Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2026-03-27T18:50:47.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Neighbourhood watch
items: 'I knew we were catching lightning in a bottle'
items: Romesh Ranganathan
items: Amy Gledhill
items: Gbemisola Ikumelo
items: Mel Giedroyc
items: Why Frankenstein does not deserve to be left out in the cold in the Oscars 2026 best picture race
items: Jimmy Carr reveals why late friend Sean Lock would have been perfect for Last One Laughing – as Roisin Conaty talks dream cast members
items: "If I did know, I wouldn't tell you!" Doug Cockle talks Geralt's return in The Witcher 4
items: Coming into her own
items: To infinity and beyond!
items: The case for Frankenstein to win Best Picture
items: Ellis star Sharon D Clarke: "Seeing a big woman on television making love… is still something you don’t often see"
items: Best horror films and TV series of all time - from Sinners to Twin Peaks
items: Adam Richman's ultimate Italy food guide: From 'tag bol' to chocolate fountains
items: The Traitors star Faraaz reveals he was left in tears after billionaire's touching gift
items: Mary Berry delivers her verdict on Nigella Lawson joining GBBO in judging role
items: Claudia Winkleman's stylist on the star's impeccable Traitors style and the brands she's faithful to
items: The Lakes' hidden gems
items: Harlan Coben picks his top 10 thrillers of all time
items: Harlan Coben’s Run Away cast and author tease "emotionally devastating ending" and talk "insidiousness" of addiction
items: Prepare to be thrilled
items: A Guide to Netflix's Harlan Coben Collection
items: Harlan Coben's Top 10 Thrillers
items: Beary Christmas
items: How 2025's Radio Times Christmas issue cover – featuring Aardman favourites – came to life
items: Meet the miniaturists shrinking Christmas for RT this year
items: Bringing Back the Ice Age
items: 7 reasons to watch Tom Hiddleston's new documentary series Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
items: We played Squid Game: The Challenge – and learned how brutal it really is

Neighbourhood watch
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
description: RT's Laura Rutkowski visits the set of Graham Norton's new ITV reality series
encoded: Add The Neighbourhood to your watchlist “Welcome to The Neighbourhood!” says Graham Norton, the host of ITV’s new reality series, as he meets RT on the set in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. It’s cosy, with six quaint houses painted pink, yellow, green, blue, orange and purple, a café called Room with a Brew, the local pub The Uppin Arms, a notice board of events, and stunning flowers lining the streets. But the seemingly picturesque community is located on the rather sinisterly named Keepyourenemies Close. There’s a CCTV sign that reads, “Warning: this area is under constant judgment.” And those due to move into these homes — six real households (each with three to five members), including university students, multigenerational and blended families — are going to be filmed 24 hours a day, in every room, by over 200 cameras. They will also go up against each other in challenges across 12 episodes in the hopes of walking away with £250,000. “This isn’t just about keeping up with the Joneses, it’s about beating them as well,” Norton explains. Development executive Ed Daggett says the idea for the tasks is “taking things that are typical of neighbourhood life and super-sizing them into big games”. These involve a seven-metre-high washing line; a take on curtain twitching, where everyone must memorise what happens outside their window at night; and a gnome invasion game that I got the chance to play, where you have to find a specific gnome after being given a clue (there will be 2,500 gnomes of varying sizes). If you pick a “nasty” gnome, it has implications for your neighbours. If households do well during the games, they’re safe in the neighbourhood. If they don’t, they’re at risk of being voted out — with their neighbours planting a “For Sale” sign in front of their home during “the removals”. There are also difficult real-life decisions to make, like whose party to go to when two are being hosted at the same time. “We want people watching the show to say, ‘They’re just li…

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'I knew we were catching lightning in a bottle'
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
description: The comedians are back to police potential giggles from the control room – but which one is the good cop?
encoded: Add LOL: Last One Laughing UK to your watchlist I knew straight away on the day we were recording that it was like catching lightning in a bottle. It was obviously good stuff,” says Roisin Conaty. “It was a great antidote to watching the news,” adds her co-host Jimmy Carr. “It’s impossible to be sad or angry while laughing. Right show at the right time.” For this second series Carr and Conaty are back to preside over the shenanigans, watching from the comfort of their “control room”, where they have the added benefit of being able to laugh whenever they please. They’re on the lookout for even an inkling of a chuckle from the 10 contestants, with about 40 cameras documenting every angle. If they’re caught, the stars are given a yellow-card warning. A second infraction means a red card and elimination, at which point they join Carr and Conaty in the control room. “People came in having watched series one, and no one wanted to go out straight away, so everyone was locked and loaded to win. It’s like watching someone hold their breath – they’re going to have to breathe at some point,” says Conaty. “I’m pretty on it,” she adds. “At one point, I stopped them, because they were swaying too much. Jimmy is more ‘good cop.’ He’s like, ‘They’re allowed to live…’” There are many techniques the comedians use to hide their laughter – looking in cupboards, needing to use the toilet suddenly, bending down for too long – but some slip-ups are pretty obvious. “We had a couple where we thought, ‘You could hear that down the street.’ I thought perhaps we needed an exorcist for one laugh – it was like a guttural utterance,” says Carr. But not laughing is only half the game – you also have to trip up your competitors. Carr says the best tactic for the “joker”, where the comedians perform a pre-prepared act, is to play against type. “Be the opposite of what people are expecting from you. For me, if I did some real, proper slapstick, people would go, ‘What?’” Carr thinks his late friend Se…

