Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2026-01-22T20:29:38.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: The tall and short of it
items: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner: "Season 1 was definitely written for George RR Martin"
items: Kids ask the Gladiators all the questions grown-ups never would
items: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner confirms show's fate after adapting published Dunk and Egg novellas
items: Best medicine
items: Return of the Mock
items: Myths and legends
items: Last One Laughing UK season 2 cast members tease new episodes as Bob Mortimer talks return
items: 10 best entertainment shows to watch in 2026 - from Gladiators to The Claudia Winkleman Show
items: Dara Ó Briain teases new Mock the Week revival format – and why they'll be tackling the current Labour government
items: Gladiators season 3 stars shatter the myths behind being a cast member - and answer child fan questions
items: View from my sofa: Mark Lewis Jones
items: 'I always teach like a marriage!'
items: Loved Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery? 6 locked-room mysteries to enjoy next
items: Doctor Who favourite Alex Kingston and Johannes Radebe spill on Strictly journey and finale return
items: Meet the Warrior of the Deep
items: 'Tis the season to be stranger
items: Stranger Things creators reveal "very emotional" reactions to ending scenes – as stars talk final goodbye
items: Two Doors Down writer reveals Christmas episode with a twist – and why the show returned after co-creator’s death
items: 'We were failures before this'
items: Stranger Things creators reveal the biggest question answered in the final season and tease future spin-offs
items: Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea gives new name for classic monster: "It's racist to say Sea Devil"
items: Who are the monsters?
items: 'If I get picked to be a Traitor, I'll be ecstatic'
items: 'This is the first thing I’ve ever done as myself'
items: Praise be!
items: Guess who?
items: Reverend Richard Coles reveals if Murder Before Evensong's crime-solving vicar is based on him
items: Meet Strictly's class of 2025
items: Meet Strictly's class of 2025: From a Doctor Who star to a Neighbours legend

The tall and short of it
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App
subject: App features
description: The new Game of Thrones spin-off is a “buddy comedy” – smaller in scale but bigger in heart, says showrunner Ira Parker
encoded: Add A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms to your watchlist On a grassy hillside, a young hero with a sword on his hip stares out to his destiny. Fame, glory, honour – and gold. Familiar music, the award-winning Game of Thrones theme, swells majestically as young Duncan takes a step towards history… Cut to the same man, terrified, emptying his bowels behind a tree. Because A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – which began last week on Sky Atlantic – isn’t quite the grand epic we have come to expect from the world of Game of Thrones, even if it is set in the same fictional land of Westeros. “I joke sometimes that we’re just Game of Thrones without all the stuff,” laughs showrunner Ira Parker. “My goal is to make this stand on its own so that, even if none of the other shows had happened, you could still watch episode one and you could follow that journey.” Airing from 2011 to 2019, Game of Thrones – adapted from George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels – was fantasy drama on an epic scale and one of the biggest TV successes this century. When the inevitable spin-off, House of the Dragon, came in 2022, it was in the form of a prequel set centuries earlier, when an even grander conflict was brewing between the noble houses of Westeros. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a humbler prospect. It’s set about 90 years after House of the Dragon and 90 years before Game of Thrones and eschews its predecessors’ huge casts and continent-spanning action. Instead, it follows penniless knight Ser Duncan the Tall (aka Dunk, played by Peter Claffey) and his bald-headed squire Egg (played by Dexter Sol Ansell), who turn up at a tournament hoping to win money. “It’s a buddy comedy,” suggests Parker. “It’s a ‘lone wolf and cub’ story. It’s an adventure series.” Not that there aren’t still sky-high expectations. This first series is adapted from The Hedge Knight, a novella written by Martin in 1998, and over the years (and two literary sequels), dynamic duo Dunk and Egg have attracted an aff…

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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner: "Season 1 was definitely written for George RR Martin"
type: item
date: 2026-01-19T17:00:41.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
subject: NOW
subject: Sky
description: The new Game of Thrones spin-off is a “buddy comedy” – smaller in scale but bigger in heart, says showrunner Ira Parker.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. On a grassy hillside, a young hero with a sword on his hip stares out to his destiny. Fame, glory, honour – and gold. Familiar music, the award-winning Game of Thrones theme, swells majestically as young Duncan takes a step towards history… Cut to the same man, terrified, emptying his bowels behind a tree. Because A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – which begins this week on Sky Atlantic – isn’t quite the grand epic we have come to expect from the world of Game of Thrones, even if it is set in the same fictional land of Westeros. “I joke sometimes that we’re just Game of Thrones without all the stuff,” laughs showrunner Ira Parker. “My goal is to make this stand on its own so that, even if none of the other shows had happened, you could still watch episode one and you could follow that journey.” Airing from 2011 to 2019, Game of Thrones – adapted from George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels – was fantasy drama on an epic scale and one of the biggest TV successes this century. When the inevitable spin-off, House of the Dragon, came in 2022, it was in the form of a prequel set centuries earlier, when an even grander conflict was brewing between the noble houses of Westeros. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a humbler prospect. It’s set about 90 years after House of the Dragon and 90 years before Game of Thrones and eschews its predecessors’ huge casts and continent-spanning action. Instead, it follows penniless knight Ser Duncan the Tall (aka Dunk, played by Peter Claffey) and his bald-headed squire Egg (played by Dexter Sol Ansell), who turn up at a tournament hoping to win money. “It’s a buddy comedy,” suggests Parker. “It’s a ‘lone wolf and cub’ story. It’s an adventure series.” View Green Video on the source website Not that there aren’t still sky-high expectations. This first series is adapted from The Hedge Knight, a novella written by Martin in 1998, and over the years (and two literary sequels), dynami…

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Kids ask the Gladiators all the questions grown-ups never would
type: item
date: 2026-01-16T07:00:07.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: Exclusive
subject: Interview
description: We gave kids the chance to quiz the stars of Gladiators the way only they can – and the results were brilliant.
encoded: These days, kids don’t watch TV – but they do watch Gladiators. Somehow, the lycra-clad '90s throwbacks of BBC1’s shiny-floor revival have managed to compete with all videogames, TikTok and general brainrot to enchant children across the UK and beyond. “My brother lives in Dubai, and his kids, my niece and nephew and all of their friends, do watch parties at my brother’s house to watch Gladiators,” Gladiator Sabre, AKA Sheli McCoy, tells Radio Times. “Series one had 90 million global downloads.” “We are like real-life superheroes to them,” adds Zack George, AKA Steel. “When they come to see us in any sort of capacity, there’s just the joy, and the biggest smiles that you have and that you see on all the kids’ faces, is absolutely amazing.” So when quizzing six of the Gladiators on their stories, what else could we do but hand the reins over to the real experts, some of the TV show’s youngest fans who had their own… unique… queries for the musclebound stars. Starting with… Fire, AKA Montell Douglas Charlotte, aged 8, asks: What makes you so quick? What makes me so quick? Well, like we mentioned, the hair, because this is my superpower. When you go fast, it looks like flames. But I genuinely think that’s a part of it. However, I am well-versed, and ran for a very long time, and trained really, really hard for a very long time. Though part of that is because it’s my superpower to be super, super fast, which also adds to my strength. So lots and lots of training. Lots of sprinting. It’s why I’m so fast. Isaac, aged 5, has asked: Who are better, the old Gladiators or the new Gladiators? Oh, that is controversial! We have to defend our throne, Isaac. Who are better? So I have, like I said, empathy. I’ve got massive respect… You know what? Those that laid the path before us are why we’re here. And I pay homage to the original Gs – I call them the OGs – because without them, we cannot be here. And I feel like we are a thread and a legacy of what it is that they created. Tha…

