Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2024-12-11T09:23:25.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Who is Selling Sunset's Heather Rae Young's husband? Meet Tarek El Moussa
items: Dexter: New Blood release date - Cast, who's returning and all the latest news
items: Where is Line of Duty filmed? Locations for the BBC drama
items: Meet the cast of Death in Paradise season 10
items: When is Your Honor released in the UK?
items: What's on TV on Monday 28th December?
items: When is Birds of a Feather Christmas special release date? Cast, news and when it's on TV
items: See the "Queen" deliver Alternative Christmas Message on Channel 4 using deepfake technology
items: Emma Thompson targets Hollywood's "utterly unbalanced" sexual double standards
items: Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook-Off crowns second champion
items: A Sex and the City limited series is reportedly in the works
items: George Clooney says there are many rewards in The Midnight Sky "but you have to earn them"
items: Denise discovers huge betrayal as Lucas returns to EastEnders
items: Being Bridget Jones viewers find Helen Fielding documentary "laugh out loud funny"
items: All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special the "best thing of 2020" say viewers
items: Alzheimer's charity page in memory of Barbara Windsor exceeds £100,000 in less than a week
items: Exclusive – Watch first look trailer for Married at First Sight Australia season 6
items: Darragh Ennis won't be competing on Beat the Chasers – here's why
items: Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off crowns winner
items: Peter Jackson releases a five-minute montage from his Beatles film, Get Back
items: His Dark Materials writer Jack Thorne hints the Golden Monkey will speak in season 3
items: Stars Wars' original Boba Fett, actor Jeremy Bulloch has died, aged 75
items: A reboot of classic '70s drama Little House on the Prairie is underway
items: MasterChef: The Professionals crowns 2020 winner
items: Helen George says Call the Midwife is a "love letter to the NHS"
items: See first-look trailer for BBC One serial killer drama The Serpent starring Jenna Coleman
items: Death in Paradise announces January premiere date for season 10
items: Director John McTiernan confirms Die Hard is a Christmas film
items: Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas specials confirmed until 2026
items: Disney confirms Lizzie McGuire reboot is not "moving forward"

Who is Selling Sunset's Heather Rae Young's husband? Meet Tarek El Moussa
type: item
date: 2021-11-23T15:48:57.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Entertainment
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
subject: Netflix
subject: On demand
description: Heather Rae Young's partner is set to make his Selling Sunset debut in season four but who is he?
encoded: The fourth season of Selling Sunset arrives on Netflix tomorrow (24th November), with the hit reality show returning for another round of big commissions, big houses and even bigger drama. While the Oppenheim Group business is a key focus on the show, many viewers tune in to learn all about the Selling Sunset cast's personal lives, particularly their romantic relationships – which is why fans wanted to know all about Heather Rae Young's now-husband Tarek El Moussa in the last season. The show's producer Adam DiVello dropped a major hint last year that El Moussa would be appearing in the show and judging by first-look photos of the upcoming season, he was right. Since their wedding took place in October this year, perhaps we'll even get to see them walk down the aisle in the upcoming season? Here's everything you need to know about Tarek El Moussa – Heather Rae Young's husband. *This article contains spoilers about Selling Sunset season three* Who is Tarek El Moussa? Tarek El Moussa, 40, is the now-husband of Heather Rae Young, a real estate investor and a television personality. He has starred in HGTV's property reality show Flip or Flop with his ex-wife Christina Anstead since 2013, with the show following their real estate agency The El Moussa Group. Heather announced back in July 2020, just before the third season of Selling Sunset arrived on Netflix, that she'd become engaged to her beau, writing on Instagram: "The Future Mrs. Tarek El Moussa!!!!" with a picture of the pair. Tarek had his own Instagram worthy post: "This is the exact moment I got down on one knee and asked @heatherraeyoungto be my wife! You just never know where life is going to take you. If you told me 13 months ago I would be engaged today I would have called you crazy. You just can’t predict what’s going to happen. One moment you are sitting there and the next your life is completely different." His enthusiastic message didn't stop there as he revealed the former Playboy model had "not only b…

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Dexter: New Blood release date - Cast, who's returning and all the latest news
type: item
date: 2021-11-08T17:45:22.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Drama
subject: TV
description: Everything you need to know as Dexter makes his comeback.
encoded: A whopping eight years after its infamous finale, hit serial killer drama Dexter has returned to our screens for a revival series entitled New Blood. Starring Michael C Hall as ruthless murderer Dexter Morgan, the new series picks up 10 years after that disappointing finale, with Dexter now living under a new identity in the fictional town of Iron Lake in New York after disappearing in the eye of Hurricane Laura. It's well established that the original ending of Dexter was not the most popular conclusion to a television series ever – and the showrunner for the upcoming revival has admitted that the series "lost its way". Ahead of the revival series’ debut, showrunner Clyde Phillips told Variety: "It was only seeing as far into the future as the headlights on a car and had broken the covenant with the audience about everything that Dexter does has to be code-worthy." But can the new series recorrect those faults? With the first episode of New Blood having already aired in the US, and the UK debut coming soon on Sky Atlantic, here’s everything you need to know about the revival series… View Riddle on the source website Dexter: New Blood release date Vigilante killer Dexter returned to US screens on Sunday 7th November 2021. The release date was announced at Comic-Con along with a sneak peek trailer and season nine's title of Dexter: New Blood. However, fans in the UK will have to wait an extra day to watch the first episode. Will Dexter: New Blood be available in the UK? Dexter will air in the UK from Monday 8th November 2021, with episodes available 10pm every Monday on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW. If you want to revisit Dexter, or even watch it for the first time, Dexter seasons 1-8 are screening on Netflix. Dexter: New Blood cast Crucially, Michael C Hall has reprised his role as Dexter Morgan, the part he played over eight seasons and 96 episodes between 2006-2013 for US network Showtime. He responded "never say never" to a question in 2018 about whethe…

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Where is Line of Duty filmed? Locations for the BBC drama
type: item
date: 2021-03-19T11:49:50.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: BBC One
description: Jed Mercurio's hit police drama is back for another series.
encoded: BBC One's hit police corruption drama Line of Duty is finally returning to our screens after a gap of almost two years – with AC-12 returning to investigate yet another high-profile case. The series follows the anti-corruption unit at the fictional Central Police force, but the city in which the action takes place has never been revealed, with the BBC instead describing it as an unspecified British city and keeping the exact location deliberately vague. While we don't have any answers about where Line of Duty is actually set, however, we do know where the series was shot – read on for everything you need to know. Where is Line of Duty filmed? The first season of the show was filmed in Birmingham, with several of the city's landmarks seen during the run including New Street, the old Central Fire Station on Lancaster Circus and Heartlands Parkway. Other locations in the Midlands city which can be spotted throughout the first series include the Queen's Arms, a famous pub situated on Newhall Street, and the old Municipal Bank on Broad Street – which served as AC-12's original headquarters. After Line of Duty season one became a smash hit the production moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland, and this has been the case for every series since. While the BBC has never listed exactly which locations have been used on the show, several fans will have spotted some familiar landmarks in the series including Belfast Central Library on Royal Avenue which has moonlighted as Police Headquarters, and other prominent buildings including Obel Tower and St Anne’s Cathedral. For the latest news and expert tips on getting the best deals this year, take a look at our Black Friday 2021 and Cyber Monday 2021 guides. Meanwhile, the Invest Northern Ireland building on Bedford Street is used for the exterior shots of AC-12's offices while at various points throughout the series you can catch glimpses of Metropolitan College and streets including Tates Avenue and Ormeau Avenue. Speaking about film…

