Meet the miniaturists shrinking Christmas for RT this year
Crafting a fantastic snowy landscape for RT's 2025 Christmas features was a real labour of love for Hannah Lemon and Abi Trotman
The Marvellous Miniature Workshop is on iPlayer. Add it to your watchlist Making miniatures is no small task. Hannah Lemon and Abi Trotman, who star in The Marvellous Miniature Workshop spent a combined 200 hours creating the Christmas snowscape for our Christmas interviews with stars of Death in Paradise, Call the Midwife, Strictly, The Archers and Amandaland. Trotman, from south Wales, specialises in 1/12th scale miniatures for doll’s houses and dioramas and started making miniatures with her gran for her doll’s house when she was 11. Lemon, who’s from Japan and now based in the UK, started making tiny houseplants in lockdown on a break from work. Both have now made it their full-time career. View Green Video on the source website Using toolkits containing tweezers, brushes, paints and glues — not to mention a steady hand — Lemon explains that RT’s snowy scene (all compiled and photographed by her in her living room) is Styrofoam, so it’s light and easy to stick items into and to carve with a blade. Then she used frost and snow effect spray and placed fake snow powder on top. The tree is made out of tinsel wrapped together to create different-sized branches. The snowmen and their miniature carrot noses are made from clay, with black glass “caviar beads” for eyes — but what about their knitted hats? “I used my old socks, but I promise I washed them!” Lemon laughs. Lemon’s biggest challenge was the reindeer — “I wanted to make something realistic, so I needed to study their anatomy.” She started with wire to create a skeleton, then wrapped masking tape around it to mimic tissue, and applied modelling paste to create the body shape. Once that was dry, she coated it with acrylic paint and applied fake fur. “Working on the face is always challenging in miniature. I wanted him to look straight at the camera, happy and proud, like he owns the place.” Trotman’s gingerbread house, meanwhile, proved to be a real construction project. “Measurements and getting the angles of the roof right took a lot of time,” she says. “You want things to look in proportion, so it’s important to scale everything down properly.” She was inspired by a gingerbread house in an old American cooking magazine from the 70s. “It was really kitsch and I fell in love with it. I used a laser cutter to cut precise, sharp lines from a material called PolyBak, then dry-fitted those pieces. I then coated the PolyBak I used for the walls with a stone clay to make it look like a gingerbread texture.” Polyfilla mixed with acrylic paint made the “perfect” icing and all the polymer clay sweets and candy canes were handmade, baked and then glazed. “There’s a lot of yourself that you put into it,” Trotman says. “Seeing someone’s heart and love in a piece will always resonate more with people.”
Wallace and Gromit creator reveals whether Aardman Animations will use AI in future - and what they won’t compromise on
Two iconic animated pals reunite on the Radio Times Christmas cover, as Nick Park brings festive clay magic to life.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. This year, RT's Christmas cover stars are two award-winning film and TV favourites. But unusually in the cut-throat world of showbiz, they are also old pals going back 30 years. In fact, the cover, conceived and designed by Nick Park, celebrates Shaun’s screen debut in A Close Shave. Back then, Shaun walked into Wallace and Gromit’s home and ate everything in sight. Now he has a taste for Radio Times… hopefully, without swallowing any crucial TV listings! It’s a busy time for Aardman Animations. There’s a Christmas Day episode of Shaun the Sheep on BBC One called Fleece Navidad, and in 2026, to mark the studio’s 50th anniversary, a big Aardman exhibition at London’s Young V&A, plus a film outing for Shaun, The Beast of Mossy Bottom. So, what better time for a reunion? While the beloved pair say "cheese" for their cover shoot – remaining characteristically silent, yet with a mischievous glint in their eye – RT sits down with Park at Aardman’s Bristol HQ to discuss making Christmas out of clay... A grand cover It’s a pleasure to be asked to design another cover. We’ve had a few: my downstairs bathroom is full of framed ones. I leapt at the opportunity and it was a privilege to get involved. Radio Times has been an iconic magazine since way before I was born, and you can’t have Christmas without it, so I just couldn’t resist having my characters on the cover. My aim was to make it as Christmassy as possible and evoke feelings of warmth. View oEmbed on the source website Cracking ideas I think through sketching – more so than through writing. I like to draw on paper, but I have an iPad Pro, which I love. I probably spend three days to a week doodling different ideas. That’s where a lot of film ideas come from. Wallace and Gromit are my favourite characters to sketch. I draw them in my sleep. They’re just very natural now – I’ve been doing them for so many years. Season's bleatings I played around with this idea of Gromit opening a mystery gift, and then out pops Shaun the Sheep, like "I’m back," doing something silly and surprising Gromit, like playing the trumpet or maracas. Another idea, which I thought was very warm and quaint, had Shaun and Gromit sitting on the sofa drinking hot chocolate with their slippers in the foreground. Then I sketched out Shaun chewing the edge of the Radio Times. I didn’t think that would be liked, because it was destroying the cover, but that was the favourite. Inventing new jokes Little gags and Easter eggs appear in all the films, and it’s no different with Radio Times. We want them to come through, so when the magazine is lying on the coffee table, there’s always things in there to look at and notice. There’s a portrait of Wallace on the wall, but the frame is obviously one he’s made, because he’s compensated for his ears so the frame goes around them. I thought that was a nice little touch. Part of the festive furniture I start to riff on things, like what’s on the mantelpiece; what’s on the tree; what would look good on Gromit and Shaun’s mugs. We thought it’d be good to see Feathers McGraw as a ballerina in a tutu on the top of the tree, but there wasn’t room to put that in. We also had him as a ballerina in the snow globe. Then, him as a snowman in a snow globe, with a carrot for a nose. They write themselves How would Gromit react to Shaun reappearing? Well, they’re good mates, it’s a reunion. I think there would be a bit of reticence on Gromit’s behalf, a Gromit eyeroll, like, "Oh no, he’s back" – that agent of chaos in the house. He’s got enough with Wallace. All Gromit wants is a quiet life, but he loves Shaun really. There’s a little bit of antagonism between them, but it’s friendly. It’s great to have characters that kind of write themselves. You can put them in any situation, and they’ll find their own comedy. Retro versus modern Gromit and Shaun started off together, but since Shaun got his own series, we’ve sort of separated the worlds, because they’re slightly different, with different rules. With Wallace and Gromit, everything’s a bit retro. They rarely have a TV on, until Vengeance Most Fowl. They don’t have mobile phones and they don’t really have computers, but if they do, they’re like antiques. Shaun the Sheep is more flexible in terms of the modern world. There’s social media and you can dial for pizza! I don’t think we’d merge the two worlds in a story, but we had the Farmer from Shaun the Sheep in Vengeance Most Fowl. In the first Shaun the Sheep Movie, we talked about whether Wallace and Gromit should go through the background at one point on the motorbike. I think we’d only ever do it if it’s unexpected and a joke guest appearance. Styling the stars It would be quite expensive to make the puppets from scratch, so this Gromit on the cover has been in Vengeance Most Fowl in this same dressing gown, and this Shaun has been in the series. A sitting-down Gromit is differentto a standing or walking-on-all-fours Gromit. The model-makers made Shaun a brand-new jumper similar to his original one, but with a Christmassy pattern, so he looks super cute. Animated animals It takes the best part of three weeks to get everything together – the set, the decorations, the props, with about a dozen people working on the Christmas cover. I find it harder to pull together a photo than an animation, because a photo has one moment that has to say everything. We’re doing about 10 seconds of animation to go with the cover. On a feature film, the animators usually get through about two to three seconds a day. Wallace and Gromit are my children, so I’m very fussy about who animates them. For this, I particularly wanted one of my favourite animators and long-term colleagues, Jay Grace. He’s one of the best, very sensitive and really knows what he’s doing. It’s not just about moving your puppet. It’s about making the audience believe that it’s a living, breathing character. Feat of clay When Toy Story came out [in 1995], we thought, "How long have we got?" But we’ve managed to survive CGI. In fact, there’s been a resurgence of interest over the years in our stop motion animation. We use CGI as well, but AI is a whole new thing. Obviously a lot of people will be fearing for their jobs. We want to embrace the technology and find in what ways it’s going to be useful to us, maybe to do animation a bit quicker, but we’re going to be very cautious not to lose our values. The clay is our USP and we pride ourselves in that. Authenticity is the most important thing. It’s where the charm is. The Christmas double issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Shaun the Sheep: Fleece Navidad airs on Christmas Day at 4:35pm on BBC One. Add Shaun the Sheep: Fleece Navidad to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
How the team behind Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age brought animals like dwarf elephants and predatory marsupials to life
Add Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age to your watchlist Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age features animals that have never been seen on screen before — marsupial lions (essentially carnivorous koalas), kangaroos so huge they can’t hop and dwarf elephants only three feet tall. Narrated by Tom Hiddleston and executive produced by Hollywood film-maker Jon Favreau alongside creative director of the BBC’s Natural History Unit and long-term David Attenborough collaborator Mike Gunton, the Apple TV series was a (woolly) mammoth effort. The production took three years, was filmed in 15 countries, and for the first time used technical reference puppets — Gunton was convinced after seeing the puppet of the baby stegodon. These could be filmed on location, thereby providing essential references for visual effects company Framestore to create the CGI (computer-generated imagery) animals. Crucially, everything seen is backed by science — as well as gut feeling. “If you’ve spent your life watching animals, when you see one of these creatures brought to life on screen, there’s this final filter where it looks weirdly right… or rightly weird,” Gunton tells RT. That’s what lead scientific consultant Dr Darren Naish, who has been the show’s palaeontologist since the first series in 2022, was in charge of. Here, he explains how he helped bring the unusual animals of the Ice Age to vivid life. THE MAN FOR THE JOB I’m an expert on the dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period, which we featured in seasons one and two of Prehistoric Planet, but I’ve also published enough on Ice Age animals to be considered an expert for season three. I also provide detailed, specific information to the people at Framestore building the digital animal models. SKETCH TO SCREEN We consulted with more than 50 Ice Age specialists, using their expertise to compile asset packs on the animals, containing up to 30 pages of diagrams, drawings and information. I draw tons of stuff, and we work with various concept artists and paleo artists [who depict prehistoric life]. FACTS FROM THE FOSSILS Everything we do is grounded in science. How do we know how these animals moved and what they would have done? Well, we go to what we understand from the fossil record. We’ve got frozen bodies in permafrost. We can use fossil footprints to work out animals’ speed and gait. Since humans were Ice Age creatures, too, we drew these animals, so we can also look at rock art. SCIENTIFIC STORYLINES Science establishes facts. But also, a woolly mammoth is a kind of elephant, so everything that’s true for African and Asian elephants, woolly mammoths would have done as well. Animals get themselves into all kinds of extraordinary situations. What happens if a woolly mammoth is trapped in a snowstorm and about to give birth? It must have happened, so it’s justifiable for us to come up with that storyline. A LION THAT’S NOT A LION Thylacoleo, the so-called marsupial lion, is a leopard-sized, predatory marsupial related to koalas and wombats, but fundamentally unlike anything alive today. It had a big opposable thumb with a giant claw, and fang-like teeth, but they weren’t canines, they were giant incisors. It had this ridiculously broad, muscled head. It took many, many iterations to make it feel like a real animal — it looked like a weird teddy bear at one point. There is Indigenous Australian rock art depicting it, so we’ve got some idea of what its pigmentation was like. PREHISTORIC PEEVES Some animals in this series are not CG, they’re real animals, like the vole. We’re pretty confident people won’t be able to tell them apart. I have a massive list of pet peeves in CG animals. If you watch all the Jurassic World films, the dinosaurs roar and do this head wobble where their cheeks flutter as they’re blasting air out… nothing does that. Someone made that up in a film with a dragon or something, and it’s been copied. Some like to over-animate everything, but Framestore is the real deal. ANSWERING THE UNKNOWN Some of the animals were an absolute challenge, and they might never have been reconstructed well before, because nobody’s understood them. We have to come up with answers to questions that people haven’t really considered. For example, the next time someone asks how an extinct snow sloth [Megalonyx jeffersonii] walks, we’ll be the only ones that have ever done it right. None of the work we do on the show, and that the VFX team does, ends up published in technical papers, but it should. It is actual science.
7 reasons to watch Tom Hiddleston's new documentary series Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age features animals that have never been seen on screen before – marsupial lions (essentially carnivorous koalas), kangaroos so huge they can’t hop and dwarf elephants only three feet tall. Narrated by Tom Hiddleston and executive produced by Hollywood film-maker Jon Favreau alongside creative director of the BBC’s Natural History Unit and long-term David Attenborough collaborator Mike Gunton, the Apple TV series was a (woolly) mammoth effort. The production took three years, was filmed in 15 countries, and for the first time used technical reference puppets – Gunton was convinced after seeing the puppet of the baby stegodon. These could be filmed on location, thereby providing essential references for visual effects company Framestore to create the CGI (computer-generated imagery) animals. Crucially, everything seen is backed by science – as well as gut feeling. “If you’ve spent your life watching animals, when you see one of these creatures brought to life on screen, there’s this final filter where it looks weirdly right… or rightly weird,” Gunton tells RT. That’s what lead scientific consultant Dr Darren Naish, who has been the show’s palaeontologist since the first series in 2022, was in charge of. Here, he explains how he helped bring the unusual animals of the Ice Age to vivid life. View oEmbed on the source website The man for the job "I’m an expert on the dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period, which we featured in seasons one and two of Prehistoric Planet, but I’ve also published enough on Ice Age animals to be considered an expert for season three. I also provide detailed, specific information to the people at Framestore building the digital animal models." Sketch to screen "We consulted with more than 50 Ice Age specialists, using their expertise to compile asset packs on the animals, containing up to 30 pages of diagrams, drawings and information. I draw tons of stuff, and we work with various concept artists and paleo artists [who depict prehistoric life]." Facts from the fossil "Everything we do is grounded in science. How do we know how these animals moved and what they would have done? Well, we go to what we understand from the fossil record. We’ve got frozen bodies in permafrost. We can use fossil footprints to work out animals’ speed and gait. Since humans were Ice Age creatures, too, we drew these animals, so we can also look at rock art." Scientific storylines "Science establishes facts. But also, a woolly mammoth is a kind of elephant, so everything that’s true for African and Asian elephants, woolly mammoths would have done as well. Animals get themselves into all kinds of extraordinary situations. What happens if a woolly mammoth is trapped in a snowstorm and about to give birth? It must have happened, so it’s justifiable for us to come up with that storyline." A lion that's not a lion "Thylacoleo, the so-called marsupial lion, is a leopard-sized, predatory marsupial related to koalas and wombats, but fundamentally unlike anything alive today. It had a big opposable thumb with a giant claw, and fang-like teeth, but they weren’t canines, they were giant incisors. It had this ridiculously broad, muscled head. It took many, many iterations to make it feel like a real animal — it looked like a weird teddy bear at one point. There is Indigenous Australian rock art depicting it, so we’ve got some idea of what its pigmentation was like." Prehistoric peeves "Some animals in this series are not CG, they’re real animals, like the vole. We’re pretty confident people won’t be able to tell them apart. I have a massive list of pet peeves in CG animals. If you watch all the Jurassic World films, the dinosaurs roar and do this head wobble where their cheeks flutter as they’re blasting air out… nothing does that. Someone made that up in a film with a dragon or something, and it’s been copied. Some like to over-animate everything, but Framestore is the real deal." Answering the unknown "Some of the animals were an absolute challenge, and they might never have been reconstructed well before, because nobody’s understood them. We have to come up with answers to questions that people haven’t really considered. For example, the next time someone asks how an extinct snow sloth [Megalonyx jeffersonii] walks, we’ll be the only ones that have ever done it right. None of the work we do on the show, and that the VFX team does, ends up published in technical papers, but it should. It is actual science." The latest issue of Radio Times is out on Saturday – subscribe here. All seasons of Prehistoric Planet are available to watch on Apple TV. Find out how to sign up for Apple TV here. Add Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Documentaries coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
We played Squid Game: The Challenge – and learned how brutal it really is
As season 2 comes to a dramatic end, a pair of intrepid Radio Times reporters recount their gruelling experiences on the set of Squid Game: The Challenge.
