Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2025-09-06T11:45:36.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: I Fought the Law true story: What happened to William Dunlop?
items: I Fought the Law review: Sheridan Smith justifies ubiquity in heart-rending true crime adaptation
items: The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox doesn't need to exist
items: The Survivors ending explained: How did Gabby and Bronte die?
items: Code of Silence ending explained: What happened to Alison and Liam?
items: Secrets We Keep ending explained: What happened to the missing au pair?
items: Good American Family ending explained: What happened after the TV show?
items: Caught ending explained: who killed Martina and did Ema survive?
items: Just One Look ending explained: Who was Jacek and who ordered all the killings?
items: The Snow Girl season 2 ending explained: What happens to Miren?
items: Why American Primeval is the anti-Yellowstone
items: Lockerbie true story: What happened to Jim Swire?
items: Lockerbie: A Search for Truth cast - Meet the characters
items: Is La Palma based on a true story?
items: Wolf Hall season 2 review: End of Tudor saga proves to be well worth the wait
items: The Office review: Australia's take on Ricky Gervais's classic wastes its resources
items: Deceitful Love review: Grey's Anatomy hunk keeps everyone guessing in lusty age-gap mystery
items: Netflix romcom Nobody Wants This ignores its USP
items: Sherwood ending explained: Did Ann literally get away with murder?
items: Stags review: Brits get banged up abroad in Paramount Plus's geezerish jailhouse dramedy
items: Why Vince Vaughn's Bad Monkey should kickstart the 'Vaughnaissance'
items: Those About to Die review: Ancient Rome gets the Roland Emmerich touch in historical gambling drama
items: Why Lost Boys & Fairies is TV's most authentic depiction of gay shame
items: Is The Tattooist of Auschwitz based on a true story?
items: How Baby Reindeer has been hijacked by armchair detective culture
items: Baby Reindeer review: Richard Gadd bares soul in gripping emotional rollercoaster
items: Gray on Netflix ending explained: Who was the mole? And how does it set up season 2?
items: The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin review: Noel Fielding shines in unashamedly silly sitcom
items: Fool Me Once ending explained: Who killed Joe?
items: The Brothers Sun ending explained: the end of the Jade Dragons?

I Fought the Law true story: What happened to William Dunlop?
type: item
date: 2025-09-06T11:25:53.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: ITV
description: From Julie Hogg’s initial disappearance to William Dunlop’s eventual conviction, a look at the real events dramatised to powerful effect in ITV’s latest must-watch.
encoded: Following the 1989 murder of Julie Hogg and her mother's fight for justice, I Fought the Law is one of the most gripping shows of 2025 so far. Starring Sheridan Smith as Ann Ming, a mother-of-three from Billingham, County Durham, the ITV crime drama follows Ming's 15-year battle to change Britain's 800-year-old double jeopardy law to put her ensure her daughter's killer saw justice. The show is based on Ming's own memoir, For the Love of Julie, and was produced with her input, straying from the truth far less than many other similar stories. So, here's the full true story of I Fought the Law. I Fought the Law true story: What happened to William Dunlop? After struggling to get hold of Julie one morning in November 1989 (and learning that she’d missed a court hearing in which she was set to apply for a leave of separation from estranged husband Andrew), Ann reported her as a missing person. Initially believing that she’d simply left of her own accord, even putting forward the theory she’d abandoned her young son Kevin to move to London, police took several days to properly investigate further. Despite spending nearly a week searching Julie’s house, they failed to find any evidence of her whereabouts and the case ultimately went cold. Eighty days after she disappeared, Andrew decided to return to the family home where he discovered a strange odour. Thanks to her medical background, Ann instantly recognised the smell and on removing a bath panel, made the horrifying discovery of her daughter’s naked body wrapped in a blanket. A post-mortem concluded that she’d been sexually assaulted and strangled. Who was William Dunlop? After ruling out Andrew, police honed in on and later charged William Dunlop, a builder’s labourer who’d been visiting a friend that lived next door to Julie on the night she disappeared: he’d also violently assaulted a man while at a rugby club just hours beforehand. The prosecution argued that Dunlop, who’d allegedly had previous relations with the …

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I Fought the Law review: Sheridan Smith justifies ubiquity in heart-rending true crime adaptation
type: item
date: 2025-08-31T07:00:56.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: ITV
subject: Review
description: The TV favourite once again delivers as a bereaved mum who while seeking justice for her murdered daughter ultimately changed the history of British law.
encoded: There's a well-worn social media joke which casts Sheridan Smith whenever a news story appears ripe for a prime-time dramatisation. After all, she’s previously taken on real-life figures in The C Word, The Moorside, Four Lives, Mrs Biggs and, of course, Cilla just to name a few. However, her latest portrayal in harrowing true crime drama I Fought the Law explains exactly why she’s become the go-to star. It’s unlikely that ‘Grieving mother attempting to amend a British law that’s been in place since the Magna Carta’ has ever been suggested by the Twitterati as a future role. As ever, though, it’s one she commits to with aplomb. In fact, in a career packed full of awards-worthy performances, it might be her most impressive yet. Smith plays Ann Ming, an NHS nurse whose life is shattered one morning in November 1989 when her 22-year-old daughter Julie (Victoria Wyant) goes missing in their North East hometown of Billingham. Frustrated by the slow response of the cops who seem convinced it’s a simple runaway case, she essentially becomes the leading detective, chasing up every potential lead over the course of 80 agonising days. Almost unrecognisable in a wig that gets greyer the longer Ann is suffering, Smith convincingly runs the gamut of emotions throughout an ominous first episode which nestles in the pit of your stomach: the initial sheer panic that something is amiss, knowing her daughter would never leave her young son without warning; the gradual resignation she’s unlikely to ever come back; and in an utterly devastating closing scene, the unimaginable horror that comes with discovering her body. Her uncontrollable howls of pain will stay with you long after the credits have rolled. Unsurprisingly, Smith is equally compelling once the four-parter evolves into a quest for justice. “We want to know what you’re actually doing,” she chastises the police force, who’d handled the case so ineptly they were later forced to pay damages. “From here it looks like you’re sit…

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The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox doesn't need to exist
type: item
date: 2025-08-20T07:00:47.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Disney Plus
subject: On demand
description: Reenacting one of the most infamous murder cases of the 21st century, this eight-part Disney+ series spends too much time on the minutiae and not enough on the victim.
encoded: "I wasn't interested in having yet another person's voice telling the worst experience of my life for who knows what reason," executive producer Amanda Knox recently said about new Disney+ drama The Twisted Tale, a retelling of how — alongside then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito — she was wrongly convicted for the murder of fellow exchange student Meredith Kercher in a case that gripped the world. Fair enough, you may first think. After all, she was portrayed by Hayden Panettiere in trashy Lifetime TV movie Murder on Trial while still holed up in an Italian prison cell. And since her first acquittal, esteemed directors Michael Winterbottom (The Face of an Angel) and Tom McCarthy (Stillwater) have both made films inspired by her case without her consent. However, Knox’s point is slightly undermined by the fact she’s also been able to directly tell her story on several occasions too. In 2013, she sat down with Diane Sawyer for a prime-time ABC News special. She talked directly to the camera in 2016’s eponymous documentary, an Emmy-nominated Netflix original which arrived during the burgeoning true crime boom. And she was reportedly paid $4 million for her first memoir Waiting to Be Heard in 2012, with a follow-up, Free: My Search for Meaning, published earlier this year. Of course, no one can begrudge Knox for going on the media offensive to further clear her name. As she acknowledges herself in the co-penned finale, there are still sceptics who believe she’s guilty, no doubt swayed by the media vilification in which she was famously dubbed "Foxy Knoxy". And having spent four years locked up for a crime she didn’t commit, and a further four years before she was officially exonerated, no one can begrudge her any financial rewards either. But an attempt to dramatise her ordeal for the prestige TV age feels like one rehabilitative step too far. "This continuous stirring is a demonstration of a lack of sensitivity," noted the Kercher family’s lawyer Francesco Maresca follow…

