Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2022-06-30T12:19:36.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Steven Moffat: how Conan Doyle inspired me
items: Meet the cast of Poldark series three
items: The A to Z of Friends
items: The true story behind Call the Midwife
items: Who is Coleen Nolan? Celebrity Big Brother 2017 profile
items: Philip Seymour Hoffman: behind the spin
items: Dancing on Ice: things get hairy as Samia Ghadie is knocked out
items: Why you should be watching... Episodes
items: Cardinal Burns: web chat
items: All the Queen's horses - Clare Balding reveals some common ground with Her Majesty
items: Stuart Baggs, you have been evicted from the Big Brother house
items: Colin Murray on his race to meet British Olympic heroes
items: Radio Times magazine: Nick Hewer and Karren Brady on how to pick an Apprentice winner
items: Michael Vaughan on life beyond the boundary
items: Channel 5 reveal new Big Brother eye
items: Kylie Minogue to headline 2012 BBC Proms in the Park
items: Famous film quotes quiz
items: The X Factor 2012: auditions open on Facebook
items: Ian Hislop on comedy, politics and Have I Got News for You
items: Breakfast of champions: what our sporting heroes eat
items: Rihanna: "I never do anything to get banned"
items: BBC to offer 24 live Olympics video streams
items: Evan Davis: open up Thought for the Day to non-believers
items: Sherlock and Twenty Twelve up for South Bank Awards
items: Big Brother winner sues ITV over The Only Way Is Essex
items: Sport Relief 2012 raises over £50 million for good causes
items: Chariots of Fire to be remastered and reissued
items: Sport Relief 2012: tonight’s TV line-up in full
items: Miranda Hart visits an African slum to raise awareness for Sport Relief
items: Frank Skinner faces his greatest fear for Sport Relief

Steven Moffat: how Conan Doyle inspired me
type: item
date: 2020-07-25T07:00:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Drama
subject: News
subject: TV
description: The Sherlock co-creator on why he enjoyed adapting Arthur Conan Doyle's classic detective stories for television.
encoded: This is an edited version of an article that originally ran in Radio Times magazine in December 2011, presented here to mark the 10th anniversary of Sherlock on 25th July, 2020 My grandparents gave me A Study in Scarlet to read when I was nine or ten and right from the off, I was hooked. It’s brilliant on so many levels – not least the fact that the hero wasn’t nice. In fact, he could be downright horrible. There was something incredibly appealing about that – after all, we don’t rank our friends in order of niceness, and while we approve of nice people, there’s something much more interesting about a b*****d. And that’s what Holmes is. Arthur Conan Doyle was an amazing storyteller and a very modern author. The books are actually funny but often the adaptations aren’t, which I find odd. Sherlock Holmes often bursts out laughing or is having a laugh with Watson, but you rarely see it. He’s always stern and I think he’s quite impish. When I read The Speckled Band, I thought that the rest of fiction could go hang. Nothing can top it – a great murder weapon, a great climax, real proper thrills. Conan Doyle’s stories are rich – the way he makes reference to other stories to send you off looking for them and to untold stories to whet your appetite for more. In a way, he also invented the TV series as, trying to work out the way to sell serialised stories in the likes of The Strand magazine, he came up with the idea of having short stories with the same protagonist. It was genius. After the success – the genuinely surprising success – of the first series, Mark Gatiss and I decided to tackle the iconic stories in this series. It’s also why we’ve brought in Irene Adler – because she gave birth to the trope in the films of Sherlock battling femmes fatales. Why wait, we thought. Give the audience what they want. So that’s what we’ve done. As for Holmes’s death, I don’t believe that Conan Doyle ever really planned to kill him off. That’s faithfully reported, but I don’t believe…

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Meet the cast of Poldark series three
type: item
date: 2018-08-17T14:37:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Drama
subject: News
subject: TV
description: New faces and familiar friends – Aidan Turner leads a stellar cast for the new series of the hit period drama on PBS Masterpiece
encoded: Poldark is back, and with the Byronic Aidan Turner and the tempestuous Eleanor Tomlinson swaggering, fighting and loving in their natural home as they rebuild their marriage, everything is just as it should be. Is it sexist to lust after Aidan Turner in Poldark? Where is BBC drama Poldark filmed? Poldark commissioned for a fifth – and probably final – series Or is it? The third season, based on books five and six of Winston Graham’s epic saga, kicks off in 1794 with Elizabeth about to give birth to Ross’s child (probably), Demelza’s brothers turning up, the French Revolution in full swing and a veritable Paris Mob of new characters traipsing into Truro. Inevitably most of them mean trouble. Meet the entire cast of the BBC1 drama below... THE NEW CAST Morwenna Chynoweth - Elise Chappell Elizabeth’s innocent cousin is hired to be governess for Elizabeth’s son Geoffrey, and there’s soon a tug-of-love tension between the three. Then there’s sexual tension with newcomer Drake Carne and outright tension with the sex-crazed Reverend Osborne Whitworth. Ellise Chappell is barely out of university, with just two TV credits to her name: The Last Dragonslayer and New Blood. “I was actually on my way to ask for my barista job back when I got the call to say I’d got the job,” she says. “I turned around and walked home again!” Sam Carne - Tom York Sam is a charismatic Methodist preacher who turns up to save his sister Demelza’s soul. The older brother of Drake, Sam soon captures a significant congregation and falls out with the local church and with George Warleggan. Ross, understandably, is convicted. York, whose CV includes Olympus and Death in Paradise, also has a smoulder to rival Aidan Turner. “It’s daunting coming into such an iconic, established drama,” he admits. “But Sam is a gift — it’s rare as a young actor to get to play a character with such principle and conviction.” Drake Carne - Harry Richardson Drake is the brother of Demelza and Sam. He leans closer to his free-s…