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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner confirms show's fate after adapting published Dunk and Egg novellas
type: item
date: 2026-01-15T14:24:27.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
subject: Exclusive
subject: News
subject: NOW
subject: On demand
subject: Sky Atlantic
description: “George has laid out… He has a document of everything that happens, basically, for 13, 14, 15 of these novellas.”
encoded: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner Ira Parker has revealed that George RR Martin has outlined ideas for many more unwritten novellas that could form the basis of future seasons. The fantasy author has only published three Dunk and Egg Novellas so far, with 1998’s The Hedge Knight serving as inspiration for the upcoming first season, 2003’s The Sworn Sword set to form the basis of season 2, which is currently in production, and 2010’s The Mystery Knight expected to inspire a potential third season. Asked whether there’s a possibility of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms going beyond the three novellas, as Game of Thrones did with Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Parker told Radio Times magazine: “I would love – and I’ve pitched to HBO a couple of times to sort of well-intentioned half-smiles or eye rolls." He continued: "I want to do three or four now with Egg, the boy, and come back in like five or 10 years and do three or four more with Egg, the young man. And then come back in five or 10 years, and do three or four more with Egg, the – well, the spoiler. “I don’t think that’s necessarily how TV gets made unless you’re… Lisa Kudrow gets to do that. You know, The Comeback comes back every 10 years, and that’s OK. Or Linklater. "But this is… There’s so many interesting things that happen throughout their lives. But I don’t want to focus the whole thing right at the beginning. It’s telling that whole journey that is very exciting to me." He continued: "George has laid out… He has a document of everything that happens, basically, for 13, 14, 15 of these novellas. He just has to get to writing these. "The nice thing is, we know what the ending is. We know the journeys that they go no. We would never be left making anything up. We would just have a looser road map than what we have right now. "Look, we’ll see. There’s a really decent chance that we’ll hopefully do three of those, and that’s it, and people can enjoy it. And that’ll be the experience that they h…

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Best medicine
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Bob Mortimer is back to defend his title but this time, he says, it’s a very different game…
encoded: Add Last One Laughing UK to your watchlist An entertainment hit on a streaming platform is something of a rarity. Stranger still when it’s a show stuffed with comedians where a mark of success is not laughing. But that’s what you get with Amazon Prime Video’s Last One Laughing UK, which sees some of the country’s best stand-ups locked in a room together, trying to “break” each other into fits of guffaws without cracking a smile themselves. Now, after the huge success of the first run in 2025, the show’s back this spring. “It’s exactly the same as series one, except for every single moment,” host Jimmy Carr tells RT. “It’s different comedians. A different level of competition. It’s basically comedy if it was a sport.” One of the new crop of contestants is former Bake Off host Mel Giedroyc. “I think there are pros and cons of doing a second series of something like this, because the first series was so brilliant and joyous and free,” she says. “Whereas when you’ve seen the first series, you go in with different levels of pressure, and expectation.” “It was more competitive this time,” agrees Carr. “They had gameplay in place. They had game faces. They knew what they were doing this time.” “Which isn’t to say that we didn’t also have a brilliant time!” Giedroyc adds. “We had an amazing gang. I mean, stellar.” Said gang features a mix of well-known and up-and-coming comics, including David Mitchell, Romesh Ranganathan, Amy Gledhill, Diane Morgan, Maisie Adam, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Sam Campbell and recent Celebrity Traitors champ Alan Carr, hoping he can keep the giggles under control this time. Plus, one more familiar face – Would I Lie to You? favourite and series one winner Bob Mortimer is back to defend his crown. “I didn’t expect to come back, but was delighted to be asked, because it’s an experience that you can never re-create,” says Mortimer. “It’s interesting – the moment I walked in, I thought, ‘No, this is just different. It’s an entirely different dynamic.’ So I…

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Return of the Mock
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Dara O Briain’s resurrected satirical panel show is coming back bigger – but will it be better?
encoded: Add Mock the Week to your watchlist Just over three years after it was cancelled by the BBC, topical panel show Mock the Week is returning soon to free-to-air channel TLC — with a familiar face at the helm. “It was only a couple of months ago that I first heard rumblings,” says comedian and longtime host Dara O Briain. “God, it might have been November… I mean, I’m not going, ‘I remember the moment the big red phone in my office rang. It’s the Mock phone, finally…’ But it’s all moved pretty quickly, as befits the show. “Honestly, you can be too precious,” he adds. “I didn’t sit for a long time going, ‘Will this in any way damage the legacy of the show that we’ve left behind?’ It’s just seven people in a room telling jokes.” Alongside O Briain, rotating guests will include Ahir Shah, Angela Barnes, Ed Byrne, Ellie Taylor, Hugh Dennis, Katherine Ryan, Lou Sanders, Rhys James, Russell Howard and Sara Pascoe — though expect more new names alongside the familiar ones. The biggest change comes from the length of episodes, now extended to an hour. “There’s no musical sequence now; there’s no nudity suddenly. I don’t think there’s anything particularly jarring. I just think there’ll be slightly more of it,” O Briain says. “But there was always more of it. We did two-and-a-half hours that came down to a BBC half-hour, which was 28 minutes. There will apparently be new rounds. But I don’t think there’s anything that will scare the horses, that will be too drastic a change from us talking. ‘Us talking’ is the mission statement, to be honest.” And what will they be talking about? “The world has got more pantomimic and ludicrous as time has gone by,” he muses. “The biggest change for us is that it’s no longer a Conservative government. People used to say, ‘You always talk about the Tories.’ Yes, because they were the ones doing stuff! Now, it’ll be about Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves. Not because we’re not on the BBC any more — but because they’re the ones in power.”

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Myths and legends
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App
subject: App features
description: The BBC’s revamped Gladiators has become a colossus of Saturday-night TV – but are its perfectly formed stars gods, monsters or something in between? With a little help from some young fans, RT poses some very important questions
encoded: Add Gladiators to your watchlist NITRO aka Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, 37 What’s the biggest myth about being a Gladiator? The biggest myth about being a Gladiator is that you don’t want the contender to do well, because you actually do. Obviously, we’re the strength and the speed and the power. But ultimately they’re the soul of the show, right? What’s your Achilles’ heel? It’s probably The Edge, which is played at a very great height. I’m a very grounded person. If there was one event that I could choose not to do, it would be that one. Kids look up to all of you like gods. How do you handle that? I lean into it. When kids ask me how old I am, I often say, “I’m 1,000 years old, and I’m a demigod. The gifts and skills and talents that I have were bestowed upon me by the gods.” In Grecian times the idea was that, if you went to someone’s temple, that gave the gods strength, right? So, I often tell them, the more noise they make, the stronger I become. They’re my power cells. They fuel me. Do you feel a responsibility to your fans — ie the power cells? I was once a young star who wanted to be a Gladiator. I opted for the Olympics instead – and now I’ve become a Gladiator! I know there are many young fans out there who could now go on to become great athletes or great Gladiators themselves. When I go climbing, people say, “We can’t believe you’re here... we told our daughter or our son, ‘Try and climb the wall like Nitro’ to get them here.” I’m not a speed-climber. I won’t get an Olympic medal in that, but it’s made kids go and climb. We might have the next speed-climbing champion because of Gladiators, which is amazing. The biggest mistake I ever make is trying to take my daughter to soft play. If I try and take her to a trampoline park, I can’t look after her, because I’m in front of our target audience, doing the most gladiatorial stuff. I’m inundated! When your Gladiators legend is written, how do you hope to be remembered? Hercules was the first person I played in a …