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The Survivors ending explained: How did Gabby and Bronte die?
type: item
date: 2025-06-06T11:48:13.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Netflix’s stormy murder-mystery wraps up with a wave of shocking revelations and home truths.
encoded: Following on from Amazon’s underrated Deadloch, Netflix original The Survivors is the latest Aussie drama to make small-town Tasmania the centre of a gripping murder-mystery. Adapted from Jane Harper’s 2020 novel of the same name, the six-part series takes place in the fictional Evelyn Bay, a community still reeling from a severe storm that claimed three lives 15 years previously. And it faces further heartache when a young outsider investigating the tragedy is found dead on its shoreline. So was the extreme weather entirely to blame? And why does a borrowed torch prove to be its Chekhov’s gun? Here’s a look at what went down in the compelling final episode. ‘Were we so wrong about our sons?’ Following the revelation that underage Gabby (Eloise Rothfield) was on the same boat the same night they all lost their lives in the storm, local heroes Finn and Toby start The Survivors’ finale as potential villains. Even Kieran (Charlie Vickers), the brother they died trying to save in the treacherous caves, is coming round to the idea that their reputation may be undeserved. Mother Verity (Robyn Malcolm), however, is initially having none of it. “You seem remarkably determined to implicate your brother in something awful,” she barks during a heated family argument, which leads to another shocking home truth. On chastising him for moving to Sydney soon after the tragedy, Kieran drops the bombshell that he did so on the advice of his now-Alzheimer's afflicted dad Brian (Damien Garvey). “He told me that I had to get away from you. If I didn’t, you’d destroy me,” he says, referring to how she continually blamed him for Finn’s death. During a visit to Toby’s father Julian (Martin Sacks), Verity starts to wonder, “Were we so wrong about our sons?” She’s soon reassured that Gabby didn’t die on the boat and that both Finn and Toby are entirely innocent. When asked how he can be so certain, the show settles one of its two big mysteries. What really happened to Gabby? In a flashback t…

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Code of Silence ending explained: What happened to Alison and Liam?
type: item
date: 2025-05-21T11:00:54.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: ITV
description: The ITVX crime drama wrapped things up with a final helping of double crossing, comeuppances and star-crossed romance.
encoded: **Warning: This article contains full spoilers for Code of Silence episode 6, which is available now on ITVX.** It’s fast becoming the year of Rose Ayling-Ellis. Following her heartwarming documentary Old Hands New Tricks, guest appearance in Doctor Who and turn in the BBC’s acclaimed crime drama Reunion, the Strictly Come Dancing winner took centre stage in ITVX’s Code of Silence playing Alison Brooks, a Deaf police canteen worker whose invaluable lip-reading skills sees her fast-tracked to the crime surveillance unit and eventually a dangerous undercover operation. So what happened with the jewellery heist she was appointed to foil? And did she run off into the sunset with the badboy she got a little too close to? Here’s a look at what went down in the compelling final episode. Code of Silence ending explained Did Ben survive the shooting? In the previous episode, Alison realises that the youngest member of the jewel thieving gang – and potential love of her life – Liam (Kieron Moore) has figured out she’s a police informant by hacking her hearing aid. She also realises she’s been deliberately thrown off the scent and that the heist isn’t being carried out at the ultra-secure vault but at the swanky country hotel where they’d just consummated their relationship. Unfortunately, Alison’s habit of defying orders from above leads to tragedy. Ignoring the calls to stay outside until help arrives, she wanders into the venue at the exact moment Liam is hurrying to recover the £5 million necklace from the laundry chute and the gun-brandishing crook he’s hoodwinked (Joe Absolom’s Braden) starts getting trigger-happy on the staircase. In the confusion, an unnamed bodyguard is killed and DC Ben (Nathan Armarkwei Laryea) is shot. Despite Alison’s pleas, Liam continues with his mission and we see him driving into the night with the jewellery by his side. Luckily, after a touch-and-go period, Ben survives the shooting. Unsurprisingly, his other half isn’t happy to see Alison pa…

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Secrets We Keep ending explained: What happened to the missing au pair?
type: item
date: 2025-05-19T13:47:28.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Netflix’s latest Scandi original keeps its cards close to its chest in a compelling yet open-ended finale.
encoded: This article contains references to sexual assault which some readers may find distressing. Brought to the screen by a team whose previous credits include the TV adaptation of Hanna, the original Speak No Evil, and acclaimed Nordic noir Borgen, Netflix’s Secrets We Keep was always likely to provide plenty of twists and turns. And the Danish six-part drama – which centres around the mysterious disappearance of an au pair in an affluent neighbourhood – certainly didn’t disappoint. At the time of writing, the series sits at number three on Netflix UK's top 10, with viewers finding themselves hooked by the compelling performances from Marie Bach Hansen (The Legacy) and Danica Curcic (The Kingdom), among others. If you recently reached the end of Netflix's Secrets We Keep need a full recap on that eventful conclusion, read on for everything that went down in the gripping finale. What happened to Ruby? In the show’s previous episode, we learn that the dead body found floating in the marina was indeed poor Ruby (Donna Levkovski), the Filipino au pair whose disappearance had sparked a wave of finger-pointing within the wealthiest part of Copenhagen. A DNA test proved that chief suspect Mike (Simon Sears) wasn’t the father of her unborn child (and therefore unlikely to be responsible for her death too). But a new prime suspect emerged in the shape of Oscar (Frode Bilde Rønsholt), the teenage delinquent Ruby had been employed to help look after, following his threat to next-door-neighbour Viggo (Lukas Zaperka) not to expose an incriminating video. His involvement is confirmed early in the sixth episode, thanks to another paternity test which proves to be much more conclusive. Indeed, shady businessman Rasmus (Lars Ranthe) also took one in a bid to prove his innocence and prevent further harm to his reputation. It’s a move which backfires, though, when he’s revealed to be a partial match, meaning that the only possible culprit is his own son, Oscar. The latter essentially admi…

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Good American Family ending explained: What happened after the TV show?
type: item
date: 2025-05-03T11:00:45.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Disney Plus
subject: On demand
description: Events that unfolded once cameras stopped rolling means the true crime adaptation doesn’t tell the whole story.
encoded: Good American Family dramatises the bizarre tale of the Barnett family who adopted Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian-American child with dwarfism – only to later accuse her of lying about her identity. The eight-part series is first told from the perspective of Kristine and Michael Barnett, the couple who adopted Grace back in 2010 and who are played by Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass, before switching to the point of view of Grace (played by Imogen Faith Reid). Now that the series is out in full and the final episode has now aired, many have been left to consider the framing of the story and perhaps, their own biases – something series creator Katie Robbins had revealed as being her goal to The Hollywood Reporter. She said: “We start the story in Kristine and Michael Barnett’s version of events and that slowly starts to shift over time, and we’re led to question if our understanding of what we’ve been seeing the whole time is actually what happened. “Doing so allows audiences to grapple with their own biases in unexpected ways.” Co-showrunner Sarah Sutherland also said of the show: “It is not a niche topic. It’s so rare in this day and age for people to change their perspectives on something and to admit their own biases. “Our hope is that the show helps to normalize that type of admission, even if just for a few people.” But what happened in the series, and what did it omit? Read on for a full breakdown of the ending of Good American Family, plus what was missed out from the real-life case. Good American Family ending explained: What happens in the TV show? The build-up to the trial “I want justice,” Natalia (Imogen Faith Reid, impressive in a hugely challenging role) tells TV's Dr Phil in an opening scene recreation of the real-life interview that propelled her remarkable story into the national consciousness. “I want the Barnetts to do their time.” As her former adoptive parents revisit the footage with their lawyers three years on, there appears to be a good chance she’…

