Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2026-01-28T11:00:04.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Wonder Man ending explained: What happened to Simon Williams and what's next?
items: Who was Juan "Spike" Osorio? Wonder Man tribute explained
items: Jujutsu Kaisen season 3's Culling Game rules explained
items: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' most graphic scene so far makes a crucial point about the show
items: His & Hers ending explained: Who was the real culprit all along?
items: Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 review: Anime A-lister returns to cull the competition
items: Why everyone's talking about Heated Rivalry
items: Pluribus ending explained: Cast break down every twist and reveal
items: My Hero Academia is ending after more than a decade – here's how it became an anime phenomenon
items: Why won't there be a My Hero Academia season 9?
items: Maxton Hall season 2 ending explained: The scandal that sabotages Ruby and James's happy ever after
items: How anime has led the way in the battle against climate change
items: It: Welcome to Derry risks ruining Pennywise for good with one fatal mistake
items: Pluribus season 1 review: Vince Gilligan's sci-fi masterpiece will take you to your happy place
items: The Witcher season 4's Liam Hemsworth recast makes complete sense for one key reason
items: Wayward ending explained: Do Abbie and Leila escape the school?
items: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3 ending explained – every twist broken down
items: My Hero Academia's 10 strangest characters ranked from quirky to super weird
items: Peacemaker season 2 ending explained: How finale sets up Superman's Man of Tomorrow
items: Spy x Family's 10 most powerful characters ranked from weakest to strongest
items: Boots cast share their hopes for potential season 2 following that surprise cliffhanger
items: How House of Guinness rewrites the rules for queer period drama with Arthur Guinness
items: House of Guinness rewrites the rules for queer period drama with Arthur Guinness
items: Wayward is unlike any other thriller – for one unexpectedly inspired reason
items: Upload season 4 ending explained: What happened to Nathan and Nora?
items: Netflix's Long Story Short is a worthy successor to BoJack Horseman, the best animated series of all time
items: Peacemaker season 2 writes Zack Snyder characters out of existence
items: "It's got to be its own thing" – How Alien: Earth ditches canon for the greater good
items: And Just Like That gave us the worst possible ending – just as the show was getting good

Wonder Man ending explained: What happened to Simon Williams and what's next?
type: item
date: 2026-01-28T11:00:02.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Contains Trailer
subject: Disney
subject: Marvel
description: Every twist and reveal broken down...
encoded: It's fitting that the creator of DC's Wonder Woman invented an early prototype of the lie detector, because Marvel's male counterpart, Wonder Man, is based almost entirely on lies. Or at least the MCU version of Simon Williams that's played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. There's the lies that Simon's tells himself, desperately trying to suppress his devastating ionic power. Then there's the lies he tells on set everyday, pretending to be just another ordinary man. Never mind that he's an actor whose stock and trade is artifice. Yet despite all this, Williams is still devastated when it turns out that his new best friend, Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), has also been lying this whole time too. Originally planted as a mole by the Department of Damage Control (DODC), the former 'Mandarin' quickly grew fond of Williams, developing a real friendship as they auditioned together for the Wonder Man movie. But by the end of episode seven, the jig was up. "Hell of a performance," says Williams as he storms out, leaving Slattery behind, genuinely gutted by how the truth hurt his one real friend. Fit to burst with rage, Williams finally snaps, unleashing all the ionic energy he's kept inside. It's a good thing he's in an empty studio or someone could have got hurt. Still, the Wonder Man crew who helped build the set sure won't be pleased the next day, and there's the little matter of a reporter from the New York Times who's still snooping around on the lot… So what does all this mean for Williams? Is an Oscar on the cards? Avengers membership? Or how about prison? Marvel's Wonder Man ending explained: Where does Simon Williams go? The season one finale begins in the past, showing us again just how formative the '80s Wonder Man film was on Simon and his relationship with his father. These moments they shared are the driving force for everything Williams does, although we sort of got the message already a few flashbacks ago. The next morning, news of the explosion he caused reaches Sl…

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Who was Juan "Spike" Osorio? Wonder Man tribute explained
type: item
date: 2026-01-28T04:00:54.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Marvel
description: The first episode of the Marvel show features a tribute card.
encoded: Most Marvel heroes strive for greatness, but in Wonder Man, Simon Williams isn't trying to be a superhero. Instead, he hopes to wow the public with his acting, so his biggest fight is keeping those impressive powers of his under wraps. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's struggling actor is joined by fellow actor slash former "terrorist" Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley), who the world remembers as the so-called "Mandarin" from Iron Man 3. Together, they're fighting to appear in a new remake of the classic Wonder Man superhero film that Simon loved growing up. Questions abound, however, when it turns out that not everyone is who they say they are. When it comes to questions, another is raised at the end of episode 1 when a dedication appears before the credits roll, which reads: "In memory of Juan 'Spike' Osorio." So, who is Juan Osorio? And why did Wonder Man pay tribute to him? Read on for everything you need to know about Spike. Who was Juan "Spike" Osorio? Osorio was a veteran lighting technician who worked in the electrical department across multiple Hollywood productions. Before Wonder Man, he was credited on a wide array of sci-fi and fantasy projects including The Dark Tower, American Born Chinese, and Marvel's 2018 sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp, plus more grounded fare such as Mayans M.C. and The Conners. According to interviews with fellow crew members (via The Daily Beast), Osorio worked in the army before moving to Hollywood. Rigging gaffer Dave McGrory explained that Osorio once survived a devastating explosion while serving in the Middle East. "He was in a Humvee that drove over an IED which exploded. And he basically watched his closest guys die in front of him,” McGrory said. "And there was another firefight in a cave in Afghanistan, where he was wounded with some shrapnel. I know that because he got a scar under his left eye, from rock fragmentation." McGrory added: "The man made it out of Afghanistan, and didn’t make it out of the studio system." What happened …

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Jujutsu Kaisen season 3's Culling Game rules explained
type: item
date: 2026-01-23T09:40:45.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Anime
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
description: Confused? You're not alone!
encoded: The latest episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen have hit like a train, yet not a single punch was thrown. Following Yuta Okkotsu's addition to the team, Yuji Itadori and the gang suddenly find themselves front row at an episode-long lecture about the impending apocalypse. As the freaky-looking Tengen explains, The Culling Game they're about to enter is a Battle Royale-style deathmatch that will span the entire nation of Japan. That means it's a big deal for every sorcerer who takes part, plus all of us watching back home too. But boy there are a lot of rules. To be fair, the animators do an incredible job of keeping us entertained without any cursed battling in sight. Flow charts have never come with so much aura. Still though. It's a lot. The rules flashed up ever so briefly in the first two episodes, but for those of us who don't wish to pause and read text longer than the Bible, I'm on hand to break down Kenjaku's plan in more detail. What is The Culling Game? The tournament isn't your typical anime showdown. The ancient sorcerer Kenjaku, aka, the guy who ruined all our lives in season two's Shibuya Incident, has been planning this battle royale for centuries. His goal is to pit 1000 sorcerers against each other in a game where anyone can die at any point. Even Kenjaku can snuff it, but if he does, The Culling Game will continue anyway, generating enough cursed energy for him to transform the whole of Japan into one singular cursed entity. The wildest thing about all this is that he's essentially doing it all for giggles because not even Kenjaku knows what will happen after this. Yuji, Megumi Fushiguro and the gang want to stop this because, well, you can guess why already. But they also want to specifically save Megumi's sister, Tsumiki, who is now one of the many humans who Kenjaku awakened as a sorcerer at the end of season 2. And the odds of surviving a game with "Culling" in the name seems unlikely. There's also the matter of Satoru Gojo, the blue-eyed wonder who was …