Many people have watched a reality competition on the telly and thought to themselves, 'I could do that.' Radio Times writers David Craig and Laura Rutkowski are not among that group. Nevertheless, they were sent to Reading's Shinfield Studios to see the real sets of Squid Game: The Challenge and take part in two devious game demos, which were nothing if not humbling. Dragging their aching bodies home at the end of a long day, it was clear that the tournament is physically draining – and that's to say nothing of the psychological stress added by that eye-popping $4.56 million jackpot. As immersive as it was, David and Laura didn't have any cash on the line during their grand day out, but the risk of humiliation in front of one's peers did loom large – and quickly became a reality. This is their story. Welcome to Squid Game Laura Rutkowski: Nothing really could have prepared me for walking into the dorm, and my mouth falls open in shock. It’s as massive as you would imagine to accommodate 456 beds for 456 players. I quickly claim a bottom bunk, thinking it’s easier to hop out of in a hurry! I'm player 255, kitted out with my tracksuit (which was in fact made in Korea – I checked) and thermals on underneath; white slip-ons; a water bottle and a black bag (with a toothbrush and toothpaste labelled 255 inside). There's a gigantic red 'X' and blue 'O' on the ground, which was used in the drama for players to indicate whether they wanted to stop or continue the games. Very quickly, I can see cliques forming into little groups dotted around the dorm, alliances already developing from the offset. Before our games begin, I'm served curry and rice by the intimidating guards in pink. I thank them, in case politeness is rewarded. Naturally, they don't respond, and it makes me question my relationship to authority figures. My inclination is very much to obey them and stay on their good side, but it probably won't make a difference in Squid Game. Just keep a low profile, I think! It's surreal walking up and down the pastel-coloured staircases that are meant to lead to the games, but these ones lead... nowhere, but that is, of course, where the TV magic comes in. David Craig: Entering the Squid Game dorm as my all-time favourite player Thanos (Choi Seung-hyun), my initial plan is to embody the loveably deranged rapper for the duration of our visit. But after an hour of spouting egomaniacal nonsense to anyone that would listen, I realise that – for better or worse – the unpredictable 'alpha' qualities of the pill-popping performer don't exactly come naturally to me. Overwhelmed by the scale of my surroundings – not to mention, a flood of influencers and reality stars eagerly (read: loudly) putting on a show for the cameras – I realise that spray-on hair dye is not a substitute for a personality. It strikes me that, were we competing in the deadly version, these would be the true Thanos-style figures, and I would probably be one of their grovelling followers. Oh well. Game 1: Six-Legged Pentathlon Laura: If I ever thought that reality TV series were easy to compete in, I don't think that anymore after this game. For the six-legged pentathlon, taken from Squid Game season 2, five players have their legs tied together and must complete five different minigames within five minutes, competing against another team of five. These include: Ball in a Cup, Flying Stone, Gonggi, House of Cards, and Jegi, and we receive a demonstration of each one. My team are very supportive, but I choose one of the harder games, Gonggi (Korean jacks). Full disclosure – I have never played this before, nor had I practised beforehand, but I can imagine that the players in The Challenge would have smartly thought to try it out before competing in the reality series. I'm sweating and feeling the pressure – especially with my team relying on me and cameras in my face. In the end, all that matters is beating the other team, which we manage to do, crossing that rainbow finish line for VICTORY! David: "Purple hair, do care (a lot, actually)." This is my ethos going into our first game, Six Legs, where I am determined to wow my fellow players with a never-before-realised aptitude for Korean playground games. True to the drama series, I am chained by the ankles to four random participants (a lovely way to get to know someone, FYI), and we nervously prepare to march to our fate. Of the five stations, each with a different challenge assigned to a single player, I leap at the chance to play Gonggi; an intricate game of throwing and catching that looks mesmerising on screen. Very quickly, I realise I've made a huge mistake. Seven excruciating minutes later, the producer tells me to stop and move on. I am shaking and feel as if I have been playing for hours. Set visit: Mingle Laura: Mingle is a seriously impressive set that looks identical to the one in the drama. It's a joyous, warm, colourful, bow-ridden space with a giant carousel platform in the middle. It lurches into action, spinning us all around. In Squid Game season 2, when the carousel stops, a number is called out and the players must form groups of that number and enter the surrounding rooms, then close the door. As soon as the catchy Korean children's song, 'Round and Round', starts playing, it's impossible not to think of the 'Mingle dance,' made famous by the character Thanos (played by K-pop star T.O.P aka Choi Seung-hyun). David is obviously a great stand-in for him, so there's only one thing left to do, and that's link arms and twirl around, exactly as Thanos (RIP) would have wanted! David: From the pentathlon chamber, we are thrust immediately onto the Mingle set – not to play the game (a health and safety nightmare, I assume), but to observe. This is why I studied journalism. Truthfully, I feel unable to muster the same enthusiasm as the real Thanos once did, not because it doesn't look the part – it certainly does – but because I am, to use the clinical term, f**king knackered. My brave RT comrade Laura initiates the customary arm-in-arm dance – made iconic by Thanos and his (even more) disturbed accomplice Nam-gyu (Roh Jae-won) – but my heart isn't in it. I want to sit down, or better yet, curl up in the foetal position. May the real players of Squid Game: The Challenge be blessed with stronger stamina than I. Game 2: Slides and Ladders Laura: While Slides and Ladders is new for The Challenge, it's still an innocent game with a sinister twist – which is what makes it inherently Squid Game. Players are put in pairs and roll a die to progress on the board. If they land on a ladder, they go up, and if they land on the dual slide, one transports them further down the board, while the other eliminates them. There are also 'twist' cards to choose from that reveal either an advantage or a disadvantage, with only six teams able to progress. I'm on the purple team with my teammate Ayo and we start strong. David and his teammate pick a card where they can bring up one team to where they are, which is almost at the finish line at the top, and they choose us! We're feeling incredibly smug... for a brief moment. Ayo and I then have to choose a card and it says to move forward one space where we're faced with the double slide. Ayo takes one for the team and chooses one at random after I win a game of rock, paper, scissors (in an ode to Squid Game), but it shoots him out of the game! I go down the other giant metal slide, which is surprisingly high and fast, and let out a warbled scream as I come out much further down the board back to where I started. Oh, it's a cruel game… David: Still lamenting my failure to seize glory in Six Legs, we begin our final game of this Squid Game: The Challenge set visit – an extravagant new spin on snakes and ladders. Change is in the air. You see, it soon becomes clear that what I indisputably lack in skill, I can make up for here in random luck (the great equaliser!). Stepping onto an industrial-sized expansion of the quintessential children's board game, my partner (People's Gabrielle Rockson) and I have no choice but to leave our destinies to dice rolls and card draws. Fate smiles kindly upon us. In a slightly anticlimactic fashion, we speed to the top in a matter of minutes, finishing first and basking in… well, not much, as we aren't playing for money. But still, it's glorious to end the day on a positive note, after some considerable ego bruising at the start. (Quietly, I am disappointed to be deprived of a go on one of the slides.) Death Comes for Us All Laura: Nothing prepares me for when the 'squib', as it's called, actually goes off. There's a quick spurt and then a pooling of black ink on my chest, which has a very distinct and sickly sweet smell. I fall immediately to the floor, milking this moment as much as I can. Despite my fake death, which is all part of the experience, I manage to make it out alive, exhilarated, but utterly convinced I would not last long on The Challenge. I have actually seen a few of my fellow players since, and we're now forever bonded (trauma bonded?) as Squid Game survivors. David: I witness my teammates experience 'death' one-by-one. That is, the triggering of an inky explosion from the squibs strapped across their chests. I count my blessings that I am last in line for eruption, feeling this is my chance to launch the acting career that, deep down, I always thought of as my true calling. I anxiously brace for my moment, and when it comes, I emit a shrieking wail that seems fittingly dramatic for the moment. "Yes! Surely I will not regret this when the footage is shared with me nine months from now," I think to myself. Moments later, the rancid scent of the fake blood hits my nostrils, and brings me firmly back to reality. The Academy Award slips from my fingers. Squid Game: The Challenge is available to stream on Netflix. 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Is Squid Game: the Challenge really that hard?
Add Squid Game: the Challenge to your watchlist In 2021, South Korean drama Squid Game became a cultural phenomenon — so much so that viewers were desperate to join in. So two years later, a reality show version was created called Squid Game: the Challenge, bringing the deadly games to life with real members of the public competing. Now, its second series is in full swing, with almost 110,000 people from around the world applying to be one of 456 people chosen to compete for a prize of $4.56 million (about £3.5 million). People are clearly dying to play it — without the actual dying part. All you can hurt in this version is your pride, as RT can confirm after our own visit to the set. In every other way, however, it feels authentic. Upon entering the vast dorm, my mouth falls open — it’s huge, and looks identical to the series. Soon I’m kitted out in the iconic tracksuit, with intimidating masked guards watching my every move as player 255. The reality series has had the blessing and help of Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, but while his drama ended with series three, The Challenge has no plans to call game over. “We’d like to go on for as long as possible,” says executive producer Stephen Yemoh. “As long as we can keep finding new, interesting games and 456 people who are willing to put a tracksuit on and come and play.” With that, I zip up my green jacket and face a host of games, some from the TV show, some newly created. Ready or not… MINGLE In Squid Game series two, players stand on a spinning carousel for Mingle. When it stops, a number is called out and they must form groups of that number and enter the surrounding rooms, then close the door. Onscreen it’s chaotic and dangerous, so when replicating it, the health and safety briefing, as with all the games, was paramount. Stephen Yemoh says, “We had soft closing doors to make sure no one was trapped in any way.” Anna Kidd adds, “The games go through rigorous testing, internally and with supporting artists.” SLIDES AND LADDERS In one of the new games created for the show, players are put in pairs and roll a dice to progress on the board. If they land on a ladder, they go up, and if they land on the dual slide, one transports them further down the board, while the other eliminates them. There are also cards to choose that reveal either an advantage or a disadvantage, with only six teams able to progress. “It couldn’t be flat,” says Kidd, “but if it was vertical, it’d become too big. Our amazing games designer Ben Norman came up with the idea of making it on stepped platforms.” DEATH BY SQUIB Even though the players are eliminated rather than killed, Yemoh explains, “The deaths are so iconic in the actual drama that we needed to visually replicate that, but also make it feel fun and playful.” A special effects company created a pressurised canister for the “squib”, resulting in a burst of black ink (instead of red blood) when a player “dies”, like I did here. “We tried 17 different versions of the nozzle, including a star shape and a triangle, and 12 different versions of the type of T-shirt we needed for it to go through the outfit.” The players have never been explicitly told to act dead, but they always “take their moment” for a theatrical exit. I certainly couldn’t resist. SQUID GAME STAIRCASE In the second series of Squid Game, the players staged a revolt against the guards, leading to an intense shootout on the pastel staircases. In this series of The Challenge during the Mingle episode, inspired by the drama, the players actually refuse to continue the game at one point, but the team behind the reality show was able to watch series two before release on Netflix, so they were prepared for this eventuality. “We often thought about the revolt, so we had plenty of contingencies in place,” says Stephen Yemoh.
I'm a Hunter on Channel 4's Hunted and this is what it's really like to chase down fugitives
"We would never let anyone get away for TV purposes. It’s our reputation!"