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Caught ending explained: who killed Martina and did Ema survive?
type: item
date: 2025-03-28T13:55:58.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: The adaptation of the 2010 novel doesn’t disappoint when it comes to twists and turns.
encoded: The second Harlan Coben novel to get the Spanish language treatment (after 2021’s The Innocent) and the first to hail from South America, Netflix’s Argentinian thriller Caught proves once again that no matter where the location, the prolific author will always wrap things up with various shocks, surprises and sensational twists. Indeed, the finale of the six-part series featured everything from log truck decapitations to last-minute confessions as vigilante journalist Ema Garay (Soledad Villamil) finally discovered the truth about the murder of a 16-year-old musical prodigy. Here’s a closer look at what went down. Caught ending explained How exactly was Marcos involved? Episode 5 ended with Marcos (Juan Minujín) hitting Ema over the head with a rowing oar against the stunning backdrop of the Patagonian mountains. The latter had just learned that, contrary to his scapegoat protestations, the former really had been scamming his old company back in Buenos Aires. Having subsequently been fired, he believed the only way to make money was get his hands on the family land now owned by children’s charity Fronteras Foundation. And how to do this? Frame its founder, also his childhood best friend, for online grooming and sexual abuse, of course. In episode 6's opening flashback, Marcos tries to convince Leo (Alberto Ammann) that selling the land is in his best interests. When that doesn’t work, he resorts to guilt-tripping, reminding him that he alone took the fall for their juvenile break-in at the wealthy Briguel family home which left a housekeeper scarred for life. But Leo stands his ground, telling him, “This place doesn’t really belong to me. It belongs to the kids.” We then get a flashback to Marcos's interactions with Martina (Carmela Rivero), the missing cellist whose body was later found in the woods. The pair had first met on the private plane chartered by Fran Briguel (Mike Amigorena), the shady businessman who’d booked the teen for an intimate performance of her …

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Just One Look ending explained: Who was Jacek and who ordered all the killings?
type: item
date: 2025-03-12T11:11:50.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: The latest Harlan Coben adaptation doesn't disappoint when it comes to climactic twists and turns.
encoded: Following in the footsteps of The Woods and Hold Tight, Just One Look is the third Harlan Coben novel to get the Netflix treatment in the Polish language. Adapted from the same-named 2004 book, the six-part series focuses on Greta (Maria Debska), a jewellery designer who, while perusing a new set of developed family photos, finds a mysterious snap of five strangers taken 15 years previously. On further inspection, however, she realises one of the men looks suspiciously like her husband. But why does he go AWOL immediately after he’s shown the pic? Who exactly is the woman whose face has been marked with an X? And does this have anything to do with the trauma Greta has suffered since surviving an arson attack which left 28 concertgoers dead? As you’d expect from a Coben tale, the series continually poses such pressing questions throughout. Here’s a look at how they were answered in the typically twist-filled finale, with full spoilers ahead. Just One Look ending explained Who was Jacek really? After visiting husband Jacek (Cezary Lukaszewicz) in hospital (and charmingly comparing his bloodied, battered appearance to that of a kangaroo), Greta returns home to find a mysterious thumb drive at her door. Its contents reveal what was blatantly obvious all along – that the long-haired drummer in the mysterious rock band photo definitely was her other half (blatantly wearing an unconvincing wig in a failed attempt to make him look 15 years younger). Greta subsequently heads back to the home of Mrs Adamiuk, the lady who’d previously claimed that she didn’t recognise Jacek despite the fact he’d been in a band with her ‘son’ Szymon (who she now claims is living overseas). On hearing he’s now fighting for his life, she allows Greta into her home, which she’s startled to find is adorned with photos of her and Jacek’s two children. Yes, to paraphrase Diane from The Traitors, Szymon isn’t Mrs Adamiuk’s son... but Jacek is. Well, kinda. During their hospital visit, Mrs Adamiuk reve…

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The Snow Girl season 2 ending explained: What happens to Miren?
type: item
date: 2025-01-31T18:00:39.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Did Miren survive, was Laura found, and what does a Madrid dry cleaners have to do with anything?
encoded: **Warning: Contains full spoilers for The Snow Girl season 2.** Adapted from Javier Castillo’s same-named novel, The Snow Girl (La chica de nieve) has been one of Netflix’s most successful Spanish originals, reaching the Top 10 in 60 territories on its 2023 release. Thankfully, for those of us left captivated by its shocking denouement, a second helping of the Malaga-based crime has now arrived to tie up the loose ends and, of course, unravel some more. While child abduction was at the heart of investigative journalist Miren’s (Milena Smit) crusade last season, this time around it’s a teenage crucifixion, a series of survival tests and their possible link to a cold case disappearance. Here’s a look at what went down in the thrilling finale. The Snow Girl season 2 ending explained Who was behind The Soul Game? The shocking fifth episode revealed that the previously mild-mannered Nacho (Hugo Welzel) was the Jigsaw-like presence behind The Soul Game, a gruesome web-based test of faith and loyalty which had been responsible for killing several teenagers in the area. Unfortunately, Miren discovered this truth the hard way: being almost choked to death by Nacho’s accomplice Borja and bundled into the boot of their getaway car. The finale’s opening scene shows the journalist has been taken to an abandoned warehouse and strung up to the wall in a Christ-like pose. This was how poor Allison was also found dead, of course, and Nacho tells Miren she’s likely to meet the same fate on his return to the scene 24 hours later. In a useful bit of exposition, the fresh-faced psychopath reminds Borja that he was The Soul Game’s first player (a motorcycling dare which went horribly wrong is how he suffered his facial scarring). And Nacho also reminds his sidekick how he told him the truth during his recovery in hospital: that he is the ‘Raven of God’. Later that same day, however, Borja begins to suspect that his high school classmate might not be the divine presence he once believed. …

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Why American Primeval is the anti-Yellowstone
type: item
date: 2025-01-09T10:48:49.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Netflix's latest original paints a much grubbier picture of Western life than Taylor Sheridan's Dallas-esque saga.
encoded: Warning: Contains minor spoilers for American Primeval. Once considered a dusty relic, the Western genre is currently thriving on the small screen. Even without its figurehead Kevin Costner, Yellowstone is still the biggest show on American TV and, perhaps even more remarkably, has spawned no fewer than four spin-offs. Amazon and MGM+ have enjoyed success with Outer Range and Billy the Kid respectively. And just a few weeks after unveiling Australian outback drama Territory, Netflix is once again aiming to lasso viewers with a six-part series rooted in the Utah War of 1857. Anyone hoping to settle down for a good old-fashioned tale of cowboys and saloons, however, should be warned that American Primeval is completely at odds with the current revival. Indeed, whereas the Yellowstone universe – even prequels 1883 and 1923 – deals in soapy family sagas, John Wayne-esque cosplay and sweeping panoramic shots of the American West, this latest throwback is a relentlessly grim and grimy affair which has no interest whatsoever in glamourising or romanticising the Western life. In fact, director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, Lone Survivor) made a conscious effort to ensure that American Primeval looked as ugly as possible ("These folks are not in a position to sit back and enjoy the vistas"), subjecting its motley crew of outlaws, tyrants and settlers to a torrent of dirt, rain and snow, not to mention copious amounts of blood and gore. By the time its trigger-happy finale draws to a close, you may feel like you need a shower too. The reason for all the carnage, of course, is the various disputes over land, religion and power between the Mormon faith, United States army and several native tribes, all of whom have a mindset of shoot first (or stab, drown, spear etc) and entirely forget about any questions later. Read more: Is American Primeval based on a true story? American Primeval: Everything you need to know And it doesn’t take long for their deeply-entrenched animosity…