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Romesh Ranganathan
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
encoded: Add LOL: Last One Laughing UK to your watchlist You’re known for being deadpan. Is that an advantage in Last One Laughing? My default is to not smile. If anything, I have to consciously show a bit more enthusiasm for stuff when it’s appropriate. I think it puts you at a slight disadvantage, because you become a target. Mel [Giedroyc] laughs at everything so it’s arguably trickier for her, but she was a hell of a competitor. Have you ever had a gig where you’ve not made anyone laugh? Loads of times, but that’s part of the process. The more you experiment, the better your show will be. Saying something out loud, pausing for the laugh, and then having that laugh not come – it’s like having your flies undone. My rule is always: if I have three gigs in a row that go badly, I’ll quit. I’ve been on two quite a few times. Where’s the most inappropriate place you’ve laughed? At my father’s funeral. I was very sad, but then when it’s really inappropriate, it makes you want to laugh, doesn’t it? Who makes you laugh more than anyone else? My mum and brother make me laugh a lot. I’ve got three boys and their love language is just rinsing each other all the time. They’ll say stuff like, “Imagine going out with your hair like that” or “Imagine going out with breath smelling like that.” That, to me, is funny. It’s disruptive for them, and they’ll need therapy, but in the short term, it’s very entertaining.

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Amy Gledhill
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
encoded: Add LOL: Last One Laughing UK to your watchlist Who was your favourite comedian growing up? Dawn French. She’s the reason I got into comedy. I watched French and Saunders and we’d watch The Vicar of Dibley as a family, and we’d all be laughing. She is my hero. She came to watch my show and came to my dressing room. It was the most starstruck and honoured I’ve ever been. How did you get your start in comedy? I was too scared to do stand-up, but then I started dating a boy when I was at university who was an open-mic comedian. I’d go to all his gigs, and he was terrible. That’s what gave me the confidence to try it. I was living in Leeds and booked myself into a competition in Manchester and didn’t tell anyone I was going to do it. I got right through to the final, and that was about 13 years ago. Have you had any memorable heckles on stage? When I was new, I was really scared of them. Once, someone in the front row said something and because I was wound like a coil waiting for someone to attack, I went, “What did you say? Say it so that everyone can hear!” And he’d just said, “She’s great. I’m having a good time.” I was like, “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” I realised in that moment that I’m not the sort of comedian that can be cutting or mean to someone in the audience. If I do get heckles, because I’m such a people pleaser, I try to win them round.

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Gbemisola Ikumelo
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
encoded: Add LOL: Last One Laughing UK to your watchlist What’s the hardest you’ve ever laughed? On this. The laugh that came out of my mouth was actually quite scary, maybe because I was stifling it. I’ve accessed a new laugh, and I have many – an angry laugh, a flirty laugh, a “when something is funny” laugh, and now a demonic laugh to add to it. What do you find funny? I love a good, simple, elegant fart joke. It’s the simple things, like people falling over, and adding something silly into solemnity is always going to get me. I laugh a lot, and that tends to make people laugh a lot, but I still haven’t figured out if it’s with me or at me. Did you always want to get into comedy? No, I was always going to be a very serious actor doing very serious Shakespeare at the RSC. Then I auditioned to be in Dane Baptiste’s sitcom Sunny D. I’d never done a sitcom before and it was the most fun I’d ever had. I got a lot of people saying, surprised, “You’re really funny.” Off the back of that, I met Akemnji Ndifornyen, who was the creator of an amazing sketch show called Famalam, which basically changed my life. I now have two Baftas for comedy [Best Short Form Programme for Brain in Gear and Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for Black Ops]! It’s wild to me that that’s where my career has gone.

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Mel Giedroyc
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
encoded: Add LOL: Last One Laughing UK to your watchlist Where’s the most inappropriate place you’ve laughed? In The Vatican. I was with a friend at an Easter service when I was about 19, and we were holding candles. We were chatting and her candle went into the lady’s hair in front. We were throwing ourselves on her to put it out. There’s a very specific smell, isn’t there, of burning hair? But luckily she was fine. We were howling. Did you have a tactic to stop yourself from laughing in the show? I used the power of my gurn. I idolised Les Dawson as a child, and no one has ever gurned like Les. It involves a lower jaw often coming up above the upper jaw. I had to employ every muscle and every sinew of my face and body, and use the muscles on the side of my neck. I’ve given myself a very cheap jowl lift. I won’t be going to see the botox lady, unlike Jimmy Carr. You and Sue Perkins would have made a good double act in Last One Laughing… She would win. She would absolutely slaughter me. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed with anyone else the way I’ve laughed with her. It’s tears springing forth, usually at shared memories of things, or it’s just a word and we know exactly what it is and the story. I’m glad she was nowhere near the room. I did wonder, though, because they like to play those little pranks, “What if I open the shower and she’s in there?”

