Outlander: Explore the spectacular Scottish filming locations
As the historical romp returns to More4, Gary Rose goes for a spin in the Highlands...
It's May but it feels like July, as I hit the road from Inverness's implausibly wee airport. "I don't bother to check the weather forecast, it changes by the minute," says Andy, my kilted driver and tour guide. Sunshine lights up the heather and gorse. A pair of buzzards flank our route like feathered surveillance drones. The sound of a Red Hot Chilli Pipers CD fills the dead air between historical anecdotes (they’re the most famous bagpipe band on the planet, apparently). And so begins my tour of locations used in series two of Outlander. Terminating in Edinburgh, it's a 150-mile road trip slicing through the heart of the Highlands, taking in the Cairngorms National Park and some of the UK's most dramatic scenery. 5. Culloden Battlefield Barely ten minutes' drive from the airport is Culloden Battlefield, the site of the last big hand-to-hand battle fought on British soil, 250 years ago. Culloden is a major theme in series two, as Claire struggles to prevent the conflict she knows will decimate Jamie's Jacobite rebels. Given the site's importance, it's not surprising that scenes from the battle (which are actually set to appear in series three) weren't filmed here. Instead, they were shot in Cumbernauld, north-east of Glasgow. Still, for a dash of historical context the recently revamped, National Trust-owned Culloden visitor centre is worth a look. Its centrepiece is a 360-degree "Battle Immersion Film", where projections on all four walls chuck you, Saving Private Ryan-style, into the thick of the action. 4. Clava Cairns It's a short drive from Culloden to Clava Cairns, the Bronze Age burial site that stood in for the Standing Stones: Claire's gateway between the centuries. There's no fancy visitor centre here, but the place has an aura of mystery about it. I arrive at the "golden hour", just before dusk, when the grass sparkles ultra-vivid green under the sun's soft glow. It looks like Hobbiton on steroids. The passages leading into the two stone burial cairns align with the mid-winter sun, and anthropologists reckon prehistoric people used them to mark the winter solstice. Whether any of them got sucked into a temporal vortex and ejected into another century is yet to be confirmed. Top hotels in Inverness Cheap flights to Inverness 3. Drummond Castle Gardens I bypass a village called Dull (twinned with Boring, Oregon) en route through the Cairngorms towards Drummond Castle Gardens. Maybe the night life's dull here, but the scenery certainly isn't. I admit to some scepticism on hearing that the gardens, near Crieff, replicated Versailles in Outlander, where Claire and Jamie are holed up for much of series two. But the view from the castle grounds very much feels like the French palace's gardens in miniature; a symmetrical patchwork decorated with red-leaved maple trees and manicured bushes, bisected by a long, straight pathway leading your eyes into the horizon. The caretaker leads me to a greenhouse at the sloped edge of the south-facing garden, where they grow tomatoes, grapes and figs. Grapes and figs in Scotland? Do they have climate teleporters as well as time machines up here? She tells me that Outlander tourism, especially from America, has seen visitor numbers rocket. "You see these white lorries with the studio name on the side and you think, there goes Outlander," she smiles. 2. Culross Palace The shortbread-tin-pretty village of Culross, on the banks of the Forth estuary near Edinburgh, doubles in Outlander as Cranesmuir – where Geillis Duncan and her husband Arthur live. On its edge lies Culross Palace. The gorgeous pale honeycomb colour on this 16th century merchant's house's wouldn't look out of place in Tuscany. I'm shown several Outlander spots: Claire's Mediterranean-style herb garden; a kitchen which was redesigned as an English tavern; and the Jacobite meeting room where Claire extracted a woman's tooth. But the ghost stories outnumber the Outlander anecdotes. "We've got loads of spirits here, and they're all good," I'm told. 1. Duncarron Medieval Village Duncarron Medieval Village is the surprise highlight of the tour. I'm met at the gates by Malin, a flame-haired Norwegian lady dressed Lara Croft-style in combat trousers and a vest. I suspect she's got the combat skills to match the look, but resist the urge to ask if she's a Viking. She tells me about their work of Clanranald, their charitable trust, which teaches kids about the earthy, warts-and-all side of Scottish history. "Its much easier to learn about something when you can touch it, eat it, smell it," she says. "Our dream is to build a working medieval village. We know how the nobility lived, but this is a working-class village for ordinary people." The fort they're building is 70 per cent finished. It's been funded by the film and TV projects they've been involved in, providing costumes and extras to big-budget films — an incredible 245 of them over 15 years. Malin rattles off a list: Gladiator, Thor, Captain America... I give up trying to write them all down. "We beat each other up in front of the camera," she says. "It's safe violence. For Outlander we're baddie redcoats, getting shot, blown up and ridden over." Nice work if you can get it. I'm trussed up in a tartan plaid, given a claymore and shield (see photo, above), and ushered into a wooden hut. There, I'm fed a three-course banquet of pea and ham soup, beef with vegetables, and honey oat cakes with stewed fruit — all served in wooden bowls and washed down with a flagon of ale. It's the best meal of the trip. If this was anything like Claire's experience of 18th-century life, I'm not surprised she was reluctant to leave. Outlander series 2 begins on Thursday 15 June, More4, 9pm. See the Visit Scotland website for an interactive map of Outlander destinations Compare best-rated hotels in Inverness Find flights to Inverness Top things to do in Inverness
On the trail of Dan Brown's Inferno in Florence
Gary Rose pairs Dante with chianti on an Inferno-themed weekend in the Tuscan capital
Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) awakes in hospital with a sore head and depleted memory cells, in the opening scene of Inferno. Glancing out the window, he spies a familiar medieval skyline silhouetted against the dusk. "What am I doing in Florence?" he asks. I have the exact same reaction as I pull open my shutters, bleary-eyed, at the city's Hotel Brunelleschi on a damp Saturday morning. Then my recall kicks in. Ah yes, I'm here to explore locations used in the big-screen version of Dan Brown's Dante-inspired novel (out on Blu-ray/DVD 20th Feb). And where better to start than in the main tourist zone, at the museum that features heavily in the first half of the film... The Museo de Palazzo Vecchio Palazzo Vecchio translates as "old palace". Apt, as it's been around since 1299, and was home to the Medici family for 350 years. It's now the city's town hall, although the majority of the building is open to the public as a museum. Ceiling in the Hall of the 500 The museum's most prominent Inferno-related room is the 60-foot-high Hall of the 500 (above); a former meeting chamber sprinkled with somewhat aggressive Renaissance artworks. Here, Langdon and his companion Sienna examine Vasari's giant fresco The Battle of Marciano... and unveil a secret message. "Cerca trova," it says. "Seek and you shall find." "We sought it and we found it. So now what?" says Langdon. Well... how about heading upstairs to the Hall of Maps, a room adorned with elegantly drafted cartography. Like in the film, the map of Armenia conceals a secret passage; unlike in the film, you can't access the building's rafters from here. Just as well really, it looks dangerous up there. And if you fell to your death through the Hall of the 500's ceiling (like the assassin in the film), the museum staff wouldn't be happy. Those 500-year-old frescos are a pain to replace. Also on display here is Dante's death mask, which the amnesiac Langdon is gobsmacked to see himself pinching on a CCTV recording. My guide from the Tuscan Tourist Board tells me that Dante's influence on Italian literature and culture can't be overstated. Every Italian child studies him from the age of 11, apparently — he's their equivalent of Shakespeare. Why? Because Dante is the grandfather of the Italian dialect. Whereas previously books were written in Latin, Dante's Divine Comedy was penned in the language of Tuscany's streets, making literature more accessible to the masses. Around the corner in the Piazza del Duomo is the distinctive, octagonal Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistry of Saint John), where Langdon heads to recover Dante's mask. The ceiling here is decorated with early depictions of hell, which inspired Dante's work. Diabolical fresco in the Baptistry of Saint John The writer was baptised here, and it's easy to imagine how its grisly gargoyles might have freaked him out as a child. Ten euros gets you access to all the buildings in the square, and the adventurous can also climb to the top of the huge cathedral, the Duomo, for great views across the city. Cross the Ponte Vecchio (and grab a cocktail in Santo Spirito) Ask any local to recommend a cool area to grab a drink, and they'll dispatch you south of the river to Santo Spirito. This is where Florence's hip kids hang out, although it feels quite inclusive and caters for a wide spectrum of ages. The bar I visit on Saturday night, Volume, is full of Italians drinking 4-euro cocktails. There's a jukebox and a band playing funk covers. The drummer is amazing. Evening at the Ponte Vecchio The most direct way to get to Santo Spirito from the Palazzo Vecchio area is to head down the main shopping street, Via Por S Maria (resist any urges to drop into H&M or Zara. You can do that at home). This'll lead you straight onto the Ponte Vechhio, which backdrops Inferno's opening credits and one of the later chase scenes. This iconic medieval bridge is an architectural must-see, and you'll want to stop for a photo overlooking the winding River Arno. Once home to butcher's shops, its premises now offer jewellery and souvenirs, while street hawkers stalk its pavements brandishing selfie sticks and bubble wands. Stroll around the Boboli Gardens A few minutes' walk to the east of Santo Spirito are the Palazzo Pizzi and the adjacent Boboli Gardens. It's always a good idea to take in a park on a city break, and you won't want to miss this one. The panoramic views from its Neptune fountain are the main draw, but there's just as much joy to be found exploring the snaking laneways to the east, with their orange groves, lavender bushes and hidden surprises around each corner. View from above the Neptune fountain at Boboli Gardens In the film, Langdon and Sienna vault over the wall to get in. I'd recommend the more traditional route of paying €10 for a ticket — unless you want your collar felt by the Carabinieri. They carry very large guns, you know. Taste some wine Dante pairs well with a nice chianti, and you can't come to Florence without sampling the vino. It's not always easy to find a decent independent wine shop in the UK. In central Florence, it seems there's at least one on every street. Here's they're called "enotecas" (derived from "eno", the Greek word for wine). Wine tasting at La Divina Enoteca If you're not familiar with the concept, enotecas are wine shops where you're encouraged to sit down and try the products before marching off with a bottle under your arm. Often, they'll come accompanied by a selection of meats, olives and cheeses. A touch more sophisticated than your local offie back home. I was impressed with the cavernous cellar at Enoteca Alessi on Via della Oche and with La Divina Enoteca on Via Panicale. And it'd be daft not to combine the latter with a trip to the Mercato Centrale; a colossal foodies' paradise set over two floors in a cast-iron 19th century building, selling both modern and traditional Tuscan fare. And, of course, lots of wine. Just try to make sure your memory is better than Professor Langdon's when you wake up the next day. Inferno is out on Blu-ray and DVD on 20th February 2017 Gary stayed at the Brunelleschi Hotel in Florence, and his trip was organised by Grape Escapes Radio Times Travel: Portofino, Florence and Tuscany, 7 nights from £699. What's included: Enjoy a week's stay in one of Tuscany's most celebrated spa-resorts Discover Santa Margherita Ligure's scenic bay Pay a visit to Portofino, one of the Mediterranean's most exclusive corners Discover the wonderful cities of Pisa and Lucca Spend a day in beautiful Florence Seven nights' dinner, bed and breakfast accommodation at the three-star Hotel Belvedere, Montecatini (upgrades available) Return flights to Italy Click here for more details and to book
The Jungle Book: Searching for Shere Khan at India's Pench National Park
Gary Rose seeks out creatures including the elusive Bengal tiger on a Jungle Book safari in Madhya Pradesh