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The A to Z of Friends
type: item
date: 2018-01-02T09:15:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Comedy
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Netflix UK has got all the episodes of Friends, and we have 26 reasons to watch it all again...
encoded: A is for… Apple - the Big one, where the show was set. B is for… Brad. Before Brangelina, there was Brannifer (Braniston…?) and the episode starring Jen’s then husband, Brad. He played Will, a formerly overweight high-school “friend” who, we discovered, co-founded the I Hate Rachel Green Club with Ross. "Look at her standing there with those yams. My two greatest enemies, Ross. Rachel Green and complex carbohydrates…" C is for… Central Perk, the only coffee house in town. D is for… Dr Drake Remore. Joey’s greatest ever role, the brilliant surgeon on daytime soap Days of Our Lives, master of the “smell-the-fart” school of acting. View oEmbed on the source website E is for… Emily, or is it Rachel? Yes, that's not a mistake Ross will make again. F is for… Fussball. Joey and Chandler’s table football game took up a large chunk of their free time and was responsible for much male bonding. They were finally forced to destroy it in order to free their pet duckling, which had become trapped inside - but not before saying personal goodbyes to each of the plastic players. “Good game. Good game.” G is for… guest star. Among the many famous faces keen to grab a piece of the action down the years have been Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Brad Pitt, Danny DeVito, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Ben Stiller, Freddie Prinze Jr and our very own Sarah Ferguson. H is for… How you doin’? Joey’s failsafe chat-up line, always to be pronounced with a stress on the “you”, in finest Italian-American style. View oEmbed on the source website I is for… I’ll Be There for You. The theme tune, performed by The Rembrandts. View oEmbed on the source website J is for… Jellyfish. And there's only one way to treat a jellyfish sting... enough said. K is for… Kiss - that kiss... View oEmbed on the source website L is for… London, baby! The obligatory, but misguided, two-part holiday episode featured a wedding, a big slip-up and appearances from Richard Branson and Sarah Ferguson. M is for… Marcel. Everyon…

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The true story behind Call the Midwife
type: item
date: 2017-07-27T12:00:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Drama
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Jennifer Worth's daughters remember the real women who inspired the hit Sunday-night drama
encoded: On Sunday night, sisters Suzannah Hart and Juliette Walton will gather their family to watch the fifth of the series of six episodes of BBC1’s hit series Call the Midwife. Nothing unusual in that - the true-to-life drama captured 9.8 million viewers for its first episode, BBC1’s highest launch figure to date - and a further eight episodes have already been commissioned. For Suzannah and Juliette, however, Call the Midwife has a special resonance. The drama is adapted from the bestselling memoirs of their mother, Jennifer Worth, who died, aged 75, just before the series was filmed last summer. Watching the progress of Jenny Lee (played by Jessica Raine) as she learns about life in the slums of postwar Poplar has, say the sisters, been a uniquely moving experience. Not only have they had the chance to watch their mother’s footsteps, but memories of the other real characters - Sister Julienne, fellow midwife Cynthia and boilerman Fred - have come flooding back. Jennifer Worth “Mother was fading fast in the summer, just as the series was starting to be brought to life, and that was a very unusual, but quite magical and positive dovetail of events,” explains Juliette. “Even so, I watched the first episode with trepidation. I didn’t know if I would enjoy it, but I just loved it and am growing to love it more.” Suzannah, 47, agrees: “There are hundreds of thousands of women who lose their mothers, but how many of those will live through the experience that we’ve just been through – seeing our mother portrayed as a young girl, in a time before we knew her? It feels like a very special privilege, and in a way it has helped us cope with her loss. “Jessica Raine was terribly anxious that we should be happy with her performance and I think she’s got it just right. Her Jenny is very dignified, there’s a slight reserve to her. She holds herself well and speaks nicely. All that fits very well with Mother’s personality.” “Of course,” says Juliette, 45, “none of us knew Mother at th…

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Who is Coleen Nolan? Celebrity Big Brother 2017 profile
type: item
date: 2017-02-02T08:30:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
description: Everything you need to know about the singer, reality star and Loose Women presenter rumoured to be heading for CBB
encoded: Celebrity Big Brother 2017 housemates: Coleen Nolan Age: 51 Famous for: Singing; reality & daytime TV Biography: Having initially found fame in the late '70s as one of the Nolan Sisters, a group who've been in the mood for dancing for more than 30 years, Coleen has latterly become a favourite on reality and daytime TV. She made her first appearance on Loose Women in 2000, joined the This Morning's roster of presenters in 2001 and appeared on the first series of Celebrity Fit Club in 2003. Since then, she's taken part in Dancing on Ice, All-Star Family Fortunes and even been regressed though her past lives on 2006's Have I Been Here Before (it turns out that she was "nervous 16-year-old debutante" in a former incarnation), a TV appearance you can enjoy all over again below. View oEmbed on the source website She appeared on the 10th series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2012 and finished as runner-up behind comedian Julian Clary.

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Philip Seymour Hoffman: behind the spin
type: item
date: 2014-02-03T08:10:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Movies
subject: News
description: A look back at a 2011 interview with the acclaimed actor, who died this week
encoded: Following the tragic death of Philip Seymour, a chance to read an interview with the Oscar-winning actor from October 2011 When he was in high school, Philip Seymour Hoffman suffered an injury that was to change his life. Until that point, sport had been his passion and whenever his mother urged him to try acting, he’d scoffed and returned to American football, baseball or wrestling. “I was like ‘Mom, I love sports, why would I want to do that?’ All the guys I hung out with were jocks. Sport was everything for me. I couldn’t even think about doing anything else.” Then he picked up a neck injury during wrestling practice and the doctors told him that, for the foreseeable future, contact sports were out of the question. “How did I feel? Pretty fed up,” he smiles. “But you have to do something else to fill your time. And it’s funny how things turn out.” It certainly is. He signed up to his school’s acting class and gradually it replaced sport as his favourite pastime. “It was a slow burn but I think the lightning bolt moment came when I saw my first adult play, All My Sons (by Arthur Miller). I came away completely bewitched.” After studying drama at New York University’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, he started out in the theatre and when there wasn’t any acting work, he took odd jobs to pay the rent. Then he auditioned for a film, Scent of a Woman. When he won the part he was stocking shelves in a grocery store. “I’d had spells when I was unemployed and times when I was doing odd jobs, whatever came along, like most actors. And then I got Scent of a Woman and it changed everything and after that it was a different ball game. “I’d never thought about a film career until then. I thought that if I was lucky I’d get work in the theatre. But suddenly I was a viable film actor and it all followed from that.” What followed includes an Oscar, a Bafta and a Golden Globe for Capote in 2006, two further Academy Award nominations (for Doubt and Charlie Wilson’s War) and …