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Why Frankenstein does not deserve to be left out in the cold in the Oscars 2026 best picture race
type: item
date: 2026-03-11T08:00:05.000Z
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: Movies
subject: Comment
subject: Contains Trailer
subject: Oscars
description: In a particularly standout year for horror, this would be a historic win for the film, which adapts and improves upon Mary Shelley’s original material.
encoded: It took director Guillermo del Toro 30 years to finally say “It’s alive!” to his Frankenstein film, with every studio passing on it until Netflix approached him. He also set high standards for himself, wanting to create “the greatest Frankenstein ever”. This passion project was ignited when he saw the 1931 film as a boy, and although Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel has been adapted hundreds of times, the master of monsters has something fresh to bring to the table… the Evelyn table. In this version, Oscar Isaac (with a very good English accent) plays Victor Frankenstein, with Jacob Elordi as the doomed Creature he creates. There are a few notable changes from the book, which some people have welcomed, while others have criticised. There’s the introduction of the new character Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), a wealthy arms dealer who funds Frankenstein’s experiments. Lady Elizabeth Harlander (Mia Goth, who also plays Frankenstein’s mother Claire) is Henrich’s niece, and Victor’s brother’s fiancée. In the book, she’s called Elizabeth Lavenza, an orphan raised by the Frankenstein family as Victor’s cousin and eventual fiancée. But the biggest difference of all is that the violent Creature in the novel is replaced by a much more sympathetic character who only lashes out in self-defence, not in fits of rage, while Frankenstein is more overtly violent and downright cruel. As Shelley always intended, the man is the monster, and the Creature is the moral one – del Toro just connects those dots even more. View Green Video on the source website The film also includes the scene where the Creature learns how to speak and read from a blind man who is unaware of what he looks like, which has often been left out of other adaptations, but is pivotal to understanding the Creature. When Elordi made his first movie, The Kissing Booth, he was reading posts online about himself, and one said: “This plank of wood is so boring he could play nothing but Frankenstein’s Creature.” The seed wa…

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Jimmy Carr reveals why late friend Sean Lock would have been perfect for Last One Laughing – as Roisin Conaty talks dream cast members
type: item
date: 2026-03-09T17:01:48.000Z
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: Entertainment
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
subject: Amazon Prime Video
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: The comedians are back to police potential giggles from the control room – but which one is the good cop?
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. "I knew straight away on the day we were recording that it was like catching lightning in a bottle. It was obviously good stuff,” says Roisin Conaty. “It was a great antidote to watching the news,” adds her co-host Jimmy Carr. “It’s impossible to be sad or angry while laughing. Right show at the right time.” For this second series of LOL: Last One Laughing UK Carr and Conaty are back to preside over the shenanigans, watching from the comfort of their “control room”, where they have the added benefit of being able to laugh whenever they please. They’re on the lookout for even an inkling of a chuckle from the 10 contestants, with about 40 cameras documenting every angle. If they’re caught, the stars are given a yellow-card warning. A second infraction means a red card and elimination, at which point they join Carr and Conaty in the control room. “People came in having watched series one, and no one wanted to go out straight away, so everyone was locked and loaded to win. It’s like watching someone hold their breath – they’re going to have to breathe at some point,” says Conaty. “I’m pretty on it,” she adds. “At one point, I stopped them, because they were swaying too much. Jimmy is more ‘good cop.’ He’s like, ‘They’re allowed to live...’” There are many techniques the comedians use to hide their laughter – looking in cupboards, needing to use the toilet suddenly, bending down for too long – but some slip-ups are pretty obvious. “We had a couple where we thought, ‘You could hear that down the street.’ I thought perhaps we needed an exorcist for one laugh – it was like a guttural utterance,” says Carr. But not laughing is only half the game – you also have to trip up your competitors. Carr says the best tactic for the “joker”, where the comedians perform a pre-prepared act, is to play against type. “Be the opposite of what people are expecting from you. For me, if I did some real, proper slapstick, people would go, ‘W…

"If I did know, I wouldn't tell you!" Doug Cockle talks Geralt's return in The Witcher 4
type: item
date: 2026-03-06T14:22:29.000Z
creator: Cole Luke
subject: Gaming
subject: Technology
subject: Interview
subject: Video
description: The iconic actor looks back on his career.
encoded: In November 2025, the Radio Times Gaming team popped along to Target3D’s motion-capture studio in East London for an in-depth tour of how actors bring characters to life in games, with industry heavyweights Jennifer English, Samantha Béart, Luisa Guerreira and Doug Cockle to show us the ropes. We already have an overview of the event and a group interview in full to watch on the Radio Times Gaming YouTube channel, so be sure to check those out too! Not only that, but we got to sit down for a one-on-one chat with each of them, too, with Doug Cockle, voice of Geralt in The Witcher games, being the first to come out. Check out the full video above or on YouTube. With such a storied career, we were curious to know where and how it all began, and it turns out, it was almost by complete accident. "When I was growing up, video games didn't have voices in them," Cockle tells us, reminiscing that it was just "Donkey Kong and Pac-Man and things like that". He adds that the thought that a game could be "so narratively focused that they have fully fledged, three-dimensional characters was just not something I ever thought about when I was training as an actor". But in short order, Cockle tells us the "whole video game world just opened up in front of me". Every actor has to get their start somewhere, and for Cockle, it was Cal, the lead in Infogrames' 2001 Space game, Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos. "When I was starting out, they didn't have performance capture classes or motion capture workshops or things like that," Cockle recalls, adding that everything he learned was "on the job". "Nowadays, you can take workshops and, you know, do a weekend and learn how to do a T-pose or an A-pose or whatever," Cockle explains, for any would-be actors getting into the biz. Cockle has a career outside of games too, having been involved in film, television and theatre projects, but when it comes to performance capture, Cockle reveals that "what I find wonderful about it is it's like bein…