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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' most graphic scene so far makes a crucial point about the show
type: item
date: 2026-01-19T15:00:08.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: HBO
subject: NOW
subject: Sky
description: It's not just for the shock factor.
encoded: Plenty of people have had a s**t time of it in Westeros, but few have had it quite as bad as Dunk (Peter Claffey). A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms begins with the modest hedge knight in mourning. Once Dunk has wiped away his tears, the plan is to honour his late master, Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb), in a jousting tournament nearby. But before he heads off to compete, another task must be completed first. It's all very serious as Dunk buries Arlan with all the gravitas you might expect from a show set in this world. The music swells and builds ceremoniously as the hero's journey is about to begin… And then we suddenly cut to Dunk defecating by a tree. It's not a brief dump either. The camera cuts from a modest overhead shot to a wide angle where we can see the full extent of the poop spraying out from Dunk's behind. Targaryens will get down and dirty in all kinds of ways, often with their own siblings, but you'd never catch one of them doing that. Not on camera anyway. Of course, Dunk doesn't know he's being watched by us either. Poor guy. And things are about to get a whole lot worse for him before they get better… It's tempting to assume the graphic nature of this scene has been included this early on just for shock value. Games of Thrones is hardly known for taming things down, after all. But like a doctor looking through a stool for answers, we too can learn a lot about Dunk and this show's outlook through a messy scene like this. There's the abrupt shift in tone for one. While both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are rather serious (for the most part), leading with this bowel movement early on establishes that this ain't your nana's Westeros — not by any means. Humour is as integral to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms as knights and kingdoms are. It's there in the way people greet each other — "What you gawping at, you blue eyed c**t?" — and it's there in the crueller putdowns too, like when a woman says early on, "A hedge knight is like a knight, bu…

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His & Hers ending explained: Who was the real culprit all along?
type: item
date: 2026-01-08T17:51:13.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Let's break it down.
encoded: **Warning: contains spoilers for His & Hers episodes 1-6.** Don't let the name of this new Netflix thriller fool you. His & Hers is anything but romantic, driven by dark desires that result in a dangerous game of cat and mouse between two exes. The former lovers in question are Jon Bernthal's highly strung detective named Jack Harper and Anna, a cutthroat journalist played by Tessa Thompson. Personal trauma ripped their marriage apart a year prior, but when a woman is brutally murdered in their Atlanta hometown, Anna returns to investigate and salvage her career. The problem is Jack might have been the one who killed her… It turns out His & Hers is just as twisty as the Alice Feeney novel it's based on because just when you think you know who killed Rachel Hopkins, viewers discover that the culprit was actually a lot closer to home. His & Hers ending explained Five episodes in, time is running out for Jack. After dodging his detective colleague Priya Patel (Sunita Mani) all season, the evidence is stacking up against him. But does he care? No, not after he finds his sister Zoe (Marin Ireland) murdered in the bathtub. Yep, what might have been a red Lush bathbomb turns out to be her blood, which is now all over Jack. Anna makes a discovery of her own, less gruesome, but no less dangerous, when she realises that the rival anchorwoman gunning for her job isn't just a random blonde named Lexy (Rebecca Rittenhouse). She's actually Catherine (Astrid Rotenberry), a girl who Anna's friends bullied back in school. It turns out Catherine lost a lot of weight and changed her name to fool everyone and enact revenge. But that's not all she's done. The final episode of His & Hers starts with a flashback where Lexy, back when she was known as Catherine, goes on a family boat trip. Sounds cute, right? Sadly no, because it's not long before Catherine's sister starts poking fun at her weight. In response, Catherine does what anyone would do and deliberately uses up the medicine in An…

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Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 review: Anime A-lister returns to cull the competition
type: item
date: 2026-01-08T17:00:01.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Anime
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
subject: Review
description: The first two episodes of season 3 amp up everything we love most about Jujutsu Kaisen.
encoded: This review is based on Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 episodes 1-2. Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 kicks off with an uncharacteristically quiet moment for the teen sorcerer at the heart of this show. Yuji Itadori is washing blood off his hands, but there's just too much of it. Red stains spiral into the sink, stubbornly refusing to come clean. Endless torrents of blood are par for the course in both the series and the Gege Akutami-penned manga this story is based on, but this isn't just the aftermath of any old battle. Season 2 ended with The Shibuya Incident, Jujutsu Kaisen's most devastating arc yet. Friends died at the hands of demons and countless more perished at the hands of Yuji himself once the power of Ryomen Sukuna took over. In the fallout from this, the blood on Yuji's hands carries something far heavier, and the overarching mood is thick with despair as well. Survivor's guilt coupled with guilt over the carnage he technically wreaked shapes everything here, visually warping Tokyo itself with a bleary pink sunrise stained like the blood on his hands. A giant, grotesque monster claws at Yuji all of a sudden, throwing us into battle, but you can feel that Yuji's heart isn't in it. Even at his most impressive, jumping and spinning and hurtling through the air mid-fight, Yuji's body language speaks to a broken man far removed from the protagonist we were first introduced to in season one. Dread infuses every frame, every lingering shot of an empty staircase or demolished building. It's eerie and atmospheric in ways that speak to the show's movie-level animation and how the team at MAPPA are capable of stunning beyond Jujutsu Kaisen's signature fights. These too are just as elaborate as ever, first when Yuji tears into Cronenbergian demons, and then when Yuta Okkotsu arrives to kill him on orders from the Jujutsu Council. We've only seen glimpses of Yuta in the main show before now, but here, the protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is finally unleashed in full, pitting the fr…

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Why everyone's talking about Heated Rivalry
type: item
creator: David Opie
subject: App
subject: App features
description: The Canadian sports romance series, based on Rachel Reid's novels, is the show of the moment.
encoded: Add Heated Rivalry to your watchlist When it comes to sport, hockey might be a big player on the international stage, but it's not exactly a huge draw when it comes to storytelling on screen. Not since the Mighty Ducks, anyway. That's all changed now though thanks to a pair of gay hockey players who develop the hots for each other while they puck their way to the top. Based on Rachel Reid's Game Changers novel series, Heated Rivalry follows Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) as they compete on the ice and get steamy in the bedroom. Along the way, they struggle with the toll that comes with keeping their love secret while training to be the very best at what they do. Throw in a whole lot of butts and it's easy to see the immediate appeal of this story. But even so, it's hard to fathom just how quickly Heated Rivalry took the world by storm. Jacob Tierney's adaptation started out as a Crave original, which probably doesn't mean a whole lot to people who live outside of Canada. But just a week before the premiere launched, Heated Rivalry picked up an international distribution deal, expanding the show's reach to millions more via HBO Max (you know, the streamer that won't arrive on our shores until March 2026). Now it will air on Sky Atlantic from Saturday 10 January. Even so, Heated Rivalry didn't receive the same kind of big marketing push that HBO originals like House of the Dragon take for granted. Not from the network anyway. Instead, promotion fell to the fans. Specifically, horny fans of Reid's original book who pored through every moment in the first trailer, creating countless edits and screaming reaction videos using just 90 seconds of material. View Green Video on the source website Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, executive producer Brendan Brady revealed it was this fan buzz that directly led to HBO Max's involvement, thereby securing the show's international success. But distribution alone could never guarantee such a r…