Dancing on Ice: things get hairy as Samia Ghadie is knocked out
type: item
date: 2013-02-25T08:15:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
description: In "prop week", the Corrie star and her partner Sylvain Longchambon just miss out on a semi-final spot after the judges' skate-off votes go to Luke Campbell
encoded: The Samia Ghadie and Sylvain Longchambon love show on ice has come to an end, after the duo lost the skate-off to boxing champ Luke Campbell and partner Jenna Smith. Joking that Samia's “picked up a few things” along the way, giving a nod to the pair's rumoured romance, presenter Phillip Schofield teased the Corrie actress into admitting that they will continue to be “friends” and “stay in touch” now their time on the show has finished. In a desperate bid to ramp up the drama, Phillip fussed over Samia's initial disappearance from the results show, as she was being treated for a groin injury, although we should probably count ourselves lucky there were no crude joke attempts there from ol' cheeky Phillip. After getting through the skate-off with some almost visible teeth-gritting, all four judges, Karen Barber, Ashley Roberts, Robin Cousins and Jason Gardiner, voted to save Luke, although they said Samia could leave with her head held high after two solid performances. Props week proved to be a good challenge for all of the celeb skaters, who cleverly weaved their given items into their performances without any dropping incidents. Keith Chegwin, who was voted out last week, joked on Twitter that he was gutted he wasn't there to show off his moves with his pogo stick (oo-er!), but instead it was left to Beth Tweddle with a hula hoop, Matt Lapinskas with three hats, Luke with a skipping rope, Samia with a hairdresser's chair and Gareth Thomas with a rugby ball, all giving a little nod to their usual day jobs. Skating legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean took to the ice again this week, with their very own prop in the form of Jools Holland and Rumer, who performed from the safety of dry land – Jools in spandex would probably have been a bit much for a Sunday evening. It seems Jayne thinks she's at the Oscars, with a whopping three dress changes throughout the show – each of course more sparkly than the last. The judging panel was all a bit sweetness and light aga…

Why you should be watching... Episodes
type: item
date: 2012-06-15T08:43:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Comedy
subject: News
subject: TV
description: A killer script, great cast and cinematic production values make this Anglo-American comedy unmissable TV, says Bart Harris
encoded: In a world where everyone is harping on about Game of Thrones or Embarrassing Bodies, the TV gems are often overlooked. Episodes, the Anglo-American comedy drama starring Stephen Mangan, Tamsin Grieg and Matt LeBlanc, is one of those gems. Now halfway through its second series, Episodes is the second most undervalued sitcom of the 21st century. The first is Green Wing. From that remarkable show Mangan and Grieg have been plucked for this low-key tragicomic triumph. Joining them, and long since the commercial flop that was Joey (which I have to admit I sort of quite liked), is Matt LeBlanc. The premise is not dissimilar to Ricky Gervais’s Extras. A husband and wife writing team with a hit show in England are invited to rewrite it for an American audience. It then gets systematically ruined by the studio system. What was a warm-hearted public school romp called Lyman’s Boys becomes a hideous high-school ice hockey farce called Pucks! To add insult to injury the studio boss, Merc Lapidus (played by John Pankow who looks and acts uncannily like a cartoon character studio boss), fires Richard Griffiths as the star and replaces him with LeBlanc (playing a hyper-arrogant version of himself). Grieg and Mangan’s Beverly and Sean Lincoln are currently separated due to some terrible misunderstandings involving Matt LeBlanc in the first series. Now in full production, Pucks! faces tough competition from a ‘talking dog show’ on a rival network. And surrounded by off-set romances and stereotypically, hilariously vacuous Americans, Sean and Beverly attempt to stay calm in an ever more baffling Hollywood storm. There are three things I can pinpoint that make this show special: Most important is the script, co-written by Jeffrey Klarik and Friends creator David Crane. Unlike more mainstream dramas and sitcoms, Beverly and Sean react to the ridiculous situations around them like you or I would. They speak how real people speak which makes the writing seem effortless – the highest pra…

Cardinal Burns: web chat
type: item
date: 2012-06-14T09:50:52.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Comedy
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Seb Cardinal and Dustin Demri-Burns, stars of the E4 sketch comedy, joined us for a live web chat to answer your questions...
encoded: The first season of E4's hit sketch show Cardinal Burns came to an end this week. But RadioTimes.com's readers were able to catch up with Seb "Cardinal" Cardinal and Dustin "Burns" Demri-Burns, to pick their comedy brains. In case you missed it, re-live the conversation here... James: Those horror sketches last week were brilliant - especially the final Don't Look Behind You sketch. Reminded me of the heady heights of League of Gentlemen and Psychoville. Are you fans of their work? DUSTIN: We're huge fans of theirs. They've always been an inspiration. Funnily enough we received an email from Steve Pemberton saying how much he enjoyed the show, which meant the world to us. Will: Cardinal Burns was brilliant. But if you got a second series, what, if anything, would you do differently? SEB: We loved lots of the running sketches: Office Flirt, Young Dreams, etc. But, if we get a second series, we'd love to do more one-off sketches to add a bit more variety. James: Don't take this the wrong way guys, but you both look a bit older than a lot of new comedy duos making their first show on TV — which I think actually might be a good thing. Your material isn't needlessly shock factor, throwaway, etc. Is this because you guys met later than the average comedy partnerships, or have you just been plugging away for years on the comedy circuit? SEB: We're actually in our early twenties. We've just had very tough lives. Shaun Watson: Hi guys, Cardinal Burns is the best sketch show ever — love it. Would you both consider touring the UK? I live in Newcastle and would definitely pay to see you guys live. And, I know others would too! SEB: Thanks, Shaun. Yes, we're actually talking about doing a tour of the UK at some point next year. However we will be at the Edinburgh Festival this year from 20 to 25 August. TVEye: Hello, Seb and Dustin. Your show is very funny, but the overriding message looks to be that men are self-deluding idiots. Would you agree? DUSTIN: Yep, absolutely! Charlot…

All the Queen's horses - Clare Balding reveals some common ground with Her Majesty
type: item
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: News
subject: Sport
subject: TV
description: Her grandfather, father and brother have all trained racehorses for the Queen, gaining a special insight into a Royal obsession
encoded: The official celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee will begin on Derby Day at Epsom, so putting the royal seal of approval firmly on the sport of horse racing. What has for so long been called the sport of kings should probably be re-named. The Queen’s love of horses dates back to a Shetland pony called Peggy. A scruffy, shaggy, stocky little mare who was a gift to Princess Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret, from their grandfather, King George V. The Queen learnt to ride on Peggy and Her Majesty has the touch of a true horsewoman in everything she does with racing. She recognises her horses by sight, is fascinated by their mental and physical development and always talks in detail to the groom who looks after each one. One tiny example of the attention to detail: the Queen never wears perfume when she visits the yard to see her horses as it can excite testosterone-fuelled young colts. My grandfather, father and brother have all trained racehorses for the Queen, and I have witnessed up close Her Majesty’s deep knowledge of the horses she has bred and raced. I have also seen how relaxed the Queen is around horses and how much she enjoys the company of racing people. She loves the stories and the humour, as well as the concentration on a subject she enjoys. The Queen is a keen follower of the horse whisperer Monty Roberts and adopts many of his techniques on her foals and yearlings – for instance, leading them over a blue plastic sheet so they are not afraid of walking through water. The result is that they are more responsive and better behaved when they arrive at their various racing yards. As for the Derby, the Queen came very close to winning the race in her Coronation year of 1953 with a horse called Aureole. He finished second to Pinza, who gave the champion jockey Gordon Richards his first win in the race at the 28th attempt. The Queen later said, “One shouldn’t really be sad not to win because Sir Gordon, at last, had won the Derby.” It took an…