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Coming into her own
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Sharon D Clarke reveals the roles that have enabled her to unleash her true self
encoded: Add Ellis to your watchlist Sharon D Clarke has made history with the roles she’s played. As Grace O’Brien, she was one of three very diverse women to step into the Doctor Who universe in 2018, alongside Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor and Mandip Gill’s companion Yaz. “What, young boys can’t look up to a woman?” she says now of the claims a female Doctor deprived young boys of a positive male role model. She then starred in a story that hadn’t been told on screen before with 2024’s Mr Loverman, based on Bernardine Evaristo’s novel. She played the wife of a secretly gay man (Lennie James) who’s in love with his best friend. It was only in 2022 that homosexuality was decriminalised in Antigua and Barbuda, where part of Mr Loverman was set. “It’s really, really important these stories are told.” She also reflects proudly on her sex scenes in the series. “Seeing a big woman on television making love – or being loved – is still something you don’t often see. I’m there with all my flesh and my red sequinned thing with my t*ts out!” she remembers. Now Clarke returns as the first black female lead detective in a British TV series for series two of Ellis. In one scene, a character who’s part of an investigation expects DCI Ellis to be a man, and when she shows up, tries to belittle her. “It’s dealing with that kind of behaviour, which sometimes is overt in life, but usually it’s subtle. I’m glad we don’t beat anybody over the head with it. When you show them what the small microaggressions are, they have to think again and look deeper.” In the moment, have all these parts felt significant? “Every last one,” says the 59-year-old from Enfield, north London. “It’s never lost on me that, at this stage, I’m able to do work that really holds up a mirror to society.” The three-time Olivier Award winner admits she’s “happiest on stage”, and has spoken about how she stopped auditioning for TV roles because she was only being cast as nurses, but that changed when she was offered the role of …

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To infinity and beyond!
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
description: RT's Laura Rutkowski pays a visit to London's Mundo Pixar Experience
encoded: Ever wanted to play with Andy’s toys from Toy Story, join Mike and Sulley on the Monsters, Inc Scare Floor, or pose with Lightning McQueen from Cars? Now you can, at London’s Mundo Pixar Experience, an exhibition that has already been to Brazil, Mexico, Spain and Belgium, and features more than 25 character sculptures from Pixar’s enchanting worlds, spread across 14 sets re-created from its movies. This year sees the animation studio celebrate its 40th anniversary. “No one knew how iconic Pixar would be,” says creative director of franchise Jay Ward, who has seen people become emotional in the immersive environment. Swinging my feet from a giant chair, I feel like a kid again. It’s pure Pixar magic. Sunnyside up The Sunnyside Daycare room from Toy Story 3 was specially built for the London show. “Some of the drawings on the wall have been done by the kids of people working on the exhibition,” explains Jay Ward, Pixar’s creative director of franchise. A real Buzz “You can say Buzz Lightyear or Woody the Sheriff anywhere around the world and people know them,” says Jay Ward. “Visiting them in Andy’s room, as Laura is doing here, is one of people’s favourites. It’s that delight of feeling like a child again — and you’re the scale of a toy. You can’t reach the doorknob.” Scary monsters and super creeps Monsters, Inc was the first film Jay Ward worked on, as a production assistant in the art department. “I love Mike and Sulley,” says Ward, whose name was given to one of the scarers — Pete “Claws” Ward. “Initially, it was [human girl] Boo in front of her door, but now you can actually open her door, and another one, and look inside.” All revved up “Little kids get freaked out about Lightning McQueen. I love that people lose it in a good way,” says Ward, who was creative director of the Cars franchise. “We also have Mater [a tow truck]. He’s so big that he had to come in first and have the room built around him.” The magic of Mexico In some rooms, smells are used to evoke …

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The case for Frankenstein to win Best Picture
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
subject: The Oscars
description: In a particularly standout year for horror, this would be a historic win for the film, which adapts and improves upon Mary Shelley’s original material.
encoded: Add Frankenstein to your watchlist Warning: The following contains spoilers for the film Frankenstein. It took director Guillermo del Toro 30 years to finally say “It’s alive!” to his Frankenstein film, with every studio passing on it until Netflix approached him. He also set high standards for himself, wanting to create “the greatest Frankenstein ever”. This passion project was ignited when he saw the 1931 film as a boy, and although Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel has been adapted hundreds of times, the master of monsters has something fresh to bring to the table… the Evelyn table. In this version, Oscar Isaac (with a very good English accent) plays Victor Frankenstein, with Jacob Elordi as the doomed Creature he creates. There are a few notable changes from the book, which some people have welcomed, while others have criticised. There’s the introduction of the new character Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), a wealthy arms dealer who funds Frankenstein’s experiments. Lady Elizabeth Harlander (Mia Goth, who also plays Frankenstein’s mother Claire) is Henrich’s niece, and Victor’s brother’s fiancée. In the book, she’s called Elizabeth Lavenza, an orphan raised by the Frankenstein family as Victor’s cousin and eventual fiancée. View Green Video on the source website But the biggest difference of all is that the violent Creature in the novel is replaced by a much more sympathetic character who only lashes out in self-defence, not in fits of rage, while Frankenstein is more overtly violent and downright cruel. As Shelley always intended, the man is the monster, and the Creature is the moral one – del Toro just connects those dots even more. The film also includes the scene where the Creature learns how to speak and read from a blind man who is unaware of what he looks like, which has often been left out of other adaptations, but is pivotal to understanding the Creature. When Elordi made his first movie, The Kissing Booth, he was reading posts online about himself, and one…

