Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2025-11-10T14:37:12.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: What it’s like to be Frankenstein, Willy Wonka and Paddington's florist
items: What it's like to dress the sets of period dramas – from the expert behind Bridgerton, Hedda and more
items: Top Guns: The Next Generation reveals the life-or-death reality of naval training
items: Meet the real Top Gun pilots facing the life-or-death reality of naval training
items: Meet the zombie dentist!
items: How a British dental technician became Hollywood's go-to guy for special effects teeth
items: View from my sofa: Nish Kumar
items: Nish Kumar says panel shows disappearing would be "a loss" to British comedy
items: Daredevil: Born Again costume designer explains absence of "DD" symbol in season 1
items: 'Our technicians smash it with a hammer!'

What it’s like to be Frankenstein, Willy Wonka and Paddington's florist
type: item
date: 2025-11-10T00:00:05.000Z
creator: Jonathan Wells
subject: Movies
subject: Netflix
description: For Amanda Willgrave, business is blooming.
encoded: A shorter version of this article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. On-set florist Amanda Willgrave, who is based at London’s New Covent Garden Flower Market, has spent over two decades bringing her cinematic arrangements to screens both big and small, providing bunches and bouquets for films including Wonka, Wicked and two out of three Paddingtons. Next year, her work will appear in Emerald Fennell’s much-anticipated Wuthering Heights, but her latest project is Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, streaming now on Netflix. Here, Willgrave tells RT why she doesn’t actually want you to notice her flowers. A BUDDING CAREER In the '90s, I worked my way up from receptionist to producer for a production company in Soho, but it was such an industry of excess that I soon decided I’d had enough – I wanted a change. I didn’t have a dream of being a florist, but my lovely then-boss got me a month-long career-change course at the Jane Packer Flower School as a leaving present. BLOSSOM FORTH I opened up a small flower shop in Kensal Rise in London, where quite a few set decorators lived. I made up some vases for a couple of films, and then one set decorator, Rebecca Alleway, asked me to help her dress a film called Imagine Me & You, set in a flower shop. Following that, I worked on Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. In 2018, I did Cruella, which I’m hugely proud of, and there were lots of flowers in it, so things got much busier after that. COURSE OF ACTION On a film, I’ll talk to the set decorator, they’ll talk to the production designer, and they’ll talk to the director. That’s the line of contact. If it’s a film with a lot of flowers, the set decorator will bring me in early on. There’ll be a document that lists every set and the flower requirements for each one. After an initial conversation, I’ll put together mood boards, flower stems and work out how much it’s going to cost to do the arrangements. FRESH AS A DAISY We don’t really want you to notice the flowers – we ju…

073PF2024052428270R-e69736c.jpg
width: 2000
height: 1333

What it's like to dress the sets of period dramas – from the expert behind Bridgerton, Hedda and more
type: item
date: 2025-10-24T06:00:18.000Z
creator: Jonathan Wells
subject: Movies
subject: TV
subject: Amazon Prime Video
subject: Interview
description: From making curtains and flags to smothering pillows and papooses...
encoded: A shorter version of this article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Jillian Drujon knows how it’s hanging. As a trusted supplier of curtains, tents, banners and bedclothes to some of Hollywood’s biggest productions, the American-born drapesmaster has worked on fantastical period dramas from Bridgerton to King Arthur. She’s gone sci-fi for Blade Runner and Men in Black. She even worked on the sail-flapping, flag-snapping Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. With business partner Paula Maestro, Draper Emporium is based in a studio in north-west London, where Drujon works to train the next generation of drapers. It’s also where she fabricates the weird and wonderful textiles that have featured in films from Maleficent to Mission: Impossible. Recently, she’s behind the textiles in Hedda, starring Tessa Thompson – a reimagining of Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler. Here Drujon tells RT why her role is about so much more than providing curtains for productions. LEARNING HOW TO STITCH I grew up in Massachusetts, started stitching at school, and had an industrial sewing machine in my bedroom by the age of 17. My mom played Scrabble competitively, and after I made her a Scrabble bag, I got a small contract making them. I moved to London at 19 and a draper I knew got me some work on Danny Boyle's Sunshine, making the interiors of the spaceship, and it went from there. Even people in the industry don’t know this job exists. Drapesmaster is a very antiquated term because you think curtains, but it’s not just that. It encapsulates loads of stuff, from flags to soft furnishings. I only really need a sewing machine, a pair of good scissors and a tape measure, and maybe a pen and a staple gun. WORKING WITH THE RIGHT MATERIALS I'm brought in by the set decorator, ideally eight weeks before the shoot. We'll advise the art department on colour, opacity or quantity. If the fabric is really stretchy, we'll tell them to put it in the bin! And linen will be creased by the time it gets…