Last One Laughing UK season 2 cast members tease new episodes as Bob Mortimer talks return
type: item
date: 2026-01-14T08:00:00.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: Amazon Prime Video
subject: Contains Trailer
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: "The moment I walked in, I thought, 'No, this is just different.'"
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. An entertainment hit on a streaming platform is something of a rarity. Stranger still when it’s a show stuffed with comedians where a mark of success is not laughing. But that’s what you get with Amazon Prime Video’s Last One Laughing UK, which sees some of the country’s best stand-ups locked in a room together, trying to “break” each other into fits of guffaws without cracking a smile themselves. Now, after the huge success of the first run in 2025, the show’s back this spring. “It’s exactly the same as series one, except for every single moment,” host Jimmy Carr tells RT. “It’s different comedians. A different level of competition. It’s basically comedy if it was a sport.” One of the new crop of contestants is former Bake Off host Mel Giedroyc. “I think there are pros and cons of doing a second series of something like this, because the first series was so brilliant and joyous and free,” she says. “Whereas when you’ve seen the first series, you go in with different levels of pressure, and expectation.” “It was more competitive this time,” agrees Carr. “They had gameplay in place. They had game faces. They knew what they were doing this time.” “Which isn’t to say that we didn’t also have a brilliant time!” Giedroyc adds. “We had an amazing gang. I mean, stellar.” Said gang features a mix of well-known and up-and-coming comics, including David Mitchell, Romesh Ranganathan, Amy Gledhill, Diane Morgan, Maisie Adam, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Sam Campbell and recent Celebrity Traitors champ Alan Carr, hoping he can keep the giggles under control this time. Plus, one more familiar face – Would I Lie to You? favourite and series one winner Bob Mortimer is back to defend his crown. “I didn’t expect to come back, but was delighted to be asked, because it’s an experience that you can never re-create,” says Mortimer. “It’s interesting – the moment I walked in, I thought, ‘No, this is just different. It’s an entirely different dyna…

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10 best entertainment shows to watch in 2026 - from Gladiators to The Claudia Winkleman Show
type: item
date: 2026-01-13T12:00:36.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: Magazine
description: Time to set a few reminders...
encoded: Who says shiny-floor TV is dead? Looking at the schedules for 2026, the entertainment genre is in rude health, kicking off strong this month with Claudia et al in the Traitors’ castle, before handing off to a host of other shows throughout the year. Whether you’re interested in a Gladiatorial contest, a laughter lesson, a bit of celeb chat, nosy neighbours or ‘summit’ completely different (with thanks to Ben Shephard), there’s really something for everyone in the UK’s unscripted TV offering this year. Here are 10 of our top picks for the reality and entertainment shows heading to the small screen this year – and remember, this is just the beginning. Time to set a few reminders... 10 best entertainment shows to watch in 2026 - from Gladiators to The Claudia Winkleman Show 1. Gladiators – coming to BBC One from Saturday 17th January Do you feel the power... of the Gladiator? The BBC’s hugely successful reboot has pugil stick-battered its way to this third series, which looks set to be as popular with families as the first two. All your favourite musclebound lads and lasses are back – including the injured ‘glads’ benched last series – alongside some new games, including one revived from the original series. Bradley and Barney Walsh are back on hosting duties. 2. Michael McIntyre’s Big Show – coming to BBC One from Saturday 17th January McIntyre’s back, taking the Michael with his revolving set of formats, from Send to All and the Unexpected Star of the show to The Midnight Gameshow, which this series includes Jonathan Ross and Joe Marler – one of whom will get a Traitors-inspired twist to their nighttime quizzing. Plus, expect more pranks and surprises for the theatre audience, including a new segment simply titled ‘Big Surprise’… 3. Mock the Week – coming to TLC from 1st February Return of the Mock! Just over three years after it was canned by the BBC, digital channel TLC has risen the topical panel show from beyond the grave. While longtime host Dara O Briain is bac…

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Dara Ó Briain teases new Mock the Week revival format – and why they'll be tackling the current Labour government
type: item
date: 2026-01-12T17:00:52.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: The comedian and longtime host discusses who and what to expect from the returning panel show.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Just over three years after it was cancelled by the BBC, topical panel show Mock the Week is returning soon to free-to-air channel TLC — with a familiar face at the helm. “It was only a couple of months ago that I first heard rumblings,” says comedian and longtime host Dara Ó Briain. “God, it might have been November... I mean, I’m not going, ‘I remember the moment the big red phone in my office rang. It’s the Mock phone, finally…’ But it’s all moved pretty quickly, as befits the show. “Honestly, you can be too precious,” he adds. “I didn’t sit for a long time going, ‘Will this in any way damage the legacy of the show that we’ve left behind?’ It’s just seven people in a room telling jokes.” Alongside Ó Briain, rotating guests will include Ahir Shah, Angela Barnes, Ed Byrne, Ellie Taylor, Hugh Dennis, Katherine Ryan, Lou Sanders, Rhys James, Russell Howard and Sara Pascoe — though expect more new names alongside the familiar ones. The biggest change comes from the length of episodes, now extended to an hour. “There’s no musical sequence now; there’s no nudity suddenly. I don’t think there’s anything particularly jarring. I just think there’ll be slightly more of it,” Ó Briain says. “But there was always more of it. We did two-and-a-half hours that came down to a BBC half-hour, which was 28 minutes. There will apparently be new rounds. But I don’t think there’s anything that will scare the horses, that will be too drastic a change from us talking. ‘Us talking’ is the mission statement, to be honest.” And what will they be talking about? “The world has got more pantomimic and ludicrous as time has gone by,” he muses. “The biggest change for us is that it’s no longer a Conservative government. People used to say, ‘You always talk about the Tories.’ Yes, because they were the ones doing stuff! Now, it’ll be about Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves. Not because we’re not on the BBC any more – but because they’re the ones in…

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Gladiators season 3 stars shatter the myths behind being a cast member - and answer child fan questions
type: item
date: 2026-01-12T17:00:34.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: BBC
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: Nitro, Sabre, Legend, Fire, Steel and Fury preview the brand new episodes – and answer questions from young fans.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. The BBC’s revamped Gladiators has become a colossus of Saturday-night TV – but are its perfectly formed stars gods, monsters or something in between? With a little help from some young fans, RT poses some very important questions... Nitro aka Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, 37 What’s the biggest myth about being a Gladiator? The biggest myth about being a Gladiator is that you don’t want the contender to do well, because you actually do. Obviously, we’re the strength and the speed and the power. But ultimately they’re the soul of the show, right? What’s your Achilles’ heel? It’s probably The Edge, which is played at a very great height. I’m a very grounded person. If there was one event that I could choose not to do, it would be that one. Kids look up to all of you like gods. How do you handle that? I lean into it. When kids ask me how old I am, I often say, “I’m 1,000 years old, and I’m a demigod. The gifts and skills and talents that I have were bestowed upon me by the gods.” In Grecian times the idea was that, if you went to someone’s temple, that gave the gods strength, right? So, I often tell them, the more noise they make, the stronger I become. They’re my power cells. They fuel me. Do you feel a responsibility to your fans – ie the power cells? I was once a young star who wanted to be a Gladiator. I opted for the Olympics instead – and now I’ve become a Gladiator! I know there are many young fans out there who could now go on to become great athletes or great Gladiators themselves. When I go climbing, people say, “We can’t believe you’re here... we told our daughter or our son, ‘Try and climb the wall like Nitro’ to get them here.” I’m not a speed-climber. I won’t get an Olympic medal in that, but it’s made kids go and climb. We might have the next speed-climbing champion because of Gladiators, which is amazing. The biggest mistake I ever make is trying to take my daughter to soft play. If I try and take her to a t…