Ellis star Sharon D Clarke: "Seeing a big woman on television making love… is still something you don’t often see"
type: item
date: 2026-03-02T17:00:30.000Z
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: Sharon D Clarke reveals the roles that have enabled her to unleash her true self.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. Sharon D Clarke has made history with the roles she’s played. As Grace O’Brien, she was one of three very diverse women to step into the Doctor Who universe in 2018, alongside Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor and Mandip Gill’s companion Yaz. “What, young boys can’t look up to a woman?” she says now of the claims a female Doctor deprived young boys of a positive male role model. She then starred in a story that hadn’t been told on screen before with 2024’s Mr Loverman, based on Bernardine Evaristo’s novel. She played the wife of a secretly gay man (Lennie James) who’s in love with his best friend. It was only in 2022 that homosexuality was decriminalised in Antigua and Barbuda, where part of Mr Loverman was set. “It’s really, really important these stories are told.” She also reflects proudly on her sex scenes in the series. “Seeing a big woman on television making love – or being loved – is still something you don’t often see. I’m there with all my flesh and my red sequinned thing with my t*ts out!” she remembers. Now Clarke returns as the first Black female lead detective in a British TV series for season 2 of Ellis. In one scene, a character who’s part of an investigation expects DCI Ellis to be a man, and when she shows up, tries to belittle her. “It’s dealing with that kind of behaviour, which sometimes is overt in life, but usually it’s subtle. I’m glad we don’t beat anybody over the head with it. When you show them what the small microaggressions are, they have to think again and look deeper.” In the moment, have all these parts felt significant? “Every last one,” says the 59-year-old from Enfield, north London. “It’s never lost on me that, at this stage, I’m able to do work that really holds up a mirror to society.” The three-time Olivier Award winner admits she’s “happiest on stage”, and has spoken about how she stopped auditioning for TV roles because she was only being cast as nurses, but that changed when she w…

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Best horror films and TV series of all time - from Sinners to Twin Peaks
type: item
date: 2026-02-16T15:01:21.000Z
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: Fantasy
subject: TV
subject: Contains Trailer
subject: Magazine
description: Five-star frights on the big and small screen.
encoded: With Sinners earning the most Oscar nominations of any film, horror is no longer knocking at the mainstream door. Here's RT's all-time top 20 chill-inducing films and TV series – plus where you can currently watch them in the UK. And there's plenty more to come, as we've also highlighted five upcoming chillers for 2026 guaranteed to scare up a storm. Best horror films of all time Nosferatu (1922; 5*, PG) — available on Amazon Prime Video & BFI Player Dead and loving it: the original vampire classic still feels fresh over a century later. German silent master FW Murnau films the Dracula story with the eeriest atmosphere and turns the blood-sucking count into an iconic, rat-like demon. Calum Baker Eyes without a Face (1959; 5*, 15) — available on BFI Player The plastic surgery footage in this French classic from 1959 is still good and horrible, but what’s most memorable is its haunting story: that of a doctor who obsesses over crafting a “fix” for his disfigured, mask-wearing daughter. CB Psycho (1960; 5*, 15) — available on Now Cinema With just one three-minute sequence and an unforgettable set of shrieking violins, Alfred Hitchcock changed cinema forever as star Janet Leigh steps into a shower at the Bates Motel and discovers she’s not alone. CB Night of the Living Dead (1968; 5*, 15) — Available on Amazon Prime Video George A Romero’s debut defined zombie lore and established horror as a genre capable of slyly dealing with social issues, while the chilling ending is a reminder that often it’s not the dead you need to worry about. Ben Bailey Don’t Look Now (1973; 5*, 15) — Available on StudioCanal Presents Death, sex and clairvoyance all collide for grieving parents Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie when they travel to Venice in Nicolas Roeg’s unnervingly splintered 1973 drama, which features one of cinema’s great shock endings. CB The Exorcist (1973; 5*, 15) — Available on Now Cinema William Friedkin’s controversial Catholic horror turned heads on release and en…

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Adam Richman's ultimate Italy food guide: From 'tag bol' to chocolate fountains
type: item
date: 2026-02-09T12:00:12.000Z
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: Travel
subject: Interview
subject: Magazine
description: Swapping New York for Italy, Adam Richman embarks on a city-hopping adventure in search of the country’s best-loved dishes.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. If you weren’t hungry before listening to Adam Richman describe food, you certainly will be after. The presenter of Man v Food, Adam Richman Eats Britain and Adam Richman Eats Football has worked in New York kitchens since he was 13, so the Brooklyn native knows his stuff. For his new series, though, he’s munching his way across 10 Italian cities – and letting RT in on his very best bites from the trip… ROME - Porchetta sandwiches at Er Buchetto “Er Buchetto opened its doors in 1890. The name literally means ‘little hole’, and it’s an itty-bitty restaurant that’s known for serving porchetta sandwiches. Porchetta is pork, and here it’s a deboned suckling pig stuffed with rosemary, spices and olive oil, cooked for three to four hours. It has crispy skin and it’s super juicy inside and they serve it cold on traditional Roman bread, though some people get it with cheese or other condiments. “The owner, Alessandro Fioravanti, is the fifth generation of the family running it; his son is now representing the sixth generation. Get there early though: there’s normally a line out the door and they can sell out by the afternoon.” Browse our holidays to Italy here FLORENCE - Bistecca alla Fiorentina and Brunello at FrancescoVini “I really try to do my homework, but that does not mean I can’t be wrong – there have been times when a chef has corrected me, like at FrancescoVini. The wine cellar there is in the remnants of the fifth largest amphitheatre in the Roman Empire, and I was talking to the owner, Fabio La Brusco, about Super Tuscans [red wines from Tuscany]. He said, ‘That’s what we make for Americans. If you’re having Bistecca alla Fiorentina [a steak dish], you’re having a Brunello.’ View oEmbed on the source website “Afterwards he apologised to me and said, ‘I know you just spoke about this whole thing, we can cut it,’ and I said, ‘We are not cutting it.’ The showrunner of Man v Food taught me that the worst thing any…