"Welcome to my office," says Shree, my safari guide, as we drive under the rusty, tiger-striped barrier guarding the entrance to the core area of Pench National Park. I picture the view from my desk of Hammersmith Road and concede defeat. I'm here to explore the habitat that inspired Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book (Disney's live-action version of which is released on DVD and Blu-ray on 22 August). Kipling was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), an hour's plane journey south-west of here, and many of the tale's characters are based on this area's wildlife: Baloo the sloth bear, Akela the wolf, Kaa the python and, of course, Shere Khan the tiger. Sadly, there are as little as 3,000 wild tigers left on the planet, and the endangered felines are Pench's tourist economy's main draw. Government initiatives and charities such as Born Free (www.bornfree.org.uk) are working to protect and conserve the species. But, as much as he'd love to, Shree can't guarantee we'll see one. I'm staying at a place called Baghvan ("tiger forest" in Hindi), within the national park and about an hour's drive from its protected "core area". You get more than just the bare necessities of life here. It's jungle de luxe, with its tastefully appointed dark-wood huts kitted out in colonial style. Village tour Some local villagers will show you around their home for a modest fee. So the day before my first safari I get Baghvan's staff to arrange a visit to Khmbha, home to some 460 people. The drive to the village is an effusion of colours, popping out of the landscape like felt tip in a colouring book. Rows of saris dot the paddy fields as women work, bent like boomerangs, knee-deep in sludgy water. Kingfishers line up on telephone wires, glistening like turquoise tightrope walkers in waistcoats made from mother of pearl. Even the grass looks supernaturally green. I'm greeted by some smiley kids who are pumping water from a well, then shown into a house floored with a mix of soil and cow dung. The owner's wife is in there, pounding rice and grinding lentils. She lets me have a go and in less than a minute I can feel blisters threatening to scar me hands. She does this stuff all day. In the garden they grow okra, papaya, chilli, mint, custard apples, pomegranates, lemongrass, sesame, limes, turmeric... After the tour, the owners make me a cup of chai and a bowl of spicy lentils like the ones I helped to grind. This excursion is dubbed the Mowgli Village Tour. It's a tenuous link, but I'm so glad I did it. Radio Times Travel offer: Tigers and the Taj Mahal, 10 days from £999 Safari day one Over the following two days I have three safari visits arranged. I'm confident I'll nail a tiger sighting or two during that time. But this jungle VIP proves more elusive than I'd anticipated. Bisected and sustained by the River Pench, Pench National Park is home to teak and banyan trees; bison, buzzards, antelopes, hyenas and 150 tigers. I ask Shree how likely a tiger sighting might be. "The most tigers I've seen in a day is 14," he chuckles. Hooray! "The longest I've gone without seeing one is 28 days." Boo! No definitive answer there then. It's a 4.30am start on safari day one. Clouds of green parrots dissolve into the sky as we drive. Cows obstruct the roads like flabby, overconfident royalty. It's monsoon season and I seem to be the only Western visitor around. Shree tells me that the summer high season (September-December) is a better time to spot tigers. I'm starting to get worried. As our jeep does its circuit around the park's rough and rocky path, we see monkeys (langurs, rhesus macaques), deer, hornbills and peacocks. Lots of peacocks. My game of jungle bingo is going well, but there's a tiger-shaped hole in my card. It's like PHD level Where's Wally finding those critters. What's that under that tree? Oh, it's another langur. What's that crouching behind that rock? Ahh. Another rock. "Shere Khan is shy today," says Shree. But we do see paw prints in the mud. Then, our jeep gets stuck in it. For two hours... while we wait for help to arrive. Oh well, there's always tomorrow... Safari day two The next morning's safari, in a different area of the park, is equally fascinating. We breakfast by a spectacular waterfall and get within sniffing distance of a pack of wild dogs. But still no tiger. Later we return for the evening session; our final attempt. I try not to focus my hopes too much on a tiger sighting — I've already seen so many incredible creatures. But just as the light is about to fade along with our hopes, a haunting, guttural murmur in the undergrowth has Shree slamming on the brakes. We follow the sound as it stalks back and forth, getting tantalisingly closer but always beyond sight behind the rocks and trees beside the road. Another couple of jeeps arrive, each containing half a dozen more tourists. Eventually we pin her down. There's a rustle in the undergrowth and the tiger appears, barely 50 feet from us. Then, with a swish of her tail, she's gone. Like a stripy stripper exiting the stage. Always leave them wanting more. As we head back towards the fringes of the national park, I have to keep reminding myself that what we just witnessed was in the wild. This ain't no safari park. "Yeah, seeing a tiger was awesome," I think. "But leopard sightings are even rarer. Wouldn't it be amazing to see one of those." Radio Times Travel offer: Tigers, the Taj Mahal and Amritsar's Golden Temple, 14 days from £1,499pp Back in my room that evening, a hand-written note sits on my bed. It reads... "Congratulations on seeing my arch nemesis. I hope you will swing back soon to try and find my other animal friends. Bon voyage! Love Mowgli." The Jungle book is released on DVD and Blu-ray on 22 August Gary Rose stayed at the Taj Santacruz hotel, Mumbai, and at Baghvan Lodge, Pench National Park. For further details, see www.tajsafaris.com Radio Times Travel offers Tigers and the Taj Mahal, 10 days from £999. This superb-value tour of northern India features the three great cities of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, and the opportunity to spend some time 'on safari' in beautiful Ranthambhore Park. Once the hunting ground of Indian princes, this park stands atop a hill range of grasslands, streams, lakes and old ruins, and is the home of the legendary Tigers of Ranthambhore. Click here for the full itinerary and to book. Tigers, the Taj Mahal and Amritsar's Golden Temple, 14 days from £1,499pp. Search for tigers and see the unforgettable Taj Mahal on this enthralling tour of Northern India. You'll discover a beguiling Himalayan hill state, beautiful Himachal-Pradesh, and witness the Golden Temple's sacred ceremonies at Amritsar, in the prosperous province of the Punjab. Click here for the full itinerary and to book. View all India offers