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Meet the cast of Death in Paradise season 10
type: item
date: 2021-02-11T13:36:00.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Drama
subject: TV
description: Your guide to the who's leaving, who's returning, who's joining, and who's guest-starring in the 2021 series of Death in Paradise.
encoded: The final episode in Death in Paradise season 10 begins in a somewhat unusual way, as a blood-spattered man called Emmet (played by Wil Johnson) wanders into the police station and confesses to murder. However, DI Neville Parker (Ralf Little) and DS Florence Cassell (Joséphine Jobert) aren't convinced he really did it. Fans will also be wondering whether JP is leaving Death in Paradise after he got offered a new job in episode seven. Is he leaving the cast of Death in Paradise? What will this mean for Trainee Officer Marlon Pryce (Tahj Miles)? Here are all of the actors featured in season 10 – and the Death in Paradise characters they play. Ralf Little plays DI Neville Parker Who is DI Neville Parker? DI Neville Parker replaced DI Jack Mooney as Saint Marie’s top cop part-way through series nine. He arrived from Manchester for a routine visit, but was waylaid by an unfortunate case of deep vein thrombosis and somehow stayed for the duration of the season, despite every allergy under the sun and unusual hypersensitivity to the sun. By the end of the season nine finale DI Parker was suffering an existential crisis and was as anxious about returning to Manchester as he was about staying in Saint Marie. Despite the all-clear to travel, Neville asked if he could stay in the job. Commissioner Selwyn hesitantly said yes – on a rolling contract. What else has Ralf Little been in? He's best known for playing Antony in The Royle Family, and for playing Jonny Keogh in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps – and this year he actually launched a filmed podcast with co-star Will Mellor called "Two Pints with Will & Ralf". The actor, who comes from Manchester, also has a background as a footballer; and his recent acting roles have included Stuart in The A Word, and Steadfast in Doctor Who. Joséphine Jobert plays DS Florence Cassell Who is DS Florence Cassell? Florence worked first with Kris Marshall's DI Humphrey Goodman and then with Ardal O'Hanlon's DI Jack Mooney, before le…

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When is Your Honor released in the UK?
type: item
date: 2021-01-14T15:55:02.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Drama
subject: TV
description: Bryan Cranston stars in the Sky Atlantic drama as a judge forced into criminality to protect his son.
encoded: Bryan Cranston has already famously played one character in a respectable profession who commits reprehensible crimes in order to look after his family – and in the upcoming drama Your Honor the Breaking Bad star is on familiar ground. In the new series, based on the award-winning Israeli series Kvodo, Cranston plays Judge Michael Desiato – who is forced into a "high-stakes game of lies, deceit and impossible choices" after his son is involved in a hit and run. The show began airing in the US towards the end of 2020, and UK viewers won't have to wait too much longer before they can enjoy the series, with a release date having now been confirmed this side of the Atlantic. Your Honor has been developed by BAFTA-winning English writer and director Peter Moffat, who has created series such as Criminal Justice, for which he won Best Drama and Best Writer at the BAFTAs, as well as The Village and Undercover. Moffat wrote some of the episodes and is show-runner on Your Honor. Showtime president of programming Gary Levine said of Your Honor when it was first pitched in 2017: “When a pitch has you on the edge of your seat for 40 straight minutes, you know you’re hearing something special. When the pitchers are as talented, experienced and acclaimed as [producers] Michelle King, Robert King and Peter Moffat, you buy it in the room and start planning for a fascinating new Showtime series.” When does Your Honor air in the UK? The 10-part series will debut on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV on Tuesday 2nd March 2021 – almost three months after its US debut. What is Your Honor about? Although it's based on Israeli series Kvodo, the US adaptation, Your Honor, is set in a New Orleans that is violent, crime-ridden and whose true law is the law of the jungle. Ostensibly, Your Honor follows the son of a respected judge who is involved in a hit and run. He hesitates then hangs up on 911 and instead turns to his father for protection. But the tragic death has a ripple effect and soon Cranston, …

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What's on TV on Monday 28th December?
type: item
date: 2020-12-28T06:00:56.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: News
subject: TV
subject: Christmas
description: Highlights today include Two Doors Down, Billy Connolly's final TV special and the continuation of Black Narcissus.
encoded: The period between Christmas and New Year never fails to turn up television gems and today's highlights are no different – there is comedy, a satirical review of a remarkable year in history and historical drama to choose from. We've run the rule over today's best Christmas TV and found the very best programmes to keep us entertained and, on Monday 28th December, these are the shows that really stand out. Christmas House of Games Night – 7pm, BBC One Richard Osman's winning quiz show features a celebrity edition this Christmas, with Miranda star Sarah Hadland, Taskmaster's Alex Horne, Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood and newsreader Charlene White joining him in the HOG lounge. The show has been a welcome addition to the TV landscape, with its charming mix of trivia, games and guest banter and it's the perfect bridge between festive films in the afternoon and the more serious evening fare. Will the winning star opt for the much coveted House of Games Christmas suitcase, or will the festive fondue set prove irresistible? Fun, witty, and full of surprises, Richard’s cross-examination of the celebs over the course of the evening provides an entertaining watch for all the family as the level of competitiveness and camaraderie grows. Escape to the Chateau at Christmas – 7pm, Channel 4 Dick and Angel Strawbridge pull out all the stops to create a family Christmas to remember in France. The couple plus Dorothy and Arthur will be joined by Angel’s parents Jenni and Steve this time around. With an old 19th century Chateau ledger found in the attic and classic cookbooks to hand, the Strawbridges take inspiration from Christmases past, discovering what food and festivities, gifts and games would have been like in bygone times. Dick and Angel’s imagination goes into overdrive as they create a winter wonderland on the Chateau's grounds. Bradley Walsh & Son: Breaking Dad The Unseen Show – 8:30pm, ITV As coronavirus laid waste to the TV industry during 2020, Bradley …

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When is Birds of a Feather Christmas special release date? Cast, news and when it's on TV
type: item
date: 2020-12-24T18:00:00.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Comedy
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Everything you need to know about the BOAF Christmas special, including cast, likely air date and plot.
encoded: It's been three years since we've sat down to Christmas with the Birds of a Feather crew and they are more welcome at our place this year than they've ever been. The spectre of coronavirus has overshadowed everyone's year to a greater or lesser degree and the pandemic has been worked into the narrative of the Birds of a Feather Christmas special, in a comedic way. How could it be any other way when Dorien and Tracey get together? Sadly, Sharon will not be involved in the special – she's stuck on a cruise on the other side of the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Actually, BOAF star Pauline Quirke ruled herself out of the special due to other work commitments. While Sharon will be missed the antics of Tracey and Dorien, including her new bloke Graeme, played by onetime Family Fortunes host Les Dennis, are destined to keep us entertained. When is the Birds of a Feather Christmas special on TV? The Christmas special – titled 'We Gotta Get Out of this Place' – will air at 9.15pm on Christmas Eve (Thursday, 24th December) on ITV. Birds of a Feather cast The core of the Birds of a Feather cast are the three old friends, Tracey Stubbs (Linda Robson), Dorien Green (Lesley Joseph) and Sharon (Pauline Quirke), and their various fallings out and back in. Sadly, Sharon is stuck on a cruise that's been becalmed by the pandemic on the other side of the world. The producers are hoping to fill the Sharon-shaped hole in with comedy with guest star Les Dennis as Dorien’s new flame Graeme, a cameo from comedy actor Curtis Walker, as well as Ami Metcalf playing Jordan, a young friend of Tracey’s who is in danger of having the most miserable Christmas, spending it alone in lockdown. A true to life storyline, then. Why isn't Pauline Quirke in the Birds of a Feather Christmas special? It's hard to imagine Birds of a Feather without Sharon Theodopolopodous and her dodgy enterprises. But actress Pauline Quirke ruled herself out of the Christmas special because she is so busy running her 2…