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The Traitors star Faraaz reveals he was left in tears after billionaire's touching gift
type: item
date: 2026-01-30T11:00:21.000Z
creator: Katelyn Mensah
subject: Entertainment
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
subject: BBC iPlayer
subject: BBC One
subject: Exclusive
subject: News
subject: Radio Times Covers Party 2026
description: "I'm so grateful."
encoded: Faraaz Noor may not have won The Traitors prize money to take his family on a pilgrimage to Hajj, but the opportunity to do so may come sooner than he thinks. Faraaz was a fan favourite on this year's series, often for his quiet and sometimes incorrect contributions to the roundtable. He made it to the final episode but was ultimately banished by Traitors Stephen and Rachel. Ahead of the final, Faraaz said if he were to win the prize he would "love to be able to spend it on me and my family to make a religious pilgrimage". "To go to Umrah, to go to Hajj, would be really nice. For me to do that for my family would be great. If there's a bit of left over, I wouldn't mind putting a bit away for a new car but treating my family is my main goal." Following the whirlwind of The Traitors, Umar Kamani, the CEO of PrettyLittleThing, shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), that he "would love to send Faraaz from Traitors and his family to Hajj". View oEmbed on the source website Reacting to the news at the Radio Times Covers Party 2026, Faraaz shared that he was "in tears" after seeing the post. "I came back and I was talking to my mum and I was like, I just can't... to Umar, I'm so grateful, Alhamdulillah, I was literally crying my eyes out honestly. I couldn't believe it." View Green Video on the source website While details on whether Faraaz and Umar are in touch are not known, the breakout Traitors star is keen to still make the pilgrimage. He told BBC News: "The love and support I've been getting is unbelievable... Inshallah, one day I'll be able to hopefully take them to Hajj or even complete Umrah. I'm looking forward to that." The Traitors season 1-4 are available to watch on BBC iPlayer now. 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.

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Mary Berry delivers her verdict on Nigella Lawson joining GBBO in judging role
type: item
date: 2026-01-30T09:50:16.000Z
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: Channel 4
subject: Exclusive
subject: News
subject: Radio Times Covers Party 2026
description: Former judge Prue Leith has stepped down from the role after nearly a decade on the show.
encoded: Former Great British Bake Off judge Dame Mary Berry has shared her verdict on Nigella Lawson joining the cast of the Channel 4 show. Berry served as a judge on the beloved baking competition, alongside baker Paul Hollywood, from the show's inception on the BBC in 2010 until 2016. When it made the switch to Channel 4 in 2017, Berry announced her departure alongside the show's presenters, comedy duo Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins. Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig were then brought in as new co-hosts, while South African-British restaurateur Dame Prue Leith stepped up as the second judge to fill Berry's position. Toksvig later departed and was replaced by Matt Lucas, who Alison Hammond subsequently replaced. Now it has been announced that iconic TV chef Nigella Lawson will be taking over from Leith as she departs the show after nearly a decade. Speaking at the Radio Times Covers Party 2026, Berry shared her verdict on Lawson becoming a judge on the cosy cooking show, declaring that she was "delighted" by the news. "I’ve also recently heard Nigella Lawson is the new Bake Off judge, and I’m absolutely delighted," she said. "It will give Bake Off a wonderful new flavour, and Paul and her will get on like a house on fire." When asked what a great Bake Off judge needs, Berry answered: "The skill to be the judge and to be fair, be kind and encourage everyone to enjoy baking." Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. Leith announced earlier this month that she would be leaving The Great British Bake Off after nine years, saying of the role: "There cannot be a better job in the world." Of Lawson taking up her former position, Leith herself told The Spectator: "[Nigella is] also really nice, mighty glam and seriously bright, sexy and sassy. I’m just glad she wasn’t in the runni…

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Claudia Winkleman's stylist on the star's impeccable Traitors style and the brands she's faithful to
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Plus, Sinead McKeefry uncloaks her top looks from every series.
encoded: Add The Traitors to your watchlist The original brief given to Claudia Winkleman’s stylist, Sinead McKeefry, for the first series of The Traitors was providing 12 outfits for 12 episodes, with just four weeks to pull everything together. “We didn’t really know what we were doing,” she recalls. “Everyone was working out what the format was. There was talk of Claud wearing a parrot on her shoulder. She’s up for anything, but I was like, ‘I don't think we should make it pantomime.’ I believe there are enough beautiful things out there.” The celebrity stylist, who is based in London, was introduced to Winkleman by Fearne Cotton, who McKeefry was working with at the time, during a photoshoot. They’ve now worked together for almost 20 years. “Strictly was the most glamorous we’d ever go, but it still had a masculine edge to it and we kept it quite chic and pared back. The Piano is where you'll see the real Claudia. That's how Claudia would naturally dress, just a little more polished. She loves a Uniqlo jumper, and that's what she gets,” McKeefry explains. “With The Traitors, we can be a lot more editorial, edgy and creative.” For series 1, she focused on textures and patterns and, far from parrots and pantomime, she turned to high-quality heritage brands including Barbour, Brora, Dubarry of Ireland, and Johnstons of Elgin for countryside chic, keeping it “quite neat and obvious” to suit the backdrop of Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands, where you could “wear anything and look amazing”. It’s there that 22 contestants compete for up to £120,000, with the Faithful attempting to banish the Traitors. With the show now in its fourth series, Winkleman requires 36 outfits, three per episode, with breakfast, the mission and the round table all being treated differently. They take three months to prepare, with loads of back-up options and wet weather gear for any eventuality. “We lock everything down in London,” McKeefry says. “It's almost like prepping for a catwalk show a…