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Lockerbie true story: What happened to Jim Swire?
type: item
date: 2025-01-02T08:00:14.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: NOW
subject: On demand
subject: Sky
description: How the grieving father has continually fought for the truth about Britain's deadliest terror attack.
encoded: Following in the footsteps of ITV’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Sky Atlantic’s Lockerbie: A Search for Truth is kicking off the new year by shining the spotlight on another lengthy quest for justice. Instead of a wrongfully convicted subpostmaster, the man leading the charge on this occasion is Colin Firth’s Jim Swire, a grieving father determined to get to the bottom of the titular plane bombing that killed his eldest child and 269 others just before the Christmas of 1988. Swire’s 23-year-old daughter Flora had only booked a seat on the transatlantic Pan Am Flight 103 the day before its ill-fated journey from London’s Heathrow Airport to New York’s JFK, having planned to spend the holidays with her American boyfriend. Here’s a look at how the former GP subsequently threw himself into investigating what’s still the deadliest terror attack in UK history. Lockerbie true story The campaign group Less than four months after 243 passengers, 16 crew members and 11 residents in the small Scottish town of Lockerbie lost their lives in the tragedy, the UK Families Flight 103 group was set up to both support those most affected and campaign for an independent inquiry. And Swire soon became their most high-profile, and controversial, activist. Indeed, in an attempt to expose the slow reaction from airline security, Swire took an interconnecting flight from London to Boston in May 1990... with a fake bomb. Constructed from a radio cassette player and, in a novel substitute for Semtex, marzipan, the device somehow made it on board without any problem, validating concerns that authorities had learned little from the disaster. "You simply cannot imagine how depressing it was flying over the Atlantic knowing that there could easily be a bomb in the cargo hold below," Swire later remarked. Although several members of the group were in favour of the stunt, which only became public knowledge six weeks on, others felt that it had crossed a line. The lobbying Swire further alienated ma…

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Lockerbie: A Search for Truth cast - Meet the characters
type: item
date: 2025-01-02T08:00:05.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: NOW
subject: On demand
subject: Sky Atlantic
description: Colin Firth plays a justice-seeking father in five-part Sky Atlantic drama about the 1988 tragedy.
encoded: It’s been 36 years since Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 269 people on board and 11 residents on the ground in what remains the worst ever terrorist attack on UK soil. And now, just like last year’s double whammy of Prince Andrew vs. Emily Maitlis adaptations, the disaster is being delved into by two different broadcasters within a matter of months. We’ll have to wait a while for Netflix’s six-parter Lockerbie. But the premiere of Sky Atlantic’s Lockerbie: A Search for Truth is only just around the corner. Here’s a look at the latter’s impressive cast and the (mostly) real-life figures they’re portraying. Lockerbie: A Search for Truth cast Colin Firth as Jim Swire Catherine McCormack as Jane Swire Sam Troughton as Murray Guthrie Ardalan Esmaili as Abdelbaset al-Megrahi Guy Henry as Paul Channon Jemma Carlton as Cathy Swire Mudar Abbara as Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah Nabil Al Raee as Colonel Gaddafi Mark Bonnar as Roderick McGill Read on to find out more about the cast and characters. Colin Firth plays Jim Swire Who is Jim Swire? Jim is the father of Flora Swire, a 23-year-old who lost her life on the ill-fated flight. In response to the tragedy, the former GP spearheads a support group, lobbies for the trial of the two Libyans accused and then advocates for the release of the only one convicted on the belief that he is in fact innocent of the crime. Where have I seen Colin Firth before? Firth shot to fame emerging from a lake as the sopping wet Mr. Darcy in the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice before landing roles in Oscar favourites The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love and crowd-pleasers Bridget Jones’ Diary, Love Actually and Mamma Mia. In 2011, he won an Academy Award for his performance as King George VI in The King’s Speech, and he’s since appeared in box office hits Kingsman: The Secret Service, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Mary Poppins Returns. Lockerbie is only his second major TV series this c…

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Is La Palma based on a true story?
type: item
date: 2024-12-23T17:03:39.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: A look at the Canary Island volcano eruption of 2021, which Netflix’s latest binge-worthy hit has drawn parallels with.
encoded: Norwegian disaster series La Palma has landed on Netflix and taken the streamer by storm, bagging a spot in the top 10 list here in the UK. The show, which comes to our screens courtesy of Martin Sundland (The Quake), Lars Gudmestad (Headhunters) and Harald Rosenløw Eeg (The Wave), revolves around a family, consisted of Jennifer and Fredrik, and their two children, Sara and Tobias. The family arrive on the beautiful island of La Palma for their summer holiday and quickly discover that they've received a room upgrade. But disaster soon strikes when volcanic activity causes a huge landslide, which in turn leads to a tsunami that wreaks havoc on the region. Now, as a piece of entertainment, creative license has, of course, been utilised. But is there any truth to the nail-biting saga? Read on for everything you need to know about the inspiration behind the series. Is La Palma based on a true story? The series is not based on a true story. Although La Palma is a real-life location – one of Spain’s Canary Islands – that has experienced some volcanic activity in the past, a disaster of the scale we see in the series has not been witnessed on the island. Meanwhile, all the characters, including the central family of four, are entirely from the minds of writers Gudmestad and Eeg. Here’s a look at the recent volcanic activity on La Palma that no doubt gave the show some fiery inspiration. When did the real life island's volcano last erupt? The eruption began on 19th September 2021, 10 years after the Canary Islands last experienced such a disaster in El Hierro, and a full 50 years after La Palma had been hit by one. It occurred along the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge in the Southern half of the popular summer destination which had been on high alert thanks to the recording of more than 20,000 tremors in the previous seven days. 300 people were quickly evacuated from the forested area of Cabeza de Vaca before a further 700, the majority of which were tourists, were forced to va…

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Wolf Hall season 2 review: End of Tudor saga proves to be well worth the wait
type: item
date: 2024-11-10T07:00:19.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: BBC
subject: BBC iPlayer
subject: Review
description: The closing chapter of Hilary Mantel's historical trilogy finally gets the prestige TV treatment.
encoded: The first season of Wolf Hall, which debuted in 2015, appeared to foreshadow all the political upheaval that's occurred in the subsequent nine years: a monumental fallout with Europe, the unstoppable rise to power of a tyrant, the death of the Queen. Only time will tell whether its belated return, which takes place between 1536 and 1540, will be just as prescient. But picking up immediately where things left off – the simultaneous public execution of poor Anne Boleyn and the third of Henry VIII's six weddings – the Tudor drama is undoubtedly still as ominous. The Mirror and the Light is the source material this time around, the final part of Hilary Mantel's fictionalised trilogy exploring Thomas Cromwell's remarkable journey from humble blacksmith's son to Henry VIII's chief minister – spoiler alert for those who didn't pay attention in history class: it doesn't end well for the principal protagonist. "When fortune turns against you, you will feel the lash," the ghostly vision of Cardinal Wolsey (Jonathan Pryce) remarks to his protégé in an early warning of the treachery ahead. Once again, Mark Rylance proves why he's regarded as one of Britain's greatest living thespians, delivering a typically nuanced performance which captures the complexities of such a self-made schemer. Initially, his Cromwell, now promoted to the role of Lord Privy Seal, barely gives anything away. Even when physically violent ("Get out while you still have your head," he threatens one dissenter while manhandling him out of court), he manages to retain an air of composure, arguably making him more fearsome than Damian Lewis's more overtly-monstrous, increasingly gout-ridden king. However, Cromwell's mask subtly begins to slip as he's forced to question the monarch he's proudly been beholden to ("I'm a good dog. If you set me to guard something, I'll do it."), firstly due to the threats towards the princess he possibly wishes to marry, and then the threats towards himself. In other hands, it wo…

