he do it? For me, the best part of all of the “intimate” superstar documentaries – from Sheeran to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé to Coldplay – is when they show us the effort and inspiration involved. In an empty stadium before a gig, Sheeran explains the loop pedal he has made his own: “The key is timing, getting it on the one is the most important thing… then you add the keys…” The result: Shape of You, the first song to reach two billion streams on Spotify. Back in his home studio, he tells his producers that his wife told him off for taking their daughter out of her cot – “She’ll stop being trained to sleep, it’s a bad habit…” The result: Bad Habits, another two billion streams. Similarly, in Swift’s Miss Americana doc, the songstress is seen pouring her heart out, singing lyrics she’s written into her phone. She stands, hand in the air, ad-libbing as she goes, before shouting in amazed delight, “Did we just do a whole verse and chorus?” Sheeran says the initial spark of a good song is an unmatchable feeling. In Apple’s Beatles film, cameras catch the moment Paul McCartney plays around on his bass guitar and pulls Get Back (the song that gives the doc its title) out of the universe – it’s spine-tingling stuff. The Greatest Night in Pop charts how Lionel Richie herded dozens of the world’s greatest singers into musical cohesion to record We Are the Wo…

https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/11/47GettyImages-2166938144-copy-7f51167-e1763048621556.jpg
width: 2163
height: 1563

Too close to the sun
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Why did some great postwar actors become better known for their hellraising than their performances?
encoded: Add Richard Burton: Wild Genius to your watchlist As Richard Burton appears on screen in kaleidoscopic colour, dressed in full armour and atop a horse, he is applauded by the adoring masses. The narrator proclaims, “In ten short years, he has conquered the world.” As it happens, he’s talking about Burton’s character, Alexander the Great, in the eponymous movie, but the words could apply to the actor himself. It was 1956, by when the young Welshman had already embarked on an extraordinary ascent, from the mining village of Pontrhydyfen, to Oxford University, to the London stage and Hollywood. Actor Siân Phillips remembers his West End debut – “he walked on and the whole theatre went cold” – while his first Hollywood role brought him an Oscar nomination, the first of seven. His voice, his presence, his love for poetry were all among his many splendid gifts, and he in turn offered them up to us. Why then, if you say the name “Richard Burton”, does a life of drama and diamonds immediately come to mind, one spent jumping between yachts and private jets in the glare of the paparazzi lens and, of course, a double marriage to Elizabeth Taylor? Because that’s all true, too. Burton was the primus inter pares of Britain’s still beloved mid-century stars, alongside the likes of Peter O’Toole, Richard Harris, Oliver Reed and co – a group of talented actors for whom the term “hellraiser” became a shorthand, as famous for their reckless real-life behaviour as for their undoubted dramatic talents. What was the unifying element, and why do they still bewitch us? For a start, they were all preternaturally gifted. Peter O’Toole “appeared on stage like an electric light,” is how he’s remembered by Anthony Hopkins, while Richard Harris brought us the tenderest of Camelots and even MacArthur Park (a 60s anthem I didn’t even realise for years was the same Richard Harris!). And they all arrived in London during an era of still unresolved postwar trauma, class collision and hedonistic freed…

https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/11/shutterstockeditorial6212a-copy-f066457.jpg
width: 2500
height: 1719

Get rid of the BBC? Careful what you wish for…
type: item
date: 2025-11-10T15:09:57.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Current Affairs
subject: TV
subject: BBC
subject: Comment
description: Once the pride of Britain, the BBC now faces its biggest crisis yet – but would we really be better off without it?
encoded: Decades ago, I joined a cruise in blue waters off the southern coast of Turkey, where our captain spoke no words of English except "tips here" – until somehow, through the usual blustering British-person-meets-rest-of-world chats, he established where I worked. For the next three days, I was summoned to mealtimes with a shout of "BBC" that echoed across the Med. It was a different time: when our national broadcaster’s brand was considered up there with Coca-Cola for global recognition, and the NHS for trustworthiness. 30 years later, and mentions of "the BBC" once again abound, but this time to a collective eye-roll at yesterday’s headlines that a catalogue of controversies has culminated in both the director-general and the CEO of BBC News falling on their swords over the editing of a 2021 Donald Trump speech. Monday saw the BBC Chair Samir Shah add his apology for the "error of judgement" that caused the furore. Tim Davie’s resignation speech included reference to the intense personal and professional demands that have punctuated his five years in British media’s top job – those years have seen a roll-call of on-air talent disappearing from screen after a litany of behaviour variously criminal (Huw Edwards), allegedly bad (Gregg Wallace) or political (Carol Vorderman, Gary Lineker). The departures of Davie and his news chief Deborah Furness are more redolent of 2004. I was among those queuing up, some in tears, to bid a fond farewell to Greg Dyke after he quit as D-G, as did his Board Chairman, after the government complained about the news coverage of the dossier – "sexed up" as alleged by reporter Andrew Gilligan – putting the case for Iraq’s nuclear weapons and justifying invasion. We know the rest. Possibly apart from some of those involved in that debacle, there were no calls then for the binning of the BBC – this week’s episode feels more rotten and existentially threatening. We learned through a memorandum leaked to The Telegraph that the BBC desperately tr…

bbc-d431fad.jpg
width: 1920
height: 1280

Get rid of the BBC? Careful what you wish for…
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: In the wake of resignations from both the director-general and the CEO of BBC News, those calling for the closure of the BBC have not fully considered the consequences for broadcasting and Britain at large.
encoded: Decades ago, I joined a cruise in blue waters off the southern coast of Turkey, where our captain spoke no words of English except “tips here” – until somehow, through the usual blustering British-person-meets-rest-of-world chats, he established where I worked. For the next three days, I was summoned to mealtimes with a shout of “BBC” that echoed across the Med. It was a different time: when our national broadcaster’s brand was considered up there with Coca-Cola for global recognition, and NHS for trustworthiness. Thirty years later, and mentions of “the BBC” once again abound, but this time to a collective eye-roll at yesterday’s headlines that a catalogue of controversies has culminated in both the director-general and the CEO of BBC News falling on their swords over the editing of a 2021 Donald Trump speech. Monday saw the BBC Chair Samir Shah add his apology for the “error of judgement” that caused the furore. Tim Davie’s resignation speech included reference to the intense personal and professional demands that have punctuated his five years in British media’s top job – those years have seen a roll-call of on-air talent disappearing from screen after a litany of behaviour variously criminal (Huw Edwards), allegedly bad (Gregg Wallace) or political (Carol Vorderman, Gary Lineker). The departures of Davie and his news chief Deborah Furness are more redolent of 2004. I was among those queuing up, some in tears, to bid a fond farewell to Greg Dyke after he quit as D-G, as did his Board Chairman, after the government complained about the news coverage of the dossier – “sexed up” as alleged by reporter Andrew Gilligan – putting the case for Iraq’s nuclear weapons and justifying invasion. We know the rest. Possibly apart from some of those involved in that debacle, there were no calls then for the binning of the BBC — this week’s episode feels more rotten and existentially threatening. We learned through a memorandum leaked to The Telegraph that the BBC desperately tr…