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Former soldier Jordan Wylie, 42, from Blackpool is a hunter on Channel 4’s Hunted and Celebrity Hunted, where people go on the run and try to evade capture by a team of intelligence experts. He’s also an ambassador for the Army Cadet Force and is embarking on an expedition to Antarctica in late November. Here he tells us about his life pre-Hunted and what it's really like to chase down fugitives... FROM THE SEA TO TV I joined the Army at 16 and was a frontline soldier for 10 years in The King’s Royal Hussars, doing multiple tours of Iraq and Northern Ireland. After I left, I went into maritime security, where I protected ships from pirates off the Somali coast. I was later asked to become a consultant on the film Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks — advising on tactics, what the pirates wore, and their strategies. Out of nowhere, Channel 4 called me about Hunted, which I’ve now done for eight years. It’s one thing to know your stuff, but a lot of it is being OK on camera and entertaining the audience. HOW TO HUNT You need surveillance skills, discipline and patience, and you have to be vigilant and alert for long periods of time. We’re in the car for 16–18 hours a day with the same people for six to seven weeks. I might be watching someone’s house for 24 hours. Before the show starts, we do a week’s worth of training where all the hunters discuss the latest technology — surveillance devices, bugging systems and cameras you can put on a lapel. MISSING IN ACTION Hunted shows that it’s incredibly difficult to go missing in England. We’re under surveillance and being tracked in everything we do — spending money, making calls, posting on social media. People who go missing are probably only not found because the authorities haven’t allocated the resources. THE BEST PLAN IS NO PLAN Our team quickly recognise a pattern, so the fugitives need to be difficult to predict. Most reach out to their friends and family, who we’re probably monitoring. I’d opt towards going into the rural environment, because there’s less CCTV. Avoid phones, vehicles and major cities. I don’t think people realise how intrusive the show is. If you’ve got a skeleton in your closet, we’re gonna find it. IT’S 100% REAL When I’m chasing a fugitive, the adrenaline is always high and I am doing everything I can to catch that person. If they get away, it’s because they’ve outrun or outsmarted us. We’ve got police, pilots and interrogators… we would never let anyone get away for TV purposes. It’s our reputation! The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Great British Bake Off judges on why making the series is just like being in a Carry On film
Add The Great British Bake Off to your watchlist When RT meets The Great British Bake Off judges Paul Hollywood, 59, and Prue Leith, 85, at the famous white tent in Berkshire’s Welford Park, we shake hands. This technically means that I’ve had a coveted Hollywood handshake, although Paul is quick to point out that he also gives that “to builders and my dentist”. Bake Off has been running for 16 series — has what you look for in a baker changed in that time? PRUE LEITH I vacillate – I never really know whether I’m after massive innovation or really classic, traditional, good baking. It’s so exciting when a baker comes up with something you’ve never eaten before, or a combination of flavours that is really imaginative. Then somebody bakes a good old favourite that you absolutely love, like rhubarb crumble, and it’s so wonderful because it’s homely, real and familiar. PAUL HOLLYWOOD One of the things we’ve had a lot this series is overcomplicating a recipe with too many flavours – you need a hero flavour and a couple to back it up. The innovation this year has really surprised, impressed and disappointed me at the same time. What cake should someone bake to win you over? PRUE One that has a lot of ground almonds in it. We had a really good polenta cake this series that was gluten free. PAUL Any cake with cream and fruit. What advice would you give to someone coming on the show? PAUL Ignore Noel and Alison when they try to make conversation. PRUE Sometimes the bakers long for them to go away, because they’re against the clock and want to get on with it. Do you ever disagree while judging? PRUE The discussion in Cake Corner [where they talk about the bakes] is more to inform and remind the audience, because Paul and I could do it in two seconds. The audience often say that I’m kind and Paul’s horrible, but if you look at our scores out of 10, we’re never more than one point apart. I think I’ve given one 10 in nine years... I can’t remember to who though! I used to say, “It’s not worth the calories.” That is my absolute judgment about any baking, because you know it’s full of fat and sugar, so: “Do I really want to eat this? Am I prepared to get fat?” I don’t say it now, because lots of people said they felt judged for liking cake. They thought I was being fattist. PAUL I’ve never given a 10, only a 9.5. A handshake is very close to a 10. These are amateur bakers, but if they get a handshake from me, it means it’s very professional. PRUE He will say, “This year or this week, I’m not giving any handshakes,” and then the hand will come out, because a bake will be so good he can’t resist. Lots say I should have a Prue pat. Prue, you are known for your colourful outfits and assortment of glasses — how many pairs do you own? PRUE I own 75, because that’s how many are in my range [Specs by Prue], but I’ve only got about 20 with my prescription in. I’m not allowed to wear any of mine on Bake Off, because it would be using the show to promote them, but there’s nothing wrong with RT advertising them… We’ll see what we can do. Innuendos in Bake Off are unavoidable. Is that difficult during filming? PRUE My problem is that I mostly don’t get it. I don’t know what they’re talking about. The bakers are asked to produce their favourite animal in cake, and there’s a beaver, so I say, “Tell us about your beaver.” Hysterics all round. What am I meant to say? PAUL There is a classic clip online where Prue talks about needing two holes to squirt, and about squeezing the bag. At the time, I had to walk out of the tent. It’s like a Carry On film. PRUE Paul and Noel could go into hysterics over the word sausage… like school boys, really. It must be hard to form a bond with the bakers and then see them go home? PRUE It is. PAUL Actually it’s the best part of my weekend… I don’t remember who left last week. Surely that’s just a tough guy act on the outside Paul, but on the inside? PRUE He’s quite squishy in the middle. PAUL That’s because of the cakes. What are you like when you’re away from the show? PAUL I keep to myself most of the time. I live in the middle of nowhere and I like it like that. There’s nothing better than putting on a dressing gown and watching a box set with my wife [former pub landlady Melissa Spalding]. I like mowing the lawn. I’m like Forrest Gump on my sitting lawnmower. PRUE The other thing Paul likes to do is cooking as opposed to baking. PAUL I do, I’m a feeder. I brought my pizza oven to set during Covid. PRUE He made pizza for 120 people in about an hour. Do you enjoy meeting your fans? PRUE I’m such an egotist. I love it. I like the attention, Paul doesn’t. I like when someone asks for a selfie, or when they say, “I love you. I love you. I love you.” PAUL I get a lot of people coming up to me, and I’ll do all the photographs, but I tend to be just hiding around the corner. When we do Celeb Bake Off, I’m fanboying everybody. I still don’t feel famous. I’m just a guy from telly who eats cake.
GBBO's Prue Leith reveals why she was labelled a "fattist" - as she and Paul Hollywood share best advice to bakers
The Great British Bake Off judges on why making the series is just like being in a Carry-On film.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. When RT meets The Great British Bake Off judges Paul Hollywood, 59, and Prue Leith, 85, at the famous white tent in Berkshire’s Welford Park, we shake hands. This technically means that I’ve had a coveted Hollywood handshake, although Paul is quick to point out that he also gives that “to builders and my dentist”. Bake Off has been running for 16 series — has what you look for in a baker changed in that time? PRUE LEITH I vacillate – I never really know whether I’m after massive innovation or really classic, traditional, good baking. It’s so exciting when a baker comes up with something you’ve never eaten before, or a combination of flavours that is really imaginative. Then somebody bakes a good old favourite that you absolutely love, like rhubarb crumble, and it’s so wonderful because it’s homely, real and familiar. PAUL HOLLYWOOD One of the things we’ve had a lot this series is overcomplicating a recipe with too many flavours – you need a hero flavour and a couple to back it up. The innovation this year has really surprised, impressed and disappointed me at the same time. What cake should someone bake to win you over? PRUE One that has a lot of ground almonds in it. We had a really good polenta cake this series that was gluten free. PAUL Any cake with cream and fruit. What advice would you give to someone coming on the show? PAUL Ignore Noel and Alison when they try to make conversation. PRUE Sometimes the bakers long for them to go away, because they’re against the clock and want to get on with it. Alison Hammond, Noel Fielding, Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith Do you ever disagree while judging? PRUE The discussion in Cake Corner [where they talk about the bakes] is more to inform and remind the audience, because Paul and I could do it in two seconds. The audience often say that I’m kind and Paul’s horrible, but if you look at our scores out of 10, we’re never more than one point apart. I think I’ve given one 10 in nine years... I can’t remember to who though! I used to say, “It’s not worth the calories.” That is my absolute judgment about any baking, because you know it’s full of fat and sugar, so: “Do I really want to eat this? Am I prepared to get fat?” I don’t say it now, because lots of people said they felt judged for liking cake. They thought I was being fattist. PAUL I’ve never given a 10, only a 9.5. A handshake is very close to a 10. These are amateur bakers, but if they get a handshake from me, it means it’s very professional. PRUE He will say, “This year or this week, I’m not giving any handshakes,” and then the hand will come out, because a bake will be so good he can’t resist. Lots say I should have a Prue pat. Prue, you are known for your colourful outfits and assortment of glasses — how many pairs do you own? PRUE I own 75, because that’s how many are in my range [Specs by Prue], but I’ve only got about 20 with my prescription in. I’m not allowed to wear any of mine on Bake Off, because it would be using the show to promote them, but there’s nothing wrong with RT advertising them… We’ll see what we can do. Innuendos in Bake Off are unavoidable. Is that difficult during filming? PRUE My problem is that I mostly don’t get it. I don’t know what they’re talking about. The bakers are asked to produce their favourite animal in cake, and there’s a beaver, so I say, “Tell us about your beaver.” Hysterics all round. What am I meant to say? PAUL There is a classic clip online where Prue talks about needing two holes to squirt, and about squeezing the bag. At the time, I had to walk out of the tent. It’s like a Carry-On film. PRUE Paul and Noel could go into hysterics over the word sausage… like school boys, really. It must be hard to form a bond with the bakers and then see them go home? PRUE It is. PAUL Actually it’s the best part of my weekend… I don’t remember who left last week. Surely that’s just a tough guy act on the outside Paul, but on the inside? PRUE He’s quite squishy in the middle. PAUL That’s because of the cakes. What are you like when you’re away from the show? PAUL I keep to myself most of the time. I live in the middle of nowhere and I like it like that. There’s nothing better than putting on a dressing gown and watching a box set with my wife [former pub landlady Melissa Spalding]. I like mowing the lawn. I’m like Forrest Gump on my sitting lawnmower. PRUE The other thing Paul likes to do is cooking as opposed to baking. PAUL I do, I’m a feeder. I brought my pizza oven to set during Covid. PRUE He made pizza for 120 people in about an hour. Do you enjoy meeting your fans? PRUE I’m such an egotist. I love it. I like the attention, Paul doesn’t. I like when someone asks for a selfie, or when they say, “I love you. I love you. I love you.” PAUL I get a lot of people coming up to me, and I’ll do all the photographs, but I tend to be just hiding around the corner. When we do Celeb Bake Off, I’m fanboying everybody. I still don’t feel famous. I’m just a guy from telly who eats cake. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Toy Story at 30: John Morris on voicing Andy from aged 7 – and whether he'll appear in the fifth movie
The voice actor has appeared in every film in the beloved Pixar franchise so far.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. The film that confirmed what we believed as children — that our toys are real — celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Not only was Toy Story Pixar’s first feature-length film, but it was also the world’s first feature-length CGI animation. John Morris was there from the beginning at the age of seven, first auditioning and then lending his voice to the character of Andy Davis, who plays with his favourite toy, Sheriff Woody (Tom Hanks), his shiny new toy Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and many others. Unbeknown to him, when he’s not watching, they get up to all sorts of mischief. Morris was asked to bring his favourite toy to the audition. "I brought all my X-Men action figures in a big case," he laughs. "I was voicing Wolverine, Professor X, Storm… like we see at the beginning of Toy Story when Andy is playing with his toys. "Coming home from the recording sessions, I’d look around, like, 'Is everyone in the same place? What happened while I was away?'" Morris, who’s now 40, and has made a career in voice acting, has played Andy from Toy Story 1—4, including the heart-wrenching scene where Andy goes to college and gives his toys away to a young girl called Bonnie. "I was definitely teary recording it,” he recalls on Zoom, wearing a Pixar cap and a shirt featuring Toy Story characters. "Andy was saying goodbye to the toys, and it was also like a goodbye for me, too, because he potentially wouldn’t be back in the series — but I would love to see Andy return in the future.” "Some of us on the film-making side were more like Sid than Andy," says Bob Pauley, who was a character designer on the first film, art and technical consultant on the second and has been production designer on the rest, including the forthcoming Toy Story 5. "I definitely took apart toys, repainted them and blew up army men. I think Sid’s actually more creative in general, because he did those things," he says, referring to Andy’s neighbour who builds "mutant toys" and terrorises them. Pauley was responsible for creating Buzz Lightyear, who went through many different iterations. He used to be small and wear a red suit while Woody was tall, but that was going to be difficult for filming, so they scrapped that. Other names for Buzz included Lunar Larry (complete with an "LL" belt buckle), Tempus from Morph and TECOR (Telegalactic Earthbound Cyborg of Rimboz). Pauley visited a lot of toy stores, buying action figures that were on sale, and flea markets for the well-loved toys. "To have a believable world, you need to make sure these materials and the construction of these toys connect with the audience. Young kids are the best experts. They know how these toys work." To understand how to animate the film’s toys, the team created them for real, and most of the film toys did then, of course, land on shelves. Pauley proudly brings out his Buzz Lightyear in a wonderful full-circle moment — the original figures made by Thinkway Toys were among the first toys to be produced using digital models. In Toy Story 5, which is released in 2026, the toys must grapple with something very relevant… technology. "Creative play is important, but it’s a limited, precious resource. These toys have a very small window of time with these kids as they grow up — now there’s this thing in the room turning your kid into a screen zombie," says Pauley. "It’s like what everybody is dealing with now with AI: how’s this gonna work out?" The franchise continues to modernise itself for new audiences and is certainly on its way to infinity and beyond. Pauley says, "With every Toy Story that comes out, people will have their Toy Story. We’re very fortunate to be part of that." The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – <a class="_mizu194a _1ah31bk5 _ra3xnqa1 _128m1bk5 _1cvmnqa1 _4davt94y _4bfu1r31 _1hms8stv _ajmmnqa1 _vchhusvi _syaz14q2 _ect41gqc _1a3b1r31 _4fpr8stv _5goinqa1 _f8pj14q2 _9oik1r31 _1bnxglyw _jf4cnqa1 _30l314q2 _1nrm1r31 _c2waglyw _1iohnqa1 _9h8h16c2 _1053w7te _1ienw7te _n0fxw7te _1vhvg3x0" title="https://www.buysubscriptions.com/print/radio-times-magazine-subscription" href="https://www.buysubscriptions.com/print/radio-times-magazine-subscription" data-renderer-mark="true" data-is-router-link="false" data-testid="link-with-safety">subscribe here. All four Toy Story films are available to stream on Disney+ now. You can sign up to Disney+ for £4.99 a month or £89.90 a year now. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Hard-hitting police drama Blue Lights is back and RT was given exclusive access to the set and its stars
Add Blue Lights to your watchlist When Radio Times is invited to visit the set of Blue Lights in Belfast, series two has just won a Bafta for best drama and the cast and crew are understandably in high spirits while filming the third. The award is even proudly on show today at Netherleigh House – the former headquarters of the Department for the Economy, which acts as the fictional Blackthorn Station in modern Belfast. The recreation room, the briefing room, the offices, the interview room – they’re all located within these halls. “The set makes our job so much easier because we don’t have to imagine anything. The police cars are literally parked outside,” says Nathan Braniff, who plays Constable Tommy Foster. “It’s basically like a real police station.” He’s not wrong – it very much feels that way. On a pinboard in the recreation room, which has dartboards, a TV and DVDs, there are polaroids of the cast in character and handwritten cards addressed to the officers. There are even padlocks on the fridges because, during their research, the production designers noticed this quirk in real police stations… the officers don’t want anyone stealing their food. View Green Video on the source website “Once you slip on the uniform and walk on to the set, you’re back at it… people have thought I was a cop. It’s easier to just play along than explain,” says Frank Blake, who stars as unpredictable police officer Shane Bradley. “The [bulletproof] vests don’t get any easier,” adds Katherine Devlin, referring to the heavy uniform she wears as Annie Conlon. “There are so many props to think about… We hate to see our continuity script adviser coming. He’ll be like, ‘Your earpiece wasn’t in.’” The attention to detail is impeccable, which comes as no surprise. It’s written by Northern Irish screenwriters Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, former journalists for Panorama and BBC Northern Ireland’s Spotlight. They spend about three months researching a new series, speaking to around 25 police officers for each one, as well as lawyers, victims of crime and business owners in Belfast. “Officers would tell us about their experiences and frequently they would end up crying. We felt a bit like impostors, like we were unqualified therapists,” says Lawn. “Many of them had never had any therapy or counselling. They just got on with it. There’s so much undiagnosed and hidden trauma in the police force. That really comes through in this series.” In the hall, I notice a prominent memorial to Constable Gerry Cliff (played by Richard Dormer), who died in action in series one, as well as a plaque dedicated to “Our Murdered Colleagues”. Cliff is still very much part of the storyline in the new series that starts this Monday. Michael Smiley joins the cast as Paul “Colly” Collins, an intelligence officer who worked with Cliff and is now seeking justice, and possibly revenge, for his murder. “My dad died when I was 32,” says Lawn, who’s now 48. “The idea that someone dies and their colleagues and friends forget them is preposterous. These people, in some ways, still walk among us as psychological ghosts. “It’s also a metaphor for all the loss we’ve endured in Northern Ireland. You couldn’t write a realistic show about Northern Ireland without incorporating the idea of loss, grief and violent death. It’s so integral to who we are. So many people died here, and so many others were maimed or horrifically injured, and we’re still living with all of that.” Lawn also met three police couples, with one pair working in the same station, for realistic relationship material for police officer Stevie Neill (Martin McCann) and social worker turned “peeler” Grace Ellis (Siân Brooke), who finally kissed at the end of series two. Lawn says, “Will-they, won’t-they storylines work in television, but I think sometimes they can be overexploited by writers to keep an audience interested. At some point, they deserve to see that kiss, or those people admitting they love each other. The fear is: it’s done – what happens then? Do you talk about the job when you get home? Do you ever disagree about how to do the job?” “One of the more upfront questions people ask about Grace and Stevie is whether they’ve got it on,” actor McCann laughs. “But it’s quite a grown-up, realistic, not very Hollywood approach to a workplace romance.” “This series, you see them navigating this crazy profession together, and how their old lives impact where they are now,” adds Brooke. Series one took place in a republican community in west Belfast; series two in a loyalist community in east Belfast; and now series three is set in “the leafy, salubrious suburbs of south Belfast, where I live,” Lawn explains. “I’m talking about my neighbours in this series. I’ve always thought, ‘This is where the real criminals live.’ It probably means I’ll have to move house at the end of it, but that’s fine. I’ll take that on the chin. “Crime doesn’t have any class boundaries. When people think of this city, they think of troubled working-class communities still divided by sectarianism. That’s true, and we have shown that, but when I go out with the police in the back of their car, they’re only spending a portion of their time in working-class estates. They’re often going to really bad incidents in lovely big houses. White-collar crime is even more dangerous than regular crime out on the streets.” I also visit the set of the sumptuous private members’ club The Deanery, which is actually right next to the set for Blackthorn Station. There’s a giant gold and teal octopus on the wall, peacock wallpaper and loads of funky art and fancy lamps. It’s owned by career criminal Dana Morgan (Cathy Tyson, joining the cast in this third series), who is celebrating the club’s first anniversary with wealthy guests. “I haven’t played a character like this ever,” Tyson reveals. “She is at the top of an illegal trade and has a double life. She’s very intelligent and a sociopath – I did a bit of homework on that!” Lawn and Patterson spend hours discussing the cast’s characters with them so “they have a stake in who this person is”, even with actors who only film for a few days. “Blue Lights is fundamentally and primarily a character drama,” says Lawn. “Everything about the criminal arcs is secondary to those characters. They all encounter things in the job that make every one of them question: ‘Is this really worth it?’ We get the answer in episode six.” They’re already discussing series four, which was commissioned before series two even came out. More than 87 per cent of the Blue Lights crew were from Northern Ireland and the series generated about £20 million for the Northern Ireland economy, according to a 2023/24 BBC Economic Impact Report for Northern Ireland. When Lawn accepted the Bafta, he said, “Belfast, this one’s for you.” McCann says, “I’m from west Belfast, so a career in the police service just didn’t seem like an option. For the first time, I think people in Northern Ireland are getting to see a drama that represents the people beneath the uniform that take the risk to do this job. It really is changing the perception of what the Police Service of Northern Ireland is.” “There was a producer in New York who said to me last year, ‘You guys in Belfast are having a real moment.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but it’s going to last for 30 years,’” Lawn laughs. “That’s the plan – that it never dissipates or fades, that we just keep going.”