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The Office review: Australia's take on Ricky Gervais's classic wastes its resources
type: item
date: 2024-10-18T08:50:13.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Comedy
subject: TV
subject: Amazon Prime Video
subject: On demand
subject: Review
description: Despite a talented cast, the adventures of Sydney's Flinley Craddick appear to have missed the mockumentary boat.
encoded: Remember how fans of Ricky Gervais's The Office screamed ‘sacrilege’ when NBC announced they’d be swapping Slough for Scranton, Pennsylvania, in a Steve Carell-fronted remake? And how they were soon forced to eat humble pie when it quickly carved out its own hilarious identity, won four Emmys and essentially changed the face of American sitcoms forever? Of course, that didn’t stop the 13th incarnation of the workplace comedy (it’s been adapted everywhere from Chile to Saudi Arabia) from receiving an almighty drubbing when its first trailer dropped last month. Indeed, the general consensus appeared to be that Australia’s new version was an embarrassment on a par with their kangaroo-mimicking breakdancer Raygun. With all eight episodes now available to watch on Amazon Prime Video, it’s clear that the simply-titled The Office isn’t on the Olympian’s car crash level. In fact, there’s plenty to admire about the show’s transfer to Sydney’s fourth-largest packaging company Flinley Craddick (corporate slogan: "Think inside the box"), particularly the fact that, for the first time ever, a woman has been put in charge. Played by stand-up Felicity Ward, boss Hannah Howard isn’t as spiteful as David Brent, nor is she as unempathetic as Michael Scott. In the second episode, for example, she goes great lengths to avoid job cuts, reframing the recent death of a forgettable employee in a bid to stave off Head Office: her pitiful makeshift wake, complete with food delivery driver eulogy and a PowerPoint tribute involving little more than a driving licence photo and the sound of Boyz II Men, is cringe comedy up there with Gervais's finest. She even struggles to give two part-time cleaners their marching orders, ultimately gifting them the Roombas intended as their replacements. As the kind of ‘wacky’ personality who still finds Borat’s ‘my wife’ catchphrase amusing and spits her dummy out during playful fashion parades, she’s still inherently annoying. "Hannah is a riddle, swallowed …

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Deceitful Love review: Grey's Anatomy hunk keeps everyone guessing in lusty age-gap mystery
type: item
date: 2024-10-09T10:30:00.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
subject: Review
description: Giacomo Gianniotti woos older, wealthier woman – but to what end? – in sun-soaked adaptation of BBC's romantic drama Gold Digger.
encoded: Forget Patrick Dempsey’s McDreamy. For six years, the most swoonsome doctor in Shonda Rhimes's never-ending hospital drama Grey’s Anatomy was considered to be Giacomo Gianniotti’s Andrew DeLuca. Many viewers were left bereft, therefore, when the medic met his tragic end – fatal stabbing by human trafficker – in season 17. Luckily, they now have the chance to see more of the actor who played him, both figuratively and literally, in Netflix’s latest Italian original Deceitful Love. Indeed, as its title suggests, the six-part miniseries is packed with melodrama, intrigue and, most notably, passion, giving Gianniotti countless opportunities to display his Men’s Health cover-ready physique. Within just two minutes of his arrival, he’s whipped his clothes off, and the camera continues to lovingly gaze at his washboard abs and glistening torso pretty much every other scene. "You like being naked, don’t you," his love interest remarks, not unreasonably. Deceitful Love does have a compelling story threaded through all the unashamed ogling, though, and one that will be familiar to anyone who watched intergenerational romance Gold Digger back in 2019. Yes, this is a remake of the BBC drama in which Julia Ormond’s 60-something, much to the horror of her three awful grown-up kids, fell head over heels for a mysterious millennial who may or may not have been after her money. As the impossibly charming boat charterer Elia, Gianniotti is the man who sparks both a sexual reawakening and a bitter family dispute on this occasion. His meet-cute appears to happen by accident when, following a minor motoring collision, he seeks help from the nearest passer-by. That just happens to be Gabriella (Monica Guerritore), a much older (and much wealthier) hotel owner who recognises an instant mutual attraction but is initially reluctant to act upon it. "I could actually be your mother," she reasons, as the flirting starts to get a little more physical. Inevitably, Gabriella’s hesitation soon giv…

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Netflix romcom Nobody Wants This ignores its USP
type: item
date: 2024-09-26T07:30:25.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Comedy
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Netflix’s latest romcom seems more interested in selling the concept of podcasting than its central romance.***SPOILERS AHEAD***
encoded: *Warning: Contains spoilers for Nobody Wants This.* The title of Netflix's latest original, Nobody Wants This, essentially hands critics a punchline on a plate. But the truth is that a certain audience was crying out for such a show. Seth from The OC and Veronica Mars getting together? In a rom-com which wraps each episode up within a binge-able 25 minutes? With a story which reads like the next best thing to a new Fleabag? The ten-part series sounds like millennial catnip. Unfortunately, Adam Brody's too good to be true Noah and Kristen Bell's high-maintenance Joanne have about as much chemistry as two scratch posts. And the interesting central premise – a committed rabbi has to juggle his faith with his growing love for agnostic podcaster – often takes a backseat to far more trivial, and some would say self-involved, matters. In fact, Nobody Wants This appears to be under the belief that podcasting is a much higher calling, its narrative driven far more by the machinations of Joanne's Call Her Daddy-esque show than Noah's bid to fulfil his lifelong religious aspirations. Will she and equally catty co-host sister Morgan (Succession's regular scene-stealer Justine Lupe) be able to land a megabucks deal with Spotify? Will her fledgling romance impact on the listenership's craving for gossip about the big city dating scene? The show seems to think we should care. It also often plays out like an advertorial for podcasts. In one ambiguously parodic dinner table scene, Noah tells Joanne – a woman who, as his overbearing mother Bina (Tovah Feldshuh) points out, makes a living "talking about former lovers for public consumption" – with the utmost earnestness: "What you do is important". Incidentally, both creator Erin Foster (The World's First Podcast with Erin and Sara Foster) and Bell (We Are Supported By) once had podcasts of their own, while the latter's husband, Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert, is one of the world's biggest. Of course, Joanne eventually makes Bina see t…