GettyImages-2190261546-7d14832.jpg
width: 3904
height: 2603

The Celebrity Traitors final review: Treachery and tears make for TV perfection
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Alan Carr’s tearful, triumphant reveal crowned a finale that proved live, un-binged television can still unite the nation.
encoded: Warning: this article contains spoilers for the final of The Celebrity Traitors. Add it to your watchlist. Finally, we have a winner, and it’s watch-in-real-time, unstreamed, un-binged TV. It’s a rare and beautiful thing in 2025 to sit staring at the screen, knowing millions around the country are sitting on similar edges of seats, waiting to find out which of the five remaining players will emerge triumphant of The Celebrity Traitors. And what did we get? With only five left from the original 19 who entered the castle — two Traitors, three Faithful — it was all about alliances. Joe and Nick were in such cahoots working out how to oust the others, I spent the first hour wishing one of them had turned out to be a Traitor. Instead, the second best moment of the night came another way, with Nick ultimately joining the others in banishing Joe – could you hear your neighbours shouting at the screen?! That was the warm-up for the best, biggest twist of all, when Alan Carr came through as the final, solitary traitor left standing, telling the others, almost sadly, "I am, and have always been, a Traitor." Nick collapsed, David sighed, Alan cried and the sweet Faithful pair ended up comforting him in his moment of guilty triumph. It was perfect, must-watch TV. Following another effortlessly successful daytime mission that proved the celebs to be far better at physical challenges than they have ever been at unearthing Traitors, it was all about the penultimate Round Table. You know a show has fulfilled its promise of surprising us when one of the country’s premier historians is reduced to role of "useful idiot", but that’s where David Olusoga found himself – stuck in the middle as Faithful Joe and Nick battled to outwit Alan and Cat. All that classical training and scholarship served Olusoga not – ultimately, he just didn’t have the skills, or possibly stomach, to either betray or sniff out the treachery around him, which doesn’t really reflect that badly on him, I suppose. I…

celebrity-traitors-9494262.jpg
width: 1920
height: 1280

Celebrity Traitors final review: Treachery and tears make for TV perfection
type: item
date: 2025-11-06T22:44:31.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: TV
description: Alan Carr’s tearful, triumphant reveal crowned a finale that proved live, un-binged television can still unite the nation.
encoded: Finally, we have a winner, and it’s watch-in-real-time, unstreamed, un-binged TV. It’s a rare and beautiful thing in 2025 to sit staring at the screen, knowing millions around the country are sitting on similar edges of seats, waiting to find out which of the five remaining players will emerge triumphant of the Celebrity Traitors. And what did we get? With only five left from the original 19 who entered the castle - 2 Traitors, 3 Faithful - it was all about alliances. Joe and Nick were in such cahoots working out how to oust the others, I spent the first hour wishing one of them had turned out to be a Traitor. Instead, the second best moment of the night came another way, with Nick ultimately joining the others in banishing Joe – could you hear your neighbours shouting at the screen?! That was the warm-up for the best, biggest twist of all, when Alan Carr came through as the final, solitary traitor left standing, telling the others, almost sadly, "I am, and have always been, a Traitor." Nick collapsed, David sighed, Alan cried and the sweet Faithful pair ended up comforting him in his moment of guilty triumph. It was perfect, must-watch TV. Following another effortlessly successful daytime mission that proved the celebs to be far better at physical challenges than they have ever been at unearthing Traitors, it was all about the penultimate Round Table. You know a show has fulfilled its promise of surprising us when one of the country’s premier historians is reduced to role of "useful idiot", but that’s where David Olusoga found himself – stuck in the middle as Faithfuls Joe and Nick battled to outwit Alan and Cat. All that classical training and scholarship served Olusoga not – ultimately, he just didn’t have the skills, or possibly stomach, to either betray or sniff out the treachery around him, which doesn’t really reflect that badly on him, I suppose. Instead, Joe’s strength of purpose saw Cat disposed of, but that same zeal proved his undoing at the very last Ro…

Why ‘hellraisers’ like Richard Burton, Oliver Reed and Peter O’Toole will always bewitch us
type: item
date: 2025-11-04T00:01:05.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Documentaries
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Magazine
description: Why did some great postwar actors become better known for their hellraising than their performances?
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. As Richard Burton appears on screen in kaleidoscopic colour, dressed in full armour and atop a horse, he is applauded by the adoring masses. The narrator proclaims, “In ten short years, he has conquered the world.” As it happens, he’s talking about Burton’s character, Alexander the Great, in the eponymous movie, but the words could apply to the actor himself. It was 1956, by when the young Welshman had already embarked on an extraordinary ascent, from the mining village of Pontrhydyfen, to Oxford University, to the London stage and Hollywood. Actor Siân Phillips remembers his West End debut – “he walked on and the whole theatre went cold” – while his first Hollywood role brought him an Oscar nomination, the first of seven. His voice, his presence, his love for poetry were all among his many splendid gifts, and he in turn offered them up to us. Why then, if you say the name “Richard Burton”, does a life of drama and diamonds immediately come to mind, one spent jumping between yachts and private jets in the glare of the paparazzi lens and, of course, a double marriage to Elizabeth Taylor? Because that’s all true, too. Burton was the primus inter pares of Britain’s still beloved mid-century stars, alongside the likes of Peter O’Toole, Richard Harris, Oliver Reed and co – a group of talented actors for whom the term “hellraiser” became a shorthand, as famous for their reckless real-life behaviour as for their undoubted dramatic talents. What was the unifying element, and why do they still bewitch us? For a start, they were all preternaturally gifted. Peter O’Toole “appeared on stage like an electric light,” is how he’s remembered by Anthony Hopkins, while Richard Harris brought us the tenderest of Camelots and even MacArthur Park (a 60s anthem I didn’t even realise for years was the same Richard Harris!). And they all arrived in London during an era of still unresolved postwar trauma, class collision and hedonistic fr…

richard-burton-22afd81.jpg
width: 3476
height: 2317

The Celebrity Traitors final looms – but will Alan Carr and Cat Burns outwit the Faithful?
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: The penultimate episode delivered pure chaos – Celia Imrie betrayed over dinner, Kate Garraway banished after baring her soul, and Alan Carr cracking under pressure as Joe Marler starts to sniff out the truth.
encoded: Add The Celebrity Traitors to your watchlist To quote Claudia Winkleman, it was a rollercoaster 24 hours. The Faithful finally caught Traitor Jonathan, and then Celia Imrie was murdered in plain sight by Alan Carr quoting Shakespeare. Even this eye-catching round-up doesn’t sufficiently convey the drama producers managed to conjure up in the penultimate episode of this series, now being watched by a reported 12 million pairs of eyeballs. You have to hand it to Alan Carr, he doesn’t shy from a challenge. Having recovered disturbingly quickly from murdering his pal Paloma in week one, he was at it again last night, betraying another great pal, with a toast at the dinner table. Thus was Celia Imrie summarily dispatched, betrayed with a Judas almost-kiss by a man she "adored" but had come to suspect. As Cat Burns grinned, "Only Alan could do something like that!" Other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play? With the Faithful blind to one of their own being murdered at the table, the dinner party made for quite an emotional pause in the middle of this frantic series, everyone reflecting on their time in the castle, how changed they were, how inspired they felt, what fun it had been… and finally Kate Garraway came into her own, with a moving testimony after some very hard few years. Not that it did her any good, mind you. David Olusoga, still the unknown entity within the group, said, "I didn’t expect to feel changed by it, and I do, and that is a surprise." And it was Kate who said the most pertinent thing of all at the table – that it was hard to spot Traitors, "because we’re just bedazzled" – surely the cue for all the Faithful to look up and realise the most bedazzling person of all was the Chatty Man nodding along in agreement, while preparing to cast yet another murderous spell… Suddenly, it was the morning after the night before, with the group proving once again their complete ineptitude in catching Traitors is matched only by their competence and teamwork when…

