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Matt Damon stars in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey on this week's cover

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Matt Damon stars in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey on this week's cover

RT talks to Christopher Nolan, Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon and Himesh Patel about the most eagerly awaited film of the year.

Universal Studios

Shem Law

Published: Tuesday, 14 July 2026 at 10:36 am

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This week, Matt Damon takes centre stage on our cover as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's new film The Odyssey.

I have to confess that unlike Nolan, I didn't benefit from a classical education. So my first encounters with Homer's fantastical chronicle came not in a classroom but, like many people of my age, through Jason and the Argonauts and Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion special effects.

Long before I knew who Homer was, I know about the Cyclops, the Sirens and all manner of mythical creatures. It turns out I'd been introduced to one of the greatest stories ever told without realising it.

In this issue Michael Hodges talks to the British director Christopher Nolan about bringing Homer's epic to the big screen. Nolan describes The Odyssey as something that "is in our bones", a story we carry with us whether we know it or not. Their conversation ranges from the technical achievement of making the film to the intimate questions that lie at its heart: home, love, loss and the wisdom that only comes with time.

What struck me most reading it was that, for all its scale, this isn't simply a film about monsters and myth. It's about what it means to find your way home after life – and time – has changed you. And that might well be why Nolan has chosen to make this film now rather than 20 years ago.

I should mention another Odyssey, though one not so steeped in monsters or Gods... if you are visiting Blackpool on Friday 24 July, why not set the juice loose at RT's Maynards Bassetts seaside pop-up, with darts, prizes and free samples.

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Also in this week's Radio Times:

King of the comedy geeks Simon Pegg stars in the Channel 4 espionage drama The Undeclared War.
Eve Myles, Katherine Kelly and Victoria Hamilton reveal the light and shade in a new series of the thriller.
We celebrate 25 years of Animal Park with Kate Humble and Ben Fogle.

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Authors

Radio Times editor Shem Law wears a shirt, tie and grey jumper. He is sitting at a wooden desk behind a sign saying "Editor" clasping his hands. There are other items on the desk, including a dial telephone and typewriter.

Shem Law

Shem Law is the brand editor of Radio Times, and the 20th person to hold that esteemed position in over 100 years. He wasn't allowed a television growing up, but over the years he has rather overcompensated for that fact.

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