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See the "Queen" deliver Alternative Christmas Message on Channel 4 using deepfake technology
type: item
date: 2020-12-24T00:20:58.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Comedy
subject: News
subject: TV
subject: Channel 4
subject: Christmas
description: The parody of the Christmas Message uses a comic actress and deepfake technology.
encoded: Channel 4 has revealed its now traditional Alternative Christmas Message will be delivered by "Queen Elizabeth II" on Christmas Day; or rather, a simulacrum of the Queen will present the message using "deepfake" technology. Billed as an "alternative message for a very alternative year" Channel 4 has released a teaser clip of the five-minute message, which will actually be voiced by former Coronation Street star Debra Stephenson, who has previously imitated Her Majesty in shows such as Spitting Image. While Stephenson's delivery might not win any awards, Channel 4's stated purpose of giving a "stark warning" about the increasingly blurry lines between truth and "fake media" could be a success. In the alternative message, Stephenson as the Queen says: "If there is a theme to my message today, it is trust. Trust in what is genuine and what is not. The Queen then riffs on the importance of family at this time: "Which is why I was so saddened by the departure of Harry and Meghan. There are few things more hurtful than someone telling you they prefer the company of Canadians." View oEmbed on the source website She reportedly adds: "But at least I still have my beloved Andrew close by. It seems unlikely he’ll be heading to North America any time soon.” The Queen also appears to dance on a table for a TikTok viral video during the message, which she hopes might win her a place on Strictly Come Dancing. As well, she reveals what she has been up to during lockdown, which involved a lot of "Netflix and Phil". According to the BBC, the deepfake has been created by Oscar-winning VFX studio Framestore. The Alternative Christmas Message screens at 3.25pm on Channel 4, at the same time the Queen's official Christmas Message goes out on the BBC and ITV. Check out what else is on with our TV Guide, or take a look at our new TV shows 2020 page to find out what's airing this autumn and beyond.

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Emma Thompson targets Hollywood's "utterly unbalanced" sexual double standards
type: item
date: 2020-12-23T22:59:40.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: The Oscar winner says her new film might help to correct views of older women with younger men.
encoded: Emma Thompson is playing a widow who takes the opportunity to revive her life with a night with a young sex worker in upcoming film Good Luck To You, Leo Grande and has targeted Hollywood double standards in its depiction of age-mismatched couples. She told the CultureBlast podcast (via EW): "It’s completely acceptable for George Clooney – who is delightful – to have someone who is 40 years younger than him or 30 years younger than him. If I have someone playing opposite me in a romantic way, they have to exhume someone, because I’m 61 now. Do you see what I mean? It’s completely and utterly unbalanced." Dame Emma plays 55-year-old recently widowed woman Nancy Stokes, who stayed for years in a stale marriage but seizes the opportunity to explore her sexual life with a man in his early 20s in the film of a script written by UK comedian Katy Brand. The Last Christmas star added: "If Leo Grande, the film that we make, speaks to people and people aren’t averse to seeing someone who’s 61 largely naked with a very much younger person, it’s going to be very interesting. We’ve got to keep being brave about that." It will be interesting to see how the sex scenes are filmed because in the past Dame Emma has played them for laughs. She described filming a scene on 1989 film The Tall Guy, co-starring Jeff Goldblum, for the My Dad Wrote a Porno podcast in 2018: "Because it was a comedy sex scene, we were shagging on the piano, we were shagging in the breakfast things. There was shots of my arse with bits of toast stuck to it. Two f***ing days of being nude on set. "And when the campaign came out, the Campaign Against Pornography… said that if they were to show their children a sex scene, they would show that one, because it was fun, and funny, and full of humor. Because I noticed at the time that all sex scenes, everyone was so angry. They’re angry! You look at people’s faces, you look at Basic Instinct. Sharon Stone… livid! So cross!" Good Luck To You, Leo Grande director Sophi…

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Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook-Off crowns second champion
type: item
date: 2020-12-23T22:01:19.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
subject: Christmas
description: The judges said there could be only one winner of this episode. *CONTAINS SPOILERS*
encoded: Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood transferred his flamboyant skills from the dance floor to the kitchen as he was named the second winner of BBC One’s Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook-Off 2020, after Janet Street-Porter won the first edition on Monday. Revel Horwood's winning menu was themed around an alternative Christmas dinner, which began with fillet of beef served with sauté potatoes with sea salt and rosemary, pork and cranberry stuffing, roasted and candied beetroot, crispy sprout leaves with walnut and pecorino and a parmesan tuile with chicken liver pate and a port and red wine jus. To complete the challenge, he took on the infamous Invention Test, where the celebrities had to create a dish from ingredients found in a Secret Santa present box before a Christmas-themed Pairs Test on which he teamed up with Latif to create a Christmas Yule Log. Celebrity MasterChef judge John Torode described the potato dish as being “so well seasoned they are like the best pack of crisps you have ever had in your life and the beef is absolutely perfect.” For dessert he made a Black Forest rose crepe, filled with cherries in a cherry brandy liqueur served with Kirsch Cream and toasted almonds. Celebrity MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace and commented: “It tastes fantastic. That is really good.” Revel Horwood competed against entrepreneur and TV presenter Amar Latif, actress Crissy Rock and entrepreneur, businessman and TV personality Spencer Matthews. Revel Horwood said: “I have been waiting a long time for this. I’ve had a great time. I’d give everyone a great big Christmas kiss and hug if I could. I never win anything and I love it. This is the best Christmas present ever! Absolutely amazing.” Wallace said: “Craig put a lot into his main course. It was delightful. The winner had to be him when you look at the technical skill, the ambition and the flamboyancy. It was absolutely delicious; it was Christmas indulgence. Well done Craig!” Torode added: “Today was a…