cat-alan-traitors-1fbf5cf.jpg
width: 768
height: 511

The Celebrity Traitors final looms – but will Alan Carr and Cat Burns outwit the Faithfuls?
type: item
date: 2025-10-31T09:03:42.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
description: The penultimate episode delivered pure chaos – Celia Imrie betrayed over dinner, Kate Garraway banished after baring her soul, and Alan Carr cracking under pressure as Joe Marler starts to sniff out the truth.
encoded: To quote Claudia Winkleman, it was a rollercoaster 24 hours. The Faithful finally caught Traitor Jonathan, and then Celia Imrie was murdered in plain sight by Alan Carr quoting Shakespeare. Even this eye-catching round-up doesn’t sufficiently convey the drama producers managed to conjure up in the penultimate episode of this series, now being watched by a reported 12 million pairs of eyeballs. You have to hand it to Alan Carr, he doesn’t shy from a challenge. Having recovered disturbingly quickly from murdering his pal Paloma in week one, he was at it again last night, betraying another great pal, with a toast at the dinner table. Thus was Celia Imrie summarily dispatched, betrayed with a Judas almost-kiss by a man she "adored" but had come to suspect. As Cat Burns grinned, "Only Alan could do something like that!" Other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play? With the Faithful blind to one of their own being murdered at the table, the dinner party made for quite an emotional pause in the middle of this frantic series, everyone reflecting on their time in the castle, how changed they were, how inspired they felt, what fun it had been… and finally Kate Garraway came into her own, with a moving testimony after some very hard few years. Not that it did her any good, mind you. David Olusoga, still the unknown entity within the group, said, "I didn’t expect to feel changed by it, and I do, and that is a surprise." And it was Kate who said the most pertinent thing of all at the table – that it was hard to spot Traitors, "because we’re just bedazzled" – surely the cue for all the Faithful to look up and realise the most bedazzling person of all was the Chatty Man nodding along in agreement, while preparing to cast yet another murderous spell… Suddenly, it was the morning after the night before, with the group proving once again their complete ineptitude in catching Traitors is matched only by their competence and teamwork when it comes to completing the missions. Another…

Kim Kardashian is lawyering up
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: The reality star-turned lawyer-turned actor features in Ryan Murphy's new legal drama for Disney+, All's Fair
encoded: Add All's Fair to your watchlist There are a lot of people who like to keep up with every twist of Kim Kardashian’s life story. Her 354 million followers on Instagram can monitor every turn of the 45-year-old’s two-decade evolution from reality TV star to influencer, company CEO to activist and, most recently, dedicated law student. But even they may be surprised by her latest incarnation: starring in All’s Fair, a US drama created by Ryan Murphy, who semi-joked that he initially pitched the show to broadcasters in five words: “Kim Kardashian as a divorce lawyer”. The idea was well received, and now Kardashian joins an A-list cast that includes Glenn Close and Teyana Taylor, alongside Murphy regulars Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts and Niecy Nash-Betts. The six women play immaculately attired divorce attorneys who break away from a male-dominated firm to form their own deliberately ball-breaking practice. Aside from the glamorous sets and huge costume budget, Kardashian, who divorced rapper Kanye West in 2022, believes the message is an important one: “Anyone going through a separation of their family is going through a hard time. Ryan picked cases with women who feel broken and at their lowest. Our job is to give them their confidence back.” Star and producer already share a connection. Murphy’s long list of TV hits includes The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story that details the trial of the fallen sport star and actor. His real-life attorneys included Kim’s father Robert Kardashian, whom she credits for inspiring her interest in law: “I loved the discipline, I loved the work he was doing and wanted to be a part of it, so it’s fun to be able to play that on TV now.” All’s Fair’s other big name on the call sheet is Close, who shared that she was initially reluctant to take on another fictional lawyer after her previous Emmy award-winning role of Patty Hewes in legal drama Damages, but she was brought round by what Murphy promised her. Close recalls, “He said, ‘Yo…

45AllsFair-Disney-copy-1de0d4e-e1761813378387.jpg
width: 2970
height: 1980

All's Fair glossy first-look images show Kim Kardashian smashing car in glamorous new legal drama
type: item
date: 2025-10-28T15:59:54.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Disney Plus
subject: Exclusive
subject: On demand
description: A first look at Kim Kardashian's upcoming legal drama All's Fair has been unveiled.
encoded: There are a lot of people who like to keep up with every twist of Kim Kardashian’s life story. Her 354 million followers on Instagram can monitor every turn of the 45-year-old’s two-decade evolution from reality TV star to influencer, company CEO to activist and, most recently, dedicated law student. But even they may be surprised by her latest incarnation: starring in All’s Fair, a US drama created by Ryan Murphy, who semi-joked that he initially pitched the show to broadcasters in five words: "Kim Kardashian as a divorce lawyer”. The idea was well received, and now Kardashian joins an A-list cast that includes Glenn Close and Teyana Taylor, alongside Murphy regulars Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts and Niecy Nash-Betts. The six women play immaculately attired divorce attorneys who break away from a male-dominated firm to form their own deliberately ball-breaking practice. Aside from the glamorous sets and huge costume budget, Kardashian, who divorced rapper Kanye West in 2022, believes the message is an important one: "Anyone going through a separation of their family is going through a hard time. Ryan picked cases with women who feel broken and at their lowest. Our job is to give them their confidence back." Star and producer already share a connection. Murphy’s long list of TV hits includes The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story, which details the trial of the fallen sport star and actor. His real-life attorneys included Kim’s father Robert Kardashian, whom she credits for inspiring her interest in law: "I loved the discipline, I loved the work he was doing and wanted to be a part of it, so it’s fun to be able to play that on TV now." All’s Fair’s other big name on the call sheet is Close, who shared that she was initially reluctant to take on another fictional lawyer after her previous Emmy award-winning role of Patty Hewes in legal drama Damages, but she was brought round by what Murphy promised her. Close recalled: "He said, ‘You’re going to be the matriarch…