Stuart Baggs, you have been evicted from the Big Brother house
type: item
date: 2012-05-25T12:30:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
description: Our "ace" entertainment man checks out Channel 5's 2012 pad - and attempts a task for himself - how do you think that went?
encoded: Mahiki, Oxfam, Germany: the list of places I’m banned from is as depressing as it is diverse. Why, you might ask? Well according to my girlfriend, I’m a liability and cannot be taken anywhere without causing large scale offence. Imagine a Frankenstein’s-entertainment-monster of Frankie Boyle’s sense of humour with the tact of the Duke of Edinburgh – hello, my name is Stuart Baggs The Brand™. Unfortunately my unique charms seem to result in a great number of invitations to glitzy press launches and celebrity parties being lost in the post. Imagine then my surprise at being invited to the launch of Big Brother 2012. An epic 3-month BB Bonanza starting on 5 June. Now in the interests of full disclosure, I already have a good relationship with the team up at Big Brother (although it still took RadioTimes.com to get me in the house). I’ve appeared (in various guises) on Bit on the Side over the past few series, made a few VTs and even prompted Ofcom complaints for my cutting sense of humour and opinions on American foreign affairs policy. This however should have served as a warning to the Big Brother team that I simply cannot be trusted to behave myself. Seemingly, they hadn’t got the message. Upon arrival at Elstree Studios (the home to the Big Brother House and also the BBC’s big money all-singing – and some dancing - entertainment format The Voice), I decided to park in Jessie J’s space as an act of revenge for all that whining every weekend. Security clearance issued (there’s a first time for everything), I was allowed into the “house” for a tour of what is essentially the most luxurious prison in the world. And double dip recession or not, this year the producers have gone all out. (I hope you appreciated my business-related reference there. Never forget your roots). Themed like a Las Vegas show bar, the house is complete with 1960’s style wallpaper, backstage area (known to normal folk like us as a bedroom) and from what I could tell… only a single toilet. Is Big …

Colin Murray on his race to meet British Olympic heroes
type: item
date: 2012-05-19T06:50:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: News
subject: Radio
subject: Sport
subject: audio
subject: TV
subject: Olympics
description: The Radio 5 Live presenter has embarked on a gold run to meet as many British Olympic medallists as possible
encoded: It occurred to me recently that I have almost certainly met more British Olympic gold medallists than the Queen. If that is the case, then I’m truly sorry, ma’am. I could work it out and clear this up definitively, but that would involve spoiling a story that has been two long years in the making. My tale begins at a table, sat opposite my friend and colleague Nick Etherton. The fact that the table was in a bar might have had something to do with our making a pledge to try to track down every single living British Olympic champion. At the time, we could only guess how many there were, where they all lived, who was the oldest, and, more importantly, whether they would talk to us. But why? Well, the word “legacy” is used a lot in connection with the 2012 games – a legacy for the athletes, a legacy for London – but what about a broadcasting legacy? What about something to mark the arrival of the Games on these shores for the first time since 1948? That was the basis of our slurred conversation, and it was then we decided to chronicle Britain’s modern-day Olympic glory. Before long we had a list, and the magic number was 114. I had hoped for fewer. First to confirm was a rosy-cheeked knight of the realm, Sir Matthew Pinsent, who just happened to work in the office next door. That’s about as easy as it got. The hardest to pin down were those still active and chasing more gold in London, given their hectic training schedules. The gap in financial support, remuneration and recognition between our current generation and those from yesteryear is obvious, but what unites almost all is dedication, supreme ability and, I’m delighted to say, a level of humility that I suspect comes after, rather than before, winning an Olympic title. The biggest team we feature is the 1988 hockey side from Seoul, who made sure everyone got a medal by making a wave of substitutions in the closing minutes of the final. They’re closely followed by the rowing eight from Sydney, who made it nine than…

Radio Times magazine: Nick Hewer and Karren Brady on how to pick an Apprentice winner
type: item
date: 2012-05-14T12:43:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
description: Lord Sugar's aides reveal what their boss looks for in a candidate - plus Jenni Murray meets Tim Samuels, Joe Swift's Chelsea Flower Show diary and more...
encoded: “Honesty is the key virtue we are all looking for,” says Nick Hewer in this week's Radio Times, explaining what Lord Sugar seeks in potential business partners. “Sugar can accept people make mistakes but he cannot bear when people don’t take responsibility. That is unforgiveable in his book.” As we reach the half-way point of the current series of The Apprentice, Lord Sugar's aides Nick Hewer and Karren Brady reveal the qualities their boss looks for in the show's candidates and give their verdicts on the remaining eight contestants. Also this week: Gardener’s World presenter Joe Swift shares his Chelsea Flower Show diary with us, American actress Chloë Sevigny discusses playing a transgender assassin in Hit & Miss, and Colin Murray meets Britain’s 114 surviving Olympic gold medal winners. Simon Schama, Jeremy Paxman, Imogen Stubbs and Samuel West all insist that the best way to read Shakespeare is to do it out loud, Lucy Worsley explains why she loves proto-feminist Nell Gwyn, and Gok Wan opens up about his new mission to change the nation’s diet. Plus, we’re giving you the chance to win tickets to this year’s RHS Hampton Court flower show, Woman's Hour presenter Jenni Murray meets Men's Hour host Tim Samuels, and newsreader Sophie Raworth reveals her secret party trick… It’s all in this week’s Radio Times, out on Tuesday 15 May, priced £1.40.