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A Sex and the City limited series is reportedly in the works
type: item
date: 2020-12-23T20:48:28.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Drama
subject: News
subject: TV
description: The era-defining series about female empowerment may be brought back for a seventh season.
encoded: A Sex and the City revival, possibly as a limited series on HBO Max, is looking likely, according to US sources. The classic '90s New York comedy-drama about the sex lives and loves of a group of well-heeled, high-fashion, cosmopolitan women was an era-defining television show that spawned two hit films in 2008 and 2010 and a prequel series, The Carrie Diaries. Now deals are being negotiated to bring back the series, according to Deadline. A Sex and the City reboot would be very unlikely to include UK-born actress Kim Cattrall, who played the voracious Samantha Jones but who famously clashed with co-star Sarah Jessica Parker. When Cattrall rejected the idea of a third SATC movie, she told Piers Morgan: "This is really where I take to task the people from Sex and the City, specifically Sarah Jessica Parker. I think she could have been nicer.” She said of her character: “It’s a great part. I played it past the finish line and then some, and I loved it. And another actress should play it. Maybe they could make it an African-American Samantha Jones, or a Hispanic Samantha Jones.” If the series goes ahead, it's likely to have a different tone to the original. Cynthia Nixon told Radio Times this year: “There are things about Sex and the City that look very dated now; certainly how white it was. Even at the time, we were very aware of that. However, it was revolutionary in terms of the age of the characters. We were all over 30 when it started. And as it went on, we were quite a bit older than that.” TV Line reports that Parker, Kristin Davis and Nixon set to reprise their roles as Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda. The reboot will be the seventh season and will reportedly launch on the streaming platform HBO Max rather than its traditional home, HBO. Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell announced in 2019 that Paramount TV was developing a series based on her follow-up, Is There Still Sex in the City? about the "the lives of a lot of fifty- and sixty something women". It's…

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George Clooney says there are many rewards in The Midnight Sky "but you have to earn them"
type: item
date: 2020-12-23T18:54:43.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: The actor and director explains what drew him to the Netflix futuristic thriller.
encoded: George Clooney, the lead actor and director of Netflix's new dystopian thriller The Midnight Sky, warns viewers that while it's a story of "redemption" it is also a "meditation on loneliness and loss" and the rewards from viewing have to be earned. Clooney plays scientist Augustine Lofthouse, the last inhabitant of a desolate Earth in 2049, in the film of a script by The Revenant writer Mark L Smith. He has a terminal illness and while he tries to save the Jupiter expedition from a dying Earth he becomes aware of the presence of a child, Iris, played by Caoilinn Springall. Clooney suggested to Netflix Queue that The Midnight Sky is a parable for the way humanity is heading. “The inability to communicate from Earth to this spaceship feels very much like the things that we’re going through more and more,” he said. “We’re losing the sense of community. We get into our own worlds, and we stop looking out for one another.” Clooney added: “If you don’t look at these bigger issues and take them on, then climate change is going to reach our doorstep; anger and hatred are going to come home to roost. “We need to find a way to remind ourselves that we’re all in this together. There is redemption in this film. The idea that none of us alone get out of this thing alive, but maybe as a group we get out of it intact — I think that’s important.” First and foremost, The Midnight Sky was a "great script". It had to be to get Clooney out of the house after not making a movie in more than three years; instead, he's spent a lot of time at home helping raise his twin daughter and son. View oEmbed on the source website When he first read the script there was no pandemic, but there was still a lot of "hatred and anger" in society. "If you play out the impact of that plus climate change over 20 years, it’s not inconceivable that we end up in the same place that we are in this film," he said. "I loved the challenge of space and the Arctic. I thought that those were two of the more difficult…

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Denise discovers huge betrayal as Lucas returns to EastEnders
type: item
date: 2020-12-23T00:01:35.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: EastEnders
subject: News
subject: Soaps
subject: TV
description: Chelsea returns with Lucas as Albert Square is rocked by his unwelcome return on Christmas Day
encoded: EastEnders star Diane Parish says her character Denise Fox will feel "absolute terror" when she sees her ex-husband, serial killer Lucas Johnson (Don Gilet), back in Albert Square, but she's "shocked and betrayed" to see her daughter, Chelsea, with him. Parish said Denise is worried about Chelsea's behaviour: "She should be really thrilled and happy to see her daughter, who she hasn’t seen on Christmas Day in a while, so that is a lovely thing, but she shouldn’t have been standing next to her murdering father." Her anxiety is hardly surprising: Lucas was jailed in 2016 after he imprisoned Denise in their basement and tried to pin his murder spree on her. In the meantime, Denise has been bringing up her biological son, Raymond, after his adoptive parents died in a car crash. Chelsea, meanwhile, departed from Albert Square for Spain in 2010, but subsequent phone calls revealed the reason she'd stayed away was her deep shame at her family. Chelsea's return brings "peril" with it, according to Parish. She said: "It was one of the most interesting relationships I have ever had on EastEnders and I think it has now gone into another dimension with Zaraah [Abrahams, the new actor playing Chelsea]. It’s now two women at loggerheads, rather than a teenager or young girl, mother vs daughter so that will be interesting to play through." While Parish is delighted to have her "mate" Gilet back as Lucas, she is worried for Denise. "Don is just the most surprising and fantastic actor, he literally lets Lucas seep into his veins, and you watch it happen. I don’t know what is in his mind but you see something change in his eyes. The light in his eyes goes dead, it is quietly terrifying but really good!" EastEnders' executive producer Jon Sen explained how the return of Chelsea and Lucas would affect the family. "The fact that Chelsea has kept contact with Lucas causes a huge sense of betrayal and fractures the family because of everything that Lucas did when he was last on the Square…

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Being Bridget Jones viewers find Helen Fielding documentary "laugh out loud funny"
type: item
date: 2020-12-22T23:45:15.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: News
subject: TV
description: The BBC Two documentary was a hit with Bridget Jones fans new and old.
encoded: The remarkable life and career of Bridget Jones' Diary author Helen Fielding set viewers on a journey of reminiscence, humorous and humiliating, when Being Bridget Jones screened on BBC Two. The creator of an anonymous column in the Independent in 1995 about a young woman counting calories and cigarettes became a global phenomenon, a series of novels that spiralled into three hit Hollywood movies. The documentary on BBC Two sparked a surfeit of joyful recollections from Bridget Jones fans:"Whenever I watch Bridget Jones, I want to immediately go back in time, smoking, drinking falling out of a taxi and waiting for my love interest(s) to take me on a mini break and declare they love me... just as I am....Yep!" View oEmbed on the source website From her middle-class Yorkshire background and being Four Weddings and a Funeral director Richard Curtis' girlfriend at Oxford to becoming a global icon, Fielding's journey was somehow equally relatable and hilarious, especially the way she channelled her own TV news career into Bridget Jones' career. One viewer posted: "Really bloody enjoying #BeingBridgetJones on @BBCTwo right now. Laugh out loud funny. Read the book for the first time earlier this year after being a long-time fan of the films. Had no idea how much was based on Helen Fielding's own life! Amazing, well worth a watch". View oEmbed on the source website The author was super-relatable in the same way her creation was 20+ years ago. A fan wrote: "Helen reminds me of me. Funny and awkward, an open person, wears their heart on their sleeve. Not perfect but just real. #BeingBridgetJones". The celebrity contributions from Curtis, Bridget Jones' actor Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant were another pleasure for the audience, especially the latter's insights about Fielding. One viewer tweeted: "'She came in as Princess Margaret having had a stroke.' Sensational from Hugh Grant on Zellweger's first stab at a British accent. #BeingBridgetJones". Another highlight…