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View from my sofa: Mark Lewis Jones
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App
subject: App features
description: The actor is proud to promote the Welsh language — even in lands far, far away
encoded: Add Dal y Mellt to your watchlist What’s the view from your sofa? Well, the TV is on a table. It’s not gigantic-silly, but it’s quite a decent size. We have a large sofa, so my wife will sit there and I’ve got four sons, so if any of them are with us with their girlfriends, they will also sit on this incredibly long sofa. And I sit on the chair. Who controls the remote at home? Me – if somebody else has it, it makes me a little bit twitchy. What have you enjoyed watching recently? We watch a lot of “murder things”: Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter, Mindhunter, American Nightmare. And Adolescence – the single-shot thing was extraordinary, but I kind of forgot about that, because I was so taken in by the acting. You’re one of the busiest actors around — especially in Welsh TV. How do you choose your roles? It’s what feels right in the moment. I’m not in the position of being able to pick and choose much. If it’s not a lead part, I’m happy to do a well-crafted cameo in one episode only. It’s stuff like Baby Reindeer and The Crown where you get an opportunity to make an impact. Star Wars [Jones played Captain Canady in The Last Jedi] was exactly that. You also had the first Welsh accent in Star Wars… I wasn’t told to do any other accent, so I thought, “Well, there’s no point me putting on an accent. What for?” You’re now back for the second series of Dal y Mellt, the Welsh-language crime drama. What can we expect? It’s a group of people who work out a plan to do a heist, and then over the next six hours, we get the backstory of the heist, and why they’re doing it. The response was fantastic to the first series. I do a lot of “back-to-back” series in both Welsh and English, but it feels special that this is just in Welsh. After the S4C and BBC airing it, it went onto Netflix titled Rough Cut – the first Welsh-language-speaking series on there. Was that a big deal? It’s fantastic. A lot of the big Oscar films from South Korea and all the Nordic noir stuff means that peopl…

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'I always teach like a marriage!'
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Alex Kingston and Johannes Radebe on their friendship, age gaps and Christmas plans
encoded: The final of Strictly Come Dancing is on Saturday 20 Dec at 7.00pm on BBC One. Add it to your watchlist At 62, actor Alex Kingston is only three years younger than the mother of her Strictly Come Dancing partner, 38-year-old professional Johannes Radebe. But in this partnership, she was the one learning from him. Over the past few months, they went from tentative first steps to earning standing ovations. And now, despite their Strictly journey ending, they vow they’ll stay on the dance floor one way or another… Alex, what was it like learning from someone younger? Alex Oh my gosh, I can’t imagine anyone else being my dance partner. The problem is, now my Strictly journey has come to an end, I will have to carry on dancing and I don’t know who will ever come close to Johannes. Johannes Oh my goodness, we’ll have to book some lessons. I’ve always said that partnerships are special because they grow, and that I always teach like a marriage – even though I have never been married. Alex And I’ve been married three times! Did you have a mentor or someone you looked up to earlier in your careers? Johannes As a boy, there was an Australian dancer I watched from a distance from my township in South Africa. His name is Jason Gilkison. I modelled my career on his, and now I am in the same room as him – he’s the creative director of Strictly Come Dancing. It’s an honour to work with him. Nowadays, I go back home to South Africa and run workshops teaching kids to dance. That’s my way of giving back. Alex My English teacher saw that I wasn’t academic in the sciences, but she made sure I had an opportunity to begin acting, devising plays where I was the lead. Her name was Margaret Kirk. She’s no longer with us, but I’m forever thankful to her. Are you looking forward to the final, where every Strictly couple returns for a reunion? Alex Oh yes, one hundred per cent. Looking at the opening credits of Strictly, seeing all the contestants, you realise how few are left. The first week …

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Loved Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery? 6 locked-room mysteries to enjoy next
type: item
date: 2025-12-12T08:00:16.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Movies
subject: Magazine
subject: Netflix
description: A list of the essential locked-room mysteries every crime fan should know.
encoded: With Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery now streaming on Netflix, here's a list of some of the seminal locked-room mysteries from literature. Some of the titles may even be familiar to viewers of the new movie, with a certain reading list playing a key part in Benoit Blanc's investigations... 1. The Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr A key influence on Wake Up Dead Man came from this 1935 novel by American author John Dickson Carr. Today, it’s renowned for both the ingenuity of its central locked-room mystery – whereby a murderous visitor seemingly disappears into thin air – and a fourth-wall-stretching speech by sleuth Dr Gideon Fell, who lays out the various methods often used by writers to explain such “impossible crimes”. Can I watch it? Unlike others on the list below, there are no major adaptations of this work outside of a few radio dramas – perhaps re-creating Carr’s solution is an impossible task in and of itself. 2. The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle Holmes and Watson tackle a fiendish criminal in this eerie 1892 short story, about a young woman who dies alone in her locked room a few days after hearing a low whistle. Soon, her surviving sister hears the same noise and understandably believes her time is up. But what could a house full of animals, an unconnected bell cord and a saucer of milk have to do with either murder attempt? Can I watch it? The Speckled Band features as an episode of the classic adaptation Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett as Holmes, and is available to stream on ITVX. View Green Video on the source website 3. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie The Queen of Crime didn’t often go in for “classic” locked-room murder mysteries of the sort laid out by Dickson Carr. Still, this influential 1926 novel does provide what could be considered the Christie take on the idea, when the titular wealthy landowner apparently perishes just moments after being left alone in his study. Can I watch it? The obligato…

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Doctor Who favourite Alex Kingston and Johannes Radebe spill on Strictly journey and finale return
type: item
date: 2025-12-09T17:01:54.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: BBC iPlayer
subject: BBC One
subject: Christmas
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: From first steps to standing ovations: Alex Kingston and Johannes Radebe reflect on dancing, friendship, and their post-Strictly Christmas plans.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. At 62, actor Alex Kingston is only three years younger than the mother of her Strictly Come Dancing partner, 38-year-old professional Johannes Radebe. But in this partnership, she was the one learning from him. Over the past few months, they went from tentative first steps to earning standing ovations. And now, despite their Strictly journey ending, they vow they’ll stay on the dance floor one way or another… Alex, what was it like learning from someone younger? ALEX: Oh my gosh, I can’t imagine anyone else being my dance partner. The problem is, now my Strictly journey has come to an end, I will have to carry on dancing and I don’t know who will ever come close to Johannes. JOHANNES: Oh my goodness, we’ll have to book some lessons. I’ve always said that partnerships are special because they grow, and that I always teach like a marriage – even though I have never been married. ALEX: And I’ve been married three times! Did you have a mentor or someone you looked up to earlier in your careers? JOHANNES: As a boy, there was an Australian dancer I watched from a distance from my township in South Africa. His name is Jason Gilkison. I modelled my career on his, and now I am in the same room as him – he’s the creative director of Strictly Come Dancing. It’s an honour to work with him. Nowadays, I go back home to South Africa and run workshops teaching kids to dance. That’s my way of giving back. ALEX: My English teacher saw that I wasn’t academic in the sciences, but she made sure I had an opportunity to begin acting, devising plays where I was the lead. Her name was Margaret Kirk. She’s no longer with us, but I’m forever thankful to her. Are you looking forward to the final, where every Strictly couple returns for a reunion? ALEX: Oh yes, one hundred per cent. Looking at the opening credits of Strictly, seeing all the contestants, you realise how few are left. The first week does seem a long time ago now. It will be rea…