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Sherwood ending explained: Did Ann literally get away with murder?
type: item
date: 2024-09-09T21:00:50.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: BBC
subject: BBC iPlayer
description: Let's break it down.
encoded: **WARNING: Contains spoilers for all episodes of Sherwood** The must-watch drama of the summer concluded in typically bloodthirsty style. It seemed unlikely that the second season of Sherwood could ever top the edge-of-your-seat thrills of the first. But, as the BAFTA-nominated drama has delved deeper and deeper into the tit-for-tat turf wars of Nottingham’s criminal underworld, it’s upped the tension with every episode. The fifth concluded with yet more bloodshed after the truly terrifying matriarch Ann (Monica Dolan, unrecognisable from her turn earlier this year in Mr Bates vs The Post Office) added rival head honcho Mickey (Philip Jackson) to her kill list. So, did she get her much-deserved comeuppance? Here’s what went down in the captivating finale. Sherwood ending explained Did the mole get caught? While being interviewed about his wife Ann’s whereabouts, crime lord Roy Branson (Stephen Dillane) tells DCS Harry Summers (Michael Balogun) he knows he slept at the Bottomleys' safe house the night before their murder after drinking several cans of real ale. The detective had only given this information to one other individual, his snakelike colleague Marcus (Jordan Myrie). Once the penny drops, Harry takes Marcus deep into Sherwood Forest on the pretence they’re looking for Ann before tackling him to the ground, roughing him up and finding the incriminating phone which confirms he’s in cahoots with the Bransons. After being frogmarched back to the police station, the mole reveals the family had bought his cooperation by paying for his degree and shows no remorse for repeatedly undermining the operation to bring them down. Who poisoned Lisa? The show’s sheriff of Nottingham, who contrary to what the anti-woke brigade believe isn’t Robin Hood’s nemesis but a modern-day elected councillor, looked like becoming another fatality when she was found poisoned at the end of episode 4. Luckily, Lisa (Ria Zmitrowicz) recovers from the ordeal – caused by having her vape spik…

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Stags review: Brits get banged up abroad in Paramount Plus's geezerish jailhouse dramedy
type: item
date: 2024-08-15T07:00:32.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Comedy
subject: TV
subject: On demand
subject: Paramount Plus
subject: Review
description: A bachelor party goes wrong with deadly - and occasionally amusing - consequences.
encoded: "A balls-out series, packed with plot twists that'll give the keenest genre buff whiplash." The producers of Paramount Plus's latest British original Stags sure know how to talk the talk. But does the cross between The Hangover, Banged Up Abroad and the impossibly humid third season of Prison Break walk the walk? Set in South America, filmed in Tenerife and starring a largely British cast, the multi-national six-parter stars Nico Mirallegro (who to a certain generation will always be Hollyoaks’ troubled goth Newt) as groom-to-be Stu. As evident from the opening pre-proposal scene, where he misplaces his engagement ring on the River Thames's foreshore, he’s not always the sharpest tool in the box. Then again, neither are the motley crew of buddies invited to his hedonistic stag. Snooty Hugo (Paul Forman, fast cornering the market in playing Frenchmen following his stint in Emily in Paris) apparently makes a living trying to sell credit cards to children. And not just one but two pals suddenly decide to smuggle cocaine on the journey home in a region not exactly renowned for its lenient drug trafficking laws. While loudmouth schoolmate Ryan (Corin Silva) manages to get past security with his small stash, shifty work colleague Greg (People Just Do Nothing’s Asim Chaudhry) isn’t so lucky when the coke-filled balloon he’s swallowed violently bursts, putting his life and, in turn, the rest of the circle’s in danger. Indeed, the party – which also includes future in-laws John (Cavan Clerkin) and Kai (Jojo Macari, on a hot streak following his dastardly turn in Amazon Prime Video’s gladiatorial epic Those About to Die) and family man Ant (This Country’s Charlie Cooper) – no doubt wish they’d simply settled for a paintballing weekend in Bognor Regis when they’re all thrown into a highly intimidating island prison, albeit in some rather fetching yellow jumpsuits. Within minutes, they’ve witnessed one prisoner getting beaten to a pulp and then, after being allowed by the fears…

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Why Vince Vaughn's Bad Monkey should kickstart the 'Vaughnaissance'
type: item
date: 2024-08-14T07:00:40.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Comedy
subject: TV
subject: Apple TV
subject: Comment
subject: On demand
description: Apple TV+’s latest star vehicle allows Vince Vaughn to remind us all why he dominated ‘00s comedy.
encoded: Formerly one of Hollywood's most bankable names thanks to a golden run of Frat Pack hits, Vince Vaughn found his career floundering in the 2010s. He essentially sleepwalked his way through lazy vehicles such as The Internship – essentially a Google infomercial masquerading as a workplace comedy. He also co-starred in the second season of True Detective, which experienced possibly the most rapid nosedive in quality of the prestige TV age. But the funnyman has recently shown signs of getting back to his best. He clearly had a blast inhabiting the mind of a teenage cheerleader in the body of a middle-aged serial killer in Freaky. Likewise, with his cameos as Marty's half-brother Freddy Funkhouser in Curb Your Enthusiasm, and now in Apple TV+'s slickly produced original, Vaughn has rediscovered the easygoing charm and acerbic wit of his imperial phase. Bad Monkey stars Vaughn as Andrew Yancy, a "simple man of simple pleasures", who's been demoted from police detective to restaurant health inspector, having deliberately bumped his lover's golfcart-driving husband into the waters of the Florida Keys. Desperate for some respite from rat-infested kitchens, the fallen cop – against the advice of his superiors – soon becomes invested in the archipelago's latest unsolved mystery: a severed arm reeled in by a tourist boat. Adapted from the same-named 2013 novel by Carl Hiaasen, the 10-part series throws in an array of oddballs as the puzzle develops into a full-blown conspiracy involving everything from insurance fraud to gentrification. There's the scheming socialite who seems oddly unmoved about her husband's apparent grisly demise; there's the Bahamian fisherman determined to seek vengeance for the demolition of his family's beachside home; and then there's the local voodoo queen who takes a shine to the latter's Capuchin monkey. The titular creature, as you'd expect, steals the show, although he's run a close second by Vaughn's pitch-perfect performance as a man whose demea…

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Those About to Die review: Ancient Rome gets the Roland Emmerich touch in historical gambling drama
type: item
date: 2024-07-18T08:40:57.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Amazon Prime Video
subject: On demand
subject: Review
description: The year of the gladiator continues with a little help from Sir Anthony Hopkins.
encoded: "We need to excite them," gambling overlord Tenax (Iwan Rheon) acknowledges in new gladiatorial drama Those About to Die. "We need to thrill them. Enough is good. More is better. Too much is perfect." It’s a mission statement which could just as easily be applied to co-director Roland Emmerich’s entire career. After all, this is a man that blew up the White House in Independence Day, stomped all over New York in Godzilla and froze the entire world in The Day After Tomorrow. And yet, despite reportedly costing a whopping $140 million, the 10-part series is surprisingly just as interested in words, and indeed numbers, as it is action. Showing a different side to the sword-and-sandals epic, this loose adaptation of Daniel P Mannix’s same-named 1958 biography grounds much of its high drama amid the corruption of Ancient Rome’s betting industry (sports reportedly accounted for one-third of all expenditure at the time), and how it impacted everything from the freedom of slaves to the battle for the kingdom’s throne. While the perfunctory dialog is unlikely to give Aaron Sorkin any sleepless nights, it’s an interesting spin which sets the period piece apart from the similarly-themed Barbarians, Dominia and forthcoming Spartacus reboot. Visibly relishing the opportunity to pick up where his Game of Thrones sadist Ramsay Bolton left off, Rheon provides the inroad to the seedy underworld, his kingpin running what’s essentially 79 AD’s answer to Paddy Power with an iron fist. Tenax wants more, though, namely his own horse racing faction which will bring him respect and a greater level of power within an elite that includes the city’s puppet master family the Flavians and politically ruthless husband-and-wife Marsus (Rupert Penry-Jones) and Antonia (Gabriella Pession). At the other end of the societal spectrum, North African merchant Cala (Sara Martins-Court) is trying to rescue her three children away from the clutches of Rome’s slave trade. “Show them you can fight or die try…