10 Questions with Brett Goldstein and Imogen Poots
Their new film All of You mixes sci-fi and romance. But how do they feel about a romcom grand gesture?
Add All of You to your watchlist Brett Goldstein, 45, is known as the foul-mouthed footballer Roy Kent in Ted Lasso — but in All of You, he shows off his softer side. He is co-writer and co-producer of the film and stars as Simon, who’s in love with his best friend Laura, played by 36-year-old Imogen Poots (28 Week Later). Unfortunately, she’s about to take a futuristic test to discover her true soulmate… All of You started as a short film 10 years ago. What appeals about the romantic genre? BRETT GOLDSTEIN I love that genre. The only thing I’m interested in writing is relationships. It’s what connects me to any story. All the big TV shows are stuffed with romantic comedy but it’s just not been in the cinema for a while. IMOGEN POOTS Romance is often dismissed as silly or adolescent, reserved for teenagers, but it’s what great music and poems are written about. Brett, as on Ted Lasso you’re a writer, producer and actor here — how do you juggle it all? BRETT I prefer it that way, because I’m thinking about every aspect anyway. When you’re hired as an actor, there are times when you’re frustrated because you think a scene should change a bit, but it’s not your place to do that. This way I write a script, and it’s perfect to me, but then I start filming and see things, so I can adapt it to become better. Have any romcoms shaped how you believe relationships are in real life? IMOGEN Notting Hill! BRETT The problem with a lot of those films is that it would be psychotic if you turned up at an airport or got out a boombox and made a big speech. IMOGEN No, it wouldn’t! That’s what I expect and it’s not happening! Then again, I always wanted a cowboy and then I dated a few of them… some things are better as a myth. BRETT My fantasy was living under the sea with a mermaid, so all these things have their issues… Do you believe in soulmates? IMOGEN It changes all the time, but there are moments in my life that have shifted by meeting another person. I don’t necessarily think it’s always a good thing, but I do believe in the idea of it. I am very romantic. BRETT I think there are 50 people in your life that you’re meant to meet for some reason, whether they’re your soulmate or otherwise. If the soulmate test was real, would you take it? BRETT I wouldn’t, because I don’t want it spoiled. IMOGEN On some days I would, and some days, I’d wait. What if you get a dud? Is there any real-life technology you wish had never been created? BRETT Social media altogether should go. I stopped looking at Instagram because I spent so much time on it, and I never felt good. IMOGEN Technology is related to why there are no manners any more. That’s why everyone’s treating each other so badly romantically. We’re confused about what’s real and what’s simulated. What did you learn about love from working on this film? IMOGEN Love can be complicated. It’s a puzzle… but I’ve met people where it hasn’t been a puzzle at all. Maybe it’s about turning up. But I also think you can people-please yourself into a romantic situation which isn’t where you should be. What’s the last film that made you cry? IMOGEN I just rewatched Terms of Endearment, which killed me. And I’m a bit late to it, but King Richard. I’ve been crying at everything recently. BRETT The ending of Presence, Steven Soderbergh’s film, scared me and made me cry. Imogen, you were 17 when you starred in 28 Weeks Later, and Brett, you became an overnight star with Ted Lasso. What do you credit your success to? IMOGEN Delusion, because this job is mostly rejection. Or audacity! A bunch of people believed in me and took me seriously. I attended Young Blood Theatre Company workshops at Riverside Studios [in Hammersmith, London] and it was so valuable. That informed everything afterwards, because I found my people there. I wish there were more community theatres for kids. BRETT I credit it to Ted Lasso! Did you have any idea that Ted Lasso was going to be as big of a hit as it was? BRETT No, not at all. Apple TV+ was a new streamer that people didn’t know existed yet, plus it was an American-British hybrid thing, and they rarely work. I did a show called Hoff the Record [in 2015] with David Hasselhoff and it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever done. I was like, “This is the one. This is the breakthrough.” It won an International Emmy, but no one watched it. I long ago let go of the idea of having a big one. I was like, “I’m very happy. I All of You is on Apple TV+ from 26 September
All of You's Brett Goldstein and Imogen Potts on soulmates, crying at films – and why social media is ruining romance
The new Apple TV+ film – which Goldstein also co-wrote – explores a test which allows the user to discover their soulmate.
Brett Goldstein, 45, is known as the foul-mouthed footballer Roy Kent in Ted Lasso — but in All of You, he shows off his softer side. He is co-writer and co-producer of the film and stars as Simon, who’s in love with his best friend Laura, played by 36-year-old Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later). Unfortunately, she’s about to take a futuristic test to discover her true soulmate… All of You started as a short film 10 years ago. What appeals about the romantic genre? BRETT GOLDSTEIN: I love that genre. The only thing I’m interested in writing is relationships. It’s what connects me to any story. All the big TV shows are stuffed with romantic comedy but it’s just not been in the cinema for a while. IMOGEN POOTS: Romance is often dismissed as silly or adolescent, reserved for teenagers, but it’s what great music and poems are written about. Brett, as on Ted Lasso you’re a writer, producer and actor here – how do you juggle it all? BRETT: I prefer it that way, because I’m thinking about every aspect anyway. When you’re hired as an actor, there are times when you’re frustrated because you think a scene should change a bit, but it’s not your place to do that. This way I write a script, and it’s perfect to me, but then I start filming and see things, so I can adapt it to become better. Have any romcoms shaped how you believe relationships are in real life? IMOGEN: Notting Hill BRETT: The problem with a lot of those films is that it would be psychotic if you turned up at an airport or got out a boombox and made a big speech. IMOGEN: No, it wouldn’t! That’s what I expect and it’s not happening! Then again, I always wanted a cowboy and then I dated a few of them… some things are better as a myth. BRETT: My fantasy was living under the sea with a mermaid, so all these things have their issues... Do you believe in soulmates? IMOGEN: It changes all the time, but there are moments in my life that have shifted by meeting another person. I don’t necessarily think it’s always a good thing, but I do believe in the idea of it. I am very romantic. BRETT: I think there are 50 people in your life that you’re meant to meet for some reason, whether they’re your soulmate or otherwise. If the soulmate test was real, would you take it? BRETT: I wouldn’t, because I don’t want it spoiled. IMOGEN: On some days I would, and some days, I’d wait. What if you get a dud? Is there any real-life technology you wish had never been created? BRETT: Social media altogether should go. I stopped looking at Instagram because I spent so much time on it, and I never felt good. IMOGEN: Technology is related to why there are no manners any more. That’s why everyone’s treating each other so badly romantically. We’re confused about what’s real and what’s simulated. What did you learn about love from working on this film? IMOGEN: Love can be complicated. It’s a puzzle… but I’ve met people where it hasn’t been a puzzle at all. Maybe it’s about turning up. But I also think you can people-please yourself into a romantic situation which isn’t where you should be. What’s the last film that made you cry? IMOGEN: I just rewatched Terms of Endearment, which killed me. And I’m a bit late to it, but King Richard. I’ve been crying at everything recently. BRETT: The ending of Presence, Steven Soderbergh’s film, scared me and made me cry. View oEmbed on the source website Imogen, you were 17 when you starred in 28 Weeks Later, and Brett, you became an overnight star with Ted Lasso. What do you credit your success to? IMOGEN: Delusion, because this job is mostly rejection. Or audacity! A bunch of people believed in me and took me seriously. I attended Young Blood Theatre Company workshops at Riverside Studios [in Hammersmith, London] and it was so valuable. That informed everything afterwards, because I found my people there. I wish there were more community theatres for kids. BRETT: I credit it to Ted Lasso! Did you have any idea that Ted Lasso was going to be as big of a hit as it was? BRETT: No, not at all. Apple TV+ was a new streamer that people didn’t know existed yet, plus it was an American-British hybrid thing, and they rarely work. I did a show called Hoff the Record [in 2015] with David Hasselhoff and it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever done. I was like, “This is the one. This is the breakthrough.” It won an International Emmy, but no one watched it. I long ago let go of the idea of having a big one. I was like, "I’m very happy. I have a life where I get to act, write and do stand-up at a small level, and I’m busy all the time, so what else do I need?" Then Ted Lasso happened. All of You is released on Apple TV+ on Friday 26th September 2025 – – sign up to Apple TV+ now. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Blue Lights writer on police force's "hidden trauma" – and why show's will-they, won't-they story had to end
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. When Radio Times is invited to visit the set of Blue Lights in Belfast, series two has just won a Bafta for best drama and the cast and crew are understandably in high spirits while filming the third. The award is even proudly on show today at Netherleigh House – the former headquarters of the Department for the Economy, which acts as the fictional Blackthorn Station in modern Belfast. The recreation room, the briefing room, the offices, the interview room – they’re all located within these halls. “The set makes our job so much easier because we don’t have to imagine anything. The police cars are literally parked outside,” says Nathan Braniff, who plays Constable Tommy Foster. “It’s basically like a real police station.” He’s not wrong – it very much feels that way. On a pinboard in the recreation room, which has dartboards, a TV and DVDs, there are polaroids of the cast in character and handwritten cards addressed to the officers. There are even padlocks on the fridges because, during their research, the production designers noticed this quirk in real police stations… the officers don’t want anyone stealing their food. “Once you slip on the uniform and walk on to the set, you’re back at it… people have thought I was a cop. It’s easier to just play along than explain,” says Frank Blake, who stars as unpredictable police officer Shane Bradley. “The [bulletproof] vests don’t get any easier,” adds Katherine Devlin, referring to the heavy uniform she wears as Annie Conlon. “There are so many props to think about… We hate to see our continuity script adviser coming. He’ll be like, ‘Your earpiece wasn’t in.’” The attention to detail is impeccable, which comes as no surprise. It’s written by Northern Irish screenwriters Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, former journalists for Panorama and BBC Northern Ireland’s Spotlight. They spend about three months researching a new series, speaking to around 25 police officers for each one, as well as lawyers, victims of crime and business owners in Belfast. “Officers would tell us about their experiences and frequently they would end up crying. We felt a bit like impostors, like we were unqualified therapists,” says Lawn. “Many of them had never had any therapy or counselling. They just got on with it. There’s so much undiagnosed and hidden trauma in the police force. That really comes through in this series.” In the hall, I notice a prominent memorial to Constable Gerry Cliff (played by Richard Dormer), who died in action in series one, as well as a plaque dedicated to “Our Murdered Colleagues”. Cliff is still very much part of the storyline in the new series that starts this Monday. Michael Smiley joins the cast as Paul “Colly” Collins, an intelligence officer who worked with Cliff and is now seeking justice, and possibly revenge, for his murder. “My dad died when I was 32,” says Lawn, who’s now 48. “The idea that someone dies and their colleagues and friends forget them is preposterous. These people, in some ways, still walk among us as psychological ghosts. “It’s also a metaphor for all the loss we’ve endured in Northern Ireland. You couldn’t write a realistic show about Northern Ireland without incorporating the idea of loss, grief and violent death. It’s so integral to who we are. So many people died here, and so many others were maimed or horrifically injured, and we’re still living with all of that.” Lawn also met three police couples, with one pair working in the same station, for realistic relationship material for police officer Stevie Neill (Martin McCann) and social worker turned “peeler” Grace Ellis (Siân Brooke), who finally kissed at the end of series two. Lawn says, “Will-they, won’t-they storylines work in television, but I think sometimes they can be overexploited by writers to keep an audience interested. At some point, they deserve to see that kiss, or those people admitting they love each other. The fear is: it’s done – what happens then? Do you talk about the job when you get home? Do you ever disagree about how to do the job?” View oEmbed on the source website “One of the more upfront questions people ask about Grace and Stevie is whether they’ve got it on,” actor McCann laughs. “But it’s quite a grown-up, realistic, not very Hollywood approach to a workplace romance.” “This series, you see them navigating this crazy profession together, and how their old lives impact where they are now,” adds Brooke. Series one took place in a republican community in west Belfast; series two in a loyalist community in east Belfast; and now series three is set in “the leafy, salubrious suburbs of south Belfast, where I live,” Lawn explains. “I’m talking about my neighbours in this series. I’ve always thought, ‘This is where the real criminals live.’ It probably means I’ll have to move house at the end of it, but that’s fine. I’ll take that on the chin. “Crime doesn’t have any class boundaries. When people think of this city, they think of troubled working-class communities still divided by sectarianism. That’s true, and we have shown that, but when I go out with the police in the back of their car, they’re only spending a portion of their time in working-class estates. They’re often going to really bad incidents in lovely big houses. White-collar crime is even more dangerous than regular crime out on the streets.” I also visit the set of the sumptuous private members’ club The Deanery, which is actually right next to the set for Blackthorn Station. There’s a giant gold and teal octopus on the wall, peacock wallpaper and loads of funky art and fancy lamps. It’s owned by career criminal Dana Morgan (Cathy Tyson, joining the cast in this third series), who is celebrating the club’s first anniversary with wealthy guests. “I haven’t played a character like this ever,” Tyson reveals. “She is at the top of an illegal trade and has a double life. She’s very intelligent and a sociopath – I did a bit of homework on that!” Lawn and Patterson spend hours discussing the cast’s characters with them so “they have a stake in who this person is”, even with actors who only film for a few days. “Blue Lights is fundamentally and primarily a character drama,” says Lawn. “Everything about the criminal arcs is secondary to those characters. They all encounter things in the job that make every one of them question: ‘Is this really worth it?’ We get the answer in episode six.” They’re already discussing series four, which was commissioned before series two even came out. More than 87 per cent of the Blue Lights crew were from Northern Ireland and the series generated about £20 million for the Northern Ireland economy, according to a 2023/24 BBC Economic Impact Report for Northern Ireland. When Lawn accepted the Bafta, he said, “Belfast, this one’s for you.” McCann says, “I’m from west Belfast, so a career in the police service just didn’t seem like an option. For the first time, I think people in Northern Ireland are getting to see a drama that represents the people beneath the uniform that take the risk to do this job. It really is changing the perception of what the Police Service of Northern Ireland is.” “There was a producer in New York who said to me last year, ‘You guys in Belfast are having a real moment.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but it’s going to last for 30 years,’” Lawn laughs. “That’s the plan – that it never dissipates or fades, that we just keep going.” The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Blue Lights returns at 9pm on Monday 29th September on BBC One and iPlayer. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The secrets of casting the next breakout child star – from Adolescence to the new Harry Potter series
Stacey Burrows founded the Bradford-based Articulate drama school and casting agency, which secures significant film and television roles for children and young adults.