image1-de223ed.jpg
width: 1440
height: 960

Top Guns: The Next Generation reveals the life-or-death reality of naval training
type: item
date: 2025-09-26T06:00:52.000Z
creator: Jonathan Wells
subject: Documentaries
subject: TV
subject: Exclusive
subject: Interview
description: For National Geographic’s new docuseries, camera crews were given unprecedented access to the US Navy’s elite jet set.
encoded: Yes, there’s volleyball – and moustaches, and lots and lots of American flags. Also motorcycles, pool tables, sunglasses, flight suits, and a synth-heavy soundtrack. In fact, if you remember it from the high-flying Tom Cruise movies, it’s more than likely also here, in Top Guns: The Next Generation. But, this time, it’s real. The latest docuseries from National Geographic follows a class of US Navy and Marine Corps student pilots as they dive and dogfight their way through elite flight training. The six-part series marks the first time camera crews have been granted this behind-the-scenes access, and every episode gives us a better understanding of the characters in these cockpits. We also meet the instructors, on hand to keep the recruits in line and the viewers abreast of more technical terms. In 2024, when the show was filmed, Captain Juston Kuch was the commander of “Training Wing One”, overseeing the programme at Naval Air Station Meridian in Mississippi. As an engineering graduate, Kuch interned at Boeing before joining the Navy, and landed at Meridian for his own training a week before the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Each year, around 150 hopefuls make their way to Mississippi, determined to become the best of the best. “These people were captains of their high school baseball teams,” says Kuch of the trainees. “They were leaders, valedictorians, standout students. But, once you get into flight training, it’s a meritocracy. It doesn’t matter where you came from. We’ve had Ivy League students fail out, and we’ve had students from colleges they could barely pronounce excel in the programme. It comes down to dedication, willingness to get better, and an ability to put in hard work and effort.” And quick reaction times alone don’t put candidates at the top of their class, Kuch reveals. “I’ve actually got incredibly slow reactions to things on the fly,” he says, “but I can always recall procedure, or a checklist. And that’s the key element at this stage of training.” Th…

https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/09/106LastChanceTopGunsTheNextGenerationUHD24-c306caa.jpg
width: 3840
height: 2160

Meet the real Top Gun pilots facing the life-or-death reality of naval training
type: item
creator: Jonathan Wells
subject: App
subject: App features
description: For National Geographic’s docuseries Top Gun: The Next Generation, camera crews were given unprecedented access to the US Navy’s elite jet set.
encoded: Add Top Gun: The Next Generation to your watchlist Yes, there’s volleyball – and moustaches, and lots and lots of American flags. Also motorcycles, pool tables, sunglasses, flight suits, and a synth-heavy soundtrack. In fact, if you remember it from the high-flying Tom Cruise movies, it’s more than likely also here, in Top Guns: The Next Generation. But, this time, it’s real. The latest docuseries from National Geographic follows a class of US Navy and Marine Corps student pilots as they dive and dogfight their way through elite flight training. The six-part series marks the first time camera crews have been granted this behind-the-scenes access, and every episode gives us a better understanding of the characters in these cockpits. We also meet the instructors, on hand to keep the recruits in line and the viewers abreast of more technical terms. In 2024, when the show was filmed, Captain Juston Kuch was the commander of “Training Wing One”, overseeing the programme at Naval Air Station Meridian in Mississippi. As an engineering graduate, Kuch interned at Boeing before joining the Navy, and landed at Meridian for his own training a week before the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Each year, around 150 hopefuls make their way to Mississippi, determined to become the best of the best. View oEmbed on the source website “These people were captains of their high school baseball teams,” says Kuch of the trainees. “They were leaders, valedictorians, standout students. But, once you get into flight training, it’s a meritocracy. It doesn’t matter where you came from. We’ve had Ivy League students fail out, and we’ve had students from colleges they could barely pronounce excel in the programme. It comes down to dedication, willingness to get better, and an ability to put in hard work and effort.” And quick reaction times alone don’t put candidates at the top of their class, Kuch reveals. “I’ve actually got incredibly slow reactions to things on the fly,” he says, “but I can always recall…

https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/09/103AttackAttackTopGunsTheNextGenerationUHD006-4f38765.jpg
width: 3840
height: 2160