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Pluribus ending explained: Cast break down every twist and reveal
type: item
date: 2025-12-24T03:00:55.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Apple TV
description: It's Christmas, Carol!
encoded: It's Christmas, Carol! But that doesn't mean it's all cheer and goodwill as far as Pluribus is concerned. Santa giveth and Santa taketh too with this season 1 finale, which marks the end of a chapter, but also gives us one of the most unique, special ends to a season we've seen in quite some time. The episode, titled 'La Chica o El Mundo', is essentially a three-hander between Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn), Manousos Oviedo (Carlos-Manuel Vesga), and Zosia (Karolina Wydra) — even if the latter technically represents pretty much every other person on the planet. And with this close proximity comes a few disturbing twists that we spoke to stars Rhea Seehorn and Karolina Wydra in greater detail about. But the final chapter begins before these three characters meet, revealing what happens when one of the few remaining survivors gets her wish in Peru. Pluribus season 1 ending explained: What happened to Carol? Interviews by Alex Hewitt. With the clock ticking 71 days in, the season one finale of Pluribus starts with Kusimayu watching as a plane arrives in her small Peruvian village. A relative (in the group mind) asks if she's 'excited or nervous about what's to come.' Against gorgeous scenic backdrops, we watch as a special crate is delivered to Kusimayu. "Will it hurt?" she asks. "Not one bit," replies the group mind. And with that, Peruvian chanting begins as Kusimayu breathes in vapour that emanates from the delivery. As soon as she falls to the ground, mid-seizure, the religious-like chanting immediately stops. The Joined have what they wanted now. Kusimayu has joined them too, and she did so willingly, so there's no need to keep up any semblance of normalcy. Everyone in the entire village suddenly leaves at once, letting the farm animals free as they go. Where they go next, we don't know, because then the action returns to Carol and Zosia watching Manousos on his way to Albuquerque. Zosia suggests that they/she should not be here when he arrives in case her presence u…

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My Hero Academia is ending after more than a decade – here's how it became an anime phenomenon
type: item
date: 2025-12-13T09:00:50.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Anime
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
subject: Exclusive
subject: Interview
description: The beloved cast reflect on the incredible series in an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com.
encoded: School's out for good with the end of My Hero Academia, but it's not just the end of another academic year. We're talking the end of an era, the end of a franchise that expanded and deconstructed an entire genre. Where else could you see the kind of earnest, hopeful superhero storytelling that came to define Kōhei Horikoshi's decade-long run in his manga and the show that followed? So much more than just another story about super-powered school kids, My Hero Academia introduced us to countless heroes and villains who are just as inspiring as they are "quirky". It's not just their powers or "quirks" that set them apart though (as weird as they often were). No, it was their determination to push through imperfection and fight for what mattered. Izuku Midoriya, especially, represented a new kind of hero in that sense, worlds removed from the dark or quippy protagonists popularised by Marvel and DC. It's not just us who are saying goodbye to Midoriya and the gang though. After 170 episodes and four theatrical film releases, the English dub cast have been forced to reckon with the end of an era for themselves as well, learning to let go of a show that's dominated anime and their own personal lives for the better part of a decade. "I'm definitely in the beginning phases of mourning," says voice actor Ernesto Jason Liebrecht (Dabi) ahead of the final episode: "It is really kind of a crazy thing to live with a character in your head for a decade of your life, to experience the level of character development that the creators so graciously provided to us as actors." Justin Cook (Red Riot) was quick to echo that sentiment: "There's a part where you don't want to say goodbye to these characters, but at the same time, watching the story wrap up on its own terms… It's pretty powerful to be a part of it." Very few titles make it to eight seasons in any medium, so the fact we're now here in the final stretch with some of the show's best reviews yet is nothing short of phenomenal. …

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Why won't there be a My Hero Academia season 9?
type: item
date: 2025-12-13T08:00:54.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Anime
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
description: The anime has bowed out after eight seasons.
encoded: After almost a decade, My Hero Academia is officially ending. The anime phenomenon, created by author and illustrator Kōhei Horikoshi, follows Izuku Midoriya/Deku, a boy who was born without a superpower (or a Quirk) in a world where they have become commonplace. After he dreams of becoming a superhero, he is scouted by the world's greatest hero, All Might, and enrols in a high school for superheroes in training. Now, the show is officially bowing out. Here's why there won't be another season of the beloved anime. Why won't there be a My Hero Academia season 9? Quite simply, eight seasons were enough to tell the story from Horikoshi's manga. Season 8 adapted the final chapters from the manga (plus a bit of bonus content), bringing the story to an end. In the grand scheme of things, 10 years is actually not a super long run for anime, when compared to titan franchises like One Piece, Naruto and Bleach, which have run and run for decades. Ending the anime can't have been an easy feat, especially when the ending to the manga proved rather controversial, with fans criticising the pacing and how things ended for Deku. Speaking exclusively about how the cast feel ending the show, Dabi voice actor Ernesto Jason Liebrecht told RadioTimes.com: "I'm definitely in the beginning phases of mourning. "It is really kind of a crazy thing to live with a character in your head for a decade of your life, to experience the level of character development that the creators so graciously provided to us as actors." Justin Cook (Red Riot) added: "There's a part where you don't want to say goodbye to these characters, but at the same time, watching the story wrap up on its own terms… It's pretty powerful to be a part of it." "After you do this for a really long time, you suddenly realise that these shows don't always go away," said Christopher Wehkamp (Eraserhead). "My Hero Academia is so big and it's so meaningful to so many people, we could always hope that it's going to be back in some it…

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Why everyone's talking about Heated Rivalry
type: item
date: 2025-12-08T15:56:22.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Contains Trailer
subject: On demand
description: The Canadian sports romance series, based on Rachel Reid's novels, is the show of the moment.
encoded: When it comes to sport, hockey might be a big player on the international stage, but it's not exactly a huge draw when it comes to storytelling on screen. Not since the Mighty Ducks, anyway. That's all changed now though thanks to a pair of gay hockey players who develop the hots for each other while they puck their way to the top. Based on Rachel Reid's Game Changers novel series, Heated Rivalry follows Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) as they compete on the ice and get steamy in the bedroom. Along the way, they struggle with the toll that comes with keeping their love secret while training to be the very best at what they do. Throw in a whole lot of butts and it's easy to see the immediate appeal of this story. But even so, it's hard to fathom just how quickly Heated Rivalry took the world by storm. Jacob Tierney's adaptation started out as a Crave original, which probably doesn't mean a whole lot to people who live outside of Canada. But just a week before the premiere launched, Heated Rivalry picked up an international distribution deal, expanding the show's reach to millions more via HBO Max (you know, the streamer that won't arrive on our shores until March 2026). Even so, Heated Rivalry didn't receive the same kind of big marketing push that HBO originals like House of the Dragon take for granted. Not from the network anyway. Instead, promotion fell to the fans. Specifically, horny fans of Reid's original book who pored through every moment in the first trailer, creating countless edits and screaming reaction videos using just 90 seconds of material. View Green Video on the source website Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, executive producer Brendan Brady revealed it was this fan buzz that directly led to HBO Max's involvement, thereby securing the show's international success. But distribution alone could never guarantee such a rabid response, especially for a show that has no recognisable IP outside of the book fanbase. T…