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Meet the Warrior of the Deep
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Gugu Mbatha-Raw felt liberated by her transformation
encoded: Add The War Between the Land and Sea to your watchlist The Sea Devils have been around in Doctor Who since the 1970s. Were you aware of them? I have to confess, I wasn’t around in the 70s! And I didn’t do a deep-dive into the Sea Devils’ mythology. For me, it was exciting to start where we are, in the world that Russell T Davies has created with the show. For fans of Doctor Who, there are so many nuances and layers that they will pick up on. But you don’t have to know all of that background to really invest in the story, which I think is one of its strengths. You’ve been in the Doctor Who world before in 2007. You played Tish Jones, the sister of companion Martha; now you’re fish-woman Salt. What brought you back? I have such fond memories of working on Doctor Who. It was one of my first TV jobs and there was so much buzz around the show. I’ve seen Russell T Davies socially and in passing over the years. When he reached out about this project, I was really, really excited. But I was also kind of curious and a bit trepidatious, knowing that the character is an amphibian, and it’s something very, very different. Yes, as Salt you’re pretty unrecognisable… I’ve never done such a large-scale creature-character. I thought it would be a really interesting acting challenge, physically. Without spoiling too much of the magic, I spent three hours in hair and make-up every morning with Georgia Brown and Samantha Di Giuseppe. It’s quite a surreal experience as an actor, I think, to look in a mirror and almost not recognise yourself. You’re liberated from all the usual tools you have. Suddenly you don’t have curly hair and brown skin. You’re free to create something completely different. You have what you bring: your face, your physicality. Three hours! Wasn’t that exhausting? It was an arduous process, I’m not going to lie. It’s three hours just to do the face, and there’s the layers of glue and paint. Not to mention when you get into the body, the body armour, the scales and t…

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'Tis the season to be stranger
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App features
subject: App
description: The creators and stars of the Netflix hit discuss the dramatic finale and emotional farewells as they take one last trip into the Upside Down
encoded: Add Stranger Things to your watchlist Stranger Things has a history of setting and releasing its series during major US holidays, whether that’s series two’s Halloween theme – which featured a deadly pumpkin patch – or the firework-laden 4th of July setting of Stranger Things 3. So, with the final ever episodes of the hit Netflix series airing over the Christmas period, we had to ask the two men who created it – why have you not made a Christmas special? “Like the Star Wars Holiday Special, something like that?” laughs series co-creator Matt Duffer, referencing the infamously awful 1978 straight-to-TV spin-off. “Sadly, there is no Stranger Things Holiday Special. When we were working on it, we didn’t know exactly what the release date was.” Still, that doesn’t mean it’s completely divorced from the festive season. The Duffers have cited Yuletide classic Home Alone as a key influence on this final series – particularly its homespun traps – and lest we forget, one of the key images of the show has always been ominously flickering Christmas lights… “And we do like the idea of releasing it on Christmas,” adds Matt. “Just because we’re film guys and big films were often released at Christmas. We like the idea of people watching it together. So instead of just sitting there by yourself watching on a phone, perhaps it encourages people to sit down as a family or with a group of friends.” Following a cliffhanger episode four released in late November, three more episodes will be released on Boxing Day, while the finale – so secret even the actors aren’t allowed to see it beforehand – drops on New Year’s Eve. The final battle for Hawkins between Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) will also be shown in certain cinemas in America. “It’s really nice that we’re not going to have any super fans rushing ahead and spoiling it,” says Matt’s twin brother and co-creator Ross Duffer. “Everyone can experience that last episode at the same time.” “Filming the en…

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Stranger Things creators reveal "very emotional" reactions to ending scenes – as stars talk final goodbye
type: item
date: 2025-11-25T11:00:16.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
subject: Netflix
description: "Saying goodbye is one of those bittersweet moments. It’s hard. But all good things come to an end."
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Stranger Things has a history of setting and releasing its series during major US holidays, whether that’s season 2's Halloween theme – which featured a deadly pumpkin patch – or the firework-laden 4th of July setting of Stranger Things 3. So, with the final ever episodes of the hit Netflix series airing over the Christmas period, we had to ask the two men who created it – why have you not made a Christmas special? “Like the Star Wars Holiday Special, something like that?” laughs series co-creator Matt Duffer, referencing the infamously awful 1978 straight-to-TV spin-off. “Sadly, there is no Stranger Things Holiday Special. When we were working on it, we didn’t know exactly what the release date was.” Still, that doesn’t mean it’s completely divorced from the festive season. The Duffers have cited Yuletide classic Home Alone as a key influence on this final series – particularly its homespun traps – and lest we forget, one of the key images of the show has always been ominously flickering Christmas lights… “And we do like the idea of releasing it on Christmas,” adds Matt. “Just because we’re film guys and big films were often released at Christmas. We like the idea of people watching it together. So instead of just sitting there by yourself watching on a phone, perhaps it encourages people to sit down as a family or with a group of friends.” Following a cliffhanger episode four released in late November, three more episodes will be released on Boxing Day, while the finale – so secret even the actors aren’t allowed to see it beforehand – drops on New Year’s Eve. The final battle for Hawkins between Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) will also be shown in certain cinemas in America. “It’s really nice that we’re not going to have any super fans rushing ahead and spoiling it,” says Matt’s twin brother and co-creator Ross Duffer. “Everyone can experience that last episode at the same time.” “F…

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Two Doors Down writer reveals Christmas episode with a twist – and why the show returned after co-creator’s death
type: item
date: 2025-11-25T00:01:53.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Comedy
subject: TV
subject: BBC One
subject: Christmas
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: Creator Gregor Sharp on what makes Two Doors Down's Christmas special so heartwarming and unmissable this festive season.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. What makes the perfect sitcom Christmas special? Having now written five festive outings for his Scottish sitcom Two Doors Down, Gregor Sharp has a few ideas. “The audience is slightly different that time of year,” he tells RT. “Somehow, you’re trying to catch what’s magic about Christmas. The line to tread is emotion and warmth, without mawkishness. You’re also very conscious of repetition. Early on we did one set around a Christmas lunch. It now feels like it would be difficult to find an original angle on that.” So this year, the special isn’t even set in December. It’s late November, and long-suffering neighbourhood hosts Beth and Eric (Arabella Weir and Alex Norton) impulsively decide to put up their tree early. Cue their troublesome neighbours turning up, asking what gives the Bairds the right to “declare it’s Christmas” – and demanding a wee mince pie. “It’s typical of the show,” says Sharp. “It’s those moments that should be harmonious, but there’s a bit of tension as people bring up their expectations around Christmas. “There are certain shows that Christmas specials really work for,” he muses. “I think that Two Doors Down is by accident one of those, just because it’s a very domestic set. You’re not having to bend it.” The new Christmas special will also be a welcome return for a show that, following the unexpected death of co-creator Simon Carlyle in 2023, seemed like it might be gone for good. “In the immediate aftermath of all that, it felt like there was no appetite for it,” Sharp says. “And then, I suppose, time passes, and you go, ‘Well, actually, creatively, there’s more to do there.’ “It’s a real privilege to have a Christmas episode. Whether everyone would want to do more than that, we don’t know yet. It’s over to the audience now.” The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Two Doors Down returns to BBC One this Christmas. Stream old episodes on iPlayer. Add Two Doors Down to …