Add Adolescence to your watchlist. Articulate drama school and casting agency in Bradford, set up by Stacey Burrows, provided 150 child extras for Netflix hit Adolescence, which swept this year's Emmy Awards. Amélie Pease (who plays Lisa, Jamie’s sister), Fatima Bojang (Jade) and Austin Haynes (Fredo) also all came through the drama school – as did Austin’s brother Rocco, who is seen in the opening of 28 Years Later, and Rory Wilmot, who has been cast as Neville Longbottom in the new Harry Potter series in an eight-year deal. Here Burrows tells RT how she helps to nurture young talent. CHANGING CAREER In 2013, I was working as a barrister in county courts and magistrates’ courts across the North working on low-level cases, but I was doing a lot of public speaking in courtrooms. I was looking to give back, so I set up a public speaking school for kids one night a week and created a website for parents to track their children’s progress. CBeebies came across it and asked me to do a bit of vocal coaching on a series and I agreed as long as I could get some of the kids in as extras. Then they just kept calling me back asking for more children. I dropped the legal stuff and the agency really took off in 2015. SUPPORTING YOUNG PERFORMERS We've just opened up to adults, but our focus is on children and young performers up to the age of 25. We represent kids from all over the country, but a lot of them are generally from disadvantaged or diverse backgrounds. Yesterday, one of my actors couldn't afford to get to a recall, so we booked their train tickets and said, “Pay us back when you're rich and famous.” Our drama classes are about £8 a week, and we offer loads of scholarships. We also go to schools and run free workshops to teach people about what it's like to be an actor. WORKING WITH CASTING DIRECTORS We’ve got all the regulars on Waterloo Road and Emmerdale and a lot of people come to us for the gritty Northern dramas. A casting director sends us a detailed brief of all the different characters they’re looking for, including age range, maybe a particular accent or specific physical attributes if the parents have already been cast. We then suggest any actors we think might be suitable and send off their CVs, and the casting director tells us who they would like to audition. HELPING WITH SELF-TAPES They send us a sample script, which could be two or three scenes to memorise, and then the child self-tapes at home. They can send those tapes to us on WhatsApp and we can give them voice note feedback, which is something you wouldn't get at many agencies. It's an extra support mechanism to make sure they've understood everything and don't miss anything. Sometimes it's something practical, like their lighting is terrible, or if its performance-related, they might drop out of an accent. RECEIVING A CALL BACK When we feel like we've got a perfect tape, we will send it off to the casting director. They will shortlist those tapes and show them to the directors and producers. They decide who will come in for a recall – either on Zoom or in person. It's a chance to go through the scenes, and for the director to give a bit of direction to see how the actor takes that direction. After that recall, sometimes we get an offer straight away. Other times, it might be a chemistry read or a second recall. PROVIDING HONEST FEEDBACK We've got what we call small books, so we know each of our clients individually. We have weekly 10-minute drop-in sessions where we catch up with all of our clients. We're always there for feedback, and we're a very honest agency, so if we think the child needs to work on certain skills to move to the next level, we will always tell the parents, who will hopefully support them with it. SPOTTING A STAR A child has to have resilience, commitment and determination, because you get a lot of knockbacks. They also need a level of maturity, a good memory for lines and emotional intelligence. We celebrate their successes. I often even go to school plays! Then a week later I could be flying to LA to watch a movie premiere. DEALING WITH THE PARENTS A lot of agents say they don't want to deal with kids because of the annoying parents, but we don't have that issue here. Some of the kids have actor parents, but for those who aren’t actors, we help them navigate things. The industry is so alien to people who aren't in it. Some jobs are life-changing, like this new Harry Potter series – financially, but also in the sense that the child might have to move away from home and their siblings for years. One parent often has to give up a job for a substantial amount of time. NEGOTIATING THE CONTRACTS In certain deals, we organise extra flights so family members can go out and visit. We might organise Zooms with the school so the child can catch up with their friends or teachers. When you’re in a big global franchise, you lose a bit of your normal life, so we try to keep our children grounded and make sure they’re enjoying it, because if they’re not, they shouldn’t be doing it.
What's it like to be a Traitor or take part in Squid Game and Race Across the World?
Radio Times'sLaura Rutkowski tests out the live experiences from three popular TV game shows...
It’s not enough to just watch TV any more — we need to experience it. As people increasingly choose to prioritise and pay for interactive “experiences” over material things, and live, sleep and breathe all things entertainment, production companies have seen an opening — what if you could actually step into the world of your favourite TV show, even if it’s just for a couple of hours? It seems to have all started with Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience, which debuted in Brisbane, Australia in 1997, and has since gone global. The Crystal Maze Live Experience launched in 2016 and arguably made these types of events mainstream. If you name a TV show, there’s probably been an experience for it: Friends, Doctor Who, Taskmaster, The Cube. In the US, Netflix House is launching later this year as a free year-round entertainment venue for fans to step inside the worlds of their favourite shows, from Stranger Things to Squid Game. In August, the dating app Thursday partnered up with Love Is Blind: UK in London, Manchester and Glasgow to allow singletons to go on blind dates in “pods”, just like they do in the series. Clearly, some shows really are just crying out to be experienced firsthand. So, along with my friends, family and colleagues, I put these three to the test… THE TRAITORS GAME FACE ON I’m playing the game with 13 other players — most of whom are strangers — across two hours. Our host (sadly not Claudia Winkleman) instructs us at the Round Table (exactly like the one in the show) in tasks where we work together to win gold. Everything you do once you step into the room counts, and a good poker face is crucial. 100% FAITHFUL The game is surprisingly tense and follows the rules of The Traitors very closely — of all the TV experiences, this one is probably the closest to the real thing. My heart’s pounding, I’m nervous, and I’m lying terribly! I nearly go out at the very first Round Table because a few people, including a sweet woman called Gemma, vote for me. I’m told I seem “a bit shifty”. I blame my American accent. I can now see why people get emotional during the real show -— it’s very easy to get defensive when people make assumptions about your character! SPECS APPEAL Before the game, you’re advised not to wear noisy clothing so you’re not caught. Participants are instructed to wear a blindfold, and at certain moments, only the Traitors are asked to remove them. But if you wear glasses, taking them on and off causes a commotion — people pick up on the noise and, well, they are banished. However, if you’re murdered or banished, you still get to watch the rest of the players from a separate room and remain involved in some of the tasks. BOARD ROOM Writing people’s names on the board to eliminate them is thrilling. It’s even more fun if you’re a Traitor and you get to “murder” other players in a sneaky way. I start off Faithful and then get recruited as a Traitor. I’m voted out during the final Round Table after someone spots that “something changed” in me. No one wins anything, but it makes the urge to win this skilful game no less great. thetraitorslive.co.uk RACE ACROSS THE WORLD MAD FOR IT We called our team “The Madchesters”, consisting of my parents Alison and Pieter, who live in Manchester (my mum is from there, my dad is American, which clearly was my downfall during The Traitors Live Experience), and their two friends, married couple Glenys and Nick, who was born and bred in Manchester. I thought I could use their local expertise! Teams can include up to eight players or be split into two smaller teams to race each other, and there’s also a London version of the experience. Our journey starts on the lovely yellow tram as we make our way into the centre of Manchester to our secret location, disclosed via WhatsApp, as all our instructions are. We begin with a £30 in-game budget that we can spend or lose, and we can also request virtual “work” to earn money. LUNCH BREAK This is a very smart way of seeing the city as we pass the statue of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, plenty of Oasis posters and neon lights that read, “You’re my wonderwall,” and the symbolic worker bee. For each location, there’s also a little history lesson. We have to respond and solve puzzles and clues within WhatsApp, as well as actual physical ones in pubs, where we tell the staff, “We’re on the race”. We also get a 20 per cent discount on drinks — clever. My dad wants me to point out that his pint of IPA only cost £2.60… without the discount! Ahh, Manchester. A GRAND DAY OUT You can gently stroll, with in-built stops along the way, or “race” and complete it as quickly as you can, because you are up against other teams. Out of four, we came fourth. The whole experience is meant to take around two to three hours, and we took five, but we had a great time! It is stressful, though, especially with everyone’s differing senses of direction, and ability to solve tricky clues. I’m not surprised people break down in tears on the show — it’s a true initiative test, and this is only Manchester, never mind trekking across Asia without a map! raceacrosstheworldexperience.com/manchester SQUID GAME PLAYER 275 On arrival everyone is given a vest with numbers on — I’m branded player 275 — and then have our photo taken. It’s all starting just like Netflix’s Squid Game… though hopefully less violent. When we’re taken through to our dorm, we’re greeted by the game’s guards in their hot pink jumpsuits and masks. We’re split into two groups and the games begin as the mysterious Front Man’s voice chimes above, “If you cheat, just make sure you don’t get caught.” CHEATS NEVER PROSPER? We’re all given wristbands to digitally scan at the end of each game based on whether we passed or failed, equating to points on the leaderboard. The first of five games is Memory Steps, where you have to remember a sequence correctly as you cross an LED panel board. Then there’s a twist on the show’s heart-rending Marbles game, and later we compete in a tug-of-war. Next up is the infamous talking doll Young-hee in Red Light, Green Light. She cunningly catches a lot of people out when she calls, “Stop” followed quickly by another “Stop.” The leaderboard is updating, but people are logging that they’ve passed when they haven’t, and are even tapping their wristband multiple times to earn more points — a flaw of the game or exactly as it was intended in the first place? END GAME The final game is Round and Round, where you must land on the right shape before the signal ends. The winner of that goes up against the leaderboard winner… who is a cheater. After they play a simple childhood game, the winner must choose whether to win one item from the giftshop for themselves or give everyone a discount. He chooses himself! Still, it seems fitting — as in the show, in the end, there really can only be one Squid Game winner. And unlike in the series, at least we all make it out alive. squidgameexperienceuk.com
The Irish star on romcoms and regional identity — and why his dog is a Puffin
Add Puffin Rock to your watchlist What’s the view from your sofa? A dark-green wallpapered wall, then a big TV over the fireplace, which I know you’re not supposed to do. Our two dogs, Meatloaf and Puffin, and two cats, Boo and Myrtle, are usually on the sofa. We also have a tortoise called Sandwich. Puffin as in Puffin Rock, the kids’ animated series you narrate about the marine birds on the coast of Ireland? Yes, Puffin is named in tribute, because the kids [O’Dowd has two sons with his wife, writer/presenter Dawn O’Porter] were watching a lot of it at the time. It’s basically me reading them a story! What have you been watching lately? I really enjoyed Bad Sisters and Colin from Accounts. My kids just finished watching all of The Simpsons. It’s been fun explaining some of those jokes. I’m also in an episode! We watch old movies with them, but I made a mistake… they were too young for Arachnophobia. Luckily, the younger one said, “I need to stop watching this now.” He’s absolutely obsessed with insects, so he watches a lot of YouTube videos about how to build terrariums. We’ve got a little pond in the garden and he’s been going bananas for all these newts and salamanders, and now the frogs have started coming. Puffin Rock features regional Irish accents. Do you think we’re hearing them more often on screen? We’re going through such a great phase for Irish actors achieving success, and it’s becoming more and more normalised. Regional accents are important because it’s all about representation. There’s no point everybody just sounding like posh English people, because that’s not what everybody’s like. Can you speak any Irish? Bits, but not well. I have been using Duolingo since the Celtic revival has been happening. I think the resurgence is wonderful, because through the suppression of language we’ve lost so much knowledge about ourselves. The last century in Ireland was just about the state standing on its own two feet and the actual identity underneath all of that wasn’t the primary concern. Now we’ve kind of established ourselves, we’re yearning for the things we have lost. I just hope the Irish language isn’t destroyed by the British in the next 100 years. You also used your own accent in the hit romcom Bridesmaids. Do you think there are enough romcoms nowadays? I think they moved to television. There’s great romcom writing within shows like Sharon Horgan’s Catastrophe. It’s a shame, the cinema has become absolutely swarmed with action movies, and now there’s no place for romcoms to go. I presume date night movies are still a thing? What do people go to, Superman? You’ve written series including Moone Boy and Small Town, Big Story. Who do you test your material out on? When Dawn and I lived in Los Angeles, we hosted a lot of barbies and invited Irish actors and people like Jason Segel, who is one of my best pals, so loads of people to bounce stuff off. Now we’re in the UK, it’s Sunday roasts. I like to pitch a lot during those things and put myself under pressure to write something by the time I see everyone again in six weeks. You starred in Black Mirror as a man who enrols his wife (Rashida Jones) into a healthcare subscription service to keep her alive after she’s diagnosed with a brain tumour. Did it make you think about the future of tech? The episode [Common People] is really about how to deal with your partner when they’re unwell. I’ve spent a lot of time recently in hospitals with elderly relatives. We all live longer, but we haven’t made the conditions for being old any better. We’ve decided as a society we’re going to be led by tech rather than compassion, so we have to bear the consequences. Some of it is useful and some is terrible, just like AI. You’re not going to really be given a choice. It’s going to be like a self-service checkout – less personal, slightly more efficient and the experience is more s**t for everyone.