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Maxton Hall season 2 ending explained: The scandal that sabotages Ruby and James's happy ever after
type: item
date: 2025-11-28T10:43:41.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Amazon Prime Video
subject: On demand
description: Let's break it down.
encoded: School's back in session at Maxton Hall, where a scholarship student and the entitled rich kid must fight to overcome the world between them and make their love work. Based on Mona Kasten's best-selling book Save Me, the first season of MaxtonHall had the most successful series launch of any non-American Prime Original ever upon its release. Things weren't looking so good for Ruby and James, however, as season 1 ended in tragedy. Just as their romance finally got back on track, James and his sister Lydia were confronted with the worst news imaginable. Their mother Cordelia had died after suffering a stroke. Season 2 kicked off with James spiralling so much that he wrecked his relationship with Ruby entirely. But Maxton Hall being Maxton Hall, it wasn't long before the pair reconciled. As such, the drama came instead from James's awful father, who continues to make his son's life as hard as possible, with Ruby often taking the brunt of his cruelty. The only thing crueller is us being forced to sit through this schlock in the first place. That's not all though. Beyond this family strife, another controversy brewed, one that takes centre stage at the end of season 2 in what must be one of TV's weirdest, most uncomfortable developments of 2025. Read on to find out how Maxton Hall season 2 ends and see just what we're on about. Maxton Hall – The World Between Us season 2 ending explained The previous episode ended with Maxton Hall's Principal discovering that one of his teachers, Graham Sutton, has got Lydia pregnant. This plotline is all kinds of gross and icky by the way, especially because of how the writers romanticise it – and in a teen show, no less. James's sister and the professor are in love, which apparently makes this power dynamic something worth rooting for? Or at the very least, something we shouldn't be condemning outright? The head has the right response though, dramatically looking into the distance with sheer horror in his eyes (even if he's only thinki…

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How anime has led the way in the battle against climate change
type: item
date: 2025-11-18T12:00:12.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Anime
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
subject: Climate - Intentional focused content
subject: Comment
description: Tackling environmental topics is in the very DNA of the medium.
encoded: Storytelling naturally reflects the culture and climate it's produced in – yet few films and shows appear to be tackling the biggest threat to both. According to Climate.gov, 2024 was the warmest year since global records began in 1850 (by a wide margin) and the 10 warmest years on record have all occurred in the past decade. Floods and heatwaves are increasing as the climate crisis grows, yet Western takes on this issue remain few and far between, especially when it comes to children's fare where they could make the most impact. Since Ferngully left a lasting impression on millennials in the early '90s, not many animated films have continued where it left off. Just The Lorax and Pixar's Wall-E stand out as two notable exceptions when it comes to tackling environmental issues in animation. It's a different story in Japan, however. Anime has long incorporated themes of this nature, tapping into traditional Taoist and Shintoist beliefs that prioritise ecological harmony and respect for the natural world. The Godfather of Anime, Tezuka Osamu, did so as far back as the '60s with Kimba the White Lion, and more adult stories like the Black Jack manga, where an unlicensed surgeon used his money to fund environmental projects. It's Studio Ghibli that often comes to mind first, however. Even before the studio was named as such, co-founder Hayao Miyazaki wrote and directed Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, a post-apocalyptic saga where the key to surviving a polluted world came from understanding the resilience of nature and the interconnectedness of all living things. View oEmbed on the source website Plenty of other Miyazaki films continued this outlook further including Spirited Away, where the cleansing of a polluted river spirit is vital to the story and My Neighbor Totoro, which celebrates the beauty of rural life and preserving natural spaces. Aside from Nausicaä, however, it's Princess Mononoke which comes up most regularly in these conversations, thanks to the cent…

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It: Welcome to Derry risks ruining Pennywise for good with one fatal mistake
type: item
date: 2025-11-17T08:00:43.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: HBO
subject: NOW
subject: Sky
description: Welcome to Derry dares to hold Pennywise back – only to reveal far too much.
encoded: Eddie who? Richie whatshisname? As strong as the cast were in Andy Muschietti's IT, Pennywise is always the first name that comes to mind when you think of his twofold adaptation. As such, it didn't take long for Bill Skarsgård's deranged clown to dance its way into our hearts and nightmares alike (while showing up occasionally in my therapy sessions too). It's safe to say then that if there's one thing we'd want to see more of in the prequel series Welcome To Derry, it's Pennywise, even if it was reduced to a weird gross baby puddle by the end of IT: Chapter Two. The show is set 27 years before the events of the first film, making it easy to bring Pennywise back in its full splendour. Yet for the first few episodes, Skarsgård doesn't show up at all. IT is there, of course. It's in every nook and cranny of Derry, its evil seeping into every brick and the mind of every resident. Stephen King's most recognisable antagonist even shows up to terrify a new batch of kids each week, but not in his most recognisable form. Instead, IT appears as various nightmares made flesh, from Lilly's pickled father to a baby-faced demon in the premiere. It would have been easy to simply rely on the iconography of Pennywise, maximising the show's scares by giving viewers what they came for. But what you want isn't always best for you. Muschietti and his team smartly recognised that in writing this show, choosing to hold back on revealing Pennywise in full until five episodes in. Risky? Yes, but this was actually the best way to reintroduce a once-terrifying character who audiences have grown somewhat desensitised to. How could you not after Pennywise was meme'd into oblivion back when the films first came out? Building on the tension that comes with waiting to see it, this idea that Pennywise could leap out at any moment, helped remind us how scary IT really is while erasing those dancing memes from our minds completely. It's unfortunate then that Welcome To Derry risks undoing all this,…

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Pluribus season 1 review: Vince Gilligan's sci-fi masterpiece will take you to your happy place
type: item
date: 2025-11-07T10:03:47.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Comment
description: Rhea Seehorn is magnificent in this unique sci-fi masterpiece.
encoded: TV titan Vince Gilligan is known for writing bad guys. Think Walter White in Breaking Bad or Saul Goodman in Better Call Saul. But for his highly anticipated follow-up, Gilligan dares to imagine a world where there are no bad guys, where evil has been eradicated in its entirety. And therein lies a very different kind of horror. Pluribus begins with a scientific discovery gone awry, as is often the case with post-apocalyptic stories of this nature. One simple mistake breaks the world as we know it, unleashing a virus that melds the globe into one collective group mind. The horrific imagery that follows evokes everything from the devastating stillness of 28 Days Later to the chilling paranoia embedded throughout Invasion of the Body Snatchers (in all its incarnations). So why was Pluribus surrounded by so much secrecy prior to its release? We've seen this all before, right? Well no, it turns out that Gilligan's twist on the genre quickly takes these familiar tropes in wildly unexpected directions that intrigue, unsettle, and might occasionally test your patience at points. Without spoiling too much, this global shift in thinking isn't hellbent on domination. The virus has essentially won already, yet that was never its goal. Melding the world's population into one singular mind was just necessary, a biological imperative akin to breathing. The result is a happy one, creating a utopia on earth where there is no more crime. Discrimination is a thing of the past and every caged animal has been set free. At its core, this apocalypse brings peace and happiness to everyone on earth except the one woman who can't stand it. Carol Sturka, an unhappy romance novelist who peddles "mindless crap" numbers among the very few people on earth who have retained their minds still, somehow immune to the virus. As such, the collective is keen to draw Carol into their embrace, quite happily informing her that they're working on ways to push through and infect her somehow. It's in this ten…