Meet the zombie dentist!
type: item
creator: Jonathan Wells
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Chris Lyons has created prosthetic teeth for Harry Potter, Star Wars and Game of Thrones, and most recently, 28 Years Later.
encoded: 28 Years Later is in cinemas now. Add it to your watchlist Hollywood may be famous for its flawless smiles and bright white veneers, but Chris Lyons – owner of Buckinghamshire-based dental prosthetics firm Fangs FX – deals in a very different type of showbiz teeth. For the last 40 years, Lyons has left a big impression on the world of cinematic gnashers. He has created custom teeth, tusks and all manner of other mandibles for film and television projects – everything from Star Wars to Jurassic World, Indiana Jones to Game of Thrones. He’s brought vampires to blood-sucking life (Nosferatu, Blade, several Draculas), rendered dentures to resurrect real-world figures including Napoleon and Nelson Mandela, and perfected pairs of zombified teeth for World War Z, The Last of Us and, most recently, 28 Years Later – continuing the work he began on the post-apocalyptic franchise in 2002. “For the original 28 Days Later,” says Lyons, “the zombies had their jaws locked open, so we developed a safe breakaway segment that wouldn’t endanger people during action scenes. Spin forward to 28 Years Later, and there are now three types of infected, so three different styles of teeth – some dirty, some broken, some missing. View oEmbed on the source website “We also did Shaun of the Dead,” Lyons adds, “where a zombie’s face had been chewed off, so its teeth were visible. We’re currently doing a TV show where there’s no colour to the zombie’s gums – they’re pale and bloodless. “Each director has a different slant on zombies – it’s the same with vampires. You’ve got Hammer vampires, sexy vampires, and we recently did a project where a vampire had double fangs on each side!” But Lyons loves a challenge. For many years, he and his father co-owned a dental laboratory, supplying hundreds of UK dentists with crowns, bridges and dentures. In 1983, an optician sought their help in casting a pair of chrome cobalt lenses for Superman III, because they worked with the material in dentistry. The succ…

28-years-later-trailer-6f3b992.jpg
width: 1499
height: 1000

How a British dental technician became Hollywood's go-to guy for special effects teeth
type: item
date: 2025-06-18T16:00:51.000Z
creator: Jonathan Wells
subject: Movies
subject: Interview
description: Chris Lyons has created prosthetic teeth for Harry Potter, Star Wars and Game of Thrones, and most recently, 28 Years Later.
encoded: Hollywood may be famous for its flawless smiles and bright white veneers, but Chris Lyons – owner of Buckinghamshire-based dental prosthetics firm Fangs FX – deals in a very different type of showbiz teeth. For the last 40 years, Lyons has left a big impression on the world of cinematic gnashers. He has created custom teeth, tusks and all manner of other mandibles for film and television projects – everything from Star Wars to Jurassic World, Indiana Jones to Game of Thrones. He’s brought vampires to blood-sucking life (Nosferatu, Blade, several Draculas), rendered dentures to resurrect real-world figures including Napoleon and Nelson Mandela, and perfected pairs of zombified teeth for World War Z, The Last of Us and, most recently, 28 Years Later – continuing the work he began on the post-apocalyptic franchise in 2002. “For the original 28 Days Later,” says Lyons, “the zombies had their jaws locked open, so we developed a safe breakaway segment that wouldn’t endanger people during action scenes. Spin forward to 28 Years Later, and there are now three types of infected, so three different styles of teeth – some dirty, some broken, some missing. View oEmbed on the source website “We also did Shaun of the Dead,” Lyons adds, “where a zombie’s face had been chewed off, so its teeth were visible. We’re currently doing a TV show where there’s no colour to the zombie’s gums – they’re pale and bloodless. “Each director has a different slant on zombies – it’s the same with vampires. You’ve got Hammer vampires, sexy vampires, and we recently did a project where a vampire had double fangs on each side!” But Lyons loves a challenge. For many years, he and his father co-owned a dental laboratory, supplying hundreds of UK dentists with crowns, bridges and dentures. In 1983, an optician sought their help in casting a pair of chrome cobalt lenses for Superman III, because they worked with the material in dentistry. The success of this project led to them creating prosthetic teeth f…