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All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special the "best thing of 2020" say viewers
type: item
date: 2020-12-22T22:20:35.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Drama
subject: News
subject: TV
subject: Christmas
description: The highly anticipated festive special was the perfect "antidote to anxious times". *CONTAINS SPOILERS*
encoded: Christmas Eve in the Yorkshire Dales was the perfect televisual bridge between a traumatic, pandemic-stricken year and Christmas Day as the All Creatures Great and Small festive special hit all the right notes with viewers. The will they-won't they storyline of the lovestruck vet James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) and the seemingly oblivious object of his affections, Helen Alderson (Rachel Shenton), finally reached its conclusion on the eve of her wedding to Hugh Hulton (Matthew Lewis). Helen rejected the lord of the manor at the altar, setting up her eventual marriage to James. Predictable it may have been, disappointing to fans of the Channel 5 period drama it wasn't! View oEmbed on the source website For many, the special had a winning balance: "What a perfect #AllCreaturesGreatandSmall Christmas special. It strikes just the right balance of heart-warming but never descends into being twee. Looking forward to series 2." View oEmbed on the source website It even soothed the cold hearts of Grinches, as one viewer posted: "Perfect Christmas telly. Even this old Grinch is in the mood now". Another viewer wrote: "I’m a sentimental old fool at the best of times but as Xmas tele goes this #AllCreaturesGreatandSmall is heartbreaking and warming in equal measure. Lovely". It was an "antidote to anxious times" for many in the audience. A viewer contrasted the drama with our current climate of social distancing: "Oh my word the comforting power of the human touch is being well and truly emphasised in #AllCreaturesGreatandSmall tonight. Beautifully done." View oEmbed on the source website Another posted: "I love this new version of #AllCreaturesGreatandSmall on Channel 5 and I'm old enough to remember watching the old BBC series." Earlier, All Creatures Great and Small star Samuel West, who plays Siegfried, stoked anticipation, with the help of Radio Times. View oEmbed on the source website Some viewers were already looking forward to the next series even while the Christmas spe…

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Alzheimer's charity page in memory of Barbara Windsor exceeds £100,000 in less than a week
type: item
date: 2020-12-22T21:08:01.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: EastEnders
subject: News
subject: Soaps
subject: TV
description: The fund in aid of dementia research was established by her husband, Scott Mitchell.
encoded: A JustGiving page set up by Dame Barbara Windsor's husband Scott Mitchell in aid of Alzheimer's research has exceeded £100,000 in less than a week. Mitchell launched the page to help the search for breakthrough dementia treatments, a disease that ultimately killed the EastEnders and Carry On star on 10th December. He said: “I have been completely overwhelmed by the response from Barbara’s fans, friends and former colleagues. This outpouring of support has filled me with pride and been a huge comfort to me. It just shows how loved, respected and adored my Barbara was. That’s magical." He added: “I’m determined to honour her legacy by doing everything I can to support dementia research and help Alzheimer’s Research UK’s search for a cure. We must find a way to stop future generations going through what so many of us have already. Please do consider a donation however small or large. Every penny will take us one step closer to desperately needed breakthroughs.” According to Alzheimer's Research UK, the sum included a single donation of £83,000 from Gamesys, the owner of the online bingo site Jackpotjoy. Dame Barbara worked closely with the company between 2010 and 2017 and starred in their television adverts as their Queen of Bingo and the company's CEO Leo Fenton said: "Barbara was a national treasure and much-loved member of our family, who brought fun, laughter and joy to so many. Jackpotjoy players remember Barbara fondly – we wanted to find a way to celebrate her life, say thank you and to continue to support a worthy cause that was close to her heart." Beside Mitchell's charity fund, Alzheimer's Research UK said donations to the charity had increased since she publicised her illness in 2018. Its chief executive, Hilary Evans, said: "We are so grateful that Scott is calling for support for Alzheimer’s Research UK in memory of Dame Barbara, and the response has been nothing short of incredible, reinforcing what we already knew – she really was, and still is, one of…

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Exclusive – Watch first look trailer for Married at First Sight Australia season 6
type: item
date: 2020-12-22T18:26:17.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
description: One of 2020's biggest reality TV hits is back and the trailer promises even more extreme emotion.
encoded: E4 has released a teaser trailer for season six of its break-out hit series Married at First Sight Australia, which is returning to the channel and All 4 streaming platform in early January. It promises an "even more dramatic and captivating" series than season five, which was notable for making Dean Wells the most hated man in Australia and one of 2020's unmissable pandemic guilty pleasures in the UK. The trailer highlights some of the more extreme moments, including one man telling a new groom "you're not good enough for my sister", while another bride complains that her new husband is too hands-on. "Any excuse to touch me," she says with a shudder. View oEmbed on the source website Married at First Sight Australia took E4 and the UK by storm earlier this year and was the most watched show on All 4 this summer. An innovation on the new season is that it will start with an eye-opening bucks' night (AKA stag night) for the boys, and hens' night for the ladies. The couples will then say ‘I do’ after meeting each other for the first time on their wedding day, as is the usual format for the series. After the nuptials are over, it's back to reality – or reality TV, at least – as the new couples embark on their luxury honeymoons and a potential lif etogether. Will any of them find their one true partner? Will any of them last beyond the production of the series? Married at First Sight Australia series 6 will air on E4 from 4th January 2021 at 7.30pm and will be stripped across the week from Monday-Friday. While you’re waiting visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight, or check out our guide to new TV shows 2020 to find out what's airing this autumn and beyond.

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Darragh Ennis won't be competing on Beat the Chasers – here's why
type: item
date: 2020-12-22T00:01:57.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: News
subject: TV
description: The new Chaser is not involved in the the second season of the spin-off.
encoded: ITV's hit spin-off of quiz show The Chase, Beat the Chasers, will not include new star Darragh Ennis when it starts a second season in early January. Irish research neuroscientist Ennis has been a popular addition to the long-running teatime show, with his debut watched by 4.9 million viewers, and Beat the Chasers has been a welcome variation on The Chase format. So why isn't he featuring in the second season? RadioTimes.com understands that his absence from the series is due to scheduling. A source close to the show said that the pandemic and changing schedules meant it wasn't certain that Ennis would have made his debut on The Chase when Beat the Chasers screened. It would have been peculiar to feature him on the spin-off if he hadn't yet appeared on the parent show. Ennis first appeared on The Chase on Thursday 19th November. Nicknamed "The Menace", Ennis is yet to be beaten by the contestants and made history by last week offering one player £120,000 if she went high, which she did only to lose her chase. Proving he has an edge to him, Ennis tweeted: "120k? Lose more running for the bus." Beat the Chasers spins The Chase concept on its head: instead of four contestants taking on a single chaser, one contestant can compete against between two and five chasers. The more they take on the bigger the pot of money they can win. For the latest news and expert tips on getting the best deals this year, take a look at our Black Friday 2021 and Cyber Monday 2021 guides. Chaser Anne Hegerty was upbeat about the new programme. “We’re definitely looking to do more as soon as we can,” Anne told RadioTimes.com after series one screened. “We knew when we were filming it that this was a really good show, we were saying to each other, ‘This is really exciting, we are having such close finishes’." Season two of Beat the Chasers screens on ITV on Sunday 3rd January and runs each night at 9pm for seven episodes, apart from 9th January. Check out what else is on with our TV Guide.