45AllsFair-Disney-6983fd0.jpg
width: 3000
height: 2000

Alan Carr is the perfect star of Celebrity Traitors – and not for the reason you might think
type: item
date: 2025-10-28T00:01:04.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Entertainment
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Magazine
description: Effervescent, clownish and clever — Alan Carr has played the Celebrity Traitors game to perfection.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Need a birthday card? You can now buy one that has Alan Carr on the front saying, “How old? I’m flabbergasted!” A canny publisher has swiftly responded to the buzz around the comedian’s antics in The Celebrity Traitors and proved what we suspected – banishment and victory aside, the show already has a winner. Carr’s stand-out role was clear from the off, the moment his selection as a Traitor proved the counterintuitive punchline of a gift that producers picked up and ran with. Even his two fellow Traitors laughed out loud when they first saw their co-conspirator, and it meant from day one, the comedian has been central to events – his “can’t keep a secret for toffee” schtick weaponised to clownish, thrilling effect. His effervescence meant he was the only player capable of murdering his close pal Paloma Faith in full view of everyone else, while his “hiding in plain sight” modus operandi successfully shielded him from almost all suspicion. You get the impression that his housemates would be reluctant to banish him even if they had their doubts. As Lucy Beaumont reflected, “It wouldn’t be Carry On Traitors without Alan.” Indeed, who else would punctuate a tense Trojan War challenge by shouting out to Clare Balding, “You’re going to love this, there’s a horse”? Or recruiting Celia Imrie to play badminton – “We need a bit of wind”? Gimlet-eyed Celia was one of the few to consider his possible treachery – “It would be remarkably clever” – but he escaped even her Round Table vote, and he’s proved just as irresistible to viewers. What’s his secret? Well, the list of players in this ratings juggernaut is a snapshot of the spectrum of British celebrity. There are the newbies on the rise – from now-banished content creator Niko Omilana and actor Ruth Codd to singer-songwriter Cat Burns, but their focus on the game, and relative youth, means they present as blanker canvases. So, too, do the other actors, including Nick Moha…

celebrity-traitors-cast-4ee8aaa.jpg
width: 4096
height: 2725

Knight of the round table
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Effervescent, clownish and clever — Alan Carr has played the Celebrity Traitors game to perfection
encoded: Add The Celebrity Traitors to your watchlist Need a birthday card? You can now buy one that has Alan Carr on the front saying, “How old? I’m flabbergasted!” A canny publisher has swiftly responded to the buzz around the comedian’s antics in The Celebrity Traitors and proved what we suspected – banishment and victory aside, the show already has a winner. Carr’s stand-out role was clear from the off, the moment his selection as a Traitor proved the counterintuitive punchline of a gift that producers picked up and ran with. Even his two fellow Traitors laughed out loud when they first saw their co-conspirator, and it meant from day one, the comedian has been central to events – his “can’t keep a secret for toffee” schtick weaponised to clownish, thrilling effect. His effervescence meant he was the only player capable of murdering his close pal Paloma Faith in full view of everyone else, while his “hiding in plain sight” modus operandi successfully shielded him from almost all suspicion. You get the impression that his housemates would be reluctant to banish him even if they had their doubts. As Lucy Beaumont reflected, “It wouldn’t be Carry On Traitors without Alan.” Indeed, who else would punctuate a tense Trojan War challenge by shouting out to Clare Balding, “You’re going to love this, there’s a horse”? Or recruiting Celia Imrie to play badminton – “We need a bit of wind”? Gimlet-eyed Celia was one of the few to consider his possible treachery – “It would be remarkably clever” – but he escaped even her Round Table vote, and he’s proved just as irresistible to viewers. What’s his secret? Well, the list of players in this ratings juggernaut is a snapshot of the spectrum of British celebrity. There are the newbies on the rise – from now-banished content creator Niko Omilana and actor Ruth Codd to singer-songwriter Cat Burns, but their focus on the game, and relative youth, means they present as blanker canvases. So, too, do the other actors, including Nick Mohammed and…

534664-6c435ef.jpg
width: 4748
height: 3159

A milestone mission
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: As a child, Anna Fisher thought she’d be laughed at for dreaming of being an astronaut – in 1984 she became the first mother to go into orbit
encoded: Kristin Fisher always considered her childhood in Houston, Texas, pretty routine, boring even. But at college she had a late-night epiphany about her parents and what they did for a living. “I had this moment,” she remembers. “‘My parents are astronauts!’ I called my dad and shouted, ‘You went to space!’ He replied, ‘Kristin, go to bed.’” It might have taken their daughter a while to realise, but the Fishers were indeed pretty special, as is evident in their contribution to Once Upon a Time in Space, a new four-part BBC Two documentary series that revisits the awe-inspiring triumphs and devastating tragedies that punctuated the two-decade space race. Of all the billions of people to have lived on our planet, fewer than 700 have ventured into space and, among them, only a handful of married couples. Kristin’s parents, Bill and Anna Fisher, met as medical students and bonded over a love of space. Teachers had complained that Bill was “too rocket conscious” as a schoolboy, while 12-year-old Anna was awestruck as she listened on a radio to Alan Shepard’s 1961 journey to become the first American in space. “I knew immediately that’s what I wanted to do,” she remembers. Unlike Bill, Anna kept her dream quiet. “I was afraid people would laugh at me. At that time, women just weren’t allowed to do some of those things. I’m not sure women today realise how much things have changed.” However, Anna’s ambition coincided with a change in Nasa’s recruitment process: for the first time, civilians were employed to join pilots on the Shuttle. In 1978, both Anna and Bill applied for the new role of “mission scientist”, but only one was selected. “It was kind of bittersweet, because I got the call and my husband didn’t,” says Anna. “I was so excited and happy, but I didn’t want to make him feel bad. I tried to hide my enthusiasm, but he was very good about it.” Fortunately for marital harmony, Bill was recruited two years later, and the Fishers became America’s first married astronauts…

https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/10/44GettyImages-542334360-copy-77bf850-e1761230725764.jpg
width: 1705
height: 1137

Strictly reaches end of an era as Claudia and Tess depart – so what now for the BBC's most glittering jewel?
type: item
date: 2025-10-23T14:12:05.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: BBC
subject: Comment
description: Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s Strictly exit marks more than a hosting change – it’s the end of an era for British Saturday night TV.
encoded: Another day, another Strictly headline that contains no mention of dancing. This time it was the announcement that hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have decided “the time is right” to step away from the show they have co-presented since 2014. My journalist pal reports a collective gasp in the newsroom when the news broke this morning. For sure, it doesn’t compete with some of the news headlines from recent weeks (and months, and years) for global significance – nevertheless, for the fragile and precious eco-system that is British entertainment, it is, indisputably, a big deal. The pair have for a decade presented the last remaining Saturday night ratings juggernaut. With a suitable nod to original Bake Off’s Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, we can’t overlook the importance of them as two women in this high-profile primetime role. Daly and Winkleman stepped into shoes previously worn by Bruce Forsyth (and before him Morecambe and Wise, The Two Ronnies, etc) and have made the show comprehensively their own. And what a show it is. In its 21st year, Strictly continues to defy viewing trends that saw off all competitors from around the time it started – Fame Academy, Pop Idol, X Factor, even Saturday Night Takeaway - its simple formula of 'celeb meets professional, learns to ballroom dance, wows audience, wins glitterball' is something familiar, glittery, yet endlessly novel with the new pairings and stories. And it transcends borders, cultures and languages. Shown around the world in more than 60 overseas territories, it remains one of the BBC’s finest (and most lucrative) crown jewels. And yet… like other shows, its dancefloor has shown cracks. Years after we enjoyed the efforts of John Sergeant, Anne Widdecombe and Nancy Del’Olio, the dancers have become increasingly high-profile, the celebrities increasingly competitive. With that has come scrutiny and pressure, culminating in last year’s unedifying catalogue of behind-the-scenes allegations of bullying and worse. …