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The Lakes' hidden gems
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
description: RT's Laura Rutkowski heads behind the scenes of Lost and Found in the Lakes
encoded: Add Lost and Found in the Lakes to your watchlist While looking out at the glistening, expansive waters of the Lake District, you might think that anything dropped in there would be gone forever, alongside anything misplaced on the picturesque fells in the background. But Lost and Found in the Lakes, which returns for a second series this week, proves otherwise. In the programme, a team of dedicated scuba divers, freedivers and detectorists (on land) attempt to reunite people with their treasured possessions, whether it’s a ring, a drone, a phone (only the ones in waterproof cases, mind you) or a sentimental heirloom. RT visited Ullswater to watch one search take place, and later witnessed a reunion from a previous successful one, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. When something can’t be located, the owners are instead gifted with a piece made by a local craftsperson out of objects found by the divers in the lakes — turning trash into treasure. The team also clean up the lakes as they go, disposing of bottles, fishing tackle, scrap metal and disposable vapes. Helen Skelton, from Carlisle, who now lives near Penrith, is the perfect host for the show. “I love being in the lake, I love being on mountains, but I also like what people would call tat,” she says. “My house is full of stuff where other people are like, ‘What is that?’ “When I was growing up, being outdoorsy and in nature wasn’t cool. My parents farmed, and the farming kids were not the cool kids. Now, people appreciate and understand the benefits of having your feet in the soil, and sustainability. It’s a privilege to have grown up with this as my backdrop.” Mysteries of the deep Helen debriefs with the divers after their search in Ullswater. Renée Goulet, a Canadian who now lives in the Lake District, has been freediving since 2021. The most common thing people lose are phones, but “they’re replaceable”, she says. “The most meaningful finds are the things people never think they’re going to get back…

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Harlan Coben picks his top 10 thrillers of all time
type: item
date: 2026-01-02T07:00:20.000Z
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Exclusive
description: The king of the TV thriller selects his top 10 exclusively for Radio Times.
encoded: New Jersey native Harlan Coben is the internationally bestselling author of more than 25 books, known for their twists and turns. His work has been made into multiple TV adaptations. The latest one, Run Away, is the 12th for Netflix. Clearly, he knows a thing or two about thrillers. So we asked Coben to give us his top 10 from TV and film, and some of them feature actors he’s then gone on to feature in his own series. “I want to be surprised. I want to be entertained. I want to be moved. I want something that's going to stir my heart,” he says of his criteria. “I don't think a twist that surprises you is enough. The twist has to generate something inside of you and move you.” 1) Strangers on a Train “I love Alfred Hitchcock, obviously. He's been a major influence on me – the ordinary man and the extraordinary circumstance, or woman, and in this case, Strangers on a Train happens to be my favourite. "It's just a chance meeting between two people and some of the great, iconic scenes of all time, and we intentionally paid homage to it in (Netflix adaptation) Stay Close – the tennis scene when all the heads are moving back and forth, and one head is looking straight ahead. I used that one to represent my Hitchcock love. "If you asked me tomorrow, I could have picked Vertigo, I could have picked Rear Window, Psycho, a bunch of them.” 2) The Secret in Their Eyes “This is the original Argentinian one, do not watch the American remake! It's gripping, it's moving, it's a love story. I was so in love with this movie that we decided to make a Netflix South America show. We made one in Argentina where this is filmed, and the lead in Caught on Netflix is the lead in The Secret in Their Eyes, but it's dark, it's surprising. "It's got a wonderful twist at the end and a true, true heart. And there's one great film sequence when they scoop you into a stadium. Even with today's AI and things like that, I'm not sure you can duplicate it or make it as compelling as it is in that movie.…

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Harlan Coben’s Run Away cast and author tease "emotionally devastating ending" and talk "insidiousness" of addiction
type: item
date: 2025-12-29T17:00:44.000Z
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Magazine
subject: Netflix
description: From a panicked parental "what if?" to Netflix’s next big thriller, Harlan Coben and James Nesbitt dig into addiction, obsession and the terrifying lengths a father will go to when his child disappears.
encoded: This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. All of Harlan Coben’s book ideas begin with a "What if…?" – Run Away's is, "What if my daughter was taking drugs?" – The New Jersey author explains his thinking: "When my daughter Charlotte was young, I found some cannabis paraphernalia in her room, and my mind spiralled and went out of control. "One day I was sitting in New York’s Central Park on Strawberry Fields, which is where the John Lennon Memorial is, thinking, 'How do I open up this book? How do I get into the story?' One of the buskers was playing a John Lennon tune and I thought to myself, 'What would I do if the person playing that tune was my missing daughter?'" Luckily for Coben, Charlotte is far from missing and is actually the associate producer on Run Away. She also worked on the series as a writer, and has contributed to previous adaptations of her father’s books, Shelter, Stay Close and Fool Me Once. Coben is very involved in the casting of his series – this is his 12th for Netflix – watching audition tapes and approving everybody. "I would rather change the character to fit the actor than change the actor to fit the character," he says. At the front and centre of Run Away, written for the screen by frequent collaborator Danny Brocklehurst, is James Nesbitt, no stranger to the Coben-verse, having also appeared in Stay Close and Missing You. "He gives off good 'distressed dad' vibes," says Coben. In Run Away, Nesbitt plays wealth manager Simon Greene, who shares two daughters and a son with his wife, paediatrician Ingrid (Minnie Driver). When daughter Paige (Ellie de Lange) goes missing, Ingrid thinks she’ll come home when she’s ready, but Simon won’t stop looking, blaming her drug-dealer boyfriend for getting her hooked on drugs. Then one day he sees her in a park, singing and strumming away on a guitar… RT visited the Run Away set in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, where between takes Nesbitt said, "I’m the worst on-screen parent and the worst …