The actor on her lost childhood, the benefits of intimacy coordinators — and her obsession with aliens
Add The Rumour to your watchlist What’s the view from your sofa? Years ago, I was skint and had a tiny telly in my flat. The guy I was dating then said, “Emily, for someone who’s on TV, you should have a bigger TV.” I was mortified so I overcompensated and now I have this ridiculously massive, over-the-top television that’s half in the kitchen, half in the living room. What have you watched recently? I’m quite late to the party but I’m really into Grey’s Anatomy right now. Since becoming a mother [to one-year-old son Barney with her fiancé Dr Alistair Garner], TV time is even more sacred. Who controls the remote at home? Al and I usually find a drama we want to watch together – if we see an episode without each other, it’s like cheating. We’ve been watching The Perfect Couple and Unforgivable, and we’re about to start Alien: Earth. I’m obsessed with aliens and UFOs. I’m a believer – who’s to say there isn’t life elsewhere? Al is a scientist, so you might think he’d not believe in all that, but he does. What do you watch with Barney? We love Bluey, In the Night Garden and Mr Tumble. I’m really good at sign language now because CBeebies features Makaton and BSL. Barney has even started to sign! There are so many lovely inclusive, diverse programmes that are teaching him positive messages. The CBeebies presenters are brilliant – I’d be really starstruck if I met them. What’s your first TV memory? My mum [Kate Robbins] has always been on TV. My late uncle Simon [Shelton] played Tinky Winky in Teletubbies, so my childhood was spent going to Teletubbyland and to the studios where my mum was working, seeing behind the scenes, but it kind of destroyed my childhood. I saw Barney the dinosaur with his head off. Mum was on Spitting Image and kept some of the puppets in the house. If my siblings and I were naughty, she’d say, “You have to sit in the room with the Margaret Thatcher puppet,” which I was really scared of. So really, I should hate TV! In The Rumour, a convicted child killer is suspected to be living in a small town. Did being a new mum help you work with your on-screen son? I’d given birth ten weeks before filming, so I was exhausted, emotional and still in agony from my caesarean, but it was really about getting back on the horse. Before, I’d be like, “How do I play a mum? How do I make it look believable that I love this child?” In The Rumour, my fake son Liam was so sweet. I did even the tiny things, like getting him off to school, putting his bag on and adjusting his coat, with heartfelt emotion, because they really mean something now I have my own son. What do you hope to teach Barney? I want to raise him to know how to treat women and know his own worth, so he doesn’t feel he has to follow awful men online that are preying on vulnerable boys. Adolescence exposed the truth of what is going on in so many homes. We’re a very open book in this family. I want Barney to know he can talk to me about anything – that’s the mother I want to be. In 2023, you presented Emily Atack: Asking for It?, which was about online sexual harassment. Would you like to do another documentary? Yes, I want to do one on intimacy coordinators, and I’m going to start having conversations about it soon. I’ve seen people roll their eyes about them and say, “I don’t need one.” There’s a defensiveness about it, because they feel like they’re being accused of something they haven’t even done yet. Intimacy coordinators are there for support if you feel uncomfortable, whether you’re a man or a woman. I’ve been sexually assaulted at work throughout my career, whether it’s on the actual set, or at a wrap party – and since the #MeToo movement, it shows that people are listening and that there has to be a shift in behaviour on sets. What’s it like working with intimacy coordinators on Rivals? I’m really proud of the Rivals gang because, throughout my life, I haven’t felt safe all the time, and we’re all so respectful of each other. We have to do a lot of sexual scenes and we’re very looked after. It’s a really positive thing.
The Paper's Domhnall Gleeson on what makes The Office spin-off "stand on its own"
The new sitcom is about "fighting the good fight – even if it feels like you're losing".
The Paper star Domhnall Gleeson has explained why the spin-off from massively successful sitcom The Office (US), which was itself inspired by the UK version, stands on its own from those two preceding shows. Both the UK and US editions focused on employees at a mundane paper merchant – Wernham Hogg in Slough, Berkshire, and Dunder Mifflin in Scranton, Pennsylvania, respectively – where outlandish bosses sparked farcical scenarios. This spiritual successor shifts focus to a fictional local newspaper operating out of the American midwestern town of Toledo, Ohio, which idealistic incoming editor Ned Sampson (Gleeson) is attempting to restore to its former glory. Ned is certainly more reasonable and self-aware than David Brent or Michael Scott, but the show does boast two characters more akin to those nightmare bosses in the form of Tim Key's Ken Davies and Sabrina Impacciatore's Esmeralda Grand. On what differentiates The Paper from The Office's most famous incarnations, Gleeson told RadioTimes.com: "There was a cringe humour that happened with [David Brent and Michael Scott], but that was part of what made them great. "If you look at how different those two characters are to each other – they're totally different, those actors made them totally [their own]. And the humour of each of those programmes is different from each other." Gleeson continued: "And in a similar way, this is [different, but] probably closer to the American Office in terms of the tone. "I think it's very hopeful in loads of ways, and all about fighting the good fight, even if it feels like you're losing. I loved that about it and I hope that's one of the things that makes it stand on its own two feet." The Office (US) creator Greg Daniels is behind this spin-off, teaming up with Nathan for You's Michael Koman, while Chelsea Frei (The Life List), Melvin Gregg (Snowfall), Gbemisola Ikumelo (Black Ops) and a returning Óscar Núñez round out the cast. The Paper premieres on Sky Max and NOW on Friday 5th September 2025. Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast. Add The Paper to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.
Rivals' Emily Atack reveals what shows she's watching and what she hopes to teach her son
The Rivals star sits down with Radio Times to discuss her new thriller series The Rumour and being a new mum.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. What’s the view from your sofa? Years ago, I was skint and had a tiny telly in my flat. The guy I was dating then said, “Emily, for someone who’s on TV, you should have a bigger TV.” I was mortified so I overcompensated and now I have this ridiculously massive, over-the-top television that’s half in the kitchen, half in the living room. What have you watched recently? I’m quite late to the party but I’m really into Grey’s Anatomy right now. Since becoming a mother [to one-year-old son Barney with her fiancé Dr Alistair Garner], TV time is even more sacred. Who controls the remote at home? Al and I usually find a drama we want to watch together – if we see an episode without each other, it’s like cheating. We’ve been watching The Perfect Couple and Unforgivable, and we’re about to start Alien: Earth. I’m obsessed with aliens and UFOs. I’m a believer – who’s to say there isn’t life elsewhere? Al is a scientist, so you might think he’d not believe in all that, but he does. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/08/THE-RUMOURFirst-Look-Rachel-Shenton-as-Joanne-and-Emily-Atack-as-Debbie-with-cast--a3cc795.jpg" width="3800" height="2533" alt="Rachel Shenton and Emily Atack star in The Rumour; Rachel's character, Joanna, is talking to a group of women sat in front of her, with concerned and unwelcoming expressions on their faces" title="THE RUMOUR - (Firt Look)" /> What do you watch with Barney? We love Bluey, In the Night Garden and Mr Tumble. I’m really good at sign language now because CBeebies features Makaton and BSL. Barney has even started to sign! There are so many lovely inclusive, diverse programmes that are teaching him positive messages. The CBeebies presenters are brilliant – I’d be really starstruck if I met them. What’s your first TV memory? My mum [Kate Robbins] has always been on TV. My late uncle Simon [Shelton] played Tinky Winky in Teletubbies, so my childhood was spent going to Teletubbyland and to the studios where my mum was working, seeing behind the scenes, but it kind of destroyed my childhood. I saw Barney the dinosaur with his head off. Mum was on Spitting Image and kept some of the puppets in the house. If my siblings and I were naughty, she’d say, “You have to sit in the room with the Margaret Thatcher puppet,” which I was really scared of. So really, I should hate TV! In The Rumour, a convicted child killer is suspected to be living in a small town. Did being a new mum help you work with your on-screen son? I’d given birth ten weeks before filming, so I was exhausted, emotional and still in agony from my caesarean, but it was really about getting back on the horse. Before, I’d be like, “How do I play a mum? How do I make it look believable that I love this child?” In The Rumour, my fake son Liam was so sweet. I did even the tiny things, like getting him off to school, putting his bag on and adjusting his coat, with heartfelt emotion, because they really mean something now I have my own son. What do you hope to teach Barney? I want to raise him to know how to treat women and know his own worth, so he doesn’t feel he has to follow awful men online that are preying on vulnerable boys. Adolescence exposed the truth of what is going on in so many homes. We’re a very open book in this family. I want Barney to know he can talk to me about anything – that’s the mother I want to be. In 2023, you presented Emily Atack: Asking for It?, which was about online sexual harassment. Would you like to do another documentary? Yes, I want to do one on intimacy coordinators, and I’m going to start having conversations about it soon. I’ve seen people roll their eyes about them and say, “I don’t need one.” There’s a defensiveness about it, because they feel like they’re being accused of something they haven’t even done yet. Intimacy coordinators are there for support if you feel uncomfortable, whether you’re a man or a woman. I’ve been sexually assaulted at work throughout my career, whether it’s on the actual set, or at a wrap party – and since the #MeToo movement, it shows that people are listening and that there has to be a shift in behaviour on sets. What’s it like working with intimacy coordinators on Rivals? I’m really proud of the Rivals gang because, throughout my life, I haven’t felt safe all the time, and we’re all so respectful of each other. We have to do a lot of sexual scenes and we’re very looked after. It’s a really positive thing. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Paul, Prue, Alison and Noel get the new series off to a stylish start…
Add season 16 of The Great British Bake Off to your watchlist. The Great British Bake Off tent smells exactly as you would imagine — buttery, sweet, toasty. RT joins the set in Welford Park in Berkshire, where it’s been located since series five, and it’s not hard to see why thousands apply every year. Today, the bakers for series 16 are working on a signature challenge of… well, you’ll have to watch to find out. But RT can confirm they all taste delicious — judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith have their work cut out. Alison Hammond, who has co-hosted with Noel Fielding since 2023, agrees. “I will taste the thing that didn’t do well and say, ‘I don’t know what Paul and Prue are talking about. Everything’s amazing!’ I told one of the bakers and he was like, ‘We don’t really care about what you think, Alison!’” “It’s a stressful situation,” adds Fielding. “The bakers’ chats with us are a little escape from the pressure of the actual baking.” Other parts of the Bake Off recipe are getting a refresh this series. “We’ve experimented with the technical challenges,” says executive producer Kieran Smith. “People thought the technicals were getting more complicated, so we reined that in to focus on traditional baking.” Other new ideas include challenges where key ingredients have to be combined with two other bakers’-choice flavours, or where the bakers use their hands instead of utensils. “We’ve also moved away from international weeks — we’d say we’re making this country’s signature dish and then people with that heritage would go, ‘You’d never put those flavours in it!’” says Smith. “We certainly listen to viewers’ feedback — we just want to keep it within the confines of what people love about Bake Off. Everyone will let us know if we mess with it too much.”
The suave star of Downton and The Gold turns Welsh crime boss — but why was he kicked out of drama school?