claudia-tess-7b8dedd.jpg
width: 1920
height: 1281

Strictly reaches end of an era as Claudia and Tess depart – so what now for the BBC's most glittering jewel?
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s Strictly exit marks more than a hosting change – it’s the end of an era for British Saturday night TV.
encoded: Add this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing to your watchlist Another day, another Strictly headline that contains no mention of dancing. This time it was the announcement that hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have decided “the time is right” to step away from the show they have co-presented since 2014. My journalist pal reports a collective gasp in the newsroom when the news broke this morning. For sure, it doesn’t compete with some of the news headlines from recent weeks (and months, and years) for global significance – nevertheless, for the fragile and precious eco-system that is British entertainment, it is, indisputably, a big deal. Ffor a decade the pair have presented the last remaining Saturday night ratings juggernaut. With a suitable nod to original Bake Off’s Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, we can’t overlook the importance of them as two women in this high-profile primetime role. Daly and Winkleman stepped into shoes previously worn by Bruce Forsyth (and before him Morecambe and Wise, The Two Ronnies etc) and have made the show comprehensively their own. And what a show it is. In its 21st year, Strictly continues to defy viewing trends that saw off all competitors from around the time it started – Fame Academy, Pop Idol, X Factor, even Saturday Night Takeaway – its simple formula of "celeb meets professional, learns to ballroom dance, wows audience, wins glitterball" is something familiar, yet endlessly novel with the new pairings and stories. And it transcends borders, cultures and languages. Shown around the world in more than 60 overseas territories, it remains one of the BBC’s finest (and most lucrative) crown jewels. And yet… like other shows, its dance-floor has shown cracks. Years after we enjoyed the efforts of John Sergeant, Anne Widdecombe and Nancy Del’Olio, the dancers have become increasingly high-profile, the celebrities increasingly competitive. With that has come scrutiny and pressure, culminating in last year’s unedifying catalogue…

534303-3a5ea24.jpg
width: 5362
height: 2952

Who's laughing now?
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Traditional sitcoms have made way for a quieter type of comedy
encoded: Add The Good Life to your watchlist Fifty years ago, the stars of the new BBC comedy The Good Life took to the floor of Studio 8 in Television Centre and played to its live audience. Producer John Howard Davies remembers: “It went quite well, but it wasn’t a rousing success. I went home and thought, ‘I hope it’s going to be all right.’” He needn’t have worried. By the time the show finished four series later, it had an average weekly audience of 17 million and the cast were household names. A year later, in 1978, a final one-off special was filmed with Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in attendance. The Good Life still tops TV sitcom popularity lists. But at the time, how did viewers know that Margo slipping in the mud in her yellow sou’wester and wellies was side-rippingly funny? Because 320 audience members laughed loud and long, and told us so. A laughter track formed a vital part of that era’s most popular comedies: think of Last of the Summer Wine, Keeping Up Appearances, Fawlty Towers – what comes to mind is physical, highly visual gags, invariably at the expense of the protagonist, from Hyacinth to Basil, with a beat for other characters to react, and a collective burst of laughter from somewhere in acknowledgement. It was comforting, infectiously upbeat stuff, enjoyed by huge TV audiences, so when and why did it change? I would say July 2001, when The Office took British comedy in a completely different direction. With the tiniest of eye-rolls, David Brent’s needy glances to camera and scene edits left deliberately hanging and awkward – including Keith’s solemn devouring of a Scotch egg – Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant perfected the mockumentary, and a vital part of the genre’s success was the brooding silence that studio (or canned) laughter had once filled. Did this fresh quietness open the door to a whole new way of creating, and defining, comedy? Certainly, with a couple of notable, crowd-pleasing exceptions (a pal reports a cracking nigh…

BBC-Good-Life-Elvis-000305487-9679152.jpg
width: 2450
height: 1683

Has the rise of the "sad-com" killed studio sitcoms with a live audience?
type: item
date: 2025-10-20T23:01:10.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Comedy
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Magazine
description: Traditional sitcoms have made way for a quieter type of comedy.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Fifty years ago, the stars of the new BBC comedy The Good Life took to the floor of Studio 8 in Television Centre and played to its live audience. Producer John Howard Davies remembers: “It went quite well, but it wasn’t a rousing success. I went home and thought, ‘I hope it’s going to be all right.’” He needn’t have worried. By the time the show finished four series later, it had an average weekly audience of 17 million and the cast were household names. A year later, in 1978, a final one-off special was filmed with Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in attendance. The Good Life still tops TV sitcom popularity lists. But at the time, how did viewers know that Margo slipping in the mud in her yellow sou’wester and wellies was side-rippingly funny? Because 320 audience members laughed loud and long, and told us so. A laughter track formed a vital part of that era’s most popular comedies: think of Last of the Summer Wine, Keeping Up Appearances, Fawlty Towers – what comes to mind is physical, highly visual gags, invariably at the expense of the protagonist, from Hyacinth to Basil, with a beat for other characters to react, and a collective burst of laughter from somewhere in acknowledgement. It was comforting, infectiously upbeat stuff, enjoyed by huge TV audiences, so when and why did it change? I would say July 2001, when The Office took British comedy in a completely different direction. With the tiniest of eye-rolls, David Brent’s needy glances to camera and scene edits left deliberately hanging and awkward – including Keith’s solemn devouring of a Scotch egg – Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant perfected the mockumentary, and a vital part of the genre’s success was the brooding silence that studio (or canned) laughter had once filled. Did this fresh quietness open the door to a whole new way of creating, and defining, comedy? Certainly, with a couple of notable, crowd-pleasing exceptions (a pal report…

BBC-Good-Life-Elvis-000305487-9679152-eb08ed5.jpg
width: 2450
height: 1633

'She was a brilliant person, and a lovely one'
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: From Birkenhead to Alan Bennett, Hyacinth Bucket and beyond…
encoded: She’s a monster but very good-hearted,” was Patricia Routledge’s summing up of her most celebrated TV character Hyacinth Bucket, indomitable social climber and resident of 22 Blossom Avenue – “the Bouquet residence”. Keeping Up Appearances drew audiences of up to 15 million during its five-year run, which finished in 1995. The following year, when viewers voted Routledge their favourite TV actress at the BBC’s 60th anniversary awards, she spoke to Radio Times about the enduring appeal of Hyacinth and her aspirations: “We’re always pretending to be what we’re not. But Hyacinth does care. She cares about standards. Whether they’re the right standards is another matter.” It was Routledge’s most famous role in a long, versatile career that also saw her triumph in theatre here and America. Following her training at Bristol’s Old Vic Theatre, she moved from the Royal Shakespeare Company to the National in London and, in 1976, she was picked by Leonard Bernstein to star in his Broadway musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. She had previously won a Tony Award for Darling of the Day. But it was on British television that she really made her mark. As well as Keeping Up Appearances, she was an important collaborator with Alan Bennett and, for four series in the late 1990s, she starred in the hit mystery drama Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. Of her genteel retired crimebuster, Routledge told Radio Times: “There’s more to life in your 60s than some people bargain for, and I’m very fond of Hetty Wainthropp because she refuses to be put on the shelf. She has a great sense of adventure, she’s practical, down to earth and honest. I like her.” She was twice a memorable monologist for Alan Bennett. In 1982’s A Woman of No Importance, Routledge played Peggy Schofield, an office stalwart who slowly, poignantly, comes to understand how little her colleagues need her. Six years later, her performance in A Lady of Letters (part of the Talking Heads series) as Irene Ruddock, who finds surprising…