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Prepare to be thrilled
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Run Away is the latest twisty Harlan Coben mystery to be adapted for the screen – and James Nesbitt has come along for the ride
encoded: Add Run Away to your watchlist All of Harlan Coben’s book ideas begin with a “What if…?” Run Away’s is, “What if my daughter was taking drugs?” The New Jersey author explains his thinking: “When my daughter Charlotte was young, I found some cannabis paraphernalia in her room, and my mind spiralled and went out of control. “One day I was sitting in New York’s Central Park on Strawberry Fields, which is where the John Lennon Memorial is, thinking, ‘How do I open up this book? How do I get into the story?’ One of the buskers was playing a John Lennon tune and I thought to myself, ‘What would I do if the person playing that tune was my missing daughter?’” Luckily for Coben, Charlotte is far from missing and is actually the associate producer on Run Away. She also worked on the series as a writer, and has contributed to previous adaptations of her father’s books, Shelter, Stay Close and Fool Me Once. Coben is very involved in the casting of his series – this is his 12th for Netflix – watching audition tapes and approving everybody. “I would rather change the character to fit the actor than change the actor to fit the character,” he says. At the front and centre of Run Away, written for the screen by frequent collaborator Danny Brocklehurst, is James Nesbitt, no stranger to the Coben-verse, having also appeared in Stay Close and Missing You. “He gives off good ‘distressed dad’ vibes,” says Coben. In Run Away, Nesbitt plays wealth manager Simon Greene, who shares two daughters and a son with his wife, paediatrician Ingrid (Minnie Driver). When daughter Paige (Ellie de Lange) goes missing, Ingrid thinks she’ll come home when she’s ready, but Simon won’t stop looking, blaming her drug-dealer boyfriend for getting her hooked on drugs. Then one day he sees her in a park, singing and strumming away on a guitar… RT visited the Run Away set in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, where between takes Nesbitt said, “I’m the worst on-screen parent and the worst on-screen cop ever. Of all…

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A Guide to Netflix's Harlan Coben Collection
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
description: …by the man himself!
encoded: With Harlan Coben, it’s clear that all of his ideas for his books start with a “What if…” “There’s always something that happens in my regular life that I turn around in some way,” he says. There’s currently 12 book adaptations you can watch on Netflix, with the latest one being Run Away, starring James Nesbitt as a dad searching for his daughter who’s addicted to drugs and has run away from home. The king of the thriller genre says, “I want the ‘WTF’ when you watch my shows, I want the jaw to drop. That's fun.” There’s no better person to walk you through his collection than Coben himself, so we asked him to explain all of his “What ifs…”

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Harlan Coben's Top 10 Thrillers
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features

Beary Christmas
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
description: A new festive animation brings Pudsey to life with Tom Fletcher
encoded: Pudsey and the Thread of Hope, book available now and on BBC One on Christmas Eve at 10.20am. Add it to your collection Tom Fletcher has been having a bear-y busy year. “I must have been manifesting bears!” says the McFly singer and bestselling children’s author, who has not only written the music for Paddington the Musical, but has also brought another very special bear to life, Children in Need’s mascot, Pudsey. “Both of them stand for wonderful things: Pudsey for hope and Paddington for kindness. My version of Pudsey is a bit clumsy and is driven by a desire to help children.” The animation and book Pudsey and the Thread of Hope is based on Fletcher’s story about a boy called Jai who has lost his dad. He meets other kids who have been supported by Pudsey, with the thread of hope tying them together. Fletcher has three sons, aged 11, nine and seven, with his wife Giovanna. “They are my main source of inspiration. My middle child, Buddy, is home-schooled and he practically lives at the skatepark. It’s been this amazing journey with him, and so much of that I was able to put into Jai.” Fletcher’s eldest son Buzz sings Thread of Hope on the animation’s soundtrack with his father. “It felt like a lovely way to heighten the emotion of that moment and a special thing for me to be able to share with my son.”

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How 2025's Radio Times Christmas issue cover – featuring Aardman favourites – came to life
type: item
date: 2025-12-19T12:38:25.000Z
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: Movies
subject: TV
subject: BBC
subject: Magazine
description: Two iconic animated pals reunite on the Radio Times Christmas cover, as Nick Park brings festive clay magic to life.
encoded: 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 Gro…

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Meet the miniaturists shrinking Christmas for RT this year
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
description: Crafting a fantastic snowy landscape for RT's 2025 Christmas features was a real labour of love for Hannah Lemon and Abi Trotman
encoded: 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 …

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Bringing Back the Ice Age
type: item
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: App
subject: App features
description: How the team behind Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age brought animals like dwarf elephants and predatory marsupials to life
encoded: 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 a…

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7 reasons to watch Tom Hiddleston's new documentary series Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
type: item
date: 2025-11-28T17:01:49.000Z
creator: Laura Rutkowski
subject: Documentaries
subject: TV
subject: Magazine
encoded: 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 …

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We played Squid Game: The Challenge – and learned how brutal it really is
type: item
date: 2025-11-19T13:45:38.000Z
creator: David Craig
subject: Entertainment
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
subject: Video
description: 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.
encoded: 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!…

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