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Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off crowns winner
type: item
date: 2020-12-21T22:01:27.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
description: The first winner of the two Christmas specials has been revealed. *CONTAINS SPOILERS*
encoded: TV personality Janet Street-Porter became the first of two BBC One Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook-Off Champions this year and hailed her victory as "one for the pensioners". Her winning Christmas-themed menu started with a venison and damson Christmas pudding with seared chicory, caramelised carrot and butternut squash, brussel sprouts and gravy, a course that judge Gregg Wallace said may be “the best dish you have ever cooked for me”. Street-Porter followed that with a damson fool mixed with damson plums served with almond biscotti, drew a "I love it!" from judge John Torode. She triumphed over three rivals, including actor Christopher Biggins, broadcaster Dev Griffin and TV personality Vicky Pattison. She was shocked by her win: “No, I don’t believe it, I can’t believe it. I am really, really thrilled. I did a lot of moaning but I loved the cooking part. This is one for the pensioners!” Wallace said: “This has been brilliant fun. I think Janet’s pie was really clever and I loved the damson jam and venison inside. It was absolutely stunning, brilliantly clever and showed the touch of a really, really good cook.” Torode added: “This has been a fantastic celebration, we wanted a festive feast and that’s what all of the celebrities delivered. Janet’s food didn’t just taste great but it looked great; it was care, it was attention, it was detailed, it was delicious!” The final challenge after the two individual courses was a Christmas-themed Pairs Test, which saw Street-Porter and Christopher Biggins team up to create a Pork Wellington. The second Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook-Off will screen on Wednesday 23rd December at 9pm on BBC One with a line-up that includes choreographer and director, Craig Revel Horwood, entrepreneur and TV presenter Amar Latif, actress Crissy Rock and entrepreneur, businessman and TV personality Spencer Matthews in the kitchen. While you’re waiting visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight, or check out our guide to new TV shows 2…

Peter Jackson releases a five-minute montage from his Beatles film, Get Back
type: item
date: 2020-12-21T18:43:41.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: The auteur is cutting a film from 56 hours of never-seen-before footage.
encoded: Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has released a five-minute montage from his feature-length documentary about The Beatles, Get Back, culled from 56 hours of unseen footage of the Fab Four. The Oscar-winning auteur said: “We wanted to give the fans of The Beatles all over the world a holiday treat, so we put together this five-minute sneak peek at our upcoming theatrical film The Beatles: Get Back. We hope it will bring a smile to everyone’s faces and some much-needed joy at this difficult time.” Jackson added in the introduction: "The only good thing really is that we're editing the film in New Zealand and now that our country has largely stamped out the virus, we're able to come back into the cutting room and carry on with the editing that we're doing... And here we are. We've got 56 hours of never seen before Beatles footage and it's great stuff. "I'd say we're about halfway through the edit now but because you've been so patient and the film has been delayed until 2021 we thought it was a good time to give you a little sneaky preview of what we've been working on." View oEmbed on the source website The footage in the five-minute montage is culled from rehearsals for their legendary, valedictory performance on the rooftop of the Apple Corp building in Savile Row, London, in January 1969. It features the band in high spirits, with Billy Preston on keyboards, and Linda McCartney and Yoko Ono chatting away without of the acrimony associated with them. It was The Beatles' last live performance. The five-minute special look is available to fans worldwide on TheBeatles.com and streaming on Disney+. The feature-length documentary will open on 27th August 2021. Jackson's last documentary was the colourised World War 1 documentary They Shall Not Grow Old in 2019. Check out what else is on with our TV Guide, or take a look at our new TV shows 2020 page to find out what's airing this autumn and beyond.

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His Dark Materials writer Jack Thorne hints the Golden Monkey will speak in season 3
type: item
date: 2020-12-21T17:44:22.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Writer Jack Thorne has suggested Mrs Coulter's silent daemon will find its tongue.
encoded: Fans of His Dark Materials can allow themselves that tantalising prospect of the Golden Monkey talking when season three eventually lands. Writer Jack Thorne stated the development in a tweetalong during the climactic His Dark Materials episode on BBC One on Sunday. Thorne wrote in answer to a question about whether he'd written dialogue for Boreal's and Mrs Coulter's daemons, "I've tried for The Golden Monkey. But only once. And in the scripts for series 3." View oEmbed on the source website The Golden Monkey does talk in book three, The Amber Spyglass, and Thorne once again said he wanted to be faithful to Pullman's stories. Thorne explained: "At the beginning of the process, @janetranter1 and I got to spend some very happy hours with Philip setting out the ground work for what we wanted to do. He always reads everything, he will set us right, and he knows we only want to honour his books." Mrs Coulter's relationship with her daemon has been the subject of much analysis during season two. She has alternately maltreated, neglected, ignored and separated from the Golden Monkey. According to Ruth Wilson, the monkey's lack of a voice represented Mrs Coulter, “silencing herself in some way.” If the Golden Monkey does talk in The Amber Spyglass the character and plot significance will be monumental. The tweetalong included a number of other insights from Thorne and, just to be certain, he reiterated that the Golden Monkey is not Ozymandias. "The Golden Monkey is called the Golden Monkey in every single script," he tweeted. His Dark Materials season three is already in development and could air in 2022. “We are working on six out of the eight scripts at the moment and have good outlines for seven and eight, and it’s just very, very exciting,” executive producer Jane Tranter said. “I have to say, Amber Spyglass is my favourite out of the three novels.” While you’re waiting visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight, or check out our guide to new TV shows 2020 to find out…

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Stars Wars' original Boba Fett, actor Jeremy Bulloch has died, aged 75
type: item
date: 2020-12-18T01:38:52.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Star Wars (franchise)
description: The "quintessential English gentleman" embodied the spirit of Star Wars according to co-stars.
encoded: A key member of the original Star Wars trilogy, English actor Jeremy Bulloch, who played Mandalorian warrior and bounty hunter Boba Fett, has died, aged 75. The news emerged on Thursday on his Facebook page, while Daniel Logan, who played the same role in the prequel Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones wrote on Instagram: "I’LL LOVE YOU FOREVER.!! CONVENTIONS WONT BE THE SAME WITHOUT YOU MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU ALWAYS". Star Wars tweeted its tribute: "He will be remembered not only for his iconic portrayal of the legendary character, but also for his warmth and generous spirit which have become an enduring part of his rich legacy." His co-star in the trilogy, Mark Hamill, posted: "Jeremy Bulloch was the quintessential English gentleman. A fine actor, delightful company & so kind to everyone lucky enough to meet or work with him. I will deeply miss him & am so grateful to have known him." Bulloch wore Boba Fett's armour in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and because he was wearing a mask was able to play another role in the films: he appeared as an Imperial officer in The Empire Strikes Back. He also played Captain Colton in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. The legacy of Boba Fett lives on in Disney+ hit series The Mandalorian: the character is played by Temuera Morrison, who actually played Fett's father Jengo in Episode II — Attack of the Clones. Born in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, Bulloch had a long and colourful career as an actor. He had recurring roles in Doctor Who as Hal and Tor during the '60s and '70s, he played Edward of Wickham in the classic '80s adventure series Robin of Sherwood and he had roles in a number of James Bond movies, including The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only. The message on his Facebook page reads: "Jeremy died peacefully on 17th December 2020 following health complications, including several years living with Parkinson’s disease. He spent his final weeks in the wonderful care of sta…