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Michael Vaughan on life beyond the boundary
type: item
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: News
subject: Sport
subject: TV
description: Mihir Bose talks to the former England cricket captain about retiring from the game, and his documentary, Sporting Heroes: After the Final Whistle
encoded: A few hours after Michael Vaughan had shed tears as he announced he was giving up the England captaincy, he was celebrating at a family barbecue. So which was the real Michael Vaughan? We are in a room at the basement of BBC Television Centre talking about his documentary, Sporting Heroes: After the Final Whistle, for which he has interviewed famous athletes coping with retirement. For Vaughan the tears that fell during his August 2008 press conference did not represent fear of life after his sporting career was over. They were an unplanned reaction to a very different feeling. "As I walked in, I screwed up my script. I thought, 'I'm going to speak from the heart and see what comes out.' I didn't expect to cry, but the tears came. The room was full of guys I'd been talking to for six years as captain. I knew then that, as much as I was trying to put this spin on it that I was going to come back as a batsman, I wouldn't play for England again. That hurt me most because that's what I played cricket for." While Vaughan played another year for Yorkshire before his final retirement in 2009, he never did play again for his country. But however wonderful an experience the captaincy was - "like no other in sport," he says - Vaughan confesses it imposed a heavy burden on him. "You have to put on a show, be this diplomat. When I was driven away from that press conference, the tears dried and I had a family barbecue and celebrated. Much as I was emotional, I realised I could start being me again. I could say pretty much what I wanted. I was very fortunate to be a successful England captain and I had many opportunities. I was one of the lucky ones who'd called time on their career. I wasn't shoved." This wasn't quite the impression Vaughan gave when the BBC's Jonathan Agnew asked him about his poor form just before that press conference. When I remind Vaughan of his testy response to Agnew's question he laughs and says, "That got blown out. It may have come across that I was ha…

Channel 5 reveal new Big Brother eye
type: item
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
description: A colourful new logo for the reality show, which will offer both a 'public' and celebrity edition this summer
encoded: The new logo for the upcoming series of Big Brother has been revealed and, as you can see above, it's a rather retro looking multi-coloured affair. A new Channel 5 series is set to kick off in July, followed by a celebrity version directly afterwards, with reports suggesting the BB house will get an upgrade for the arrival of the D-listers. Channel 5 began showing Big Brother in August 2011, a year after Channel 4 ended its decade-long relationship with the format. It has so far screened two series of Celebrity Big Brother, won by Paddy Doherty and Denise Welch, and one series of Big Brother, which saw Aaron Allard-Morgan triumph in November 2011. The broadcaster announced last month that it had extended the original contract with creators Endemol to take the show for another two years, until 2014, with former BB winner Brian Dowling continuing as presenter.

Kylie Minogue to headline 2012 BBC Proms in the Park
type: item
date: 2012-04-27T12:56:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: TV
subject: BBC Proms
description: The pop superstar will join Alfie Boe, Il Divo and the London Community Gospel Choir for the London event in September
encoded: Kylie Minogue will headline the BBC Proms in the Park event in London this autumn, the BBC has announced. The pop superstar will perform in Hyde Park on Saturday 8 September at the top of a bill that includes tenor Alfie Boe, classical quartet Il Divo and The London Community Gospel Choir. Proms in the Park, which features a mixture of popular and classical performances at the end of the Proms season, will be hosted by Sir Terry Wogan and feature music from the BBC Concert Orchestra. Earlier in the evening, Tony Blackburn will introduce a range of performers including Björn Again, Gypsy Queens, the cast of Let It Be and the BBC Big Band. Simultaneous events will take place in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, all of which will culminate in a Royal Albert Hall sing-along as the Last Night of the Proms reaches its climax. Tickets can be obtained from the official BBC Proms website.

Famous film quotes quiz
type: item
date: 2012-04-23T13:30:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Pub quiz
description: Test your movie trivia knowledge with our truly amazing quote quiz and win...the respect of your peers
encoded: Great film quotes are golden: they live on in the memory long after you've walked out of the cinema. Or at least, that's the idea. And what better idea for a round in your latest home pub quiz than some classic movie loglines. 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. Hollywood has some of the best lines in the business, so why not test your quoting prowess with our fabulous film quotes quiz? Read each line, and then check out the answers at the bottom of the page... Good luck! Questions "Round up the usual suspects." "Love means never having to say you're sorry." "One morning, I shot an elephant in my pyjamas. How he got in my pyjamas, I don't know." "A boy's best friend is his mother." "Carpe Diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." "I'll have what she's having." "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!" "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good." "Well, nobody's perfect." "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!" "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow." "Rosebud." "Say 'hello' to my little friend!" "You can't handle the truth!" "Go ahead, make my day." "Hasta la vista, baby." "You had me at 'hello'." "You talkin' to me?" Answers Casablanca Love Story Animal Cracker Psycho Dead Poet Society When Harry Met Sally Gone With The Wind The Wizard of Oz Wall Street Some Like it Hot The Godfather Part II Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb To Have and Have Not Citizen Kane Scarface A Few Good Men Sudden Impact Terminator 2 Jerry Maguire Taxi Driver How did you score? 15-20: Show me the money! You're a quote quiz master. Your cheque is (sadly) not in the post. 10-14: Really good effort: a little more practice and you, too, could be extraordinary. 5-9: A fair atte…

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The X Factor 2012: auditions open on Facebook
type: item
date: 2012-04-17T12:45:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: TV
description: For the first time, hopefuls can upload their audition via the social network
encoded: Singers who sound great in their bedrooms don't even need to leave home to apply for this year's X Factor: for the first time, wannabes can audition via Facebook. Hopefuls visiting this page and clicking the Audition tab can upload a video of themselves performing at any time between now and midday on Tuesday 8 May. The chosen few will not, however, have snuck into the boot camp stage without facing Gary Barlow and co: if they succeed they'll be asked to audition in person for the show's producers. The 2012 show's open auditions tour of six major British cities has already been completed, with applicants who passed them progressing, like successful Facebook contestants, to the familiar stage shows in front of the judges, which are still to come. The judging panel is thought to be as it was last year - Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos, Kelly Rowland and Louis Walsh - although this has not yet been confirmed. Applicants via Facebook must be aged 16 or over and must have the right to live and work in the UK. They are eligible whether they are an amateur artist, have had a management deal in the past or have one now. The innovation follows the use of online auditions by this year's Britain's Got Talent. They were conducted via YouTube and a shortlist of 24 was drawn up, which YouTube users then voted on - although the winning act, harmony singing group the TestostaTones, did not reach the televised stages. View oEmbed on the source website

Ian Hislop on comedy, politics and Have I Got News for You
type: item
date: 2012-04-13T12:00:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Current Affairs
subject: News
subject: TV
description: "Sometimes the ones who are really useless are incredibly funny..."
encoded: You’ve been taking the mickey out of our politicians on Have I Got News for You since it began in 1990 – when last year The Guardian decided that you were the most influential voice in British politics, did you worry people were taking you too seriously? Yes, it’s nonsense. Their point, I think, was that undermining politics means you will get worse people involved in it, no one who is any good at it will go into it again, and everyone will think politics is a waste of time, which again is what the politicians have said for almost 300 years. I say what we do is take politics seriously. We are engaging with politics – and if we’re being funny about it, it’s because we want it to be done better. And if we are exposing things about it, it’s because we think it would be better if it was not done like that. I still maintain that is positive. So laughing at our politicians is good for us? Yes, but the fashionability goes in waves. I remember talking to the old lot at Private Eye about how amazing it was to be there during the satire boom in the 60s, and now young people are saying to me, “How amazing, you were on Spitting Image in the 80s. It must have been amazing!” And I thought, “I remember being there, but I’m not quite sure that it was amazing.” And are you friends with Paul Merton? Yes. We don’t spend a lot of time in each other’s kitchen borrowing sugar, you know, we’re not Morecambe and Wise... but yes, we are friends. Do you see him between series? No. But we always go out and have a drink after each show, and have done always. Have any of the guest panellists tagged along who you’d rather hadn’t? Oh, yes. A number have made me think, “Surely you don’t want to have a drink after that?” But some people are very thick-skinned... Who is the most thick-skinned guest? There is no one thicker skinned than Sir Brucie. When he did Play Your Iraqi Cards Right – which is a low-point in taste for British television, where he had various Iraqi generals and mass murderers and…