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The Witcher season 4's Liam Hemsworth recast makes complete sense for one key reason
type: item
date: 2025-10-31T12:15:49.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Netflix
description: Geralt's had quite the makeover in season 4.
encoded: The Witcher has fought all manner of monsters in his time, but four seasons in, the biggest threat to Geralt's existence might just be himself. Or at least, the new version of him that's been introduced in Netflix's latest season. Whatever your thoughts on The Witcher might be, fans and detractors alike usually agree that Henry Cavill has been pivotal to the show's success. Whether he was drawing his sword or drawing a bath, Cavill's take on Geralt felt intrinsic to the story being told. It's as if he was born to play The Witcher. So when Cavill suddenly left the show three seasons in, his exit understandably came as quite a shock. It was impossible for fans to imagine what The Witcher might look like without him, yet that's exactly what showrunner Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich was forced to do for the series to continue. Enter Liam Hemsworth, another statuesque bulk of a man who was asked to step in and take Cavill's place. Long before pics of him donning the wig surfaced online, fans were already quick to denounce Hemsworth as being unfit for the task at hand. These were big shoes to fill, after all. Never mind that Liam is 6cm taller than Henry. It didn't help that when trailers for season 4 did finally arrive, they included a scene where Hemsworth's Geralt rallies his friends by crying: "Let's f**king move." For fans still invested in the show, this felt like a betrayal of sorts, a sign that The Witcher had lost its way. "Geralt would never say such a thing," they claimed, with others criticising Hemsworth's delivery of the line as well. To be fair, Liam was going to be criticised regardless, no matter how good or bad he was in the role. Copy Cavill too closely and you're just a pale imitation of the real deal. Put your own stamp on the character and you risk losing Geralt's essence entirely. This was always going to be a lose-lose situation for Hemsworth, at least at the beginning when fans would be most resistant to change. Plus, it's not exactly easy to pull off a …

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Wayward ending explained: Do Abbie and Leila escape the school?
type: item
date: 2025-10-29T13:08:46.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Lets's break it down. **CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR WAYWARD**
encoded: *Warning: Major Wayward spoilers ahead.* Mae Martin’s new mystery series Wayward has hooked fans with its genre-bending oddness, thrilling plot and decades-spanning twists. Set in the secluded town of Tall Pines, Vermont, the series centres on Tall Pines Academy, a so-called therapeutic school for troubled teens, helmed by the terrifying Evelyn (Toni Collette). Creator Martin also stars as Alex, a police officer who has just moved to Tall Pines with his pregnant fiancée, Laura (Sarah Gadon), and immediately begins to sense something is off about the town. Alex soon becomes entangled with two students, Abbie (Sydney Topliffe) and Leila (Alyvia Alyn Lind), who plan to break out of the school. But Alex has more than his own fair share of problems to contend with. The new cop in town can't leave Tall Pines yet, not until he has enough dirt on Evelyn to break free of her controlling hold on his family. He and Laura plan to escape together with their baby once it's born – except at the end of episode 7, Alex overhears Laura tell her support group that she's never going to leave town. Not ever. It's then that Alex finally realises that Laura, who seemed to be rebelling against her former mentor, is actually becoming the new Evelyn herself. To make matters worse, it also looks like Leila is becoming the new Laura now that she's falling for Evelyn's cult-like control, just like Alex's wife once did all those years ago. So, will Laura turn to the dark side completely? Will Abbie and Leila's friendship survive long enough to escape? And will Collette deliver another raging "Mother" monologue, the likes of which we've not seen since her Oscar-worthy turn in Hereditary? Here's how Mae Martin's Wayward ends its first (and probably only) season on Netflix. Wayward ending explained: Do Abbie and Leila escape? Sensing that she's losing her grip over Laura, Evelyn shows up at Laura's house, but doesn't get a warm welcome. Her current number one disciple, Rabbit, isn't so keen on Evel…

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The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3 ending explained – every twist broken down
type: item
date: 2025-10-20T03:00:30.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: NOW
subject: Sky
description: Let's hope the siesta they take between seasons is enough to inject some new life into this spin-off.
encoded: Like its titular zombies, The Walking Dead continues to live on as a shadow of its former self. That is, except for the Daryl Dixon spin-off. While other spin-offs have failed to capture what made the flagship show so popular, Norman Reedus and his fan-favourite character have endured for three seasons to much greater success. With a season 4 already confirmed, the future's looking good for Daryl and his bestie Carol who's accompanied him for the past two seasons. Except, everyone's favourite mulleted hero hasn't exactly had it easy this time around. Trapped in the Spanish town of Solaz del Amar, Daryl and Carol are caught up in all kinds of drama with the show's new Big Bad, Fede. Plus, Carol's been catching feelings for a local named Antonio. It's a shame then that Fede has kidnapped Antonio and is currently torturing him for info on Daryl. Will Carol find love at last? Will Daryl ever make it home? And will someone finally cut Daryl's mullet down to size while he's sleeping? These questions and more all come to mind watching the seventh, final episode of Daryl Dixon season 3. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3 ending explained The finale begins with a callback to a callback. Remember when Daryl placed Laurent's Rubik's Cube at a memorial to honour him a few episodes prior? (Laurent was the French kid Daryl looked after in seasons 1 and 2.) Well, we're back there now with another familiar face from previous seasons. Yep, the mysterious eyepatch guy is actually Stéphane Codron, who started out as a villain in season 1 before he switched sides. The last time we saw him was at the end of season 2 when hallucinogenic bat poop in the Channel Tunnel caused him to see visions of his brother, during which he stabbed Daryl with a bayonet. Yep, really. That encounter ended with Stéphane running off to who knows where and he hasn't been seen since. Until now. More on that later. While Antonio is being tortured by Fede, Carol tries to convince his ungrateful son Roberto t…