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A reboot of classic '70s drama Little House on the Prairie is underway
type: item
date: 2020-12-17T22:48:40.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Drama
subject: News
subject: TV
description: The Laura Ingalls Wilder novels are being adapted for a new generation.
encoded: With the prevailing taste for adaptations of television classics, it's a surprise it has taken so long for a new version of Little House on the Prairie to be developed. But that hole has just been filled by news of Paramount TV Studios and Anonymous Content working together on a reboot. Little House on the Prairie was a hit long-running '70s series set in the late 19th Century in the struggling farming community of Minnesota, based on the novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It starred Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert and ran for more than 200 episodes between 1974-1983. EW reports that unlike the other "little" (Little Women) of that era, Little House on the Prairie has been left surprisingly undeveloped for modern TV audiences, although interest in the series has never disappeared. Ingalls Wilder's novels were turned into a half-hearted mini-series on The Wonderful World of Disneyand it was the subject of a touring musical in the late 2000s, but the announcement is the first meaningful modern adaptation. Producer Tripe Friendly told EW recently: "Fans are eager to see Little House on the Prairie come back to the screen, and we agree the time is right. We feel optimistic that this will happen.” Former Little House on the Prairie star Alison Arngrim, who played snobbish Nellie Oleson, is keen to be involved: "I’m just the right age to play Mrs Oleson... I’m totally there. I have no shame!” Bonanza star Michael Landon, who played the head of the family Charles Ingalls, died in 1991, but Melissa Gilbert, who starred as the author Laura "Half-Pint" Ingalls, is active. Co-producer Anonymous Content is a thriving creative force, with the likes of Homecoming, Dickinson and 13 Reasons Why in its catalogue. Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Little House series of novels are available to buy on Amazon, Check out what else is on with our TV Guide, or take a look at our new TV shows 2020 page to find out what's airing this autumn and beyond.

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MasterChef: The Professionals crowns 2020 winner
type: item
date: 2020-12-17T22:01:35.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: News
subject: TV
subject: Food
description: The new MasterChef: The Professionals champion put all his "heart and soul on a plate" in the final. *CONTAINS SPOILERS*
encoded: Born and bred Essex chef Alex Webb became the 14th champion of MasterChef: The Professionals on Thursday night, a performance during which judge Marcus Wareing said the 25-year-old "came of age". Alex said: "It is the best feeling I have ever had in my life. To walk away with the trophy is incredible. I am so proud.” Marcus said: “Today was Alex’s finest day... He is a brilliant young chef, I love his thirst for knowledge, and he has cooked beyond his years. MasterChef is about the next generation and for me as a chef I see Alex as the future.” Alex said that he had put all his “heart and soul on a plate” in the menu for the final. He started with a scallop ceviche with an artichoke and pickled pear tartare, yoghurt foam, parsley powder and crispy capers finished with a watercress oil. Marcus said: “You are very brave… the watercress oil is a point of genius, it works a treat. I could eat that all day long." Alex’s main was pan seared trout, with parsnip crisps, parsnip coleslaw, roasted parsnip, parsley gel and a parsnip puree, finished with a mussel and caviar cream sauce, served with a mini potato fish pie topped with caviar and parsley powder. MasterChef judge Monica Galetti said: “It is just fabulous.” Finally, Alex served a white chocolate and passionfruit dome, with passionfruit pearls, a Prosecco sorbet on a feuilletine and dark chocolate base served with a passionfruit cocktail and passionfruit powder party poppers. Host Gregg Wallace told him: “I have nothing to do here but heap praise on your lap: for me with this dessert you have covered yourself in glory.” During finals week, Alex had to defeat rivals Santosh Shah and Bart van Der Lee as they created and delivered a Michelin-standard dish for eight international culinary titans working in Britain today and then create a dish Dedicated to Someone Special. In Alex's case it was for his granddad. Alex said: “I decided to enter MasterChef because I wanted to see how far I could go; winning is something I wi…

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Helen George says Call the Midwife is a "love letter to the NHS"
type: item
date: 2020-12-17T21:26:25.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Drama
subject: News
subject: TV
subject: Christmas
description: The star says the festive special is a "Christmas miracle" AND a tribute to the health service.
encoded: Helen George says this year's Call the Midwife festive special is something of a "Christmas miracle" and even more so than usual is a "love letter to the NHS" after the incredible work the healthcare professionals have done during the COVID-19 pandemic. George, who plays nurse Trixie Franklin in the BBC One period drama set at the East London convent of Nonnatus House, heaped praise on the health service during an appearance on The One Show. "I just pretend to be [a nurse], they actually do the work," she said. "I think Call the Midwife has always been a bit of a love letter to the NHS and it's fantastic, but now... [in] times of crisis and the pandemic, we're really seeing how we need the NHS and how they are the backbone of our society and hopefully they will be appreciated in the future." George said the 2020 episode is "everything you would expect from a Call the Midwife Christmas special – "it's very festive, very traditional. The circus comes to town, which we didn't think we were going to be able to film but we managed to. It's just a really lovely, feel good Christmas, but I think there will probably be a few tears along the way". She added that it was quite a feat that it was produced at all, considering the coronavirus complications. "We didn't know if we were going to be able to film it because we were supposed to start when lockdown happened originally. The fact we even made it is quite frankly a Christmas miracle," she said. The action takes place at the end of 1965, when a circus comes to Poplar, with a very familiar ringmaster, Peter Davison, fresh from his role in BBC One drama Life. The special also sees the return of a Call the Midwife character we’ve seen before for a moving storyline with Shelagh Turner (Laura Main), while Trixie receives an upsetting Christmas gift from her aunt – a subscription to a “Marriage Bureau”. Call the Midwife screens on Christmas Day on BBC One at 7.40pm. While you’re waiting visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight…

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See first-look trailer for BBC One serial killer drama The Serpent starring Jenna Coleman
type: item
date: 2020-12-17T20:12:56.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Drama
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Jenna Coleman appears as the accomplice and girlfriend of a ruthless killer in the first trailer.
encoded: The BBC has released the first trailer of its new serial killer drama, The Serpent, inspired by the true story of the conman and murderer Charles Sobhraj who led detectives on a merry dance throughout Asia in the mid '70s. The drama is a co-production between the BBC and Netflix and it stars Tahar Rahim as Sobhraj and Jenna Coleman as his girlfriend and accomplice Marie-Andrée Leclerc, who travelled across Thailand, Nepal and India in 1975 and 1976, carrying out a spree of crimes on the ‘Hippie Trail’ and becoming the chief suspects in a series of murders of young Western travellers. Sobhraj is depicted as a charming, cold-hearted psychopath in The Serpent trailer. Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg (The Witness for the Prosecution star Billy Howle), says urgently: "This man will keep killing until he's caught!" "What if he's never caught," responds his partner. View oEmbed on the source website The Serpent charts the path of Sobhraj as he became international crime agency Interpol's most wanted man, while Knippenberg becomes involved in his web of crime and himself sets off an extraordinary chain of events. Notable for Victoria and Doctor Who star Coleman's departure from her usual virtuous roles, The Serpent also co-stars The Trial of Chrstine Keeler actress Ellie Bamber, Amesh Edireweera, Mathilde Warnier, Grégoire Isvarine and Blackadder actor Tim McInnerny. The Serpent is an eight-part, one-hour long series made by Mammoth Screen and conceived and developed by Tom Shankland and Richard Warlow. The Serpent will initially screen on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK on New Year's Day at 9pm, but will later be available outside of the UK and Ireland on Netflix. Check out what else is on with our TV Guide, or take a look at our new TV shows 2020 page to find out what's airing this autumn and beyond.