Add Mudtown to your watchlist Period drama favourite Tom Cullen, 40, who’s starred in Downton Abbey, Knightfall and The Gold, has left the past behind to star in Mudtown, set in Newport Magistrates’ Court in the present day. The in-demand Welshman will also appear in upcoming series Trespasses with Gillian Anderson and season three of House of the Dragon — but from now on, he says, he’s putting family before fame. Why did you recently move from London back to Wales? When you’ve got two kids [daughters aged two and four with his partner, actress/musician Alison Sudol], your world becomes smaller. The things I loved about London – its intensity, bars, gigs and theatre – I wasn’t able to do as much. I grew up in the mountains, swimming in rivers, and I had so much autonomy. My kids didn’t have that in London. Now, my elder daughter is about to go to Welsh school, so I’ve been learning the language. For the last ten years, I’ve had this real sense of hiraeth, a Welsh word for a yearning for where you’re from. Now I’m home, I feel calm again, like I can breathe. Would you encourage your daughters to pursue creative careers? I want them to do whatever makes them happy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one becomes an actress, and the other a musician. They’re showing early signs already! My parents [who worked at a theatre company in Llandrindod Wells, Powys] never earned a lot of money, but they never tried to put me off doing it. I saw how much joy a creative life brought them. Does having a young family impact the jobs you take? Before, I could film in Jordan or live in Prague for a year, and that was really exciting, but the focus shifts. It’s about making choices for my family now. I’m about to shoot a film in North Wales and they’re coming with me. I love being a father. It’s the most important part of my life – I don’t want to miss a second! Is that why you joined Mudtown — to tell Welsh stories? Wales has often been very underrepresented as part of the UK. Growing up, I’d see Welsh characters that were comedic or idiots, which was frustrating, but I feel like that’s no longer the case – Welsh TV is really shifting that. In Mudtown, you star as crime boss Pete. Do you enjoy playing a baddie? When I was offered the role, I didn’t understand why. Playing a villain or somebody with that darkness in them isn’t something that’s particularly natural to me and it scared me – but it’s a lot of fun. The creators believed I could do it, even though I didn’t. When did you start to become more recognised for your work? An arthouse film called Weekend [from 2011], directed by Andrew Haigh, changed my life, but Downton Abbey was a very specific experience. I joined it when it was winning Emmys and Golden Globes. It was very fun, but also scary. The lack of anonymity took a while to get my head around. Do you find the publicity side of acting difficult? Definitely. I went into acting because it was something I loved – I never went into it thinking I’d be famous. I’ve always been quite a private person. Being able to have a drink at the pub and nobody knowing who I am, but also getting to work on really fun projects, would be perfect for me. You were kicked out of London’s Central School of Speech and Drama after a year and then graduated with a first-class honours degree from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. What kept you going? At Central, the head of acting – who I’d never spoken to in my life – said, “This isn’t for you.” I remember thinking, “You’re wrong. You don’t know who the hell I am.” The teaching was just so bad – sometimes the teachers wouldn’t even turn up. I’d had a difficult time through my teenage years, and I had a lot of self-doubt. It could have really tipped me over the edge, but it put the fire in me, and that fire hasn’t gone out since. You’re dyslexic — did that also make things hard? For people who are neurodiverse, it takes incredible resilience to keep going in an academic system that is so archaic and does not cater to everybody. I went through school being told I wasn’t clever, and that’s just not true. I now work in an industry that requires an incredible amount of literacy. To anybody who is dyslexic – keep going. School shouldn’t define you. You’re brilliant and smart in your own way. You’ve played a lot of vulnerable men — is that a conscious choice? It’s something I try to bring into all my characters. There’s an epidemic of male suicide, and male mental health is at a crisis point. And there’s this alarming surge of misogynistic rhetoric coming from certain internet personalities. In my youth, I was probably an archetypal very masculine guy, so I’ve tried to work through my armour and be more vulnerable. As I’ve done that, I have access to happiness that I previously never had. Boys have this idea of masculinity shoved down their throats, and there’s so much pressure on them to uphold it, when inside they’re hurting. Male vulnerability, to me, is the ultimate strength.
Former Downton Abbey star Tom Cullen recalls "very fun" but "scary" experience on show
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Period drama favourite Tom Cullen, 40, who’s starred in Downton Abbey, Knightfall and The Gold, has left the past behind to star in Mudtown, set in Newport Magistrates’ Court in the present day. The in-demand Welshman will also appear in upcoming series Trespasses with Gillian Anderson and season three of House of the Dragon — but from now on, he says, he’s putting family before fame. Why did you recently move from London back to Wales? When you’ve got two kids [daughters aged two and four with his partner, actress/musician Alison Sudol], your world becomes smaller. The things I loved about London – its intensity, bars, gigs and theatre – I wasn’t able to do as much. I grew up in the mountains, swimming in rivers, and I had so much autonomy. My kids didn’t have that in London. Now, my elder daughter is about to go to Welsh school, so I’ve been learning the language. For the last ten years, I’ve had this real sense of hiraeth, a Welsh word for a yearning for where you’re from. Now I’m home, I feel calm again, like I can breathe. Would you encourage your daughters to pursue creative careers? I want them to do whatever makes them happy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one becomes an actress, and the other a musician. They’re showing early signs already! My parents [who worked at a theatre company in Llandrindod Wells, Powys] never earned a lot of money, but they never tried to put me off doing it. I saw how much joy a creative life brought them. Does having a young family impact the jobs you take? Before, I could film in Jordan or live in Prague for a year, and that was really exciting, but the focus shifts. It’s about making choices for my family now. I’m about to shoot a film in North Wales and they’re coming with me. I love being a father. It’s the most important part of my life – I don’t want to miss a second! Is that why you joined Mudtown — to tell Welsh stories? Wales has often been very underrepresented as part of the UK. Growing up, I’d see Welsh characters that were comedic or idiots, which was frustrating, but I feel like that’s no longer the case – Welsh TV is really shifting that. In Mudtown, you star as crime boss Pete. Do you enjoy playing a baddie? When I was offered the role, I didn’t understand why. Playing a villain or somebody with that darkness in them isn’t something that’s particularly natural to me and it scared me – but it’s a lot of fun. The creators believed I could do it, even though I didn’t. When did you start to become more recognised for your work? An arthouse film called Weekend [from 2011], directed by Andrew Haigh, changed my life, but Downton Abbey was a very specific experience. I joined it when it was winning Emmys and Golden Globes. It was very fun, but also scary. The lack of anonymity took a while to get my head around. Do you find the publicity side of acting difficult? Definitely. I went into acting because it was something I loved – I never went into it thinking I’d be famous. I’ve always been quite a private person. Being able to have a drink at the pub and nobody knowing who I am, but also getting to work on really fun projects, would be perfect for me. You were kicked out of London’s Central School of Speech and Drama after a year and then graduated with a first-class honours degree from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. What kept you going? At Central, the head of acting – who I’d never spoken to in my life – said, “This isn’t for you.” I remember thinking, “You’re wrong. You don’t know who the hell I am.” The teaching was just so bad – sometimes the teachers wouldn’t even turn up. I’d had a difficult time through my teenage years, and I had a lot of self-doubt. It could have really tipped me over the edge, but it put the fire in me, and that fire hasn’t gone out since. You’re dyslexic — did that also make things hard? For people who are neurodiverse, it takes incredible resilience to keep going in an academic system that is so archaic and does not cater to everybody. I went through school being told I wasn’t clever, and that’s just not true. I now work in an industry that requires an incredible amount of literacy. To anybody who is dyslexic – keep going. School shouldn’t define you. You’re brilliant and smart in your own way. You’ve played a lot of vulnerable men — is that a conscious choice? It’s something I try to bring into all my characters. There’s an epidemic of male suicide, and male mental health is at a crisis point. And there’s this alarming surge of misogynistic rhetoric coming from certain internet personalities. In my youth, I was probably an archetypal very masculine guy, so I’ve tried to work through my armour and be more vulnerable. As I’ve done that, I have access to happiness that I previously never had. Boys have this idea of masculinity shoved down their throats, and there’s so much pressure on them to uphold it, when inside they’re hurting. Male vulnerability, to me, is the ultimate strength. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
From Andor to Alien, the actor has travelled worlds away from Winchester…
Add Alien: Earth to your watchlist What’s the view from your sofa? A blank wall! A video projector sits on the floor by a big grey sofa, and it’s the most expensive, but best, purchase I’ve ever made. During Covid, I spent every evening in front of it. What have you been watching on it? Series three of Big Boys is excellent. British comedy is good at toeing the line between having strongly drawn, quite silly characters, then also being really moving. It’s the same with Alma’s Not Normal. The recent series of Black Mirror was one of my favourites. I love/resent that I was part of the same series as the San Junipero episode, which they shot in Cape Town, and we shot ours, Shut Up and Dance, in Watford. Who controls the remote? My partner and I are very indecisive – we’ll sometimes end up not watching anything! We draw up little lists for each other, like, “OK, here are five things to watch. What do you most want to see?” The new series Alien: Earth is set two years before the film Alien and you play Hermit, a medic who has lost his whole family, or so he thinks. What was your first experience of the Alien franchise? My mum was obsessed with Sigourney Weaver. I remember the characters and interactions more than the scary alien! The material world of the spaceship also really stuck in my head – I was struck by the beauty and strangeness. I thought, “That’s what the world of sci-fi is.” Is the Xenomorph CGI in Alien: Earth? No, it is played by a guy in a rubber suit, a tall New Zealander called Cam, who was probably the most committed to his role out of all of us. We filmed for six months in Thailand, so he was overheating most of the time! You made your professional debut at the age of 16 in the play South Downs. How did that come about? Every Thursday, my English teacher ran an improv club and it was my favourite day of the week. Then she left the school, but we all kept meeting up as this renegade group of unsupervised children. I was singled out as the ringleader and got in trouble. Around then, the casting director for South Downs, Julia Horan, was contacting schools, but the new drama teacher was a bit p***ed off at me, so she didn’t suggest me. It was my friend, who had been put up for the audition, that said I should come along. It almost cost me my whole career! I wouldn’t be acting if I didn’t get that job. Your parents are lawyers. How did they feel about you pursuing acting? Their parents hadn’t gone to university, so them going was a real achievement. For me not to go to uni felt a little bit like straying from the path they’d expected me to take, but now they’re at every opening night! Did you start to get more recognised after starring in the Bafta-winning series The End of the F***ing World in 2017? Before that, I’d been working for five or six years, and I’d mention a bunch of things I’d been in and no one would have seen them. So when The End of the F***ing World came out, it was nice for my ego to be like, “There’s some context to me being in the room auditioning!” You’ve also appeared in the hit Star Wars series Andor. Is “breaking” America still a goal for British actors like yourself? It depends on the type of work you want to do. I suppose there’s a side of what we do that’s part of a capitalist system, particularly with cinema. There’s a feeling of: you have to get bums on seats and things are packaged with people who are stars, which makes sense financially. The sweet spot, if you’re working on those Hollywood jobs, is to hope there’s a big brain behind it who’s doing something more than just getting bums on seats. Is that the case with Alien: Earth? It’s part of a big franchise, but writer and showrunner Noah Hawley is interested in being playful and not just rehashing it. I’d seen his work in Fargo and Legion and I trusted the world he was trying to build. He’s taking something original and is confident enough in his imagination to see where it leads him, regardless.
Alien: Earth star Alex Lawther explains Xenomorph effects and talks joining iconic franchise
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. What’s the view from your sofa? A blank wall! A video projector sits on the floor by a big grey sofa, and it’s the most expensive, but best, purchase I’ve ever made. During Covid, I spent every evening in front of it. What have you been watching on it? Series three of Big Boys is excellent. British comedy is good at toeing the line between having strongly drawn, quite silly characters, then also being really moving. It’s the same with Alma’s Not Normal. The recent series of Black Mirror was one of my favourites. I love/resent that I was part of the same series as the San Junipero episode, which they shot in Cape Town, and we shot ours, Shut Up and Dance, in Watford. Who controls the remote? My partner and I are very indecisive – we’ll sometimes end up not watching anything! We draw up little lists for each other, like, “OK, here are five things to watch. What do you most want to see?” The new series Alien: Earth is set two years before the film Alien and you play Hermit, a medic who has lost his whole family, or so he thinks. What was your first experience of the Alien franchise? My mum was obsessed with Sigourney Weaver. I remember the characters and interactions more than the scary alien! The material world of the spaceship also really stuck in my head – I was struck by the beauty and strangeness. I thought, “That’s what the world of sci-fi is.” Is the Xenomorph CGI in Alien: Earth? No, it is played by a guy in a rubber suit, a tall New Zealander called Cam, who was probably the most committed to his role out of all of us. We filmed for six months in Thailand, so he was overheating most of the time! You made your professional debut at the age of 16 in the play South Downs. How did that come about? Every Thursday, my English teacher ran an improv club and it was my favourite day of the week. Then she left the school, but we all kept meeting up as this renegade group of unsupervised children. I was singled out as the ringleader and got in trouble. Around then, the casting director for South Downs, Julia Horan, was contacting schools, but the new drama teacher was a bit p***ed off at me, so she didn’t suggest me. It was my friend, who had been put up for the audition, that said I should come along. It almost cost me my whole career! I wouldn’t be acting if I didn’t get that job. Your parents are lawyers. How did they feel about you pursuing acting? Their parents hadn’t gone to university, so them going was a real achievement. For me not to go to uni felt a little bit like straying from the path they’d expected me to take, but now they’re at every opening night! Did you start to get more recognised after starring in the Bafta-winning series The End of the F***ing World in 2017? Before that, I’d been working for five or six years, and I’d mention a bunch of things I’d been in and no one would have seen them. So when The End of the F***ing World came out, it was nice for my ego to be like, “There’s some context to me being in the room auditioning!” You’ve also appeared in the hit Star Wars series Andor. Is “breaking” America still a goal for British actors like yourself? It depends on the type of work you want to do. I suppose there’s a side of what we do that’s part of a capitalist system, particularly with cinema. There’s a feeling of: you have to get bums on seats and things are packaged with people who are stars, which makes sense financially. The sweet spot, if you’re working on those Hollywood jobs, is to hope there’s a big brain behind it who’s doing something more than just getting bums on seats. Is that the case with Alien: Earth? It’s part of a big franchise, but writer and showrunner Noah Hawley is interested in being playful and not just rehashing it. I’d seen his work in Fargo and Legion and I trusted the world he was trying to build. He’s taking something original and is confident enough in his imagination to see where it leads him, regardless. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. Alien: Earth will premiere on Disney+ on Wednesday 13th August, with the first two episodes available to stream. A new episode will premiere each following Wednesday. You can sign up to Disney+ for £4.99 a month or £89.90 a year now. Add Alien: Earth to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The comedian on day beds, dancing, skydives and the electronic hurdy-gurdy
Add My Life Is Murder to your watchlist What’s the view from your sofa? My wife [Kristin Bailey] and I have an antique bed that we picked up when we were travelling in Indonesia. There’s a tradition of day beds there, and we were most taken with this thing. We have a telly on the wall and we only use it to watch films, or occasionally a show we really like. We arrange ourselves with cushions and everything – viewing is very much an occasion. No snacks allowed – no crumbs in the bed! But we might allow a discreet bowl of peanuts. What have you been watching while reclining on your day bed recently? Severance was ingenious, well acted and so darkly funny. I’m a big fan of science fiction, so I loved the adaptation of the Silo books – Rebecca Ferguson’s absolutely brilliant. Andor is my favourite of all the Star Wars spin-offs. It’s visually thrilling and exciting. In the crime series My Life Is Murder [the series finale is this week], you guest-starred as a courier. How would you murder someone? Is this a real interview? Am I being screened through my answers? I’m not a violent person. I don’t think I’m capable of doing that. I’d probably do it accidentally. I’m quite clumsy, so maybe I’d be on the top of a cliff or something and swing my arm around and go, “It’s a lovely view over there! Oh… sorry!” You won Strictly Come Dancing in 2020. Are you still busting moves? I’ve always loved dancing. If there’s an event where dancing is allowed, I’ve always flung myself into it with reckless abandon, but to know how to do it properly with the steps is just fantastic. It’s not a skill I ever want to lose. I always incorporate it into my show, whether it’s a bit of charleston or a bit of paso doble. Strictly took me out of my comfort zone, but it was a great way to increase my confidence. It was such a joyous thing to do. I read that you can play 63 musical instruments. Is that number accurate? Somebody apparently worked it out, but since that random number was plucked from the ether, it keeps expanding. I’ve taught myself the bagpipes and I’m also learning the trombone, the nyckelharpa [a Swedish bowed instrument] and the aerophone, which is like a synthesised clarinet. In my show, I like to play traditional instruments, like the oud and saz, but I also like to use lots of new tech, like an electronic hurdy-gurdy. What makes you happy? I love walking. I’ve just been doing a recce of the South Downs Way, which is about 100 miles. I turned 60 this year and my wife asked me what I wanted to do for it, and I said to go for a big walk with a bunch of mates and family, so we’ll have about 30 or 40 people there for this celebration. We’ve booked in a bit of camping along the way, which I love. I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie, too. A few years ago when my son Dax was about 13 or 14, we went skydiving – it was exhilarating! In your new live show, Thoughtifier, you talk about your belief that AI won’t replace humans. Why? There is a real sense of it being a threat to certain jobs, like data processing or even film and TV editing, but what AI doesn’t have is a creative spark. I don’t think it will ever replace human imagination – that’s what gives me hope. What does it mean for the future? I think live performance will take on another dimension as being something authentic – it will have a greater value as a result. Also, experiencing something collectively is an ancient human need. I went into Abba Voyage sceptical, but it’s brilliant. The music is all played live by a fantastic band, and that’s what gives it warmth and immediacy. It’s like a hybridised live show. That’s what I’m going to do for my next show – I’ll be in my conservatory and there will be some younger, virtual version of me capering about on stage.