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Why Lost Boys & Fairies is TV's most authentic depiction of gay shame
type: item
date: 2024-06-03T09:32:58.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: BBC
subject: BBC iPlayer
subject: Comment
subject: Pride
description: Daf James's ambitious adoption drama explores the issue like no other show before.
encoded: From a grounded insight into the trials and tribulations of the adoption process to a fantastical musical set in Cardiff's fictional answer to Moulin Rouge, the BBC's audacious new drama Lost Boys & Fairies is many things. For many LGBTQ+ viewers, however, it's the show's remarkably visceral handling of gay shame that will resonate the most. Anyone who grew up in the '80s will undoubtedly identify with the fear immediately instilled in Gabe (Sion Daniel Young) on watching Margaret Thatcher's Section 28 speech and those doom-laden AIDS awareness ads in which a booming John Hurt warned, "Don't die of ignorance." The scene where young Gabe is spanked by his father Emrys (William Thomas) simply for trying on a dress will strike a chord with anyone punished while growing up for challenging, whether intentionally or not, the heteronormative norm. Based on Welsh playwright Daf James's own life experiences, Lost Boys & Fairies repeatedly flashes back to such formative moments, explaining why Gabe is by far the most troubled half of the show's central couple. While Andy (Fra Fee) is a well-adjusted, practically saintlike figure with a respectable nine-to-five and a penchant for domesticity, Gabe is a recovering drug and sex addict who only ever seems comfortable in his own skin while belting out ballads at the local gay bar. The differences between the aspiring adoptees are apparent from the opening moment in which they're interviewed by kind-hearted social worker Jackie (Elizabeth Berrington), disagreeing on marriage, paternity leave and, perhaps most notably, the gender of the child they want to adopt. "Boys are nothing but trouble," Gabe reasons. And he's speaking from experience. As a schoolboy, he had his head flushed down the toilet, was taped to the cubicle doors alongside the word 'fairy' and inflicted with so much general trauma that it still impacts him decades on: anyone picked last in PE will understand how even a simple kickabout with Jake (Leo Harris), the seve…

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Is The Tattooist of Auschwitz based on a true story?
type: item
date: 2024-05-04T11:00:18.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: NOW
subject: On demand
subject: Sky Atlantic
description: The series chronicles how Auschwitz prisoner Lale Sokolov found love in the most harrowing of circumstances.
encoded: New series The Tattooist of Auschwitz sees Jonah Hauer-King takes the lead as Holocaust survivor Lale Sokolov in his wartime years in what is an extraordinary true love story. Played by Harvey Keitel as an older man, the Holocaust survivor is the subject of the new prestige drama, which is now available to stream. The Sky Atlantic original explores his relationship with fellow prisoner Gita Fuhrmannova and is based on the same-named 2018 best-selling novel by Heather Morris, who spent three years interviewing Lale for a tale which blurred the boundaries between history and historical fiction. Indeed, the author was criticised by the Auschwitz Memorial Research Center for the book's depiction of life inside the concentration camp, also noting some inaccuracies, including Gita's incorrect identification number and the anachronistic use of penicillin. Morris fought back, however, insisting that "Ninety-five per cent of it is as it happened; researched and confirmed". Here's what we do know, for sure, about Lale's remarkable story. The Tattooist of Auschwitz true story Origin story Born Ludwig Eisenberg in the Slovakian town of Krompachy in 1916, Lale was working as a department store manager in Bratislava when World War II broke out. On learning that Nazis were sending all his hometown's Jewish people to camps, he returned to the family home and volunteered himself to the local authority, hoping this would guarantee the safety of his mother, father and siblings (unbeknownst to Lale, his parents were taken to Auschwitz and killed a month before his own arrival). Lale was transported to the concentration camp in April 1942 and immediately put to work on its housing block construction. Soon after, he contracted typhoid. But during his recovery, he was mentored by a French academic named Pepan, the same man who'd inked his ID number of 32407 onto his forearm on arrival. When Pepan suddenly disappeared, Lale was appointed as his replacement, as an official member of the Pol…

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How Baby Reindeer has been hijacked by armchair detective culture
type: item
date: 2024-04-29T16:09:05.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Comment
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Why viewers attempting to discover the real Martha and Darrien are putting both the show and society at risk.
encoded: According to a startling poll conducted last year, the public's fascination with true crime has emboldened one in three Brits to believe they could easily solve a real-life case. It's why TikTok sleuths pounce on any unsolved mystery with a complete disregard for police protocol. It's why Kate Middleton's prolonged absence from the spotlight sparked countless theories which had defamation lawyers on standby. And it's why Baby Reindeer, currently the nation's most talked-about show, has served as a siren call for every fervent armchair detective to do their worst. The remarkably dark comedy, which has been sitting at the top of Netflix's most-watched chart for the past week, draws heavily upon the traumatic experiences of its creator and leading man Richard Gadd, namely the sustained harassment he suffered at the hands of a female stalker, and the sexual assaults he was subjected to by a male TV writer. Gadd – who plays his fictionalised self Donny Dunn – initially insisted the culprits in the show, Jessica Gunning's Martha and Tom Goodman-Hill's Darrien, were too far removed from their real-life counterparts to inspire any credible sleuthing. After all, he'd candidly addressed the same issues in two hit Edinburgh Fringe shows without anyone's identities being compromised. But getting candid in front of a few thousand festival-goers is wildly different to getting candid in front of a worldwide streaming audience of 2.6 million and counting, which has prompted a notable percentage to leap on the trail of breadcrumbs Gadd inadvertently offered. Read more: Baby Reindeer true story: Creator Richard Gadd on his "bonkers" stalking ordeal Baby Reindeer ending explained: Star breaks down "clever" finale Case in point: the real "Darrien", with amateur investigators scrutinising IMDb to find parallels with the show's timelines. One accused figure has publicly come out fighting, tweeting that the police are currently investigating the threatening messages he's received. And he …

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Baby Reindeer review: Richard Gadd bares soul in gripping emotional rollercoaster
type: item
date: 2024-04-11T06:00:01.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
subject: Review
description: Avoiding the usual stalker tropes, the Edinburgh favourite delivers a dark comedy masterclass on Netflix.
encoded: "I really wanted to show the layers of stalking with a human quality I hadn't seen on television before," comedian Richard Gadd said about his autobiographical Netflix original Baby Reindeer. Based on the one-man show that took the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by storm in 2019, the dark comedy (emphasis on the dark) could never be described as a formulaic bunny boiler. In fact, it's quite possibly the most singular project the streaming giant has put its name to. The seven-part series stars Gadd as Donny Dunn, a fictionalised version of himself struggling to get established on the stand-up circuit, his prop-heavy brand of anti-comedy not exactly at the Michael McIntyre end of the crowd-pleasing spectrum. While bartending to make ends meet, he gets chatting to Martha (Jessica Gunning), another fictionalised character who, despite her dishevelled appearance and inability to afford a cup of tea, claims to be a hotshot legal advisor to multiple political leaders. "I instantly felt sorry for her," Donny reveals in narrator mode, a storytelling device which continually offers a remarkably candid insight into his state of mind. Although Donny doesn't buy her story, he initially finds Martha strangely endearing, partly due to her poetic turn of phrase, but more for the fact that she gives him the laughs and attention he craves. However, her constant presence eventually becomes a nuisance – even more so when she discovers his email address and, as shown in interstitial text cards that become increasingly unhinged, bombards him daily with dozens of misspelled, often heavily sexualised messages (a colossal 41,000 in total). When she suddenly explodes with rage without much provocation over coffee, Donny realises he's bitten off more than he can chew. Admirably, Gadd isn't afraid to show how he exacerbated the situation, whether it's following her back to her unkempt council flat or accepting her Facebook friend request, the latter just moments after a Google search brings up her …