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My Hero Academia's 10 strangest characters ranked from quirky to super weird
type: item
date: 2025-10-18T07:00:17.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Anime
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
description: Quirky is one word for it!
encoded: My Hero Academia is so much more than just a Japanese version of Western comic book stories like X-Men or Umbrella Academy. Across its decade-long run, Kōhei Horikoshi's school-based superhero saga has changed the game for storytelling in both anime and manga, introducing us to countless heroes and villains who are just as inspiring as they are weird. Powers in this world are known as "quirks", yet quirky doesn't even begin to cover the bizarre places some of these characters take us. In Class 1-A alone, there are students who possess frog powers, who gain super strength from eating sugar, and one who can even shoot lasers out of his belly button. These would be the strangest characters in almost any other story, but in My Hero Academia, such quirks are ordinary and even mundane in comparison to the 10 weirdos you're about to meet in this list. But who's the weirdest and freakiest character in a world full of them? Join us here at RadioTimes.com as we flex our listing Quirk and create the ultimate ranking of 10 weirdest characters in My Hero Academia. 10. Taneo Tokuda – Whole Body Lens Imagine being able to take photos without worrying that your phone might run out of charge. That's the perfect reality Taneo Tokuda lives in thanks to his unique Whole Body Lens ability that enables him to form camera lenses anywhere on his skin. Tokuda can even print off the photos he takes from his chest, polaroid style. Obviously, he's a reporter, because what else would you possibly do with that quirk? Being a perv in the shadows won't pay your bills, after all. 9. Teruo Hazukashi – Shame When people usually feel shame or embarrassment, we tend to sweat or our face might turn red. But for Hazukashi, these feelings also endow him with super-strength. That's why when he shows up in episode 87, this nefarious criminal decides to get naked in a busy street, powered up by the shame this brings. Hazukashi is kind of ripped though, so why he's embarrassed to show off those abs is beyond …

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Peacemaker season 2 ending explained: How finale sets up Superman's Man of Tomorrow
type: item
date: 2025-10-10T09:45:12.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: HBO
subject: Sky
description: Things aren't looking good for Chris. **CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR PEACEMAKER SEASON 2 EPISODE 8**
encoded: **Warning: Spoilers ahead for Peacemaker season 2 episode 8.** Will Peacemaker ever find any actual peace? The penultimate episode of season 2 left Chris Smith in a very bad place. Yes, even worse than the Nazi-loving dimension he's just escaped from. Because on the team's way out, both Peacemaker's (alternate) brother and (alternate) father ended up dying, forcing Chris to relive the loss of his family all over again. With Peacemaker now in custody and the rest of the gang in disarray, what does this mean for the final chapter of season 2? And how do we go from that to the setup for season 3, not to mention James Gunn's Superman sequel Superman, Man of Tomorrow, which this episode will also launch. Grab yourself a Big Belly burger and settle in as we take a closer look at the end of season 2 and what's next for Peacemaker. Peacemaker season 2 ending explained The finale starts one month prior where we finally get to the night Chris and Emilia Harcourt acted on their feelings and shared a kiss. Copious amounts of tequila aside, it's an incredibly sweet, affecting sequence that wouldn't feel out of place in a modern-day rom-com. That's not to say it's cheesy either, especially when Emilia nearly pummels a guy with freckles. The chemistry Chris and Emilia share feels genuine, rooted in affection for their friends and each other. Back in the present, Chris rejects efforts made by the gang to visit him in prison. He claims to a guard that he's become the angel of death as a result of the trauma he's endured, but if that's true of anyone, it's Rick Flag Sr. Time and time again, he sends A.R.G.U.S. agents to investigate unlocked doors in the inter-dimensional space that Peacemaker first introduced us to at the start of this season. John Economos points out that this feels reckless, especially given that the agents can't be tracked once they pass through each door. Most of the doors are locked though, thankfully. That is, until they reach number 22. At first, it looks like…

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Spy x Family's 10 most powerful characters ranked from weakest to strongest
type: item
date: 2025-10-09T13:58:41.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Anime
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
description: How do the Forgers compare?
encoded: Every member of the titular Forger family hides a secret in Spy x Family, not just from the world but from each other as well. Loid Forger, the father, is actually a superspy in disguise, while his wife Yor works as a deadly assassin of international repute. Their adorable daughter Anya has gifts of her own, specifically the ability to read minds, and she's hiding the fact that their dog Bond can see the future. Each is strong in their own way, but who's the strongest? And how do the Forgers compare to the might of others they face within the Spy x Family universe? Read on for our ranking of the strongest Spy x Family characters. Sorry in advance to Bond for not quite making the cut. But he knew that already. 10. Anya Forger If we were ranking the cutest, most adorable Spy x Family characters, Anya would obviously come head and shoulders above the rest, despite her tiny stature. Unfortunately, this is not that list. But even in the strength stakes, Anya is stronger than you might think. Sure, Anya is still a child, and she's often drained easily by using her powers. But if she's this brave and resourceful now at the age of 5, just think how strong Anya could be with some training as an adult. Don't count the smallest Forger out just yet. No matter how tough things might get, she always laughs in the face of danger – and can you say the same? 9. Martha Marriott Appearances can be deceiving, especially in a spy show, and that's absolutely true for Martha Marriott, who works as a personal nanny to Becky Blackbell. This sweet elderly woman once served as a soldier in Ostania’s military and there's a reason why the rich Blackbell family have entrusted her with Becky's safety. As Loid Forger notes when they first meet, Marriott carries herself like a warrior, working as an undercover bodyguard in addition to her nanny duties. She might not be as strong and nimble as she was in her youth, but Martha remains someone you shouldn't mess with, regardless of her age. 8. SSS Lie…

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Boots cast share their hopes for potential season 2 following that surprise cliffhanger
type: item
date: 2025-10-09T11:55:17.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Exclusive
subject: Netflix
subject: News
subject: On demand
subject: Video
description: "There are so many ways it could go for all of our characters..."
encoded: *Warning: Boots spoilers ahead.* Training for the Marines is never easy. Now imagine you're a gay, closeted kid who joins up in the early '90s. That's the story behind Boots, a new Netflix drama inspired by The Pink Marine, a memoir written by former US Marine Greg Cope White. 13 Reasons Why star Miles Heizer plays the lead and he's joined by Liam Oh as Cameron's best friend, Ray McAffey. Together, they fight to find their place in the marines, overcoming physical and emotional obstacles spearheaded by Sgt Sullivan (Max Parker), a decorated Marine who hides a secret of his own. Boots ending explained By the end of season 1's eight episode run, Cameron has finally proved that he has what it takes. Even Sullivan gives him his dues, revealing that he was only so hard on Cameron because he wanted to help make him stronger. The fact he's also closeted might have had something to do with it too. "You ready, Cope? You’re a Marine now." And with that, Sullivan leaves. Where he goes, we don't find out, but it's easy to see why he left when he did. Prison looms following a bar fight that went bad and the Marines are also questioning him to find out if he's gay too, because it was illegal to be homosexual and join up at the time. Meanwhile, Cameron celebrates the end of his training in a bar with the other Marines, overjoyed that they've all made it. But he and Ray couldn't have picked a worse time to join, because a newscaster has just announced that Iraq has invaded Kuwait, which means they'll soon be needed on the front lines. With Sullivan gone AWOL, Cameron suppressing his sexuality, and Ray… Well, Ray's found love, all three characters are in a very different place to where they started this season. Ahead of the show's launch, RadioTimes.com asked Parker, Heizer and Oh what they hoped to see for their characters next in a potential second season of Boots. "There are so many ways it could go for all of our characters," said Parker. "I love that moment at the end where I h…