Screenshot-2025-06-06-at-11.33.48-1cc7c7e.png
width: 2464
height: 936

View from my sofa: Nish Kumar
type: item
creator: Jonathan Wells
subject: App
subject: App features
description: The comedian laments the decline of the panel shows that made him
encoded: What’s the view from your sofa? In Friends, after someone tells Joey they don’t have a TV, he asks, “But what’s all your furniture pointed at?” That’s how I feel about my living room. Everything is geared up to face the TV. But it’s been a while since I sat on my sofa. Usually, I’m immediately horizontal. Who controls the remote at home? I insist on controlling the remote, and it’s a source of much tension between my partner and me! We’ve got a couple of remotes, including one for the TV, although you have to turn the PlayStation on if you want to watch a Blu-ray. It’s become untenable. What’s most shouted in the house is, “Where is one of the f***ing remotes?” What have you watched recently? The US comedy Abbott Elementary created by actress Quinta Brunson. I like that a lot. It reminds me of the US network shows that I grew up on, with 20 weekly episodes. I want more shows like that. There’s something comforting about having a show and a group of characters you can dip into once a week. What did you watch as a child? Growing up, the biggest currency in my household was being funny, so we all bonded over watching old British sitcoms: Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, but also stuff from America, like Bewitched. My grandfather loved sitcoms. Eventually, I got him into The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. There’s something about South Asian grandparents and The Fresh Prince… they love it! Did you ever watch comedians on TV? I remember seeing Chris Rock’s Bigger & Blacker special on Channel 4, and now my stand-up is a squeaky-voiced man of colour shrieking about the news. I suppose the apple didn’t fall far from that tree… Would you say panel shows were your “big break”? There was a period during the 2000s where a good episode of Mock the Week could sell out your tour, so maybe I lived through the golden age of panel shows. They helped me learn how to be on TV. By the time I did Have I Got News for You, I knew loosely what to expect. They were a fantastic way of bringing …

GettyImages-2151918775-14f5eed.jpg
width: 3712
height: 2475

Nish Kumar says panel shows disappearing would be "a loss" to British comedy
type: item
date: 2025-05-12T23:01:48.000Z
creator: Jonathan Wells
subject: Comedy
subject: TV
subject: Magazine
description: Kumar spoke with this week's issue of Radio Times magazine.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. What’s the view from your sofa? In Friends, after someone tells Joey they don’t have a TV, he asks, “But what’s all your furniture pointed at?” That’s how I feel about my living room. Everything is geared up to face the TV. But it’s been a while since I sat on my sofa. Usually, I’m immediately horizontal. Who controls the remote at home? I insist on controlling the remote, and it’s a source of much tension between my partner and me! We’ve got a couple of remotes, including one for the TV, although you have to turn the PlayStation on if you want to watch a Blu-ray. It’s become untenable. What’s most shouted in the house is, “Where is one of the f***ing remotes?” What have you watched recently? The US comedy Abbott Elementary created by actress Quinta Brunson. I like that a lot. It reminds me of the US network shows that I grew up on, with 20 weekly episodes. I want more shows like that. There’s something comforting about having a show and a group of characters you can dip into once a week. What did you watch as a child? Growing up, the biggest currency in my household was being funny, so we all bonded over watching old British sitcoms: Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, but also stuff from America, like Bewitched. My grandfather loved sitcoms. Eventually, I got him into The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. There’s something about South Asian grandparents and The Fresh Prince… they love it! Did you ever watch comedians on TV? I remember seeing Chris Rock’s Bigger & Blacker special on Channel 4, and now my stand-up is a squeaky-voiced man of colour shrieking about the news. I suppose the apple didn’t fall far from that tree… Would you say panel shows were your “big break”? There was a period during the 2000s where a good episode of Mock the Week could sell out your tour, so maybe I lived through the golden age of panel shows. They helped me learn how to be on TV. By the time I did Have I Got News for You, I knew loosely w…