How to turn your holiday on Malta and Gozo into a Game of Thrones pilgrimage
"Winter is coming," as the Starks are so fond of saying in George RR Martin's books. Time to start planning a break in the sun. And if you fancy adding some Game of Thrones tourism to a Maltese holiday, here are the locations to look out for. Valletta Back in series one — before Arya had spilled a man's blood and when Ned Stark still had a head on his shoulders — Malta was used as the backdrop for The Seven Kingdoms' warmer locations, from King's Landing to the Dothraki Sea. From series two onwards, shooting shifted to Dubrovnik, Morocco and Spain. But Malta is still a film industry hot spot, and if you're lucky you might stumble across a film crew on the streets of Valletta, Europe's most southerly capital. "Welcome to the nation of 400,000 inhabitants and 300,000 cars," says my tour guide en route to the medieval walled city. I'm not sure whether he's exaggerating, but traffic jams are definitely a problem on this densely populated island. Even though it's smaller than the Isle of Wight, it can take a while to drive from one end to the other. The slow cruising speed allows me to spot some clues to Malta's colonial past: red post boxes; pelican crossings; there's even a signpost to (I kid you not) a place called Clapham Junction. Request a holiday brochure from one of our partners Valletta is intensely photogenic, with its Mediterranean panoramas and narrow streets flanked by baroque buildings of sandy stone (see gallery below). It's laid out in a Manhattan-style grid system, but the roads are straight for military reasons, I'm told — so the army could shoot cannons at invaders, knocking them down like pins in a bowling alley. There are a lot of cannons here; they even use them as bollards. I visit the ornate St John's Co-Cathedral, home to two Caravaggios; sink a pint in the pub where Oliver Reed took his final tipple (while filming Gladiator); and spy on the set for the Assassin's Creed movie, which is being pieced together in one of the squares. But what I'm really here to see is the exterior of The Red Keep at King's Landing, aka the 17th-century Fort Ricasoli, which is visible across the Grand Harbour from the Upper Barrakka Gardens. It's a popular filming location, and if the site is in use you might not be allowed access to the King's Landing gate, with its impressive plaited pillars (pictured), but you can see the walls by water. And what better way to travel than in a 200-year-old gondola (known locally as a "dghajsa")? The King's Landing gate at Fort Ricasoli, and how it appears in series 1, ep 3 My gondolier, Walter, welcomes me aboard with a Cheshire Cat grin. All is calm until the daily 4pm cannon salute erupts nearby. I suddenly know how Stannis must have felt when Tyrion had his armada pelted with wildfire. It's a shame we're not allowed to go through the King's Landing gates, but they make a fine focal point for a spectacular boat trip. Gozo A half-hour ferry journey from the north end of Malta lies its sibling, Gozo; a smaller island, sprinkled with vineyards and Neolithic archaeological sites. I stop for a plate of sea urchin spaghetti and a Maltese chardonnay at Ta Cenc, a restaurant overlooking a horseshoe-shaped bay that narrows into a Wild West-style ravine. Apparently scenes for Brad Pitt's upcoming movie By the Sea were filmed here. Then it's on to the island's most prominent attraction, which is also its Game of Thrones centrepiece. The Azure Window (pictured) is a 30-metre-high rock formation surrounded by an unusual, alien-like honeycomb of stone punctured with small pools of turquoise water. If you're adventurous you can scramble to the top or pick your way around its base to a lagoon that's popular with divers. Pack shades and water-resistant footwear though: the rock reflects the light and is jagged in places. Gozo's Azure Window, and how it appears in series 1, ep 1 The location was used for Daenerys and Drogo's wedding scene, where we're also introduced to Jorah. The foreground looks very different in real life because the show's crew covered the ground in a mesh and smothered it in sand to achieve a desert effect. This didn't go down well with the Maltese authorities. "A Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair," as Illyrio says during the festivities. Don't add to the tally by tombstoning off the Azure Window, I'm advised. Just south of the ferry port that links Malta to Gozo (on the Maltese side) is the hamlet of Manikata. On its periphery you'll find some ruins that doubled as the village of Lhazareen, where Khal Drogo gets poisoned by a witch in episode eight. Request a holiday brochure from one of our partners Mdina Area Malta's original capital (pronounced Imdina) is seriously beautiful. It's also the prime spot for Thrones fans. Perched on top of the island, its medieval walls encircle a labyrinth of museums, shops and King's Landing-style alleys. Its plazas evoke many familiar scenes, including the courtyard outside Littlefinger's brothel (pictured), where Ned Stark felt the pointy end of Jaime Lannister's sword. The whole area is a pleasure to amble around, soaking up the essence of Westeros's principal city. Petyr Baelish's infamous brothel (Mdina), and how it appears in series 1 The suburb outside Mdina's walls, called Rabat, is also worth exploring. Towards the periphery you'll find St Dominic's Priory, which doubled as the Red Keep courtyard where, in episode seven, Ned seals his fate by telling Cersei he knows her and Jaime's secret. Her response: "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die." Ten minutes' drive east of Mdina, towards Valletta, is another Red Keep site — St Anton Palace and gardens in Balzan, where the courtyard and stables were shot. This is the President's residence and it's clearly the posh part of the island. The tranquil gardens are a must, with their fountains and roaming peacocks. It feels a lot like Dorne, although if you want to see the real location for that you'll have to visit Seville. Perhaps I'll pencil that in for next year — because when winter is coming, the wise head south. Request a holiday brochure from one of our partners All our contributors conduct first-hand research, retain editorial independence at all times and never accept anything in return for positive coverage.