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Death in Paradise announces January premiere date for season 10
type: item
date: 2020-12-17T18:05:13.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Drama
subject: News
subject: TV
description: The much-loved murder-mystery series will return early in the New Year.
encoded: Death in Paradise has confirmed when its 10th season will premiere on BBC One: the popular murder-mystery series will kick off on Thursday 7th January at 9.00pm. Death in Paradise announced the return of the programme set in the fictional murder capital of the Caribbean, the island of Saint-Marie, on Twitter. View oEmbed on the source website Ralf Little will be back in the lead role of DI Neville Parker in Death in Paradise, but the new season features the return of two much-loved characters in the form of the original lead detective Richard Poole, played by Ben Miller, while Joséphine Jobert will return to the role of DS Florence Cassell. It's not known how DI Poole will return to the show, but it will be a brief comeback. Fans were happy to have the premiere date confirmed. One responded on Twitter: "Frankly amazed you’re coming back as soon as that but thrilled." Another wrote: "Just hearing the theme tune will make the miserable Covid winter feel that bit better". Death in Paradise has become one of the BBC's most-loved programmes since it debuted in 2011, as proven by one American fan, who wrote: "The episodes trickle in on the PBS channel. I see no means of viewing this shows entire season and I don't know how to get this show!!!!! I have the BBC channel but they do not broadcast shows, only news. I am excited, but I will not be able to tune in." Season 10 will consist of eight episodes, airing each Thursday on BBC One. Meet the full cast of Death in Paradise season 10. Check out what else is on with our TV Guide, or take a look at our new TV shows 2020 page to find out what's airing this autumn and beyond.

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Director John McTiernan confirms Die Hard is a Christmas film
type: item
date: 2020-12-17T02:58:18.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Christmas
description: The director of the original has finally explained how it became a Christmas classic.
encoded: The director of Die Hard, John McTiernan, has released a short video explaining why the original Die Hard movie is a bona fide Christmas film. It's a debate that rears its head each year as the Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman blockbuster invariably crops up among festive television schedules and, despite a fan proving why it is a Christmas movie, it always sparks debate for and against. McTiernan said in his video, first reported in The Hollywood Reporter: "We hadn't intended it to be a Christmas movie, but the joy that came from it is what turned it into a Christmas movie." This may not satisfy the nay-sayers, including star Bruce Willis, but he continues in a particularly rambling fashion that the original Die Hard script sent to him by producer Joel Silver was a terrorist film about particularly nasty people at the heart of capitalism. McTiernan didn't want to make that film – he wanted to make Christmas classic inspired by It's a Wonderful Life, with a working-class hero at the heart of it, which is what John McClane became. The figures of authority and not just the terrorists were all made to be "foolish". View oEmbed on the source website He said there was a "joy" among the cast and crew because they "got it", they understood how the story had changed and been subverted from a straightforward terrorist movie into a parable about greed, a story that's at least as old as Ebeneezer Scrooge and A Christmas Carol. McTiernan related the authoritarians in Die Hard to modern US politicians. "There are genuinely evil people out there," he said. "My hope at Christmas this year is that you will all remember that authoritarians are low-status, angry men who have gone to rich people and said, 'If you give us power, we will make sure nobody takes your stuff.' And their obsessions with guns and boots and uniforms and squad cars and all that stuff. And all those things you amass with power meant to scare us, meant to shut us up so we don't kick them to the side of the road and …

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Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas specials confirmed until 2026
type: item
date: 2020-12-17T01:00:56.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Comedy
subject: News
subject: TV
subject: Christmas
description: The show's creator Brendan O'Carroll says there will be at least five more years of the specials.
encoded: Brendan O'Carroll, the creator of long-running Dublin sitcom Mrs Brown's Boys, has confirmed he has signed a deal with the BBC that guarantees Christmas specials until 2026. O'Carroll told The Irish Sun that the deal had a clause in it which guaranteed the specials would go out at 10.00pm on Christmas Day, otherwise he didn't have to make them. He said: “We’ve been doing it in for nine years already — which is six more than The Royle Family had and more than Morecambe and Wise. This new deal we signed last week goes all the way to 2026, which means I will be able to grow into the part, and we’ve a clause in which guarantees Mrs Brown is aired at 10pm on Christmas night, or else we don’t have to make it." He added: “I wanted that because if it’s not good enough for Christmas Day, then we shouldn’t be making it.” Mrs Brown's Boys is an award-winning programme that divides opinion like few others. It has a substantial and loyal fanbase – at its peak in 2012 the Christmas specials were watched by 11 million viewers, although last year just under five million tuned in, which, in audience share terms, was still significant. The broad comedy of the sitcom set in the Dublin neighbourhood of Finglas has its detractors. One viewer posted on Twitter: "As someone who did stand up, comedy is subjective and usually has its audience. The viewing figures for Mrs. Brown's Boys tend to be some of the biggest. We just gotta like it and lump it." The 2020 Christmas specials were filmed at BBC Scotland in October with the cast having rehearsals on Zoom and daily COVID tests before filming the two episodes. O'Carroll said: “When we arrive in Pacific Quay, the HQ of BBC Scotland, we light up the whole place. They let us take the place over. We just get on with everybody. Not just our crew but the people working in the offices. It goes back to when we made the very first Mrs Brown series, we connected with everyone at BBC Scotland." The Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas specials screen on BBC One…

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Disney confirms Lizzie McGuire reboot is not "moving forward"
type: item
date: 2020-12-16T23:41:46.000Z
creator: Patrick McLennan
subject: Drama
subject: TV
subject: Family
subject: News
description: The revival of much-loved teenage comedy drama had started production in 2019.
encoded: Disney has confirmed that the Lizzie McGuire reboot will not be going ahead, while its star Hilary Duff said "despite everyone's best efforts, it isn't going to happen". The revamp of the much-loved series has been in doubt for some time, ever since show runner Terri Minsky left the show in January in a disagreement over the direction of the reboot. According to EW, Disney wanted to keep the show PG-friendly and suitable for Disney+, but Minsky and Duff wanted to be faithful to the life of the now 30-year-old central character. Duff wanted the show transferred to Disney's more adult Hulu streaming platform. A Disney spokesperson told EW, “Lizzie McGuire fans have high expectations for any new stories. Unless and until we are confident we can meet those expectations, we’ve decided to hold off and today, we informed the cast’s representatives that we are not moving forward with the planned series.” Duff, who starred as the teenager on Disney Channel from 2001-2004, said on Instagram that she wanted any reboot to be "honest and authentic to who Lizzie would be today". "It's what the character deserves," she said. "We can all take a moment to mourn the amazing woman she would have been and the amazing adventures we would have taken." The Lizzie McGuire reboot started filming in November last year before coming to a halt in January. Minsky left the production soon after while Disney said the revival would be heading "in a different creative direction". Lizzie McGuire ran for 65 episodes over two seasons, plus one feature-length movie in 2003, and its depiction of the life of the awkward teenager desperate for a popularity made a star out of Duff. She signed off her Instagram post: "I'm very said, I promise everyone tried their best and the stars just didn't align. Hey now, this is what 2020s made of." Check out what else is on with our TV Guide, or take a look at our new TV shows 2020 page to find out what's airing this autumn and beyond.

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