patricia-routledge-bca05b1.jpg
width: 4363
height: 3169

'Happiness is creaking bed springs'
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: RT pays tribute to Rivals author Dame Jilly Cooper, who has has passed away aged 88.
encoded: The death of Jilly Cooper has inspired an outpouring of affection for Britain’s “queen of the bonkbuster”, the author millions of women credit for introducing them to the ways of the world with her wit, warmth and champagne on tap. Only last year, Dame Jilly told RT of her recipe for domestic bliss: “Happiness in marriage comes from creaking bed springs, not so much from sex but from laughter. Well, a bit of both.” With 45 titles to her name and 11 million books sold in the UK alone, Cooper was best known for her Rutshire Chronicles, an 11-strong set of doorstop novels following the antics of the Cotswolds horsey set in bedrooms and boardrooms. A new generation of fans was introduced to this world of bucolic bonking with the Disney+ big-budget adaptation of Rivals. Stars include David Tennant and Danny Dyer, and Alex Hassell as Cooper’s longtime romantic anti-hero Rupert Campbell-Black. The author shared with RT that she’d had initial reservations about the casting of her leading man: “He wasn’t blond, but then I met him and… he is very attractive.” Executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins recalled the joy of working with Cooper: “Crawling around on her sitting-room floor with storylines on pieces of paper, sitting up late at her kitchen table holding hands with love and our tummies with laughter, receiving scoldings and heaps of wisdom in equal measure.” With the second series currently filming, and a fresh interest in the rest of Cooper’s work, her legacy is secured. Not bad for an author who told us, “I just like people to be happy.”

GettyImages-159114355-408369d.jpg
width: 4747
height: 3811

Celebrity Traitors has a secret weapon in regards to its famous faces - and one casting needs special praise
type: item
date: 2025-10-09T09:00:21.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Entertainment
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
subject: Comment
description: Olympic medals and knighthoods count for little in the Traitors castle.
encoded: In the summer of 2023, after the first season of The Traitors had proved the BBC’s biggest runaway entertainment hit in years, I attended an industry seminar where the show’s producers waxed lyrical about the virtues of having "civilians" (i.e. not famous folk) taking part. As the commissioning editor explained: "As tempting as it is to have the poster full of well-known celebs, we realised that people are more likely to throw themselves into it if they don’t have an image" – translation: "If they don’t have an agent." Two years on and, with more hype than the World Fair, Celebrity Traitors is upon us. It's an eclectic bunch to be sure, with players – "we don’t call them contestants, they’re playing a game" was another takeaway from that seminar – ranging from witty, nervy Jonathan Ross to clipped, clever Celia Imrie and the delightfully deadpan Joe Wilkinson. Usually, a “celebrity” version of any TV show involves quite the range of has-beens to wannabes, but the pedigree here is unusually elevated. Why do it? Most don’t need the exposure, and the prize money is for charity. Could it be they're simply as engrossed by the ethics of the enterprise as everyone else? There’s no doubt from the off that everyone is throwing themselves into it like, well, like people who don’t have an image. The real winner so far is the producer or hopefully now-promoted researcher who decided the third Traitor should be Alan Carr. The faces of his fellow murderers said it all, as they realised what a complicated prospect this brings. He’s giddy, too loud, excitable and the prospect of him being able to conceal his fox-in-chickenshed status appears to lie somewhere between zero and nil - unless of course that’s his superpower. But Carr’s theatrics aside, the most revealing aspect of Celebrity Traitors is how completely useless, and uninteresting, everyone’s celebrity is. Content creator Niko Omilana’s YouTube likes count for as little as David Olusoga’s book sales. Clare Balding may be ab…

The Celebrity Traitors only just started, but someone is already a winner…
type: item
date: 2025-10-09T08:32:46.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: It's already clear that the best thing about this series is how unimportant everyone's fame really is
encoded: Add The Celebrity Traitors to your watchlist *Warning: Celebrity Traitors spoilers ahead.* In the summer of 2023, after the first series of The Traitors had proved the BBC’s biggest runaway entertainment hit in years, I attended an industry seminar where the show’s producers waxed lyrical about the virtues of having “civilians” (ie not famous folk) taking part. As the commissioning editor explained: “As tempting as it is to have the poster full of well-known celebs, we realised that people are more likely to throw themselves into it if they don’t have an image.” Translation: “If they don’t have an agent”. Two years on and, with more hype than the World Fair, The Celebrity Traitors is upon us. It's an eclectic bunch to be sure, with players – “we don’t call them contestants, they’re playing a game” was another takeaway from that seminar – ranging from witty, nervy Jonathan Ross to clipped, clever Celia Imrie and the delightfully deadpan Joe Wilkinson. Usually, a “celebrity” version of any TV show involves quite the range of has-beens to wannabes, but the pedigree here is unusually elevated. Why do it? Most don’t need the exposure, and the prize money is for charity. Could it be they’re simply as engrossed by the ethics of the enterprise as everyone else? There’s no doubt from the off that everyone is throwing themselves into it like, well, people who don’t have an image. The real winner so far is the producer or hopefully now-promoted researcher who decided the third Traitor should be Alan Carr. The faces of his fellow murderers said it all, as they realised what a complicated prospect this brings. He’s giddy, too loud, excitable and the prospect of him being able to conceal his fox-in-chickenshed status appears to lie somewhere between zero and nil — unless of course that’s his superpower. But Carr’s theatrics aside, the most revealing aspect of The Celebrity Traitors is how completely useless, and uninteresting, everyone’s celebrity is. Content creator Niko Omilana…

534684-f9a8abd.jpg
width: 4748
height: 3159

Corridors of power
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: The Diplomat recalls the glory days of The West Wing, with two familiar faces stealing the show
encoded: Add The Diplomat to your watchlist In a previous life, I’d crawl home from a nightshift pressing buttons in BBC Presentation and crawl into bed at 7am. To help fall asleep when most of the world was getting up, I’d pop on a random episode of The West Wing. Then, as CJ, Josh, Sam and Toby traded whip-smart barbs, expounded on intricate foreign policy and went about preserving world peace, I could nod off, safe in the knowledge that there were familiar, funny, well-meaning grown-ups in the room. It’s been almost 20 years since the curtain came down on that show. In that time, I, like millions of other fans – Wingnuts is our official term – have watched hundreds of hours of characters walking ’n’ talking, shaking off security detail, cutting secret deals in corridors and clinking glasses at power dinners. The last ten months alone have seen Black Doves’ mercenaries tripping up the government, Hostage’s PM choosing between her country and her kidnapped husband, and Paradise’s Secret Service agent Xavier framed for his president’s demise. If nobody in all that time has matched Aaron Sorkin’s masterpiece for wit and worldliness, it’s not been for want of trying. When The Diplomat was first announced, I feared a Disneyfied version of the US ambassador to London skipping down the stairs of her big Regent’s Park house, getting loads of English things wrong – “cups with saucers?” – before charming the UK government with her winning ways. And, sure enough, there is a touch of the Bridget Jones about Keri Russell’s Kate Wyler, with her bush-dragged hair, struggle to do up her own frock and will-they-undoubtedly-they-will frisson with the British foreign secretary. What saves this from being “The Princess Diaries does politics”? Several aspects, not least the chemistry and competition between Russell and Rufus Sewell as the ambassador and her husband. She’s got the London gig, but he’s a former diplomatic hotshot with a still-spinning Rolodex. When the couple aren’t fighting or …