Dag review: "As is often the case with Scandinavian comedies, the humour's as black and dry as a lump of coal"
Just like its lead character, this Norwegian "shrink-com" is flawed but redeemable, finds Gary Rose
The Americans have always loved a fictional psychologist: there's Frasier Crane, of course, Dr Melfi in the Sopranos and... well, maybe there aren't as many as it seems. The point is, while it's currently in vogue for American networks to pinch Scandinavian ideas, Dag feels like a US sitcom (albeit of the dark, HBO variety) repackaged for a Norwegian audience. The series revolves around misanthropic marriage counsellor Dag (played by comedian Atle Antonsen), who doesn't seem to agree with the concept of marriage at all. In fact, he spends his therapy sessions lobbing nuggets of cynicism at his shellshocked clients, leaving them pondering the futility of their future together. It's a miracle he makes any money at all. "If you live alone, your mood is how happy you are. Living together, you're only as happy as the least happy person there," he tells one couple. Harsh, but fair. Clearly, the whole therapy set-up is more cathartic for Dag than for those he's trying to help. What emotional trauma must have befallen the poor guy in the past, we wonder, to transform him into such a socially frigid grouch? More importantly, do we really care? The opening episode in tonight's double bill sees the curmudgeonly counsellor flitting between several scenarios: dishing out misanthropic soundbites at his office; sucking Valium out of Pez sweetie dispensers at home; and going on a series of disastrous dinner dates. As is often the case with Scandinavian comedies, the humour's as black and dry as a lump of coal. While intellectually satisfying, this doesn't generate many laughs. But the introduction of Dag's sister's beautiful friend Eva (Swedish actress Tuva Novotny) should provide enough chemistry to drag you into episode two, where things start to pick up. Can Eva kick-start Dag's malfunctioning heart? More to the point, what on earth does she see in him? Much like its lead character, the show is far from perfect, but it does hold the potential for redemption. Oh, and the soundtrack's good, too. Dag begins on Friday 31st July at 9pm on Sky Arts
Will Ferrell's The Spoils before Dying: "Sub-Airplane! gags just can't get off the runway"
The sequel to Ferrell's TV comedy The Spoils of Babylon boasts a glossy film noir backdrop - but it's the same lacklustre formula, finds Gary Rose
Creators Matt Piedmont and Andrew Steele did well to get a second helping of this comedy mini-series commissioned, because its predecessor, The Spoils of Babylon, was something of a frustrating flop. Frustrating, because Babylon enticed you into its screwball world under entirely false pretences. Its glitzy cast, fabulous music and Thunderbirds-style opening credits promised more than the show could ever have realistically delivered. By the time crooner Steve Lawrence's theme tune had dissolved into the ether, I was convinced The Spoils of Babylon was a classic in the making. Like a junkie, I spent the following 21 minutes hoping to recapture the high of the opening sequence. What I actually got was a spiral into incoherence followed by a painful comedown. This nosedive in quality was reflected in the ratings, which plummeted from just under half a million for episode one to a paltry 77,000 by the finale — unthinkable for a show anchored by Will Ferrell and with Tobey Maguire, Kristen Wiig, Tim Robbins, Jessica Alba, Val Kilmer and Michael Sheen also on its payroll. Could The Spoils before Dying succeed where Babylon failed? Unfortunately, on the evidence of the first couple of episodes, it's more of the same — only this time set against a glossy 1950s film noir backdrop. It's not all bad: Michael Kenneth Williams (The Wire, Boardwalk Empire) is decent as the swinging, Tom Waits-soundalike jazz cat who finds himself framed for murder. And again, the retro styling is spot-on, the music's silky smooth, and if there were an Emmy award for typography, Spoils would give the competition a proper licking. The problem is, the script is missing the guilty-pleasure spark that made you laugh at the likes of The Naked Gun or Anchorman despite yourself. Its sub-Airplane! gags just can't get off the runway; instead they flounder haplessly on the tarmac, hoping that if they repeat themselves often enough somebody will laugh out of pity. All of this is a shame, because there's clearly a lot of talent involved here. But like a rock supergroup who've knocked out a lacklustre album, the whole turns out to be far less than the sum of its parts. File under "stylish but insubstantial". The Spoils before Dying begins on Thursday 23rd July at 10:30pm on Fox Why you should watch Bojack Horseman right now
Luke Evans: why the real-life Dracula was more hero than horror
"There's more to the man than just the impaling," says the Dracula Untold star
Fact and fantasy team up in Dracula Untold, in which real-life 15th-century leader Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia – aka the notorious Vlad the Impaler – merges with Bram Stoker's fictional character. Radio Times travelled to Transylvania (where else?) to meet its star Luke Evans and hear about sword-fighting and ideas for a sequel.... Vlad is portrayed in a positive light in Dracula Untold, despite doing a lot of barbaric things... It's interesting, because if I hadn't played this role I probably would have only known about the barbarity of his legacy. But when I did my research, I realised he was revered by his people and respected by his enemies. They thought he was a successful military leader and did a good job at protecting his kingdom. Yes, he did do some dark things, but we are talking about the 1400s in eastern Europe; he wasn't the only person doing barbaric things at that time. We had the Turkish empire for a start. And a lot of the stuff you read about is contradictory, because it was so long ago and