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Gray on Netflix ending explained: Who was the mole? And how does it set up season 2?
type: item
date: 2024-03-22T13:45:45.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Let's break it down.
encoded: Out of nowhere, a TV drama so under-the-radar it doesn't even have its own Wikipedia page has become a Netflix favourite, spending the last week nestled inside its most-watched Top 10. First screened on Australian streamer Stan in 2023, eight-part Gray stars Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson as an on-the-run spy brought back into the CIA to track down the traitor helping to bump off agents left, right and centre. A gender-flipped Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy you could say. So, who was the mole? Did the eponymous returnee survive the numerous threats to her life? And what was with all of those paper birds? Here's what went down in the eventful finale. Gray on Netflix ending explained Did Cornelia go rogue? In the previous episode's cliffhanger, we saw Cornelia Gray (Clarkson) blowing the brains out of the Korea infiltrator she was tasked with rescuing. But unlike her shell-shocked colleague Sara (Lydia West), who witnessed the execution first-hand, boss Tagg (Rupert Everett) didn't seem too surprised about the development. "Not everything is black and white," he told Sara on her return, revealing that, thanks to an experimental interrogation tactic known as IEP, the man in question was about to leak information that would have put millions of lives at risk. You've been framed On the warpath after Cornelia burned his house down while searching for incriminating evidence, ex-lover operative Chase (Shawn Doyle) decided to frame her by putting a bullet in the head of Sara's poor husband Andy (Benjamin Sutherland). Cornelia, of course, had already fatally poisoned Sara's secret agent stepmother Tessa (Fiona Highet) and was the prime suspect for the death of her father, too. So it was relatively easy for the wicked Chase to convince his grief-stricken co-worker that the ruthless assassin was responsible. And soon she, too, was baying for blood. Of course, Cornelia's no stranger to a bit of framing herself. She had already doctored snaps of field agent Gold (Wendy Crewso…

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The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin review: Noel Fielding shines in unashamedly silly sitcom
type: item
date: 2024-02-28T14:00:11.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Comedy
subject: TV
subject: Apple TV
subject: On demand
subject: Review
description: Noel Fielding and co are joyously daft in this Apple TV+ comedy.
encoded: Now that Noel Fielding is regularly cosying up to Prue Leith and presiding over pomegranate delices on The Great British Bake Off, it's easy to forget that he was considered one of Britain's most subversive funnymen in the era of indie sleaze. But the fact that his first comedic vehicle in a decade reinvents a legendary fearsome highwayman as a mild-mannered, vegan pacifist would suggest he's now scratching that surrealist itch once more. And yet, Apple TV+'s The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin is a surprisingly straightforward, if still unapologetically silly, sitcom which is unlikely to scare away much of the Bake Off audience. There's even an early nod to the Channel 4 juggernaut when the titular bandit proudly shows off a country village he's made entirely out of courgettes. The utterly bewildering Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy, this is not. In a role which neatly brings things full circle – his first acting gig was as a brothel gent in 18th century romp Plunkett & Macleane – Fielding plays Turpin as a loveable, exquisitely coiffured fop who's an eternal disappointment to his butcher father John (Mark Heap). But while he doesn't have a taste for killing defenceless animals ("How do you even kill a swan? Do you hit it? Do you chop it? Do you hit it with a shoe?"), he does become Hampstead's Most Wanted after accidentally killing the town's dominant thief Tom King (played by David Threlfall, who looks almost as dishevelled as Shameless's Frank Gallagher). Read more: Noel Fielding calls Dick Turpin "a return" to Python-style British comedy Noel Fielding in first look at new Dick Turpin comedy for Apple TV+ Alongside his motley crew, including fickle tomboy Nell (Ellie White), needy manchild Moose (Marc Wootton) and hopeless poet Honesty (Duayne Boachie), Turpin subsequently falls foul of Jonathan Wilde (Hugh Bonneville), a corrupt chief who is unhappy that his premier source of income is now six feet under. Cue a whole host of madcap adventures as the …

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Fool Me Once ending explained: Who killed Joe?
type: item
date: 2024-02-12T14:51:00.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: The twisty, turny thriller delivered on a big ending – but who was the killer in the end?
encoded: *Warning: This article contains full spoilers for the ending of Netflix's Fool Me Once.* The latest Harlan Coben adaptation has landed on Netflix – and it's just as thrilling as you'd expect from the master of twists and turns. Adapted from the author's 2016 book of the same name, the series follows Maya Stern (Michelle Keegan), a widow who sets out to investigate the sudden death of her husband, Joe (Richard Armitage), after she seemingly spots him on her nanny cam. Cue surprise after surprise, leading up to a thrilling ending that Coben previously described as his "most shocking" yet. So, what happens at the end of Fool Me Once and was Joe really alive? Read on for everything you need to know about the ending in our full spoiler-filled breakdown. Fool Me Once ending explained Most of Armitage’s screen time consists of the same flashback of his nepo baby character Joe Burkett getting shot dead. So, who was responsible for putting those three bullets in his chest in Fool Me Once? There were certainly plenty of credible suspects. Was it one of the two motorcyclists who’d earlier tried to rob wife Maya (Michelle Keegan)? Perhaps the informant threatening to burn his family’s pharmaceutical empire to the ground? As it turns out, the culprit was the woman who’d spent the entire series investigating his death (and his apparent rise from the dead, too). Yes, as disclosed in the seventh episode’s cliffhanger, the gun-wielding killer was none other than Maya. But why? How did Maya find out Joe killed Claire? Maya had discovered the bullet which took the life of sister Claire (Natalie Anderson) had come from the same gun only she and her husband had access to. And after confronting him in the park, she learned Joe would quite happily kill his own wife in cold blood, as well. Unfortunately for him, she’d replaced his weapon with a fake and kept the real thing for herself. Unfortunately for her, one of those pesky motorcyclists witnessed everything - and eventually reveals all…

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The Brothers Sun ending explained: the end of the Jade Dragons?
type: item
date: 2024-01-05T11:18:38.000Z
creator: Jon O'Brien
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Let's break it down.
encoded: Starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh, Netflix action-comedy The Brothers Sun is already a major contender for the most exciting new original of 2024. Centred on a sheltered Californian student who suddenly discovers that his mother, and indeed his entire family, are members of Taiwan's dominant triad the Jade Dragons, the eight-part series brings the jokes and jaw-dropping moves in equal measure. Here's a look at how its final heart-pounding episode went down. The Brothers Sun ending explained What happened after the shootout? After their leadership meeting was interrupted by both the new rival gang known as the Boxers and the Los Angeles police, every major triad figure from Taiwan is now either dead or behind bars – well, apart from the new Most Wanted, Big Sun (Johnny Kou), who managed to flee from the carnage with his heir apparent Charles (Justin Chien) in tow. On their return to the safe house, Big Sun seems more wounded about his estranged wife Eileen (Yeoh) plotting to ascend to the throne than from any gunfire. And to get his revenge, the evildoer commands Charles to kill the person she loves more than anyone in the world, her geeky son Bruce (Sam Song Li). Did Charles go through with the murderous plan? For a brief moment, it looked as though Charles was about to do the unthinkable and do away with the younger sibling he'd only just got to know (and begrudgingly love) again after 10 years apart. But despite giving him a bit of a pasting in the bathroom, the trained assassin can't go through with pulling the trigger. Things get a little heated again when Bruce suggests killing their father in retaliation. However, Charles eventually calms down when Eileen explains that unwavering loyalty is the only thing that Big Sun cares about. Charles agrees to exit the Jade Dragons for good, but needs to tell his father face-to-face first. "The only thing you are leaving is this country," comes the inevitable response. Yet, instead of shooting Charles, Big Sun o…

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