Bill Bailey argues why AI will not replace humans - and what this means for the future of live performances
The comedian on day beds, dancing, skydives and the electronic hurdy-gurdy.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. What’s the view from your sofa? My wife [Kristin Bailey] and I have an antique bed that we picked up when we were travelling in Indonesia. There’s a tradition of day beds there, and we were most taken with this thing. We have a telly on the wall and we only use it to watch films, or occasionally a show we really like. We arrange ourselves with cushions and everything – viewing is very much an occasion. No snacks allowed – no crumbs in the bed! But we might allow a discreet bowl of peanuts. What have you been watching while reclining on your day bed recently? Severance was ingenious, well acted and so darkly funny. I’m a big fan of science fiction, so I loved the adaptation of the Silo books – Rebecca Ferguson’s absolutely brilliant. Andor is my favourite of all the Star Wars spin-offs. It’s visually thrilling and exciting. In the crime series My Life Is Murder [the series finale is this week], you guest-starred as a courier. How would you murder someone? Is this a real interview? Am I being screened through my answers? I’m not a violent person. I don’t think I’m capable of doing that. I’d probably do it accidentally. I’m quite clumsy, so maybe I’d be on the top of a cliff or something and swing my arm around and go, “It’s a lovely view over there! Oh… sorry!” You won Strictly Come Dancing in 2020. Are you still busting moves? I’ve always loved dancing. If there’s an event where dancing is allowed, I’ve always flung myself into it with reckless abandon, but to know how to do it properly with the steps is just fantastic. It’s not a skill I ever want to lose. I always incorporate it into my show, whether it’s a bit of charleston or a bit of paso doble. Strictly took me out of my comfort zone, but it was a great way to increase my confidence. It was such a joyous thing to do. I read that you can play 63 musical instruments. Is that number accurate? Somebody apparently worked it out, but since that random number was plucked from the ether, it keeps expanding. I’ve taught myself the bagpipes and I’m also learning the trombone, the nyckelharpa [a Swedish bowed instrument] and the aerophone, which is like a synthesised clarinet. In my show, I like to play traditional instruments, like the oud and saz, but I also like to use lots of new tech, like an electronic hurdy-gurdy. What makes you happy? I love walking. I’ve just been doing a recce of the South Downs Way, which is about 100 miles. I turned 60 this year and my wife asked me what I wanted to do for it, and I said to go for a big walk with a bunch of mates and family, so we’ll have about 30 or 40 people there for this celebration. We’ve booked in a bit of camping along the way, which I love. I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie, too. A few years ago when my son Dax was about 13 or 14, we went skydiving – it was exhilarating! In your new live show, Thoughtifier, you talk about your belief that AI won’t replace humans. Why? There is a real sense of it being a threat to certain jobs, like data processing or even film and TV editing, but what AI doesn’t have is a creative spark. I don’t think it will ever replace human imagination – that’s what gives me hope. What does it mean for the future? I think live performance will take on another dimension as being something authentic – it will have a greater value as a result. Also, experiencing something collectively is an ancient human need. I went into Abba Voyage sceptical, but it’s brilliant. The music is all played live by a fantastic band, and that’s what gives it warmth and immediacy. It’s like a hybridised live show. That’s what I’m going to do for my next show – I’ll be in my conservatory and there will be some younger, virtual version of me capering about on stage. The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here. My Life Is Murder airs Tuesdays at 9pm on U&Alibi – catch up on Now. Bill Bailey's Thoughtifier is at select venues from 22-31 August 2025 – tickets are available now. Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
What's it like to bring dragons to life?
Puppeteer and Tom Wilton "creature actor" Tom Wilton on creating How to Train Your Dragon
Add How to Train Your Dragon to your watchlist The giraffe in Wonka, a velociraptor in the Jurassic World franchise, John Cena’s mermaid tail for Barbie — in his career as a puppeteer and “creature actor” Tom Wilton has brought many weird and wonderful creations to our screens. His latest is Toothless the Night Fury in the live-action film How to Train Your Dragon, a remake of the animated version (based on the Cressida Cowell book). As creature puppetry supervisor, Wilton and his team brought the winged animals to life on the island of Berk, where Vikings have spent centuries fighting dragons until the chief’s teenage son Hiccup (Mason Thames) befriends one. Here’s how Wilton’s performances, combined with the technical wizardry of visual effects company Framestore, make for movie magic… View Green Video on the source website A STABLE JOB I was working in regional theatre and was given a tiny part in War Horse. Then I asked to be one of the horse puppeteers and had a two-week puppetry crash course. The first film I worked on was Star Wars Episode VII: the Force Awakens, which renewed interest in practical creature effects. They wanted War Horse puppeteers on the movie — the Luggabeast was directly inspired by Joey the horse. NO BALLS, PLEASE Everyone’s heard the cliché of using a tennis ball on the end of a stick for an eyeline for an actor to act opposite. With a puppet, we’re there to provide actors with a scene partner. The more they believe the creature is real, the easier it is, and the quality of their performance is better. FROM PROPS TO PUPPETS Typically, the prop modelling department would make something to represent a creature, but it was a prop that didn’t move. So we’d try to breathe life into this thing. The tipping point was [Harry Potter spin-off] Fantastic Beasts, when I got puppet and creature makers Stitches and Glue involved, who also designed all the puppets for How to Train Your Dragon. THE SCALES FALL We introduced Mason and Nico [Parker, who plays teen Viking warrior Astrid] to the methodology behind working with puppets. I asked three of the puppeteers from the stage production of Life of Pi to bring along the tiger puppet, as one of the references for Toothless was a panther. The original How to Train Your Dragon is Mason’s favourite film, so when we showed Toothless to him, he was in awe. MASTER OF PUPPETS We had four Toothless heads — one for stunts; two lightweight heads that could be mounted to have different heights; and then the main, “hero”, puppeteer head. We had heads to represent all the other big main dragons, the Hideous Zippleback, Deadly Nadder and a hand puppet to represent the Terrible Terror. EYE SEE YOU We originally had a fixed eye shape for the puppet head, but it made Toothless look startled all the time, so we put in different eyelid shapes so he could look angry, scared or sad. I could move the eyes so the iris would track where the actor was. I also moved his mouth, and he had four “ear plates” that could be pressed back against his head or flared out, indicating he’s inquisitive, startled or scared. THE WHOLE TOOTH The body of the Toothless puppet is about the length of one and a half buses and was a 1:1 scale with the animated dragon in the movie. We had the head, a neck section, shoulders, front legs, a body section, back hips, back legs, the tail and a section of his wings. Everything came apart, so we were able to use as much or as little of Toothless as was required. We had up to five puppeteers on him and I was in the head. It’s made of foam, so it was relatively light. The heaviest pieces were the head and the tail. At least three people were needed to operate the latter. TAKING FLIGHT We also had a section of Toothless’s body that Mason and Nico could climb on and off. We created movement to make it feel like they were sitting on a living creature. For the flying sequences, there were also robotic gimbals for every dragon that the actors rode. IN PUPPETEERS WE TRUST It’s taken a while to get the special effects community, and also producers and directors, to trust puppeteers. There’s a fear that the problems it will cause in post-production outweigh the benefits and that it binds them to a certain kind of performance, but we shoot takes with and without the puppet. Even with the best actors, something feels lacking without the puppets. It’s alive, it’s there, it’s real for the actor. In the final film, it’s lovely knowing there’s a trace of my performance. How to Train Your Dragon is available to buy or rent from Monday
What's it like to perform surgery with Netflix watching?
In Critical: Between Life and Death, cameras follow the work of NHS trauma teams.
Add Critical: Between Life and Death to your watchlist In the engrossing and shocking new Netflix documentary series Critical: Between Life and Death, 40 cameras are embedded for 21 days across the entire London Major Trauma System, which includes major trauma centres at The Royal London Hospital, St George's Hospital, King's College Hospital and St Mary's Hospital. Mr Ibraheim El-Daly, 41, who grew up in northwest London, has been a Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon at King's College Hospital for five years. Here he tells RT how it feels to be filmed on the job. I studied at City St George's, University of London, and during my rotations, I fell in love with orthopaedic surgery. I liked the power tools – the screwdriver, mallet, and my favourite, the drill! I did my five-year orthopaedic training at the Royal London Hospital. I then spent a year at Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital, a major trauma centre in Paris. I came back to a job at King’s College and it was very fast-paced. I thrive on stress. I appeared in Channel 4’s Emergency and 24 hours in A&E. The same production company behind those shows told us Netflix loved them and would like to do their own medical series. With Netflix it’s a great opportunity to expose the NHS to the world. A lot of the problems you hear in the media about the NHS are true, like trying to get an appointment, but our major trauma network is second to none. We even have WhatsApp groups with all the major trauma surgeons – there’s a national pelvic group and a national upper limb group. We post cases and discuss them. I feel sad that we don't promote ourselves, because we have such amazing experience and expertise that we should be selling our services. The NHS could benefit by going to countries and helping them create the same level of trauma care that we deliver for citizens of the UK. The camera crew followed me everywhere I went, but they never got in my way. They were constantly checking they weren’t doing anything that would cause an issue, or they’d say, “Are you OK? Do you want us to take a step back?” The only time I’d switch off my mic was when I went to the loo! There were usually two, sometimes three, cameras. Before I saw a patient, the production team asked them or their relatives if it was OK to film them. Then the camera crew would either get the green light or stand down. View Green Video on the source website They filmed me doing multiple surgeries before they selected the case for the show, where the patient, Jared, was at risk of losing his leg after a motorcycle accident. He had an open fracture that was a high-energy injury, which refers to trauma caused by a significant force, so it can’t be closed by just suturing it together again. While I was operating, I explained the process for the cameras like I would to a junior trainee. King’s is a big teaching hospital and the biggest medical school in Europe, so I’m used to having trainees. You have to pass on your knowledge – otherwise, what’s the point? Most consultants say no to being filmed, because they’re worried about something bad happening. I'm dealing with complex, unpredictable injuries, so there’s a much higher risk of patient dissatisfaction and problems, but I'm confident in my skills, so I'm not too concerned about what others say or think. Every surgeon encounters complications – there was one that happened intraoperatively on Emergency where I had to intervene to stop it from becoming a disaster – but we discuss them and learn from them so we can better ourselves. We're constantly pushing the boundaries and improving.
View from My sofa: Victoria Coren Mitchell
Poirot, Claudia Winkleman and Bluey — the Only Connect presenter is a fan of them all
This article was first published in Radio Times magazine in July 2025. Add Only Connect to your watchlist What’s the view from your sofa? We have quite a small TV and a lot of bookshelves, so whatever I’m watching, I always feel simultaneously a bit guilty that I’m not reading. On reflection, it was a mistake to put the “highbrow books” section right behind the TV set. If the Beano annuals were there, I wouldn’t feel guilty at all. What have you enjoyed watching recently? I loved LOL: Last One Laughing UK on Prime Video. It was given edge by the cultural fear about what we are and aren’t allowed to laugh at – but just watching comedians do silly things, through the filter of others trying to keep a straight face, made it one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Who controls the remote at home? There seem to be a lot of remotes. I know one of them’s for the telly and one’s for the other box, where you choose iPlayer or whatever, and then three more of uncertain provenance or role. I’m not sure if anybody really “controls” these remotes but it’s certainly not me. With a young daughter and a baby, what’s your approach to screen time? My ten-year-old loves The Masked Singer and old episodes of Poirot, just like her mother. The baby doesn’t have any screen time; she’s only 18 months old. She loves Bluey – an excellent TV show – but she doesn’t know it’s a TV show. She just thinks it’s a source of really great plastic dog Weebles. What did you watch growing up? We were grateful for anything. Occasionally I dig out programmes I loved, to show my daughter, banging on about how exciting they were, and then we both sit there puzzled in front of something surprisingly beige and slow. But enough about my husband… You write a TV column. How do you stay unbiased when you have to review something your husband is in? Well, I’m not a critic. When Ludwig [the BBC series starring her husband, David Mitchell] came out, I just wrote a column about puzzles, but I knew it was a great series. I tend not to write about bad shows – I can’t see any joy in attacking people who are trying to entertain. Mind you, I hated Squid Game and said so. But they seem to have soldiered on without my approval. Your dad, Alan, was a humourist. What did you learn from him? Never to write seriously if I could think of something funny instead. Seriousness is an emergency last resort. What’s the most memorable feedback you’ve had from an Only Connect fan? I’ve never forgotten a letter from a few years ago. We get all sorts of feedback – be it on a translation, or a clarification of parliamentary procedure. This chap asked, “Why is it acceptable for Victoria Coren Mitchell to comment on a man’s bottom?” I’m not even sure I had. Do you enjoy other TV quizzes? I love Countdown so much, I can’t let myself watch it. I get obsessed and start making anagrams out of car number plates. Do you prefer being a host or a guest on a panel show? Hosting Have I Got News for You is one of my favourite things to do. Everyone is brilliant, from Ian Hislop and Paul Merton and their genius executive producer, to the graphics people in the gallery who are like mind readers. Guesting on it is an honour, but terrifying because you don’t know what’s coming up, so you always think you’ll fail to recognise a cabinet minister and look like an idiot. Which presenter do you admire? My best friend Claudia Winkleman is warm and funny, idiosyncratic but relatable, brilliant but unintimidating. I don’t expect to see a better TV presenter in my lifetime.