the history books get rewritten. There are a lot of stories about his impaling, for example, where the numbers go from 25,000 down to 2,000. But for me, as an actor doing a film about a real person who turns into a fictional character; we just tried to create a human story that people could relate to, and see a man who's fighting for what is good and doing what he felt was right, but choosing to use the power of darkness to accomplish that. Have you spoken to any Turkish journalists about it, because the Turks are far more terrifying than the vampires in the film. Do they have a different perspective over there? I don't know how well it did in Turkey (laughs). I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't even open. The film was shot in Belfast and the surrounding ares, but did you get a chance to come to Romania before shooting, to get a feel for the place? I didn't. I was doing pick-ups for The Hobbit in New Zealand. I was there for six weeks, and I was busy doing choreography training for the fight sequences [in Dracula Untold], which were huge. I was hoping to find a window somewhere, where I could have taken a trip over here Bucharest, Targoviste and Bran Castle, and all the other locations we present in the movie. What kind of sword choreography did you learn and who taught you? Buster Reeves was the fight choreographer and stunt co-ordinator, and we used some of the Turkish training Vlad would have had as a young man, because he was brought up by the Turks and taught how to use their weapons. We're showing a man who really knows how to fight, with any weapon; he's dextrous and he's fit and he's got the scars to prove it. He was a warrior. He fought and regained his throne and protected his people. He was with his men fighting; he didn't stay in the castle and keep the drawbridge up. And that's probably why he's revered as he is. There's more to the man than just the impaling. I thought the costume design was amazing... Well, [costume designer] Ngila Dixon is a legend. If you look at her résumé, she's worked on some of the biggest films of the past 20 years. She was on Lord of the Rings, so I grew close to her because of my attachment to Middle Earth. And the detail that went into the armour was incredible. I had one made in New Zealand of a polyurethane material, like a hard rubber, so it was slightly flexible. Then I had one made of leather, which I wear at the beginning of the film, when I go to the cave to meet Charles Dance. The makers were using techniques that have been used for hundreds of years. What happened to the costumes? Did you get to keep any of them? No, I know one of the costumes is on display in a glass cabinet at Universal Pictures. I have my sword though, featuring a brass dragon with its tail wrapped around the hilt. It's got rubies for eyes; it's a beautiful piece of weaponry. Even the scabbard and the belt that comes with it is beautifully made, and they gave it to me as a gift. Having talked to the locals, it seems nobody in Romania has read Bram Stoker's novel. Were you a fan of the book or the genre before you got this part? I wouldn't say I was a big fan of the genre. I'd seen the Dracula movies and there are some I really love: Gary Oldman's performance in Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula I think is iconic. Coppola's use of technology was so far ahead of its time and I thought it was fantastic. But I didn't need to read the book for this film because we were going right back to the factual source material and basing it on the man rather than the vampire, which was written about around 400 years later. In the film, why do you think Vlad managed to retain his humanity after transforming into a vampire, whereas the other vampires became these feral beasts? You have to remember, the Dracula we know from the Bram Stoker period, he's been a vampire for hundreds of years, so the addiction has got stronger. But the point where we meet Vlad and he's just drunk the blood; he's probably still 80 per cent human. So he's still fighting to stay human for as long as he can — and he's a very strong human being. He was a warrior and a strategic military leader, not just any old dude who drunk the blood of a master vampire. And possibly he's part of [head vampire] Charles Dance's master plan as well? Who knows, that could be true. Or maybe it's the other way around, and Vlad is playing him? Maybe we'll find out in the sequel? We might just do that. Dracula Untold is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 9th February, courtesy of Universal Pictures (UK)
Premier League football: Liverpool v Southampton preview
Southampton begin their season with three of their key players now playing in the red of Liverpool – isn't the Premier League fixture machine cruel?
Premier League football: Liverpool v Southampton, Sunday 12.30pm Sky Sports 1 (kick-off 1.30pm) Having bagged three of their best players in a summer smash-and-grab raid, Liverpool now welcome Southampton to Anfield to kick off a campaign burdened with unusually high expectations. After an excruciating end to the last season and a miserable World Cup, can Steven Gerrard pick himself for another 38-game slog? And with the Reds' skipper yet to sign a new contract, might it be his last chance to secure a title-winner's medal? Dejan Lovren, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana all joined Liverpool from Southampton this summer, and the first two could well start against their former club this afternoon. Lallana will miss the game with a knee injury, but otherwise this will be a good early opportunity to see whether the Reds' busy transfer window has filled the void left by the departure of Luis Suarez. New Saints manager Ronald Koeman has plenty of work to do to rebuild a squad shredded by the summer's dealings. Worse still, the fact that Morgan Schneiderlin has so far had his transfer request refused will do little to inspire team harmony. A bitter start all round for the south coast side.