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'We were failures before this'
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App
subject: App features
description: The show’s first script was rejected 20 times. Now, five seasons on, The Duffer Brothers are moving on to even stranger things
encoded: Add Stranger Things to your watchlist Over one billion hours streamed of the most recent season; sold-out West End and Broadway shows; 15 million Funko Pop action figures bought by obsessed fans. Stranger Things is, by any metric, a runaway success, a bona fide pop culture phenomenon for under-20s to rival Star Wars or Marvel. One can only imagine the dream team of top writers, big-name stars and slick executives who brainstormed Netflix’s mega-hit into existence. Or perhaps not… “We were all failures. Complete failures,” says Matt Duffer, one half of the twin writer-director duo known as The Duffer Brothers, who created the drama. “Before we made this, we had only experienced heartbreak. We thought it was going to happen again.” From where they’re sitting as we speak, the star attraction at one of Europe’s biggest pop culture conventions in Lucca, Italy, his words seem ridiculous. Attended by 280,000 guests, the festival – which saw the 41-year-old brothers and the cast swamped by hordes of screaming fans – is but a modest first stop on a worldwide press tour for Stranger Things 5, the culmination of their franchise nine years after it began. But back in 2016, it was a different story. The Duffers weren’t sought-after creatives – they were 30-something wannabe film directors whose first projects had stalled. The story of Stranger Things and Will, a young boy who disappears in the 1980s while a terrifying monster attacks his friends, was deemed uncommercial. And while Winona Ryder (who plays the missing boy’s mother, Joyce) had been a star in her day, the rest of the cast was largely filled with unknowns and untested child stars. “None of us had had a success,” says Matt’s brother Ross. “We were a group of misfit toys.” It’s a familiar feeling for them. Born in North Carolina in 1984 – a few months after the first season of Stranger Things is set – the Duffer brothers remember themselves as uncool, movie-obsessed nerds, bullied and overlooked in much the same way as…

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Stranger Things creators reveal the biggest question answered in the final season and tease future spin-offs
type: item
date: 2025-11-18T00:01:21.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
subject: Netflix
description: The Duffer Brothers reveal how they went from "complete failures" to creating one of Netflix's biggest hits.
encoded: Over one billion hours streamed of the most recent season; sold-out West End and Broadway shows; 15 million Funko Pop action figures bought by obsessed fans. Stranger Things is, by any metric, a runaway success, a bona fide pop culture phenomenon for under-20s to rival Star Wars or Marvel. One can only imagine the dream team of top writers, big-name stars and slick executives who brainstormed Netflix’s mega-hit into existence. Or perhaps not… “We were all failures. Complete failures,” says Matt Duffer, one half of the twin writer-director duo known as The Duffer Brothers, who created the drama. “Before we made this, we had only experienced heartbreak. We thought it was going to happen again.” From where they’re sitting as we speak, the star attraction at one of Europe’s biggest pop culture conventions in Lucca, Italy, his words seem ridiculous. Attended by 280,000 guests, the festival – which saw the 41-year-old brothers and the cast swamped by hordes of screaming fans – is but a modest first stop on a worldwide press tour for Stranger Things 5, the culmination of their franchise nine years after it began. But back in 2016, it was a different story. The Duffers weren’t sought-after creatives – they were 30-something wannabe film directors whose first projects had stalled. The story of Stranger Things and Will, a young boy who disappears in the 1980s while a terrifying monster attacks his friends, was deemed uncommercial. And while Winona Ryder (who plays the missing boy’s mother, Joyce) had been a star in her day, the rest of the cast was largely filled with unknowns and untested child stars. “None of us had had a success,” says Matt’s brother Ross. “We were a group of misfit toys.” It’s a familiar feeling for them. Born in North Carolina in 1984 – a few months after the first season of Stranger Things is set – the Duffer brothers remember themselves as uncool, movie-obsessed nerds, bullied and overlooked in much the same way as the heroes of their series. “One reas…

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Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea gives new name for classic monster: "It's racist to say Sea Devil"
type: item
date: 2025-11-06T11:28:22.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Climate - Sustainable contributions within wider content
subject: News
description: When the Sea Devils rise again, they’re not monsters – they’re Homo Aqua.
encoded: The first time you see a blue, six-foot fish-man walking towards you, it’s a shock. But after your third or fourth – and once you’ve seen them yawning, stretching and singing Whitney Houston songs between takes – you get used to it. After all, rubbing fins with the blue and scaly is everyday life on the set of The War Between the Land and the Sea, the new spin-off from sci-fi stalwart Doctor Who that reimagines the classic 1972 monsters, the Sea Devils. Although… "It’s racist to say Sea Devil," screenwriter Russell T Davies tells RT, with a twinkle in his eye. In the context of the show, he says, the sea-dwelling race prefer to be called "Homo Aqua". And don’t call them monsters – arguably, it’s we humans who are the villains of the piece. After years of humankind polluting the oceans, Homo Aqua have had enough, with violence brewing unless human negotiator Barclay (Russell Tovey) and aquatic ambassador Salt (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) can broker peace. "I think every writer in the world is thinking, how do you write about the climate crisis?" says Davies, while showing us around the twisted, tendril-strewn dome of the Homo Aqua base. "We’re already in a climate war. This just dramatises it. "When they first approached me about coming back to Doctor Who in 2021, this was the first bit of my pitch," he adds. "I had this idea separately first. "But weirdly, it needs the Doctor Who setting. If I just go and pitch this cold, saying, ‘There is a race of creatures that live in the sea…' They’d say, 'Really? You sure?' The pre-existence of the Sea Devils takes all the problems out of it." Read more: Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea releases epic teaser Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea has release window confirmed with new-look images Still, despite the presence of a Jon Pertwee-era monster, several returning Who characters (led by Jemma Redgrave’s UNIT boss Kate Stewart) and, in Tovey and Mbatha-Raw, two leads who starred as different …