Daredevil: Born Again costume designer explains absence of "DD" symbol in season 1
type: item
date: 2025-04-07T23:01:14.000Z
creator: Jonathan Wells
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Disney Plus
subject: Interview
description: Fans have waited a decade for the comic-accurate look...
encoded: Over the years, Daredevil has worn plenty of supersuits on screen – but only one has ever featured the character’s comic-accurate “DD” logo: before Ben Affleck became Batman, his middling 2003 take on Daredevil was zipped into a skintight leather number that bore the intertwined letters on its blood-red front. But, when the baton – or should that be billy club? – was handed to Charlie Cox in 2015, Netflix gave audiences a more gritty, grounded version of the Marvel hero, one who wore black combat trousers and a scarf around his head. It wasn’t until the end of the first Netflix season that he even got a supersuit. There were two additional seasons of the Netflix show, followed by Cox cameos in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Echo, before a triumphant return in Daredevil: Born Again, currently streaming on Disney Plus. The suits during this time have ranged from the deep red of Daredevil’s Netflix days to a gold-trimmed take in She-Hulk. And yet, every time the superhero has somersaulted back onto our screens, there’s been no “DD” logo on his chest. “The ‘DD’ logo on Daredevil’s suit is a big thing for the character,” says Emily Gunshor, costume designer for Born Again, whose previous work includes DC’s Stargirl. “A lot of fans want to see the logo on his chest. But, for this season’s red suit, it was a specific story point and a very specific discussion that we were not going to put the ‘DD’ on his chest. “There are discussions I can weigh in on and offer opinions on, but, ultimately, for these comic book projects, it goes to a higher level.” The Born Again suits, however, are some of the superhero’s best. Gunshor’s team worked with Ironhead Studio, a specialty costume shop in Los Angeles, to create Daredevil’s costumes for Born Again. They had five suits made for the nine-episode season – three for Cox, two for his stunt double. “We could have used a whole lot more,” laughs Gunshor. “But these things are expensive!” The idea of other characte…

IMG4310R-1aaa71c.jpg
width: 6000
height: 4500

'Our technicians smash it with a hammer!'
type: item
creator: Jonathan Wells
subject: App
subject: App features
subject: App Oscars 2025
description: New York foundry manager Jake Joyce reveals how Oscars are made
encoded: Add this year's Oscars to your watchlist Since the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929, only one Hollywood icon has made the guest list every single year. He’s statuesque, gleams ever gold — and stands at 13 ½ inches high and weighs 8 ½ pounds. His official name, the Academy Award of Merit, fell into disuse decades ago, replaced simply by Oscar. The statuette is legendary: an Art Deco knight, hands clasped around the hilt of his sword, stood atop a five-spoked reel of film, with each spoke representing a branch of the original Academy – acting, writing, directing, producing and technical roles. Almost a century after Cedric Gibbons – art director on many famous films including The Wizard of Oz and Singin’ in the Rain – designed the award in 1928, Jake Joyce, a second-generation metalworker, runs UAP, the New York foundry where every modern Oscar is made. “They’re heavier than you’d expect,” says Joyce, “because they’re cast in solid bronze. There are 110 people in our workshop and an Oscar will probably pass through at least half of the hands here.” Throughout the 20th Century, Oscars were created using everything from britannia, a pewter-like alloy, to painted plaster during the Second World War when there was a metal shortage. However, the statues have been cast in their original metal, bronze, since 2016. That’s when the team at UAP was approached by Academy officials, who wanted a return to a more traditional casting process and design. “They supplied us with both an original George Stanley-sculpted Oscar from 1929 and a more modern version,” says Joyce. “We digitally scanned both and worked with the Academy to select attributes from each that worked. We slightly adjusted the model, but just minor stylistic tweaks – like the detailing of the film reel the statue stands on.” The foundry, of which Joyce is the general manager, employs the lost wax process, a 6,000-year-old method of replicating a model in a more permanent material. Using a series of mouldings an…

10OscarGoldPlating-8b7a2e1.jpg
width: 5450
height: 3636