Premier League football: Manchester United v Swansea City preview
New Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal gets his first taste of life in the Premier League
Premier League football: Manchester United v Swansea City, Saturday 12pm BT Sport 1 (kick-off 12.45pm) Much has been written about Louis van Gaal's tough – even arrogant – approach to man management, but now it's time for his players to do the talking as Man Utd open the new season against Swansea City at Old Trafford. With Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and the Dutch national side on his CV, van Gaal's managerial pedigree is second to none. And, despite last season's hiccups, you'd be brave to best against a United win today. It's a new era for Wayne Rooney too, club captain for the first time following Nemanja Vidic's transfer to Inter Milan. He appears to be responding well to the faith placed in him by van Gaal, and the fact that there hasn't been another summer of speculation about his future can only be positive for both the player and Man Utd. Swansea, meanwhile, have lost their way somewhat after the early daring of previous manager Michael Laudrup, but with Garry Monk secure in his position the Welsh faithful will hope for at least a statement of intent in their opening game.
Peter Richardson on the past, present and future of Comic Strip Presents...
The mastermind behind the troupe looks back at one of Britain's most influential alternative comedy movements and hints at more to come very soon...
This week sees the release of The Best of the Comic Strip Presents, a five-disc DVD box set of hand-picked gems including Bad News, The Strike, GLC and Five Go to Rehab. We caught up with founder, writer, director and star Peter Richardson to discuss the groundbreaking series: Why did you decide to release this "greatest hits" collection? What we wanted to do was try to remove the less remarkable ones — that includes ten of mine by the way — which we felt weren't quite up to scratch and weren't as memorable as some of the others, along with including the new ones. We wanted to nail the Comic Strip as being of a certain quality and some episodes had perhaps let it down a bit. The Strike and GLC feature on the box set. They were landmark political comedies, but it's rare you get something that overtly political on TV now... We did The Hunt for Tony Blair a few years ago, with Stephen Mangan as Blair on the run. So we try to keep up with things. I love doing satire. We're trying to think of another one to do now, actually, so hopefully we'll do one again soon. Well I was worried this release might mark a hiatus for the Comic Strip. But that's clearly not the case. We've always been on and off. The thing is we had such a long run, and then people go "we've had enough of you". And then someone says "we'd love to have you back again". So we wait to be invited, I guess, and then we come back with something. I was watching Julian Temple's 1981 Comic Strip feature recently. That early stuff has a real punk feel to it. Were you conscious of filling a comedy void in the same way as punk filled a musical void? Yes, we were into all that sort of thing at the time: being loud and outrageous and drinking lager and being sick. And we were surrounded by the punk bands — the Pistols and the Clash — and that spilled over into our comedy. I guess we destroyed a few careers though, the older comics, some of whom were great, like Les Dawson. Who were Bad News based on? I know they came before Spinal Tap, but I'm seeing a bit of Judas Priest in there, some Saxon..? I think our characters are quite original; my character looked like this guy I knew in Devon who was a painter and decorator who played the harmonica, called Pete, so I just became him — Spider was that character. We've got Bad News one and two on the best-of, and we've also got the Bohemian Rhapsody video, which we did as a promo and hasn't been seen by many people. Was Bad News Adrian Edmondson's idea? Because I always think of him as being the rocker in the group. Actually, we all had a band going at the time we were doing the Comic Strip's live show in Soho — Rik (Mayall), Adrian (Edmondson), me and Nigel (Planer) — and when we weren't doing comedy we played in all sorts of places. We called ourselves Nice Weather (laughs). That was the precursor to Bad News, and of course when we secured this deal with Channel 4 to do some Comic Strip films I said let's do one about a band. And Adrian was given the job of writing Bad News, which he did very well. Have you ever thought about giving any of your characters their own series? I'm thinking of people like Jason Bentley from Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown. Well you know who did Jason Bentley — that was Austin Powers. I think Mike Myers may have seen our show or maybe he just latched onto that Department S thing too and decided to help himself to the teeth and the velvet. But we got there just before him on that, although he made a much bigger hit with it. If you were granted access to any actors alive or dead, who would you recruit to the Comic Strip? I'm a huge fan of Alan Rickman, so one day I'm determined to get him to be in one of our films. Alexei Sayle terrified me as a child. Who was the most unruly person you worked with? Too many to mention really, but Keith (Allen) has always been a big bad boy. In a fun way. He's just a firestorm, Keith, and I've got a big ego too, so it exploded a couple of times. He co-directed on a few of them with you, didn't he? How many did you do together? We did Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown; The Crying Game, about a gay footballer who can't come out, which I think is still very relevant today; and The Bullshitters, which Stephen Frears was also involved in. Do you allow much improvisation on set, or do you like to be very much in control? I love improvisation, and I suppose you have to hope the improvisation is better than the scripting, or enhances the scripting. And sometimes it does. I often say "Let's do the script and let's improvise as well". And who do you think's got the most spontaneous wit of the people you've worked with? I did four series of Stella Street with John Sessions and Phil Cornwell, and they could launch into something completely unscripted. In fact, at the end of The Crying Game Keith had gone off to get a coffee and I left the camera rolling on Phil as Jimmy Hill. He was talking about drinking mushroom tea and about what a great centre forward Aldous Huxley was. It was just bizarre and we used that at the end. That was Phil just riffing, which he did a lot in Stella Street as well. I could listen to him being Mick Jagger all day... I loved his Jimmy Hill. I was the cameraman on those, I used to film it as well as direct, and his Jimmy Hill would make me shake the camera — the stuff he'd come out with was so outrageous. What's next for the Comic Strip? We're planning a new Comic Strip film called It Ends Badly, with Stephen Mangan and Harry Enfield. It's about two rotten scoundrels, which is Harry and Steve as these unscrupulous men; two rotten producers trying to make a chick flick and they've spent all the money on their mistresses and school fees, cars and drugs. We're shooting next March, so it'll probably be out six months after that. This time next year, hopefully. The Best of the Comic Strip Presents was released on Monday 7 October. Re-runs of classic Comic Strip comedies can currently be seen post-midnight Monday to Thursday on Gold.