Breakfast of champions: what our sporting heroes eat
type: item
date: 2012-04-09T08:00:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: TV
description: As Great British Menu goes Olympic, Duncan Goodhew, Dai Greene, Geraint Thomas and more talk fuel vs fancy food...
encoded: Duncan Goodhew - Olympic gold-medallist swimmer What do you have for breakfast? My favourite indulgence is cooked breakfast. It’s the best meal, with a swim behind you and the rest of the day in front of you. I have porridge cooked with skimmed milk and served with crushed walnuts and a dusting of demerara sugar followed by kippers – lightly grilled, served with a mustard butter and lemon. Or else smoked haddock with poached eggs. At one time all I did was swim, eat and sleep. When I was at university in America I’d have the full breakfast — eggs then pancakes. I’d have two long sessions in the pool every day and a session in the gym. I’d be swimming anywhere from 10 to 20 kilometres a day. Then I needed fuel and I ate enormous meals. I’d finish with a late supper - a 22-inch pizza and a beer before bedtime. Has your attitude changed? If you want to get your best performance in anything you have to fuel yourself and you have to exercise. I’m no monk; I love food. But as you get older you have to make adjustments. For me, that means moving away from sugars towards more complex carbohydrates, so fewer desserts and more porridge. What sort of food did you grow up with? My family owned and ran hotels as well as nightclubs and restaurants. It was all silver service when I was growing up in the 1970s. The perfect menu featured prawn cocktail with melba toast, steak and chips and Black Forest gateau. Where would you go for a celebration meal? Koffmann’s at the Berkeley Hotel. My brother trained with Michel Roux at the Waterside and then fronted La Tante Claire for Pierre Koffmann. Pierre has the most exquisite twist on a spaghetti bolognese — instead of spaghetti he cuts squid to look like spaghetti and his bolognese is like no other. He is the master! His signature pig’s trotter is absolutely superb. Another dish is curried mussels with mashed potato and I’ve yet to wheedle out of him the secret ingredient. There’s something in there that gives you little explosions of fl…

Rihanna: "I never do anything to get banned"
type: item
date: 2012-04-07T06:00:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: audio
subject: News
description: The controversial pop star talks about her debut film, Battleship, and her path to stardom in the music business
encoded: For all her undoubted singing talent, pop princess Rihanna isn’t always that well prepared. When the 24-year-old singer was invited to make her movie debut onboard Battleship, she went into the meeting “and really didn’t know what film it was”. She smiles. “I just knew that I had a meeting, and this guy just started talking and showing me lots of pictures of aliens. It was not until the end that I realised he was the actual director of the film!” That director was Peter Berg (Hancock) and the fact that he chose Rihanna to play “a real bad-ass” in his $100 million-plus sci-fi action film is no great surprise when you ask what she brings to the movie. “What do I bring to the movie? My bad ass-ness, and my buns. That’s what I bring.” And that is probably enough, considering she has Liam Neeson appearing alongside her. Firearms She also brought her own knowledge of weapons. “I was in the cadets when I was about 11,” she says. “I really didn’t know what it was, but the minute they said we got to shoot, I said, ‘Yeah, I’m in!’ The weapons were nothing like on Battleship, though,” she adds. “There’s a gun I fire in the movie that was so powerful, I would come back with gunpowder everywhere.” As well as requiring the firing of large guns, Battleship – inspired by the board game and in cinemas from Wednesday 11 April – also taught the outwardly tough young woman to look at herself more closely. “I always act so tough,” she says, “and I never want to show people my vulnerable side. But as tough as this chick looks,” she points to a poster with a picture of her character carrying an enormous assault rifle, “I had to let my guard down. “My acting coach would say ‘I can tell that your dad was an alcoholic and I feel like you are so used to hiding yourself, now you have to let it out,’ and that taught me a lot. Every woman is vulnerable and I’m no different.” Family With her sexy stage antics and the questionable image she portrays to her young fans, Rihanna may be a mum’s worst …

BBC to offer 24 live Olympics video streams
type: item
date: 2012-04-03T14:37:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: News
subject: Sport
subject: TV
subject: BBC
subject: Olympics
description: Satellite viewers can follow their choice of sport uninterrupted, with extra feeds also available via Freeview and cable
encoded: The BBC has agreed deals with Sky and Freesat to provide 24 separate Olympics video streams to the satellite broadcaster, allowing viewers to watch whichever events they choose uninterrupted. "You'll be able to watch sport from every venue from first thing in the morning to last thing at night," said Roger Mosey, BBC director of London 2012. "Hockey fans can watch live uninterrupted hockey, and table tennis fans can stick all day with their sport, too. These are the first truly digital Olympics, where we'll offer more choice than ever before." Some of the extra streams, accessed through the BBC Red Button service, will also be available to cable and Freeview viewers, dependent on the platforms' technical capacity. Cable providers have yet to announce their plans but bandwidth limitations inevitably mean the Freeview service will not be able to offer the whole range. "Not every platform will be able to accommodate such a huge technical offer," said Mosey, "which amounts to 48 channels in total if you count 24 standard definition plus 24 HD. For Freeview users at peak [times] there will be two extra channels available via the Red Button. That will double the choice on offer from BBC1 and BBC3, meaning that from 7pm you'll have at least four television services plus the full 24-stream service via our website." These live streams are in addition to the coverage that all viewers will see across BBC1 and BBC3. Mosey added: "BBC1 and BBC3 will remain the flagship channels for the Olympics. But as the London 2012 Olympic Games will be the first truly 'Digital Games', we wanted to offer an unprecedented amount of live sporting action to the widest possible audience through these live streams." Olympic coverage will also be on BBC Radio 5 Live and all 24 extra streams will be online. Between all of the services, some 2,500 hours of Olympic sport will be televised. The BBC's Phil Fearnley, general manager, News and Knowledge, BBC Future Media, writes about the technical challe…