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How House of Guinness rewrites the rules for queer period drama with Arthur Guinness
type: item
creator: David Opie
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Steven Knight’s depiction of a gay Arthur Guinness in 19th-century Dublin defies the usual period drama mould.
encoded: Add House of Guinness to your watchlist You'd think being born into Dublin's wealthiest family would make life easier, but not for Arthur Guinness. As the eldest Guinness sibling, he ends up inheriting half of the famous brewing empire at the start of Netflix's House of Guinness, and while it sure beats living on the streets, Arthur still isn't keen. The hot-headed Guinness is used to getting his own way, which his father soon stops by threatening to remove his entire inheritance if he doesn't step up and take over. Heavy lies the crown, and all that. But with all this extra responsibility also comes more scrutiny. Because, as it turns out, Arthur is gay at a time when being outed as such could risk life imprisonment – or worse. Not ideal when you're co-leading a business of considerable influence and wealth. Forced to stay in Dublin, Arthur breaks up with his long-distance beau in London, but that doesn't stop him from having some fun still (that bathtub scene comes to mind). Unfortunately, Arthur’s proclivities draw attention from local gangster Bonnie Champion, who demands £5,000 in blackmail money or else he'll be outed. An activist named Ellen Cochrane also sets out to blackmail Arthur, but instead of money, she wants his support in Dublin's Parliament for the Irish Brotherhood cause. To draw attention away from his horny trysts and shenanigans, Arthur marries a rich socialite named Olivia. Both go into this arrangement fully understanding that there's no love in it, that they're just using each other to reap the benefits that such a union might bring them at this point in high society. So far, so typical of queer representation in period dramas of this nature. As is often the case, the queer character is forced into hiding who they are, usually to avoid ridicule or public shame. A "lavender marriage" such as this is often the only way to keep the hounds at bay and survive in a society that's not built for them. Is it a realistic depiction of what it must have …

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height: 4706

House of Guinness rewrites the rules for queer period drama with Arthur Guinness
type: item
date: 2025-10-01T11:52:19.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Steven Knight’s depiction of a gay Arthur Guinness in 19th-century Dublin defies the usual period drama mould.
encoded: You'd think being born into Dublin's wealthiest family would make life easier, but not for Arthur Guinness. As the eldest Guinness sibling, he ends up inheriting half of the famous brewing empire at the start of Netflix's House of Guinness, and while it sure beats living on the streets, Arthur still isn't keen. The hot-headed Guinness is used to getting his own way, which his father soon stops by threatening to remove his entire inheritance if he doesn't step up and take over. Heavy lies the crown, and all that. But with all this extra responsibility also comes more scrutiny. Because, as it turns out, Arthur is gay at a time when being outed as such could risk life imprisonment – or worse. Not ideal when you're co-leading a business of considerable influence and wealth. Forced to stay in Dublin, Arthur breaks up with his long-distance beau in London, but that doesn't stop him from having some fun still (that bathtub scene comes to mind). Unfortunately, Arthur’s proclivities draw attention from local gangster Bonnie Champion, who demands £5,000 in blackmail money or else he'll be outed. An activist named Ellen Cochrane also sets out to blackmail Arthur, but instead of money, she wants his support in Dublin's Parliament for the Irish Brotherhood cause. To draw attention away from his horny trysts and shenanigans, Arthur marries a rich socialite named Olivia. Both go into this arrangement fully understanding that there's no love in it, that they're just using each other to reap the benefits that such a union might bring them at this point in high society. So far, so typical of queer representation in period dramas of this nature. As is often the case, the queer character is forced into hiding who they are, usually to avoid ridicule or public shame. A "lavender marriage" such as this is often the only way to keep the hounds at bay and survive in a society that's not built for them. Is it a realistic depiction of what it must have been like to be gay back then? For the m…

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width: 7059
height: 4706

Wayward is unlike any other thriller – for one unexpectedly inspired reason
type: item
date: 2025-09-26T18:00:29.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Mae Martin's chilling Netflix series Wayward will wrong-foot you in the best possible way.
encoded: Warning: contains major spoilers for Wayward. Wayward is set in the idyllic town of Tall Pines, where everything seems perfect. Your classic white picket fence slice of paradise. But as you might have guessed already, nothing is quite what it seems. Everyone is a bit too friendly, the local school a little too efficient… And the chatty principal of the school? Far too nice, with an eerie smile endlessly plastered across her face. It all feels a bit uneasy, deliberately so, which is why it's so surprising that the one aspect of this story which does fit in perfectly is queerness, despite the sinister, small-town setting and genre at hand. OK, it shouldn't be that surprising if you're even slightly familiar with the work of series creator Mae Martin, who also stars as Alex Dempsey, a police officer investigating some troubling disappearances at the local school. Fans of Taskmaster or the Canadian comedian's semi-biographical dramedy Feel Good might already be aware of how Martin explores their non-binary identity in their work. But even so, a genre-blending psychological thriller like this might be the last place you'd expect to see Martin navigate such themes. And what's even more surprising is exactly how Martin goes about this. It would have been easy to play off the horrors that so often come when queer people are forced to return to their hometown, or any small town for that matter. There's a reason so many of us migrate to cities, after all, often as an escape from the bigotry that – not always – but often comes in the rural parts of pretty much any country. But after Mae's character Alex joins their wife in Tall Pines, no one bats an eyelid at his identity as a trans man. When a fellow cop instantly accepts Alex into the "brotherhood", it's hard not to wonder if this so-called acceptance might be part of the wider facade that's hiding something dark and rotten at the heart of this town. However, as the series progresses, it becomes clear that this isn't actuall…

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height: 2400

Upload season 4 ending explained: What happened to Nathan and Nora?
type: item
date: 2025-08-25T11:00:42.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Amazon Prime Video
description: It's time to say goodbye to Prime Video's sci-fi.
encoded: Upload, a show that promises immortality via technology, has finally come to an end. Launched by The Office (US) and Parks & Recreation creator Greg Daniels back in 2020, Upload starred Robbie Amell as Nathan Brown, a computer programmer who was uploaded to a digital afterlife just moments before his physical body died. At Lakeview, Nathan met his 'Angel', a customer service provider from the real world who he fell in love with, despite remaining in contact with his girlfriend Ingrid. This hybrid of The Good Place and Black Mirror dipped a bit in season 3, but with just four episodes left to wrap everything up, Upload's final season is much more focused, and all the better for it. At the end of season 3, the Horizen company responsible for Lakeview rebranded as Betta in the wake of a courtroom scandal, so they went about destroying all of their illegal duplicate uploads. Unfortunately, that included Nathan, who had doubled up in season 3, splitting into a new digital copy as well as the human original. One of these two versions called Nora and Ingrid up in the finale to reveal that the other Nathan had been destroyed. But which one? Who's just lost the love of their life? That's where we kick off at the start of the fourth and final season. Upload season 4 ending explained: What happened to Nora and Nathan? Season 4 begins with Nora mourning the loss of the original Nathan, but it turns out he's actually still alive, trapped by scientists who are experimenting on him at Betta. Three episodes in, Nathan finally escapes and arrives at Nora's door, ready to kick off the end of Upload for one last chapter. Lost in another wedding simulation, Nora is shocked and overjoyed when the real Nathan, not just a digital copy or holographic projection, appears and takes off her VR goggles. There are no words, just a kiss and tears (plus a whole lot more if the way they sheepishly leave their bedroom the next morning is anything to go by). Meanwhile, Ingrid is pushing her version …