6 Music is doing its bit for Comic Relief this year, but which comedians can boast the best tunes?
Red Nose Day is on the horizon, and 6 Music is getting involved by letting two comedy veterans hijack the playlist for an hour each over the next couple of Sundays. First up, on 3 March, is award-winning actress and erstwhile Harry Enfield collaborator Kathy Burke. The following Sunday sees the turn of Spinal Tap and Simpsons legend Harry Shearer. Comedians usually claim to have an affinity with music, but letting them loose in a recording studio can lead to unpalatable results. Of course, there are always exceptions. In no particular order, here are six of the best tunes by comedy acts from the past few decades. Eddie Murphy: Party All the Time: Ok, so it's more funky than funny, but Party All the Time is actually a pretty decent Michael Jackson pastiche. Producer Rick James gives the track a credibility boost and also allows his fabulous "Carlos Valderrama on Soul-Glo" hair to star in the video, as Eddie and the lads horse around eightiesly in the studio. Turn this one up loud and try not to dance; it's impossible. View oEmbed on the source website Flight of the Conchords: Business Time: It's tough to choose one track from the Conchords' potpourri of parodies, but the "erotically charged" Business Time perhaps showcases the duo's talents best of all. Jermaine's rubber-faced falsetto combines with Bret's lascivious strumming to electrifying effect. View oEmbed on the source website The Rutles: Cheese and Onions: Ah, the Rutles — only the band the Beatles could have been. Cheese and Onions is so sublime it could almost pass for a lost Fab Four composition from 1968; and there's no higher praise than that. George Martin's production is aped beautifully, while Neil Innes's vocals are even more Lennon than John himself. View oEmbed on the source website Spinal Tap: Big Bottom: It's crude, it's childish and its squelchy keyboard sound is horribly dated, but it's a virtuoso skit of bands like Judas Priest, Scorpions and Saxon. And it contains the priceless line "how could I leave this behind?" View oEmbed on the source website Steve Martin: Tonight You Belong to Me: This dainty ditty from 1979's The Jerk manages to combine humour with genuine poignancy. An accomplished bluegrass banjo plucker, Steve Martin has quite a few LPs under his belt, and a new one is on its way next month. View oEmbed on the source website Monty Python: The Galaxy Song: We're a bit sick of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, aren't we? So here's The Galaxy Song from the Pythons' final film The Meaning of Life: as educational, existential and statistically accurate as comedy songs get. View oEmbed on the source website
Are Coldplay really the favourites of 6 Music listeners?
Coldplay's Clocks has been voted as the "Greatest Hit" of 6 Music's lifetime, but is the online poll actually representative of the station's listeners' tastes, asks Gary Rose
Today 6 Music unveiled its 100 most popular songs since the station began; and the biggest shock was just how conservative the top ten is. OK, nobody expected Lower Dens (a choice clearly bearing the Tom Ravenscroft seal) to garner many votes, but Coldplay at number one? Surely not. Of course, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, the Killers et al are good at what they do, but they're nothing you can't hear in any branch of Argos on a Saturday afternoon. Let's cut to the chase: they're not exactly "cutting edge". When 6 Music listeners petitioned, pestered and harassed the BBC Trust to save the station from closure a few years back, were we striving to salvage the last remaining nationwide outlet for innovative, "alternative" music, or simply standing up for our right to listen to Coldplay's Clocks? True, the shortlist was uninspiring, but I don't want to be too critical of the station; with Tom Ravenscroft, Jarvis Cocker, Marc Riley, Cerys Matthews and Gideon Coe on board it boasts some of the finest music broadcasters on the radio. However the fact is, in recent years its daytime output has often swerved dangerously towards the mainstream. For instance, a couple of Saturdays ago I was surprised to hear (I kid you not) Pump Up the Jam by Technotronic. Whether or not this was a clever, ironic, postmodern gag is irrelevant. Pump Up the Jam by Technotronic is rubbish, and if I want to hear Pump Up the Jam by Technotronic I will purchase a copy of Big Tunes: Back 2 the 90s Vol II. This is obviously an extreme example, and perhaps if the licence-fee payers want a more pop-centric 6 Music, featuring Coldplay and chums, then that's what they should get. But hold on, there might be more to this than meets the eye. Coldplay are a hugely popular band; they have nine and a half million followers on Twitter. So when they tweet their fans, as they have done three times over the past few weeks, asking them to vote in the 6 Music poll, it's a powerful weapon in their battle against relative minnows like Mclusky and Peter Bjorn and John. Voting was easy too; just follow a link and click on your favourite. No need to register, and no need to prove you've ever listened to 6 Music. So perhaps this top 100 is not as representative as it initially appeared. Maybe the panel selected the more middle-of-the-road entries as token gestures, not anticipating they would trounce the opposition through the power of social networking. That might be wishful thinking, but there MUST have been a few despondent sighs in 6 Music towers when the votes were tallied.