Diplomat-2-c5469eb.jpg
width: 3600
height: 2400

Netflix's The Diplomat gives us The West Wing fans a dream reunion – and a very comforting realisation
type: item
date: 2025-10-06T23:01:34.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Magazine
description: The Diplomat recalls the glory days of The West Wing, with two familiar faces stealing the show.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. In a previous life, I’d crawl home from a nightshift pressing buttons in BBC Presentation and crawl into bed at 7am. To help fall asleep when most of the world was getting up, I’d pop on a random episode of The West Wing. Then, as CJ, Josh, Sam and Toby traded whip-smart barbs, expounded on intricate foreign policy and went about preserving world peace, I could nod off, safe in the knowledge that there were familiar, funny, well-meaning grown-ups in the room. It’s been almost 20 years since the curtain came down on that show. In that time, I, like millions of other fans – Wingnuts is our official term – have watched hundreds of hours of characters walking ’n’ talking, shaking off security detail, cutting secret deals in corridors and clinking glasses at power dinners. The last ten months alone have seen Black Doves’ mercenaries tripping up the government, Hostage’s PM choosing between her country and her kidnapped husband, and Paradise’s Secret Service agent Xavier framed for his president’s demise. If nobody in all that time has matched Aaron Sorkin’s masterpiece for wit and worldliness, it’s not been for want of trying. When The Diplomat was first announced, I feared a Disneyfied version of the US ambassador to London skipping down the stairs of her big Regent’s Park house, getting loads of English things wrong – “cups with saucers?” – before charming the UK government with her winning ways. And, sure enough, there is a touch of the Bridget Jones about Keri Russell’s Kate Wyler, with her bush-dragged hair, struggle to do up her own frock and will-they-undoubtedly-they-will frisson with the British foreign secretary. What saves this from being “The Princess Diaries does politics”? Several aspects, not least the chemistry and competition between Russell and Rufus Sewell as the ambassador and her husband. She’s got the London gig, but he’s a former diplomatic hotshot with a still-spinning Rolodex. When the couple a…

the-diplomat-allison-janney-bradley-whitford-d409acc.jpg
width: 3600
height: 2400

Help the aged (and Gen Z)
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Put young and old together — in a nursing home or a reality show — and it’s soon clear how both benefit
encoded: Add Worlds Apart to your watchlist Back in 1841, Charles Dickens wrote, “It is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us”; nearly 200 years later, every grandparent can attest to how the cockles of our hearts continue to be warmed by unions as close in affection as they are distant in age. We saw it when Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin encountered Old Man Marley in Home Alone. Our eyes glistened when lonely widower Carl found unlikely companionship with enthusiastic explorer Russell in Up. Even curmudgeonly Clint Eastwood had his armour pierced by his young Korean neighbours in Gran Torino. The Channel 4 exec who commissioned Worlds Apart is clearly leaning into the same alchemy, with a show that makes up in heart what it lacks in originality. In an idea obviously borrowed from Race across the World, six young rookie British travellers – described as “Gen Z” so not quite fresh from God, but with fresh passports – each team up with a pensioner partner, whom they meet for the first time on the streets of Tokyo. This designation had several of us in the office googling to find out when Millennials ended and Gen Zs began (1996/7 if you’re interested). Meanwhile, back in Japan, our pairs wade through the city, aiming to solve puzzles, pocket some gold coins and ultimately share a £50,000 prize. If their chats are not yet profound, the duos are charming. Rosie (68) says she’s after a “super-intelligent partner because I’m not”. Instead, she’s paired with Lawrence (24), whose response to the clue “Look out for a place to go if you’re caught short” is to go fishing, “or maybe a tennis court”. And it’s Rosie who guesses that a “temple to technology” might just be an Apple store, not an actual… Elsewhere, when retired GP Tony meets partner Emma (18), who grew up in care, his sympathy is palpable. “She’s amazingly resilient,” he says, while pensioner Colin pays young Charlotte the ultimate compliment: “She’s not what I thought young people were.” The moral of th…

https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/09/41779301S1Ep1Worlds-Apart-Ep1-Tokyo-64-001d1f5-e1759249233864.jpg
width: 1723
height: 1147

Channel 4’s Worlds Apart may recall Race Across the World, but makes up in heart what it lacks in originality
type: item
date: 2025-09-29T23:01:26.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: Channel 4
subject: Comment
subject: Magazine
description: Put young and old together – in a nursing home or a reality show – and it’s soon clear how both benefit.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Back in 1841, Charles Dickens wrote, “It is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us”; nearly 200 years later, every grandparent can attest to how the cockles of our hearts continue to be warmed by unions as close in affection as they are distant in age. We saw it when Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin encountered Old Man Marley in Home Alone. Our eyes glistened when lonely widower Carl found unlikely companionship with enthusiastic explorer Russell in Up. Even curmudgeonly Clint Eastwood had his armour pierced by his young Korean neighbours in Gran Torino. The Channel 4 exec who commissioned Worlds Apart is clearly leaning into the same alchemy, with a show that makes up in heart what it lacks in originality. In an idea obviously borrowed from Race Across the World, six young rookie British travellers – described as “Gen Z” so not quite fresh from God, but with fresh passports – each team up with a pensioner partner, whom they meet for the first time on the streets of Tokyo. This designation had several of us in the office googling to find out when Millennials ended and Gen Zs began (1996/7 if you’re interested). Meanwhile, back in Japan, our pairs wade through the city, aiming to solve puzzles, pocket some gold coins and ultimately share a £50,000 prize. If their chats are not yet profound, the duos are charming. Rosie (68) says she’s after a “super-intelligent partner because I’m not”. Instead, she’s paired with Lawrence (24), whose response to the clue “Look out for a place to go if you’re caught short” is to go fishing, “or maybe a tennis court”. And it’s Rosie who guesses that a “temple to technology” might just be an Apple store, not an actual… Elsewhere, when retired GP Tony meets partner Emma (18), who grew up in care, his sympathy is palpable. “She’s amazingly resilient,” he says, while pensioner Colin pays young Charlotte the ultimate compliment: “She’s not what I thought young people were…

https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/09/Medium77930S1-Embargo-0001-Monday-29th-Sept-Worlds-Apart-1c78d95.jpg
width: 1620
height: 1080