Evan Davis: open up Thought for the Day to non-believers
type: item
date: 2012-04-02T14:03:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
subject: BBC Radio 4
description: Presenter and atheist Davis argues it's time to stop restricting the slot to people of faith
encoded: Today co-host Evan Davis says the programme should open up its regular Thought for the Day feature to speakers who are "spiritually minded secularists" rather than always people of faith. Thought for the Day is the controversial 7:45am spot that many have argued shouldn't have a place at all on the BBC Radio 4 flagship news programme. Davis said: "I think there's a very serious debate about whether the spot - which I would keep - might give space to what one might call 'serious and spiritually minded secularists'." "I don't think Thought for the Day has to be only people of the cloth," he told The Independent. A religious segment has been a consistent part of Today for all of its 55 years on air and, in fact, similar items have run between 7:30 and 8:00am as far back as 1939. Ten years ago a campaign to get the slot changed resulted in the Today programme commissioning Professor Richard Dawkins to provide an alternative and secular Thought for the Day on 14 August 2002, although ultimately it was aired outside the usual slot. BBC Radio 4's audio of that broadcast is not currently available but you can see a transcript and also read Dawkins's later response to listeners. BBC Radio 4 is unlikely to drop Thought for the Day entirely but if you could decide, would you keep it to "people of the cloth" or change it to include secularists?

Sherlock and Twenty Twelve up for South Bank Awards
type: item
date: 2012-04-02T09:45:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Comedy
subject: News
subject: TV
description: Melvyn Bragg announces "world class" British nominees for The South Bank Sky Arts Awards in May
encoded: The nominations for this year's South Bank Sky Arts Awards include Sherlock in the drama category, plus Twenty Twelve in comedy and Kate Bush for music. There are ten main categories, each with three nominees. In drama, BBC1's Sherlock will compete against This Is England '88 and Top Boy, both from Channel 4. Twenty Twelve from BBC4 is nominated in comedy alongside Channel 4's Fresh Meat and BBC2's Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle. Kate Bush's album, 50 Words for Snow, is in the music category opposite Adele's 21 and PJ Harvey's Let England Shake. "Although this is a celebration of British arts by British artists, we have a world class list of nominees," said Melvyn Bragg. "The South Bank Sky Arts Awards are the only one of their kind in the world, and we very much look forward to a great day where we'll recognise and honour the best talent in this country." Perhaps surprisingly, there's no nomination for Doctor Who or this year's big TV drama hit, Call the Midwife - though the latter's Jessica Raine is a contender in the separate Times Breakthrough Award. This honour will be presented alongside the South Bank Awards by Melvyn Bragg in a ceremony at the Dorchester hotel in London on 1 May. It will be televised on Sky Arts 1. This is the second year of the South Bank Sky Arts Awards: it was previously known as The South Bank Show Awards and was linked to ITV1's arts series of that name. Sky Arts is to revive The South Bank Show with a new series from 27 May. Full list of nominees TV Drama Sherlock, BBC1 This Is England '88, Channel 4 Top Boy, Channel 4 Comedy Fresh Meat, Channel 4 Twenty Twelve, BBC4 Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, BBC2 Pop Music Adele, 21 PJ Harvey, Let England Shake Kate Bush, 50 Words for Snow Film Attack the Block Senna We Need to Talk about Kevin Classical Music Llyr Williams: Beethoven's Piano Sonata Cycle at Edinburgh Festival Harrison Birtwistle with Boston Symphony Orchestra: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra at Boston Symphony Hall Sir Colin Davi…

Big Brother winner sues ITV over The Only Way Is Essex
type: item
date: 2012-03-28T13:39:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Entertainment
subject: News
subject: Reality TV
subject: TV
subject: ITV2
description: Brian Belo says he developed the structured reality show Totally Essex before TOWIE first aired
encoded: The 2007 Big Brother winner Brian Belo is suing the makers of The Only Way Is Essex, claiming he previously developed a show called Totally Essex that featured a similar format and included many of the same cast. Belo, along with Massive TV and Sassy Films, filed a High Court claim against ITV and Lime Pictures on 16 March. It alleges both copyright infringement and breach of confidence. While it is not known whether a demo video of his original format is included in the claim, Belo did post a copy to YouTube in December 2010, two months after TOWIE debuted on ITV2. View oEmbed on the source website Lime Pictures and ITV have issued a statement saying: "The Only Way Is Essex is an original concept created and developed by an award-winning team at Lime Pictures. Brian Belo's claim against Lime and ITV is totally without foundation and will be vigorously defended. "The creative team at Lime Pictures is very proud of TOWIE and the notion that it was not entirely their own work is a serious allegation which is completely refuted." Belo, 24, claims to have text messages and emails documenting his approach to Lime Pictures with the idea for Totally Essex. Lime Pictures was founded under the name Mersey Television by Phil Redmond, who formed the company specifically to produce Brookside for Channel 4. It's since become known for Hollyoaks and, most recently, Geordie Shore. TOWIE has been an award winner for the company and ITV2, where it recently completed a fourth series. Several of its cast are now seen in shows such as I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Sport Relief 2012 raises over £50 million for good causes
type: item
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: News
subject: Sport
subject: TV
subject: Sport Relief
description: Charity telethon beats 2010 on-the-night total by over £20 million
encoded: Sport Relief 2012 has so far raised more than £50 million for good causes. Although fund raising will continue over the next few days, the on-the-night total was announced at the end of last night's BBC telethon as standing at £50,447,197 - more than £20 million more than in 2010, when the last event was held. As the total was revealed at 1:30am this morning, show host Fearne Cotton said: "What an amazing, stunning total. We always hope to beat the previous amount, but to do it so spectacularly is just incredible. "Huge thanks to the British public who, once again, have shown enormous generosity to help those in need." The telethon, which commanded BBC1's airwaves for the majority of Friday evening, was the culmination of months of fund raising activities by the general public and celebrities. An average audience of 5.8 million people tuned in to BBC1 between 7pm and 10pm to watch the prime time section of Sport Relief, with viewing figures peaking at 7.6 million. Highlights of Sport Relief 2012 can be viewed on BBC iPlayer. You can still donate to Sport Relief with a credit or debit card by phone via 03457 910910 or online at sportrelief.com.