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Netflix's Long Story Short is a worthy successor to BoJack Horseman, the best animated series of all time
type: item
date: 2025-08-22T09:18:39.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Comedy
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s new animated series traces the lives of one Jewish family over seven transformative decades.
encoded: BoJack Horseman is quite possibly the best animated series of all time. That's an argument we made just last year at Radio Times to celebrate the talking horse show's 10th anniversary. Whether you agree or not, what we can all agree on is that BoJack Horseman tackled difficult topics like addiction and generational trauma with rare ambition and emotional clarity... but only if you stuck with it past the first few episodes. That's when the anthropomorphic animals and silly cutaway gags started to give way to a darkness hidden just below the bright pastel animation and endless sight gags. That's not the case this time around with Raphael Bob-Waksberg's long-awaited follow-up, Long Story Short. Far removed from the depravity of Hollywood, this story of a Jewish family navigating life together is immediately endearing in its emotional honesty. Upon meeting the Schwoopers at a special weekend get-together, the first episode jumps ahead in time for one last scene that hints at a much wider story told over seven decades. From the 1950s through to the 2020s, Long Story Short spends time with each family member and the various relationships they form, weaving an expansive yet easy-to-follow timeline that organically captures the complexity of family dynamics with warmth, yes, but also painful truths as well. Dead characters come back to life and seemingly insignificant details become infinitely more important later on, upon finishing the season as a whole. This temporal juggling is especially moving in regard to Naomi Schwartz, the matriarch who obsessively loves her children, but can't stop criticising them regardless. Other standouts include her son, Yoshi, who struggles to fit in, and her daughter, Shira, who provides a rare example of Judaism and queerness intersecting on screen. Said Judaism is as integral to Long Story Short as the altar of celebrity and influence is in BoJack Horseman. It's there in the use of specific Jewish language — "Dude, your davening was on poi…

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Peacemaker season 2 writes Zack Snyder characters out of existence
type: item
date: 2025-08-22T03:00:17.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: News
subject: NOW
subject: Sky
description: Think you've seen this scene before? Think again!
encoded: Following a highly publicised reboot, previous DC films like Aquaman and Zack Snyder's Justice League are no longer considered canon. As such, they don't share a universe with new stories including Creature Commandos and James Gunn's Superman. However, a few characters have survived this transition, such as John Cena's Peacemaker from The Suicide Squad. That's good news for fans of the Peacemaker series, which released its first season as part of the old DC universe. But with a new season now upon us, how does series creator James Gunn explain the Justice League cameo at the end of season 1 if Zack Snyder's world no longer exists in canon? In case you forgot, Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and The Flash all showed up to help Peacemaker save Earth from an alien invasion, but they arrived too late. "Go f**k another fish, asshole," said Peacemaker to Jason Momoa's Aquaman as he stormed past the team. Ezra Miller's Flash then suggested it's not a rumour, to which Aquaman simply said, "F**k you, Barry." As popular as this scene was back when it aired in 2021, it doesn't make sense anymore if we're supposed to believe that Peacemaker season 2 belongs to the new DC universe. Instead of simply ignoring this problem or writing in a throwaway line to explain it away, Gunn smartly tackles this head-on. Season 2 opens with a "Previously in the DCU" montage that looks back at what happened in Peacemaker season 1. But then Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) suggests calling in the "Justice Gang", not the Justice League, and with that, we're treated to a new version of that season 1 cameo which has now been re-filmed with the new team we first met in Superman. View oEmbed on the source website While Mr Terrific, Superman and Supergirl hang back in the shadows, Nathan Fillion's Green Lantern and Isabela Merced's Hawkgirl describe Peacemaker as a "meat-head". "Screw that guy," continues Green Lantern. "Do you know he tells people I'm a puke freak?" By swapping the Justice League out f…

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height: 2560

"It's got to be its own thing" – How Alien: Earth ditches canon for the greater good
type: item
date: 2025-08-15T06:00:36.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Disney Plus
subject: Exclusive
subject: News
description: Noah Hawley made a big decision for the sake of a good story.
encoded: In Alien: Earth (and every franchise film that precedes it), the Xenomorphs are essentially the perfect organism. They've evolved to become incredibly adaptable, sleek killing machines who get the job done no matter where they are or who they face. It's no coincidence that the Alien franchise has proved itself to be just as adaptable. Ridley Scott's original masterpiece from 1979 established a horror baseline that's since evolved into an action sequel (James Cameron's Aliens), existential prequels (such as 2012's Prometheus), and now a new TV show that brings these aliens to Earth for the very first time. But it's not just the homebound setting that forges new ground for this killer sci-fi franchise. Alien: Earth is set in the year 2120, just two years before Ridley's first Alien movie, yet creator Noah Hawley isn't beholden to canon in the ways you might expect. Thanks to the likes of Marvel and DC, audiences are more open than ever to the possibilities that come through building a larger shared universe across multiple projects. As such, you might assume that Alien: Earth would slot neatly in with the rest of the Alien timeline, incorporating various elements from across its 45-year history. If so, you assumed wrong. Hawley expanded on this with our very own James Hibbs as part of the Radio Times Writers' Room, explaining why Alien: Earth had to run parallel to the films rather than directly tap into them. "It's got to be its own thing. There's touchstones, there's references. I mean, [it was the] same on Fargo of saying, 'All right, I'll take a little Lebowski, I'll take a little of this tone of voice, or this element and the fact that in the James Cameron movie, you had Newt and Bill Paxton, and she's a child who acts like an adult, and he's an adult that acts like a child. And you think, 'OK, well, that tone of voice is there, right?' So now, when you have these adults who are acting childish, you're like, well, that voice is in Alien already." That right there…

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And Just Like That gave us the worst possible ending – just as the show was getting good
type: item
date: 2025-08-15T02:00:44.000Z
creator: David Opie
subject: Comedy
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: NOW
subject: Sky Comedy
description: Unsurprisingly, the Sex and the City sequel did not stick the landing.
encoded: And just like that, it's the end of And Just Like That… Yep, after three seasons of… well, whatever that was, the Sex and the City sequel we love to hate has been cancelled, freeing the cast and us alike from what can only be described as a legal form of torture. This news was well received by everyone who didn't appreciate the fine art of hate-watching a show and laughing at all its flaws. But for those of us who revolved our entire week around whatever embarrassing thing Miranda got up to next, this cancellation has been kind of devastating, especially when the show was actually getting good, at long last. OK, maybe not good, per se. But the third season was certainly a step up from the two that preceded it, easing into the show's ridiculous rhythms without trying so hard to live up to what made the original series so great. In its final season, And Just Like That had become its own strange beast, an amalgamation of absurd hats and smelly armpits and terrible phone sex that proved to be strangely fascinating in a very different way to Sex and the City. Upon delivering the news, series creator Michael Patrick King wrote: "While I was writing the last episode of And Just Like That season 3, it became clear to me that this might be a wonderful place to stop." I would argue the opposite. With Aidan finally out of the picture (and Duncan too), this was clearly "a wonderful place" to continue from, delivering a fourth season where Carrie could navigate singledom as an older woman who gets to have fun again, like she did in Sex and the City. The final episode sets this up without giving us a chance to see what that actually looks like in practice, robbing us of what this show could and should have been all along. What's clear, however, is that King's decision definitely did occur to him while writing the final episode. Because, let's face it: there's no way the 11 episodes that preceded it were planned with a meaningful end to the series in mind. By choosing to finish th…

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