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Who are the monsters?
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Russell T Davies on the new Doctor Who spin-off, The War between the Land and the Sea
encoded: Add The War between the Land and the Sea to your watchlist The first time you see a blue, six-foot fish-man walking towards you, it’s a shock. But after your third or fourth — and once you’ve seen them yawning, stretching and singing Whitney Houston songs between takes — you get used to it. After all, rubbing fins with the blue and scaly is everyday life on the set of The War between the Land and the Sea, the new spin-off from sci-fi stalwart Doctor Who that reimagines classic 1972 monsters the Sea Devils. Although… “It’s racist to say Sea Devil,” screenwriter Russell T Davies tells RT, with a twinkle in his eye. In the context of the show, he says, the sea-dwelling race prefer to be called “Homo Aqua”. And don’t call them monsters — arguably, it’s we humans who are the villains of the piece. After years of humankind polluting the oceans, Homo Aqua have had enough, with violence brewing unless human negotiator Barclay (Russell Tovey) and aquatic ambassador Salt (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) can broker peace. “I think every writer in the world is thinking, how do you write about the climate crisis?” says Davies, while showing us around the twisted, tendril-strewn dome of the Homo Aqua base. “We’re already in a climate war. This just dramatises it. “When they first approached me about coming back to Doctor Who in 2021, this was the first bit of my pitch,” he adds. “I had this idea separately first. But weirdly, it needs the Doctor Who setting. If I just go and pitch this cold, saying, ‘There is a race of creatures that live in the sea…’ They’d say, ‘Really? You sure?’ The pre-existence of the Sea Devils takes all the problems out of it.” Still, despite the presence of a Jon Pertwee-era monster, several returning Who characters (led by Jemma Redgrave’s UNIT boss Kate Stewart) and in Tovey and Mbatha-Raw two leads who starred as different characters in Davies’s 2005—2010 Doctor Who run, we shouldn’t expect a repeat of the main show. Or for a familiar blue police box to turn up. “It…

'If I get picked to be a Traitor, I'll be ecstatic'
type: item
subject: App
subject: App features
description: The 73-year-old actor is hoping to feel Claudia's hand on her shoulder…
encoded: Add The Celebrity Traitors to your watchlist Celia, why have you decided to take part in The Celebrity Traitors? Well, it’s the most talked about game on television, isn’t it? On both sides of the Atlantic – worldwide in fact. I just think it’s such a clever invention. I’d love to meet the person who thought it up. What will you bring to the game? It’s a very good thing to remain as open as possible, really. But people think I’m nice, which could be useful. Are you good at reading people, would you say? Can you spot a liar? Yes, but I’ve got to have time. I don’t think it’s an instant thing. I want to give myself time to scrutinise their body language. Do you want to be a Traitor or a Faithful? I don’t really mind – if Claudia’s hand goes on my shoulder, I’ll be ecstatic with excitement. But I do think it’s quite a hard job. We recently spoke to you for your role in The Thursday Murder Club — was all that mystery and murder good practice? In a strange sort of way, yes. More generally, I suppose, being an actor, you do spend your life pretending to be somebody else, so that’s quite an advantage. But it is also a horror, because you haven’t got a character to hide behind here. It’s quite exposing. It’s true, we rarely see Celia Imrie “as herself”… In my autobiography I say that actresses are likened to Victorian young girls sitting round a ballroom on their gilt chairs waiting to be asked to dance. We all have to wait for the part to come along. Yes, I could play Hedda Gabler in my attic but there’s nobody to tell me how good I am. If I was Van Gogh, I could create a painting in the middle of the night, I wouldn’t need an audience. The only thing I have tried to do in terms of control in my career is to attempt to try and do something as different to the last thing so as not to be pigeonholed. And this, to be a player of The Traitors, is as different to anything else I have ever done. Speaking of the game — how do you feel about the Missions? I’m quite nervous about t…

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'This is the first thing I’ve ever done as myself'
type: item
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Comedian and actor Nick Mohammed, 44, rarely appears publicly when he's not in character… so how will he cope in the castle?
encoded: Add The Celebrity Traitors to your watchlist Nick, why join The Celebrity Traitors? I absolutely adore the show, and always have done. This is the first thing I’ve ever done as myself. I did Taskmaster, which was sort of as me, but even that, I decided to dress as Dracula to hide behind something. In my comedy I’m usually in character, so I tend not to do much as myself to preserve that element of mystery. But there was no way I was going to give up an opportunity like this! I’ve always loved games like this and to hang out with such a wonderful bunch too – what a privilege. So, your character Mr Swallow won’t be making an appearance? Sadly, I think Nick Mohammed was booked rather than Mr Swallow. But also, can you imagine how irritating that would be, not just for the people taking part, but. for the nation! There are always potential tactics from your other work — perhaps a rousing team talk à la Ted Lasso? Maybe that would be good at the Round Table – a sort of Gladiator-style motivational speech. But you don’t want to draw too much attention to yourself or make yourself a target. I don’t know if I would want to do anything too overconfident, because it’s like when Kas [in series three] did a toast to the first person who went and then was immediately suspected as being a Traitor. He was clearly a lovely, lovely guy, I just don’t want to fall into the same trap. It’s a fine line to tread. If you blend into the background too much, people will think you’re deliberately hiding. Have you got a strategy? I think I’ll just try and be quite easy breezy in the first instance. A little further down the line you can maybe start considering strategy – and it also depends on whether I’m made a Traitor or a Faithful. There’s a certain thrill of being made a Traitor, of course, and you’re in a little bit more control, but if I’m a Faithful, I’ll also have that constant worry each night whether I’ll be murdered. That said, I’ve got a lovely family, so it’s sort of a win, win. …

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Praise be!
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App
subject: App features
description: TV has a new crime-busting priest – he’s like me, but hotter, says creator the Rev Richard Coles
encoded: Add Murder Before Evensong to your watchlist "Do you know how many vicar detectives there are in fiction?” asks musician, priest and now writer the Rev Richard Coles. “No? There’s 200. If you think about it, vicars are very likely candidates for murder mysteries. You get stuck in everywhere and nobody asks what you’re doing.” But even outside the world of so-called cosy crime, Coles says dealing with murder is a part of any priest’s job. “I was in central London, then left to become a vicar of a semi-rural parish for 12 years. Everybody said, ‘Oh, you’ll get bored. You’ll just be doing village fêtes.’ But there was a murder in my first week. Or rather, an alleged murder. It happens, you see. The human heart is the human heart. It’s darkness and it’s light wherever you go. “Murder victims need to have funerals, just like everybody else. Often you’ll find yourself doing funerals not just for murder victims but for murderers, too. Everyone comes to your door in the end.” With this on-the-job experience, plus the fact that his brother was a detective at Scotland Yard, it was perhaps fate that Coles would turn to writing holy whodunnits. His addition to the, er, canon is cultured cleric Daniel Clement, who solved his first case in the 2022 novel Murder before Evensong, before returning for three more novels (and a short story). Now he’s getting the TV treatment, with Harry Potter star Matthew Lewis stepping into a cassock for a six-episode adaptation, in which Daniel’s roped in to hunt down a killer in a 1988 Midlands village. “Readers think that Daniel Clement is basically me and when I saw Matthew in costume, he actually does look like a hotter version of me,” says Coles. “So that’s a little bit of mental rearrangement!” Given how closely the series cleaves to Coles’s own experiences – like him, Daniel has moved to a village parish after time in London, and has a fondness for sausage dogs – I wonder at a line of dialogue in the second episode. Daniel ruffles feathers b…