Chariots of Fire to be remastered and reissued
type: item
date: 2012-03-23T14:50:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Olympics
description: Oscar-winning film is being restored in time for this summer's Olympic Games
encoded: The Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire is heading back to the big screen in time for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Twentieth Century Fox and the BFI are currently working together to digitally remaster Hugh Hudson’s highly regarded motion picture. Chariots of Fire tells the tale of two runners, one a devout Christian and the other a Jew, who compete in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Starring Ben Cross, Ian Charleson and Nigel Havers, Chariots of Fire won four Oscars, including best picture. The film will be screened at more than 100 cinemas around the country from Friday 13 July as part of the build-up to the Games. Lord Puttnam, who produced the film, believes that the themes of Chariots of Fire are still relevant. He said in a statement: "Chariots of Fire is about guts, determination and belief. At the heart of the film is the quest for Olympic glory, and I find it hard to imagine anything more likely to resonate throughout the country this summer." The BFI is funnelling £150,000 of its lottery funding into the film’s release to enable it to be screened outside London. View oEmbed on the source website

Sport Relief 2012: tonight’s TV line-up in full
type: item
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: News
subject: Sport
subject: TV
subject: Sport Relief
description: From Strictly Come Dancing’s underwater challenge to an Ab Fab special, our exhaustive guide to the charity extravaganza
encoded: It's time to sit back and enjoy some of your favourite celebrities working their socks off for charity... BBC1 3:05pm The Big Sport Relief Warm-Up CBBC offers bite-size reminders of challenges past, including David Walliams’s Big Swim (3:10pm), Helen’s Polar Challenge for Sport Relief (3:45pm) and Million Pound Bike Ride (4:20pm). 5:15 Sport Relief Does Glee Club The three remaining acts vie for the viewers’ vote in the grand final of the competition. 7:00 Sport Relief 2012 Celebrities including John Bishop, James Corden, Gary Lineker and Claudia Winkleman take it in turns to host the evening, which kicks off with Chelsea footballer Frank Lampard and fiancée Christine Bleakley guest-starring in a special episode of Outnumbered. Strictly Come Dancing finalists Harry Judd and Chelsee Healey leave the dancefloor behind for an incredible underwater challenge. 7:30 Boxer Amir Khan and footballer Jermain Defoe boost their knowledge with a little help from Stephen Fry and the Horrible Histories cast, and the Strictly Come Dancing challenge continues. 8:00 Comic Frank Skinner faces his fear and attempts to swim a length of the pool at Langley Swimming Centre, while Miranda Hart ropes in some sports stars for a sketch at the Royal Albert Hall. Plus David Walliams, who undertook an epic swim down the Thames, is in the studio. 9:00 What horrors await Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and Ant and Dec as Benidorm meets Britain’s Got Talent? Snow Patrol perform in the studio. 9:30 Members of the England football team don aprons and join chef James Martin in the kitchen. JLS perform the Sport Relief single, Proud. BBC2 10pm The cast of Twenty Twelve welcome some VIPs in the shape of Zara Phillips and Sir Steve Redgrave. There’s a special instalment of QI and Jake Humphrey hosts Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Plus Helen Skelton, who made a record-breaking expedition to the Antarctic, is in the studio. BBC1 10:35pm Fashionistas Kate Moss and Stella McCartney, along with sportsmen Colin Jackson …

Miranda Hart visits an African slum to raise awareness for Sport Relief
type: item
date: 2012-03-23T06:00:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: News
subject: Sport
subject: TV
subject: Sport Relief
description: Comedian reports on project to bring clean water to a slum in Uganda
encoded: I know Comic Relief, the people behind Sport Relief, of old. It took me many years to get a break into the world of comedy, and I would combine my efforts to do so with working as a PA in the charity sector. The last charity I worked for was Comic Relief. During my time there, my eyes were opened to the scale of poverty and social injustice in the UK and Africa and I saw how vital the charity was. It really changed people’s lives. But I never thought I would one day be standing outside a Ugandan slum making a film about the people they help. Ten years on I was on a flight from London to the Ugandan capital, Kampala, to do just that. Eight hours later we landed and there I was, not knowing what I was about to see, or who I was about to meet. I was more than apprehensive. Life in an open sewer I was led through an area of Kampala that had clearly been seriously and repeatedly flooded. Once pretty little houses were now derelict and abandoned, and all to some extent inundated with filthy-looking water. I was in the Bwaise slum in Kampala, where three times a year the lack of drainage, coupled with the development of surrounding areas, means that the people who live there find their homes overtaken by water, which brings with it disease and death. Open sewers cascade through this once prosperous and desirable area and the whole place has the feel of a forgotten ghost town. I had read people lived like this, but seeing it first hand is terribly upsetting. A genuine shock. The phrase “open sewers” says it all and the stench was hard to bear. I was shown into a sodden courtyard and introduced to Aisha, 28, mother to 12-year-old Derek and eight-year-old Marjorie – but her smile belies the fact that she once had a third child, Christine. Losing a child to the water Just over two years ago, as Aisha again attempted to bail out the disease-ridden liquid from her home, her six-month-old Christine rolled off the bed in their flooded shack and momentarily found herself in the wat…

Frank Skinner faces his greatest fear for Sport Relief
type: item
date: 2012-03-23T05:00:00.000Z
creator: radiotimesteam
subject: News
subject: Sport
subject: TV
subject: Sport Relief
description: Comedian terrified of the water aims to swim a length for charity
encoded: I had swimming lessons when I was at school. Well, I say “lessons”. What actually happened was I stood with five other kids in the shallow end and we messed about with battered polystyrene floats. Meanwhile, the rest of the class swam confidently up and down, smiling and having fun. Sometimes they’d be awarded various coloured stripes which their mums stitched to their trunks. They’d get a white one for swimming a length or a red for picking up a rubber brick from the bottom of the pool whilst wearing pyjamas. My trunks remained unadorned. We non-swimmers were left alone as long as we agreed to not shout or drown. Even my shallow-end dabblings frightened me. Note from mum When I walked through the main doors at Langley Baths, the smell of chlorine and that echoey sound in the distance made my heart pound. How did the other kids do it? Why wasn’t the floor of the pool littered with their waterlogged corpses? I brought a note from my mum whenever possible, saying I had a cold or earache. Then I’d just sit on the poolside wooden benches and marvel at the swimmers’ courage and expertise. After I left school, I would still shudder whenever I passed Langley Baths. It was a monument to my inadequacy and cowardice. However, I discovered, to my relief, that it’s much easier to avoid swimming as an adult. I didn’t even need a note from my mum. On holidays I’d stay on the beach, watching my friends’ belongings, while they rode the waves. I’d given up on the idea of ever swimming but it remained my great taboo, the fear I’d never had the courage to face. Facing my fear Then, as I reached my 40s, I decided to have another go. By this time, I was doing pretty well as a comedian so I could afford one-to-one sessions. I thought that amount of personal attention might just get me through my barriers. I found a really good teacher and began to make some progress. I was floating and kicking and almost having fun. But, every now and then, I’d take in a bit of water and panic and the me…