'It's the antidote to cosy crime'
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: For his latest thriller, Anthony Horowitz has created a murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie but with a dark, modern edge
encoded: Add Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue to your watchlist A tiny plane comes down in the Mexican jungle. All eight passengers, plus the pilot and the flight attendant, are left stranded in the wreckage, at the mercy of the elements and, as it transpires, one another. Eight days later, a group of body bags is lined up in a dusty military station-turned-makeshift morgue. A sad but straightforward story, it appears, until the plane’s contents are inspected by an officer with a furrowed brow. “We have nine bodies, sir,” he tells his commander. So, what’s the problem? “We have ten passports…” Thus begins Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue, the latest TV mystery from the pen of Anthony Horowitz, the crime-writing powerhouse who brought us Foyle’s War, early Midsomer Murders episodes and, more recently, Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders. With its jungle setting and abruptly increasing body count, Nine Bodies is, he claims, the “antidote to so-called cosy crime”. “Here, I thought I would tear the envelope and do something nobody can accuse of being cosy,” he explains. “It’s a tough situation, everybody is almost immediately at each other’s throats and nobody is riding a tricycle on a village green. It’s the anti-cosy crime drama.” Un-cosy it may be, but unfamiliar it is not. Horowitz shares that early viewers of the show – including his wife and producer, Jill Green –were quick to remark on the plot’s similarity to the entertainment juggernaut The Traitors. Horowitz accepts there is a shared conceit at its centre – “Who is my enemy, who is my friend?” – but points out he hasn’t watched The Traitors and began drafting before that series aired. He far more readily acknowledges the influence of Agatha Christie’s mystery masterclass And Then There Were None (ten people on a secluded island, one murderer among them). He says, “I like to think of it as a modern variation. Every writer of murder mysteries in the world wishes they’d come up with And Then There Were None. It’s the grea…

GettyImages-1672222741-3879d39.jpg
width: 6720
height: 4480

Speaking truth to power
type: item
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Not every newspaper will be recommending this drama, but The Hack is a story that affects all of us
encoded: Add The Hack to your watchlist Amid the flurry of tributes to Robert Redford following his recent death, one testimony stood out – that of Bob Woodward, whom Redford portrayed in the hit 1976 political thriller All the President’s Men, which showed how a pair of intrepid Washington Post journalists tirelessly exposed Watergate and ultimately held the world’s most powerful man to account. Woodward called Redford “a noble and principled force for good”, and his performance, alongside Dustin Hoffman’s as fellow journalist Carl Bernstein, was credited for inspiring a generation of young people to regard journalism as an honourable and worthwhile profession. Nearly 50 years later, with respect for possibly the world’s second oldest profession at an all-time low – thanks to false news, echo chambers and AI – we’re seeing another tale of journalism brought to screen, with The Hack illuminating both the best and worst of that profession. David Tennant plays The Guardian’s investigative reporter Nick Davies, whose initial meeting with an anonymous source led to the discovery of thousands of victims of phone hacking by some members of the press. With a script written by recent Emmy Award-winner (for Adolescence) Jack Thorne and created by the team behind Mr Bates vs the Post Office, with Toby Jones and Robert Carlyle also in the cast, it’s undoubtedly a pedigree offering. Davies displays the same dogged spirit as Alan Bates, and Thorne pulls no punches in equally strong portraits of villains alongside heroes. But how much attention this well-crafted drama will receive from the press is debatable. Don’t expect it to be flagged “programme of the week” in every Sunday paper. And those who, for their own reasons, choose to overlook it could argue it’s old hat. A bunch of celebrities had their voice messages intercepted; over a decade later, inquiries are concluded, compensation paid. Mr Bates vs the Post Office inspired a tidal wave of national indignation, prompting government a…

thehackepisode301-80cedea.jpg
width: 5356
height: 3572

The Hack, like Mr Bates before it, shows how the powerful use influence to hide their wrongdoing
type: item
date: 2025-09-22T23:01:42.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: ITV
subject: Magazine
description: Not every newspaper will be recommending this drama, but The Hack is a story that affects all of us.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Amid the flurry of tributes to Robert Redford following his recent death, one testimony stood out – that of Bob Woodward, whom Redford portrayed in the hit 1976 political thriller All the President’s Men, which showed how a pair of intrepid Washington Post journalists tirelessly exposed Watergate and ultimately held the world’s most powerful man to account. Woodward called Redford “a noble and principled force for good”, and his performance, alongside Dustin Hoffman’s as fellow journalist Carl Bernstein, was credited for inspiring a generation of young people to regard journalism as an honourable and worthwhile profession. Nearly 50 years later, with respect for possibly the world’s second oldest profession at an all-time low – thanks to false news, echo chambers and AI – we’re seeing another tale of journalism brought to screen, with The Hack illuminating both the best and worst of that profession. David Tennant plays The Guardian’s investigative reporter Nick Davies, whose initial meeting with an anonymous source led to the discovery of thousands of victims of phone hacking by some members of the press. With a script written by recent Emmy Award-winner (for Adolescence) Jack Thorne and created by the team behind Mr Bates vs the Post Office, with Toby Jones and Robert Carlyle also in the cast, it’s undoubtedly a pedigree offering. Davies displays the same dogged spirit as Alan Bates, and Thorne pulls no punches in equally strong portraits of villains alongside heroes. But how much attention this well-crafted drama will receive from the press is debatable. Don’t expect it to be flagged “programme of the week” in every Sunday paper. And those who, for their own reasons, choose to overlook it could argue it’s old hat. A bunch of celebrities had their voice messages intercepted; over a decade later, inquiries are concluded, compensation paid. Mr Bates vs the Post Office inspired a tidal wave of national indignation, …

thehackepisode301-80cedea-1-edef654.jpg
width: 1920
height: 1280

Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue is "antidote" to "cosy crime", says writer Anthony Horowitz
type: item
date: 2025-09-22T23:01:08.000Z
creator: Caroline Frost
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: BBC One
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: For his latest thriller, Anthony Horowitz has created a murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie but with a dark, modern edge.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. A tiny plane comes down in the Mexican jungle. All eight passengers, plus the pilot and the flight attendant, are left stranded in the wreckage, at the mercy of the elements and, as it transpires, one another. Eight days later, a group of body bags is lined up in a dusty military station-turned-makeshift morgue. A sad but straightforward story, it appears, until the plane’s contents are inspected by an officer with a furrowed brow. “We have nine bodies, sir,” he tells his commander. So, what’s the problem? “We have 10 passports…” Thus begins Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue, the latest TV mystery from the pen of Anthony Horowitz, the crime-writing powerhouse who brought us Foyle’s War, early Midsomer Murders episodes and, more recently, Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders. With its jungle setting and abruptly increasing body count, Nine Bodies is, he claims, the “antidote to so-called cosy crime”. “Here, I thought I would tear the envelope and do something nobody can accuse of being cosy,” he explains. “It’s a tough situation, everybody is almost immediately at each other’s throats and nobody is riding a tricycle on a village green. It’s the anti-cosy crime drama.” Un-cosy it may be, but unfamiliar it is not. Horowitz shares that early viewers of the show – including his wife and producer, Jill Green –were quick to remark on the plot’s similarity to the entertainment juggernaut The Traitors. Horowitz accepts there is a shared conceit at its centre – “Who is my enemy, who is my friend?” – but points out he hasn’t watched The Traitors and began drafting before that series aired. He far more readily acknowledges the influence of Agatha Christie’s mystery masterclass And Then There Were None (ten people on a secluded island, one murderer among them). He says, “I like to think of it as a modern variation. Every writer of murder mysteries in the world wishes they’d come up with And Then There Were None. It’s the greate…