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Guess who?
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App
subject: App features
description: As the Celebrity Traitors convene at Claudia Winkleman’s Highlands castle, Uncloaked host Ed Gamble reveals who he thinks has the wits to win the game
encoded: Add The Celebrity Traitors to your watchlist The torches are lit, the Round Table waxed and polished, the green cloaks freshly dry-cleaned, all ready for the latest return to the cut-throat world of The Traitors. And this time, you’ll recognise some of the faces under the hoods. Yes, the inevitable has happened – after three smash-hit series of glossy betrayal on BBC One, we’re getting the celebrity version. But this is no cheap cash-in, with genuine, A-list household names like Stephen Fry, Tom Daley and Clare Balding among the 19 famous faces being put through their paces by Claudia Winkleman. “I could barely breathe when I saw them all in the Highlands,” Winkleman says. “I’m such a fan of every single one of them. The whole team were just in awe, it was hard not to scream, ‘You’re here!’” “Any worry that they’re going to take it easy on these people because they’re celebrities – you can forget about that,” adds comedian Ed Gamble, host of companion series The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked. “We’ll get to see how they cope under that amount of pressure, and whether they will let slip their media-trained mask. But it’s still the Traitors we know and love.” Though perhaps, for those playing it’s a little trickier. Normally, Traitors contestants are strangers to each other, sometimes even rewriting their backstories to play the game. Here, there’s no chance of pretending to have a different job – or putting on a fake Welsh accent. “You’ve made a lot of your decisions about someone if you’ve seen them on television for years,” agrees Gamble. “I think that throws an extra spanner in the works.” Over the last two series of the main show, Gamble has gone toe-to-toe with every Traitor and Faithful on Uncloaked, commiserating with and grilling them on every double-cross, bad vote and tough decision they’ve made throughout the game. In other words, he’s seen it all. So which celebrities does he think have what it takes to win the game as Faithful or Traitor? Here are his fir…

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Reverend Richard Coles reveals if Murder Before Evensong's crime-solving vicar is based on him
type: item
date: 2025-09-29T15:30:12.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Magazine
subject: News
description: TV has a new crime-busting priest.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. “Do you know how many vicar detectives there are in fiction?” asks musician, priest and now writer the Rev Richard Coles. “No? There’s 200. If you think about it, vicars are very likely candidates for murder mysteries. You get stuck in everywhere and nobody asks what you’re doing.” But even outside the world of so-called cosy crime, Coles says dealing with murder is a part of any priest’s job. “I was in central London, then left to become a vicar of a semi-rural parish for 12 years. Everybody said, ‘Oh, you’ll get bored. You’ll just be doing village fêtes.’ But there was a murder in my first week. Or rather, an alleged murder. It happens, you see. The human heart is the human heart. It’s darkness and it’s light wherever you go. “Murder victims need to have funerals, just like everybody else. Often you’ll find yourself doing funerals not just for murder victims but for murderers, too. Everyone comes to your door in the end.” With this on-the-job experience, plus the fact that his brother was a detective at Scotland Yard, it was perhaps fate that Coles would turn to writing holy whodunnits. His addition to the, er, canon is cultured cleric Daniel Clement, who solved his first case in the 2022 novel Murder Before Evensong, before returning for three more novels (and a short story). Now he’s getting the TV treatment, with Harry Potter star Matthew Lewis stepping into a cassock for a six-episode adaptation, in which Daniel’s roped in to hunt down a killer in a 1988 Midlands village. “Readers think that Daniel Clement is basically me and when I saw Matthew in costume, he actually does look like a hotter version of me,” says Coles. “So that’s a little bit of mental rearrangement!” Given how closely the series cleaves to Coles’s own experiences – like him, Daniel has moved to a village parish after time in London, and has a fondness for sausage dogs – I wonder at an intriguing storyline in the drama that didn’t feature in…

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Meet Strictly's class of 2025
type: item
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: App
subject: App features
description: From overcoming grief to chasing lifelong dreams – here’s why this year’s Strictly stars have embraced the sequins
encoded: Add Strictly Come Dancing to your watchlist Editors' note: this feature was updated to exclude Dani Dyer, who has been forced to withdraw from this year's competition due to injury. Strictly Come Dancing is bigger than its scandals. This time last year, amid a flurry of damaging behind-the-scenes stories, there were whispers that the show’s days might be numbered. Instead, it delivered one of its most heartwarming competitions yet, as blind comedian Chris McCausland and pro partner Dianne Buswell waltzed their way to victory. Now, despite more tabloid headlines, Strictly is quickstepping back onto our screens for its 23rd series. As always, there are a few changes – voting is online onlyand the set has had a minor refresh – but the heart of the show remains the same: a new cast of celebrities looking to dazzle the judges with their dancing. So, who’s bringing secret dance experience? Who’s got two left feet? Who’s already sweating with nerves – and who’s cool as a cucumber? This year’s professional dancers introduce the class of 2025… Dianna Buswell with Stefan Dennis 66, Neighbours actor Dianne “Stefan’s acting is going to help, as I always like to show a character in the dance. When we met he didn’t know anything about me. He told me the guy who won last year made him tear up. I had to say, ‘Did you notice he was dancing with me?’ “Last year was an incredible experience. Chris [McCausland] and I weren’t prepared for the way people kept us in to the end. I don’t come into it thinking, ‘Ooh, I won last year.’ It’s a new slate. One year you could be holding the glitterball, the next you could be gone in week two or three.” So, Stefan, you didn’t recognise Dianne? Stefan “I didn’t know her from a bar of soap! But she’s a brilliant teacher. It’s going to be hard work, but it’s going to be fun. You know, I could be digging ditches.” Who’s your biggest competition? “I’m a bit nervous about Dani, Karen, Lewis… Harry’s going to be a surprise. And Ellie is just a delight — …

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Meet Strictly's class of 2025: From a Doctor Who star to a Neighbours legend
type: item
date: 2025-09-22T23:01:02.000Z
creator: Huw Fullerton
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: BBC One
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: From overcoming grief to chasing lifelong dreams – here’s why this year’s Strictly stars have embraced the sequins.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Strictly Come Dancing is bigger than its scandals. This time last year, amid a flurry of damaging behind-the-scenes stories, there were whispers that the show’s days might be numbered. Instead, it delivered one of its most heartwarming competitions yet, as blind comedian Chris McCausland and pro partner Dianne Buswell waltzed their way to victory. Now, despite more tabloid headlines, Strictly is quickstepping back onto our screens for its 23rd series. As always, there are a few changes – voting is online only and the set has had a minor refresh – but the heart of the show remains the same: a new cast of celebrities looking to dazzle the judges with their dancing. So, who’s bringing secret dance experience? Who’s got two left feet? Who’s already sweating with nerves – and who’s cool as a cucumber? This year’s professional dancers introduce the class of 2025… Dianne Buswell with Stefan Dennis, 66, Neighbours actor Dianne “Stefan’s acting is going to help, as I always like to show a character in the dance. When we met he didn’t know anything about me. He told me the guy who won last year made him tear up. I had to say, ‘Did you notice he was dancing with me?’ “Last year was an incredible experience. Chris [McCausland] and I weren’t prepared for the way people kept us in to the end. I don’t come into it thinking, ‘Ooh, I won last year.’ It’s a new slate. One year you could be holding the glitterball, the next you could be gone in week two or three.” So, Stefan, you didn’t recognise Dianne? Stefan “I didn’t know her from a bar of soap! But she’s a brilliant teacher. It’s going to be hard work, but it’s going to be fun. You know, I could be digging ditches.” Who’s your biggest competition? “I’m a bit nervous about Dani, Karen, Lewis… Harry’s going to be a surprise. And Ellie is just a delight — she’s a bowl of positivity.” Obviously, Neighbours is coming to an end again… “Yeah, it’s a bugger, isn’t it?” Is that why you …